Suppose a school has a bully who terrorizes smaller children. Bullies generally prey on the weak and the weak-willed. Whoever becomes scared of them, they start dominating those kids more and more. 

Our mind is like a big bully. The Bhagavad-gita (06.34) cautions that the mind is ruthless, relentless, reasonless and remorseless. It intimidates us into doing things that range from trivial to reprehensible, and it interrupts us whenever we are doing anything worthwhile. 

How can we manage the mind? The Gita acknowledges that the mind is undoubtedly difficult to control (06.35), but it is possible by the appropriate process (06.36). To understand the appropriate process, consider how a bully can be countered. 

To keep a bully at bay, kids need to stand up to that bully. But how can someone who is far smaller than a bully stand up to them? By connecting with someone who is stronger than the bully. 

We too need to stand up to the mind, resolving to no longer pander to its whims. To get the necessary strength, we can connect with omnipotent Krishna by practicing bhakti-yoga. 

But bhakti practices done ritualistically won’t help much – those practices need to be done intensely to show Krishna our desire to resist the mind. When we strive to engage in worthwhile activities centered on Krishna’s service and resist the mind whenever it tries to distract us, our determination shows Krishna that we want his help. 

We have spent days, months, years, decades, lifetimes cowering to the mind, failing to fulfill our potentials. Enough is enough. It’s time to stand up to the mind. And when we start standing up to the mind, we will soon find Krishna standing next to us, empowering us to put the mind in its place.

 

Think it over:

  • How is the mind like a bully?
  • How can we counter the mind’s bullying?
  • How can we get the determination to put the mind in its place? 

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