In some comedy shows, some people do stunningly stupid things, repeatedly. Seeing their stupidity can be hilarious. 

Sadly, many people’s real lives are not much different. Suppose someone stuffed themselves with food so much that they became sick. And they did the same thing repeatedly. It might seem comic, but over time, if they developed some serious digestive disorder or worse still a life-threatening condition, that would be tragic indeed. 

Why do they act in this way? Because of their mind. Within everyone is their worst enemy, their own mind, which often makes them do stupid things. If we looked at their life in fast-forward, slowing down to notice the times when they blundered, we might find such actions laughable. The Bhagavad-gita (06.34) cautions that the mind is restless and forceful — a deadly combination that makes resisting it almost impossible and relapsing to its whims almost unavoidable. 

Our mind may not impel us to anything that blatant, but it impels us to minor indiscretions that can have major consequences. If we counted how much time we wasted on pointless TV watching, we may well discover that even small daily time wastages amount to colossal time expenses in the long run. If we cut down just ten minutes from our daily time wastage, we would gain 3,600 minutes every year. That’s enough time to read the Bhagavad-gita with a commentary. 

If we kept ourselves deprived of the wisdom from such wisdom-texts, that would be tragic indeed. How many other things that bring meaning and value to our life do we not do because of our mind’s misdirections?

Thankfully, Gita wisdom stands ready to equip us with time-tested spiritual practices for managing our mind and fulfilling our potentials — provided we become aware and alert to equip ourselves. 

 

Think it over: 

  • How are the consequences of our mind-induced actions tragic?
  • Are there any occasions when you realized the tragic consequences of succumbing to your mind? 
  • How can we stand up to our mind?

 

***

06.34 The mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Krishna, and to subdue it, I think, is more difficult than controlling the wind.

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