We are often our worst enemies. When we get some lucky breaks, we let them slip away because of laziness, distractedness and impulsiveness. When we face some problems, we often sink into self-pity, resentment and envy, thereby making those problems seem overwhelmingly huge. By thus neglecting opportunities and aggravating problems, we hurt ourselves.

What makes us act in such self-defeating ways? Our mind, explains the Bhagavad-gita. The mind can be both our enemy and our friend (06.05). When uncontrolled, it is our enemy (06.06). It becomes calm when we become conscious of God (06.07).

To become conscious of God, Krishna, we need to appreciate him as our foremost friend. He is always our friend, but we aren’t always friendly to him. How can we befriend him? By bringing him closer to us than our mind. That means we turn to him for shelter and guidance before we listen to our mind’s propositions about how to face the world’s situations. That means we approach life with a positive service attitude, knowing that the world moves for our spiritual evolution, even when it moves against our material gratification.

If we focus on asking, “How can I serve Krishna in this situation?” instead of asking, “Why is this happening to me?” we can find ways to evolve in all situations. When faced with problems, we can avoid getting overwhelmed by seeing beyond the problems to Krishna’s benevolent controllership of everything. And when we get opportunities, we can see them as openings provided by Krishna for expanding our service.

When we thus make God our friend, we start making wise choices – choices that keep our problems in perspective and choices that tap our opportunities wholeheartedly. By such choices that prevent our mind from sabotaging us, we become our own friends, aiding God in creating the best future for us.

 

Think it over:

  • What makes us act self-destructively?
  • What does making God our friend mean?
  • How does making God our friend make us our friend?

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