In the Japa Group this week was a very nice post from a lecture given by Giriraja Swami about how our mind is like a genie - here is the story:
Pretty soon the whole house is completely clean. "Clean the yard." Now, the master is really getting worried. He is running out of things for the genie to do.
And he begins to panic, because if he doesn't keep the genie busy, the genie is going to turn on him and kill him. He thinks, "Oh my God, what am I going to do now?" Then he gets an idea. He has palm trees in his backyard, so he says, "You climb to the top of one palm tree; then you jump over to the next tree and climb down and up it, and then you jump across and climb down and up the next tree, and you just keep doing that.
When you are finished with the last tree, you jump back to the next and begin again."Thus the master finds an engagement to keep the genie busy so that the genie will not turn against him. Now, what is the lesson to be learned from this story? The genie is the mind. If we don't keep the mind engaged, the mind will turn on us and murder us. So we have to keep the mind engaged. We can keep the mind engaged in so many tasks, but ultimately we need some engagement that will always keep the mind busy. This going up and down—this is our japa-mala. Going up and down the trees is going around our beads.
So Srila Prabhupada said that we should always keep the mind engaged, and if there is nothing else to keep the mind engaged in Krsna's service, then chant Hare Krsna. That will keep the mind engaged, and that will fulfill the definition in the verse (bhajanty ananya-manaso); it will make us mahatmas, and dear to Srila Prabhupada and Srimati Radharani."
San Diego - September 21, 2004
Comments
Controlling the Mind by the Lord's Mercy
I found out that chanting with humility helps in controlling the mind. When you follow Srila Prabhupada's instructions you are putting yourself in a humble position, accepting his and your spiritual master advice, by doing this you get satisfied and at the same time you satisfy Krsna. While chanting you are in a serving mood, trying to satisfy the spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada and also begging for devotional service, in this position your mind gets controlled by the mercy of the Lord.
Haribol
Aruna dd
Our Position
Very nice comment Aruna dd....if we can chant the Holy names with humility, recognising our position in relation to the Lord, then our minds will accept good instruction from the spiritual master and from the intelligence.
Chanting in All Humility
In the Bhagavad Gita As It Is 6.34 Arjuna says:
"For the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Kṛṣṇa, and to subdue it, I think, is more difficult than controlling the wind."
I liked so much this verse because in the purport Srila Prabhupada states that the only way to control the mind is by chanting the maha mantra Hare Krsna and in all humility.
"The individual is the passenger in the car of the material body, and intelligence is the driver. Mind is the driving instrument, and the senses are the horses. The self is thus the enjoyer or sufferer in the association of the mind and senses. So it is understood by great thinkers." Intelligence is supposed to direct the mind, but the mind is so strong and obstinate that it often overcomes even one's own intelligence, as an acute infection may surpass the efficacy of medicine. Such a strong mind is supposed to be controlled by the practice of yoga, but such practice is never practical for a worldly person like Arjuna. And what can we say of modern man? The simile used here is appropriate: one cannot capture the blowing wind. And it is even more difficult to capture the turbulent mind. The easiest way to control the mind, as suggested by Lord Caitanya, is chanting "Hare Kṛṣṇa," the great mantra for deliverance, in all humility. The method prescribed is sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-pādāravindayoḥ: one must engage one's mind fully in Kṛṣṇa. Only then will there remain no other engagements to agitate the mind.
Haribol
Aruna dd
Krishna Bhakti
I have experienced both the status very closely. Mind controlling the intelligence and making the life like Hell. On a good moment of the most fortunate day of my life, I got influnced by ONE of my friend Vamandas Prabhu. And then onwards, just for curiousity first and then devotionally, I started following Hare Krsna mantra chanting and attending lectures on BG. Now I can see most of the times, the intelligence can control the mind. It's grace of God only..
Intelligence Should Control the Mind
Thankyou for this good point kkbhatt....we should always have strong intelligence so that our minds can always be controlled by our intelligence. The intelligence gets sharpened by the process of sadhana bhakti - Hearing, chanting, reading as you mention here.
An Acute Infection
This is a great quote Aruna dd....I like this analogy of the mind being like an acute infection, when the mind cannot be subdued, the only answer is to seriously engage in sadhana bhakti including chanting the Hare Krsna mantra, then the intelligence will overpower the mind and engage it (just like the genie that needs to be engaged)...otherwise it will become our enemy and cause havoc in our spiritual lives.