18 ; }
THE PATH OF PERFECTION Mastering the Mind and Senses 19 |
said, . An idle mindis the devil s workshop. Ifwe have no Krsna mind is the central point of yoga practice, dtmd refers here to the
conscious engagement, we will engage in sense gratification or mind. The purpose of the yoga system is to control the mind and
fruitive activity. If a child is not trained or educated, he becomes tod ra w it away from attachment to sense objects. It is stressed
spoiled. Ifone does not practice the yoga system, ifhe does not at- herein that the mind must be so trained that it can deliver the con-
tempt to control his senses by the yoga process, he will engage his ditioned soul from the mire of nescience
senses in their own gratification. When one is gratifying his In the astdriga-yoga system, these eightfol d yogas—dhydna,
senses, there bs no question of practicing y tb ki dhdrand, etc.—are meant to control the mind. Sri Krsna explicitly
ihout Arsna consciousness, one must be always seeking states that a man must utilize his mind to elevate himself. Unless
self-centered or extended selfish activities. But a Krsna conscious one can control the mind, there is no question of elevation. The
person can do everything for the satisfaction of Krsna and thereby body is like a chariot and the mind is the driver. If you tell your
be perfectly detached from sense gratification. One who has not driver, ‘‘Please take me to the Krsnatemple,”’ the driver will take
realized Krsna must mechanically try to escape material desires you there but if you tell him “Please take me to that liquor
before being clevated t the top rung of ane ten ar i house,”’ you will go there. It is the driver’s business to take you
© may pare te yoga syste a stepradder. UNE 08 wherever you like. If you can control the driver, he will take you”
may be situated on the fifth step, another yogi may be on the where you should go, but if not, he will ultimately take you
fiftieth step and yet another on the five-hundredth step. The pur- wherever he likes. If you have no control over your driver, your
pose, of course, 1s to reach the top. Alth ough the entire ladder driver is your enemy, but if he acts according to your orders, he is
may be called the yoga system, one who is on the fifth step is not your friend
equal to one who is higher up. In Bhagavad-gita 2 Sri Krsna delin- The yoga system is meant to control the mind in such a way
cates a number ory 0ga Mot ah karma-y 084, jnanary 08a, hy with that the mind will act as your friend. Sometimes the mind acts as a
yoga, an aKit-yoga. OF Mese systems are connected Wi friend and sometimes as an enemy. Because we are part and parcel
God, Krsna, just as the entire ladder is connected to the topmost of the Supreme, who has infinite independence, we have minute
floor. This is not to say that everyone practicing the yoga system Is - OF finite, independence. It is the mind that is controlling that inde-
situated on the topmost floor; only he who is in full Krsna con- pendence, and therefore he may either take us to the Krsna tem-
sciousness is so situated. Others are situated on different steps of ple or to some nightclub ad
the yogic ladder. It is the purpose of this Krsna consciousness movement to fix
uddhared atmanatmanarj the mind on Krsna. When the mind is so fixed, he cannot do any-
natmanam ava. adaver thing but act as our friend. He has no scope to act any other way.
anuiman om asa hn As soon as Krsna is seated in the mind, there is light, just as when
jimaive. ripu “n, an h ur | the sun is in the sky, darkness is vanquished. Krsna is just like the
(Pur almanat F sun, and when He is present, there is no scope for darkness. If we
“ . . . . keep Krsna on our mind, the darkness of mdyd will never be able
A man must elevate himself by his own mind, not degrade him- to enter: Keeping the mind fixed on Krsna is the perfection of
self. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy yoga. If the mind is strongly fixed on the Supreme, it will not allow
as well.’ (Bg. 6.5) The word atma denotes body, mind, and soul— any nonsense to enter, and there will be no falldown. If the mind
depending on different circumstances. In the yoga system, the is strong, the driver is strong, and we may go wherever we may
| mind and the conditioned soul are especially important. Since the desire. The entire yoga system is meant to make the mind strong,
