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Practical Tips to

Mind Control

Compiled by Radheshyam Das, M.Tech., IIT Mumbai

Director, VOICE

Rekindling Wisdom, Reviving Love

Vedic Oasis for Inspiration, Culture &Education (VOICE)

4, Tarapore Rd., Next to Dastur Boys School,Camp, Pune-411 001 Tel: 26332328, 26361855

Email: [email protected],[email protected],

Web: www.iskconpune.com

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Dedicated to

His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Founder Acharya: International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)

Compiled by Radheshyam Das, M. TECH., IIT POWAI

Assisted by Gaursundar das BE (Mech)

Chaitanya Charan das BE (E&TC)Sankirtan Anand das BE (E&TC)

Publishing by: Jagannath Kirtan das, D.I.E

Previous Printing: 53,0007

thPrinting: Dec-2007, 5000 Copies

For Copies contact:[email protected]

Phone: +91-020-24306330



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The MODERN SCENARIO

The search for happiness is the eternalquest for every living entity. In the modern

times, the propaganda throughout the worldis to work very hard to earn one’s livelihood,to accumulate more and more wealth, toincrease one’s name and fame and thusbecome happy. Consequently, everyone iscaught up in an environment of cut-throatcompetition. In such a situation, every avenueto stay alive and get ahead in life isthoroughly exploited. Mind control plays a

decisive role in determining the performanceand shaping the future of a person and it hastherefore become a buzzword in professionalcircles nowadays.

The NECESSITY of MIND CONTROL

We all know that, somehow or other, ifwe can learn to control our mind, then we canaccomplish many things in our life. So

naturally, all of us are interested in controllingour mind. At the same time we are all well

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aware of the disastrous consequences of anuncontrolled mind. If the mind of a person isuncontrolled, it will make him miserablethroughout his life and may harass him so

much that he may even go to the extent ofcommitting suicide.

Every intelligent person should learn tocontrol his mind and lead a peaceful life.There are many institutions offering courseson Mind Control, but most of them don’t go tothe root of the problem. They are based ononly a superficial knowledge of the mind andthe way in which it works. Mind control

without proper understanding of oneself, Godand the purpose of life is just an eyewash; itcan yield no tangible benefit. In this booklethowever, we will get a proper understandingof the mind, based on the timeless wisdom ofthe Vedic philosophical masterpiece, theBhagavad-gita.

The “ABC… ”

The mind frequently causes us a varietyof problems. And amateur attempts to tackle

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these problems are bound to fail since thebody-mind mechanism is extremely complex.Therefore the first step in mind control is tounderstand the answers to the following basic

questions: What is this body? Who am I?What is the purpose of this creation?

In order to get authentic answers to thesequestions, the best course of action is toapproach the super-intelligent Designer ofthis body, the Mastermind behind thecreation, namely, the Supreme Lord, and askHim, “Why did You create all theseproblems?” This approach involves tackling

the problems of life by going to their rootcause and so it can provide a permanentsolution. Just as when we get a disease, wego to a doctor, an expert in that field, todiagnose the root cause of the disease andget it cured, similarly we need the help of aguru or a spiritual master, an expert in theknowledge of the essence of life, who canteach us why our mind and body give us somuch suffering in this world and the way to

permanently get rid of all suffering.



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Krishna, the Supreme Lord, is universallyacclaimed as the jagat guru or the spiritualmaster of the whole universe. And He isteaching Arjuna in Bhagavad-gita how to

control one’s mind and how to lead a purelife.

Right at the outset of the Bhagavad-gita,Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna that we arenot these material bodies; we are actuallyspirit souls. This body is simply like a dress; itis just an external covering. The atma, theeternal being, who is the eternal servant ofGod, is now trapped in this body exactly like a

parrot trapped in a cage. Being trapped in thebody we are constantly suffering due to themiseries caused by the body and the mind. Itis not that we are suffering only now; ourhistory of suffering dates back to many, manylifetimes. Therefore according to all thescriptures the ultimate goal of life, the onlyway to lasting happiness, is to liberateoneself from the cycle of birth and death andto achieve the kingdom of God. That is our

original home and it is from there that we



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have come to this foreign place, the materialworld.

Due to our stay in the material world, ourmind has become the storehouse of varieties

of thoughts, impressions and unfulfilleddesires. These material impressions on themind drag the atma from one body toanother, birth after birth. Until all thesematerial impressions are wiped out from themind and pure spiritual consciousness isestablished, there is no possibility of returningback to the kingdom of God.

But as long as we are in this material

world, we are inescapably stuck up with thebody and the mind. And the mind gives us avariety of sufferings.

Herein we will try to learn a few tips,which can help us to control the mind. Butthese tips have to be applied while a personsimultaneously engages in cultivatingknowledge about God, the ultimate goal of lifeand about himself. There is no overnight,short cut to control the mind; if it were so

easy, modern man would not talk so muchabout mind control. We request the reader to

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refer to our previous book on ‘Art of MindControl’ to get some understanding of soul-body-mind-intelligence mechanism so that hecan apply the following tips more effectively:

SHUT YOUR EYES TO INSULTS

Generally we can see that our mindbecomes especially agitated whenever weare insulted and the thorn of the desire totake revenge torments the mind for a longtime. The only way to control the mind in suchcircumstances is by shutting our eyes to theinsults. On reading this, you will probably be

thinking, “Why in the wide world should I nottake revenge on the person who has insultedme? He has caused me so much pain; hemust suffer.” But the reality is that he is notthe actual cause of our suffering. We musthave done some sinful activity in the past asa reaction to which we are insulted now asper the law of karma. And the person whohas insulted us is just acting as an instrument

in the hands of nature to deliver us our duesuffering. When we understand this, then we



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will be able to take the insult in a mature waywithout being unnecessarily agitated andwithout maintaining a vengeful feeling. This isvividly illustrated in an instructive pastime that

took place about 5000 years ago.The emperor of the whole world at that

time was Maharaj Parikshit. Once when hewas going through a forest, he was afflictedby severe thirst. Though he was the king ofthe entire world, here he was in the midst ofthe forest and there was no one to fetch evena glass of water for him. At that time he saw asage, Shamik rishi, performing penance in a

hut. Being desperate to quench his thirst, herequested the sage to give him a glass ofwater. The sage was in deep trance and sohe did not even hear the king. Parikshit wasangered due to this apparently discourteousbehavior of the sage. In his anger he put adead snake around the neck of the sage andwent away. After some time when the son ofShamik rishi Shringi came to know about howhis father had been insulted, he pronounced

a curse on Parikshit, “You will die after seven

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days due to the bite of a poisonous snake-bird.”

When King Parikshit was informed aboutthe curse, his response was highly

exemplary. He was the emperor of the entireworld and he was also a pure devotee of LordKrishna. And for a minor mistake on his part,a young impudent boy had sounded hisdeath-knell. If King Parikshit had wanted hecould easily have counter-cursed Shringi. Butfar from trying to ‘get even’ with Shringi,Parikshit humbly accepted the curse andimmediately renounced his entire kingdom in

order to prepare for his imminent departurefrom this world. He went to the banks of theGanges, offered his humble obeisances tothe great sages assembled there andrequested them

tam mopayatam pratiyantuvipraganga ca devi dhrta-cittam

isedvijopasrstah kuhakas taksako vadasatv alam gayata visnu-gathah

“O brahmanas, just accept me as a

completely surrendered soul, and let motherGanges, the representative of the Lord, also



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accept me in that way, for I have alreadytaken the lotus feet of the Lord into my heart.Let the snakebird—or whatever magical thingthe brahmana created—bite me at once. I

only desire that you all continue singing thedeeds of Lord Vishnu.”

In this way Parikshit reacted to the cursein a very composed positive way. Andconsequently he was able to end his life on avery glorious note by returning to the kingdomof God.

On the other hand if someone takes aninsult very seriously then he can never be

peaceful as is seen from the story ofHiranyakashipu.The king of the demons, Hiranyakashipu,

was the master of all the three worlds. Hehad practically conquered the entire universe.Just by the raising of his eyelashes, all thepowerful demigods would start trembling infear. His small five-year-old son, Prahlada,however, did not accept him to be supremeand did not obey him. Though he was the

emperor of the whole universe, just one tinyboy not accepting his supremacy was

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intolerable for him. His life becamecompletely miserable; he lost his night sleep.He decided to ruthlessly murder smallinnocent Prahlada. But when all his attempts

to do so were foiled, he became totallydejected. And finally Hiranyakashipu himselfhad to meet a ghastly death.

In the same way, if a hundred peoplerespect us but one person insults us, that oneinsult makes us thoroughly miserable; therespect of hundred other people has no valuefor us. But if we understand that all theseinsults are coming upon us as a result of our

past activities then we can learn to shut oureyes to the insults.And when we are insulted in such a way

due to some reason, we should learn toforget and forgive. We should never maintaingrudges. If we nurture an ill feeling in ourheart towards a man who has insulted uswithout openly expressing it, that is evenworse than openly expressed anger.Suppressed anger is like mental cancer. It

leads to sleeplessness, it poisons blood, itincreases blood pressure and takes away all



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peace of mind. An insult is like spilt milk. Ifmilk is spilt on the ground, then what can wedo about it? Its finished; it’s done. So weshould learn to forget such incidents, which

have already occured and just go ahead withour regular activities without becomingdistracted or diffident. But if we nourish thegrievances and brood over the pasthappenings, then not only does it causeimmense pain to our heart but it may alsolead to disastrous consequences, as seen inthe following incident from the Mahabharata.

When Drona, a brahmana’s son, andDrupada, a prince, were studying in the samegurukula, they became close friends. Oneday, in a moment of intimate friendship,Drupada promised Drona, “When I inherit thekingdom of my father, I will give half of it toyou.”

Later, Drupada went on to become theking of Panchal, whereas Drona became apoor brahmana. Once in a moment of acutepoverty, when his son was crying piteously

for milk and Drona had no money to get anymilk, he remembered the promise of his boy

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friend, Drupada. He therefore went to meetDrupada and reminded him of their oldfriendship. Sitting on his majestic royalthrone, in the midst of the court, Drupada

looked at the poor brahmana standing in frontof him and said to him, “O unfortunatebrahmana, how do you consider me as yourfriend now? Past friendships aremeaningless. Only equals can be friends.Now I am a great king and you are a poorbrahmana. Do not try to invoke a long deadrelationship.” Saying this, Drupada laughed atDrona, gave him a little charity and sent himoff. Deeply insulted, Drona left Panchal, buthis mind was fixed on revenge. He did notforget and forgive; instead he kept thememory of the incident burning in his heartand resolved to take revenge when the rightmoment came.

Later on Drona became the militaryteacher of the Pandavas and the Kauravas.When they completed their training andasked him what guru-dakshina they could

give him, Drona requested them to captureDrupada and bring him as a prisoner before



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him. On hearing the desire of their guru, firstthe Kauravas, headed by Duryodhana,attacked Drupada, who easily defeated them.When the Kauravas returned defeated, the

Pandavas, headed by Arjuna, invadedPanchal. They defeated Drupada, arrestedhim, brought him as a captive to theirgurukula and threw him at the feet of Drona.

On seeing how Drupada had beenthoroughly humiliated, Drona smiled at himand asked him, “Oh my dear king, do younow desire to revive our old friendship? Itseems that your kingdom and wealth have allbecome mine.” Humiliated and ashamed,Drupada couldn’t speak a word. Adding insultto injury, Drona further said, “After all, I am aliberal brahmana, I am not going to take awayyour life. Moreover I have always cherishedaffection for you as a friend. So I still desireyour friendship, but, my dear Drupada,friendship can only be among equals. Nowyou have lost your whole kingdom and havebecome a beggar. And your entire kingdom

and wealth have now become mine. So howcan friendship exist between a king like me

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and a beggar like you? Having pity on abeggar like you, I give half of my kingdom toyou.” And Drona gave half of the kingdom ofPanchal to Drupada.

Although he felt severely insulted,Drupada kept silent, knowing that he was inno position to retaliate. He understood thatthe martial power of Drona was much greaterthan his. And moreover Drona now also hadthe mighty Pandavas as his disciples. SoDrupada quietly took half of the kingdom andwent away, but in his mind, he resolved, “Oneday I will take revenge for this great insult.”Later Drupada performed a massive firesacrifice (yajna) to beget a sonDhrishtadyumna, who would kill Drona.

Thus we can see that, when one isinsulted by another, but is not ready to forgetand forgive, then one insults the other, theother counter-insults the first and the fightgoes on and on. So, when we meditate oninsults, there is no end to such fights.Therefore instead of wasting our precious

human form of life in brooding over such pastevents, it is better to turn to God and seek



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refuge in Him. And, even if our heart is verymuch pained by the insult, we should go toGod for shelter just like Dhruva did.

When he was insulted by his stepmother,

Dhruva took the right shelter. He went to theforest and approached the lotus feet of LordVishnu. By taking shelter of Lord Vishnu,instead of being left in the cold to futilelymourn and grieve, all of the pains of Dhruvawere wiped out and he achieved a kingdomgreater than that of his great grandfather,Lord Brahma.

In the same way, we can also becomefree from all suffering if we turn to God whenwe are insulted.

No One Can Make Or Mar Your Career;So DON’T BLAME OTHERS

We should also know that no one canmake or mar our career. Sometimes weimagine, “ A has blocked my promotion.” or “B has ruined my business by competing in

the same field.” and so on. And due to suchimaginary conceptions, we feel envy and

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animosity towards others. But actually ourcareer and life is shaped by our previouskarma; others cannot influence it.

A typical example of one nourishing such

needless envy and enmity is Duryodhana.Right from the time the Pandavas came toHastinapura as small children, Duryodhanawas envious of them. He was afraid that theymight take over the kingdom. So, to destroythem, he hatched various demoniac schemessuch as feeding Bhima a poisonous cake,gifting the Pandavas a palace made ofinflammable shellac and then arranging tohave it set on fire so that they would burn todeath and so on. But by none of these trickscould he succeed in killing them.

Later during the svayamvara of Draupadi,he became mad with lust on seeing herexquisite beauty, but he was crestfallen whenhe could not win her hand. And when thePandavas won the hand of Draupadi, hisenvy increased manifold.

When he realized that the Pandavas had

become very powerful and wealthy due totheir alliance with Drupada, the father of



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Draupadi and the king of Panchal, he fearedthat they might attack and defeat him. So hedecided to give them half of the kingdom, butonce again, due to his envious nature, he

tried to cheat them by offering them thebarren part of the Kuru kingdom calledKhandavaprastha.

But, by the mercy of Lord Krishna, thatdesolate land was miraculously transformed,in no time, into the great city Indraprastha.Indraprastha was a magnificent and opulentcity filled with learned brahmanas, chivalrouskshatriyas, well-to-do vaishyas and faithfulshudras. All the subjects were living a veryhappy God-centered life in accordance withthe Vedic scriptures. All the cows, women,old men, children and brahmanas wereproperly protected. The mellifluous chantingof auspicious Vedic mantras could be heardeverywhere in the city. And Mayadanavaconstructed the Mayasabha, a gorgeousmansion akin to a heavenly abode, for thePandavas. When Duryodhana heard about

the opulence of the Pandavas, he just couldnot stand it. In fact the very thought that was

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now the emperor of the world caused himindescribable agony. He felt that that positionwas his exclusive birthright and that thePandavas had unlawfully usurped his

position.At that time, Maharaj decided to conduct

the Rajasuya yajna to establish thesupremacy of Lord Krishna. He invited all thekings and sages from all over the universe forthe yajna. At the time of the yajna, heallocated various services to his relatives andclose friends. He requested Bhishma andDrona to oversee the organization of thesacrifice, Dushasana to take care ofdistribution of food to all the guests,Ashvatthama to attend to the brahmanas andDuryodhana to receive all the gifts. LordKrishna took the humble role of washing thefeet of all the sages and brahmanas arrivingfor the Rajasuya yajna.

Seeing the hundreds and thousands ofpriceless gifts that came for Yudhishtir,Duryodhana’s heart burnt with envy. And

when he saw the incomparable opulence ofthe famed palace of the Pandavas, the



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Mayasabha, he could no longer control his jealousy. He sniffed and huffed and frownedharshly at the innocent servants who werecheerfully passing by within the place. He

was in a state of total misery anddespondency.On his way back to Hastinapura,

Duryodhana told his uncle, Shakuni, “It isimpossible for me to see the prosperity of thePandavas. What man who possesses anyself-respect can bear to see his enemiesprosper more than him? How can I ever equalthe power and the opulence of thePandavas? All my efforts to do so have beenfrustrated. And my attempts to destroy thePandavas have also met with total failure. Onthe contrary, they are flourishing like lotusesin a pond. Therefore I cannot live any longer.I will enter into fire or I will swallow poisonand thus end my life. Please inform my fatherDhritarashtra about the terrible anguish I amin.” And while he was speaking, the fire ofenvy in his heart started burning more and

more and he became even more fearful thatthe Pandavas would vanquish him.

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When Dhritarashtra came to know aboutthe devilish mentality of Duryodhana, he triedto pacify him, “My dear son, whatever youmay want for your enjoyment is already at

your disposal. Our opulence is no less thanthat of the gods in heaven. We haveimmense wealth, magnificent mansions, thebest of clothes, the finest food and beautifulwomen. All these are just waiting to give youpleasure. What reason is there for you tobecome depressed?”

Duryodhana sullenly muttered, “Don’t youknow that got thousands of invaluable gifts inthe Rajsuya yajna?”

Dhritarashtra suggested, “You can alsoperform a similar sacrifice and you will alsoget those gifts.” But Duryodhana knew that hewould not get even one tenth of the gifts thatYudhishthir got.

Therefore the evil-minded Duryodhana,along with the diabolical Shakuni, decided todevise some devious way, by which thePandavas could be destroyed. Duryodhana

knew that he could not challenge thePandavas in a battle; they would easily defeat



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him. So he decided to invite the Pandavas toa gambling match so that they could becheated of their kingdom and be exiled intothe forest.

Even during the exile of the Pandavas,Duryodhana, though the emperor of the entireworld, was constantly in anxiety about thepossibility of the return of the Pandavas in thefuture; he was never at peace. On the otherhand, the Pandavas, who were greatdevotees of Krishna, being nonenvious, livedpeacefully though they were in utter povertyin the forest.

In a similar way, in the present times ofcutthroat competition, most people live totallyinsecure lives, being torn apart byimmeasurable anxieties, “This person istrying to pull me down”, “It is only because ofthat person that I cannot progress in my life”,“That person is growing bigger than me, howcan I cut him down?” Such people grit theirteeth, bite their lips, frown, grumble, brood

and, riding on the chariot of their mind, makeelaborate plans to destroy all their so-called

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enemies and become supreme. But all theirendeavors are repeatedly frustrated and theyhave no peace of mind whatsoever.

SEE The LOVING HAND of GOD

BEHIND EVERYTHING And TOLERATEINCONVENIENCES

However such resentment and envy areactually a sign of cowardice, a sign of theabsence of the courage to accept the realitythat they cannot control the world aroundthem. They are disturbing their peace of mindfor no gains whatsoever, because nobody

has the power to change the will of God.Wisdom lies in understanding that thehappiness and distress destined for us at thetime of our birth, as fixed according to ourpast karma, are inevitably going to come, nomatter what we do. Just as distress comes inour life uninvited, by higher arrangement,happiness will also come of its own accord.Therefore real wisdom lies in seeing the

loving and well-wishing hand of God behind



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everything that happens in our lives. Onlywith such a vision can we live in peace.

But if a person is jealous of others and istrying to pull them down or destroy them, then

he can never be at peace. Why? Becausesuch a person is concerned not so much withhow well he has fared, but with how badlyothers have fared. His success lies in thefailure of others. His mentality is like that of acrab, who having been trapped in afisherman’s basket along with many othercrabs, is worried, not about saving his ownlife by jumping out of the basket, but aboutpulling other crabs down so that he may stayat a higher level than them within the basket.What an utterly foolish mentality!

Therefore an intelligent person, adevotee of God, does not measure hissuccess by such a meaningless standard – the failure of others. He understands that realsuccess in life is in pleasing God becauseonly by the mercy of God can all problems besolved, once and for all. And knowing that

everything happens by the will of God, he

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lives by the wise saying: what cannot becured has to be endured.

This same truth is taught by Lord Krishnain the Bhagavad-gita (2.14)

matra sparsas tu kaunteyasitosna sukha duhkha dahagamapayino ‘nityas

tams titikisasva bharataKrishna says, “O son of Kunti, the

nonpermanent appearance of happiness anddistress, and their disappearance in duecourse, are like the appearance anddisappearance of winter and summerseasons. They arise from sense perception,O scion of Bharata, and one must learn totolerate them without being disturbed.”

For example, the duty of a housewife isto cook. In the summer season, though thekitchen may be very hot, she cannot say, “ Iwill cook only in the winter. In summer, thekitchen is very hot. So I cannot cook.” Eventhough the kitchen may be hot, she has to

just tolerate the heat and go on with her duty

of cooking.



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In the same way, we have to know thatthere are many things in life, which arebeyond our control. If a person thinks, “I cancontrol everything in every situation

throughout my life”, the mind of such aperson will be literally torn to pieces. Anintelligent person knows that God is theSupreme Controller and that He is controllingeverything that is happening throughout theworld as well as in his own life. Such aperson, who sees with the eyes ofknowledge, can understand that he is boundfrom head to toe by the laws of nature. Whenwe ourselves are so completely controlled,how then can we expect to control everysituation, or for that matter, any situation?Therefore though there may be hundreds ofinconveniences, annoyances and irritationsfrom the moment we wake up every morningto the moment we sleep at night (and evenwhen we are asleep), we have to understandthat they are not within our power to change.So we should learn to tolerate them without

being disturbed.

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DEPEND On GOD For HELP

You may be wondering, “How is itpossible that with disturbances all around me,

I should remain undisturbed?” It is possiblewhen we depend on the power of God bytaking His shelter whenever suchinconveniences come. When we surrender toHim, He will give us the necessary will power,inner strength and patience to endure suchtrying circumstances. This is the reason whygodly people are able to stay undisturbed inthe face of trials and tribulations, whereasthose who are not surrendered to God, whenfaced with a crisis, usually seek refuge insome illusory escape-route such as drinkingor taking drugs. And sometimes, they mayeven go to the extent of committing suicidelike a coward.

At this juncture, you may ask, “Takingshelter of God is a very vague and abstractconcept. Is there any practical way of actuallydoing this?” Certainly! We can very easily

take shelter of God by chanting His Holy



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Names. The chanting of the Hare Krishnamahamantra,

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare when done everyday, can give us

tremendous inner strength and iron-likedetermination to tolerate any situation in anywalk of life. So by inner spiritual strengthderived from regular chanting, we can learnto endure all the suffering of the world.

And of course it is not that we just haveto go on enduring the blows of the world forthe rest of eternity and that there will be norespite ever. Though we may be suffering atthe present moment, we should know that, aswe are performing devotional service to God,we are gradually becoming purified and wewill eventually be taken out of this world ofmisery and be situated in the kingdom ofGod, an abode of eternity, bliss andknowledge, which is our original home. So as

long as we are connected to God and are onour way back to God, we can be assured that



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in the future there will be no suffering for usand, even in the present, as we develop moreand more tolerance, our suffering will keepdecreasing. On the other hand, if someone

has no connection to God, he is, at present,being helplessly tossed about in an ocean ofsuffering and, due to his present sinfulactivities, he is going to be cast deeper intothat ocean in the future. So as long as hedoes not connect himself with God, there willbe no respite whatsoever in his sufferings.

GIVE UP The CRAVING ForRECOGNITION

Craving for worldly glory and recognitionis the surest way to physical and mentalrestlessness. The whole world is runningmadly after name, fame and recognition. Butwhy do we want recognition? Have we everasked ourselves this question? We wantname, fame and recognition so that peoplemay understand our greatness. Everyone inthis world considers himself to be a very greatperson and so he wants people to respect

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him. Even those, who don’t have anyextraordinary ability or talent by which theycan become famous, try to obtain fame byconnecting themselves with those who are

famous. That is why people want to havetheir photograph taken with a popular film staror cricketer; so that they can show it to othersand make an unspoken statement, “Just see!I am putting my hands on the shoulder of thisfamous cricketer. Just see it! And understandmy greatness!” Thus everyone wants toachieve recognition in some way or the other.

But in complete contrast, Lord ChaitanyaMahaprabhu prays:

na dhanam na janam na sundarimkavitam va jagadisha kamayemama janmani janmani isvarebhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi

“O almighty Lord, I have no desire toaccumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautifulwomen, nor do I want any number offollowers. I only want your causelessdevotional service birth after birth.”

(Shikshashtakam 4)



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The first reaction of most people onhearing this prayer is shock and utterdisbelief. Wealth, women and followers arewhat people hanker and toil tirelessly for

throughout their lives. But to the degree aperson is hankering for recognition fromworldly people, to that degree his mind will betorn to pieces. Why? Because the harshunpalatable truth is that no one in the worldrespects you, has any concern for you or iseven interested in you; their respect, concernand interest are all for what you possess.Countless examples can be given tosubstantiate this truth:

• A prostitute will smile at a man, speaksweetly with him and provide him with allenjoyment; due to her behavior, the manmay naturally start thinking, “O she’sattracted to me. I am so handsome!” Butshe is not the least interested in him; themoment his pocket is empty, she willdisappear.

• When a tree is full of fruits, multitudes of

birds flock to the tree. The tree may think,“All these birds are coming to me. I am

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such an important entity.” But the momentthe fruits get over, not a single bird evenglances at the tree.

• When many charming deer are grazing in a

forest, the forest may think, “I must be sowonderful that even these beautiful deerare coming to me.” But when there is nogreen grass in the forest, the deer will notstay there even for a moment.

Similarly, it appears that all the people,who surround you, are interested in you andthat they are all impressed by your greatness.But when you grow old and are no longerbeautiful or when you lose the opulence thatyou have today, none of these people willcome near y ou; they will simply disappear.Films stars and cricketershave thousands of fans intheir youth and they feel ontop of the world, receiving theadulation of their fans. Butwhen they grow old, none oftheir fans pays even the

slightest attention to them, leave alonerespecting or adulating them. And for one



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who has been famous, obscurity is worsethan death. For example, there was acelebrated foot ball player and, due to hisexceptional talent in maneuvering the ball

with his foot, he had millions of fans all overthe world literally mad after him (or so hethought). But one day hesomehow broke his leg andhe could no longer playfootball. And that was theend of all his fame; not evena single soul would come tomeet him thereafter. Even ifnothing like this happens to

a famous person, still all his accumulatedwealth, possessions, recognition etc., aregoing to be lost in the sands of time at thetime of death. In this way we can easilyunderstand that being mad for recognitionfrom the people of the world is foolishness.

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STRIVE To GAIN The FRIENDSHIP OfGOD; It Is THE GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT

Instead of aspiring for such ephemeral

worldly recognition we should be aspiring tobe recognized by God. Why? Because God isa person who loves you for what you are andnot for what you have. And He loves you somuch that He remains your greatest wellwisher and heart-to-heart friend, even if youare not in the least interested in Him.Therefore, instead of directing our craving forrecognition towards the people of this world,we should re-direct it towards the Lord and

His representatives, the saintly persons.A person can do this only when he has

understood what is the greatest achievementin life. In modern times, people generallythink that earning fabulous sums of money orgoing abroad and returning with a lot ofwealth or leading a very happy family life orhaving hundreds and thousands ofpossessions is the greatest achievement in

life. But history shows that anybody whothought like this had to suffer terribly in the



39

end. The inevitable time factor defeats allsuch hedonistic plans for enjoyment andreduces to nothing all one’s accomplishmentsexactly like the roaring waves of a ocean

devastating a sand castle built by a child.This is the harsh reality of the material world.That is why Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

says, “I don’t aspire for wealth, women orfollowers”, but rather He prays to the Lord,“Please give me pure love for you.” As thescriptures proclaim, prema pumartho mahan “The greatest achievement in all of creation isto achieve pure love of God.” Why? Becausethe only true need of each one of us is

happiness. And happiness comes only whenwe truly love and are truly loved. And the onlyperson worthy of reposing love in is God,because He alone can be the eternal objectof our love; all other so-called lovingrelationships are inevitably severed by thesharp sword of time. We can achievehappiness and peace of mind automatically ifwe re-awaken our dormant love of God. And

this love can be awakened simply by serving

40

and remembering God in whatever we do andby chanting His Holy Names.

But instead of trying to re-establish ourrelationship with God, if we get entangled in

the rat race for recognition, we will bedoomed to disappointment and frustration.While we are alive, we will never get anypeace of mind and, at the time of death, wewill realize that we have been cheatedbecause all the things, which we gave ourentire lives to obtain, will be forcibly takenaway.

Don’t INCREASE YOUR WANTS AND

FEEL Like a BEGGAR; RATHERDECREASE YOUR WANTS AndFEEL Like a KING

People ask for peace of mind but theywant to very carefully preserve their materialgreed. But the truth is peace of mind andmaterial greed are incompatibles. You haveto make your choice.

It is wisely said, ‘God has provided foreveryone’s need, but not for everyone’s



41

greed.’ An angry man can be pacified whenhe gives vent to his anger by chastisingsomeone; a thirsty man can be satisfied byhaving some water; a hungry man can be

satisfied by having some food. But a greedyman can never be satisfied by anything, nomatter how much he accumulates. So theonly way to deal with greed is to give up thegreedy mentality.

People go on increasing their facilitiesmore and more, thinking that they arebecoming bigger and bigger controllers. But,by increasing their facilities, they end upbecoming slaves of those facilities. Just

imagine a modern man surrounded on allsides by modern gadgets. He has a grinder;so he has no need to use his hand. He has amobile phone; so he doesn’t have to movefrom his bed to attend to phone calls. He hasa remote control; so he doesn’t have to getup from his bed for switching on thetelevision. Nowadays there are remoteswitches even for fans and lights and one can

switch them on from one’s bed. In this wayman has increased his luxuries and facilities

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and he thinks, ”The control for the wholeworld is at my finger tips. Just by a slightmovement of my fingers, I can controleverything around me.”

But, in the process, he becomes utterlydependent on these gadgets. If even one ofthem doesn’t work properly, he becomesmiserable. And what is the ultimateconsequence of such needless indulgence?

Those who use such gadgets throughout theirl ives get a variety of bodily maladies in their

old age. And when they go to a doctor, hetells them, “You have not done any exercise



43

throughout your life. So now you have tomove your hand up and down as if you weredrawing water from a well.” Or “You have torotate your hand as if you were working on agrinder.” Or “You have to go every morningfor walking or jogging.”

What an irony! By the arrangement ofnature, man has to do all these things and, ifhe does them, he will never get rheumaticpain or any such sickness. But consideringsuch basic bodily activities to be troublesome,he works hard to earn money to get gadgetsto avoid doing these things. But on gettingsuch gadgets, he suffers because he

becomes utterly dependent on them. And, inthe end, he gets health problems and isforced to do the very things, which heoriginally wanted to avoid!

But despite the foolishness of it all,unfortunately people today increase theirneeds more and more and work hard likedonkeys to accumulate more wealth forprocuring these facilities. But it only entraps

them further. For example, in the moderntimes, there is the credit card system. A

44

person can take any gadget he wants just byshowing his credit card. Tempted by thedesire to have the best facilities in his house,he takes many expensive gadgets. But laterhe finds out that he has to work like a donkeyfor another ten or twenty years just to pay theinstallments for what he purchased using hiscredit card.

So in this way people think that they aregetting more and more facilities and that theyare enjoying but actually they are onlyincreasing their suffering. The material naturecreated by the Lord, Maya, is so powerful thatshe thoroughly cheats those who try to exploit

her resources without using them in theservice of God, as is illustrated by thefollowing story.

Once upon a time a sadhu was climbinga mountain. Finding the climb laborious, hethought how nice it would be if he could climbthe mountain on horseback. He thereforestarted singing, “Hey Rama ghodi dila de,hey Rama, ghodi dila de” . “O Lord Rama

please give me a horse.” And lo and behold!While he was praying like this, a passerby



45

came and, seeing a sadhu struggling to climbthe mountain, donated a horse. The sadhuwas very happy that the Lord had fulfilled hisdesire immediately.

He promptly mounted the horse andcontinued climbing up the mountain. Aftersome time, all of a sudden, the horse stoppedand, despite repeated proddings, would notbudge even an inch. When he got down tosee what was wrong, he noticed that thehorse was actually a mare. She had beenpregnant and had just given birth to a babyhorse. And due to her natural maternalaffection for her offspring, she was not ready

to leave it.Perplexed, the sadhu wondered how he

could make the horse move. Suddenly anidea struck him and he picked up the babyhorse and started walking. Being attached toher offspring, the mare quietly followed him.The sadhu was very pleased with himself,“Just see how clever I am! I have tricked thehorse into walking.”

But after just a few steps he startedpanting due to the weight of the foal. He then

46

started thinking, “Hey! Wait a minute! Iwanted a horse to carry me, but I have endedup carrying a horse! I was much better offearlier; at least I did not have any burden tocarry.”

In this way we sometimes increase ourfacilities in order to enjoy life but later we seethat those very facilities become sources oftrouble; we become slaves of those facilities.

PRACTICE SIMPLE LIVING And HIGHTHINKING

Therefore the Vedic way of life is based

on the principle of ‘Simple Living and HighThinking’. We should work only as much as isnecessary to fulfil the basic necessities of lifeand utilize our remaining time, energy andmoney for reviving our eternal life. How? Byengaging in devotional service of God, bychanting His Holy Names and by reading andhearing many wonderful scriptures likeSrimad Bhagvad-gita, Bhagvatam,Ramayana, Mahabharata, all of which teachthe message of God.



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Someone may ask, “What is the need fordoing all this?” It is because every one of usis actually a part and parcel of God, aneternal servant of God, in the spiritual sky.We all belong to that original home wherethere is no misery, no birth, old age, diseaseor death. Life there is eternal, full of bliss andfull of knowledge. Therefore an intelligent

person should hanker for that life. And thatcan be achieved only when we live simply

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and think high, that is, we center our livesaround God.

And why should one reduce one’snecessities to the minimum? Suppose youare travelling by train from Pune to Bombay.Will you construct a house in the train? Or willyou carry a television, fridge and other suchluxuries with you to enjoy in the train?Certainly not! Why? Because by the time youfinish constructing a house within the train,Bombay would have arrived and you wouldhave to get down. In the same way,expending all one’s energy for accumulatingwealth to increase luxuries in the name of

necessity, forgetting the prime goal of life, is amere waste of time, because life is short andtemporary.

But wonder of all wonders! People workhard throughout their lives just to purchase aflat in Bombay. And by the time they are ableto purchase it, they have reached the fag endof their lives and they quit the world like catsand dogs, without any understanding about

God or the goal of life or without even beingable to enjoy living in the flat.



49

But if we live simply and spend timeeveryday to chant the names of God and toremember Him, then we will see thatgradually the mind becomes light, like a swabof cotton and can be very easily controlled. Infact, it can be molded just like wax. And onecan experience the joy of the eternal realmeven while being in this world.

BE RESPONSIBLE; But Don’t PURCHASETROUBLE

It is important to note in this connectionthat when we say that we should remember

God and chant His names, it doesn’t meanthat we should become lazy and give up allour responsibilities. The ideal approach towork is: be balanced; don’t be irresponsible,but don’t purchase trouble either.

Sometimes, one tends to think, “I amgetting this much salary, and he is alsogetting the same amount. But he is doingvery little work and is mostly escaping fromhis work. So why should I work so hard? Let

me also escape.” But by escaping from one’s

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responsibilities, one gets a feeling of guilt,which increases one’s anxieties manifold.The safest and the best course of action is to

just do your job honestly and responsibly,while at the same time living a God centeredlife.

While doing our duties responsibly, weshould be intelligent enough not to add on toour responsi-bilities by taking additional loadsdue to our egoistic initiative; otherwise we aresimply purchasing trouble. Such an egoisticperson thinks, “He is doing so much work. Imust show the world that I am greater thanhim.” And so one takes on so much load on

oneself that one has no time for God; no timefor one’s own family, no time for even thebasic activities of life. In this way, onebecomes practically crazy working 14 or 16hours a day. And there is no end to suchwork. How can such a person who, in order tosatisfy his inflated ego, is caught up inunending materialistic activities and theconcomitant immeasurable anxieties, ever

attain peace of mind?



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So one should do one’s job properly and,at the same time, set aside sufficient time forcultivating one’s inward life by chanting,reading scriptures and coming together withone’s family to worship the Supreme LordKrishna. There is a wise saying: “The familythat prays together stays together”. So if onecomes together every morning with his wife,children and family, and worships God bychanting Hare Krishna, offers bhoga to theLord and accepts the Lord’s prasadam, thenone’s life will become peaceful. One can leada happy life while one is in this world and, atthe time of death, one will return to the

kingdom of God.On the other hand, one who increases

his material responsibilities more and moredue to his egoistic initiative, will find himselfdisturbed in the mind by countless anxieties.And such a person who is disturbed withinwill naturally cause disturbances for everyonearound him. He will quarrel with his wife,shout at his children and be harsh and

unreasonable with his subordinates. Such a

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person cannot do any good, either for himselfor for others.

And all this is because he did not givetime for his inner spiritual growth. Just as

when onekeeps

writing witha pencil, butdoes notsharpen it, it

eventuallybecomes

blunt andincapable of

writing,similarly if one keeps on working, but doesnot spare time for mantra meditation andprayer, then one’s efficiency goes downdrastically and one becomes incapable ofdoing any worthwhile work; one’s workbecomes meaningless.

Now-a-days, such workaholics are veryproud of the saying “Karma hi pooja hai ”. But

if one tries to live like that, working like adonkey, one will be totally frustrated in life



53

and will never get any peace of mind. On theother hand, if everyday one sets aside sometime for God and chants Hare Krishna, it islike sharpening the pencil. By such regularspiritual practice, one can manage both – one’s material duty as well as one’s duty toGod – nicely. This is the way to living withpeace of mind, both in this world and thenext.

BE IN THIS WORLD But NOT of THISWORLD

At this point, a question may come up,

“Daily spiritual practice is alright., but howshould we go about our various duties? Inother words, how should we live in thisworld?” The first and foremost thing tounderstand is the most basic truth; that weare not God, but we are the eternal servantsof God. We are therefore meant to utilize ourwhole life and all our possessions, not for ourown enjoyment, but for the service of God.

This principle is graphically illustrated in

the Ramayana in the way Ravana and

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Hanuman behaved towards LordRamchandra. In the Ramayana, we see thatLord Rama was served by everyone; bymother Sita, by Lakshmana, by Hanuman, byBharata, by Sugriva, by Guha and by somany other persons. But there was only oneperson who was opposed to serving LordRama - Ravana. He wanted to take awayLord Rama’s property, mother Sita and enjoyher for himself. And what was his ultimatedestination? He had to meet cruel death atthe hands of Lord Rama.

In the same way, nature and all theresources provided by her are the property of

Lord Rama. If one tries to take the resourcesof the world like grains, fruits, minerals, water,air, light, etc., provided by God and tries toenjoy them without acknowledging theproprietorship of God, such a person hasRavana-like mentality: he wants to enjoy theproperty of God for himself without eventhanking God and thus he is doomed.Therefore, while living in this world, we

should always humbly bow down before God



55

and thank Him for all that He has offered usfor our subsistence.

And one should never ever try to extractenjoyment from this world. If we have thisenjoying mentality of dominating others andextracting pleasure from this world byengaging in sinful activity, then we will beinevitably frustrated. Why? Because trying toget enjoyment through materialisticengagement is like trying to extract nectarfrom the mouth of a venomous cobra. It is aninherently futile attempt; all that one can getfrom the mouth of a cobra is poison.

There will be so many people who will

tempt us to eat, drink, be merry and enjoy life,but, if we look into the lives of these verypeople, we will find that they are the mostfrustrated people. Apart from the propagandaof these materialistic people, our senses arealso so agitated that they are dragging us inall directions to enjoy. Our tongue is pullingus in one direction to taste a variety ofdelicious foodstuffs. Our eyes are scanning

all the directions in the search of beautifulforms. And the same is true for every one of

56

our senses. Just like a man having five wivesis dragged in different directions by each oneof them for enjoyment, similarly, we are alsodragged by our five senses in variousdirections. And if we close our eye ofdiscrimination and go in the direction dictatedby the mind and the senses, then we are onthe royal road to hell.

We can see with our own eyes thedisastrous consequences of materialenjoyment. One who smokes is afflicted bylung cancer; one who drinks wine is struck byliver diseases; one who eats gutka is torturedby oral cancer in the teeth and gums; one

who wants to enjoy with many women isterminated by AIDS. Thus nature givessevere slaps and kicks to those who try toextract enjoyment from this world.

RELISH The HIGHER TASTE of SERVICETo GOD

Many people understand, at anintellectual level, that material enjoyment is

always the cause of suffering, but still despite



57

their best efforts to restrain themselves, theyare unable to give up the desire to enjoy.Therefore the million-dollar question is: howcan we give up the enjoying mentality?

It is possible only when we engage all oursenses in the service of God. Our senses arelike venomous serpents with the fangs of theenjoying mentality. But if we engage thesenses in the service of the Lord, it is likeremoving their poison teeth. Without its fangs,a snake can cause no harm. Similarly if oursenses are engaged in the service of theLord, they become harmless. Service to theLord gives us a higher pleasure, which

enables us to give up the pleasure derivedfrom sense enjoyment.

How can one engage the senses in theservice of the Lord? By using our eyes inbeholding the beautiful forms of the Deities inthe temple, by using our hands in cuttingvegetables for the Lord and in washing thetemple, by using our legs in going to theISKCON temple, by using our whole body for

dancing in front of the Lord, by using our

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59

tongue for chanting the Holy Names of God,especially the Hare Krishna mahamantra andfor honouring prasadam. In this way all oursenses can be purified of the contaminationof the desire to enjoy.

And if our mind starts making too muchdemand for material enjoyment, still we don’thave to experience it to realize its futility. Wecan see and learn from the experience of theworldly people. Those who are struggling toincrease their enjoyment more and more inthe world are only becoming more and morefrustrated. Thus, using our intelligence, wecan control the mind.

We can derive further spiritual strengthby knowing that life, after all, is flickering andtemporary; it is just like a dream. Every night,when we sleep, we have an 8-hour dream.But life is an 80-year dream; that is the onlydifference. Both are temporary and, after theyare over, neither has any factual existence.Knowing that life will pass away like a quick

journey, we should cultivate the Hanuman

mentality of serving Lord Rama. Just asHanuman was trying to make arrangements

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to bring Sita back to Rama, similarly weshould try to bring all the things of the worldcloser to God by engaging them in Hisservice. Then we can achieve peace of mind.

How can we actually engage all thethings of the world in the service of God,especially in the modern times? All of us canuse our various talents in the service of God.Some of us who are expert in computers cando computer services for publishing booksabout God and His message. Some of us canmake beautiful garlands to decorate theDeities of the Lord. Some of us can come totemple on Sundays and the festivals for

assisting in cooking for the Lord. Thusaccording to individual abilities andinclinations, we can all engage ourselves inservice to the Lord. By performing suchservice, the most dangerous enjoyingmentality will subside and we will get theserving mentality, which alone can bring us tothe platform of sanity and peace. Theenjoying mentality is a deadly disease and

the service of the Lord is the perfect medicinefor it.



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OBEY The LAWS of GOD

Lastly we have to understand that unlesswe agree to abide by the laws of God, we cannever achieve peace of mind. This can be

understood from an example. Suppose aperson wants to break all the laws of theIndian government; he wants to steal, hewants to rape women, he wants to murder.And he comes running to you and asks you, “I want to be peaceful. But I also want to breakthe laws of the state. Please tell me how I canstill have peace of mind.” What solution canyou offer such a person? An intelligent

person will advice him, “My dear friend, firstof all you follow the laws of the country. Thenwhen you are living as an ideal citizen, youcan be free from persecution and anxiety andcan live peacefully.”

In a similar way, the whole world is thestate of God; after all, He has created it. AndHe has also made many laws for those wholive in the world. These laws of the divine

government are given in the bona fidescriptures of the world. So an intelligent

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person should hear the scriptures from thesaintly people and, based on scripturalknowledge, he should discriminate betweenthe right and the wrong, the good and thebad, and act accordingly. And in this way,when he carefully follow the instructions ofGod given in the scriptures throughout hislife, then he can have peace of mind.

God is our only eternal friend. To be frankwith you, the harsh reality that no one in thisworld is interested in you. Don’t expect the



63

world to rush to your rescue when you are introuble; it will just not happen. Far fromrunning to help you, even your best friendswill run away from you when you are introuble. There are many levels of friends -

official friends called bandhu , social friendscalled mitra and so on. But the Lord is ouronly real friend. He is therefore called suhrt ,meaning that He is our heart-to-heart friend.There is no one as close to us as God,although we may not know it. God is such agreat friend, that even if we forget Him, evenif we neglect Him, even if we become enviousof Him, He still loves us. Just as a selfless

mother only wants to serve her child always,irrespective of whether he is obedient,disobedient or naughty, similarly God isalways very keen to help us, whether wereciprocate with Him or not. Krishna says,suhridam sarva bhutanam “I am thesuhridam , well wisher, of every living entity. Iam the heart to heart friend of every livingentity.” So we should always learn to keep

God in the center of our lives.

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An ideal example of this is Arjuna. Arjunanever did anything unless it was connected inservice to Krishna. Even his act of fightingwas for the pleasure of Krishna; before goingto the battlefield, he circumambulated Krishna

and offered Him obeisances. So for Arjuna,there was no one as close as Krishna. Andthe same is true for every living entitybecause Krishna says: sarvasya caham hrdisannivisto “I am residing in the heart ofeveryone as the Parmatama.” So in thehearts of each one of us, besides the soulthere is the Supersoul, who is an expansionof Krishna. And the Paramatma is always

ready to help us and give us guidance aboutwhat to do and what not to do.

Therefore we should work for gainingGod’s friendship; it is the greatest gain. Andwhen we have that, peace of mind is anautomatic byproduct. We cannot achievepeace of mind overnight by taking some pillstold by some doctor. Nor can we achieve it byfollowing some godless mechanical methods.

Sometimes people teach some mind controltechniques in which they say, “Imagine a



65

form.” or “imagine a picture.” But all suchmethods are futile because they cannot givelasting peace of mind.

Actual peace of mind can arise only outof spiritual growth and such spiritual growth is

greatly aided by external support and greatlymarred by external incompatibilities. Theaiding supports are all those things, whichenhance the mode of goodness (sattva guna)in us. For example, by taking satvika diet -prasadam, wearing sattvika dress, living in asattvika environment, coming to sattvikaassociation of those who are devotees of Godand reading spiritual books, we can enhance

our understanding about God. And in this wayall these sattvika habits can help us to comecloser to God and become internally mature

On the other hand, if we associate withthose things, which increase the lower modesof passion and ignorance in us, our mind willbecome more and more agitated. Forexample, by watching horror movies, seeingpornographic pictures, taking intoxicants etc,

we will go further away from achieving peaceof mind.

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CHANT HARE KRISHNA – The ULTIMATEPANACEA

So we should give a prominent position inour life for prayers and pilgrimage, fasts and

festivals and for satsang and self-realization.These are all very important to free our mindfrom the sufferings of the world. In our HareKrishna movement, the ISKCON movement,Srila Prabhupada, the founder-acharya, hasestablished a wonderful program by whicheveryone can very easily achieve peace ofmind: the chanting of the Hare Krishnamahamantra. Right from a small child to an

old man, anyone can practice this chantingon a daily basis. One can chant one or tworounds. Regularly fixed up devotees chantsixteen rounds and they never feel that theyare wasting time in sitting and chanting theLord’s name. Why? Because chanting HareKrishna increases their efficiency in all fieldsand gives them an increased capacity to turnout more work in less time. Great productivity

can be achieved when one chants HareKrishna. Therefore the chanting of Hare



67

Krishna will never interfere in your daily work;rather it will enhance daily work.

Moreover, the practical experience ofmany, many devotees all over the worldshows that when one chants Hare Krishna

one is, in no time, able to give up all the badhabits like smoking, eating meat, takingintoxicants, illicit sex etc. One can give up allthe lower tendencies and can becomecompletely pure. And with a pure heart one’smind becomes very light; one can grasp anysubject quickly and one can act efficiently. Inthis way, one can achieve the ultimatesuccess in life through controlling one’s mind

by mantra meditation.The nature of the mind and the

importance of chanting are illustrated in thefollowing story.

Once upon a time, there was a man whopleased a sage. As a benediction, the sageoffered him a big jinn and told him, “Take this

jinn with you. He can fulfill all of your desires;he can do any work you give him.” But the

sadhu warned him, “If you keep himunengaged, then he will devour you. So be

68

careful to constantly engage him.” This mansaid, “Oh! Don’t worry. I have got thousandsof things to do.” So this man took thepowerful jinn with him home and ordered him,“Plough that thousand acre land.” And the

jinn ploughed it all in just five minutes. Hereturned back and he said, “My dear sir, giveme the next order.” The man was stunned.“Build a big bungalow for me”, he said. Andthe jinn made a big bungalow for him in amatter of minutes. So in this way whatever heasked for, the jinn arranged for immediately.Now the man became alarmed because hehad no engagement to give him; he was just

too quick in executing his action. So whatcould he do? He ran back to the sage andscreamed to him, “Please save me from thisgreat demon! It is about to devour me. I don’thave any work to give him.” So the sage toldhim, “You fool! It is easy. Take that ladderwith you. Place it next to your house and tellthe jinn to climb up and down. Whenever youneed him, call him and give him service. And

at all other times tell him to go up the ladder



69

and come down.” The man acted accordinglyand was thus saved from the demon.

Our mind is just like the demon. It is verypowerful; it can do hundreds of things veryquickly. And the moment we leave it

unengaged, it starts thinking of unnecessaryand undesirable things and fills us withinsatiable cravings, anxieties and fears. Andwhat is the ladder to deal with the demon ofthe mind? It is the Hare Krishnamahamantra:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare |

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare || If we constantly chant the mahamantra

and remember the Lord, then the mind cannever disturb us. It is said that an idle mind isthe devil’s workshop. But if the mind isengaged in chanting the holy name andremembering God, one can becomecompletely peaceful and the mind can bepositively engaged for performing good

activities for oneself and for the whole worldat large. In such a pure mind, pure thoughts

70

naturally arise and then we can propagate the

pure spiritual knowledge for the benefit of thewhole of humanity. And in this way we canachieve peace of mind ourselves andsimultaneously benefit others also.

H A R E K R I S H N A !

Chant

Hare KrishnaHare Krishna

Krishna Krishna

Hare Hare |Hare RamaHare RamaRama RamaHare Hare

And Be Happy



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