The Bhagavad Gita Part 3: The Impurities of the Mind, by Mahendra Mathur
In the last two issue of Tattva, we began a series on The Bhagavad Gita. This article is a continuation of the series.
The gist of what Krishna preached was that no matter what the result of an action is, we should do our duty without bothering about the reward. Arjuna had the right and control only over the action and not on its subsequent fruit. The right action is bound to bring about the right result, but one should not run after rewards. A person with the right mind renounces the fruits of action and reaches the highest goal called moksha, liberation, which is free from all evil. One who does not understand this loses happiness, as desires give rise to anger, and anger destroys reason—the intelligence to discriminate between right and wrong. Happiness and peace of mind come to those who do not think of themselves and thereby attain God and nirvana.
In short, the Bhagavad Gita teaches us how to be, how to think and how to act.
The world is looked upon in three different ways by every person: there are objects which one likes, there are others which one dislikes, and there are objects about which one is neutral. The presence, possession, or appearance of a liked object makes a person happy; its absence makes one unhappy. The presence of a disliked object makes one unhappy, and its absence makes one happy. Neutral objects are those about which one is indifferent; that is, the presence or absence of which do not cause happiness or unhappiness.
Thus depending upon one’s value-structure built up over years, one views an object as an object of like, dislike or indifference. The objects are not created by me – they are there to fulfill some purpose. They do not have as their attributes likes and dislikes. Any given object liked by one may be disliked by another, and it may not be able to evoke anything more than indifference in another person. While one person may be happy in acquiring a certain object, another one may be equally happy in getting rid of it. This shows that likes and dislikes are both private, subjective concepts of an individual. So we essentially live not in a world as it is but rather in a private world of likes and dislikes. Upon the sight of an object, the mind immediately superimposes like or dislike upon it and so a distorted vision of the object is presented to the intellect for judgment and response. The public world is not what I live in but I rather live in a private world fashioned by my dislikes and dislikes. So what makes me unhappy – the public world or my own world? I cannot say that the world as is makes me happy, for I have no knowledge of it with all my likes and dislikes. The struggle to acquire what I like and to avoid what I dislike is constant. If my contact with the world is unavoidable, this struggle is also unavoidable. It is like driving a vehicle on the road when one must be alert to avoid accidents. Likes and dislikes cannot be exhausted by fulfilling them because as old ones go new ones take their place. The values of a person also keep on changing. What is liked today may not be liked tomorrow and what is liked at one place may not be liked at another. A cup of coffee may be desirable in the morning but not in the middle of night. A sandwich may be desirable when I am hungry but not when I do not have an appetite. Likes and dislikes cannot be totally fulfilled. Likes and dislikes keep me a seeker of happiness and thus deny the happiness that is my true nature. Sorrow is alien; it is not my nature. One who knows oneself as ananda is happy for no reason, just as fire is hot for no reason because heat is the nature of fire. Lord Krishna describes a wise man as the one who is happy by himself because of himself in verse 55 of Chapter II. “When one, O Pritha’s son! – Abandoning desires which shake the mind - Finds in his soul full comfort for his soul,He hath attained the Yog – that man is such!”
One has to discover a value for a mind free from likes and dislikes. All that is required is to prevent the likes and dislikes from causing any disturbance in the mind. Such poise in mind is called Yoga in the Gita.
We get upset with a situation when our likes and dislikes are pronounced. We also know of things we like but which we do not bother about if they are not fulfilled. In such cases the likes and dislikes have no sting and we are able to take things without being upset about them. The mind is quiet. Samatwam, equipoise, equanimity, to be with myself, is called Yoga. To take desirable and undesirable things as they come, with poise is Samtwam and that alone is called yoga as described in verse 48 of Chapter II.
“And live in action! Labour! Make thine acts Thy piety, casting all self aside, Contemning gain and merit, equable In good or evil: equability Is Yog, is piety!”
If you will simply go deeper into the nectarean ocean of
“The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness.”–Bhagavad-gita 2.59
A mind in equipoise is able to appreciate the world as it is. Such an appreciation always brings joy. When we appreciate the sky, the sun, the stars, there is an objective appreciation because the mind does not project likes and dislikes upon them. We do not want them to be different from what they are and so appreciation of nature brings joy. A mind free from pronounced likes and dislikes can appreciate the entire creation in an objective manner and no object can disturb the poise of the mind. So a mind in poise is a happy mind that can discover and appreciate the absolute peace and happiness, that is the nature of the Self. A seeker has to discover the value for a mind in equipoise and pursue the means to attain it. When the value is recognized, one would attempt to acquire it by neutralizing the likes and dislikes. The means of attaining such a mind is karma yoga.
Taking flight is always about freeing ourselves from form, if only temporarily. When we literally fly, in a plane or on a hang glider, we free ourselves from the strength of gravity’s pull. As we open our minds and our hearts, we free ourselves from habitual patterns of thought and emotional blockages. As we remember our true nature, we free ourselves from identification with the temporary state of our physical forms. The more we stretch our wings, the clearer it becomes that taking flight is a state of grace that simply reminds us of who we really are.
By careful thoughtful analysis we can understand that this body is changing at every minute while I, the passenger within the body, remain the same. I was a little baby. I become a young boy, then a young man. Now I am middle aged and soon to be an old man. But all along through these many changes of body the “I” remains the same. Therefore it is not at all difficult to conclude that the self and the body are different from each other. They are not one and the same.
Even though our spiritual existence beyond the body is quite obvious, still we have developed a society based on economic development and sense gratification that constantly reinforces the false conception of “I am this body.” Why do we as a society do this? Because it sells. The general mass of people will consistently spend their money based on the principle of what gratifies their material senses. Therefore advertising plays off of this tendency. The companies that can most successfully exploit the lower pull towards bodily consciousness become the most successful. This creates a downward cycle, a whirlpool that constantly sucks the modern day society into deeper and darker ignorance.
We can become educated and free from the suffering position of bodily consciousness. And we can do the highest welfare work of sharing this liberating knowledge of the non-material nature of the self with as many people as possible. I am living in paradise at every minute, and this will continue getting increasingly sweeter and sweeter for all of eternity. And this in spite of an aging body that is gradually deteriorating and will sooner or later drop dead! I had always hoped for such a life. Sooner or later we all have to face the prospect of leaving our present material body behind. This experience is commonly known as death. For most people death is something which is very much feared. For the self-realized souls, however, it is the most exciting moment when one is granted the opportunity for promotion into the spiritual world, that place where birth, death, old age, and disease are conspicuous by their absence.
What determines whether we get promoted or whether we have to repeat the course by remaining within the cycle of birth and death? That depends on our consciousness at our final exam, the moment of death.If our thoughts are purely absorbed in thoughts of the Lord and His service, this is our way of solidly expressing our desire to be with Him in His eternal abode. In this state of consciousness upon leaving our present body we will definitely find ourselves waking up with the Lord and His eternal associates in the spiritual sky. If, however, our mind is holding onto material desires, the Lord will allow us to take birth again in this abode of birth and death for the fulfillment of those desires.
So where we go is definitely up to us. If we would like to attain the spiritual world, we can begin to prepare ourselves right now by spiritualizing all of our desires through the ancient science of bhakti yoga. Through the Bhakti yoga science our promotion into the spiritual world is guaranteed.
So why not seriously take up this path? You’ve got nothing to lose except for all of your anxieties. And you’ve got an eternal existence full of bliss and knowledge to gain.
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