It is possible to acquire significant level of control over one’s mind. The approach may need to be radically different from what you might expect.
Let us start with what I mean by “controlling the mind”. According to ancient Indian texts, the mind is afflicted by “bad actors” that keep it off-balance and away from peace and happiness. Readers of my earlier articles may recall that these bad actors would be the usual suspects:
- Desire or anger (see article)
- Jealousy
- Greed
- Laziness or sloth
…. and the other “sins” are some of the miscreants.1
A mind swaying under the influence of these bad actors would be neither at peace nor truly happy. As mentioned above, my earlier article will provide some level of context and explanation of why this is so. When using the phrase “controlling the mind”, I mean successfully keeping these actors in check to naturally be happy. According to ancient Indian texts, we are naturally predisposed towards happiness. Controlling these bad actors automatically moves the mind into a natural state of peaceful happiness. My personal experience bears this out and, in this article, I plan to share my learning on how to go about exercising this control over the mind.
As always, I would invite readers to read my articles with a scientific, skeptical bend of mind and to “test drive” to validate ideas rather than take things at face value.
First – understand the mind
Here is a very different way to understand the mind. And this understanding flows from how it is (cryptically) described by ancient Indian texts. In my earlier article, I have described how the text of Ramayan tells a story of personified forces that act at our mental plane. Similarly, commentators have described how these forces in the mind are personified in Mahabharat. One source that I would recommend for Mahabharat would be Yogananda’s book on Gita. Having already talked about Ramayan, I will focus this article on characters in Mahabharat.2
As we know, the mind is a complex thing. Its operation appears to be opaque and difficult to understand. According to one interpretation of the ancient Indian texts, this is because the mind operates through a complex interplay of different forces. Each of these forces has different characteristics and they are organized into two competing groups. Each of the two groups is struggling against the other to gain control over the mind. On one side is the proverbial dark side that is led by a prince by the name Duryodhan, who represents volatile desire. This side, called Kauravs, has formidable warriors under it that include the ego, subconscious habits/patterns of thoughts, self-justification,3 the list of bad actors mentioned above (anger, jealousy, greed, laziness) as well as those included in the footnote below.1
An important insight from Mahabharat stories about the key bad actors (desire, ego, habits, and self-justification) is that they are far too strong to be defeated in a fair, straight battle. So, Mahabharat explains the chinks in each character’s armor to enable us to bring them down inside our minds. This insight is so important that it is worth repeating. Each bad actor has a unique hidden weakness that can be exploited; ignore this weakness and it becomes impossible to defeat him (only male warriors fought in the battle). Also, the characters of ego, habits, and self-justification, while being formidable fighters are also conflicted. Part of them wants the good side to win and they also provide some level of help to the good side. This internal contradiction is exploited by the good side in Mahabharat to bring them down (thus the need to fight them ruthlessly in the mind and not necessarily fairly). It also needs to be pointed out that the Kauravs do not fight fairly themselves – a good reason to use unfair means against them too.
Arrayed against the dark forces of the mind is the good side of the mind, a group that is called the Pandavs. The Pandavs are led by another prince by the name Yudhisthir, Duryodhan’s cousin. Yudhisthir personifies a mixture of devotion mixed with strong steadiness of mind. Some of the other key warriors on Pandavs’ side personify the following:
(1) the yoga of breath control [called Bheem and Yudhisthir’s younger brother],
(2) drive to attain spiritual perfection [called Arjun and Yudhisthir’s and Bheem’s younger brother]
(3) spiritual introspection [Dhristadyumn and commander of the Pandav army)
(4) dispassionate objectivity and detachment [Drupad, a key general of the Pandav army and Dhristadyumna’s father]
Crucially, the Pandav’s side includes God Himself. The character Krishna personifies God in Mahabharat. In line with an agreement between Pandavs and Kauravs, Krishna does not take up arms in the war between them but only serves as an advisor to Pandavs. He is also the charioteer (and guide) of Arjun. All Pandav strategy has Krishna’s imprint and in each crucial battle, He plays a decisive role in shaping the outcome despite His not wielding any arms. As the decisive battle between Kauravs and Pandavs progresses, it becomes clear that the Pandav side would be unable to fight effectively without Krishna’s guidance. For example, the commanders of the Kaurav army (ego, habit, self-justification) were all successively brought down through Krishna’s suggested tactics. Ego and self-justification were defeated by Arjun and habit was slayed by Dhristadyumn. In the end, desire was also killed based on the tactic suggested by Krishna.
The conflicted thinking described in Kauravs is not unique to them. It is much more so on the Pandav side and is exploited by the Kauravs. For example, doing away with desire (Duryodhan) is not something a normal person wants. In the beginning of Bhagwad Gita, Arjun expresses this internal conflict by asking Krishna if a victory against the Kauravs would bring any happiness since he may not find life worth living after that. This internal conflict and self-doubt is the primary reason why most people refrain from undertaking a full spiritual battle within.4 At best, most people look for some level of balance between the two sides, just like Pandavs tried in Mahabharat. It is only when Pandavs slowly realize that Duryodhan will never accept their existence that they reluctantly accept the option of going to war with him. On the other hand, those who are very satisfied with their material lives and do not see much of a problem with harboring desires do not undertake this spiritual endeavor.6 It is as though the Pandavs inside them continue to try and find accommodation with Duryodhan till the very end of their lives. In most people the resolute decision to fight the dark forces of Kauravs within does not take place.7 Rephrased, most people try to accommodate desire and thus are unable to cross a basic level of spiritual threshold during their lives. This failure condemns most of us to a life devoid of true peace and happiness.
Next – apply the understanding
Going forward, I will be writing a series of Articles on Mahabharat – detailing key characters and how they might win or lose. In the articles, I will explain crucial battles were lost by Kauravs and the weaknesses of their warriors that were decisive to the outcome. And, I will add my interpretation of how that battle translates into what transpires within our minds.
Endnote: Read with scepticism
As I have explained in earlier articles, I would encourage the reader to approach this reading with a skeptical and scientific mindset. One could run “small experiments”5 within to see if the learning and insights are working for him and only then accept what has been written here. The insights from the articles that I write on Mahabharat characters will come with suggestions on how such experiments may be designed and run.
Recommended further reading
Controlling the mind – Article 2: Second in the series of articles on controlling the mind based on learnings from the Indian epic of Mahabharat. Here I cover the bad actors within the mind.
Controlling the mind – Article 3: Third in the series of articles on controlling the mind based on learnings from the Indian epic of Mahabharat. This post covers the good actors within the mind that make us more spiritual, at peace, and happy.
Footnotes
1: Paramhansa Yogananda provides a fuller list of these in his interpretation of Gita. Here are some more: lust, meanness, hate, abuse, avarice, wickedness, cruelty, arrogance, ill will, selfishness, dishonesty, revengefulness, cowardice, spiritual indifference, bitterness, and pessimism. This list is not comprehensive.
2: Primary source for my views on interpreting Mahabharat has been Yogananda’s Gita. For interested readers, I would highly recommend this book.
3: Self-justification or motivated reasoning is recognized today as a powerful obstacle in objective thinking today. The character representing this in Mahabharat (called Karna) is also described as being the most generous person in the story. Just as he can justify doing bad things as the closest friend of Duryodhan (desire), he can similarly justify extreme generosity. But, in the end, he fights on the wrong side and needs to be brought down.
4: The problem is that Pandavs spend an eternity trying to find some level of balance with Kauravs. They do not want to wage a war against their cousins and spend decades trying to find some level of accommodation. Compromise and co-habitation with Pandavs is not in the nature of Duryodhan. This nature is very similar of the human tendency to want more, no matter how much we have. Just as Duryodhan spent his entire life trying to kill or impoverish the Pandavs, the force of desire within the mind functions with the sole aim of keeping a person away from spiritual happiness and unconditional contentment. Duryodhan (desire) thus needs to be called out and put down. But other Kauravs stand between Pandavs and him and thus need to be put down too. They side with evil in the story and with misery in the mind.
5: Examples of such experiments could be testing out insights on how bad actors within can be neutralized. If the recommendations work, then the insight does appear to have merit and should be taken seriously.
6: As described in Gita – refer here and here.
7: Refer Gita verse making the same claim here.
