BG 6.35 & 6.36 restraining the mind: thoughts from yoga vashiShTa

May 24, 2001

namaste.

In the ongoing discussion on bhagavadgItA (6.33 to 6.36),

Arjuna was saying that the mind is very cancala (turbulent)

and very difficult to control. Lord krishna says, in BG 6.35

and 6.36, yes indeed the mind is, as Arjuna says, turbulent,

resistant and very tough. It is restless by nature and there

is no doubt about it. But, and Lord Krishna emphasizes the but,

it can be controlled by abhyAsa (practice) *and* by vairAgya

(detachment).

How can the mind be restrained and what are the abhyAsA-s that

can be followed to restrain the mind? Yoga vashiShTa has some

discussion on procedures to restrain the mind and the purpose

of this post is to put those procedures in focus.

The general avenues open for restraining the sense organs

and the mind are by the forceful or the regular means. While

the sense-organs can be controlled forcefully, the mind can

only be controlled or restrained by regular and gradual methods.

Mind can be restrained by any or all of

1. mastery of spiritual knowledge

2. association with holy men

3. total giving up of desires (vAsana-kshaya)

4. and control of the movement of the vital force

1. mastery of spiritual knowledge

Mastery of spiritual knowledge makes one understand that

things seen or perceived are unreal and it is only the subject,

I, the observer is the only and all-encompassing reality. If the

mind fully understands this and digests this reality, (i) then it

(the mind) sees the futility of things within its perception

(because of their unreality), and (ii) also sees that the reality

is beyond its grasp, and it dies its natural death.

2. association with holy men

For those who would not understand the spiritual knowledge when

taught, the avenue open to them is association with holy men.

The holy men teach and remind repeatedly the ultimate Truth,

and in the company of holy men, the mind can be kept restrained.

3. vAsana-kshaya

For those who are too proud or 'busy' to follow holy people,

the third avenue open (for restraining the mind) is curbing

the vAsanA-s.

The impure vAsanA-s (related to external objects) are of three

kinds: loka-vAsanA (vAsanA relating to people), shAstra-vAsanA

(vAsanA relating to scriptures) and deha-vAsanA (vAsanA relating

to the body). Loka-vAsanA is associated with the thinking "I shall

behave only in such a way that none of the people will censure".

Such a vAsanA is impure because it is impossible to achieve and

is not conducive to the human goal. shastra-vAsanA is passion for

study, passion for study of scriptures and passion for rituals.

The impurity of shAstra-vAsanA is it is a source of weariness,

a cause for pride, a cause for re-birth and contrary to human goal.

Deha-vAsanA is the error of thinking of the body as the SELF, the

error of attributing good qualities to it, and the error of thinking

that its defects can be cured. These impure vAsanA-s, related to

external objects, although appearing as acceptable to

non-discriminating people should be rejected by discriminating

people as they are opposed to the rise of Knowledge and are

opposed to the ultimate human goal.

In addition to the impure vAsanA-s related to external objects,

there are internal vAsanA-s (mental vasanA-s) such as passion,

anger, hypocrisy, pride, etc. The mind is sullied by rAga

(attachment), dveSha (aversion), puNya (virtue), pApa (vice) etc.

rAga (attachment) is that which follows recollection of pleasure.

When a person thinks of friendliness with regard to creatures that

are happy, with the idea, 'all these that are happy are my own',

then that happiness turns into one's own. The mind becomes tranquil.

dveSha (aversion) is that which follows recollection of pain. dveSha

continuously scorches the heart. But if a person shows compassion

thinking 'may not pain occur to all others, just as in my case',

then, there will be cessation of dveSha. The mind again becomes

tranquil.

People, in general, want the fruits of puNya but do not practice

it. They do not want the results of pApa, but practice it. Thus

these acts, not practised and practised respectively, result in

repentance. If a person cultivates an attitude of delight with

regard to virtuous persons and an attitude of indifference toward

evil persons, the mind becomes clean in the absence of repentance.

Thus vAsana-kshaya leads to restraining the mind.

4. control of the movement of the vital force

If a person is unable to restrain the mind by any of the earlier

three regular ways, the only means of control then is the control

of the vital force. Again, yoga vashiShTa says:

The tree of the mind has got two seeds - vAsanA and the movement

of the vital force. When even one of these is weakened, both

of them soon get destroyed. The movement of the vital force is

stopped through practice of prANAyAma, and the practice of

AsanA-s and control of food. The mind can be controlled by

that way.

Sage vashiShTa further continues in yoga vashiShTa

yoga and enlightenment are the two processes for the elimination

of the mind. Yoga is indeed the restraint of modifications of the

mind, and enlightenment is the full realization of reality.

To some, yoga is an impossibility; to some else, enlightenment

is an impossibility. Therefore, Lord shiva spoke of the two

processes.

Elimination of the mind

Elimination of the mind means becoming oblivious of the presence

of the mind. This is result of separating from the witness

its limiting adjunct, the mind. This can be done in two ways.

One is: the witness (the observer, I) experiences the principle

called mind, possessed of the modifications in the form of

SELF alone. However, no modifications are experienced, because

it is functionless.

Another way of viewing the elimination of the mind is: the

thing witnessed, does not exist at all, because it is unreal.

The only thing that exists is the witness, the SELF. Here,

when the knowledge of the substratum, I, becomes firm, the

non-perception of the sublated mind and the non-perception

of the things imagined by that mind, become possible. shri

shankara, hence naturally, did not expound the necessity of

yoga for knowers of brahman and followers of upanishads.

Deliberating on the upanishadic mahAvAkyA-s is sufficient

for Atma-jnAna.

Regards

Gummuluru Murthy

May 24, 2001

Thank you Murthyji for an excellent in-depth commentary on these Bhagvad

Gita verses and related areas (found at the end of this post). I will pass

these on to as well.

I am moved to continue with the second part of my comments on the verse that

Sri Ramana felt contained the essence of Gita (Chapter 10 verse 20 of the

Bhagavad Gita).

"I am the Self, Oh Gudakesa, dwelling in the heart of every being; I am the

beginning, middle, and also end of all beings."

In this verse we can see the three pivotal points made by Sri Krishna which

are needed for Self-Realization or God-Realization. The first two points are

summarized and the third will follow later.

1. We note that Sri Krishna describes the quality of the true aspirant by

using the term Gudakesa. Here are my earlier comments.

The word `Gudaka' means `sleep' and a conqueror of sleep is called

`Gudakesa'. Arjuna was said to have conquered sleep and had no need to take

rest in the form of sleep. The deeper meaning of

`Gudakesa', points to the spiritual qualifications of Arjuna to receive

Divine Knowledge of the Self. Arjuna had the quality of alert awareness and

self-reflection that purifies the intelligence and thins the veil of Maya.

This method of "alert self- awareness" is important in Advaita as

consciousness itself is recognized as its own tool for the process of

self-discovery and for recognition of the Self-Nature. In Advaita,

consciousness is the experimenter, consciousness is the laboratory, and the

consciousness itself is also the outcome.

2. We also see that Sri Krishna gives the highest teaching and practice to

Arjuna, "I am the Self....dwelling in the heart of every being.

Here Sri Krishna teaches Arjuna to become clearly aware of the fundamental

truth that the Lord resides in every being and therefore is directly

accessible to all beings as their own Self. The question of how to look for

Him and where to look for Him is answered in the statement, "dwelling in the

heart of every being." The word "heart" here can be interpreted in a variety

of ways. The Upanishads speak of the Cave of the Heart. Sri Ramana has

spoken of the Heart - Hridyam as meaning the very Core or the Center of

Being, Being It Self. Heart whose nature is that of unbroken Awareness (I am

the Self) appears to manifest through the conditioned mind as the

foundational sense of "Here I Am" or "I Am" not as a thought but as a

feeling/awareness that constantly feels itself while the mind carries out

its functions of sensing and perceiving. Sri Krishna by emphasizing "I am

the Self" indicates that He is the witness of all activity and perception

and yet remains untouched by it. Ramana Maharshi has said that the Sahaj

state of the Siddha is the practice of the Sadhaka. So Sri Krishna in

declaring his Sahaj (natural) state, "I am the Self" is indicating the

highest mode of practice for Arjuna -- to remain centered in his being in

witness consciousness.

I will post the third point later.

Love to all

Harsha

Gummuluru Murthy [gmurthy]

Thursday, May 24, 2001 1:26 PM

advaitin

BG 6.35 & 6.36 restraining the mind: thoughts from

yoga vashiShTa