The MODERN SCENARIO

The search for happiness is the eternal

quest for every living entity. In the modern
times, the propaganda throughout the world
is to work very hard to earn one’s livelihood,
to accumulate more and more wealth, to
increase one’s name and fame and thus
become happy. Consequently, everyone is
caught up in an environment of cut-throat
competition. In such a situation, every avenue
to stay alive and get ahead in life is thoroughly
exploited. Mind control plays a decisive role
in determining the performance and shaping
the future of a person and it has therefore
become a buzzword in professional circles
nowadays.

The NECESSITY of MIND

CONTROL
We all know that, somehow or other, if
we can learn to control our mind, then we can
accomplish many things in our life. So
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naturally, all of us are interested in controlling
our mind. At the same time we are all well
aware of the disastrous consequences of an
uncontrolled mind. If the mind of a person is
uncontrolled, it will make him miserable
throughout his life and may harass him so
much that he may even go to the extent of
committing suicide.
Every intelligent person should learn to
control his mind and lead a peaceful life.
There are many institutions offering courses
on Mind Control, but most of them don’t go
to the root of the problem. They are based on
only a superficial knowledge of the mind and
the way in which it works. Mind control
without proper understanding of oneself, God
and the purpose of life is just an eyewash; it
can yield no tangible benefit. In this booklet
however, we will get a proper understanding
of the mind, based on the timeless wisdom of
the Vedic philosophical masterpiece, the
Bhagavad-gita.

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 The “ABC… ”
The mind frequently causes us a variety of
problems. And amateur attempts to tackle
these problems are bound to fail since the
body-mind mechanism is extremely complex.
Therefore the first step in mind control is to
understand 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 these
questions, the best course of action is to
approach the super-intelligent Designer of this
body, the Mastermind behind the creation,
namely, the Supreme Lord, and ask Him,
“Why did You create all these problems?”
This approach involves tackling the problems
of life by going to their root cause and so it
can provide a permanent solution. Just as
when we get a disease, we go to a doctor, an
expert in that field, to diagnose the root cause
of the disease and get it cured, similarly we

3
need the help of a guru or a spiritual master,
an expert in the knowledge of the essence of
life, who can teach us why our mind and body
give us so much suffering in this world and
the way to permanently get rid of all suffering.
Krishna, the Supreme Lord, is universally
acclaimed as the jagat guru or the spiritual
master of the whole universe. And He is
teaching Arjuna in Bhagavad-gita how to
control one’s mind and how to lead a pure
life.
Right at the outset of the Bhagavad-gita,
Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna that we are
not these material bodies; we are actually
spirit souls. This body is simply like a dress; it
is just an external covering. The atma, the
eternal being, who is the eternal servant of
God, is now trapped in this body exactly like a
parrot trapped in a cage. Being trapped in the
body we are constantly suffering due to the
miseries caused by the body and the mind. It
is not that we are suffering only now; our
history
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of suffering dates back to many, many
lifetimes. Therefore according to all the
scriptures the ultimate goal of life, the only
way to lasting happiness, is to liberate oneself
from the cycle of birth and death and to
achieve the kingdom of God. That is our
original home and it is from there that we
have come to this foreign place, the material
world.
Due to our stay in the material world, our
mind has become the storehouse of varieties
of thoughts, impressions and unfulfilled
desires. These material impressions on the
mind drag the atma from one body to another,
birth after birth. Until all these material
impressions are wiped out from the mind and
pure spiritual consciousness is established,
there is no possibility of returning back to the
kingdom of God.

But as long as we are in this material

world, we are inescapably stuck up with the
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body and the mind. And the mind gives us a
variety of sufferings.
Herein we will try to learn a few tips,
which can help us to control the mind. But
these tips have to be applied while a person
simultaneously engages in cultivating
knowledge about God, the ultimate goal of life
and about himself. There is no overnight,
short cut to control the mind; if it were so
easy, modern man would not talk so much
about mind control. We request the reader to
refer to our previous book on ‘Art of Mind
Control’ to get some understanding of soul-
body-mind-intelligence mechanism so that he
can apply the following tips more effectively:
SHUT YOUR EYES TO INSULTS
Generally we can see that our mind
becomes especially agitated whenever we are
insulted and the thorn of the desire to take
revenge torments the mind for a long time.
The only way to control the mind in such
circumstances is by shutting our eyes to the

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insults. On reading this, you will probably be
thinking, “Why in the wide world should I
not take revenge on the person who has
insulted me? He has caused me so much pain;
he must suffer.” But the reality is that he is
not the actual cause of our suffering. We must
have done some sinful activity in the past as a
reaction to which we are insulted now as per
the law of karma. And the person who has
insulted us is just acting as an instrument in
the hands of nature to deliver us our due
suffering. When we understand this, then we
will be able to take the insult in a mature way
without being unnecessarily agitated and
without maintaining a vengeful feeling. This is
vividly 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 he
was going through a forest, he was afflicted by
severe thirst. Though he was the king of the
entire world, here he was in the midst of the
forest and there was no one to fetch even a
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glass of water for him. At that time he saw a
sage, Shamik rishi, performing penance in a
hut. Being desperate to quench his thirst, he
requested the sage to give him a glass of
water. The sage was in deep trance and so he
did not even hear the king. Parikshit was
angered due to this apparently discourteous
behavior of the sage. In his anger he put a
dead snake around the neck of the sage and
went away. After some time when the son of
Shamik rishi Shringi came to know about how
his father had been insulted, he pronounced a
curse on Parikshit, “You will die after seven
days due to the bite of a poisonous snake-
bird.”
When King Parikshit was informed about
the curse, his response was highly exemplary.
He was the emperor of the entire world and he
was also a pure devotee of Lord Krishna. And
for a minor mistake on his part, a young
impudent boy had sounded his death-knell. If
King Parikshit had wanted he could easily
have counter-cursed Shringi. But far from
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trying to ‘get even’ with Shringi, Parikshit
humbly accepted the curse and immediately
renounced his entire kingdom in order to
prepare for his imminent departure from this
world. He went to the banks of the Ganges,
offered his humble obeisances to the great
sages assembled there and requested them
tam mopayatam pratiyantu
vipraganga ca devi dhrta-cittam
isedvijopasrstah kuhakas taksako va
dasatv alam gayata visnu-gathah
“O brahmanas, just accept me as a
completely surrendered soul, and let mother
Ganges, the representative of the Lord, also
accept me in that way, for I have already taken
the lotus feet of the Lord into my heart. Let
the snakebird—or whatever magical thing the
brahmana created—bite me at once. I only
desire that you all continue singing the deeds
of Lord Vishnu.”
In this way Parikshit reacted to the curse
in a very composed positive way. And
consequently he was able to end his life on a
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very glorious note by returning to the
kingdom of God.
On the other hand if someone takes an
insult very seriously then he can never be
peaceful as is seen from the story of
Hiranyakashipu.
The king of the demons, Hiranyakashipu,
was the master of all the three worlds. He had
practically conquered the entire universe. Just
by the raising of his eyelashes, all the
powerful demigods would start trembling in
fear. His small five-year-old son, Prahlada,
however, did not accept him to be supreme
and did not obey him. Though he was the
emperor of the whole universe, just one tiny
boy not accepting his supremacy was
intolerable for him. His life became
completely miserable; he lost his night sleep.
He decided to ruthlessly murder small
innocent Prahlada. But when all his attempts
to do so were foiled, he became totally
dejected. And finally Hiranyakashipu himself
had to meet a ghastly death.
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 In the same way, if a hundred people
respect us but one person insults us, that one
insult makes us thoroughly miserable; the
respect of hundred other people has no value
for us. But if we understand that all these
insults are coming upon us as a result of our
past activities then we can learn to shut our
eyes to the insults.
And when we are insulted in such a way
due to some reason, we should learn to forget
and forgive. We should never maintain
grudges. If we nurture an ill feeling in our
heart towards a man who has insulted us
without openly expressing it, that is even
worse than openly expressed anger.
Suppressed anger is like mental cancer. It
leads to sleeplessness, it poisons blood, it
increases blood pressure and takes away all
peace of mind. An insult is like spilt milk. If
milk is spilt on the ground, then what can we
do about it? Its finished; it’s done. So we
should learn to forget such incidents, which
have already occured and just go ahead with
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our regular activities without becoming
distracted or diffident. But if we nourish the
grievances and brood over the past
happenings, then not only does it cause
immense pain to our heart but it may also lead
to disastrous consequences, as seen in the
following incident from the Mahabharata.
When Drona, a brahmana’s son, and
Drupada, a prince, were studying in the same
gurukula, they became close friends. One day,
in a moment of intimate friendship, Drupada
promised Drona, “When I inherit the
kingdom of my father, I will give half of it to
you.”
Later, Drupada went on to become the
king of Panchal, whereas Drona became a
poor brahmana. Once in a moment of acute
poverty, when his son was crying piteously for
milk and Drona had no money to get any
milk, he remembered the promise of his boy
friend, Drupada. He therefore went to meet
Drupada and reminded him of their old
friendship. Sitting on his majestic royal
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throne, in the midst of the court, Drupada
looked at the poor brahmana standing in front
of him and said to him, “O unfortunate
brahmana, how do you consider me as your
friend now? Past friendships are meaningless.
Only equals can be friends. Now I am a great
king and you are a poor brahmana. Do not try
to invoke a long dead relationship.” Saying
this, Drupada laughed at Drona, gave him a
little charity and sent him off. Deeply insulted,
Drona left Panchal, but his mind was fixed on
revenge. He did not forget and forgive; instead
he kept the memory of the incident burning in
his heart and resolved to take revenge when
the right moment came.
Later on Drona became the military
teacher of the Pandavas and the Kauravas.
When they completed their training and asked
him what guru-dakshina they could give him,
Drona requested them to capture Drupada and
bring him as a prisoner before him. On
hearing the desire of their guru, first the
Kauravas, headed by Duryodhana, attacked
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Drupada, who easily defeated them. When the
Kauravas returned defeated, the Pandavas,
headed by Arjuna, invaded Panchal. They
defeated Drupada, arrested him, brought him
as a captive to their gurukula and threw him
at the feet of Drona.
On seeing how Drupada had been
thoroughly humiliated, Drona smiled at him
and asked him, “Oh my dear king, do you
now desire to revive our old friendship? It
seems that your kingdom and wealth have all
become mine.” Humiliated and ashamed,
Drupada couldn’t speak a word. Adding insult
to injury, Drona further said, “After all, I am a
liberal brahmana, I am not going to take away
your life. Moreover I have always cherished
affection for you as a friend. So I still desire
your friendship, but, my dear Drupada,
friendship can only be among equals. Now
you have lost your whole kingdom and have
become a beggar. And your entire kingdom
and wealth have now become mine. So how
can friendship exist between a king like me
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and a beggar like you? Having pity on a
beggar like you, I give half of my kingdom to
you.” And Drona gave half of the kingdom of
Panchal to Drupada.
Although he felt severely insulted,
Drupada kept silent, knowing that he was in
no position to retaliate. He understood that
the martial power of Drona was much greater
than his. And moreover Drona now also had
the mighty Pandavas as his disciples. So
Drupada quietly took half of the kingdom and
went away, but in his mind, he resolved, “One
day I will take revenge for this great insult.”
Later Drupada performed a massive fire
sacrifice (yajna) to beget a son
Dhrishtadyumna, who would kill Drona.
Thus we can see that, when one is
insulted by another, but is not ready to forget
and forgive, then one insults the other, the
other counter-insults the first and the fight
goes on and on. So, when we meditate on
insults, there is no end to such fights.
Therefore instead of wasting our precious
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human form of life in brooding over such past
events, it is better to turn to God and seek
refuge in Him. And, even if our heart is very
much pained by the insult, we should go to
God for shelter just like Dhruva did.
When he was insulted by his stepmother,
Dhruva took the right shelter. He went to the
forest and approached the lotus feet of Lord
Vishnu. By taking shelter of Lord Vishnu,
instead of being left in the cold to futilely
mourn and grieve, all of the pains of Dhruva
were wiped out and he achieved a kingdom
greater than that of his great grandfather, Lord
Brahma.
In the same way, we can also become free
from all suffering if we turn to God when we
are insulted.

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 No One Can Make Or Mar Your
Career; So DON’T BLAME
OTHERS
We should also know that no one can
make or mar our career. Sometimes we
imagine, “ A has blocked my promotion.” or “
B has ruined my business by competing in the
same field.” and so on. And due to such
imaginary conceptions, we feel envy and
animosity towards others. But actually our
career and life is shaped by our previous
karma; others cannot influence it.
A typical example of one nourishing such
needless envy and enmity is Duryodhana.
Right from the time the Pandavas came to
Hastinapura as small children, Duryodhana
was envious of them. He was afraid that they
might take over the kingdom. So, to destroy
them, he hatched various demoniac schemes
such as feeding Bhima a poisonous cake,
gifting the Pandavas a palace made of
inflammable shellac and then arranging to
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have it set on fire so that they would burn to
death and so on. But by none of these tricks
could he succeed in killing them.
Later during the svayamvara of Draupadi,
he became mad with lust on seeing her
exquisite beauty, but he was crestfallen when
he could not win her hand. And when the
Pandavas won the hand of Draupadi, his envy
increased manifold.
When he realized that the Pandavas had
become very powerful and wealthy due to
their alliance with Drupada, the father of
Draupadi and the king of Panchal, he feared
that they might attack and defeat him. So he
decided to give them half of the kingdom, but
once again, due to his envious nature, he tried
to cheat them by offering them the barren part
of the Kuru kingdom called Khandavaprastha.
But, by the mercy of Lord Krishna, that
desolate land was miraculously transformed,
in no time, into the great city Indraprastha.
Indraprastha was a magnificent and opulent
city filled with learned brahmanas, chivalrous
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kshatriyas, well-to-do vaishyas and faithful
shudras. All the subjects were living a very
happy God-centered life in accordance with
the Vedic scriptures. All the cows, women, old
men, children and brahmanas were properly
protected. The mellifluous chanting of
auspicious Vedic mantras could be heard
everywhere in the city. And Mayadanava
constructed the Mayasabha, a gorgeous
mansion akin to a heavenly abode, for the
Pandavas. When Duryodhana heard about the
opulence of the Pandavas, he just could not
stand it. In fact the very thought that was now
the emperor of the world caused him
indescribable agony. He felt that that position
was his exclusive birthright and that the
Pandavas had unlawfully usurped his
position.
At that time, Maharaj decided to conduct
the Rajasuya yajna to establish the supremacy
of Lord Krishna. He invited all the kings and
sages from all over the universe for the yajna.
At the time of the yajna, he allocated various
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services to his relatives and close friends. He
requested Bhishma and Drona to oversee the
organization of the sacrifice, Dushasana to
take care of distribution of food to all the
guests, Ashvatthama to attend to the
brahmanas and Duryodhana to receive all the
gifts. Lord Krishna took the humble role of
washing the feet of all the sages and
brahmanas arriving for the Rajasuya yajna.
Seeing the hundreds and thousands of
priceless gifts that came for Yudhishtir,
Duryodhana’s heart burnt with envy. And
when he saw the incomparable opulence of
the famed palace of the Pandavas, the
Mayasabha, he could no longer control his
jealousy. He sniffed and huffed and frowned
harshly at the innocent servants who were
cheerfully passing by within the place. He was
in a state of total misery and despondency.
On his way back to Hastinapura,
Duryodhana told his uncle, Shakuni, “It is
impossible for me to see the prosperity of the
Pandavas. What man who possesses any self-
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respect can bear to see his enemies prosper
more than him? How can I ever equal the
power and the opulence of the Pandavas? All
my efforts to do so have been frustrated. And
my attempts to destroy the Pandavas have also
met with total failure. On the contrary, they
are flourishing like lotuses in a pond.
Therefore I cannot live any longer. I will enter
into fire or I will swallow poison and thus end
my life. Please inform my father Dhritarashtra
about the terrible anguish I am in.” And while
he was speaking, the fire of envy in his heart
started burning more and more and he
became even more fearful that the Pandavas
would vanquish him.
When Dhritarashtra came to know about
the devilish mentality of Duryodhana, he tried
to pacify him, “My dear son, whatever you
may want for your enjoyment is already at
your disposal. Our opulence is no less than
that of the gods in heaven. We have immense
wealth, magnificent mansions, the best of
clothes, the finest food and beautiful women.
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All these are just waiting to give you pleasure.
What reason is there for you to become
depressed?”
Duryodhana sullenly muttered, “Don’t
you know that got thousands of invaluable
gifts in the Rajsuya yajna?”
Dhritarashtra suggested, “You can also
perform a similar sacrifice and you will also
get those gifts.” But Duryodhana knew that he
would not get even one tenth of the gifts that
Yudhishthir got.
Therefore the evil-minded Duryodhana,
along with the diabolical Shakuni, decided to
devise some devious way, by which the
Pandavas could be destroyed. Duryodhana
knew that he could not challenge the
Pandavas in a battle; they would easily defeat
him. So he decided to invite the Pandavas to a
gambling match so that they could be cheated
of their kingdom and be exiled into the forest.
Even during the exile of the Pandavas,
Duryodhana, though the emperor of the entire
world, was constantly in anxiety about the
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possibility of the return of the Pandavas in the
future; he was never at peace. On the other
hand, the Pandavas, who were great devotees
of Krishna, being nonenvious, lived peacefully
though they were in utter poverty in the
forest.
In a similar way, in the present times of
cutthroat competition, most people live totally
insecure lives, being torn apart by
immeasurable anxieties, “This person is trying
to pull me down”, “It is only because of that
person that I cannot progress in my life”,
“That person is growing bigger than me, how
can I cut him down?” Such people grit their
teeth, bite their lips, frown, grumble, brood
and, riding on the chariot of their mind, make
elaborate plans to destroy all their so-called
enemies and become supreme. But all their
endeavors are repeatedly frustrated and they
have no peace of mind whatsoever.

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SEE The LOVING HAND of GOD
BEHIND EVERYTHING And
TOLERATE INCONVENIENCES
However such resentment and envy are
actually a sign of cowardice, a sign of the
absence of the courage to accept the reality
that they cannot control the world around
them. They are disturbing their peace of mind
for no gains whatsoever, because nobody has
the power to change the will of God. Wisdom
lies in understanding that the happiness and
distress destined for us at the time of our
birth, as fixed according to our past karma,
are inevitably going to come, no matter what
we do. Just as distress comes in our 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 everything that
happens in our lives. Only with such a vision
can we live in peace.
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 But if a person is jealous of others and is
trying to pull them down or destroy them,
then he can never be at peace. Why? Because
such a person is concerned not so much with
how well he has fared, but with how badly
others have fared. His success lies in the
failure of others. His mentality is like that of a
crab, who having been trapped in a
fisherman’s basket along with many other
crabs, is worried, not about saving his own life
by jumping out of the basket, but about
pulling other crabs down so that he may stay
at a higher level than them within the basket.
What an utterly foolish mentality!
Therefore an intelligent person, a devotee
of God, does not measure his success by such
a meaningless standard – the failure of others.
He understands that real success in life is in
pleasing God because only by the mercy of
God can all problems be solved, once and for
all. And knowing that everything happens by
the will of God, he lives by the wise saying:
what cannot be cured has to be endured.
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 This same truth is taught by Lord Krishna
in the Bhagavad-gita (2.14)
matra sparsas tu kaunteya
sitosna sukha duhkha dah
agamapayino ‘nityas
tams titikisasva bharata
Krishna says, “O son of Kunti, the
nonpermanent appearance of happiness and
distress, and their disappearance in due
course, are like the appearance and
disappearance of winter and summer seasons.
They arise from sense perception, O scion of
Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them
without being disturbed.”
For example, the duty of a housewife is to
cook. In the summer season, though the
kitchen may be very hot, she cannot say, “ I
will cook only in the winter. In summer, the
kitchen is very hot. So I cannot cook.” Even
though the kitchen may be hot, she has to just
tolerate the heat and go on with her duty of
cooking.

26
 In the same way, we have to know that
there are many things in life, which are
beyond our control. If a person thinks, “I can
control everything in every situation
throughout my life”, the mind of such a
person will be literally torn to pieces. An
intelligent person knows that God is the
Supreme Controller and that He is controlling
everything that is happening throughout the
world as well as in his own life. Such a person,
who sees with the eyes of knowledge, can
understand that he is bound from head to toe
by the laws of nature. When we ourselves are
so completely controlled, how then can we
expect to control every situation, or for that
matter, any situation? Therefore though there
may be hundreds of inconveniences,
annoyances and irritations from the moment
we wake up every morning to the moment we
sleep at night (and even when we are asleep),
we have to understand that they are not
within our power to change. So we should

27
learn to tolerate them without being
disturbed.

DEPEND On GOD For HELP

You may be wondering, “How is it
possible that with disturbances all around me,
I should remain undisturbed?” It is possible
when we depend on the power of God by
taking His shelter whenever such
inconveniences come. When we surrender to
Him, He will give us the necessary will power,
inner strength and patience to endure such
trying circumstances. This is the reason why
godly people are able to stay undisturbed in
the face of trials and tribulations, whereas
those who are not surrendered to God, when
faced with a crisis, usually seek refuge in some
illusory escape-route such as drinking or
taking drugs. And sometimes, they may even
go to the extent of committing suicide like a
coward.

28
 At this juncture, you may ask, “Taking
shelter of God is a very vague and abstract
concept. Is there any practical way of actually
doing this?” Certainly! We can very easily
take shelter of God by chanting His Holy
Names. The chanting of the Hare Krishna
mahamantra,
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-like
determination to tolerate any situation in any
walk of life. So by inner spiritual strength
derived from regular chanting, we can learn to
endure all the suffering of the world.
And of course it is not that we just have to
go on enduring the blows of the world for the
rest of eternity and that there will be no
respite ever. Though we may be suffering at
the present moment, we should know that, as
we are performing devotional service to God,
29
we are gradually becoming purified and we
will eventually be taken out of this world of
misery and be situated in the kingdom of God,
an abode of eternity, bliss and knowledge,
which is our original home. So as long as we
are connected to God and are on our way back
to God, we can be assured that in the future
there will be no suffering for us and, even in
the present, as we develop more and more
tolerance, our suffering will keep decreasing.
On the other hand, if someone has no
connection to God, he is, at present, being
helplessly tossed about in an ocean of
suffering and, due to his present sinful
activities, he is going to be cast deeper into
that ocean in the future. So as long as he does
not connect himself with God, there

will be no respite whatsoever in his sufferings.

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 GIVE UP The CRAVING For
RECOGNITION
Craving for worldly glory and recognition
is the surest way to physical and mental
restlessness. The whole world is running
madly after name, fame and recognition. But
why do we want recognition? Have we ever
asked ourselves this question? We want name,
fame and recognition so that people may
understand our greatness. Everyone in this
world considers himself to be a very great
person and so he wants people to respect him.
Even those, who don’t have any extraordinary
ability or talent by which they can become
famous, try to obtain fame by connecting
themselves with those who are famous. That
is why people want to have their photograph
taken with a popular film star or cricketer; so
that they can show it to others and make an
unspoken statement, “Just see! I am putting
my hands on the shoulder of this famous
cricketer. Just see it! And understand my

31
greatness!” Thus everyone wants to achieve
recognition in some way or the other.
But in complete contrast, Lord Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu prays:
na dhanam na janam na sundarim
kavitam va jagadisha kamaye
mama janmani janmani isvare
bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi
“O almighty Lord, I have no desire to
accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful
women, nor do I want any number of
followers. I only want your causeless
devotional service birth after birth.”
(Shikshashtakam 4)
The first reaction of most people on
hearing this prayer is shock and utter
disbelief. Wealth, women and followers are
what people hanker and toil tirelessly for
throughout their lives. But to the degree a
person is hankering for recognition from
worldly people, to that degree his mind will
be torn to pieces. Why? Because the harsh
unpalatable truth is that no one in the world
32
respects you, has any concern for you or is
even interested in you; their respect, concern
and interest are all for what you possess.
Countless examples can be given to
substantiate this truth:
· A prostitute will smile at a man, speak
sweetly with him and provide him with all
enjoyment; due to her behavior, the man
may naturally start thinking, “O she’s
attracted to me. I am so handsome!” But she
is not the least interested in him; the
moment his pocket is empty, she will
disappear.
· 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 such
an important entity.” But the moment the
fruits get over, not a single bird even glances
at the tree.
· When many charming deer are grazing in a
forest, the forest may think, “I must be so
wonderful that even these beautiful deer are

33
 coming to me.” But when there is no green
grass in the forest, the deer will not stay
there even for a moment.
Similarly, it appears that all the people,
who surround you, are interested in you and
that they are all impressed by your greatness.
But when you grow old and are no longer
beautiful or when you lose the opulence that
you have today, none of these people will
come near you; they will simply disappear.
Films stars and cricketers have thousands of
fans in their youth and they feel on top of the
world, receiving the adulation of their fans.
But when they grow old, none of their fans
pays even the slightest attention to them,
leave alone respecting or adulating them. And
for one who has been famous, obscurity is
worse than death. For example, there was a
celebrated foot ball player and, due to his
exceptional talent in maneuvering the ball
with his foot, he had millions of fans all over
the world literally mad after him (or so he
thought). But one day he somehow broke his
34
leg and he could no longer play football. And
that was the end of all his fame; not even a
single soul would come to meet him
thereafter. Even if nothing like this happens to
a famous person, still all his accumulated
wealth, possessions, recognition etc., are
going to be lost in the sands of time at the
time of death. In this way we can easily
understand that being mad for recognition
from the people of the world is foolishness.
STRIVE To GAIN The
FRIENDSHIP Of GOD; It Is THE
GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT
Instead of aspiring for such ephemeral
worldly recognition we should be aspiring to
be recognized by God. Why? Because God is a
person who loves you for what you are and
not for what you have. And He loves you so
much that He remains your greatest well
wisher and heart-to-heart friend, even if you
are not in the least interested in Him.
Therefore, instead of directing our craving for
35
recognition 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 achievement
in life. In modern times, people generally
think that earning fabulous sums of money or
going abroad and returning with a lot of
wealth or leading a very happy family life or
having hundreds and thousands of
possessions is the greatest achievement in life.
But history shows that anybody who thought
like this had to suffer terribly in the end. The
inevitable time factor defeats all such
hedonistic plans for enjoyment and reduces to
nothing all one’s accomplishments exactly 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 or
followers”, but rather He prays to the Lord,
“Please give me pure love for you.” As the
36
scriptures proclaim, prema pumartho mahan
“The greatest achievement in all of creation is
to achieve pure love of God.” Why? Because
the only true need of each one of us is
happiness. And happiness comes only when
we truly love and are truly loved. And the
only person worthy of reposing love in is God,
because He alone can be the eternal object of
our love; all other so-called loving
relationships are inevitably severed by the
sharp sword of time. We can achieve
happiness and peace of mind automatically if
we re-awaken our dormant love of God. And
this love can be awakened simply by serving
and remembering God in whatever we do and
by chanting His Holy Names.
But instead of trying to re-establish our
relationship with God, if we get entangled in
the rat race for recognition, we will be
doomed to disappointment and frustration.
While we are alive, we will never get any
peace of mind and, at the time of death, we
will realize that we have been cheated because
37
all the things, which we gave our entire lives
to obtain, will be forcibly taken away.

Don’t INCREASE YOUR WANTS

AND FEEL Like a BEGGAR;
RATHER DECREASE YOUR
WANTS And
FEEL Like a KING
People ask for peace of mind but they
want to very carefully preserve their material
greed. But the truth is peace of mind and
material greed are incompatibles. You have to
make your choice.
It is wisely said, ‘God has provided for
everyone’s need, but not for everyone’s greed.’
An angry man can be pacified when he gives
vent to his anger by chastising someone; a
thirsty man can be satisfied by having some
water; a hungry man can be satisfied by
having some food. But a greedy man can never

38
be satisfied by anything, no matter how much
he accumulates. So the only way to deal with
greed is to give up the greedy mentality.
People go on increasing their facilities
more and more, thinking that they are
becoming bigger and bigger controllers. But,
by increasing their facilities, they end up
becoming slaves of those facilities. Just
imagine a modern man surrounded on all
sides by modern gadgets. He has a grinder; so
he has no need to use his hand. He has a
mobile phone; so he doesn’t have to move
from his bed to attend to phone calls. He has a
remote control; so he doesn’t have to get up
from his bed for switching on the television.
Nowadays there are remote switches even for
fans and lights and one can switch them on
from one’s bed. In this way man has increased
his luxuries and facilities and he thinks, ”The
control for the whole world is at my finger
tips. Just by a slight movement of my fingers, I
can control everything around me.”

39
 But, in the process, he becomes utterly
dependent on these gadgets. If even one of
them doesn’t work properly, he becomes
miserable. And what is the ultimate
consequence of such needless indulgence?
Those who use such gadgets throughout their
l ives get a variety of bodily maladies in their
old age. And when they go to a doctor, he tells
them, “You have not done any exercise
throughout your life. So now you have to
move your hand up and down as if you were
drawing water from a well.” Or “You have to
rotate your hand as if you were working on a
grinder.” Or “You have to go every morning
for walking or jogging.”
What an irony! By the arrangement of
nature, man has to do all these things and, if
he does them, he will never get rheumatic
pain or any such sickness. But considering
such basic bodily activities to be troublesome,
he works hard to earn money to get gadgets to
avoid doing these things. But on getting such
gadgets, he suffers because he becomes utterly
40
dependent on them. And, in the end, he gets
health problems and is forced to do the very
things, which he originally wanted to avoid!
But despite the foolishness of it all,
unfortunately people today increase their
needs more and more and work hard like
donkeys to accumulate more wealth for
procuring these facilities. But it only entraps
them further. For example, in the modern
times, there is the credit card system. A
person can take any gadget he wants just by
showing his credit card. Tempted by the
desire to have the best facilities in his house,
he takes many expensive gadgets. But later he
finds out that he has to work like a donkey for
another ten or twenty years just to pay the
installments for what he purchased using his
credit card.
So in this way people think that they are
getting more and more facilities and that they
are enjoying but actually they are only
increasing their suffering. The material nature
created by the Lord, Maya, is so powerful that
41
she thoroughly cheats those who try to exploit
her resources without using them in the
service of God, as is illustrated by the
following story.
Once upon a time a sadhu was climbing a
mountain. Finding the climb laborious, he
thought how nice it would be if he could
climb the mountain on horseback. He
therefore started 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
came and, seeing a sadhu struggling to climb
the mountain, donated a horse. The sadhu
was very happy that the Lord had fulfilled his
desire immediately.
He promptly mounted the horse and
continued climbing up the mountain. After
some time, all of a sudden, the horse stopped
and, despite repeated proddings, would not
budge even an inch. When he got down to see
what was wrong, he noticed that the horse
was actually a mare. She had been pregnant
42
and had just given birth to a baby horse. And
due to her natural maternal affection for her
offspring, she was not ready to leave it.
Perplexed, the sadhu wondered how he
could make the horse move. Suddenly an idea
struck him and he picked up the baby horse
and started walking. Being attached to her
offspring, the mare quietly followed him. The
sadhu was very pleased with himself, “Just see
how clever I am! I have tricked the horse into
walking.”
But after just a few steps he started
panting due to the weight of the foal. He then
started thinking, “Hey! Wait a minute! I
wanted a horse to carry me, but I have ended
up carrying a horse! I was much better off
earlier; at least I did not have any burden to
carry.”
In this way we sometimes increase our
facilities in order to enjoy life but later we see
that those very facilities become sources of
trouble; we become slaves of those facilities.

43
PRACTICE SIMPLE LIVING And
HIGH THINKING
Therefore the Vedic way of life is based on
the principle of ‘Simple Living and High
Thinking’. We should work only as much as is
necessary to fulfil the basic necessities of life
and utilize our remaining time, energy and
money for reviving our eternal life. How? By
engaging in devotional service of God, by
chanting His Holy Names and by reading and
hearing many wonderful scriptures like
Srimad Bhagvad-gita, Bhagvatam, Ramayana,
Mahabharata, all of which teach the message
of God.
Someone may ask, “What is the need for
doing all this?” It is because every one of us is
actually a part and parcel of God, an eternal
servant of God, in the spiritual sky. We all
belong to that original home where there is no
misery, no birth, old age, disease or death.
Life there is eternal, full of bliss and full of
knowledge. Therefore an intelligent person

44
should hanker for that life. And that can be
achieved only when we live simply and think
high, that is, we center our lives around God.
And why should one reduce one’s
necessities to the minimum? Suppose you are
travelling by train from Pune to Bombay. Will
you construct a house in the train? Or will
you carry a television, fridge and other such
luxuries with you to enjoy in the train?
Certainly not! Why? Because by the time you
finish constructing a house within the train,
Bombay would have arrived
and you would have to get down. In the same
way, expending all one’s energy for
accumulating wealth to increase luxuries in
the name of necessity, forgetting the prime
goal of life, is a mere waste of time, because
life is short and temporary.
But wonder of all wonders! People work
hard throughout their lives just to purchase a
flat in Bombay. And by the time they are able
to purchase it, they have reached the fag end
of their lives and they quit the world like cats
45
and dogs, without any understanding about
God or the goal of life or without even being
able to enjoy living in the flat.
But if we live simply and spend time
everyday to chant the names of God and to
remember Him, then we will see that
gradually the mind becomes light, like a swab
of cotton and can be very easily controlled. In
fact, it can be molded just like wax. And one
can experience the joy of the eternal realm
even while being in this world.
BE RESPONSIBLE; But Don’t
PURCHASE TROUBLE
It is important to note in this connection
that when we say that we should remember
God and chant His names, it doesn’t mean
that we should become lazy and give up all
our responsibilities. The ideal approach to
work is: be balanced; don’t be irresponsible,
but don’t purchase trouble either.
Sometimes, one tends to think, “I am
getting this much salary, and he is also getting

46
the same amount. But he is doing very little
work and is mostly escaping from his work.
So why should I work so hard? Let me also
escape.” But by escaping from one’s
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 centered life.
While doing our duties responsibly, we
should be intelligent enough not to add on to
our responsi-bilities by taking additional loads
due to our egoistic initiative; otherwise we are
simply purchasing trouble. Such an egoistic
person thinks, “He is doing so much work. I
must show the world that I am greater than
him.” And so one takes on so much load on
oneself that one has no time for God; no time
for one’s own family, no time for even the
basic activities of life. In this way, one
becomes practically crazy working 14 or 16
hours a day. And there is no end to such
work. How can such a person who, in order to
47
satisfy his inflated ego, is caught up in
unending materialistic activities and the
concomitant immeasurable anxieties, ever
attain peace of mind?
So one should do one’s job properly and,
at the same time, set aside sufficient time for
cultivating one’s inward life by chanting,
reading scriptures and coming together with
one’s family to worship the Supreme Lord
Krishna. There is a wise saying: “The family
that prays together stays together”. So if one
comes together every morning with his wife,
children and family, and worships God by
chanting Hare Krishna, offers bhoga to the
Lord and accepts the Lord’s prasadam, then
one’s life will become peaceful. One can lead a
happy life while one is in this world and, at
the time of death, one will return to the
kingdom of God.
On the other hand, one who increases his
material responsibilities more and more due
to his egoistic initiative, will find himself
disturbed in the mind by countless anxieties.
48
And such a person who is disturbed within
will naturally cause disturbances for everyone
around him. He will quarrel with his wife,
shout at his children and be harsh and
unreasonable with his subordinates. Such a
person cannot do any good, either for himself
or for others.
And all this is because he did not give
time for his inner spiritual growth. Just as
when one keeps writing with a pencil, but
does not sharpen it, it eventually becomes
blunt and incapable of writing, similarly if one
keeps on working, but does not spare time for
mantra meditation and prayer, then one’s
efficiency goes down drastically and
one becomes incapable of doing any
worthwhile work; one’s work becomes
meaningless.
Now-a-days, such workaholics are very
proud of the saying “Karma hi pooja hai”. But
if one tries to live like that, working like a
donkey, one will be totally frustrated in life
and will never get any peace of mind. On the
49
other hand, if everyday one sets aside some
time for God and chants Hare Krishna, it is
like sharpening the pencil. By such regular
spiritual practice, one can manage both –
one’s material duty as well as one’s duty to
God – nicely. This is the way to living with
peace of mind, both in this world and the
next.
BE IN THIS WORLD But
NOT of THIS WORLD
At this point, a question may come up,
“Daily spiritual practice is alright., but how
should we go about our various duties? In
other words, how should we live in this
world?” The first and foremost thing to
understand is the most basic truth; that we are
not God, but we are the eternal servants of
God. We are therefore meant to utilize our
whole life and all our possessions, not for our
own enjoyment, but for the service of God.
This principle is graphically illustrated in
the Ramayana in the way Ravana and

50
Hanuman behaved towards Lord Ramchandra.
In the Ramayana, we see that Lord Rama was
served by everyone; by mother Sita, by
Lakshmana, by Hanuman, by Bharata, by
Sugriva, by Guha and by so many other
persons. But there was only one person who
was opposed to serving Lord Rama - Ravana.
He wanted to take away Lord Rama’s property,
mother Sita and enjoy her for himself. And
what was his ultimate destination? He had to
meet cruel death at the hands of Lord Rama.
In the same way, nature and all the
resources provided by her are the property of
Lord Rama. If one tries to take the resources
of the world like grains, fruits, minerals,
water, air, light, etc., provided by God and
tries to enjoy them without acknowledging
the proprietorship of God, such a person has
Ravana-like mentality: he wants to enjoy the
property of God for himself without even
thanking God and thus he is doomed.
Therefore, while living in this world, we
should always humbly bow down before God
51
and thank Him for all that He has offered us
for our subsistence.
And one should never ever try to extract
enjoyment from this world. If we have this
enjoying mentality of dominating others and
extracting pleasure from this world by
engaging in sinful activity, then we will be
inevitably frustrated. Why? Because trying to
get enjoyment through materialistic
engagement is like trying to extract nectar
from the mouth of a venomous cobra. It is an
inherently futile attempt; all that one can get
from 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 very
people, we will find that they are the most
frustrated people. Apart from the propaganda
of these materialistic people, our senses are
also so agitated that they are dragging us in all
directions to enjoy. Our tongue is pulling us
in one direction to taste a variety of delicious
foodstuffs. Our eyes are scanning all the
52
directions in the search of beautiful forms.
And the same is true for every one of our
senses. Just like a man having five wives is
dragged in different directions by each one of
them for enjoyment, similarly, we are also
dragged by our five senses in various
directions. And if we close our eye of
discrimination and go in the direction dictated
by the mind and the senses, then we are on
the royal road to hell.
We can see with our own eyes the
disastrous consequences of material
enjoyment. One who smokes is afflicted by
lung cancer; one who drinks wine is struck by
liver diseases; one who eats gutka is tortured
by oral cancer in the teeth and gums; one who
wants to enjoy with many women is
terminated by AIDS. Thus nature gives severe
slaps and kicks to those who try to extract
enjoyment from this world.

53
 RELISH The HIGHER TASTE of
SERVICE To GOD
Many people understand, at an
intellectual level, that material enjoyment is
always the cause of suffering, but still despite
their best efforts to restrain themselves, they
are unable to give up the desire to enjoy.
Therefore the million-dollar question is: how
can we give up the enjoying mentality?
It is possible only when we engage all our
senses in the service of God. Our senses are
like venomous serpents with the fangs of the
enjoying mentality. But if we engage the
senses in the service of the Lord, it is like
removing their poison teeth. Without its
fangs, a snake can cause no harm. Similarly if
our senses are engaged in the service of the
Lord, they become harmless. Service to the
Lord gives us a higher pleasure, which enables
us to give up the pleasure derived from sense
enjoyment.

54
 How can one engage the senses in the
service of the Lord? By using our eyes in
beholding the beautiful forms of the Deities in
the temple, by using our hands in cutting
vegetables for the Lord and in washing the
temple, by using our legs in going to the
ISKCON temple, by using our whole body for
dancing in front of the Lord, by using
our tongue for chanting the Holy Names of
God, especially the Hare Krishna mahamantra
and for honouring prasadam. In this way all
our senses can be purified of the
contamination of the desire to enjoy.
And if our mind starts making too much
demand for material enjoyment, still we don’t
have to experience it to realize its futility. We
can see and learn from the experience of the
worldly people. Those who are struggling to
increase their enjoyment more and more in
the world are only becoming more and more
frustrated. Thus, using our intelligence, we
can control the mind.

55
 We can derive further spiritual strength
by knowing that life, after all, is flickering and
temporary; 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 only
difference. Both are temporary and, after they
are 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 as
Hanuman was trying to make arrangements to
bring Sita back to Rama, similarly we should
try to bring all the things of the world closer
to God by engaging them in His service. Then
we can achieve peace of mind.
How can we actually engage all the things
of the world in the service of God, especially
in the modern times? All of us can use our
various talents in the service of God. Some of
us who are expert in computers can do
computer services for publishing books about
God and His message. Some of us can make
beautiful garlands to decorate the Deities of
56
the Lord. Some of us can come to temple on
Sundays and the festivals for assisting in
cooking for the Lord. Thus according to
individual abilities and inclinations, we can all
engage ourselves in service to the Lord. By
performing such service, the most dangerous
enjoying mentality will subside and we will
get the serving mentality, which alone can
bring us to the platform of sanity and peace.
The enjoying mentality is a deadly disease and
the service of the Lord is the perfect medicine
for it.

OBEY The LAWS of GOD

Lastly we have to understand that unless
we agree to abide by the laws of God, we can
never achieve peace of mind. This can be
understood from an example. Suppose a
person wants to break all the laws of the
Indian government; he wants to steal, he
wants to rape women, he wants to murder.
And he comes running to you and asks you, “

57
I want to be peaceful. But I also want to break
the laws of the state. Please tell me how I can
still have peace of mind.” What solution can
you offer such a person? An intelligent person
will advice him, “My dear friend, first of all
you follow the laws of the country. Then
when you are living as an ideal citizen, you
can be free from persecution and anxiety and
can live peacefully.”
In a similar way, the whole world is the
state of God; after all, He has created it. And
He has also made many laws for those who
live in the world. These laws of the divine
government are given in the bona fide
scriptures of the world. So an intelligent
person should hear the scriptures from the
saintly people and, based on scriptural
knowledge, he should discriminate between
the right and the wrong, the good and the
bad, and act accordingly. And in this way,
when he carefully follow the instructions of
God given in the scriptures throughout his
life, then he can have peace of mind.
58
 God is our only eternal friend. To be
frank with you, the harsh reality that no one
in this world is interested in you. Don’t expect
the world to rush to your rescue when you are
in trouble; it will just not happen. Far from
running to help you, even your best friends
will run away from you when you are in
trouble. There are many levels of friends -
official friends called bandhu, social friends
called mitra and so on. But the Lord is our
only 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 a
great friend, that even if we forget Him, even
if we neglect Him, even if we become envious
of 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 is
always very keen to help us, whether we
reciprocate with Him or not. Krishna says,
suhridam sarva bhutanam “I am the suhridam,
59
well wisher, of every living entity. I am the
heart to heart friend of every living entity.” So
we should always learn to keep God in the
center of our lives.
An ideal example of this is Arjuna. Arjuna
never did anything unless it was connected in
service to Krishna. Even his act of fighting
was for the pleasure of Krishna; before going
to the battlefield, he circumambulated Krishna
and offered Him obeisances. So for Arjuna,
there was no one as close as Krishna. And the
same is true for every living entity because
Krishna says: sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto
“I am residing in the heart of everyone as the
Parmatama.” So in the hearts of each one of
us, besides the soul there is the Supersoul,
who is an expansion of Krishna. And the
Paramatma is always ready to help us and give
us guidance about what to do and what not to
do.
Therefore we should work for gaining
God’s friendship; it is the greatest gain. And
when we have that, peace of mind is an
60
automatic byproduct. We cannot achieve
peace of mind overnight by taking some pills
told by some doctor. Nor can we achieve it by
following some godless mechanical methods.
Sometimes people teach some mind control
techniques in which they say, “Imagine a
form.” or “imagine a picture.” But all such
methods are futile because they cannot give
lasting peace of mind.
Actual peace of mind can arise only out of
spiritual growth and such spiritual growth is
greatly aided by external support and greatly
marred by external incompatibilities. The
aiding supports are all those things, which
enhance the mode of goodness (sattva guna)
in us. For example, by taking satvika diet -
prasadam, wearing sattvika dress, living in a
sattvika environment, coming to sattvika
association of those who are devotees of God
and reading spiritual books, we can enhance
our understanding about God. And in this
way all these sattvika habits can help us to

61
come closer to God and become internally
mature.
On the other hand, if we associate with
those things, which increase the lower modes
of passion and ignorance in us, our mind will
become more and more agitated. For example,
by watching horror movies, seeing
pornographic pictures, taking intoxicants etc,
we will go further away from achieving peace
of mind.

CHANT HARE KRISHNA – The

ULTIMATE PANACEA
So we should give a prominent position in
our life for prayers and pilgrimage, fasts and
festivals and for satsang and self-realization.
These are all very important to free our mind
from the sufferings of the world. In our Hare
Krishna movement, the ISKCON movement,
Srila Prabhupada, the founder-acharya, has
established a wonderful program by which
everyone can very easily achieve peace of

62
mind: the chanting of the Hare Krishna
mahamantra. Right from a small child to an
old man, anyone can practice this chanting on
a daily basis. One can chant one or two
rounds. Regularly fixed up devotees chant
sixteen rounds and they never feel that they
are wasting time in sitting and chanting the
Lord’s name. Why? Because chanting Hare
Krishna increases their efficiency in all fields
and gives them an increased capacity to turn
out more work in less time. Great productivity
can be achieved when one chants Hare
Krishna. Therefore the chanting of Hare
Krishna will never interfere in your daily
work; rather it will enhance daily work.
Moreover, the practical experience of
many, many devotees all over the world shows
that when one chants Hare Krishna one is, in
no time, able to give up all the bad habits like
smoking, eating meat, taking intoxicants,
illicit sex etc. One can give up all the lower
tendencies and can become completely pure.
And with a pure heart one’s mind becomes
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very light; one can grasp any subject quickly
and one can act efficiently. In this way, one
can achieve the ultimate success in life
through controlling one’s mind by mantra
meditation.
The nature of the mind and the
importance of chanting are illustrated in the
following story.
Once upon a time, there was a man who
pleased a sage. As a benediction, the sage
offered 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 him
unengaged, then he will devour you. So be
careful to constantly engage him.” This man
said, “Oh! Don’t worry. I have got thousands
of things to do.” So this man took the
powerful jinn with him home and ordered
him, “Plough that thousand acre land.” And
the jinn ploughed it all in just five minutes.
He returned back and he said, “My dear sir,
give me the next order.” The man was
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stunned. “Build a big bungalow for me”, he
said. And the jinn made a big bungalow for
him in a matter of minutes. So in this way
whatever he asked for, the jinn arranged for
immediately. Now the man became alarmed
because he had no engagement to give him; he
was just too quick in executing his action. So
what could he do? He ran back to the sage
and screamed to him, “Please save me from
this great demon! It is about to devour me. I
don’t have any work to give him.” So the sage
told him, “You fool! It is easy. Take that
ladder with you. Place it next to your house
and tell the jinn to climb up and down.
Whenever you need him, call him and give
him service. And at all other times tell him to
go up the ladder and come down.” The man
acted accordingly and was thus saved from the
demon.
Our mind is just like the demon. It is very
powerful; it can do hundreds of things very
quickly. And the moment we leave it
unengaged, it starts thinking of unnecessary
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and undesirable things and fills us with
insatiable cravings, anxieties and fears. And
what is the ladder to deal with the demon of
the mind? It is the Hare Krishna
mahamantra:

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 can
never disturb us. It is said that an idle mind is
the devil’s workshop. But if the mind is
engaged in chanting the holy name and
remembering God, one can become
completely peaceful and the mind can be
positively engaged for performing good
activities for oneself and for the whole world
at large. In such a pure mind, pure thoughts
naturally arise and then we can propagate the
pure spiritual knowledge for the benefit of the
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whole of humanity. And in this way we can
achieve peace of mind ourselves and
simultaneously benefit others also.

HARE KRISHNA!

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