{"id":69106,"date":"2020-12-06T11:44:33","date_gmt":"2020-12-06T10:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dandavats.tumblr.com\/post\/180678706951"},"modified":"2020-12-06T11:45:23","modified_gmt":"2020-12-06T10:45:23","slug":"going-off-course-is-not-the-problem-staying-off-course-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=69106","title":{"rendered":"Going off-course is not the problem; staying off-course is…"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Going off-course is not the problem; staying off-course is (Based on Gita 06.26)
\nChaitanya Charan Das: Suppose a plane flies from Los Angeles to New York. During 90% of its flight time, it is off-course. Why? Because of its own momentum and the atmospheric conditions.
\nHow, then, does the plane get to its destination? By the pilot\u2019s repeated reorientation.
\nDuring our life-journey, we are like the pilot and our mind is like our plane \u2013 it keeps going off-course. We may resolve to do something, but the mind proposes a hundred other things. And it proposes so subtly and swiftly that even before we realize what is happening, we start acting according to its proposition. When we find ourselves repeatedly going off-course, we may become disheartened and feel like quitting.
\nEncouragingly, Gita wisdom stresses that going off-course is not a problem; getting distracted is just the expected behavior of the mind, for it is fickle and restless (Bhagavad-gita 06.26). We need to expect the mind\u2019s wandering and prepare for it. How? By resolving to patiently and persistently get it back on course.
\nHowever, we sabotage ourselves if become disheartened and stay off-course. We may think that we have a particularly devilish mind and are therefore doomed. To counter such negativity, we can remind ourselves that the mind\u2019s wandering is nothing personal against us; it is just its own nature. Consequently, repeated reorientation is just a functional requirement of our mental mechanism \u2013 as it is an airplane\u2019s requirement too.
\nSuch refocusing becomes easier when we have something attractive to focus on. The Gita\u2019s bhakti wisdom offers us the most attractive object: the all-attractive supreme person, Krishna. When we practice bhakti-yoga, we focus not so much on controlling the mind as on connecting with Krishna, and therein relish higher satisfaction. Thereby, our endeavor for self-mastery stops being so exhausting and starts becoming enriching, and we energetically march towards self-mastery.
\n*****************
\nVerse 06.26 – \u201cFrom wherever the mind wanders due to its \ufb02ickering and unsteady nature, one must certainly withdraw it and bring it back under the control of the Self.\u201d
\n*****************
\nThink it over:
\nHow does the mind take us off-course?
\nHow does the Gita change our vision of our mind\u2019s repeated wandering?
\nHow does bhakti-yoga energize us in our attempts for self-mastery?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\nChaitanya Charan Das: Suppose a plane flies from Los Angeles to New York. During 90% of its flight time, it is off-course. Why? Because of its own momentum and the atmospheric conditions.
\nHow, then, does the plane get to its destination? By the pilot’s repeated reorientation.<\/p>\n

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