Difference between Suppression and Mind Control
Bhakti Vijnana Goswami · London · 2016
Chapters
Initial invocation prayers and mantras
O Magyanati Miranda Sam Janam Jana Salakaya Chakshurun Militami Natasma e Shriguravma, Sri Chaitanyamano Vishta. Sri Guru, Sri Yutapadakamalaam, Sri Guru Nvaisnavamsta, Shriupam Sagrajatam, Sahaganaragunatam Vitam, Sadivam,
Sadvatam, Sadhutam, Paridjana Sahitam, Krishna Chaitanya Deva, Sri Rada Krishna Padam, Sahaganalita, Srivishaka vitamsha e Krishna Karuna Sindu Deenabandu Jakat Pate, Gobisa Gopikam Radakantamos tute, tapta Kanshinagurangi,
Rade Vrindavaneshware, Vishavanu Sudadevi Pranamami Haripri, Vancha Kalpatarubya, Kripasindu Bevacha, Patiebyw, Vaishnava Byonawam, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabunitan Sivasadivu
Rabhta Brinda Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare Okay. So if there is no specific topic
then I will speak just a few minutes about the difference between the suppression and mind control because Because some people are confused and they don't know what is the difference between suppression and mind control.
We always hear mind control, mind control, mind control. But usually what people understand when they hear mind control, they think I have to suppress something. So with us, it's a completely different concept.
Physical and mental damage from suppression
And I would like to clarify a little bit and to explain the difference between the two. Suppression is actually very bad. And Krishna himself says, Nigraham Kim Karishati, what can suppression accomplish?
If we have some drive or some very strong desire and we try to just kind of you know suppress it. That nothing happens with the energy of this desire. The energy of this desire is still there.
And being suppressed, it's in suppressed way somewhere there, and it creates damage to our physical and mental bodies.
Like recently, I spoke with one Ayurvedic doctor and this Ayurvedic doctor said to me an amazing thing.
He said that sometimes in in the old age people uh develop this Parkinson disease and they become, you know, the tremor, they start trembling. He said, you know what is the reason for this?
The reason for this is suppressed anger. We all know if we feel anger, we start shaking and trembling. You know, now take this energy which is there, energy of anger, which is there.
And somehow or other, because of some social understanding or whatever, you suppress this energy, then all this trembling is there in suppressed form in your mind.
And when you become old and your mind is not strong enough, all this energy just manifests and you start trembling all the time. Why? Because this energy it's not gone anywhere.
It's still there and you you didn't do anything.
So uh suppression means basically that you have certain desires, certain drives, certain emotion which is there in the mind, and you can't manifest it because of some social reasons, you are living in some environment in ashram or whatever, and it's not good, and you're suppressing it, but you're not really solving the problem.
You're just externally behaving in a certain way as if it's not there. But it's there. Anger is there, lust is there, it's just there in a suppressed form. And what happens?
If it's there in a suppressed form, it instead of being uh eradicated or being kind of killed, uh it gains energy.
And for some time it's there in a suppressed form, then after so many years it may just come out with a in a very ugly shape and form because it's there.
Same way the story about Sawbar Saw Bari Muni, you know, who was so many years practicing his you know breast control totally you know his mind was actually under control to a certain extent but because the desire was there it was unresolved desire.
Ultimately just little indication, little something, and then uh the whole ugly desire is there and so strong.
You know, he he was Brahmachary for so many years under the water. It was his Brahmachari Ashram under the water.
But then all of a sudden he not only had one wife, 50 wives. Of course, he regretted afterwards, but it was too late.
So again, one policy about all these desires or impulses, uh, all these vegas which are there in the mind is just try to suppress them.
Defining real mind control through awareness
Another policy is completely different and much more healthy. You try to control them. And now I will explain what is the difference between the control and suppression.
Because immediately when we hear control we think that you I should suppress it. No, it's not it's not the same. Control means That
you bring all these vegas, all these impulses which are there in the mind, all these pushings, all these cravings in your conscious, in the realm of your consciousness, in the realm of your awareness.
And you deal with them because at present moment most of these cravings and things like this they are in our subconsciousness, in our subconscious mind.
So the way to deal with them is actually be aware of them and not be afraid of them.
Usually what happens we see, we feel it and because we know it's not good, and because of so many other reasons, socially it's not appreciated, we're kind of afraid even, even to admit that it's there.
We're very ashamed and so on and so forth. The first thing which you should do, you should be very clear and very scientific and very honest about it. Yes, it's there.
And everyone has this as long as we have some material body, you know, there will be some problems, some desires which we carry from previous lives and there's nothing wrong with it.
You know, it's my favorite story about Prabhupāda when brahmacārī approached Prabhupāda and said, Prabhupāda, I have no lust, he said maybe you should go to doctor, you know. So if you have body and if you have mind there will be some some desire, some lust is there.
It's fine. But deal with it in a very I mean is in a very honest way. Yes, it's there.
And because if you are trying to avoid it and trying to just suppress it and trying to pretend it's not there and ashamed, and guilty about this. And this, and that. It will only be making it stronger.
And actually, it's not such a big deal. Yes, everyone has it fine, no problem. And if if you bring it to the realm of consciousness, then it immediately will become weaker. It's only as strong as we make it strong.
As strong as we are afraid of it and have all kinds of strange concepts and understandings of it.
Digesting experiences using conscious intelligence
Yes, this is this is there. And we should try to be very much aware of it. This awareness actually the key is awareness.
What I want to say is that intelligence, buddhi, this faculty of our mind, conscious mind, however, you call it bodhi, conscious mind or awareness, consciousness, real consciousness.
It's the ability in our mental body to digest certain things. And if we want to get rid of something, the way to get rid of this is to process it with the conscious mind, with body, with intelligence.
As long as it's not processed by the conscious mind and it remains somewhere in some consciousness, then all of a sudden the moment when you are less expected, it just will jump on you, overwhelm you, and will make you crazy for some time.
And then you will regret and this and that. So better to kind of process it; it's it's similar way but uh uh perhaps not so drastic when when people go psychoanalysis.
What is the what is the point, what is the mechanism behind psychoanalysis? Psychoanalysis.
The therapist is trying to get some something which you might even have forgotten, which has happened for a long time, a long time ago with you, he takes it to your conscious mind.
Some fear is there, some trauma is there, some pain is there.
So what he does, he brings it to the realm of your consciousness, your awareness, and makes you deal with it, to come in contact with it and understand that actually it's not that bad. It's only again as strong as it is as we are not aware of it.
All this really f— all those fears and everything. Just just make it, you know, look have a realistic look at it and it it will become uh weaker and it will stop troubling you.
In Ayurveda, it is explained, it's a very interesting concept and that this buddhi is a digestive fire in our mind.
As much as there is a digestive fire in our stomach which digests the food and turns the food into energy, into the building blocks of our body, completely transforms it into something useful.
You know, you take some stuff and there is a long process, but ultimately it's all depends on the fire.
So the same way, this fire of intelligence, awareness, fire of buddhi is very important to digest our experiences in this life.
You know, we're constantly bombarded by different experiences, by different you know impulses from outside. And it happens on a regular basis. You know there is a certain period at night when it happens actually.
As much as at that period at night between 10 and 2 o'clock, this is where the experiences of the day being digested and more or less brought into something productive.
As much as the food, exactly at the same time, the same thing is happening with the food. You eat food during the day, it's being digested preliminarily.
But the real digestion, when it's turned into the building blocks of the body and the energy
Regulating sleep schedules for mental health
of the body, is taking place in this period between 10 and 2. And therefore, it's extremely important to sleep at that time. That's why brahmacārīs should definitely sleep at that time. They should go to bed before 10.
They should be well, you know, nicely. I know sometimes there is some preaching programs and we can somehow rather. But it should not be our regular habit. We should definitely try to go to bed as early as possible.
So, these few hours, very important hours. The buddhi would do what it's supposed to do. To really digest all these experiences and throw out what is not necessary and take something which is healthy and which is useful.
As much as it is going on with the food, you know. And then when you get up in the morning, then you're fresh. You know, sometimes we know everyone has this experience.
You have this very unpleasant day, so many unpleasant emotional things happened to you, you know, somebody yelled at you, you did something wrong, and you know somebody
demanded something from you and you felt completely suppressed. But if you slept nicely, you get up in the morning and you feel, yeah, it's fine. Let's go on. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, no problem.
But only if this period of nice night sleep is there. And therefore sometimes brahmacārīs, they get into extreme and they get up at one o'clock or whatever, it's not good. Two is the earliest.
Two you can get up, but not before that. You know, this period is very important to keep you sane and to keep your intelligence strong.
As much as it is extremely necessary for our physical health to have the digestion fire strong and not suppressed.
In the same way, we should develop our buddhi, our intelligence, and to keep it strong in a very good shape, then all these problems, including lust and anger and greed, will be digested by our intelligence.
Ultimately, that's that's my point. You bring this to the realm of your intelligence. You analyze it from a very you know analytical point of view. What is this? Lust.
You know, it's only as strong as we are not really aware of what's going on. But if we look at this, I mean it's it's not such It's like a little baby sees a spider.
Because baby is so weak and spider seems to be so big and so strong and, you know, it becomes scared. And then the whole life uh he's just afraid of spiders.
But uh is spider something really, you know, something really which which Which we we just add some importance to the spiders. And lust is a spider inside. It's not so so big deal, you know, really.
If you see that this is just a little spider, that's fine, you know. There's nothing wrong with this spider, just you know, don't pay too much attention. But because it's it's in our subconsciousness, it becomes so big.
You know, just bring it to the realm of your consciousness. There is yeah, there is some chemical reactions are going on. These chemical reactions give you some experiences, this experience are there.
But ultimately, if you see it with the light, with the fire, with the light of your intelligence, it will lose its power. It will lose its ability to control you. And you will be able to control it.
Universal intelligence and Mahat-tattva in Sankhya
In other words, the key for controlling the mind is through intelligence. Intelligence is the highest possible faculty which we have.
According to classical Sāṅkhya philosophy and uh according to Kapiladeva, the the third Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, there is actually some confusion about Buddhi.
Sometimes people are very much confused how they say that buddhi is evolute or is developed from rajo-guṇa. It is said very clearly in the third Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that ego in rajo-guṇa creates buddhi.
And how come by something which is produced from rajo-guṇa, I will control something which is produced from sattva-guṇa because sattva-guṇa is higher. People sometimes cannot understand.
But in reality, there are two buddhis. One is Mahat-tattva. And Mahat-tattva is buddhi, it's a universal intelligence.
And you're controlling your mind, not with this rājasic buddhi. Rājasic buddhi will only explain to you or rationalize to you why you should do what you want to do.
It will only more or less order the the the or uh follow the orders of the mind. The real buddhi is coming from Mahat-tattva and because Mahat-tattva means universal intelligence. So we have this intelligence in us.
And it is through this intelligence, through this faculty, we know what is good, what is bad, we can really sort it out. But basically, what it means: how to develop this sort of intelligence only through the study.
Not only. This is at least one very powerful way of developing this intelligence or developing this fire of digestion. As I said, for physical health, it's very important to have strong fire of digestion.
For mental health and for spiritual health, it's very important to have strong intelligence, strong buddhi.
So one way to develop this buddhi, one obvious way and very important way, is just to study, analytically study Shastra, study scriptures. Because, and not only, you know, when I say study, study means not just read.
Study means to understand the logic of the scriptures, to understand the logical structure of the scripture. This is explained. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains this as well.
Basically, to study scripture means to know: you know that there is this logical understanding which is developed in anyway I will not go into it. It's too complicated.
But anyway, what I want to say is that to study means to understand the logic. To understand the idea. Sometimes it seems to us that we're studying.
We're reading, we're spending enough time to read this, but ultimately it's not really sorted out. To study properly means you you sort it out, you know this is here, this is there, this is here.
It's like there is one devotee in Russia, Vatsal Prabhu, he's a very good preacher. He has this very nice analogy. You know, if you come to brahmacārī ashram and uh it's usually a mess, I mean uh oftentimes it's a mess.
But then there is a cupboard. And if it's a proper brahmacārī ashram, then every every you know stuff, everything has its place in different shelves of this cupboard. And it's neatly nice.
You know, dhotī is here, you know, tilak is there, and you have to spend half an hour to find where is your tilak and then another half an hour to find where is your mirror to put your tilak and then acamana-pātra. But everything is in the place, then immediately you can use it. So the same way you will be able to use the scriptures if it's logically in your mental cupboard. If some emotion comes, or if some situation, difficult situation comes,
if it's very nicely and neatly there in your mental cupboard, then immediately you know how to react, and you know
what to say, you know what to act, you know what to think even if if it's uh if it's there properly stored, but if you have a if it's uh if it's there properly stored but if you have a if you have chaos in your head, you know, with so different things, you know and you're not really clear, then difficult situation comes and you're bewildered, you don't know what to do.
So, uh, one way uh to develop intelligence is uh to try to logically study the scriptures means basically put it into different categories. This is here, this goes here, this is the shelf for this.
Where is this idea coming from? Where is place in my cupboard? And so on and so forth. So this is one thing.
And another thing very important, very important way to develop this intelligence or this ability to control the mind is basically to give a vow and to follow what, to follow the word.
Why this is one of the hallmarks of Vedic culture. People there, if they say something, they will do it, for sure. And that helps to develop the intelligence, the ability to control the mind.
We have this ability, this faculty is there, this very high ability coming from mahat-tattva in our microcosm, which is this buddhi, very powerful buddhi which is higher than the mind is there.
But to develop it, to understand how it works, this process is very important. I say something and I do it. And I will not, I should never say something which I think I may or may not do.
You know, sometimes as devotees we want to please somebody. And somebody asks us something to do, and we say, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then we very quietly say, maybe. Not good.
It actually destroys your intelligence, destroys uh destroys your ability to use productively your intelligence. Because this is the this is the power, this is the thing where it's coming from.
If I said something, I should do it. If I'm not sure whether I will do it or not, I shouldn't say this.
I should say no, I I'm not, I can't, I can't promise anything. I should be very clear. So this is uh and that's Vedic culture. Vedic culture gives the greatest importance to develop this intelligence and all different things and customs and social norms in the Vedic culture are there to help people to have strong intelligence so that they will be able to control their minds.
We are living now in a culture, again, for the lack of better word, we're living in a so-called culture where nobody controls the mind. And there is no there is no question of culture where people cannot control the mind.
Why? Because the intelligence is weak. Why is it weak? Because nobody consciously and consistently develops the intelligence.
The intelligence is developed through the study of scriptures, through association, definitely, through the guidance. When we have counselor and counselor system, that's the way to develop the intelligence.
And through you know keeping the word, doing what we said we would do, and other things are also there, but this is the main part.
Managing anger through analytical self-examination
So and um uh if this is there then this is not suppression. If you if like for example uh to give the practical example we usually have why this suppressed anger takes place in us.
Anger is basically the natural reaction when something goes not the way we want it to go, right?
We have certain conception of how it should be because we are controllers, we are little Krishna in our little room, and everyone should follow us.
But if somebody doesn't follow, usually that's the reason. If somebody does something wrong, not according to my will, my desire, my understanding of what should be, then naturally, anger arises in us.
And there are different ways. One way is just vent the anger. Not good. We know it's not good. You know, sometimes we indulge in it. But actually it's better than just to suppress it, in one sense.
Because if you if you just suppress it, you're still angry, you're still not happy, you're still depressed, you still have this energy of anger inside you, it will continue damaging it.
So the proper way to do it: if something went wrong and somebody did something wrong, you should you should take little time and realize, first of all, realize I'm not in control or you know, who am I?
Why why why am I so angry? You know, nobody is supposed to follow my orders. You know, if they follow, it's fine, it's good. I should feel lucky that they follow. If they don't follow, it's that's the way they are.
You know, like Prabhupāda, uh once uh somebody said Prabhupāda, they're leaving, they're leaving castroom, Prabhupāda said there's nothing wrong that they're leaving. What I'm surprised of that somebody is staying.
So if somebody doesn't do what we want, there's nothing wrong with it. We're surprised if somebody does what we want. So basically from the rational point of view we, have to analyze why this, why I'm so upset. Why? Why?
And if there is some reason for me to be upset, then I have to be again very clear, if it's proper reason, that he's not doing this and it's ultimately not good for him, not only just because he's not doing
what I want, but there are some other things. And then by rationally analyzing it, I have to come to him and tell him, listen, you're not doing properly, you know, it's not good.
And I'm doing it without any anger because anger is already digested, more or less. And in this way, this anger which arose will not damage me, will not harm me. Because again, from a logical point of view, I kind of solved
this problem of anger, I understood what I'm supposed to do and I'm doing it. But usually it's not like this people, they they carry this anger, you know, for years. Somebody did something, somebody said something to them.
Uh like recently somebody told me uh five years back you told me you drive me crazy and why did you tell me? I I said I don't remember why did you tell me because probably you drove me crazy.
Probably that's the reason why I told you this. For all these years he's just. Why did you tell me this? Whereas the proper way, you know, just ask me why did I tell you, and I, you know, if I'm
wrong, I will beg forgiveness from you, and if you drive me crazy, I will explain how you drive me crazy. Don't drive me crazy again. So what's the big deal? So uh but no, for five years that was suppressed
there and that's very damaging. Very damaging.
Confessing mental struggles to higher authorities
And it's it's not really good. So to do this we have to have very open relations also. You know, and if we have problems, another way uh to really uh expose our problems to the higher intelligence.
Sometimes we don't have higher intelligence. Not enough.
Then the way to solve the problem is actually to describe the problem to somebody whom we trust, somebody who is really higher, who has the higher intelligence, to reveal the problem, to tell him this is the problem which I have. And this act in itself is a solution for the problem.
Because again, while describing it in rational terms, you are getting rid of it and you're revealing it, and that's a very powerful way to get rid of the problems by confessing, by telling this and by getting the guidance.
And then it will be very easy to To control the mind. Instead of trying to suppress it and trying to make it even more difficult and monstrous than it already is. I guess that's it.
I don't know if if somebody has some questions. Thanks for the first one. I still wanted some clarification with this hierarchy of the mind and intelligence.
Because in the Gita we see that the senses high and sense of the mind high and that's intelligence. And then Bhagavad and Third canto they say uh mode of passion ignorance comes and more goodness the mind comes. Um so I just I just struggle to to understand that.
According to Gita intelligence is higher than the mind definitely and uh my answer to this because many times I was asked this question and I was trying to explain it this way or that way.
When Gita says that intelligence is higher than the mind, it's not the rajasic intelligence which we have.
We have Rajasic intelligence which is basically pushing us to do what we're supposed to do or not supposed to do, whatever. The way we are dealing with this world.
But there is higher higher sort of intelligence which can control the mind, which is coming, which is basically the manifestation of Mahat, Mahatattva. That's the intelligence I was talking about.
And when Gita says that it's higher, that's otherwise how can rajasic intelligence bring us closer to Kṛṣṇa if it's rajasic if it's the evolute of the mode of passion, but cannot.
Therefore, in Sankhya, in in Sankhya Karika, it is said that it describes that there are four qualities in this intelligence in Mahat. Very interestingly.
Four qualities of mahat-tattva in Sankhya
I haven't seen it in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but I find it very, very interesting. First, a quality of this intelligence or Mahat. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam speaks about mahat-tattva, right? Mahat-tattva is the first thing.
And while explaining this Mahat in Sāṅkhya Kārikā, Īśvara Kṛṣṇa says that there are four qualities in this Mahat. First quality is dharma.
And in other words, by this intelligence, Everyone knows what is right, what is wrong.
And if intelligence is strong, then it's dharmic, and you very clearly understand. If intelligence is weak, then it's adharmic basically.
Then the second quality in the intelligence is this mahat is vairāgya. Again, some sort of detachment. If the intelligence is strong, people are detached. If the intelligence is weak, people are very much attached.
The third quality is aiśvarya meaning not opulence but meaning the controlling power. Aiśvarya is coming from the word īśvara. Aiśvarya means and basically it is said that in this clear intelligence in
the sāttvika intelligence it is said there that if your intelligence is sāttvika and it's clear and it's very strong then you will get dharma there or very clear understanding this is good, this is bad, you will get vairāgya from there and you will get aiśvarya means mystic powers.
The ability to control yourself and to control others. And the fourth quality is of course knowledge. Knowledge in this case meaning the understanding that the soul is separate from the body.
That's all coming from sattvic intelligence.
And the sāttvika intelligence, sāttvika buddhi is the quality in us which knows what dharma is, which helps us to be renounced, which gives us clear knowledge that there is soul separate from the body, and which gives us the ability to control ourselves, our mind, and to control others to a certain extent.
Thank you, Raj. That clears some few doubts. Just one more thing, Mahārāja. I was also told, Mahārāja, that the nature of the mind is thinking, feeling and willing. Yeah. And intelligence, discrimination. Yeah.
Um and then so that's that's uh the subtle body which is material. But the soul also does thinking, feeling, willing and discriminating, so the soul has its own mind and intelligence also? Yeah.
As much as soul has the senses. The senses everything material is just a reflection of which is there in the soul. The soul does have it.
So maybe the Gītā when it says the mind is the sāttvika mind, sāttvika intelligence, which is the soul aspect. satvic intelligence, which is the soul aspect.
Reconciling various descriptions of subtle elements
And what Bhāgavatam says... I must admit that I see even Krishna himself
uh explains in the 11th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that when this description, when this Sānkhya description, he says some sages say there are 17 elements, some sages say there are 25 elements, some sages say there are 8 elements.
And he says they're all right or right. Why? Because if you describe something, some whole, and you try to analyze it according to the different systems, you can analyze it this way or that way.
You know, and sometimes you only give some very prominent parts, sometimes you give more detailed descriptions. Like for example, you come to a company and you see a company and you're asked
to describe, you know, and you kind of study how the company works. And you may give different, differently detailed descriptions.
Sometimes you say, yes, this company, the boss is there, and the company works under the boss. And that's true.
But then you may say, then there is this board and that board, and that's how they interact, and this and that. And you may go to different degree of detailed experience.
So all the descriptions are true because but but it's just different details and perhaps different even you know vantage points points of vision.
So and ultimately this whole thing is for us to understand what's going on inside and what we should use, what we should, how we should relate to what is going on within our mind and within our heart.
You mentioned that mahat-tattva means universal intelligence and some say this bodily concept, ahaṁ-tattva, comes from mahat-tattva. So the mahat-tattva is higher intelligence, how this bodily comes. No.
That's the next element. Mahat-tattva creates ego. Ahaṁ-tattva is the next. Mahat-tattva is the intelligence by which you can understand that you are not this body.
But then ahaṅkāra is the next element which is created by mahat and which is also universal and all-pervading and everything. So that's why everything has its personality.
And everything has even these things, you know we all know, with some computers I can work and with some computer I just incompatible with this computer. It just doesn't work with me, you know, sometimes in in in um
very culture it's very you know it's very prominent even uh even um supposedly material things they respect them you know like musician would pay obeisances to his harmonium in Vedic culture. Why?
Because ahaṅkāra is there. And if you please this ahaṅkāra of harmonium, then it will play nicely, you know. You enter into some more productive relationship if you are just trying to exploit it.
So, but it's not the same. Mahat tatva is Mahat Tatva. Aham tattva is the next tattva. And what this and why Mahat-tattva? Because that's that's the design of this world.
Because in this world, this world is designed by God for us to manifest our ego. That's the playing ground for our egos. We want to be in the center and that's why the provision is given to us.
You know, otherwise it would be very boring place. We are there without ego. The whole game of this world is the clash of egos and to show that I'm higher and even better, and this and that, and this field and that all.
My goodness, so interesting. You can play for eternity. Well, she mentioned that we can strengthen our intelligence through studying the śāstra in a logical way and help us control our mind.
Chanting the holy name with intelligence
How does like the holy name relate to it? Like does it also help? Oh, I, of course, Definitely. But see intelligence is very important to help us to
chant the holy name properly because what we do, we usually try to chant the holy name on the level of the mind. There's so much garbage in our mind. And holy name is somewhere there, among this garbage.
And literally it happens like this. We chant and yeah, every now and then we just come to
understanding that, uh, holy name is we are floating with this garbage which is there in the mind. And, you know, sometimes we hear, yeah, holy name is there, all right, and again you know swim in this in this sewage of the mind.
But if you do it with intelligence on a higher level, with awareness, because intelligence is what? It's awareness. It's awareness.
Then the response from the Holy Name, the energy which you will feel from the Holy Name will be higher.
And you will be able definitely to control the mind by this process for sure. But then you have to chant on this level. It is said, Chatvari Vak that there are four levels of the sound.
One is gross sound by karivak, next is mental sound, the sound of our thoughts. But then there is sound on the level of buddhi intelligence, which is called Pasyantivak.
And this Pasyantivak is where each, iccha-shakti is where desire, the Shakti of desire is. And if we chant uh on this level, with concentration
and desire on this level, I mean it's it's a different topic, I I don't think I will be able to explain this.
But basically pasyanti means that there is some some image there and you chant on this level, then it's much more powerful. And then automatically you will control the mind. Very easily. No problem.
Very easily controlled the mind. By the power of the holy name, uh if you chant it on a in a proper way. So how can we come on that level of chanting with intelligence? By studying the scriptures or also.
By developing desire. When you chant with desire, with the goal, what is intelligence? Intelligence is your ability to set the goal and to achieve the goal, right?
So if you're very clear about your goal, the goal of your chanting. Why I chant. It's if it's just a tedious uh ritual, which I have to follow because otherwise I will not be given breakfast. And then it's one thing.
Recognizing symptoms of suppressed material desires
If you really understand why you chant, for what you chant, what is the goal to be achieved, how it is to be achieved and you know and then you come then then then you're changing uh on a qualitatively different level.
Yes sort of uh you talked about suppression and how if someone is suppressing, for example, sex desire, then at one point it will just come out in an unhealthy way.
Um is there any uh signs or symptoms that you can tell us of someone who's suppressing?
So, like so we could see it either in ourselves or in others. Any symptoms that this person is suppressing, so that we can identify it before it comes out in an unhealthy way. Yeah.
First of all, uh people who suppress their desires too much, they are not happy. They're really not happy.
You you can feel that they just they are more or less uh kind of not here completely they're just doing something because they have to do something. They're not relaxed. People with these suppressed desires. People who have their desires resolved, they're actually very, you know, easy, easygoing, relaxed person.
If you have or uh another of course very obvious symptom of this suppressed desire is anger. You know. He's supposedly doing everything, but you touch him. He's just immediately explodes. Explosion is there. Why?
Because of these suppressed desires, and they're not happy, angry, you know, and they always try to find faults in others and try to explain how because they feel that something is wrong and they have to explain to themselves uh why it is wrong and definitely it's not me who is wrong, it's somebody else who is wrong.
So they have all this convoluted very involved sort of rational explanation why why everyone is wrong, and this, cone is wrong, and this is wrong, and that is wrong, and how there is only one person who is right, and he happens to be him. Anything else?
I guess I have to go, so yes, Prabhupāda.
Rajam, I really like the uh concept you explained about the biodigestion, how the body has a biodigestion that keeps the body healthy and the mind also has a fire of digestion which burns away these lower natures like so this is one of
the cures of someone who has lost anger, grieved, just by taking rest at the right time, repeating to this setup away. And basically what happens also that's why we have to be born again and again and again.
Because of all these undigested, unprocessed desires. And somebody dies and he has all these strong desires and he feels unfulfilled and frustrated. Because usually that's what it is.
Old people they're all frustrated because they feel that I'm not successful in life. No matter how successful they are from the external point of view, they're frustrated, really frustrated.
So that's what happened during the period between the life times. There all these things are being processed properly.
It's like you get the hard drive of your old computer and you put it in a new computer. But before putting it in a new computer, you archive properly everything.
You put something really deep down, uh if it's not really necessary, but some prominent things are there, still active. So that's what is going on, that's what is called prārabdha-karma.
You know, you you have you have this karmic accounts in this body, you have kriyamana karma, karma in the process of uh developing, which you're doing now, you have prarabdha karma, which you brought from this.
When you die, all the karmic, all the karmas they merge again. And then through the process of you know, according to to the mechanism of this universe.
It's b- some things are being archived and something which is very important uh m- uh they put prominently in this certain place and then you get new computer with the old hard disk, but a little more systematized with a clear program.
And this program is there in your chart. Good astrologer always say, here is the program which you come with which you came with in this life.
You're supposed this is your mission in life, this is what you're supposed to do, this is what you're supposed to achieve, because this is the strong desires which you brought.
So in a similar way, during the night, because night is some sort of pralaya, right? It's some sort of destruction.
Also, some processing is going on and some sort of sorting out of all these experiences and karmas are taking place in this in a smaller way, but it's kind of bring it to a more ordered way.
And therefore, sleep is so important. If we wouldn't sleep, we would go crazy. Sleep is very important. And therefore death is very important. If we would not die, we would also go crazy.
It would be only crazy senile people with completely undigested and unprocessed minds. So the death is very important.
It's a part of life, you know, to help you to start anew and refresh and ultimately get ultimately frustrated and happy devotee Hare Krishna Hare Krishna. Anyway, uh I have to go. Okay. Thank you very much.
I really thank you for your attention. Yeah.