Taming the Mind and Senses: The Yogi

The Bhagavad Gita: A Walk Through for Westerners

Inspired by The Bhagavad Gita, author Jack Hawley lends his interpretation to the ancient texts. Read the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna and learn how how to control your thoughts.

Based on the book The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners © 2011 by Jack Hawley. Printed with permission of New World Library, Novato, CA. www.newworldlibrary.com or 800-972-6657 ext. 52.

Jack Hawley, Ph.D., lives, studies, and lectures half of each year in an ashram in rural southern India, where the values of the Gita are very much alive. When not in India, he brings these ancient yet current ideas to leaders and organizations in the West. His books include the classic Bhagavad Gita: a Walkthrough for Westerners; Reawakening the Spirit in Work: the Power of Dharmic Management; Roadmaps to Self-Realization; and Essential Wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita. His website is GitaWalkthrough.com; his email is [email protected].

High Yogis

“Those who see Me in everything and everything in Me, know the staggering truth that the Self in the individual is the Self in all. As they live in constant spiritual awareness, I am never out of their sight or lost to them — nor are they ever out of My sight or lost to Me.

“Those who are in this cosmic union with Me, worship Me (Brahman) in the hearts of all. Whatever their external way of living or status, as they have shifted from self to God they live their lives in Me — and thus each of their contacts with other beings is, inwardly, an adoration.

“These high yogis know with certainty that they are one with Brahman, and therefore one with the universe. Thus they experience the joys and sorrows felt by others as happening to the whole. This is the loftiest spiritual union. I regard these yogis as highest of all — ”

The Nature of the Mind

Arjuna interrupts again: “It’s impossible, Krishna! My mind is so restless, so turbulent I can’t imagine ever being able to achieve the loftiness you’re teaching. The human mind is a nursery of waywardness, so strong it can drag an elephant, full of stubborn desires for worldly things. Indeed, it’s like a mule. If it doesn’t get what it wants it turns petulant and scheming. My mind can never be caught; it never halts in one place. Trying to catch and tame it is like trying to restrain the wild wind.”

Krishna breaks into a smile. “You know the nature of the mind, Arjuna. It is restless and hard to subdue, but it can be done. There are four main ways to do it: through regular practice, relentless inquiry, non-attachment, and firm faith. Let Me explain...

Mastery over the Ego

“Through regular practice (abhyasa) you can draw the mind away from worldly attractions and back into the Atma. As it becomes more interior it becomes calmer. Relentless inquiry into the Self (vichara) leads to knowledge of Atma, the True Self Within. Non-attachment (vairagya) results from self-inquiry and discrimination (viveka). When you actively turn your thoughts to all the bad consequences of the desires as they arise in you, the passion for them gradually dries up. As your passion diminishes, your mind comes under control. Firm, dedicated faith (sraddha) brings you the raw force of determination, will. All four methods are subsidiaries of the practice of meditation.

“Those who have no mastery over their ego will find it difficult to control the mind. But those who struggle hard by the correct means (relentless practice and nonattachment) will prevail over their wayward minds.”

Based on the book The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners © 2011 by Jack Hawley. Printed with permission of New World Library, Novato, CA. www.newworldlibrary.com or 800-972-6657 ext. 52.