Control really means
being indifferent to the vagaries of the mind.
It is difficult to control the mind,
just as it is difficult to confine air in one’s grasp.

How can anyone control the mind which is all-pervading
in the vastness of its range and comprehension?

When it is realised that the mind is made up of thoughts and doubts,
the elimination of the thoughts is the means of restraining the mind.

Thoughts are associated with desires.
As long as desires remain, one cannot have detachment.

It is necessary to limit desires.
When there is no restraint, excessive desire becomes an evil.
It leads to misery.
When we strive to control desire,
in due course,
it develops into non-attachment or renunciation

Lord Krishn sings in Bhagavad Gita:

“Doing away with the causes that make the inconstant and fickle
wander among worldly objects,
he should devote his mind to God alone.”

Strictly keeping out all allurements that tempt the changeable and restless mind
to associate with worldly objects,
the worshiper should try repeatedly to confine it to the Self.
It is often contended that the mind should be let free to go wherever it tends to go.
After all, where else can it go except to nature, which is also a creation of God?

So if it roams amidst nature, it is not transgressing the bounds of God.
But according to Lord Krishn this is a misconception.
There is no room for such beliefs in the Bhagavad Gita.
It is Lord Krishn’s injunction
that
the very organs through which the mind strays here and there should be curbed
in order to devote it solely to God.

Restraint of mind is possible.
But what is the consequence of this restraint?

Lord Krishn adds:

“The most sublime happiness is the lot of the yogi
whose mind is at peace,
who is free from evil,
whose passion and moral blindness have been dispelled,
and who has become one with God.”

Nothing is superior to the happiness that comes to this yogi,
for this is the happiness that results from identity with God;
and this ultimate bliss comes only to that man who is perfectly at peace in his heart and mind,
free from sin,
and
whose property of passion and moral blindness has been subdued.

“Thus constantly dedicating his Self to God,
the immaculate yogi experiences the eternal bliss of realization..”

The emphasis here is on sinlessness and continuous devotion.
The yogi needs to possess these qualities
before he can experience the blessedness of touching God and merging into him.
So worship is a necessity.

Lord Krishn sings:

“The mind is, O the mighty-armed,
doubtlessly fickle and hard to restrain, but it is disciplined,
O son of Kunti,
by perseverance of effort and renunciation.”

Arjun is “mighty-armed” because he is capable of great accomplishment.
The mind is indeed restless and most difficult to subdue,
but as Lord Krishn tells him,
it is restrained by constant effort and giving up of all desire.

Repeated endeavour to keep the mind steadily fixed on the object
to which it should be dedicated is meditation (abhyas),
whereas renunciation is the sacrifice of desire for or attachment to,
all seen as well as heard sense-objects,
which include pleasures of the world and also the promised joys of heaven.

So, although it is difficult to curb the mind,
it can be subdued by constant meditation and renunciation.

“It is my firm conviction
that
while the attainment of yog is most difficult for a man who fails to restrain his mind,
it is easy for him who is his own master
and
active in the performance of the required action.”

The achievement of yog is not really so difficult as Arjun has assumed.
It is difficult, indeed impossible, for the man with an unrestrained mind.
But it is within the reach of one who has disciplined his thoughts and feelings, and is enterprising.

So, true seeker should not abandon his endeavour for yog just because of his fear
that
it is something impossible to achieve.

~Revered Gurudev Swami Adgadanand Jee Paramhans~

Humble Wishes.
~mrityunjayanand~