The personified Vedas continued: "Dear Lord, when a person is able to purify his mind, senses and intelligence by engaging himself in devotional service in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, his mind becomes his friend. Otherwise, his mind is always his enemy. When the mind is engaged in the devotional service of the Lord, it becomes the intimate friend of the living entity because the mind can then think of the Supreme Lord always. Your Lordship is eternally dear to the living entity, so when the mind is engaged in thought of You one immediately feels the great satisfaction for which he has been hankering life after life. When one's mind is thus fixed on the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one does not take to any kind of inferior worship or inferior process of self-realization."
Mind is the friend, mind is the enemy
Expressions researched:
"enemy"
|"friend"
Bhagavad-gita As It Is
BG Chapters 1 - 6
One must deliver himself with the help of his mind, and not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 1
As referred to above, philosophers like Jaimini and his followers establish that fruitive activity is the root cause of all distress and happiness, and that even if there is a superior authority, some superhuman powerful God or gods, He or they are also under the influence of fruitive activity because they reward result according to one's action. They say that action is not independent because action is performed by some performer; therefore, the performer himself is the cause of his own happiness or distress. In the Bhagavad-gītā (6.5) also it is confirmed that by one's mind, freed from material affection, one can deliver himself from the sufferings of material pangs. So one should not entangle oneself in matter by the mind's material affections. Thus one's own mind is one's friend or enemy in one's material happiness and distress.
SB Canto 3
The ultimate purpose of clearing the iḍā and piṅgalā passages is to divert the mind from material enjoyment. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, one's mind is his enemy, and one's mind is also his friend; its position varies according to the different dealings of the living entity. If we divert our mind to thoughts of material enjoyment, then our mind becomes an enemy, and if we concentrate our mind on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, then our mind is a friend. By the yoga system of pūraka, kumbhaka and recaka or by directly fixing the mind on the sound vibration of Kṛṣṇa or on the form of Kṛṣṇa, the same purpose is achieved. In Bhagavad-gītā it is said that one must practice the breathing exercise (abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena (BG 8.8)). by virtue of these processes of control, the mind cannot wander to external thoughts (cetasā nānya-gāminā). Thus one can fix his mind constantly on the Supreme Personality of Godhead and can attain (yāti) Him.
SB Canto 4
The mind is the center of all activities and is described here as bṛhad-bala, very powerful. To get out of the clutches of māyā, material existence, one has to control his mind. According to training, the mind is the friend and the enemy of the living entity. If one gets a good manager, his estate is very nicely managed, but if the manager is a thief, his estate is spoiled. Similarly, in his material, conditional existence, the living entity gives power of attorney to his mind. As such, he is liable to be misdirected by his mind into enjoying sense objects. Śrīla Ambarīṣa Mahārāja therefore first engaged his mind upon the lotus feet of the Lord. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ (SB 9.4.18). When the mind is engaged in meditation on the lotus feet of the Lord, the senses are controlled. This system of control is called yama, and this means "subduing the senses." One who can subdue the senses is called a gosvāmī, but one who cannot control the mind is called go-dāsa.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Nectar of Instruction
Since the mind may be one's enemy or one's friend, one has to train the mind to become his friend. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is especially meant for training the mind to be always engaged in Kṛṣṇa's business. The mind contains hundreds and thousands of impressions, not only of this life but also of many, many lives of the past. These impressions sometimes come in contact with one another and produce contradictory pictures. In this way the mind's function can become dangerous for a conditioned soul. Students of psychology are aware of the mind's various psychological changes. In Bhagavad-gītā (8.6) it is said:
- yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ
- tyajaty ante kalevaram
- taṁ taṁ evaiti kaunteya
- sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ
"Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail."
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
In the aṣṭāṅga-yoga system, this eightfold yoga system, dhyāna, dhāraṇā—they are meant for controlling the mind. (Don't make sound.) Mind, unless you control the mind, in the beginning it is said a man must elevate himself by his own mind. Mind is the driver. The body is the chariot or car. So just like if you call your, ask your driver, "Please get me into Kṛṣṇa consciousness temple." The driver will bring you here. And if you ask your driver, "Please get me in that liquor house." The driver will drive you there. The driver's business is to drive you wherever you like. Similarly your mind is the driver. If you can control—but if the driver takes your license, that wherever he likes he will take you. Then you're gone. Then your driver is your enemy. But if your driver acts on your order, then he's your friend. So actually the yoga system means to control the mind in such a way that he will act as your friend, not as your enemy.
Now, here one ātmā is named mind. Mind is the friend of oneself, and mind is the enemy of oneself. So we have to train the mind. If I train my mind for becoming my friend, then my life is successful. If I train my mind to become my enemy, then my life is unsuccessful. Anātmanas tu śatrutve vartetātmaiva śatruvat. But one who has no knowledge of the spiritual self, then his mind acts like his enemy. One who has got the conception of this body as "my self," his mind is his enemy. And one who has got the conception of the spirit self, his mind is his friend.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
First of all, fix up your mind on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, and that is called sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ (SB 9.4.18). So if your mind is fixed up, then other senses will act because other senses are acting under the leadership of the mind. Mind is your enemy and mind is your friend. When the mind is engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that mind is your friend. And the mind, when it is engaged in other consciousness, that is your enemy. So you can create your mind—friend or enemy—according to your desire. If you fix up always... The Deity worship means to fix up your mind on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, always worshiping Kṛṣṇa. So therefore I am asking why there is no ankle bell. There must be ankle bell the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. So if you fix up your mind, then immediately, fix up your mind on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, immediately you are nairguṇya-stha, situated in the nairguṇya, transcendental platform.
The process is the mind has to be cleansed of all dirty things. Mind is the friend; mind is the enemy of everyone. If it is cleansed, then it is friends, and if it is dirty... Just like if you keep yourself unclean, then you contaminate some disease. And if you keep yourself clean, then you don't contaminate. If you take action, remaining... Therefore according to Vedic civilization, one has to cleanse himself three times a day, tri-sandhyā. Morning, early in the morning, again at noon, again in the evening.
Yes, here is the secret of training the mind. The whole yoga system, aṣṭāṅga-yoga system—dhyāna, dhāraṇā, āsana, prāṇāyāma, like that—they are meant for only controlling the mind. Mind is the center of sensual activities. The purpose of aṣṭāṅga-yoga is to train up the mind because the mind is very restless. Arjuna, five hundred years ago, he also appreciated, the mind is very restless. So he declined to practice the haṭha-yoga system. He said clearly that "Kṛṣṇa, it is not possible for me to control the mind." In another place in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, "The mind is the most dearmost friend, and mind is the bitterest enemy." Everyone's bitterest enemy and dearest friend is there. That is the mind. It requires little training.
The whole process of education and advancement of civilization is how to cleanse the dirty mind. Why it is dirty? Kāmāturam: the lusty desire and greediness. So we should always remember this, that mind is the best friend and the worst enemy. If it remains kāmāturam, the worst enemy, and if it is Kṛṣṇa conscious, the best friend. So we have to control this mind. And that is very easy, as Ambarīṣa Mahārāja did, sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayor vacāṁsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane (SB 9.4.18). We have to fix up. This arcana-vidhi for kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, everyone... The temple is meant for gradually making the mind thinking of Kṛṣṇa. You'll come to the temple, you'll see the Deity, you'll see Kṛṣṇa, you'll think of Kṛṣṇa, and if you increase... That is the system. Every man, every woman, used to go to the temple. This is our Vedic civilization, to make the mind Kṛṣṇa conscious, always Kṛṣṇa conscious. And then it will be possible to cleanse the mind from this... Yadāvadhi mama cetaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayor nava-nava-rasa-dhāmanudyata rantum āsīt. If you make your mind fixed up in Kṛṣṇa and think of Kṛṣṇa's activities—tadāvadhi mama...
- Yadāvadhi mama cetaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayor
- nava-nava-rasa-dhāmanudyata rantum āsīt
- tadāvadhi bata nārī-saṅgame smaryamāne
- bhavati mukha-vikāraḥ suṣṭu niṣṭhīvanaṁ ca
This kāmāturam mind will be cleansed. Not only be cleansed: if you thind of sex, you'll spite on it. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.
General Lectures
So it is not very difficult business, simply we'll have to agree, "Yes, Kṛṣṇa. So long I did not surrender unto You. Now I immediately surrender unto You." Just like Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, he sang a very nice song, that arpiluṅ tuyā pade nanda-kiśora. Mānasa deho geho jo kichu mora. He says that "Whatever I possess." First thing his mind, mānasa. Just like Ambarīṣa Mahārāja. First of all we have to give our mind to Kṛṣṇa because mind is the creative force by which we become entangled. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that mind is the enemy or mind is the friend. If you can create your mind your friend, then there is immense profit Kṛṣṇa conscious. And if you create your mind enemy, the mind will drag you in so many things, you will forget your duty and responsibility of human life. Therefore yoga system, practicing yoga means controlling the mind. Controlling the mind. But the easiest process of yoga system is that you simply think of Kṛṣṇa always, then the perfection of yoga.
Purports to Songs
Bhajahū re mana śrī-nanda-nandana-abhaya-caraṇāravinda re. Bhaja, bhaja means worship; hu, hello; mana, mind. The poet Govinda dāsa, a great philosopher and devotee of the Lord, he is praying. He is requesting his mind, because mind is the friend and mind is the enemy of everyone. If one can train his mind in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then he is successful. If he cannot train his mind, then life is failure. Therefore Govinda dāsa, a great devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa... His very name suggests, Govinda dāsa. Govinda, Kṛṣṇa, and dāsa means servant. This is the attitude of all devotees. They always put, affix this dāsa, means servant. So Govinda dāsa ms praying, "My dear mind, please you try to worship the son of Nanda, who is abhaya-caraṇa, whose lotus feet is secure. There is no fear."
Bhajahū re mana, śrī-nanda-nandana-abhaya-caraṇāravinda re. This is a song composed by Govinda dāsa, a great poet and Vaiṣṇava. He says, addressing his own mind Because mind is the center of all elevation. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that if you have your mind controlled, then your mind is the best friend. But if your mind is uncontrolled, then he is your greatest enemy. So we are seeking after friend or enemy. So both of them are sitting with me. If we can utilize the friendship of the mind, then we are elevated to the highest perfectional stage. But if we create mind as my enemy, then my path to hell is clear. Therefore Govinda dāsa Ṭhākura, he is addressing his mind. The yogis try to control the mind by different gymnastic process. That is also approved. But it takes a long time, and sometimes there are failures. In most cases they are failures. Even a big yogi like Viśvāmitra, he also failed, what to speak of these teeny and nonsensical yogis.
So this song was sung by Govinda dasa. Govinda-dāsa-abhilāsa re. What is his desire? Abhilāsa means desire. Bhajahū re mana śrī-nanda-nandana: "My dear mind..." Because mind is our friend and enemy. If you train the mind, then mind is your best friend. And if you cannot train your mind, then will be your bitterest enemy. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ (SB 9.4.18). Therefore mind has always to be engaged on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, then mind automatically will be controlled and will become friend. So Govinda dasa is expressing his desire: "My dear mind, you just be engaged in devotional service of Nanda-nandana."
And śamaḥ. Śamaḥ means controlling the senses. Damaḥ. Śamaḥ means controlling the mind. Mind is our enemy; mind is our friend. So if we can control the mind, the mind can act as very good friend. And if we do not control the mind, then he acts as enemy. Therefore the yoga system means controlling the mind, controlling the senses so they can act as my friend. Otherwise they will act as my enemy. Kāma krodha lobha moha.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Trivikrama: The mind is cheating us.
Prabhupāda: Certainly he'll cheat. If you cannot control, it will cheat. Mind is the friend, and mind is the enemy. If you become Kṛṣṇa conscious fully, then mind is friend. And if you do not become Kṛṣṇa conscious, mind is enemy. māyā is also. If you become Kṛṣṇa conscious, then she is Rādhārāṇī. And if he is not Kṛṣṇa conscious, she is Durga.
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Indian man (3): And then he said, "I am in misery. I am in trouble." Trouble is created by you. Nobody has created.
Prabhupāda: So that is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, that mind is the enemy and mind is the friend. So we created our mind, enemy or friend, and we suffer for that.
Dr. Patel: But if only tongue works and the mind does not work, it has no value.
Prabhupāda: So mind will... You chant loudly, "Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa"; the mind will come.
Dr. Patel: This mind, buddhi, and the jīva in it, all the three must carry on...
Prabhupāda: Yes. Then it is real chanting.
Dr. Patel: ...with the chanting.
Prabhupāda: You have to practice. You have to practice. Not all of a sudden these three things can be combined so you can become.... It requires practice. Jaya. Abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena cetasā nānya-gāminā (BG 8.8). You have to practice. Your mind cannot go outside. Then it will be... You have to become the master of your mind. You cannot be dictated by the mind. Then you are victim. There is a verse that "The mind is friend, and mind is enemy. One who can dictate the mind, his mind is friend. And one who is dictated by the mind, his mind is enemy." So we have to learn how to dictate, control the mind. And that is yoga system. Yoga indriya-saṁyama.
Correspondence
1973 Correspondence
Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the incarnation of Godhead in this age has delivered the medicine for all problems of the world by his introducing the Sankirtan movement. Sankirtan means to chant that Holy names of the Lord and to give up all other engagements. The chanting is a process of purification. Just like we use soap to cleanse the body, this is material, but the chanting is spiritual cleansing. The three stages of cleansing are first to clean the mirror of the mind. In the Bhagavad Gita it is said, "The mind is the best friend and the worst enemy, for one who has learned to control the mind it is the best of friends but for one who has failed to do so it is the worst enemy." Due to long term association, the mind absorbed in material things has become contaminated, or dirty, the chanting process purifies the mind. Then the next stage, when the mind is cleansed one becomes free from the symptoms of material existence.
1975 Correspondence
So mind and intelligence are already there in the soul, but in the conditional stage the same mind and intelligence become polluted as false egotism or enjoyer. The bhakti process is to purify everything. The mind is not the soul but is a venue for expressing the soul's desire. So if the mind is purified, then things go on nicely in its original position. If he does not go on rightly he falls down in conditional life. The whole yogic system is to convert the mind from matter to spirit. You can utilize the mind in both ways. When the mind is spiritually trained up it is the best friend of the soul, and when the mind is materially polluted, it is the worst enemy. The Bhagavad-gita states:
- bandhur atmatmanas tasya yenatmaivatmana jitah
- anatmanas tu saturve vartetatmaiva satruvat
- (BG 6.6)
For those who are grossly materialistic persons, for them the yogic system is recommended, otherwise if the mind is directly engaged engaged at the lotus feet of Krishna, the senses automatically become engaged in Krishna's service; and that is the liberated stage. Chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra is the direct process for curing the mind of all materialistic contamination. Take to this process and be happy.
| Page Title: | Mind is the friend, mind is the enemy |
| Compiler: | Madhavananda, Labangalatika |
| Created: | 08 of Dec, 2008 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=1, SB=3, CC=0, OB=2, Lec=11, Con=3, Let=2 |
| No. of Quotes: | 22 |