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Bhagavad Gita - March 26, 2010 Chapter 6, Verses 7-10 Swami Yogatmananda Vedanta Society of Providence     Please click the 'Play' button to start. It may take a minute.   Launch in external player   To download the lecture, please right-click here and then click "Save Target As..."     V1.7: The supreme Self of one who has control over the aggregate of his/her body and organs, and who is tranquil, becomes manifest. He/she should be equipoised in the midst of cold and heat, happines and sorrow, as also honour and dishonour. V1.8: One whose mind is satisfied with knowledge and realization, who is unmoved, who has his/her organs under control, is said to be Self-absorbed. The yogi treats equally a lump of earth, a stone and gold. VI.9: He/she excels who has sameness of view with regard to a benefactor, a friend, a foe, a neutral, an arbiter, the hateful, a relative, good people and even sinners. VI.10: A yogi should constantly concentrate hsi/her mind by staying in a solitary place, alone, with mind and body controlled, free from expectations (and) free from acquisition.   The above image is from Gita Darshan by courtesy of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Hyderabad.   To Order Audio/Video CDs : bookstore@vedantaprov.org   List of Audio/Video CDs, DVDs

Summary of this lecture: In the last class, we heard that if we bring the mind under control it can be our most valuable tool in achieving our Goal. But how should an aspirant go about controlling the mind, and what does it look like? Sri Krishna tells that there are several characteristics which mark a person who has controlled the mind: equanimity--evenness in all situations, whether pleasing or painful; steadfastness in yoga--grasping the practice of yoga in the mind and absorbing it into the entire personality, making the sensory-system subservient to the cerebral system; and seeing the sameness in all things--for the yogi, everything is a manifestation of God; so while they are different in manifestation and should be treated so at that level, the Yogi is aware that the manifestation changes and no permanent value should be attached to it. (i.e. dirt, a stone, and gold all have value in different ways). He knows that only Brahman is unchanging; everything else is changeable. Our behavior towards persons and things depends on how much permanence we attach to it. The Yogi remembers the Unity always and acts accordingly; thus s/he is free from elations and depressions, attachments and hatred. Thus the Lord told the way to control the mind is to practice these virtues in life with the underlying awareness of the One-ness.