We’ve all heard quotes about the mind from various faith traditions.

Let’s share some examples, starting with the Bhagavad-gita: “From wherever the mind wanders due to its flickering and unsteady nature, one must certainly withdraw it and bring it back under the control of the self (Bhagavad-gita 6.26).

In the Hebrew Bible, one of the most well-known quotes emphasizing the importance of the heart over the mind is: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4.23).

The New Testament emphasizes not letting the material mind control our thoughts, but rather, exhorting us to refresh the mind with liberating and Divine thoughts. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12.2).

The Quran also frequently mentions the importance of using one’s mind and intellect, often asking readers to “reflect” and “consider” the signs of creation, with verses like “Do you not have minds?” (Quran 3.65).

The mind is like a young child in a toy store, “I want this, I want that!” How seriously does the parent take the child’s screaming about how many things they want? In the same way, we should not take our minds that seriously! Interestingly, there are common names in English for the ages a young child passes through. “Terrible Twos” for two-year-olds. “Threenager” for three-year-olds and even the “Fascist Fours” for demanding four-year-olds. What are some of the behavior patterns of so many of these children under five? Symptoms include screaming tantrums, whining, pestering, biting, and swearing! Does this sound familiar? Now, let’s compare these over-reactive and sometimes nuclear tantrums to the functions of our minds.

• 160,000 THOUGHTS A DAY. That’s right. On average, humans have 60,000 thoughts every 24 hours. This means we humans have a unique thought every 1.4 seconds! Is the mind busy? Extremely!
• 28-SECOND ATTENTION SPANS.  The average attention span of an adult is said to be 8.25 seconds. This varies depending on the task and the number of distractions but is obviously a reflection of how challenging it is to control the mind from becoming distracted.
• ACCEPT AND REJECT.  One of the primary (God-given) functions of the mind is to judge (hopefully in conjunction with our intelligence). However, with the mind as the “First Responder,” our intelligence generally doesn’t stand a chance to participate in our initial reaction.

Think of a crowded arcade full of pinball machines with non-stop flashing lights and ringing bells. This is an apt analogy for the nature of our minds. Hence, this comparison spoken by Krishna to Arjuna in the Bhagavad-gita 6.34: “The mind is restless, turbulent, strong, and stubborn; controlling it is as difficult as controlling the wind.”

People say “knowledge is power” with good reason. Understanding the role and function of the mind is the first step towards starting to guide the mind with our intelligence, as opposed to letting the mind run wild without any input from our brains.

In this world of dualities such as hot and cold, light and dark, kind and cruel, rich and poor, etc., the mind is extremely busy. The question is, “Should we give the mind the respect it demands?”

Hopefully, comparing the demanding sensory-overloaded child in the candy store to the mind will help us not take the mind too seriously. The wise parent in the candy store can anticipate their child going into sensory overload and can keep things in perspective, not taking their child’s moment-to-moment demands too seriously.

Buddha has been quoted as saying, “The mind is everything. What you think you become.” This quote tells us that we need to be very careful of our thoughts since our thoughts will often manifest into behavior and activities.

Let’s close with a quote from former United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt: “Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.”

व्यक्त किए गए विचार आवश्यक रूप से इस्कॉन या इस्कॉन समाचार के विचारों और विश्वासों को प्रतिबिंबित नहीं करते हैं।