On February 14, 46 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) men were killed in an explosion in Pulwama. The responsibility was claimed by the terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed based in Pakistan. This was the most virulent attack by terrorists in this century. What followed was a skirmish between the two neighbouring nations that almost reached the brink of war.
One very important lesson to learn from this harrowing event is that an inside enemy is more dangerous than the outside one. The teenager who fearlessly and mercilessly executed the task was a local. An insider can cause much harm as one is less prepared to face the attack. The insider knows more about the entity than an outsider hence his attack is more cataclysmic. We are often caught off guard against an insider. And this insider becomes more deadly when he has secret backing and empowerment by the outside enemy.
In each one of us there is an insider who knows exceedingly well all our details. It is our constant companion: our ‘mind’. According to the Bhagavad Gita, we know that the mind is the greatest enemy. It is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, and to subdue it is more difficult than controlling the wind.
We all have experience of the mind’s pranks and impishness which make life a battle. It is said: “Mind can make heaven into hell and hell into heaven.” This insider enemy—mind—becomes more lethal when connected to an outside powerful enemy, ‘maya’.
In the medical field there are diseases called psychosomatic diseases which are caused due to mental disturbance, the body is healthy but the mind is diseased. And due to the diseased mind, the body gets affected gradually. According to the World Health Organisation, in the near future the most pandemic disease is not going to be cancer or AIDS but mental stress. This is now the single most cause for one suicide per 40 seconds in the world. It is more than people killed in wars, accidents, terrorism, etc combined together.
When the mind becomes the agent of maya, it can create havoc in one’s life. One may control the kingdom or nation or community, but if he cannot control his own mind he is a perilous leader who will surely harm himself and his followers. So we need to acknowledge the potency of our mind, which stands for: M—Magnifies Problem; I—Imagines Pleasure; N—Neglects Opportunities; and D—Denies Reality
Problems do come in everyone’s life but the outcome depends on our response. Miseries are compulsory but suffering is optional. The mind unnecessarily makes a mountain out of a molehill and thus complicates the problem. Life decides the problems, we decide their sizes.
The mind also neglects the opportunities in life and considers them trivial. When there is opportunity for a change, the mind renegades. The skeptic mind convinces us that the opportunity is not worth trying. It also denies the reality that one day we are destined to die.
We have to educate the local terrorist who is connected to the powerful enemy outside that his wellbeing lies in loyalty to the nation. Similarly, the mind who is acting as the agent of maya can be educated and trained to become an agent of divinity. The mind is like the child who cries for things harmful to the living entity. Intelligence is like the mother who has to administer the bitter medicine.
In the vedic texts it is said mind can be controlled by mantras. By chanting the holy names of God we can easily control and harness the immense power of the mind. If we control the mind it is our best friend else it is the greatest terrorist and will remain the greatest enemy.
ashram-india@
shrinimishamba.org
The author is a spiritual leader of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)