Hear From A Monk - Be mindful or be a fool (Wisdom Talk)

Suppose we are living with a moody person who has extreme negative mood swings — during those dark moods, they tend to be both deceptive and perceptive. Because they are deceptive, they often try to fool us, in ways that range from frivolous to outrageous, leading to consequences ranging from trivial to terrible. And because they are perceptive, they observe us with a hawk’s eye, quickly learning our weaknesses and remorselessly exploiting them for carrying out their deceptions. Suppose further that we had no alternative but to live lifelong with such a person. What a scary predicament!

Unfortunately, that’s already the predicament we all are susceptible to. We have inside us our own mind which, as the Bhagavad-gita (06.05) warns, can be our most dangerous enemy. Why is the mind so dangerous? Because it is both deceptive and perceptive.

The mind is deadly deceptive: it makes us believe that insignificant worldly pleasures are irresistible and goads us to pursue them at all costs, often making a fool of ourselves in the process. And the mind is perversely perceptive: it notes which worldly pleasures we are most allured by; and then it entices and entraps us by repeatedly bringing up thoughts of those very pleasures.

Moreover, we have no way to get rid of our mind; it will be with us, within us — not just throughout our life but for many future lifetimes, as long as we are in material existence.

How can we avoid being fooled by our mind? By being mindful, that is, by becoming aware of our mind’s movements, be it as thoughts, feelings, conceptions, suggestions, urges and so forth. When we thus learn to be on guard in our inner world, we can detect and reject our mind’s destructive propositions.

One-sentence summary:

Be mindful, or your mind will make you a fool.

Think it over:

How is the mind deceptive?

How is the mind perceptive?

How are we all in a scary predicament? How can we protect ourselves?

28 Aug 2023 (Mon)

13 Cuff Road, Gita Reading Society

730pm - 9pm

Refreshments provided after the talk

Donation welcome

This is happening at a shoes-off venue