How to get free of miseries given by our own mind?

Bhakta Shashank, 10th May 2014

Hare Krishna Dear Devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Gurudev and Srimati Gurumata.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
All glories to Devotees.

How to get rid of the miseries given by our own mind?

your servant,
Bhakta shashank.

Guru Vandana devi dasi, 12th May 2014

Hare Krishna!

Dear Shashank
Please accept my humble obeisances
All glories to Srila Gurudeva and Srimati Gurumata
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
As struggling neophytes, not fully absorbed in Krishna Consciousness  we many times experience disturbances of mind. Srila Gurudeva says that we must understand that we are burning of our past sinful activities . Srila Gurudeva often quotes this verse from Srimad Bhagavatam 10.14.8

tat te ‘nukampam su-samiksamano
bhunjana evatma-krtam vipakam
hrd-vag-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te
jiveta yo mukti-pade sa daya-bhak

“My dear Lord, any person who is constantly awaiting Your causeless mercy to be bestowed upon him, and who goes on suffering the resultant actions of his past misdeeds, offering You respectful obeisances from the core of his heart, is surely eligible to become liberated, for it has become his rightful claim.”

So please be patient and consistent in your sadhana

your servant
Guru Vandana devi dasi

Lalit, 16th December 2014

Hare krishna
Become an innocent observer

Bhakta Sunil, 16th December 2014

Nice question Shashankbhai and very nice answers

To put in different words / to add :

Due to impurities and past sinful actions , miseries of mind arise
But by sticking to the Bhakti Yoga process of purification , as you experientially undergo purification and feel that your heart has become ‘soft’ and perceive the light of the Lord in your heart , and engage and beat your mind to engage in this process with determination , your sinful reactions would vanquish and the miseries of the mind would automatically get overcome. Perseverance furthers – even if you perceive miseries of mind , simply see to it that mind is engaged as much possible in the process of Bhakti. Do not give mind to be free , but please chant , read Prabhupada’s books , listen to Kirtana , engage mind in completing seva received from senior Vaishnavas , tax your brain how to preach and distribute books , honor Prasadam , or any activity connected to pleasing the Lord. And before sleeping read books or stories and pastimes of the Lord. Thus , if mind is engaged fully in the process , there would be less and lesser vacancy for miseries

To quote from Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur : Srila Bhaktisiddhanta In the morning our first business should be to beat the mind with shoes a hundred times, and, before going to bed, to beat the mind a hundred times with a broomstick.
—
To quote from Sankarshan Maharaj Adhikari :

This lesson was completed on 16 May 2007 in Vilnius, Lithuania
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In this world everyone is suffering varying degrees of anxiety. No one is able to escape the stringent grip of the threefold miseries of material existence: miseries of the mindand body, miseries caused by other living beings, and miseries caused by natural disturbances. But there is an easy way out if we really want out. All we have to do is absorb ourselves in chanting the Mahamantra on a regular daily basis:

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

Just as we eat every day without fail, we also must chant every day without fail to feed the soul the vital nourishment it requires to become fully awakened. But unfortunately we are not that attracted to the holy names. We are more attracted to the flickering pleasures enjoyed in the combination of the senses with the objects of the senses. This then makes it very difficult for us to reawaken our dormant enlightened consciousness.

Therefore even though we may have accepted that Krishna consciousness is the ultimate goal of our lives, we may still experience difficulty in fully focusing our minds on achieving this goal. Just like sometimes we see that someone enrolls in the university with every intention of getting a college degree, but then they have a difficult time keeping up with the assignments. They are lacking in the required self-discipline to carry through and get the job of their education properly done. If we not are properly focused, a similar thing can happen to us on the pathway of Krishna consciousness. We can know exactly what we are supposed but still not be able to do it.

So if we are in this situation how can we get and maintain the sufficient determination to remain steady on the pathway of spiritual perfection? The key is that we have to make a very solid vow, a firm commitment, and then stick to it without deviation. This is why it is very important that we take shelter of a bona fide spiritual master through the process known as initiation. Initiation means that we make a vow to follow the instructions of the teacher who is fully empowered and qualified to teach us how to become spiritually perfect.

The necessity of initiation is confirmed as follows in the Srimad Bhagavatam:

tasmad gurum prapadyeta
jijnasuh sreya uttamam
sabde pare ca nisnatam
brahmany upasamasrayam

“Therefore any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of the bona fide guru is that he has realized the conclusions of the scriptures by deliberation and is able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, should be understood to be bona fide spiritual masters.”
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.3.21

If we agree to make such a commitment and remain firmly dedicated to honoring it, we will be very strong and chaste in our practice of Krishna consciousness, we will make solid steady advancement along the path of bhakti. We will easily able to absorb ourselves 24 hours a day in chanting, serving, and propagating the holy names of the Lord all over the world. In this way we will always be able to dive deeply into the unlimitedly sweet nectar of pure Krishna bhakti.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari
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Hope this helps,

Sincerely,
Sunil

Nashvin, 19th December 2014

Hare Krsna Shashank Prabhu

Looking at this from another perspective, we can appreciate that the miseries caused by our own mind help us not to identify with it…

Personally, when I initially discovered the difference between the body and the soul, it was easy to understand (because we can observe the gross body changing, while we, the soul, remain the same).  However, as we learn about the gross body, subtle body (composed of mind, intelligence and false ego) and the soul, it becomes more difficult to understand the difference between the subtle body and the soul.  The obstacles that the mind provide us in our (the soul) desires to practice devotional service enable us to see ourselves as distinct from the subtle body.

your servant,
Nashvin

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