Mind: Mind Control

Q. Part 1: What is the correlation between desires and thoughts? How are one's desires manifest into thoughts?

Q. I am trying to be more conscious about my daily activities and thoughts so that they are centered on Krishna, but it is not easy. I find myself thinking or daydreaming about how I can enjoy separate from Krishna. When I bring my thoughts back to Krishna my mind feels so much clearer. How can I keep my thoughts on the right track?

I really want to clean out my mind. I feel like there is so much garbage cluttered there from the past few years. Sometimes it is really overwhelming. I want to focus on Krishna and not on sense gratification but that desire sense gratification keeps creeping back! Please describe a practical way that I can control my mind and be a better devotee.

Q. In Bhagavad-gita (BG) 3.42 it is said "The working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he [the soul] is even higher than the intelligence." However in Srimad Bhagavatam (SB) 3.26.27 it is said, "From the false ego of goodness, another transformation takes place.

Q. Although I have been trying to practice Krishna Consciousness for about three years, I still find it difficult to control my senses. It is often really very frustrating. Shall I tell myself that there is so much dirt accumulated in my mind and therefore I have to be patient, or what else do I need to do?

Q. How can one control the mind? Often the mind wanders to unnecessary thoughts. What are the tips to achieve self-control?

Q. While chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra sometimes the mind deviates and I am not able to concentrate on the chanting. How to obtain the concentration while chanting the holy name of the Lord always? Please clarify.

Q. There is a simple argument for mind being a material element: mind can be controlled with breath exercises, which are a material process. Are there more obvious arguments like this, for mind, but also for intelligence and false ego being material?

Q. If there is something that is haunting one's mind everyday in one's thought pattern and there is nothing one can do about it, and it gives lot of irritation, anger and suspicion, what should one do?

Since the specific details are not clear, I will attempt to give only a very general answer.

Q. I have a question relating to Avanti Brahmana narration found in Canto 11 of the SB. His conclusion was that the false ego is the cause of his suffering - is it the same meaning that is conveyed in Bg.14.19?

The story of Avanti Brahmana is narrated by Krishna to illustrate how one should soberly tolerate the disturbances and offenses caused by others, and remain fixed on the spiritual path. Note that the conclusion of Avanti brahmana was that the mind, not the false ego, is the cause of one's happiness and distress.

I have heard reference to a "Yoga Ladder" which is taught within Bhagavad-gita and other of the Vedic literatures. Can you explain this concept?

Here is a picture of the Yoga Ladder: Yoga Ladder Picture