Bhagavad Gita Chapter 06, Text 06 says:
For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest enemy.
In order to live our life more effectively , we need to optimize our mind, body and intelligence. Let’s understand this with the help of an example.
Just like we can’t drive a car properly if :
- the map is not clear
- a distracting partner is sitting next to us
- there is excess baggage in our car
Similar is the result of frequently occurring difficult or unpleasant situations in our life’s journey.
According to Bhagavad Gita we are spiritual beings who are driving the body. In reference to the above , our body is like our car; our mind is the distracting partner sitting next to us; our intelligence is the map and our multiple possessions are like the excess baggage.
Therefore there is a need to regulate mind, body and intelligence to live more effectively. Here is how we can do that:
Getting clarity for the intelligence:
We often find ourselves caught up in never ending and always expanding to-dos.
Getting clarity is just like we clean the map while driving a car. We can endeavor to introspect and figure out what is really important for us, rather then letting them make us feel frustrated and exhausted.
Bhagavad Gita’s wisdom can act like a treatment in helping us to introspect more effectively. With greater clarity, our intelligence can help us make sounder and faster decisions.
Getting purity for the mind:
Making the pure is just like winning over the distracting partner sitting next to us while driving a car.
The mind distracts us as long as it is filled with impure and lusty desires. Whenever we engage ourselves in purifying spiritual practices, our impure desires get replaced by the pure desires.
This purified mind energizes us to go in the right direction instead of pressuring it to go whatever it finds as fancy.
By purification, our mind changes from a distractor to a supporter.
Getting simplicity for the body:
Bringing simplicity is just like removing the extra baggage from the car.
Until we become clear or pure, we collect so many things that promises us to give pleasure or relief.
When we start becoming clear about our life’s purpose and pure in progressing towards it, we no longer feel the need of other non essential things.
With simplicity, our bodily energy becomes free so that we can work towards our important life purposes.
Therefore, in order to live more effectively, one must, seek clarity for the intelligence, purity for the mind and simplicity for the body.