A chariot is drawn by five horses that represent the five senses. The mind is the reigns. The horseman is the intelligence, and the chariot itself the body. The self or the soul is a passenger.
The passenger desires sense gratification. Therefore, the intelligence is using the mind and senses to dash about tasting various pleasures of the world. The soul enjoys or suffers the consequences.
Now, the mind is like a powerful computer. It’s automatically programmed to seek pleasures and offer it for your use. Basically, it is like a search engine that offers up what ever it is that you have been previously searching for. If you have been surfing for porn, then the mind will display addresses of various such sites in almost the same manner that the Internet prompts, offers you related sites. If you look for God, then it will, without delay or duplicity, offer you sites on that subject. The mind is in short very like a machine that operates on artificial intelligence.
Now, to control this vehicle, is easy.
First and foremost, you need the knowledge. Basically, you should know where it is advantageous to go to. Which inputs are advantageous for you to smell, taste, and experience so as to obtain an advantageous future setting. Needless to say, all this will only make sense if you have a full working knowledge of the world as is described in the shastras. Meaning, you should know with certainty that with death comes a new placement, a new setting, a new body. Some bodies are desirable, some placements are optimal, others not so, etc., etc. Frankly, these answers can only be provided by the shastras in conjunction with a self-realized person. Just some smattering of religiosity is will not do. Just any old scriptures will not do. A realized person, using revealed scriptures* alone can give you firm guidance. Crystal clear understanding is a prerequisite. Incomplete ideologies, pseudo teachers, etc., will not get you anywhere.
Once the knowledge is acquired, then the desire to go to that destination can be fixed. Once the destination is fixed, the intelligence can be directed to take the chariot to that destination. The mind and sense will obey.
Ultimately, it is as simple as driving a car to a particular destination, say Chandni Chowk in old city Delhi. You have to know where it is to get there!
It is a little difficult to differentiate between the mind and the intelligence as both appear to speak you as your conscience. There are other pitfalls as well. In the end, you will realize that one simply cannot get out because the pleasures of the world are far too strong. Therefore, the only way out is …if you need to know more ask.
* By revealed scriptures I mean Vedic Literatures. Everything else is too messed up.
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The passenger desires sense gratification. Therefore, the intelligence is using the mind and senses to dash about tasting various pleasures of the world. The soul enjoys or suffers the consequences.
Now, the mind is like a powerful computer. It’s automatically programmed to seek pleasures and offer it for your use. Basically, it is like a search engine that offers up what ever it is that you have been previously searching for. If you have been surfing for porn, then the mind will display addresses of various such sites in almost the same manner that the Internet prompts, offers you related sites. If you look for God, then it will, without delay or duplicity, offer you sites on that subject. The mind is in short very like a machine that operates on artificial intelligence.
Now, to control this vehicle, is easy.
First and foremost, you need the knowledge. Basically, you should know where it is advantageous to go to. Which inputs are advantageous for you to smell, taste, and experience so as to obtain an advantageous future setting. Needless to say, all this will only make sense if you have a full working knowledge of the world as is described in the shastras. Meaning, you should know with certainty that with death comes a new placement, a new setting, a new body. Some bodies are desirable, some placements are optimal, others not so, etc., etc. Frankly, these answers can only be provided by the shastras in conjunction with a self-realized person. Just some smattering of religiosity is will not do. Just any old scriptures will not do. A realized person, using revealed scriptures* alone can give you firm guidance. Crystal clear understanding is a prerequisite. Incomplete ideologies, pseudo teachers, etc., will not get you anywhere.
Once the knowledge is acquired, then the desire to go to that destination can be fixed. Once the destination is fixed, the intelligence can be directed to take the chariot to that destination. The mind and sense will obey.
Ultimately, it is as simple as driving a car to a particular destination, say Chandni Chowk in old city Delhi. You have to know where it is to get there!
It is a little difficult to differentiate between the mind and the intelligence as both appear to speak you as your conscience. There are other pitfalls as well. In the end, you will realize that one simply cannot get out because the pleasures of the world are far too strong. Therefore, the only way out is …if you need to know more ask.
* By revealed scriptures I mean Vedic Literatures. Everything else is too messed up.
More...