Why your mind keeps you stuck

By Swami SukhabodhanandaOne of life’s greatest prisons has no walls. It is the prison we createthrough our own way of thinking. The Upanishadic teaching says, “Atma va are mantavyah” – the Self has to be deeply reflected upon. Mantavyammeans to think, inquire, and contemplate.But all thinking is not of the same quality. Some thinking imprisons us; other thinking liberates us.We can understand this through three interesting words: tarka, kutarka and vitarka. Tarka is ordinary logic. It analyses, compares and reaches conclusions. Logic is useful, but on its own it can become dry. Life is much larger than what the logical mind can calculate. Kutarka is distorted or justifying logic. Here we do not use intelligence to discover truth; we use intelligence to defend what we have already decided to believe. The ego first reaches a conclusion and then employs the mind as its lawyer. “I became angry because he behaved badly.” “I cannot change because this is my nature.” “My unhappiness is because of my family.” “I failed because nobody supported me.”Notice the subtle mechanism. We are not investigating ourselves; we are defending ourselves. Watch many television debates. People often do not listen to learn. They listen to reply. Each side gathers arguments to strengthen an already existing position. That is kutarka.Unfortunately, we conduct similar debates inside ourselves. Then comes vitarka – breakthrough thinking. It asks, “What am i not seeing?”This is one of the great gifts Krishn gives Arjun in Gita. At the beginning of Gita, Arjun has arguments for withdrawing from battle. His arguments even sound noble and compassionate. Krishn does not merely give him another set of arguments. He changes the very dimension from which Arjun is looking at the situation. This is breakthrough thinking.Whenever you are disturbed, therefore, do not immediately believe the story your mind is telling you. Ask yourself three questions: What are the facts? What is my interpretation of those facts? Is there another way of seeing this situation?A fact is different from the story we build around it. Someone did not return your telephone call. That is a fact. “He does not respect me” is an interpretation. Once interpretation becomes reality, emotion follows. Anger appears, resentment grows, relationships suffer – and all because we confused our story with the fact.Spiritual intelligence begins when we create a little space between what happened and what the mind says happened. Krishn creates that space in Arjun.This is why, towards the end of Gita, Arjun declares, “Nasto mohah smrtir labdha” – my delusion has disappeared, and clarity has been regained.Notice Krishn has not changed the battlefield. He has changed consciousness of the person standing on the battlefield. That is the essence of transformation.We spend enormous energy trying to change people, circumstances and events. Certainly, external action is sometimes necessary. But before changing the world outside, ask: From what quality of mind am i looking at it? A conditioned mind can convert even an opportunity into a problem. An awakened mind can convert even a problem into a possibility.Disclaimer: Views expressed above are the author's own.