That MoFo Bastard, the Mind

we back with another daily reflection on the daily vedantic and today's episode is on the mind that dirty dirty best the mind is compared to a wildfire in vedanto and a wildfire does not get satisfied once it's had enough trees once it's consumed enough homes it just says okay i'm a small wildfire so i've had enough i've had 100 homes that's enough for a small wildfire at my stage and then goes out no a wildfire will not stop until some external force stops it rain the ocean here malibu suffered massive catastrophic wildfire had it not have the ocean and enough there's human resources to help stop it as well as rain coming a few years ago those three things add those three external forces up in there it would have just kept going the mind is like a wildfire and desire selfish desire is what the mind does within the three equipments that we're given to navigate life according to vedanta the body the mind and the intellect you have these two inner equipments the mind is where that's the seat of our likes our dislikes our preferences our emotions feelings it is where we get attached to things it's our preferences for perfect temperature perfect weather perfect tenor of a dynamic between you and another person your parents your significant other your children it's all preferences and it's all mind and agitation stress sadness these all come from desire interrupted they all come from the mind the intellect is the equipment that's meant to guide the mind and the intellect needs to be developed we've covered this a handful of times on the podcast before but the mind without the intellect is like a five-year-old child without an adult in the room not just a wildfire that will consume everything in its path and without ever even an ounce of satiation but it also will do extremely unwise things because it has no capacity to see the end in the beginning like the intellect does desire is like that wildfire and one of the biggest aspects of the illusion of the grand monotonous illusion is that well if i get a few more things then i'll be happy then this wildfire will just raging inside me will just go out if i can get a few more things if i can get that one more thing the wildfire will just put itself out and that's not how desire works desire is like the tin-headed hydra where you chop off one head and two two more grow back it is impossible to reduce desires with the very thing the mind that is built to just desire more and more and more the intellect as i said is the capacity to see the end in the beginning it is the capacity to discern and that ability to discern is that external force that can put out that wildfire that can corral and guide the mind a powerful mind like fire itself can be extremely valuable it's hard to overstate the power of fire it can purify water in a pot it can heat a home it can power 100 ton train and do it all for the benefit of the community but that's with someone something some force guiding it that's what keeps it from being something that is beneficial to everyone around it and being destructive insatiably destructive that is the mind so when it comes to today's reflection it's not so much about reminding us of the roles of the intellect in the mind of our three equipments the body of mind it's like although repetition is power reflection knows i probably had to hear those concepts a hundred times before the penny dropped before it actually clicked in place but it's more to call out and underscore the fact that you can't solve desire with the mind desire like the mind is insatiable and when it comes to our life's desires like i said one of the biggest facets of the illusion is that if i can just get those two three four five things if i could check off everything on my bucket list i'll be free that is an illusion that is not reality that's not how desire does or has ever worked it is like fire that will never stop until someone puts it out or the five-year-old at home that should never be left alone a beautiful thing i love i love the presence of my six-year-old daughter it's it is unmatched by nearly any other experience in my life and yet i would never leave her home alone the mind requires a parent too for many of us it is the five-year-old running around without anyone guiding it without even the recognition that there is a capacity within us to guide it so as you reflect on this concept gently introduce the adult back into the room when you start to think through you know what it'd be a lot easier it'd be a lot more comfortable if i just did it this way maybe the adult comes in and says you know what maybe that's actually not what we're going to do even if i can see you wanting that because the point is not to be comfortable it's to be free and according to the swassi the only way you get there is through the development and the application of the insight that is today's reflection on the daily vedantic we'll see you next time thanks for listening to the daily vedantic this reflection is part of a free repeating two-year course in advaita vedanta rooted in the timeless wisdom of the upanishads arguably the oldest philosophical text on earth you can begin with episode one which gives the 15 minute overview of the whole philosophy of vedanta or you can join the journey with any episode at any point but the critical aspect of this course of understanding and mastering anything is to study and reflect even for 10 to 15 minutes on the timeless each day preferably at the start of your day as is said in this philosophy reflection is 100 000 times as powerful as listening so listen journal sit with discuss these concepts or ask questions at the daily vedantic.com with our ai powered chatbot informed by about 700 episodes here as regularly as one can if you want to see clarity and peace almost effortlessly unfold in your daily life and if it doesn't result in a near immediate increase in clarity and peace then toss aside and feel free to never listen again one of the things that you might notice is after seven or eight days in a row this doesn't feel like a discipline this feels like a visit with a best friend to dive into the timeless with daily reflection within a few days it becomes one of your favorite parts of the day you can also find out more including news about in-person events in los angeles and beyond at the daily vedantic on instagram or through our weekly newsletter at thedailyvedantic.com additionally check out the links in our show notes for more resources like the books that i mentioned most frequently in the episodes including vedantic treatise perhaps the simplest and most straightforward read on this philosophy have ever come for us until next time and from the entire team that works on the daily vedantic project thanks for listening