1. Instinct, Impulse
Intelligence:
Understanding how our
inner world works

2. Clarifying the terms
Instinct: Bodily response for
self-preservation
Eg. Feel fire – move away
Smell food – salivate

3. Clarifying the terms
Impulse: Mind’s pushing us
towards things it thinks are
enjoyable
Eg see alcohol – drink

4. Clarifying the terms
Intelligence: Understand
difference between instinct
and impulse
Eg. Eating and over-eating

5. Intelligence
Intelligence means to
understand how our mind
makes us misunderstand
Eg. See vehicle slowing
down – press accelerator, not
brake

6. Using the Intelligence
To understand how the
mind makes us
misunderstand:
1. Ourselves
2. Others
3. Krishna

7. Why the mind misunderstands?
The mind chooses the path
of least resistance
Looks for
1. The quickest pleasure
2. The easiest explanation
3. The fastest solution

8. Why the mind goes for quick-fix?
We are coming from animal
species and the mind carries
the momentum from there
In animal forms, survival
depended on fast response

9. The mind’s momentum
Not because the body has
undergone physical
evolution,
but because the mind is the
same while the soul
undergoes spiritual
evolution

10. Mind’s defaults
Fight: Mode of passion
Flight: Mode of ignorance
Go beyond fight or flight to:
Sight: Understand things
clearly

11. Animals vs humans
Most animal needs can be
resolved by fight or flight
But most human issues need
us to rise beyond fight or
flight

12. Mode Effect
Ignorance
14.13
No contemplation, No
action – just delusion
Passion 14.12 First action, then
contemplation
Goodness
14.11
First contemplation, then
action
Transcendence
10.10
Contemplation and action
harmonized by devotion

13. Misunderstanding ourselves
Are often unhealthy
expressions of our healthy
needs
Eg drink because of
loneliness
eg. Comfort food

14. Our attachments
Are often unhealthy
expressions of our healthy
needs
Eg drink because of
loneliness
eg. Comfort food

15. How the mind makes
us misunderstand
others

16. The mind’s quick-fix
It fixes labels on people
Move from labels to issues
Glutton – Loneliness
Sluggard – Diffidence

17. The mind’s misunderstanding of others
Google voice transcription
errors
“Howdy, cash. When is it
coming?”
“Harry Kicking. Death
calling. Pl call back asap”

18. Thinking in goodness
Separate emotion from
situation
Acknowledge the emotion
Understand the situation
Analyze the link between the
situation and emotion

19. The mind’s misperception
of relationships
Awareness of partial material
reality, partial delusion
Ignorance: “Nothing is in my control
-> everyone knocks me around”
Passion: “Everything is in my
control - > I knock everyone
around”

20. Maturity in relationships
Awareness of material & spiritual
reality
Goodness: “Let me focus on what
is in my control”
Transcendence: “Dependence on
Krishna & Diligence for Krishna”

21. Begin from within
How can we change others?
By inspiring them to change
Knowledge
Facility
Example
Eg. Pushing car to get it to move

22. How others see us
How important others are to
us, they evaluate by how
important we treat the things
that are important for us
Don’t over-expect from others
Don’t trivialize others’ priorities

23. The insensitive vs the desensitized
Insensitive don’t care
Desensitized don’t feel
We all have our struggles - see
others as fighting the same war
we are fighting, just a different
battle

24. Dealing with difficult people
Like dealing with difficult weather
Tolerate
Mitigate
Emigrate

25. How the mind makes
us misunderstand
Krishna

26. Our defining identity
Not based on our horizontal
relationships with others,
but based on our vertical
relationship with Krishna

27. Relational identity crisis
To feel unloved is
distressing,
To feel unlovable is
devastating

28. Krishna’s unfailing love
There is nothing we can
ever do that can stop
Krishna from loving us
Nothing will make
Krishna leave our heart

29. Perceiving Krishna’s love
1. Our very existence
requires the existence of
hundreds of things beyond
our control
Eg Birds – grains

30. Perceiving Krishna’s love
2. Understand the breadth of
our existence
Eg Hair loss to treat cancer
What is materially troubling
can be spiritually healing

31. Perceiving Krishna’s love
3. Understand the length of
our existence
We look at the present &
prepare the future
Krishna looks at the future &
prepares the present

32. Perceiving Krishna’s love
4. Seek relief amidst
problems, not release from
problems
Eg Rise to upper story of
house when floods come

33. Cultivate aggressive gratitude
We can’t be grateful for all
situations, but we can be
grateful in all situations

34. When bad things happen
1. Look at the things that are still
good
2. Look at the good things that
help us to deal with the bad
thing
3. Look at how the bad thing can
be for good

35. Service attitude
situates us in reality
Krishna is not the cause of
our distress – he is the cure
for our distress
Eg hospital – doctor

36. Focus
Service attitude is
empowering because it
shifts our focus from the
storm to the anchor
Focus on what is in our
control

37. Through a broken world
with unbroken faith
When we are down to
nothing, Krishna is up to
something
Pray, “Give me the
strength to serve you”