Who am I? Answers the Arjuna question: “Verily, the mind is fickle and turbulent, obstinate and strong, yea extremely difficult as the wind to control.” - Arjuna

1. Self Control
“Verily, the mind is fickle and turbulent,
obstinate and strong, yea extremely
difficult as the wind to control.” -
Arjuna

2. Krishna replied
• Doubtless, O Mighty One, the
mind is fickle and exceedingly
difficult to restrain,
but,
• O Son of Kunti, with practice
and renunciation it can
be done. It is not possible to
attain Self-Realisation if a man
does not know how to control
himself; but for him who,
striving by proper means, learns
such control, it is possible.

3. What if you fail to control yourself?
• Arjuna asked:
• He who fails to control
himself, whose mind falls
from spiritual contemplation,
who attains not perfection
but retains his faith, what of
him, my Lord? Having failed
in both, my Lord, is he
without hope, like a riven
cloud having no support, lost
on the spiritual road?

4. Krishna replied: If you fail in this life, try in the
next
• My beloved child! There is no
destruction for him, either in
this world or in the next. No
evil fate awaits him who treads
the path of righteousness.
Having reached the worlds
where the righteous dwell, and
having remained there for
many years, he who has slipped
from the path of spirituality will
be born again in the family of
the pure, benevolent and
prosperous.

5. After many lives…
• Then the experience acquired in his former
life will revive, and with its help he will
strive for perfection more eagerly than
before. Unconsciously he will return to the
practices of his old life; so that he who
tries to realise spiritual consciousness is
certainly superior to one who only talks of
it.
• Then after many lives, the student
of spirituality, who earnestly strives, and
whose sins are absolved, attains perfection
and reaches the Supreme.
[After many lives, at last the wise man realises Me as I am. A man so enlightened
that he sees God everywhere is very difficult to find.]

6. Today (June 21) is World Yoga Day.
Krishna taught:
• He who has renounced worldly desires and
attained Yoga is attached neither to
earthly objects nor to worldly activity.
• Let a yogi be constantly concentrating in the
Atman, being in seclusion, self-disciplined,
not indulging in reveries, devoid of the
feeling of possessiveness.
• When the mind calmed by yoga
exercises becomes quiet, when man
finds bliss in the Atman
• The one established in Yoga sees the
Atman in every being and all beings
dwelling in the Atman; everywhere he sees
the same.

7. How to do Yoga?
• 6.11 Having chosen a holy place, let
him sit in a firm posture on a seat,
neither too high nor too low, and
covered with a grass mat, a deer
skin and a cloth.
• 6:12. Seated thus, his mind
concentrated, its functions controlled
and his senses governed, let him
practise meditationfor the
purification of his lower nature!
Hunted deer or a deer that died of old age?

8. The Gita backdrop – Kill
your own cousins, teachers,
elders!
• Arjuna,
• 1:45,46 Alas! Out of desire to rule the kingdom,
we are ready to commit a great sin: to kill our
own kinsmen! Much better it would be to me
to be killed
• Krishna
• 2:19. He who thinks that he can kill and he who
thinks that he can be killed are both mistaken!
Man can neither kill nor can be killed!
• 2:26. Even if you thought that he gets born and
dies again and again, even then, O mighty-
armed, you should not grieve!
• 2:27. Verily, death is predestinated for the born
one, and birth is unavoidable for the one who
has died. Do not grieve over what is inevitable!
• 2:32. Lucky are those kshatriyas, O Bharata, to
whose lot falls such a battle; it is like an open
gate to the Heaven!

9. Yoga is an exercise,
and requires many
lives to attain
knowledge of
Krishna
The ideology of Rebirth leads
to varna/caste system, that
curses the SC/ST/Shudras for
sins they never committed!
Truth: We have only one life!

11. Self Control
“Verily, the mind is fickle and turbulent,
obstinate and strong, yea extremely
difficult as the wind to control.” -
Arjuna
Answers from the Bible
Back to Arjuna’s question on

12. The average
person thinks
around 50,000+
thoughts a day
True?
If so, what if they are evil,
unproductive, lustful, negative,
self-abusive… along with few
good thoughts like care, love!
"Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and
that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s
heart was continually only evil." (Genesis 6:5)

13. Controlling you mind is a scriptural requirement

14. Discussion:
Can you give
an example of
controlling an
ill feeling?
How did you
do it?

15. Who are you? Are you your mind?

17. But your brain produces
•Unplanned Thoughts
•Weird dreams
•Random / Brain
waves
•Temptations
•…

18. Brain/Mind is way too complex –
Who is the real you?
At the resurrection what will be resurrected is the REAL YOU!
You are your mortal soul (Consciousness, feelings, etc.), which is being shaped by
your thoughts/mind, based on internal and external triggers.

19. Self Control
“Verily, the mind is fickle and turbulent,
obstinate and strong, yea extremely
difficult as the wind to control.” -
Arjuna
Answers from the Bible
Again,
Back to Arjuna’s question on

20. Exercises for
the brain
Exercise 1
Faith
Exercise 2
Hope
Exercise 3
…
[Exercises such as Yoga, running, body building gives stress relief,
peace/calming of the mind, but, not eternal life]
"For bodily exercise has some value,
but godliness has value in all things,
having the promise of the life which is now,
and of that which is to come." (1 Timothy 4:8)

21. The brain problem: Worry
Worry  Sleepless nights
 Stress  health issues
• Solution? Do the following Faith exercises:
• Mat 6:26 See the birds of the sky, that they don’t sow,
neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your
heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you of much more
value than they?
• Mat 6:27 “Which of you, by being anxious, can add one
moment to his lifespan?
• Mat 6:30 But if God so clothes the
grass of the field, which today
exists, and tomorrow is thrown into
the oven, won’t he much more
clothe you, you of little faith?
• Mat 6:33 But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his
righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as
well.
• Mat 6:34 Therefore don’t be anxious for tomorrow, for
tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day’s own evil is
sufficient.
Exercise: Always REMIND yourself to TRUST in
God.
Think/ Meditate on God.

22. How did David
exercise his
brains?

23. Perform David’s brain exercise
– Devotion to Yahweh our God
• Psa 130:6 My soul longs for the
Lord more than watchmen long for
the morning; more than watchmen for
the morning.
• Psa 16:7 I will bless Yahweh, who has
given me counsel. Yes, my heart (i.e. brain)
instructs me in the night seasons.
• Psa 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in
horses, but we trustthe name of
Yahweh our God.
• Psa 55:17 Evening, morning, and at noon, I will
cry out in distress. He will hear my voice.

24. Continue to exercise David’s brain
exercise even in adversity–
Devotion to Yahweh our God
• Psa 6:6 I am weary with my
groaning. Every night I flood
my bed. I drench my couch
with my tears.
• Psa 6:7 My eye wastes away
because of grief. It grows old
because of all my adversaries.
• Psa 6:8 Depart from me, all
you workers of iniquity, for
Yahweh has heard the
voice of my weeping.

25. The brain
problem:
Confusion,
Without direction,
regrets…
• Solution: Hope exercises
• Our pasts cannot be changed, but we can with God’s
help determine our eternal future.
• Hope gives a FOCUS and direction to strive for.
• Hope sets a GOAL for our minds to follow.
• Hoping is a brain exercise that brings us peace and
assurance.

26. Hope exercises
• Train your brain to be patient
• Rom 8:24, 25 For we were saved in hope, but hope that is
seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees? But
if we hope for that which we don’t see, we wait for it with
patience.
• Remind/meditate on Hope
• 1Th 4:13 But we don’t want you to be ignorant, brothers,
concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you don’t
grieve like the rest, who have no hope.
• Keep your Brain FOCUSSED :
• 1Ti 5:5 Now she who is a widow indeed, and desolate, has
her hope set on God, and continues in petitions and
prayers night and day.
Gen 24:63 Isaac went out
to meditate in the field at the
evening…..

27. Supplementary
exercises to be
performed with Hope
• Tell your brain to
• REJOICE
• ENDURE
• STEADFAST PRAYER
• Rom 12:12 rejoicing in hope; enduring in troubles; continuing steadfastly in prayer;

28. Brain "ALL" these
Qualities
• For if these qualities are
yours and are increasing,
they keep you from being
ineffective or unfruitful in
the knowledge of our
Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter
1:8 ESV)
• The order is not a strict
order, have ALL

29. Make Progress
HEB 5:13 FOR EVERYONE WHO LIVES ON MILK IS NOT EXPERIENCED IN THE WORD OF
RIGHTEOUSNESS, FOR HE IS A BABY.
HEB 5:14 BUT SOLID FOOD IS FOR THOSE WHO ARE FULL GROWN,
WHO BY REASON OF USE HAVE THEIR SENSES EXERCISED TO DISCERN
GOOD AND EVIL.

30. Think positive – Train to
Replace negative with the
positive
• "Finally, brothers, whatever things are
true, whatever things are honorable,
whatever things are just, whatever things
are pure, whatever things are lovely,
whatever things are of good report; if
there is any virtue, and if there is any
praise, think about these things. The
things which you learned, received, heard,
and saw in me: do these things, and
the God of peace will be with
you." (Philippians 4:8-9)

31. The Christian advantage
•Truth
•Grace
•Forgiveness
•Resurrection
•Divine help
• “No temptation has overtaken you
except what is common to
mankind. And God is faithful; he
will not let you be tempted
beyond what you can bear. But
when you are tempted, he will
also provide a way out so that you
can endure it.” (1 Corinthians
10:13)

32. Jesus our Guru
• Luk 6:40 A disciple
is not above his
teacher, but everyone
when he is
fully trained
(complete) will be
like his teacher.

33. Jesus our guide
•"I have told you these
things, that in me you
may have peace. In the
world you have trouble;
but cheer up! I have
overcome the
world.”" (John 16:33)