“From whatever and wherever the mind wanders due to its flickering and unsteady nature, one must certainly withdraw it and bring it back under the control of the Self. The yogi whose mind is fixed on Me verily attains the highest happiness. By virtue of his identity with Brahman, he is liberated; his mind is peaceful, his passions are quieted, and he is freed from sin.” (Bg.6.26-27)

Naturally, treading the spiritual path may not always be easy. We have been so conditioned to the material lifestyle that there may be times when we must tolerate the unnecessary urges of the senses, or suffer the mood swings of the mind, or even be exposed to demands and wants of others around us. All these may affect us in certain ways, or make us consider compromising our spiritual standards, regulations or practice as they pull us this way or that. But we must simply keep trying and never give up. It’s as simple as that. When we see ourselves getting off-track, we simply pull ourselves back. When our mind wanders off in the wrong direction, then we must use the intelligence and pull it back where it belongs.

We should never get discouraged and never get depressed or think that the process will not work. There are already so many others who have succeeded before us. You must simply step back and witness how the material energy works, or how the mind reacts to various situations. Then remember how you are the spirit and not the mind. So you have to keep working at controlling the mind, which merely takes practice over the long-term. How well you control the mind indicates how much you are advancing. In time, with spiritual advancement, the mind will not be so restless or attracted to materialistic activities. It will simply lose interest.

So how you control the mind is simply how you engage it. The more you read the spiritual and Vedic books, or associate with others to discuss spiritual topics and the activities of God, or meditate and chant God’s holy names, the more of a positive impact they will make on the mind. Then the more purified it becomes, and, naturally, our lives become more peaceful. As we become freer from bodily attachment, we are also less attracted to questionable or debilitating desires, habits and activities. This is what paves the way for our mind to remain fixed on God, without swings and shifts, and attain the greatest happiness.