II: 68

Chapter 2, Verse 68

“And so, for the ones who,
In recollection, Arjuna,
Master the senses,
Theirs is a steady wisdom.”

Paramahansa Yogananda:

“Those without discerning self-mastery are powerless to hold the steeds of their senses on the path. Their calm, soul intuition is displaced by the restless, purposeless habits of a dissatisfied mind. Such a person can never be at peace. The aspiring Yogi must keep the stallions of the senses under full control.”

[Sense-mastery does not mean we have to beat our senses into submission. Sometimes renunciates such as Yogananda and Shivananda make the spiritual path sound like a forced march. From a Sally Kempton article in Kripalu magazine: “The Tantric Yogis believed that the human senses are actually the means through which God enjoys the world. So when we can fully savor a pleasurable moment…a sunset or a painting, a great movie or a concert, a delicious bite of food…we are holding open a door for God to enjoy through us.” Offering the enjoyment to Krishna or, in other words, being aware of Krishna as the enjoyer of the action is a powerful means of transforming the lower mind into the higher consciousness. What begins as conscious cultivation evolves into the intuitive revelation of the purified Buddhi.

Anodea Judith (Wheels of Life) defines intuition as “the unconscious recognition of pattern”. Again we come back to the idea of recollection. Cultivating intuition means making this unconscious recognition conscious through the discipline of bringing the mind back again and again from outward-directed engagement to inner-directed remembrance of Source. On some glorious day hence, all our efforts to consciously remember our divine heritage moment-to-moment will bloom into effortless, established, steady connection and then we’re home, once and for all. In the meantime, we can be home right now...by recollecting…in this moment.]