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The Misdirected Mind and the Harm It Can Create · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  The Dhammapada provides the spiritual seeker with a deep
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  wisdom that forces us to reflect and gain understanding.
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  The Mother has taken up a particular verse about the harm
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  caused by a mind that is not tightly focused and under
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  control. With some consideration, we can
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  understand the deeper intent. When an individual focuses on
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  defeating or harming an enemy, that action is tightly
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  concentrated and directed, thus limiting most of the harm to the
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  enemy. The fact that an enemy is
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  acknowledged also implies that the enemy knows about the
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  animosity and will take appropriate measures in defense.
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  Thus, the two antagonists may injure one another or may
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  neutralize one another, but the scope and harm is more or less
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  circumscribed within the limits of their focus.
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  The same can be said about a hater acting against another
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  hater. In both of these examples, the
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  scope, focus, and intensity are all tightly controlled and
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  limited for the most part to each other.
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  We turn then to the other part of the aphorism that the quote
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  harm caused by a misdirected mind is even greater still.
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  End Quote. A misdirected mind, very much
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  unmanaged and uncontrolled, is not restricted to creating
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  issues for an enemy or a mutual hater, but can go out to loved
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  ones, friends or others in the community and cause substantial
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  issues of pain and suffering, confusion and misunderstanding,
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  all of which can spread and continue inflicting pain.
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  Just as it is said that one should monitor one's speech
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  carefully to not cause undue pain to others and to make it
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  all so truthful and based in a balanced and complete
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  understanding so as to not create disharmony or disruptions
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  needlessly. So the mind, which both sends
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  out vibrations without the use of speech as well as through
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  speech or the written word, needs to be similarly understood
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  and managed. We cannot foresee where these
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  thoughts will wind up and what effects they will have.
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  The thought form so created will have their impact, even if not
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  consciously directed or intended.
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  We already recognize the negative impact that even
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  thoughtless comments can have on someone, particularly if that
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  individual is seeking for acceptance and developing of
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  individual self worth. How many young children have
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  been negatively impacted through their whole lives by a parent
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  telling them that they are failures or incompetent, rather
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  than working to find ways for the child to thrive within its
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  own sphere of interest and capacity?
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  How many people with unique capacities and talents have been
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  discouraged by stray remarks from family or peers from
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  developing those capacities? The effects of the unfocused or
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  misdirected mind are wide-ranging.
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  Another generally unappreciated aspect is that a misdirected
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  mind may cause harm to oneself, which we frequently observe when
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  people tell themselves that they are weak, incompetent, ugly, old
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  or other such self demeaning ideas that in fact lead to
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  harming their mental, emotional, vital and physical health and
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  well-being. A misdirected mind can also lead
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  to waste and loss of time and focus and all of the
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  consequences that flow from that.
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  We see many instances where someone concentrates on social
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  media or playing video games and winds up unable to make their
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  way within their social and economic setting later in their
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  lives, whereas had they been gently guided and thereby
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  directed their minds towards positive and productive affairs,
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  they would reduce their later chances of suffering from
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  failure. How much friction is created by
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  minds focused on short term annoyances or inconveniences
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  rather than on the bigger issues of life?
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  Much of modern society purposely works to create distraction, and
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  a mind that is carried away by those distractions tends to
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  become trapped in relatively meaningless pursuits or
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  disputes, while not using their time to create a life of meaning
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  and real value to themselves and others.
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  The use of misdirection is a major element of societal
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  control. This becomes a mechanism to
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  gather the financial wealth of the people so ensnared, as well
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  as subordinate them, in many cases against their own true
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  interests, to political or religious control and
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  domination. For the spiritual seeker, of
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  course, the stakes are even higher.
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  Losing focus on the real spiritual development and
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  misplacing the time and attention on seeking after fame,
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  wealth, sex, power, et cetera, has been the downfall of many
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  seekers overtime, the Damapata states.
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  Quote whatever an enemy may do to an enemy.
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  Whatever a hater may do to a hater.
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  The harm caused by a misdirected mind is even greater still.
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  End Quote. The mother comments quote an
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  I'll directed I'll. Controlled thought does more
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  harm than an enemy can do to an enemy or a hater to a hater.
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  That is to say, even those who have the best intentions in the
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  world, if they do not have a wise control over their thought,
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  will do more harm to themselves and to those whom they love than
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  an enemy can do to an enemy or a hater to a hater.
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  End Quote. Reference Srioro Bindu and the
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  Mother. Powers within, Chapter 2.
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  Power of Thought, page 12.