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Wednesday, December 4, 1968 Los Angeles, Calif.
Letter to Sivananda
"Regarding your first question, is it offensive to think of Krishna's Pastimes while chanting, I think you should know that it is not offensive, but rather it is required. One must try for the point when he simply hears Krishna and immediately all of Krishna, His Pastimes, His Form, His Quality, are in his thoughts. So to always be immersed in thoughts of Krishna this is our process.
When we are full in Krishna then where there can be any chance for maya in us? So this is our duty to remember Krishna's Pastimes. One who cannot remember Krishna, let him always hear Hare Krishna and then when he has perfected this art, then always he will remember Krishna, His Activities, His Qualities, etc."
Rule your mind or it will rule you.
To make the mind austere is to detach it from sense gratification. It should be so trained that it can be always thinking of doing good for others.
The best training for the mind is gravity in thought. One should not deviate from Krishna consciousness and must always avoid sense gratification.
To purify one's nature is to become Krishna conscious. Satisfaction of the mind can be obtained only by taking the mind away from thoughts of sense enjoyment.
The more we think of sense enjoyment, the more the mind becomes dissatisfied. In the present age we unnecessarily engage the mind in so many different ways for sense gratification, and so there is no possibility of the mind's becoming satisfied. The best course is to divert the mind to the Vedic literature, which is full of satisfying stories, as in the Puranas and the Mahabharata. One can take advantage of this knowledge and thus become purified. The mind should be devoid of duplicity, and one should think of the welfare of all.
Silence means that one is always thinking of self-realization.
The person in Krishna consciousness observes perfect silence in this sense.
Control of the mind means detaching the mind from sense enjoyment.
One should be straightforward in his dealings and thereby purify his existence.
All these qualities together constitute austerity in mental activities.
- Purport Bg 17.16