12 March 2015 - QA 5

How can we control the mind?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Through the breath. If you can control your breath then know that you can control your mind. Do pranayama and once you keep doing pranayama you will start gaining control on your mind. You cannot control the mind directly, it is not possible. When you like something then the mind is there fully.
Suppose you like a movie, that 2-3 hours you are totally focused. Your focus stays on the television or the screen because you like something. Mind gets focused when there is liking towards something. When you don’t like something and still you have to focus, then take the help of the breath. Breath can help the mind focus.
If you love something you don’t need to focus, it is already there. Love brings focus along with it. Greed and fear can also help you focus. If none of these three things work then the fourth one I would say is dispassion. Dispassion can bring focus.