Ever felt like your mind has a mind of its own? One moment you are focused, and the next, you are lost—worrying about the future or replaying the past. This is the untrained mind: scattered and easily hijacked by unwanted thoughts.
Now, imagine a student whose mind is distracted by video games, idle scrolling, and daydreaming all year round. Yet, when he sits in the exam hall, something changes. For three hours, the same restless mind becomes calm, focused, and disciplined. What caused this shift? Nothing external. Something within simply decided: This matters. Focus now. And the mind obeyed.
This reveals mind is not the problem; it needs direction. In this blog, we will uncover how our mind works, and how you can stop fighting it and start leading it.
Our Inner Mechanism
To understand how to lead the mind, let us first get a peek into the inner mechanism that we all have within us.
The Kaṭhopaniṣhad offers a vivid analogy:
ātmānagvaṁ rathinaṁ viddhi śharīraṁ rathameva tu buddhiṁ tu sārathiṁ viddhi manaḥ pragrahameva cha indriyāṇi hayānāhurviṣhayānsteṣhu gocharān ātmendriyamanoyuktaṁ bhoktetyāhurmanīṣhiṇaḥ ~ (1.3.3-4) [v21]
● Your body is the chariot.
● The five senses are like horses pulling it.
● The reins in the mouths of the horses represent the mind.
● The intellect is the charioteer holding those reins.
● And the passenger is the soul (that resides in the body).
This imagery reveals a profound truth: The senses are restless, constantly chasing sensory objects. If the mind (reins) is loose or uncontrolled, the senses gallop wherever they please. But if the intellect (charioteer) takes charge and holds the reins firmly, the journey becomes purposeful. While the soul is the ultimate passenger, the intellect plays a crucial role in guiding the mind.
The Bhagavad Gita Verse 3.42 further elucidates: “The senses are superior to the gross body, and superior to the senses is the mind. Beyond the mind is the intellect, and even beyond the intellect is the soul.” This verse reinforces the same hierarchy, showing us the chain of command. Each level has the potential to control the one below it. Hence, the key point is that the intellect can lead the mind—if we exercise its power.
Mind vs. Intellect: Knowing the Difference
The mind desires. It harbors attachments, anxieties, impulses etc. Whereas the intellect is our faculty of reason. It discerns what truly matters and makes decisions accordingly.
The mind is like a subtle inner machine, which constantly generates thoughts. These thoughts shape our emotions, influence our behavior, and even mold our physical appearance over time. It is through our thoughts that we experience happiness or misery. As the Western philosopher John Milton said, “The mind is a place of its own and in itself can make heaven out of hell and hell out of heaven.” Such is the power of this inner machine.
So, what is the nature of our thoughts at present?
Our mind flips from one thought to another, unable to settle. At other times, we get stuck in repetitive thought patterns. Just like old LP records where a scratch in the groove would cause the same line to play again and again. Very often, the mind behaves like a spoiled child: “I want this, I don’t want that.” And many of us feel weighed down by the storm of thoughts.
What we often overlook is this: we have something stronger than the mind—the intellect. Take something as common as going to work. The mind may resist: “I don’t feel like it today.” But the intellect steps in: “You need to earn a living.” So, we act upon it and go to work because the intellect decided so. We already use this power, often without realizing it. However, we can harness its power to our advantage by consciously exercising its control.
Choose Your Thoughts
We are not obliged to accept every thought our mind generates. A powerful example of this comes from Viktor Frankl, the renowned Austrian psychologist and Holocaust survivor. In his famous book Man’s Search for Meaning, he recounts his time in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. Separated from his wife and daughters—who were later killed—Frankl endured unimaginable horrors. He and his fellow prisoners were forced to march barefoot in the freezing night, wearing inadequate clothing, uncertain if they would live to see the next day.
Yet, amidst this inhuman suffering, Frankl discovered a freedom that no guard or circumstance could take from him: the moods that he chose to harbor within himself. He made a conscious decision to remain cheerful. He was often seen smiling and sometimes even laughing. Fellow inmates, baffled, would ask, “How can you do this?” Frankl would simply respond, “It is my choice.” His radiant mood uplifted not only those imprisoned with him but also inspired some of the very guards overseeing their torture. He decided to live through the ordeal and share his profound discovery with the world upon his release.
What was his discovery?
Our mood is always under our own control; how we choose to feel, or think is a decision that we make. People who do not realize this feel that their moods depend on external circumstances. Factually, no matter how grim the outside world becomes, our inner world remains our domain.
Instead of blaming people or situations, we must take responsibility for our thoughts and feelings. This is emotional maturity. This is where inner growth begins. Remember the word responsibility: it breaks into response-ability: the ability to respond. We cannot always control what happens to us, but we can always control how we respond to it. That is our true freedom.
Befriend Your Mind
People look for demons on the outside while the real demon is sitting inside—our uncontrolled mind.
The Bhagavad Gita states:
“Bandhur ātmātmanas tasya yenātmaivātmanā jitaḥ, anātmanas tu śhatrutve vartetātmaiva śhatru-vat.” ~ Verse 6.6
“For those who have conquered the mind, it is their friend. For those who have failed to do so, the mind works like an enemy.”
A haunting real-life example of this truth is the story of British tennis player Gem Gilbert. As a child, she witnessed a traumatic event: her mother passed away in a dentist’s chair during a routine procedure. This incident left a deep psychological scar on her mind. From that day on, she developed a phobia of dentists. No matter how much her teeth deteriorated over the years, she refused treatment. Finally, in her 40s, the pain became unbearable. She gathered the courage to visit a dentist. But the moment the dental instrument touched her mouth, she collapsed and died. It made headlines. One newspaper chillingly stated: “Her own image in her own mind killed her.” Her fear, born in the mind and fed over decades, ultimately became her enemy.
So, when we look for enemies, why look far? Why not look within? As the saint Kabir Das said:
“Bura jo dekhan main chala, bura na miliya koi. Jab man khoja aapna, mujhse bura na koi.”
I went in search of the wicked but found none. When I looked within, I realized—there is no one more wicked than myself. The message is clear: The fiercest battles are not fought in the outer world, but within the chambers of our own mind.
Developing Witness Mentality
But is it that easy to control the mind?
If you were told, “Don’t think of chocolate chip ice cream on a crispy cone with caramel and almond chips”—what happens? Instantly, your mind pictures exactly that. This illustrates the Ironic Process Theory, proposed by psychologist Daniel Wegner, and famously demonstrated in his “white bear” experiment. Participants were asked not to think of a white bear. The result was that they thought of it even more. Suppressing thoughts, paradoxically, strengthens them.
How do we then deal with negative thoughts that invade our mind?
The first step is to simply observe. Instead of reacting: “Why did I think this,” try saying: “Ah, the mind is being mischievous. Never mind. I don’t accept this thought.”
Consider this example.
Just a few months into motherhood, a young woman grew extremely anxious. It was not the new responsibilities that overwhelmed her, but a thought that disturbed her: hitting her baby against the wall—something she could never consciously imagine doing. Her mind, not under her control, had produced this disturbing thought. It was just one among the sixty thousand thoughts the human mind generates each day. Had she not focused on it, the thought would have faded away. However, she identified with it and felt guilty. “Why am I thinking like this?” she kept wondering. The more she resisted the thought, the more it persisted, replaying in her mind. In doing so, she inadvertently energized it, strengthening its presence and making it harder to shake off.
Identifying with thoughts can lead to a surge in emotions and impulsive reactions we often regret later. It happens as the amygdala (brain's stress response center) takes over, triggering a fight-or-flight response when it perceives a threat. This is common in animals, known as the amygdala hijack. However, as humans, we have the unique ability to watch our emotions and choose our response.
Hence, mental distancing is the first step.
Think of it like watching lions in a zoo - they are harmless behind bars, but dangerous when unleashed. Similarly, emotions can be managed when we maintain a safe distance, else they can be destructive. Thus, when emotions arise, just observing without participating in them helps us break free from the automatic reactions of our lower nature. This practice of mindfulness is becoming extremely popular these days.
The Vedas offered deeper insight through a practice called Sakṣhi Bhav or witness consciousness. It teaches: You are not your thoughts. You are not your mind. You are the soul, the observer. Most people live in identification with the mind— “I am happy,” “I am sad,” “I am angry.” But thoughts and emotions are like waves—they arise and pass. When we stop identifying with them, their grip weakens. By learning to dissociate from every passing thought, we strip those thoughts of their power to disturb us.
Discover the next steps in this video:
Conclusion
Your mind can be your greatest friend—when you are in charge. Use the intellect to direct the mind: “Think like this.” “Focus here.”
We as humans are uniquely equipped with self-awareness. We can observe our emotions, analyze them, and ask: Is this a healthy thought or emotion? We have the power of self-determination—to choose which thoughts to nurture and which to let go. That means even in difficult situations, we are not helpless. We can choose our response. When you lead your mind, you can choose inspiring thoughts and fill your life with clarity and purpose. When you subjugate that responsibility, the same mind can torment you. Master your mind—and it becomes your friend. Let it master you—and it becomes your foe.
Resources
● Life Changing Secret of Human Mind You MUST Know - Science Can't Explain This | Swami Mukundananda
● Taking Control of Your Emotions | Swami Mukundananda
● #1 Power that can help Control your Mind in a Moment | Swami Mukundananda
● Don't LISTEN to your Mind - Shree Krishna's Key to Take Back Your Life | Swami Mukundananda | BG 6.6
Call to Action
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