Master the Mind - Episode 9
Śreyas (Good) Vs Preyas (Pleasure)
In the ninth discourse of the Master the Mind series, Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai guides the devotee on mind control in the path to Self-Realisation. Taking examples from Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s lives, Sadguru explains how many who speak of themselves as devotees are not really so. Drawing upon the qualities that typify a true devotee, Sadguru elaborates how engaging in service and other kinds of activity is misconstrued by many to mean devotion to God. He emphatically states that jagat hitāya without ātmano mokṣārtham will not lead to the emancipation of man. With several anecdotal references from the kaṭhopaniṣad, Sadguru urges us to pursue the path of Self-Realisation as demonstrated by the young naciketā, who remains steadfast in his resolve to realise the highest Truth and is not swayed by the worldly temptations that Lord Yama bestows on him. Suffused with practical wisdom, this discourse elucidates how one could attain Divinity by consistently choosing what is difficult but correct, instead of what is easy and pleasurable, by invoking services of the mahābuddhi (higher intelligence) to sift between śreyas (good) and preyas (pleasant). To know God, one needs to become God. When the mind has been completely overpowered, it culminates in man realising his Divinity.