We are all in an inner war with the mind, which the Bhagavad-gita (06.06) indicates is often our enemy. In this war, scriptural rules that mandate regulation of worldly indulgence are our protectors. When immoral temptations masquerading as pleasures seduce us, rules serve as fences that keep us within the safe zone of scripturally ordained morality.

Degraded and demoralized, we then begin the slow labored journey back to the protection of the fences that we had ourselves broken down. 

Dallying with the mind refers to letting our thoughts idly wander, unguardedly allowing them to go wherever the mind fancies. When we dally thus, the mind beguiles us into believing that many pleasures await us if we just step out of the fences of morality. As we fall for this lie, the mind subtly and sinisterly distorts our perception so that we see it not as an enemy, but as a friend. And we see scriptural rules not as protectors, but as deprivers.

By thus perverting our perceptions, the mind makes us defectors, who fight against the very principles we had resolved to uphold. Infatuated by the mind’s promises of pleasure, we break the protective moral fences and become its puppets, doing things that we would normally never do. Only when we experience the hollowness of its promised pleasures do we realize that we have been fooled. Degraded and demoralized, we then begin the slow labored journey back to the protection of the fences that we had ourselves broken down.

If we don’t want to become defectors, we need to stop dallying with the mind. By keeping ourselves busy in Krishna’s service, we can leave ourselves no time to dally with the mind. Over time, as our devotion develops we will become free from any need for such dallying, for we will delight in dallying with Krishna, in relishing constantly his presence invoked by our sincere devotional service.

Explanation of article:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMOkMPrAsf0

Listen audio