This is the conclusion to the series “Who Controls Your Mind” – about living a more conscious and purposeful life, and the need to be in control of your own mind to do that.

The consumption and use of information & technology do not bestow wisdom. They can in fact do the opposite. This is called dumbing-down the population.

What is needed is a spiritual paradigm which combats materialism - the ultimate vehicle for ignorance and harm.

Research consistently shows that the more people value materialist aspirations and goals, the lower their happiness and life satisfaction and the fewer the pleasant emotions they experience day to day.

Qualities such as restraint, temperance, self-control, delayed gratification, compassion, humility and kindness all support and bolster a life guided by wisdom.

The video I suggested watching is “The High Price of Materialism” 2011 https://youtu.be/oGab38pKscw

Some quotes I used:

As a strong wind sweeps away a boat on the water, even one of the roaming senses on which the mind focuses can carry away a man's intelligence. - Bhagavad-gita 2.67

Therefore, O mighty-armed, one whose senses are restrained from their objects is certainly of steady intelligence. - Bhagavad-gita 2.68

A faithful man who is dedicated to transcendental knowledge and who subdues his senses is eligible to achieve such knowledge, and having achieved it he quickly attains the supreme spiritual peace. - Bhagavad-gita 4.39

Before giving up this present body, if one is able to tolerate the urges of the material senses and check the force of desire and anger, he is well situated and is happy in this world. - Bhagavad-gita 5.23

Social Media and Big-Tech try to convince you that their product(s) are about making your life better or “connecting with people” etc. But the companies themselves have the goal of getting your attention, and then keeping you on their platforms for as much of your day as possible. They collect your data and usage habits and then sell your data or use the information to make money off you.

To do that they engage experts in an area of psychology research called "persuasive design," whose scholars seek to understand how to create something that is next to impossible to put down. Persuasive design combines behavioral psychology with technology to alter human behavior – yes, your behavior.

Tristan Harris, an ex-Google employee, speaking to the US Congress said the business model of big social media companies "is to create a society that is addicted, outraged, polarized, performative and disinformed. That's just the fundamentals of how it works."

Emily Jashinsky says these companies wield their power over your mind, to make you angrier, lonelier, dumber, less healthy and more addicted.

We become increasingly disconnected from the real world and end up “living in our heads.”

So what to do? In authentic spiritual systems/practices they promote both “dos” and “don’ts” (Yama/Niyama) in order to change your life. In relation to the topic we are coving I make some suggestions.

Don’ts –

· Stay off the apps as much as possible (limit usage),

· don’t just look to fill up an empty space,

· don’t just click on things that are fed to you (it is not harmless!!),

· stop seeking acceptance and validation through empty posts

· don’t just react (get emotionally involved or outraged)

Dos –

· move to take charge of your mind and its’ contents

· get a (real) life (find PURPOSE)

· become more informed (Yoga Wisdom)

· practice tolerance and humility

· be kind

· cultivate spiritual wisdom

· meditate!!!

“One who is not connected with the Supreme Soul can have neither transcendental intelligence nor a steady mind, without which there is no possibility of peace. And how can there be any happiness without peace?” - Bhagavad-gita 2.66

This is a series of talks and kirtans from an Easter retreat in New Zealand, 2022. The topic I was given was "Bhakti - the yoga of love".

This is a series of talks and kirtans from an Easter retreat in New Zealand, 2022. The topic I was given was "Bhakti - the yoga of love".

This is a series of talks and kirtans from an Easter retreat in New Zealand, 2022. The topic I was given was "Bhakti - the yoga of love".

This is a series of talks and kirtans from an Easter retreat in New Zealand, 2022. The topic I was given was "Bhakti - the yoga of love".

This is a series of talks and kirtans from an Easter retreat in New Zealand, 2022. The topic I was given was "Bhakti - the yoga of love".

This is a series of talks and kirtans from an Easter retreat in New Zealand, 2022. The topic I was given was "Bhakti - the yoga of love".

 Most people today are oblivious to who controls their minds or to what degree they are controlled.

We discuss how the use of psychology to manipulate the masses became commonplace in the 20th Century.

Sigmund Freud's nephew Edward Bernays showed American corporations for the first time, how they could make people want things they didn't need, by linking mass-produced goods to their unconscious desires. He proposed that by stimulating people's inner desires and then sating them with consumer products, he was creating a new way to manage the irrational forces of the masses. He called it the engineering of consent.

Some quotes I used:

“We must shift America from a needs to a desires culture. People must be trained to desire, to want new things even before the old had been entirely consumed. We must shape a new mentality in America. Man's desires must overshadow his needs.” - Leading Wall Street banker Paul Mazer of Leahman Brothers in the early 1920’s

In 1927 an American journalist wrote: “A change has come over our democracy, it is called consumptionism. The American citizen's first importance to his country is now no longer that of citizen, but that of consumer.

In 1928 President Herbert Hoover told a group of advertisers and public relations men "You Have taken over the job of creating desire and have transformed people into constantly moving happiness machines. Machines which have become the key to economic progress."

“Although the media has undisputed power to influence people's decisions and they are in control of the public mind, unfortunately, they are for the greater part without any conscience.” – Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupananda ( Stated in the mid to late 1980’s)

The modem economy is propelled by a frenzy of greed and indulges in an orgy of envy, and these are not accidental features but the very causes of its expansionist success. The question is whether such causes can be effective for long or whether they carry within themselves the seeds of destruction. – E. F. Schumacher – British Economist

“It can be seen that while the media and advertising people may not fully appreciate this science, they are aware of how it works and they use it to control people's minds and exploit them. Due to their own lust for material gain and following, they don't use their power to good effect. They want a society of animals because animals are easier to control and exploit than intelligent people. This, for example, is the whole strategy of advertising. Excite people's gross senses and they'll buy your product.” – Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupananda

“People are already feeling alienated from everyone else in society. They're already small and powerless in the face of the powers that be. The media should not increase this. They should give people a chance to express what they are really seeing and feeling. But instead, they increase paranoia and separation. They create a feeling of "us" and "them."” – Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupananda

A new series where we explore the all-important subject of:

1. who is actually in control of and is directing my life; and

2. why that is important.

We will be taking an in-depth look at how the science of mind-control was developed by the advertising industry and further developed and exponentially enhanced by Big Tech to take control of your mind and desires, so as to exploit you financially.

Within the context of the yoga system – when I am simply following the desires or emotions within the mind,  it means one has become a “victim” of their own mind.

A real yogi is one who utilizes their mind as an instrument or tool to achieve a higher end. In the series we will explore this point in some detail.

Some of the quotes I used:

"The individual is the passenger in the chariot of the material body, and intelligence is the driver. Mind is the driving instrument, and the senses are the horses. The self is thus the enjoyer or sufferer in the association of the mind and senses. So it is understood by great thinkers." Katha Upanisad 1.3.3-4

The working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he [the soul] is even higher than the intelligence. Bhagavad-gita 3.42

One must deliver themself with the help of one’s mind, and not degrade themself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well. Bhagavad-gita 6.5

For one who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest enemy. Bhagavad-gita 6.6

This uncontrolled mind is the greatest enemy of the living entity. If one neglects it or gives it a chance, it will grow more and more powerful and will become victorious. Although it is not factual, it is very strong. It covers the constitutional position of the self/atma. SB 5.11.17

For one whose mind is unbridled, self-realization is difficult work. But he whose mind is controlled and who strives by appropriate means is assured of success. That is My opinion. Bhagavad-gita 6.36