The Gita in 18 days · Lesson 6 of 18
Training a restless mind
Chapter 6 is about meditation. Krishna explains how to sit quietly and calm the mind. Arjuna is honest: he says his mind is as hard to control as the wind.
Anyone who has tried to sit still knows this. You close your eyes to focus on your breath, and ten seconds later you're thinking about lunch, a text message or something embarrassing from years ago.
Krishna does not say Arjuna is wrong. He agrees the mind is restless. But he says it can be trained in two ways: practice, which means doing it again and again, and letting go, which means not chasing every thought that shows up.
Think of training a puppy to sit. It wanders off. You gently bring it back. It wanders off again. You bring it back again. You don't yell at the puppy. One day, it sits.
Your mind is like that puppy. When it wanders during meditation, just notice it and gently bring it back to your breath. Each time you bring it back, that is the practice. That is not failing.
Start small. Even two minutes a day of sitting and gently returning to the breath will slowly make the mind steadier.
श्री भगवानुवाच असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलं। अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते ॥
asanśhayaṁ mahā-bāho mano durnigrahaṁ chalam abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyeṇa cha gṛihyate
Without doubt, O mighty-armed, the mind is hard to curb and restless; but it may be curbed by constant practice and by dispassion.
In plain words: Krishna agrees that the mind is restless and hard to control. But he says it can be controlled through steady, repeated practice and by letting go of cravings.
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