1750: The Distracted Mind | Obstacle or Opportunity?
Wisdom of the Sages
David Ramella
4.9 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 31 March 2026
⏱️ 62 minutes
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Summary
Every time your mind wanders during meditation is a great opportunity. The wandering mind can be exactly where the real yoga begins. In this episode Raghunath welcomes back Kaustubha, fresh off a pilgrimage to Vrindavan, India — unpacking his bags and his insights in equal measure, starting with a nugget from William James, the father of American psychology. James called it the very root of character, will, and judgment: the ability to bring back wandering attention, over and over again. The Bhagavad Gita agrees — and so does a striking passage from the Srimad Bhagavatam, an ancient Sanskrit text on consciousness and devotion, describing how love deepens through hearing, contemplation, and the steady return of attention to the highest spiritual content. Wisdom of the Sages exists for exactly that — to keep the mind returning, day after day, to what matters most.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | But here we go, right, this idea that William James, who's someone who's not just absorbed in studying the mind, |
| 0:08.8 | but is considered like the father of modern psychology, so someone with deep insights and how the mind works. |
| 0:14.6 | And he's recognizing something that we were never taught that was taught in the Bhagavagita, right? |
| 0:20.6 | Yato, Yatou, Yatou, Nishachalatian what is it chanchalamastiram |
| 0:24.9 | tat tat tat tat tat matmanyeva of sham naeat that wherever the mind wanders do to flickering and |
| 0:32.1 | unsteady nature one must you know niama right just like the you know y know, the Yama, Nima, you have to regulate it. |
| 0:40.2 | You have to regulate it. You have to bring it back in place where you want it. Why? Well, because |
| 0:45.1 | what does he say? He was saying that your judgment, your character, you will, are dependent on you |
| 0:51.4 | flexing that muscle rather than just letting it wander wherever it goes. |
| 0:55.9 | And that's kind of like how we were raised. |
| 0:58.7 | It just goes where it goes. |
| 1:00.6 | You don't have to bring it back. |
| 1:02.5 | Just try to put something in front of it |
| 1:04.4 | that's entertaining. |
| 1:05.7 | It's kind of like what we were taught. |
| 1:08.5 | Right? |
| 1:10.4 | Oh, |
| 1:10.8 | Nama, |
| 1:11.7 | Bhagavati, |
| 1:13.1 | Vasudevaea. |
| 1:16.6 | Oh, |
| 1:17.1 | no, |
... |
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