08/26/2026
THE MIND THAT BINDS YOU CAN ALSO SET YOU FREE.
Anandamayi Ma taught that the mind which becomes entangled in sense-objects creates the knots of bo***ge, while remembrance of God helps to untie those very knots.
A teaching attributed to her expresses it beautifully:
“Mind creates knots only on thinking of sense objects. The thought of God works for untying the knots.”
— Anandamayi Ma
This is not an isolated teaching. It reflects an ancient principle of Sanātana Dharma.
The Amritabindu Upanishad declares:
मन एव मनुष्याणां कारणं बन्धमोक्षयोः
mana eva manuṣyāṇāṁ kāraṇaṁ bandhamokṣayoḥ
“The mind alone is the cause of bo***ge and liberation.”
The Bhagavad Gītā gives us a remarkably similar teaching:
उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् ।
आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः ॥
“Elevate yourself through yourself; do not allow yourself to fall. For the self can be its own friend, and the self can also be its own enemy.”
— Bhagavad Gītā 6.5
And Krishna continues:
“For one who has mastered oneself, the self is a friend; but for one who has not, it behaves like an enemy.”
— Bhagavad Gītā 6.6
The message is profound:
The mind itself need not be destroyed.
It needs to be redirected.
Turn it constantly towards possessions, pleasures, praise, comparison and sensory gratification, and attachment grows.
Turn it towards God through nāma-japa, prayer, meditation, seva, self-enquiry and discrimination, and that same mind gradually becomes an instrument of freedom.
The mind is therefore both the knot and the means of untying the knot.
Every time the mind wanders towards the transient, gently bring it back towards the Eternal.
That repeated turning is itself sādhana.
Perhaps the seeker should ask each day:
“Where is my mind taking me — towards bo***ge or towards liberation?”
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