Unjamming the Mind in No Man’s Land
by Dinabandhu Caitanya Dasa and Cakrapani Krishna Dasa
Imagine you’re checking in for a flight and your suitcase is detected as being well over the 15-kg weight limit. The officer at the airport counter initially suggests shifting some items to your hand baggage. Unfortunately, upon weighing the hand baggage, he notes that it also exceeds the 7-kg allowable limit and pronounces the final verdict: you must either pay for excess baggage or let go of something to reduce the weight.
Your inner instinct howls in protest, and you argue, but the officer stands firm. Paying for excess baggage is out of the question since the rates are exorbitant. Your mind is in a daze while your intelligence tries to reason how best to extricate yourself from this situation. With just sixty minutes left before departure, you fear missing the flight, so you quickly regain composure and decide to let go of some things.
Hurriedly and half-heartedly, you partially open the suitcase, anxiously scanning the contents and figuring out what to discard. Alas, how painful that decision is! Everything in your suitcase is valuable—purchased with your hard-earned money or gifted by loved ones. How can you let go of anything, and that too for nothing? Frantically sifting through your belongings, you finally make up your mind and reluctantly dump some clothes and packed food into the dustbin, momentarily feeling as if part of your life itself were being thrown away.
As if all this weren’t enough, when you try to close your partially opened suitcase, the zipper refuses to budge. Impatient, you force it in the right direction, but the harder you pull, the tighter it jams. You try to move it in the reverse direction, but that fails too. After repeated desperate attempts, venting your frustration, you give it one final yank—and instead of completing the trip, the zip pops off in your hands! Now you have a serious problem: a suitcase without a zip and not enough time to catch the flight.
A SPIRITUAL PARALLEL
Our journey from the material to the spiritual has an uncanny resemblance to this story. Embarking on the spiritual journey is like taking off into the sky, free from the encumbrances of earthly rules. The suitcase of our heart accompanies us, but there’s a price to pay: we must shed excess baggage. In other words, the heart must be uncluttered and freed from burdensome desires.
As a sincere sadhaka, you realize that certain previous habits and undesirable associations hinder your spiritual progress, and you resolve to let go of that baggage. The mind fiercely resists your decision, while the intellect offers only a mild defense. Determined as you may be, standing by that decision is not easy. Amid the tug-of-war, you must make a choice—here and now.
But resolving to let go is only the first step. What remains is to zip up the suitcase carefully to secure the remaining contents that are truly needed for the journey. Again, that’s easier said than done. The zipper may not always close smoothly as expected. It demands conscious attention, determination, and—most importantly—patience.
Like the traveler struggling with the stuck zipper that moves neither forward nor backward, a practicing sadhaka often wrestles with a mind distracted by lingering cravings and doubts. Understanding the futility of material indulgence, the sadhaka cannot return to delight in worldly pleasures. Yet unable to move forward, being held back by a resistant and uncooperative mind, one may wonder:
“Why am I not there yet?”
”Will I ever make it?”
”Have I renounced the world only to be stranded in a no-man’s land?”
Such apprehensions are neither unfamiliar nor unexpected. Arjuna himself voiced a similar fear in the Bhagavad-gita (6.38): “O mighty-armed Krishna, does not such a man, who is bewildered from the path of transcendence, fall away from both spiritual and material success and perish like a riven cloud, with no position in any sphere?”
We will now dwell on this challenging intermediate phase that every sadhaka must endure in pursuit of the truth—a phase acknowledged by Lord Krishna Himself in the pages of Srimad-Bhagavatam.
KRISHNA’S GENTLEASSURANCE
Despite externally withdrawing from unconducive habits and social circles, past mental patterns and impressions may return to disrupt our spiritual practices. A sadhaka who feels despondent due to such repeated disruptions and failures can find great solace in Lord Krishna’s words in the Uddhava-gita (Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.20.27–28). Therein Krishna describes the position of a sincere practitioner who, through setbacks and struggles, remains faithful to the spiritual path:
jata-sraddho mat-kathasu
nirvinnah sarva-karmasu
veda duhkhatmakan kaman
parityage ’py anisvarah
tato bhajeta mam pritah
sraddhalur dròha-niscayah
jusamanas ca tan kaman
duhkhodarkams ca garhayan
“Having awakened faith in the narrations of My glories and becoming disgusted with all material activities, one understands that sense gratification leads only to misery, yet he may still be unable to give it up completely. Even so, such a devotee should remain cheerful and worship Me with faith and firm conviction. Even if he sometimes engages in sense enjoyment, he knows its miserable result and sincerely repents.”
This profound teaching reveals that Krishna is more concerned with our sincerity and continued dedication to the process of devotional service than with our slips and setbacks. What matters most is not perfection but consistency in practice despite obstacles. Such enduring commitment arises from sincere repentance, cheerfulness, unwavering faith, and determination.
Completing our analogy, just as the traveler yanks the zipper off in impatience, a practicing sadhaka may attempt to force the mind into obedience in the drive toward spiritual perfection, only to hurt rather than help oneself. Like a motorist heading north who may first need to drive south, the sadhaka should not mistake temporary detours for failure but should pause, reflect, and patiently disentangle the zipper of the mind, avoiding both impatience and hopelessness.
As Lord Krishna assures us in the Bhagavad-gita (6.35): “O mighty-armed son of Kunti, it is undoubtedly very difficult to curb the restless mind, but it is possible by suitable practice and by detachment.” The “detachment” Krishna refers to here may include the willingness to accept reversals and bounce back with sincere repentance (garhayan), determination (drdha-niscayah), and cheerfulness (pritah), as described in Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.20.28. Let us now reflect on these three important qualities of a sadhaka.
SINCERE REPENTANCE AND VIGILANCE
Sincere repentance must be heartfelt—not a convenient excuse for continued indulgence. The story of Ajamila in Srimad-Bhagavatam illustrates this truth with striking clarity.
Once a dutiful and learned brahmana, Ajamila fell from grace after an impulsive encounter with a prostitute that gradually implicated him in a life of sin and abandoned dharma. Yet in his final moments he helplessly uttered the name “Narayana,” unintentionally invoking the Supreme Lord while calling his son. Responding to this call, the Visnudutas intervened, rescuing him from the Yamadutas’ fierce grip.
More importantly, Ajamila realized the gravity of his misdeeds and deeply repented. As described in Srimad-Bhagavatam (6.2.26–35), his remorse was neither superficial nor circumstantial. Granted a second chance, he immediately detached himself from the material conception of life and fully engaged in devotional service, attaining perfection in that very life.
Srila Prabhupada poignantly remarks (SB 6.2.27): “Not only should one give up his past bad habits, but he must always regret his past sinful acts. This is the standard of pure devotion.” He further clarifies (SB 6.2.34): “Those engaged in broadcasting the holy name of Narayana, Krishna, through the Krishna consciousness movement should always consider what our position was before we came and what it is now.” In a single stroke, Srila Prabhupada highlights the shared importance of repentance and vigilance in our spiritual lives—two qualities that must walk hand in hand on our spiritual journey.
THE STANDARD OF DETERMINATION
Heartfelt repentance naturally ignites the determination to break free from old patterns and recommit oneself with enthusiasm. Krishna indicates this quality with the words sraddhalur drdha-niscayah (“with great faith and firm conviction”) in Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.20.28.
The story of Ajamila does not end with repentance but culminates in his determined resolve to free himself from illusion and engage in uninterrupted devotional service. In SB 6.2.34 the awakened Ajamila declares that he will no longer be victimized by the illusory energy.
Srila Prabhupada comments: “This should be the standard of determination for all Krishna conscious persons. A Krishna conscious person should free himself from the clutches of maya, and he should also be compassionate to all others suffering in those clutches.”
FROM FIX-IT TO ADMIT-IT
Determination must be accompanied by an honest recognition of our limited control. Modern culture trains us to fix, hack, and solve problems. Like force-fitting the zipper in the suitcase analogy, this “fix-it” mindset often spills into spiritual life, trapping us in the idea that spiritual advancement is the automatic outcome of disciplined practice.
While discipline is certainly essential, devotional service is not a mechanical process but a path of grace. Realizing that personal effort alone cannot fix our problems, a sincere devotee honestly acknowledges his imperfections and wholeheartedly seeks the Lord’s shelter. Such a devotee becomes spiritually perfect—even while still imperfect—because the Lord personally takes charge of a surrendered soul.
As Lord Krishna promises in the Bhagavad-gita (9.22): “But those who always worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form—to them I carry what they lack and preserve what they have.”
Krishna’s statement in Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.20.28 that His devotee remains happy amid struggle may sound paradoxical. Yet it invites a profound shift in perspective: joy on the spiritual path does not come from proving ourselves but from trusting Krishna’s plan for our growth.
Such a plan inevitably includes obstacles and challenges necessary for inner purification. A sadhaka cannot choose these obstacles but must learn to navigate—and even embrace—them as they arise.
THE PROMISE OF TRIUMPH
The Upanisads compare the spiritual path to walking on a razor’s edge, requiring delicate steps and constant alertness. Along the way, the zipper of the mind will resist, negotiate, and sometimes drag us backward. But by simply staying on the path and patiently persuading the mind to cooperate, one can eventually win the inner battle.
This is Lord Krishna’s promise: “When an intelligent person constantly engages in worshiping Me through loving devotional service as described by Me, his heart becomes firmly fixed in Me. Thus all material desires are destroyed, the knot in the heart is pierced, all misgivings are cut to pieces, and the chain of fruitive actions is terminated when I am seen as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.20.29–30)
While the struggles on our spiritual journey may be unique, we are certainly not alone in facing them. Lord Krishna’s acknowledgement, guidance, and reassurance—flowing through His saintly devotees—serve as the comforting hand of a compassionate father gently guiding His faltering child through the trials of spiritual life.
Even if we stumble, as long as we hold on to His hand, He will never let go of ours.
Dinabandhu Caitanya Dasa, a disciple of His Holiness Radhanath Swami, is currently a faculty at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, where he resides with his family. He is actively involved in Krishna conscious outreach programs catering to youth and congregation along with Spandana, which is a social outreach initiative of ISKCON South Bengaluru.
Cakrapani Krishna Dasa, a disciple of His Holiness Radhanath Swami, is currently a machine learning engineer at OnebyZero in Bengaluru, where he resides with his family. He serves as a coordinator for the ISKCON Nagarabhavi outreach center in Bengaluru and conducts regular programs in Kannada within the neighborhood.
The authors are grateful to Vraja Vihari Dasa of ISKCON Chowpatty, whose talks on going deeper and cultivating introspection in bhakti inspired and encouraged them to write this article.