He who is no longer affected by the three forms of suffering here on earth (those arising from the body and mind, those caused by other living entities, and those originating in the material nature, under the impulse of the beings of the higher planets, who govern the various functions of the material nature), who is no longer intoxicated by the joys of life, and who is free from attachment, fear, and anger, is considered to be a wise man with a firm mind.
He who, free from all bonds, does not rejoice in happiness any more than he grieves in unhappiness, he is firmly established in absolute knowledge.
He who, like a turtle that retracts its limbs into its shell, can detach the senses from their objects, that one possesses true knowledge.
Even away from material pleasures, the incarnate soul may still feel some desire for them. But let it taste a higher joy, and it will lose that desire, and remain in spiritual consciousness.
Strong and impetuous are the senses. They delight even the mind of the man of wisdom, who wants to master them.
He who restrains his senses and absorbs himself in Me proves a sure intelligence.
Contemplating the objects of the senses, man becomes attached; hence covetousness arises, and from covetousness, anger.
Anger calls forth delusion, and delusion leads to the misguidance of memory. When memory goes astray, intelligence is lost, and man falls back into the ocean of material existence.
Whoever masters his senses by observing the regulative principles of freedom, receives His full mercy from the Lord, and is thus freed from all attachment as well as aversion.
The three forms of material suffering no longer exist for him whom the Lord has thus touched with His unmitigated mercy. His intelligence becomes serene and soon becomes firm.
If a person is unaware of his spiritual identity, he can neither control his mind nor strengthen his intelligence; how, then, can he experience serenity?
And how, without it, could he taste happiness?
Just as a strong wind sweeps a boat across the water, it is enough for one of the senses to drag the mind away for the mind to be swept away.
Therefore, he who turns his senses away from their objects possesses a sure intelligence.