Recorded at the Vedanta Society of Western Washington on April 6, 2014.

In this talk, Swami Bhaskarananda examines the question, “Who controls the mind?” by first inviting listeners to inquire into their true identity. Drawing on the Vedantic teaching “Know yourself,” he distinguishes the Self from the body, senses, mind, and ego, using the analogy of the owner and the owned to show that we cannot be what we possess. The mind, he explains, is an inner instrument with multiple functions—thinking, determining, remembering, and forming the sense of “I”—yet it remains an object known and therefore cannot be the ultimate knower. Through references to the Upanishads and the life of the Buddha, he explores the nature of suffering, the role of desire, and the limitations of identifying with the ego.

Swami Bhaskarananda clarifies that the mind is subtle matter, capable of functioning only when illumined by consciousness. That consciousness, according to Vedanta, is not a property of the mind but a manifestation of Brahman, the transcendental reality beyond time and space. Just as a chariot requires a charioteer and horses require guidance, the mind and senses operate only because consciousness makes their activity possible. Thus, the true controller of the mind is not the ego but the underlying divine consciousness, the source of awareness itself.