Earlier, I showed a video, from Swami Swaroopananda, who was expounding five verses from the Bhagavad Gita which captured some key concepts. The first of these, is chapter six, verse 5 (BG:6.5) Chapter six of the Bhagavad Gita is focused on Dhyana-Yoga, or meditation. So, lets break down verse five, and see what this is about. The verse states, in Sanskrit. उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः Let's break it down word by word.. उद्धरेत् (uddharet) — should uplift, should raise आत्मना (ātmanā) — (instrumental singular form) by oneself, with the self आत्मानम् (ātmānam) — (accusative) oneself, the self न (na): not आत्मानम् (ātmānam): (accusative) oneself अवसादयेत् (avasādayet): should degrade, should let fall, should weaken आत्मा (ātmā): the self एव (eva): truly, indeed हि (hi): certainly, only, alone (to emphasize an idea) आत्मनः (ātmanah): (ablative singular form) of oneself बन्धुः (bandhuḥ): friend आत्मा (ātmā): the self एव (eva): alone, indeed रिपुः (ripuḥ): enemy आत्मनः (ātmanah): (ablative singular form) of oneself To get a distinct feel of what is intended here, we need to define what is meant by atma. Atma (ātmā) can be the soul, the Self, or the mind. Perhaps Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras best describes best the central point of the yoga system: Yogaś-citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ Or in english.. Yogaḥ (yogaś): union; discipline; the practice of yoga citta: mind; consciousness; awareness vṛtti: fluctuations; modifications; mental activities nirodhaḥ: cessation; restraint; control The practice of yoga is cessation of mind fluctuations. So here, Atma, is referring to mind. Atma is also a masculine nominative, however, because the Atma is one with Brahman (ultimate reality), it is not restricted to gender categories. Jiva, however, takes on temporary gender roles through karma, but I digress... For the purpose of this translation, Atam will refer to self. So, this could read as follows: Oneself should lift oneself. not degrade oneself. Oneself alone is the friend of oneself, and this Self is the enemy of oneself. The verse tells us that we should not degrade oneself by letting the mind be attracted to sense objects. The more one is attracted by sense objects, the more one becomes entangled in Maya. The material word holds many distractions from the mind. Bills to pay, family, houses, etc all contribute to the mind telling itself that the more material things we have, then the more "real" is our existence. So we must turn our mind into our friend, however, we do not solve a problem with the same thinking which created it. We must turn our minds away from thoughts, and ways of boosting the ego. As chapter six is focused on meditation, we do this with meditation. This is not the meditation of clearing the mind. (Yes, those bills need to be paid, and yes, you must complete your tasks according to dharma). The suggested meditation is about filling your mind with Krishna, or God. Here, I believe, the Sri Chaitanya Caritamrta describes how best to do this. kali-kāle nāma-rūpe kṛṣṇa-avatāra nāma haite haya sarva-jagat-nistāra kali: Kali yuga kāle: in time, age nāma: name rūpe: form, appearance kṛṣṇa: Krishna avatāra: incarnation nāma: name haite: from haya: becomes sarva: all jagat: world; nistāra: deliverance. In the Age of Kali, the name of Krishna, is the form of Krishna's incarnation. The name becomes deliverance from all the world. Simply by chanting the holy names, one associates directly with Krishna. Anyone who does this is certainly delivered. In Chapter 12, Krishna says those who fix their mind on Him with devotion quickly find peace. The restless mind needs an object. And this is the power Bhakti has over the mind and Maya. When focused on the Holy Names, oneself fills the mind with the Divine.