Mental Confusion

Question: If I discover confusion in my mind, and obstacles in the path of my functioning, what can I do with this situation? Desikachar: I understood confusion as a situation where opposite and conflicting views, both appear to be right. Each pulls me in a different direction. These are different levels of confusion. For instance, you ask me a question, and I might be confused about what answer to give, but of course, I have no confusion at all about the necessity of answering your question. There are little confusions, and big ones. We learn to live with the small confusions like losing your way on the road. It’s even relaxing sometimes; that is, if we don’t forget where we have to go! But there are some big confusions in the mind, for which we need help. Otherwise, the intellect tends to feed the confusion further. Thoughts that come out of this confusion are likely to be confusing too. “Confusion is like fire,” they say in India, “you pour ghee into it, and it burns even more!” So, to my mind, the only solution is to have the good fortune to meet a good teacher. The Bhagavad Gita says, “The person who is confused is already destroyed.” He is not dead, he is destroyed. That is certain. Such a person is not happy, he would not make others happy, he is not happy today, and he will not be happy tomorrow. That is why mental confusion is considered as one of the obstacles. I do not see any solution for this other than a good teacher. One cannot solve one’s own confusion. Faith is the only solution. It is very difficult to be peaceful when there is confusion. | Source: Sri TKV Desikachar, In Search Of Mind