How to Find Peace of Mind When Life Gets Overwhelming: Vedic Psychology Meets Modern Stress Science?

Rediscovering Balance: A Vedic Psychology Guide to Inner Peace

Written by: Kaustubh Kumbharkar

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Rediscovering Balance
2. What Is the Vedic Psychology Explanation of Stress?
3. Why Does the Mind Create Stress and Overthinking?
4. How Can I Have Peace of Mind When Outcomes Are Uncertain?
5. Is Surrender in the Gita a Form of Psychological Strength?
6. What Does the Bhagavad Gita Teach About True Identity and Inner Peace?
7. How Can Work Become Worship? How Does Bhakti Heal the Mind?
8. How Can I Practically Apply These Teachings in Daily Life?
9. Final Words: Return to the Inner Temple

1. Introduction: Rediscovering Balance

In a world where deadlines scream louder than silence and even rest feels like a task, stress has become our silent companion. I've lived through those moments — when the mind spins and the heart sinks under invisible burdens.

In such times, I turn to the eternal dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. Not just as scripture, but as a map of the mind. The Gita doesn't just tell us to be peaceful — it shows why we lose peace, and how to return to it.

The solution lies in a profound shift: from ego to Self, from reaction to witnessing, from control to trust.

Let us explore, step-by-step.

2. What Is the Vedic Psychology Explanation of Stress?

In Vedic psychology, stress is not caused by the world — it arises when the ego (Ahamkara) forgets its source: the Self (Atman).

"Whenever the mind wanders, bring it gently back under the control of the Self."
— Bhagavad Gita 6.26

Modern neuroscience agrees. When the Default Mode Network — associated with self-referential thinking — overactivates, it correlates with anxiety, rumination, and emotional unrest.

Thus, the mind itself becomes the battlefield. And unless guided inward, it will keep reacting outward.

3. Why Does the Mind Create Stress and Overthinking?

The Gita offers a precise model in 2.62–63:

"Dhyayato vishayan pumsah sangas teshu upajayate..."

Stress Chain Reaction:

1. Contemplation (Dhyāna) → overexposure to sensory input
2. Attachment (Sanga) → emotional investment
3. Desire (Kāma) → craving for outcomes
4. Anger (Krodha) → when desires are obstructed
5. Delusion (Moha) → identity confusion
6. Loss of Memory (Smriti Bhramsa) → forgetting higher Self
7. Fall of Buddhi → wisdom collapses, stress peaks

Modern Parallels:

• Rumination
• Dopamine loops (FOMO)
• Social comparison
• Cognitive distortions (all-or-nothing thinking)

Solution begins not with suppression, but with selective attention — what you expose your senses to, you become.

4. How Can I Have Peace of Mind When Outcomes Are Uncertain?

"You have a right to perform your duty, but not to the fruits thereof."
— Bhagavad Gita 2.47

Modern Translation: Outcome obsession creates performance anxiety.

CBT teaches us that releasing control over outcomes and returning to effort, intention, and values reduces stress.

When the ego seeks results, it suffers. But when the Self rests in dharma, it flows.

Practice:

Start your day with the sankalpa —

"May I act with love and integrity. May I release the result."

5. Is Surrender in the Gita a Form of Psychological Strength?

"Surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all reactions. Do not fear."
— Bhagavad Gita 18.66

Surrender is not defeat. It's divine trust. In modern therapy, surrender resembles letting go of control, reducing over-identification with pain.

Neuroscience shows that surrender increases oxytocin and reduces cortisol — we feel supported.

Personal Reflection:

I once prayed not for answers, but for clarity. The problem remained, but the panic dissolved.

6. What Does the Bhagavad Gita Teach About True Identity and Inner Peace?

"Just as childhood, youth, and old age happen to the body, so also does death. The soul is unchanged."
— Bhagavad Gita 2.13

You are not your job, body, or bank balance. You are the eternal witness — Sākṣī.

Modern psychology calls this "decentering" or "observing ego" — creating distance from roles and thoughts.

Practice:

Begin a journal with this line:

"I am not the body. I am not the mind. I am the witnessing Self."

Let this become your daily grounding.

7. How Can Work Become Worship? How Does Bhakti Heal the Mind?

"Whatever you do... do it as an offering unto Me."
— Bhagavad Gita 9.27

Devotion (Bhakti) removes the ego's burden. Work becomes sacred when we offer it, not perform it for applause.

Modern parallel: Purpose-driven action boosts mental health. Even therapists recommend meaning-making in depression therapy.

Practice:

Before any task, pause and say:

"May this serve a higher purpose. I offer this to You."

8. How Can I Practically Apply These Teachings in Daily Life?

• Regulate sensory input. Guard what you see, hear, consume.
• Journal daily — separate thoughts from the thinker.
• Use sankalpas and affirmations rooted in scripture.
• Reflect on Gita verses. Let them soak into your mind.
• Seek Satsanga — nourishing company, online or offline.

You don't need to fix everything. You only need to anchor yourself in awareness.

9. Final Words: Return to the Inner Temple

You are not broken. You are the Self, temporarily veiled. As Krishna whispers:

"You are not alone. You were never meant to carry it all. Trust Me. Walk with Me."

Let your inner journey begin — not through suppression, not through struggle — but through remembrance.

🕊️ Let the chaos pass. Let the clarity rise.

Labels:

Inner Peace Vedic Psychology Overthinking Stress Bhagavad Gita Consciousness