Question: Why is the mind destructive?

Sri Chinmoy: When God created the mind, the heart, the body and the vital, He did not want the mind to go its own way. He wanted and expected the mind to be part and parcel of His divine manifestation. He gave limited freedom to the mind, the heart, the body and the vital, but this freedom the body, vital and mind misused. When we are given limited freedom it is up to us to see how we can use it to get more opportunity to go further and deeper. If we choose, instead, to use it for a bad purpose, that is not the fault of the one who gave us this freedom.

Suppose you give me a dollar. With this limited freedom in the form of a dollar, I can take a bus to church to pray and meditate, or I can go to a bar and drink. The choice is up to me. When God gave the mind this limited freedom of choice, He wanted to see how the mind would actually use its freedom. When the heart got limited freedom, it immediately felt the necessity to identify itself with the Highest, to establish a connection with the Highest, to expand, expand, expand. But the mind did not do this. The mind could have used its freedom for a dynamic purpose: to build the Palace of Divinity on earth. That is what God wanted. But unfortunately, when ignorance knocked at the door of the mind, the mind opened its door and, instead of building a palace, the mind then started breaking and destroying.