Why is it important to train the mind to perform spiritual practices?

Generally speaking, one gets easily drawn to sense objects, as one becomes a victim of instincts. Instincts readily seek sense objects. Instincts come along with the body and do not require any training, just as an infant seeks milk from the mother's breast and the new born calf nestles at the udder. But for the infant to walk and talk, training is necessary. They are not automatic; these skills are acquired by example and imitation of others. So also, training is essential for the proper pursuit of sense pleasure, for it is the wild, untrained search for such pleasure that promotes anger, hatred, envy, malice and conceit. To train them along salutary lines and to hold them under control, certain good disciplines such asjapa (repetition of God’s Name), dhyana (meditation) andupavasa (fasting) are esse ntial.