How can we sustain our resolutions in spiritual life?

Anwser Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, often our resolutions don’t last for long. So, what can we practically do to make sure that the zeal to implement the resolution stays on? So, first thing I have found is that never take any lifelong resolution.
It doesn’t stay even for a few days long after this. Because the idea of a lifelong thing, it just becomes such a big thing that you just can’t maintain that. Maintain that forever.
So, usually, it’s like some medium term resolutions. Maybe, okay, I’ll study Shastra every day for one hour. If I decide that.
Now, one hour seems doable. And for one month also seems doable. One hour throughout my life I’ll study Shastra.
You know, we don’t even know what all will happen in our life. So, if, what happens is, with respect to the mind, if something has to be done for a finite period, then, okay, it seems like austerity is manageable. Say, if we are told, okay, fast for one day, it’s okay.
Fast lifelong, it’s impossible. It’s physically also impossible. But, just the idea of doing something lifelong, at least I have found with respect to myself, the mind has this sort of innate revulsion to the idea.
It just revolts against the idea. Anything you have to do to give up lifelong, hey, no. But if just, okay, one month, two months, whatever, one month, if you just decide, then what happens? The mind doesn’t agitate so much.
Then, the key thing is, usually, if you make a month-long resolution, it’s possible to implement it. But at the end of the month, you have to be really careful. Because what happens, the mind says, now, I did this discipline, now, with interest, I want to enjoy.
So then, at that time, the whole work can get undone. But if at the end of the month, instead of going into sort of illusion that I’ve achieved something, instead of that, we have some reflection. Okay, I made this resolution.
And, okay, I had to do certain things. We become a little reflective. Did this really help me? Or if it helped me, what are the practical ways in which it helped me? So what happens? At the end of a month of a resolution, even if it is not fully successful, some days we are not able to do it, some days we are able to, whatever it is, then if we reflect, and then we note down tangibly, okay, by doing this, okay, I decided to read one hour every day for a month, and yes, see, I’ve completed, almost completed one canto.
I really was able to do something tangible. Then we write it down. Then what happens? Initially, there might have been some source of the inspiration to enact the resolution.
But now, we have some tangible result to reinforce the resolution. See, the fuel that got us started in the resolution, that fuel may not last throughout. So along, just like a flight which is going, say, from India to America, it may not have enough fuel directly to go from India to America.
So it may have to stop for, it may have to land somewhere to refuel itself. So like that, it is almost natural that whatever fuels our resolution initially, that same thing may not fuel our resolution after some time. So we have to find out some other things that may fuel the resolution.
For example, we may hear some class, and, you know, some senior devotee or a spiritual master, they may say, you know, we should study Shastra, and they speak very much about Bhagavatam. We feel inspired. But what happens? After one month, we may, the same class we hear again, we will not find it that inspiring.
That is just the way the mind is. So we have to, if we expect the same fuel to fuel our resolution all the time, it is not going to work. That is why if after enacting a resolution for some time, after implementing a resolution for some time, we get some tangible results, and we quantify or note down those results, then that can also fuel our resolution.
Actually, I did this, and it benefited me so much. These were the benefits I got. And then we use that practical benefit that we got from the resolution as a further fuel.
So that way, you know, say, if we study Shastra very nicely for one month, and then we are preaching somewhere, and somebody asks a question. And yes, we remember, I read this, and we were able to give a very good answer. Then we can even note down that incident.
Now see, because I studied like this, it was not necessarily that in my study I got that answer automatically, but just the fact that I was studying kept me intellectually alert. And when the opportunity for preaching came, the answer just popped up in my mind. It was a good answer.
It was a proper answer. So, you know, we have to find out, as we are going along the journey, what will fuel our resolution onwards. And sometimes we may also have to refine our resolution.
Modify, amend our resolution a little bit. It is not that the same resolution, sometimes we may find that, okay, one hour I will study Bhagavatam everyday. But then I find, okay, Bhagavatam is good, but maybe to understand the Bhagavatam, I also want to hear some lectures.
Then my understanding becomes deeper. Then I may decide, okay, half hour I will study Bhagavatam, half hour I will hear some lecture on the topic on which I have studied in the Bhagavatam, whatever. So that way, based on how, based on what actually inspires us, what actually benefits us, what helps us to grow in our spiritual life, we may have to amend or refine our resolutions.
And then when, so we can get some, usually our resolution comes from some external impetus. And external impetus is good. Somebody speaks something, we see something, we hear something.
We may hear some class, you know, some devotee we think is our equal. But then that devotee goes, a very learned class. We think, I have studied Bhagavatam so much, I have not studied anything.
The initial impetus may come from anywhere. But the external impetuses are not only sustainable. We have to get some internal impetus.
And internal impetus doesn’t just mean a feeling. Yes, I want to do this. But feelings, they come and go.
Earlier I was talking about spikes of lust, how the lust sometimes goes up and then comes down. Actually, even the inspiration to increase the intensity of our bhakti, that also comes like a spike sometimes and goes down. So the spikes when they come, those positive spikes, we are fortunate when they come.
And we should cherish them. But again, they will not sustain. So we have to have some internal intellectual impetus.
Krishna concludes the section on lust by saying, with your intelligence, situate yourself on the spiritual platform. With your intelligence. Yuga Swami said in Sandarbha’s time, when we are pure devotees, at that time, priti keeps us on the spiritual level.
But till we come to the pure stage, in the sadhaka stage, it is buddhi that keeps us on the spiritual level. It is by buddhi we keep ourselves on the spiritual level. So we need to, for sustaining our resolutions, create some internal intellectual impetus.
So that means if we make a resolution, okay, why is this important for me? How is it benefiting me? And how has it benefited me? We note it down, put it down, maybe in a journal or in a diary somewhere. And then whenever our resolution, whenever our resolve starts going down, at that time, we look at that. And by looking at that, we get the inspiration of, yes, I should do this.
So that’s one practical way in which we can do it. Of course, there are things like we can pray to Krishna, we can maybe seek the blessings of some senior Vaishnavas that started this resolution. That can also help.
Another practical thing which we can do is to have an accountability partner. An accountability partner is actually a term that is used in de-addiction courses. When a person is addicted to something and they want to give up that addiction, they say that you have to have some person to whom you are accountable.
It need not be a senior spiritual authority. It can just be a friend also. When we talk about accountability, it doesn’t mean necessarily that it doesn’t have to be, we have to bear our whole heart to them.
Just about whatever we have, one thing we are doing. So, for example, if you decide to study Shastra, if you decide I am going to memorize one verse every day or maybe one verse in three days or one verse a week, whatever. Then, if you have some other friend who also wants to do something similar, at least with them we can share.
That person memorizing one verse, we memorize one verse. Or even if they are not doing it, still, you know, okay, now we just tell them, if we have a close friend, we request them that I decided that every day I am going to study Shastra for an hour, in a week I am going to study for seven days. Now, if you could just ask me once at the end of a week, how did you study? How did things go on? Then that itself can help.
If two devotees can come together and make a resolution, if we both study Shastra for an hour, that’s wonderful. But you have to see whether it works out or not. Because there are so many practical situations, it may not work out.
But having a partner to whom we can be accountable a little bit. Now, if we have authority and if we can have authority, that is good. If we have a counselor or a mentor or whatever.
Even if it is a friend also, that can help. Now, just what happens by having this accountability partner is that we use our ego in devotional service. We dovetail our ego, wants to portray that I am a good person.
I am not a bad person. And it is not a bad thing. So, if I told you I will do it, I will do it.
So, that way also that is something which is quite empowering. And because we come from a Rajasic culture, we also still have some Rajoguna. Often, setting some targets or deadlines also helps.
There is a resolution about what I will do or what I will not do. But if you can quantify that. Let me say, if I am going to study Shastra one hour every day.
So, what happens is that is a resolution which may not translate into tangible results. In terms of, I study one Shastra one hour every day. But if you can roughly quantify, my pace is that I can read one page in three minutes or one page in five minutes, whatever.
You decide that. Then if I read one page in three minutes, that means in 60 minutes I can read 20 pages. So, if I read one hour every day, that means in a month, I will be practically reading 600 pages.
20 pages every day if I read. Now, I am just giving a hypothetical thing. Somebody may take 10 minutes to read one page.
Our pace is our pace. But if we translate that 600 pages means practically one and a half canto I will be able to read. So, that sort of quantifiable target gives us inspiration.
Then I say, okay, that means if I just stick to this resolution, I will be able to do this, this, this. So, that way also setting some targets, setting some deadlines, quantifying things helps us to inspire ourselves. Because even if we do rely a lot on our senses in the gross world.
That means if we see something which is visibly, tangibly achieved, that helps us a lot. So, you know, refueling our resolution periodically by developing some internal intellectual impetus and having some accountability partner and creating some tangible goals to accompany the resolution. All that helps in practically implementing the resolution.
And of course, if we start doing these things, you know, we will see the dhamma-buddhi-yogam tam. Krishna will give us the intuition. Maybe I can do this to reinforce the resolution.
Maybe I can do this to reinforce the resolution. To implement it. That Krishna will give us the intuition of how we can improve things.
Does it answer your question? Yes.