Don’t hear the mind’s story – hear Krishna’s story
They are always very kind. Hare Krishna.
So thank all of you for coming to the evening. I know we are supposedly late. So today I will speak on the topic of, as I mentioned, stories.
Now, since childhood, we have heard stories. Parents, grandparents, they entertain children by telling stories. Movies, novels, they are essentially stories.
And they are sources of mass entertainment. Even our scriptures are filled with stories. And stories are a time-honoured way of both entertainment as well as education.
Education. Now, why a lot of attention is paid on, say, parents are there and their children are reading some stories. What kind of stories do they read? Is this too much violence? Is this too much sensuality? Children know that.
That is what makes sure the stories are good. They are uplifting. When people go for watching movies, now there are usually some agency who give some rating what kind of movie it is.
And then people can decide whether I want to watch this movie or not. So whenever stories are there, at one level, stories are entertaining. But all stories are not going to have the same effectiveness.
And there has to be some discernment, some careful selection to know which stories to expose once and for all. Now we do all these. Some of us, they say, oh, some people are very good storytellers.
Now they just, when they start telling a story, not only can they tell a story very entertaining, even an ordinary incident from a life they can make into a story. And they can tell it. Now sometimes we think, oh, these people have a storytelling knack.
And it is definitely a good quality to have. Someone has it. At the same time, it is not true that only some people are storytellers.
All of us are storytellers. And actually, we talk about external stories which are told by one person to another. But battling that and more consequential than that are the stories that we tell ourselves.
And the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves. What do I mean? Stories we tell ourselves about ourselves. Actually, any incident that happens, we, the human mind, never sees any incident in isolation.
For example, if we are carrying a bag somewhere and we suddenly stumble and fall and the whole bag spills open, different people will react differently. Some people will say, oh, we'll just be surprised or be concerned. We'll pick up and put the things in the bag and move on.
Some people say, oh, I'm such a clumsy idiot. Some people may start looking, you know, who pushed me? Actually, no one pushed them. But they're looking, who pushed me? So basically, in these cases, what has happened, the incident is one thing.
But the mind interprets the incident in a particular way. So from the incident, in the second case, the incident was okay, the bag slipped and fell. But from that, the mind makes a story, I'm a clumsy idiot.
Now the story is like that. We tell stories about others also. Whenever we see somebody doing something, we pass a comment.
This person is like this. So that person is like that. Say, this kind of, by story, what I mean is that we spin an entire narrative around something in which a particular character gets a particular character.
Character gets a characteristic. So character gets a character in that sense. So for example, this can work in a way where there's negative attribution.
So if somebody about whom I don't have a very good opinion, I see that person eating a lot. Damn, such a glutton! If there's somebody whom I like, and they're eating a lot, must have been hungry. What's wrong? If somebody I don't like is sleeping a lot, sleeping for hours, such a lazy bum.
And somebody we like, must be very tired. And sometimes the ego works in a way that when there's an action, there's an attribution from that action. What does the action mean? So we may, when we are attributing to ourselves, we may attribute it to a very general thing.
A, if I overate, oh, I was so hungry. If I overslept, I was so tired. So basically, events are not seen by the mind in isolation.
The event happens in isolation, but the mind interprets it in a context. And often that context is not the real context of the event. It is the context which is fabricated by our mind.
So some person just neglects us and walks away. Such a rude person. It could be that the person is rude, or it could also be that the person is in an emergency and they are searching for him.
So we see an event and based on our own conceptions, our own predictions, we spin a narrative and then we assign a particular characteristic or a character to that situation, to that person. And this is often something that takes us away from reality. At the start of the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna's mind also spun a story like this.
He came on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, fully prepared to fight what was the biggest war of his life. In India, cricket is very popular. Suppose there is a cricketer who has been playing since his childhood and then dreaming now, I want to be one day in the World Cup final.
And this person is the key batsman of the country. And finally the World Cup final is there. At that time, just when the match is about to start, that is the kind of situation that is there in the start of the Bhagavad Gita.
Thousands and thousands of spectators are assembled. The toss has been done. The batsmen have come into bat.
The players, the fielders are in position. The baller has already gone into the run-up to start balling. And at that time, the batsman suddenly walks away from the wicket, goes in the middle and calls the non-striker.
And the two start talking. And they keep talking. And they keep talking.
And they just keep talking. Everybody will be like, what is going on? Come on, play a match. So, this setting gives us some idea of how dramatic what happened in the Bhagavad Gita.
You know, it's much… A war is far, far more consequential than a World Cup final match. Although some people may think that a World Cup final is more consequential. It depends on people's ideas.
But a war is far, far more consequential. And there, the conches have been blown, which indicates the war is about to start. And the warriors are about to take up their weapons, out to start fighting.
So, Arjuna has also raised his bow. And he's about to fight. But at that time, he looks to the opposite side.
And then, he tells Krishna, please take my chariot in between. And he takes the chariot in between. He says, He says, 1.25 in the Bhagavad Gita, it is stated that Krishna took the chariot in the middle.
And there, prominently on the opposite side, he saw the various warriors, but among them, Bhishma, Drona, Brahmukta. He saw primarily Bhishma and Drona. And then, he also saw the warriors.
All great kings. And Krishna pointed out to him, See, this is what he wanted to see. See all the Kurus assembled.
Now, the question comes over here. Actually, it is not that, suppose there is a cricket match, and then, till the last moment, a team is not announced. Then, the next morning, when the match is about to start, they say, okay, out of the 14 selected, who are the playing pillars? They want to see who is there, who is not.
But there was no uncertainty like that in the Kurukshetra war. They already knew who were the warriors on which side. So, there was nothing specific for Arjuna to see.
All the warriors were known. At least the big names were known. And the small names did not matter so much that the whole war had to stop for him to see them.
So, in fact, the previous night, on both sides, there had been an assessment done. Who are the major warriors? How to counter them? So, Arjuna himself had spoken elaborately about the strengths and weaknesses of the various warriors in the Kuru side. So, there was no element of necessity in Arjuna's seeing.
It was not that Arjuna had to gain some knowledge by seeing. But somehow, he saw. And as soon as he saw, initially, his attitude was, Dhartarastra, Siddhura, Buddha.
He says, who are the people who have decided to side with this evil minded son of Dhritarashtra? I want to know that. That was his, you know, these are fighting on the enemy side. But as soon as he saw them, his whole attitude was, Dhristva, Swajanam, Krishna, Swajanam.
Swajanam is our own people. So, first he was thinking of them as, oh, they have joined the evil minded. He was careful.
He didn't label all of them as evil. He says, they have joined the evil minded side. Evil minded son of Dhritarashtra, Arjuna.
But now, his focus shifts and starts thinking, they are Swajanam, they are my own people. How can I fight with them? And thinking like this, he loses his norm. And the mind has a tendency to, as I said, spin a story.
And based on whatever knowledge we have, the mind uses it to spin its stories. So sometimes the mind may use even dharmic knowledge. Knowledge of dharma to spin a story.
So here, Arjuna might start saying, oh, if I fight this war, then the warriors will die, the warriors will die. The people will be unprotected, the people will be unprotected. And then the whole future of our dynasty will be bricked.
And the total chaos in society, and all the chaos in society, I'll be the cause of that. Because I destroyed the protectors of the dynasty. And this way, he says, I'll have to live forever in hell.
And better than living forever in hell like this, better that I live like a beggar now. He says, okay, they are blinded by greed, but why should I be blinded by greed? Now at one level, everything that he is thinking is reasonable. Yes, if the protectors of the dynasty are destroyed, then unscrupulous elements will exploit people.
And that will lead to chaos in society. So protectors are, so Kshatriyas are the Martian Ganesha society. And they are meant to protect everyone.
So his idea overall was true. The main problem was that he was interpreting it all from an erroneous foundation. He was thinking not of, he was thinking from the foundation that I am the body, they are their bodies.
And what is going to happen? Krishna, he changes, the first thing he does is, he changes his conception of who Arjuna is. So why is this important to understand who we are? Suppose a child is watching a horror movie. And while watching a horror movie, usually the expertise of any story, whether it's a novel or it's a movie, is that the readers or the viewers, they identify with the central characters.
And when they identify with the central character, the hero, the heroine, whatever, then whatever emotions those characters are going through, the readers, the viewers go through that. And now when this happens, a child is seated comfortably in one's house but is watching a horror movie. And the child identifies with the hero in the horror movie.
I don't know whether you call the hero, are there heroes in a horror movie? The victim. Whoever is being horrified by everything. So whoever it is, everything that happens, suddenly some sinister laugh comes in from somewhere, suddenly all sorts of shape-changing monsters are coming, all kinds of eerie events are happening.
And now this child, as long as the child is watching the TV, is locked in the TV, is completely absorbed in it, then what will happen? Child will identify with that. And by identifying with that, the child will start trembling, crying, palpitating. And the mother will come and mother says the child is in a terrible condition.
First thing the mother will do is turn on the TV, turn off the TV. You are here, safe with me, what are you doing? So the child, all those emotions are experienced because the child is identifying with the character in the movie. Now somebody else may not be watching the horror movie, somebody else may be simply watching the effect of the horror movie on others.
And they will not have the effect themselves because they are simply observing. So for us, we all play different roles in our life. Some of us may be mothers, some of us may be professionals, some of us may be IT professionals, some of us may be professors, some of us may be doctors.
We all have our different roles in life. And the roles that we play in our life, how we see those roles and how we think what is going to happen in the future in these roles, all that depends on our mind. Some people are habitually very fear-prone.
They see one event, they see one accident on the road and immediately their mind starts giving up horror movie. What if, what if you are hit like that? What if you are driving on the road and opposite side there is a drunken driver? What if you are driving on the road and your brakes fail? What if you are driving on the road and you fall asleep? Whatever, the mind can give any imagination of any kind. So when that happens, basically we are telling a story to ourselves.
And the story that we tell ourselves depends on who we think we are and what we think is going to happen to us. So the whole point of the Bhagavad Gita is Arjuna had two stories, two roles he was playing. One role was a Kshatriya.
A Kshatriya is a martial guardian society. He is expected to counter aggressors. And the Kauravas have been aggressors.
They had been, they had tried to poison the Pandavas. They had tried to burn the Pandavas. They had dishonoured their wife.
They had stolen their property. They had tried to kill them. So in all ways they are aggressors.
And such aggressors need to be punished for the protection of society. So the Pandavas fight was not for revenge. The Pandavas fight was primarily for protection of Dharma.
If the Pandavas had wanted to fight for revenge, then they would never have agreed to Krishna's, Krishna's proposal that they will settle for five villages. So they were fighting for protection of Dharma. When they saw that Duryodhana was not at all ready to reform, what to speak of reform, Duryodhana was not even remorseful of what he had done.
Then they realised that such an Adharmic ruler, if such a ruler is allowed to maintain power, that ruler will break heaven in society. So now they had one role as a Kshatriya. He had his Kshatriya Dharma.
And also he had his Kula Dharma. Kula Dharma means he was in a particular dynasty and normally some of our relatives, they have some problems, we help them in some ways. So we have a duty to our family, immediate family of course, and even our extended family.
So the Kula Dharma was that he should help the members of his dynasty. Not that he fight against them. So in this case, the two roles that he had as a Kshatriya and as a Kuru Nandana, as a descendant of the Kuru dynasty, these two roles came in conflict.
Which role to follow? Which role should he do as Kshatriya or should he do as Kula Dharma? And his mind spun an imagination saying if you don't do your Kula Dharma, this will happen, that will happen, that will happen. And we can get some idea about the extent of the effect that the mind's stories can have on oneself. Now Arjuna, what happens by the end of the Bhagavad Gita? That's 1.46 1.46 He puts aside his bow, saying that I cannot fight.
Next verse describes that he was crying. 1.46 His eyes were brimming with tears. Now both of these are actually extraordinary.
Normally, even if we are very grief-struck, people don't show their emotions. Now for a Kshatriya hero, Arjuna who had, you know the Mahabharata describes when he was attacked by enemies, sometimes literally arrows would be piercing through every limb of his body. And Arjuna would not shed a one tear at that time.
That is seen as a sign of manliness, that you don't shed, men don't cry. That's the idea people have, especially manly people. No matter whatever happens, we won't shed tears.
But for such a warrior to be shedding tears, and not just shedding tears, even if all of us may get overwhelmed by emotions at times, but when people cry, people cry in private. Now for a warrior like Arjuna, who was the embodiment of masculine virility, for such a person to be crying in public, you can just imagine how much must have been the overwhelming power of the emotion that had come upon him. Not only that, he put aside his bow.
Now what does that mean? What's so great about it? Actually, Arjuna had taken a vow that in the face of beauty, in the course of battle, he would never put aside his bow. And he said if anybody told him, put aside his bow, he would consider such a great insult. Consider such a great insult.
Later on it happens on the 16th day of the war, when Yudhishthir is wounded by Karna, Yudhishthir is humiliated by Karna, and then Arjuna fights with Karna, and then Arjuna comes to meet Yudhishthir. So Yudhishthir thinks that Karna has already been killed, and he becomes delighted. But when he finds that Karna has not been killed, Arjuna had actually simply come back from the battle, just so that he could see how Yudhishthir was.
At that time, Yudhishthir becomes so angry, he says that you had said that you would kill that Karna, and yet, when Karna is destroying our army, like a coward you left our army to be victimised by him, and came here? What is the use of your boasting? What is the use of your having done this? Put aside your dhanti. And Arjuna heard this, he was so angry, he actually took out his sword. He is about to kill Yudhishthir.
Anybody who tells me that you put aside my bow and Gandiva, I will kill them. So Krishna came with him. What are you doing? When to kill your enemy is not your brother.
Then Krishna had to do some emergency adjustment. Arjuna said, I have taken a vow that anybody who tells me to put aside my bow, I will kill them. Then Krishna reminds Arjuna of the Bhagavad Gita.
Dishonour is worse than death. He says, you have taken this vow? He says, you dishonour Yudhishthir. And that will be like death.
So now Arjuna speaks a lot of things. Because of you, because of your attachment to gambling, we lost our army, we lost our kingdom, because of you this happened. And then he finishes that, and Yudhishthir is shocked.
Now what is he speaking? And then as soon as he finishes this, Arjuna falls at the feet of Yudhishthir, and he says, please forgive me for what I spoke. This was the way Krishna told me that I could live up to my word. So Krishna later tells Arjuna, Arjuna, why do you take vows like this? Even on the thirteenth day when Abhimanyu is killed, Arjuna takes a vow.
By tomorrow night I will kill Yajna or I will enter into fire. So Krishna later tells Arjuna, why did you take such a vow without consulting me? So then Arjuna is in Hindi word Vindasth. Arjuna is completely confident.
He says, Krishna, why are you worried? He says, you know my power and I know your power. And then, in the literary terms of the Mahabharata, it is said that actually Arjuna goes to sleep, but Krishna can't sleep that night. Krishna is restless.
What is going to happen tomorrow? What is going to happen tomorrow? And then finally he meditates and he calls Daruka. And Daruka is his charioteer. From Dwarka he comes there.
Daruka comes opposite. He says, everybody is sleeping. Why are you awake, my lord? So he tells Daruka, tomorrow Arjuna has taken this vow.
Since if Arjuna is not able to complete his vow, then I will jump from his chariot to my chariot. And I will fight and destroy the whole Kauravar. I will ensure that Arjuna does not die.
So then Daruka is retouched by this. By Krishna's concern for his devotee. And then after that, he turns and he says, my lord, Arjuna is sleeping.
Everybody is sleeping. He says, please acknowledge. You can also take some rest.
He says, such are my devotees. They go to sleep and keep me awake. Laughter So the point which I am making here is that when I was studying, we tell stories to ourselves.
But I was studying how impactful those stories can be. Arjuna, who had taken a vow that I will actually kill anyone who tells me to put aside his bow. What happened? His own mind told a story and because of that, he himself put aside the bow.
So that which he would never have done if anybody else told him to do it. That which if anybody even dared to say to him, he would have killed that person. That very thing when his mind told him, mind spun a story, he just did it.
So actually, the stories that we tell ourselves about ourselves can be devastatingly consequential. So many times when people commit suicide, they are facing problems, but everybody faces problems in life. But what happens? Their mind spins a story around that.
Okay, I'll face this problem. Say, when I first came to America in 2015, I gave a talk in Ohio State University on regulating our mental diet. And after that, one American student came and told me that just before this talk, I was contemplating suicide.
You know, I had been in a relationship and my girlfriend had left me for someone else. So I was shattered. I said, something within me told me, just let me go for this talk.
And then he said, after I came for this talk, I understood that it is not that I want to commit suicide. It is this mind which is there within me which is telling me, commit suicide, commit suicide, commit suicide. So sometimes people, over small trivial things, they may do a disastrous thing.
How? It's a story. A story that the mind tells people. I come from Mumbai.
There is a well-known medical college in Mumbai, BJ Medical College. There was a girl over there. It's about 10-12 years ago, the story.
She was a university topper in medical college in all her semesters. She's first. And in the last exam also, she was well prepared, well on the way to the first.
But just a few days before that, somehow, a voice spoke within her. What if you don't come first? What if you don't come first? I have such a reputation. What will happen to my reputation? And just that thought made her so paranoid that the day before the exam, she committed suicide.
Just because she thought that I will not come first. It is not even that she has not come first. Just the thought that I will not come first.
A student with a magnificent career ahead of her. Horrifying. So, the mind starts speaking something.
You know, it just sucks us in. Sucks us in. Once it sucks us in, then afterwards, it doesn't allow us to see any other narrative.
Just like when we go to watch a movie, they do two things. First is, they turn off all lights. And they turn on the front light.
So, the idea is, forget everything. Focus only on us. So, like that, when the mind starts spinning a story, it completely blinds us to all other alternatives.
This is what is going to happen. And it's going to happen soon. And I'm going to be victimised.
But if you think about it, the story may have very little or no basis in reality. It may not even have much probability of happening. So, as long as we are under the spell of the mind, then at any moment, the mind can tell a story.
Sometimes. Now, it is good to prepare for the future. It is good to envision possibilities of what may happen.
And then anticipate that. But that is all done constructively only when we are in control of the mind. When the mind is in control of us, then it is just showing us one terrible scenario, another terrible scenario, another terrible scenario.
And we just feel disempowered. You know, it's like saying, you know, we may think, you know, what if I lose my job? Oh, if I lose my job, then how will I pay the instalments for my house? If I can't pay the instalments for my house, then, you know, we will not be able to stay in such a nice house. We have to take a smaller house.
But what if we can't pay for the smaller house also? Oh, then we'll have to be on the streets. Oh, and the streets are so cold. We'll freeze.
You know, we may die of cold. Right now, we have a comfortably warm room. I may die of cold.
So, what has happened over here? Actually, the mind has just want to stop. Worry is the interest we pay on loans we haven't yet taken. Chintam aparimeyam cha.
Krishna says, we can be subjected to unlimited anxieties. And what does Krishna tell Arjuna? How does Krishna console Arjuna? By the end of the Bhagavad Gita, that same Arjuna who is in tears, he has become fully composed. In 18.73, he says, I am well situated.
I am composed. Now, what happens? Actually, Krishna checks the story that Arjuna is telling himself. Arjuna's mind is telling himself.
Krishna takes back to the fundamentals. He says, you are the soul. The soul is a part of the whole.
It's God, Krishna himself. And whatever happens in this world, the relationship of the soul with Krishna is never going to change. Krishna always loves us.
Krishna is always there for us in our heart. No matter what happens in the world, no matter what who says about us, no matter what we do ourselves, still Krishna is never going to leave our heart and go away. Krishna will always be there with us.
There is nothing that anyone can do. And there is nothing that even we can do which can stop Krishna from loving us. There are many things which we can do by which we will stop perceiving Krishna's love for us.
But our perception is one thing and reality is another. It's like if I close my eyes, I can't see the light. But the light is still there.
The sun is still overhead. Sun is giving light. But I can close my eyes.
I can put a blindfold on my eyes. I can go in a dark cellar. I can do many things by which I will not see the sunlight.
But the sunlight is still there. So like that Krishna's love is there for us always. We can do many things by which we can become blind to Krishna's love.
But Krishna always loves us. So many of the stories of the mind, stories that the mind spins, they blind us to Krishna's love for us. But when we hear the Bhagavad Gita, when Arjuna heard the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna's hearing the Gita took him to his spiritual fundamentals.
So whatever happens, you are a soul. You are indestructible. You are a part of Krishna and Krishna's love for you is unfailing.
And based on these two realities, Krishna told Arjuna, now you act. Just surrender to me. And Arjuna also said, It's significant that at the end of the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna doesn't say, I will fight.
Arjuna says, I will do your will. Yes, Arjuna did fight the war. But Arjuna was not identifying himself as a warrior fighting.
He had this dharma sankha. Should I do my Kshatriya dharma or should I do my Kula dharma? So Krishna's response was that just surrender to me. Surrender to me doesn't mean that you don't do anything.
Surrender simply means that you act in a way that will be of service to you. So in that particular situation, the way he surrendered was by doing his Kshatriya dharma, by fighting the war. But Arjuna did not identify himself with his role.
Arjuna identified himself as a devotee serving the Lord. The specific service he was doing was fighting. So the nature of life is there can be many insecurities.
Yes, many things can go wrong in life. But if we philosophically understand the reality, then we understand that whatever is going wrong may go wrong with the roles that I am playing in my life. But I myself am indestructible.
My relationship with Krishna of service is indestructible. Today I may be a speaker. I may speak about Krishna.
Tomorrow I may lose my throat. I might get some problem. I might not be able to speak.
At one level it will be terrible. I will not be able to do the service that I am doing. But that doesn't mean that I lose myself.
Because I am not the role. I am a soul. And the soul can always find some way to serve Krishna.
So it is not that we have to give up our roles. Arjuna fought as a Kshatriya as I said. But Arjuna did not think of himself as a Kshatriya.
He thought of himself as a devotee playing the role of a Kshatriya. So we all have various responsibilities in life. And we have to take those responsibilities seriously.
We may be mothers, we may be professionals, we may be whatever roles we are doing. We take those roles seriously. But we don't identify with those roles.
We understand that I am different from this. I am a soul and I am doing this as a service to Krishna. Because this is a service, I will do it responsibly.
At the same time, I am different from this. We can distance ourselves, just like a child, no longer watching the horror movie, but says, oh, I am safe here. I am safe here in my home.
Like that, when the mind starts spinning some horror movie, then we just, oh, actually, I am a soul, a part of Krishna. So, you know, sometimes we have some differences with some people. And we have a small quarrel.
I speak like this, they speak like this, I speak like this, they speak like this. And, you know, maybe we'll come to blows, maybe our relationship will break down, this will happen, that will happen. Our mind can spin so many imaginations.
But we just move back. Actually, I am a soul. I am a part of Krishna.
Krishna is always there with me. That's stepping back. That's stepping back, changing the story that we tell ourselves about ourselves.
Understanding that, actually, I am a soul. I am a part of Krishna. I am meant to serve Krishna.
Then, we will not get consumed by whatever the mind is saying, but rather we will be able to deal with the reality without succumbing to the mind's imagination. I'll conclude with one incident from Srila Prabhupada about how, in changing the story, once Srila Prabhupada was at Philadelphia, and Ravindra Swaroop, who tells this, often in one of his offerings also, he says, there was a press conference for him. And several reporters came and they asked him questions.
And after the conference, Prabhupada was going to leave. And there was one journalist who came late. He says, Swamiji, Swamiji, please wait.
Prabhupada is walking along and he is running, running, running towards him. And Prabhupada turned and looked at him. And he immediately brought a mic in front of Prabhupada.
He says, Swamiji, how is your philosophy different from this one? Now, he already had a story planned in his mind. This Swami will say like this. And I'll compare this philosophy with Buddhism and I'll describe this.
Prabhupada just looked at him and said, you know, we have nothing to do with thisism or thatism or any ism. He says, we are giving the truth. His story was completely disoriented.
He didn't know what to do. And then Prabhupada looked at him straight in the eye. And if you are truthful, you will accept it.
So this, he had come with his own story. You know, OK, this Swami, Swami from India has come. And my readers are familiar with Buddhism.
I'll compare them and I'll tell some story. But for Prabhupada, he was not seeing this person as a journalist. He was not thinking, you know, I have to give a, I have to give a, what is it called? A good soundbite.
You know, it's all politicians are trained so that you should give an attractive soundbite which will be repeated again and again on the media. So Prabhupada was not like, was not a PR-hungry person who was trying for a good soundbite. He had his own story.
And that was the reality. He saw this reporter also as a soul. He did not see himself as a Swami belonging to a particular sect.
He saw himself as a servant of God. He had come to give the message of truth. And he saw the reporter not as a reporter.
He saw the reporter as a soul. He said, we are simply giving the truth. So actually, when we associate with devotees, when you hear classes, when you hear the Bhagavad Gita, it's not just that we hear a nice class and we go, it's good if we appreciate the class.
But fundamentally, what should happen is our story about ourselves should change. The mind is telling, this may go wrong, that may go wrong, this will happen, that will happen. What about this? What about that? But the story that, imperialising the Bhagavad Gita means, story that we tell ourselves is, I am a soul and I am a servant of Krishna.
And whatever happens in my life, I will continue serving. And then if we have this attitude, then we will find that life, instead of becoming dangerous, becomes adventurous. It's because we don't feel threatened.
Actually, if you see between danger and adventure, sometimes you see some adventure novels, adventure movies, they're filled with danger. But the difference between dangerous and adventurous is that, you know, in an adventure novel, the hero is going to be successful at the end. He's going to find the thieves or get the treasure or whatever.
Some book is an adventure novel, and they find Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew or whatever. And then at the end of an adventure, Nancy Drew dies. Or Hardy Boys die.
Or three investigators die. Whoever it is. Maybe these are all old investigators.
Some new ones, I don't know. I know from 20-30 years old. But anyway, the point is, in an adventure novel, you know that they are going to solve the mystery at the end.
The excitement is how they are going to solve the mystery. So like that, if we understand that I am a soul, Krishna loves me, and Krishna is in control, then life becomes like an adventure. Many things may go wrong.
Many things may go wrong, but ultimately Krishna will work everything to the right. We won't feel personally threatened. And that brings a tremendous positive energy to our life.
So that, Bhagavad Gita demonstrates the transformational power of spiritual love. That same warrior who would never cry was brought to tears by his mind's story. And by hearing Krishna's story, by story I am not referring to a past time.
Story I am referring to the world view in which things were interpreted, understood. By understanding Krishna's story, that same warrior who was reduced to tears again became composed, rejuvenated, ready to fight. Like that, we all, our mind is spinning different stories at different times.
So when these stories are going on, if you just listen to the mind's story, just like sometimes the storyteller is there, the storyteller starts telling the story, and if you hear the story, they get more energy, they tell more of the story, they keep telling more, keep telling more. But if you just neglect the story, nobody is hearing, they become silent. So like that, if we don't hear the mind's story, and instead we hear Krishna's story, then we'll find much of our anxieties will go down.
Much of our insecurity will subside. And with confidence, with clarity, we'll be able to move forward in whatever we are doing in our life in a mode of service to Krishna. So I'll summarise.
I spoke today about changing the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves. Within that, I talked about how all of us are storytellers. Throughout our culture, throughout human culture, stories have always been told, and they are used for entertaining one person to another.
And within that, there is some kind of discrimination, which stories I should hear, which stories I should not hear. Parents discriminate about what kind of stories children should hear. But we similarly need to discriminate what kind of stories we are hearing when we tell stories to ourselves.
In any situation that happens, our mind doesn't just see that as a situation. It puts it in a particular context and then interprets it that way, gives it that spin. So if I have a negative self-conception, then something just falls from my hand, and the mind spins the story, I'm a clumsy fool.
If I have a very, very self-congratulatory self-conception, then if I overeat, I was hungry. If I have a negative self-conception of someone, if I see them sleeping, they are sluggards, lazy. So whatever it is, we are always spinning stories about things.
And the stories that our mind spins, the stories that we tell ourselves about ourselves, they are not just entertaining stories. They can be devastating if you're not careful. So people can become suicidal, they can commit suicide.
I talk about that BJ Medical girl who has committed suicide because she thought what if I don't come first in my class? So the effect of the stories that the mind tells us can be devastating. And I discussed about how Arjuna was devastated. The warrior fully prepared for war, ready, but once he saw, at sight, changed the mind's story.
They are sided with the party of evil from, oh, they are my relatives. And from that point, a Kshatriya who would not cry, even when deadly arrows were piercing through his bone, that Kshatriya, oh, just broke down with tears brimming from the eyes. So that Kshatriya who had said that I will, I'll kill anyone who dares to suggest that I put aside my bow, he himself put aside his bow because the mind's story was so influential.
And how to get out of the mind's story? We have to come back to our real identity. Just like a child who is horrified of seeing a horror movie, just stop watching the horror movie. Remember, I'm at home, my mother is with me, nothing is wrong.
So that's the first thing that Krishna does. He is identifying himself with his role as a Kurnandana, as a member of the Kuru dynasty. Kshatriya, you are not that, you are a soul.
And with that, Kshatriya goes further and says that as a soul, you are a part of the whole. The soul is indestructible and the whole Krishna, Krishna's love for us is unfeeling. So with these two realities, we can always move forward confidently in life.
So we all face problems in whatever roles we are playing in life. And based on those problems, the mind can spin horror stories. Now those problems have to be dealt with practically.
But in order not to be overwhelmed by the mind's horror movie that has come up, we have to step out of that role. Understand, I'm a soul and I'm serving Krishna. Krishna will take care of things.
Then we can return back to that role and do it responsibly without being overwhelmed by it. So Arjuna had this dharma sankhya. Should I do my Kula dharma or should I do my Kshatriya dharma? Krishna got him to step out of both roles.
You are a soul. And as a soul, do that by which you can best surrender to Krishna. And then Arjuna surrendered, I will do your role.
He did his Kshatriya dharma diligently. But he was thinking, he understood, I'm a soul. So similarly, the hearing of the philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita is meant to change the story.
So actually Prabhupada told that reporter. He did not see the reporter as a journalist to whom to give a good soundbite. He saw a journalist as a soul to whom he had to do Krishna's message.
So by associating with those who are living the Gita, we also can change the story that we tell ourselves about ourselves. By that we can avoid large amounts of anxiety and we can infuse our life with enormous positivity. Whatever goes wrong in our life, Krishna is never going to leave us.
And no matter what wrongs the world does, no matter what wrong the people do, no matter what wrongs we ourselves do, Krishna will always be there with us. And with that unchanging reality, with our consciousness rooted in that unchanging reality, we can face whatever life sends our way and we can march confidently, clearly towards overcoming that obstacle and closer to Krishna. Thank you very much.
Hare Krishna. So are there any questions or comments? Yes, go ahead. Hare Krishna Guruji, wonderful talk.
How would I actually understand if my mind is telling a story to me? Is it real or assumption or assumption? Is it true? Okay. If your mind is telling you a story, how can I know whether it is real or is it just an assumption? Usually, as I said, the mind is an expert storyteller. So, and the expertise of a story is that actually it has to seem like real.
When somebody does a fiction story also, the fiction story has to seem like real. Otherwise, people will not take it seriously. The mind is expert in telling the story and making it seem like real.
And that's why we need a reality check. The best reality check is some other friend, somebody who is not seeing what the mind is seeing. So, if you have any close friends, trustworthy friends with whom we can consult, that is a great fortune.
See, the mama described the story how? Initially, when Kaikeyi heard that Ram is going to be coronated, she was delighted and she gave a jewel necklace as a gift to Manthara. But then Manthara's punished her. This whole thing is a conspiracy.
And what happened? Just in a few hours, Kaikeyi was ready to break the heart of her husband. She was ready to exile her own son. She did not care for the censure of the whole kingdom.
What happened? Two things. She heard from Manthara's omniscience. And secondly, she did not consult anyone else.
She could have consulted Vasishta. She could have consulted so many other people. Is this really true? Is this a conspiracy? So, sometimes the mind tells the story.
It's best if we don't hear it. But if we somehow hear it, and instead of acting on it, we consult someone else. Somebody whom we trust.
This is what I think this is. Is it really true? What do you think? No, what is this? Why are you imagining something like this? Then help us see things in perspective. That's why having friends is very helpful.
Another thing is, if we can't consult friends, Generally, if we are going to do something which is different from our normal course of action, especially different in a negative sense, then it's best to press a pause button. Pause button. I don't know whether this is right or wrong, so I will not do anything right.
Just let me wait. So, for example, you know, if somebody becomes, if somebody has done something which has made us furious, and then we just want to give them a piece of our mind, at that time, at that time, you know, we may just blast out at them and things which we will regret later, which can shatter their hearts. So, at that time, I am angry, and I can't wish away my anger.
At the same time, I can't express that anger. So, let me just pause. I will not speak anything right.
Maybe I will write something down, or I will, it is good, or you can just write it down. Sometimes when I am angry with someone, I write an email, but I don't send that email. And then I wait for 24 hours, and after 24 hours, if I read that email, my God, what have I written? Why did I write like this? Sometimes, you know, if you get angry, and we speak something, you know, if another person recorded what we spoke, and they showed us.
Was that me? Or was that some ghost entered into me and spoke through me? What is this? So, what happens? When some, when some, when we are about to do something, which we have doubts about, should I do it or should I not do it? Then, it's best to pause. It's not, we can't, see, when the mind is spinning a particular story, or compelling us to do something, to say no to it is very difficult. But when you say pause, we are not saying no.
So, it is relatively easier. See, the mind is, the mind is to be, the mind is to be treated like a child, basically. Child, you have to somehow find some way to pacify the child.
So, I just press a pause button. Okay, I'll not do anything right. And then, after some time, we come back and re-evaluate it.
So, we need our intelligence to evaluate whether the mind story is real or not. And for that, we cannot think with our emotions. We have to think with our reason.
The way the mind tricks us is that it makes the emotions the driving force. And Arjuna, when his emotions overwhelmed him, he was using his scriptural knowledge. But he was using the scriptural knowledge to embellish the narrative that was spun by the mind.
So, we need to check that. So, what we do is, just pause. Pause.
If you can consult someone else, that's the best. But even if you can't, just pause. Sometimes the emotions just become too high.
We can't think clearly at that time. Just pause. After some time, the emotions go down, the intelligence comes back, and we can evaluate it.
This is what I was thinking. Sometime we find that this is right. But most of the time we find that this is not the best thing to do.
Does it answer your question? Thank you. Any other questions? I can't believe that you planned this. Okay, yeah.
So, what is the difference between planning for the future and just listening to the mind's horror stories? How do we know which is what? I'm planning, yes. See, basically, I would say from the point of the three modes, you know what three modes are? Satva guna, Arjuna, Atma guna. The mode of goodness is when we do planning.
The mode of ignorance is where we do fear-mongering for ourselves. This will go wrong. That will go wrong.
So, the effect of planning is that we feel calmer. The effect of fear-mongering is that we become more agitated. Because what happens? In ignorance, in Tamoguna, the mind is in control.
Mind is like… it's like imagine you're watching a TV and all the channels have horror movies going on. Each channel that you see, you become more horrified, more horrified, more horrified. So, when the mind is in control, this problem can go like, this is a horror movie.
Or it can go like, this is also another horror movie. This is also another horror movie. What should I do now? So, what happens? The mind just shows… when the mind is in control, it just shows us shows us terrible scenarios without letting us do anything tangible about it.
Before I can think, how do I do this? Mind immediately shows me something else. This may go wrong. That may go wrong.
So, just things can go wrong and we should use our cognitive intelligence to prepare for things going wrong also. But we need to be in control. That means the test of planning is that when we are making plans, we feel calmer.
Not that the problem is solved, but that we are better prepared to deal with it. So, if… okay, now you know, we… okay, what happens? Say, if I am thinking and… this problem is like… go like this, go like this. But what about this? No, that's a different scenario.
I will think about it later. Let me focus on this way. So, usually it is good to deal with big problems when we are ourselves in a calm frame of mind.
Maybe we have done some prayers, done some scriptural reading, maybe taken some deep breaths, calmed ourselves down. Then, deal with it. So, then it helps.
Otherwise, it simply worsens the situations. So, planning is very helpful and it helps us also to recognise that… planning helps us to recognise the difference between possibilities and probabilities. What is possible? Actually, anything is possible.
For example, the roof might collapse and we may all die right now. That's possible. But, you know, we can't live in the fear what if… what if the roof collapses? Everywhere we go there is some roof.
So, we can't live lifelong in the fear that roof will collapse. So, now… But probability means that if… if say the city… city city officials have come and told this house is on the verge of collapsing. Get out of this house.
And still I am staying in that house. Then it's not a possibility. It's a probability.
So, we also have to differentiate between possibilities and probabilities. Yes, there are problems in life and we need to deal with them. But the… but letting the mind come up with horror… horror movies is the worst way of dealing with them.
Because we are actually disempowering ourselves from the capacity to deal with them. Because we are becoming overwhelmed by the emotion. But by calmly differentiating in the mode of goodness, this is… this is too… this is unlikely.
This is… this is something possible. You know, if I lose my job maybe I can do this, I can do that, I can do that. If this doesn't work out, I can try this.
I can try this. You know, I have this skill also. I have this… this background also.
I can do this. I can make plans like that. Does it answer the question? Any other questions? Yes, ma'am.
What do you do to understand your mind? Sometimes your mind is like that. Why don't you have any mood? Laughter Okay, good question. So, if our mind is telling a particular story and we consider a friend, that friend's mind is also telling the same story.
Then what to do? Yes. Actually, that is what is called as the mob mentality. You know, mob mentality, sometimes people and they lynch someone.
And as a mob, people do things which they will never do individually. But because the mob frenzy comes up. So, that's why when I said that we should consult someone, actually that person we consult should be should be a trustworthy person, a person who is spiritually matured, who is emotionally steady.
Otherwise, psychologists call this as a consensus reality. That means by consensus we accept the illusion to be a reality. And because we all think it is real, so we accept it to be real.
So, that we can, if you know, if we are if we are by nature very fearful or anxiety prone, then while in anxiety to go to another anxiety prone person is the worst thing you can do. It's like, I have a drinking problem. And while solving it, to ask how to solve a drinking problem I go to alcoholic.
How to solve it? Just drink. So, we are nothing against the devotee, the devotee or the friend who is of that nature. But you have to understand that at this particular point, this person can't be a victim.
So, that capacity to discern definitely is required. And over a period of time, we also observe which person is what, this person is this nature, this person is this nature. And that way we can know for what thing whom to consult.
Does it answer your question? Thank you. My question is, you know, mind tells stories and plans. A lot of them happen during chanting.
So, what is the best way to get out of it? Sometimes it takes work for a short moment but for 16 hours it doesn't work. So, how do you get out of it? The mind starts telling its stories the most during chanting. So, what to do at that time? The main reason is the mind is like a child.
And the child, children need entertainment. They can't just sit peacefully. If something serious is going on, it soon gets bored.
I want to do something exciting. So, chanting is a serious activity. So, the mind gets bored with it.
And the mind starts saying, come on, what about this? What about that? The mind starts exploring this, exploring that. And when that happens, ये तो ये तो इश्चलति मनश्चेंचरमस्थिनम् तस्त तो नियमेतर आत्मन्ये योशंनेय In 6.26 in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says wherever and whenever the mind wanders, bring it back under the control of the Self. What this means is Krishna is not setting an unrealistic standard for us.
Krishna is not saying you should not let your mind wander. Krishna is saying your mind will wander. And we consider this context in the Bhagavad Gita 6.26. This is the context of yogis who have gone out to the forest.
6.11 in the Bhagavad Gita is talking about शुचवुतेशेपतिष्ठापिस्थिरमासरमात्मना Those who go into the jungle and sit in yogic meditation. Even for them the mind will wander. So Krishna is not giving us an unrealistic standard that don't let your mind wander.
Krishna says the mind wanders, bring the mind back. So the best way to practically deal with the mind is like treating it like a child. You know the child the mother will tell the child to study.
The mother knows if I tell the child to study and go away for 3 hours and if I come back the child will not be studying. So after 10 minutes the child will turn on the phone and read something turn on the TV or do this, do that. The mother knows it.
I have to periodically keep coming back and watching the child. Child goes off now the mother just get the child back. So like that the mind will wander, you have to just get it back.
So you find out. That's why periodically even when you are chanting you know that 2 hours can become like a uninterrupted horror movie. So that's why even within the 2 hours having some kind of break to reorient ourselves.
It might be that after one round I may have some picture of the deities in front of me and I recite some words to pray to them or I just recite some words from the Shastra or I just if I heard some important some nice quote about chanting I just remind myself of it. So basically periodically creating a break which forces us to become conscious. Ideally is that the 16 rounds are completely absorbing Krishna.
But unfortunately quite often the mind 16 rounds are completely absorbing Maya. Sometimes it happens just the beads are moving, beads are moving, beads are moving and then you realise oh! What was I doing 16 rounds? Sometimes I say oh! It is best to be completely absorbing Krishna. But if you can't be completely absorbing Krishna it is better to have periodic breaks which force us to become aware of what we are doing.
Oh! I should not be doing this. Let me come back. So that way we can interrupt the story that the mind is telling us.
That's one thing practically with respect to this. Second thing is that the mind is restless but it is not usually not unpredictably restless. That means the ways the mind distracts us are usually predictable.
We have certain attachments it may be money, it may be our family it may be our job. The mind has some predictable things which it worries about. Each day it might have one or two new things to worry about.
But overall it is predictable. So then we can intellectually plan. I have this problem in my job.
What will happen about this? What will happen about that? If that is your worry which regularly comes to us then we can write it down. If this goes wrong, I'll do this. If this goes wrong, I'll do this.
And then write it down and keep it. So man we don't have to consciously read it but if the mind starts just worrying too much at that time just stop the chanting, go through it, read it at that time. You don't have to make it a habit but what happens when the mind is wandering at that time it doesn't make the intelligence work.
So if the intelligence has done the work before and we keep that ready, then I don't have to worry about this. So that way if we have some standard worries, we can not necessarily during chanting but maybe during the course of the day or maybe the previous night before sleeping just feel this, you know, okay, this is what these are the things which I have done to deal with this issue. These are the things which I have done to deal with this issue.
Now let me focus on Krishna. And ultimately we need to put our faith in Krishna. There is a Hindi poet, Vaishnava poet has said, he is speaking on behalf of Krishna Krishna says Tumhara mann mere naam mein toh main tumhare kaam mein If you chant my name I will give the intelligence that you can work well, whatever work it is.
Tumhara mann tumhare kaam mein toh main mere dhaam mein Laughter Laughter Laughter If you are thinking about your work while chanting, okay, you don't need me, I will be in my own body. So, if you understand that actually, there are in this situation, there are things which are in my control, there are things which are not in my control and I am worrying about this may go wrong, that may go wrong, that may go wrong If I understand that what is not in my control is in Krishna's control and it is that Krishna to whom I am praying right now then that will help us, okay. Whatever comes, Krishna will help me to deal with it.
Right now, let me connect with Krishna. Does it answer your question? Great. So, there was one question, till what time should we go on Mataji? Laugh.
Whatever you say. Okay. I know, I understand.
Yes, please. Just same question, but we keep hearing that money keep coming and we keep hearing we need to read, hear more things it's going on, it's going on, but the minute let's say we are reading some Bhagavatam, just about the time we are reading, money is spoken, the door will be closed and then we start chanting, we say the grace and we do that. Still, one day, this is something new, it's great.
Let us try something different. The next day, it will be the same thing. Money knows that they are already planning to keep it.
So, it's being, I mean, I'm hearing and I have faith that it will happen, but the door will be closed, still, the moment the door, immediately, maybe, you know, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, but after that, again, it was that I knew I could do that. Yeah. So, our practises of bhakti seem to affect the mind only temporarily in a positive way.
After that, the mind seems to relapse back to its old ways. So, how can we avoid losing hope? How can we maintain faith that the process will work and we will change? There are two distinct things over there. One is the immediate effect and the other is the overall effect, which we see the rest of our life.
Now, when we chant, actually, the effect is subtle. Purification is a gradual process. It is basically, the sound vibrations that we are hearing, they are percolating deep down into our consciousness and they are changing the consciousness from there.
So, such changes, they, because they are from deep down, they will take time. It is just like if we had barren land and we put water over there. Not in barren land, we had like a desert land.
We put water over there. The water, it just goes in. I put so much water, it is gone.
I put water, it is gone. But actually, it is not just gone. If you keep putting water, keep putting water, gradually, that desertified land, that desertified nature will change.
And gradually, it will become fertile. It will become conducive for growing, for the growth of crops. So, basically, some lands may be very much of a desert and they may require a lot of water.
But the water is not getting waste. It is changing. It is just that, the change is not visible on the top.
So, for example, there are changes, change of desires and there are change of values. Change of desires means that every day when we wake up, we may battle with the same old desires. There is greed, there is anger, there is this, there is that.
what is the change that is happening? There is worry, there is change of emotions. It is not happening at all. The change of emotions, it is not happening.
But below that is a change of values, a change of conditions. You see, in the past, say, if, say in the past, somebody used to, he had a particular condition and sometimes people when they become angry or if you look at materialistic people, they look forward to sensual desires. They look forward to ways in which they can trigger themselves sensually and I think that is a given.
As you keep practising bhakti, we may also be troubled by sensual desires. But when the desires come, we think okay now, how can I avoid those desires? So what has happened? The same desire has come but the value has changed. Earlier, I used to look forward to that desire.
Now, I am looking to avoid that desire. So the change of value change of value is substantial. And we can look at it from different ways.
Whichever we think about. Change of values is a far more reliable parameter of inner change than simply change of emotions. Because the emotions will keep flickering.
That means certain undesirable emotions come to me. Then, when those emotions come, what is my response? In the past, if my mind was wandering, I just said, forget this chanting business. But now, when my mind is wandering, is chanting important? I have to get my mind to focus.
How can I do it? What do I do to make it focus? So basically, the mind may not change immediately. But the very fact that our attitude towards the mind has changed indicates that a substantial change has happened. Imagine there is a situation where there is a child and there is a mother.
And then, whatever the child says, the mother does that. Now, such parenting would be quite irresponsible. A child wants to play with fire.
A child wants to go and dance in the middle of a street. Whatever the child says, the mother starts doing that. And the mother would not be responsible for that.
Now, once the child starts doing something mischievous, the mother says, no, you should not do this. Now, what has happened? The child has not changed. But the mother has changed.
Mother, no, you should not be doing this. Mother tries to stop the child. Basically, within us, there is the mind which is like a child.
There is the intelligence which is like the mother. In the past, the intelligence was also subordinate to the mind. What has the mind decided? We use our intelligence to fulfil it.
But now, actually, the intelligence has grown up. And now, we should change this. So, the intelligence, the intellectual conviction, it comes faster.
But the mind's change comes gradually. But the mind will also change. Just like a child, it is also going to grow.
A child will grow badly. It will take time, but the child will grow. So, we don't… If… If we become discouraged, thinking, the mind is not changing, in spiritual life, we always have to have the attitude by which we are encouraged.
So, if you feel discouraged, you can look back and see how far we have come. At least in terms of externals, all of us have had certain habits, certain attitudes, certain indulgences, which we have been able to break free from. If you look at the general moral, spiritual level of the world today, and where we as devotees practising are, we are substantially at a higher level.
We are not saying this in an arrogant, self-congratulatory sense. It's just an objective sense. It is.
So, when we feel discouraged, we need to look back at how far we have come. And it is a substantial instance. And that gives us hope that if I keep moving forward, I will move on.
So, the change of the mind is a gradual process. But, every day that we are endeavouring, it is growing. It is like if a mother becomes very impatient, every day she feeds a spoon to the child and takes a measuring tape.
How much has the child's height increased? The height is not going to increase like that. Every day the child is eating, the child is growing. But, the growth will be gradual.
So, every day that we are chanting, every day we are practising bhakti, the mind is growing up. The mind is growing up. And, over a period of time, we will find that just like when the sun is rising, rising, rising, in the morning the sun is rising, the sun is continuously rising.
But, initially when we wake up, it is dark now. It is dark. It is light now.
We realise the sun rising is gradual. Our realising that the sun has risen, it happens at one particular moment. Like that, you know, every day we are practising, every day we are practising, we are practising.
And then at one particular point, we will realise, oh, yes, I know, this is not really, it is not worth it. Let me not get into that. Let me focus on that.
That's how it will happen. It's not discouraging, that's what I am thinking. What else do we have to do practically to stop that? Now, we just persevere.
Just persevere wholeheartedly knowing that Krishna is there with us and will take care of us. So, Prabhupada said, chant Hare Krishna and be happy. This is not one, this is not necessarily one causal instruction.
There are two parallel instructions. It is not that chanting will make us happy. Yes, that will also happen gradually.
But we chant and be happy. So, there are two instructions. In 1.2.23 in the Bhagavatam, it is said that in this way, the wise people joyfully perform the process of bhakti that makes them joyful.
How can you joyfully perform the process that will make you joyful? It doesn't make sense. But the sense is that it's just like a person who is very sick. They tried many, many treatments and no treatment has worked.
And finally, now they have found a treatment that is working. They have not yet become healthy. But they are healthier than before.
So, they are happy that they are on the way back to health. They are not yet healthy but they are happy that they are on the way back to health. So, like that, we are not yet at the destination of having control of the mind.
So, when my mind is in control and focused on Krishna, I will be happy. Fully happy. But right now, we are happy that we are on the process to happiness.
So, let's chant Hare Krishna and be happy. Thank you very much.