From Maya to Lila 1 – Illusion originates not in the object but in the subject
Questions if there are. … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … or is it in the subject? The impersonalist idea, not just impersonal, specifically the Mayavadi idea, the monistic idea is that actually both the object and the subject are illusion.
They say that the only thing that really exists is the meaning. Their idea of pure consciousness is consciousness alone exists. And there is no object and there is no subject.
So the unfiltered stream of consciousness alone is what is the reality. And that there is an object out there is an illusion. That that object will give me pleasure, that is a bigger illusion.
That that object will cause me danger, that's also a bigger illusion. But the very fact that I am an agent of consciousness, that I am radiating out consciousness, that also is an illusion. That is their conception.
So only the stream of consciousness exists as all-pervading reality, which they call as Brahman. Now, this notion has appeal to it, but it also has serious problems. The appeal is that it seems to be very non-sectarian, undifferentiated.
All that exists is a stream of consciousness. And when we talk about the concept of a stream of consciousness as the only reality, there is no sectarianism associated with it. As soon as people think that as soon as there is an idea that there is a God, they will say there is your God and my God, and my God is better than your God, and we will fight.
But if there is only just a stream of consciousness that exists, then there is no difference. So actually, the Bhagavatam itself is having a very profound meaning. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu put it in the world of achievement in our day.
And I will come to that in either this or future class. But at this point, now there are these monists who say there is an evolution in your conception of God. They say first, people think there is no God.
Then they think that there are many Gods. Then they move forward and they think there is one God. So there is atheism, polytheism, monotheism.
It's one God. And then the next realisation is there is only God. There is only God.
Now, the Bhagavad Gita agrees with this. There is only God that exists. But what that means? In that, there is a substantial differentiation between how the Vaishnavas understand it, how the Bhaktas understand it and how the impersons understand it.
So the idea that there is only God, what that means in the impersonalist conception is that there is only the stream of consciousness. And the subject and the object, they are all illusion. So that's how the conception of only God exists.
But the Vaishnava understanding is as explained in the Bhagavatam that actually the subject, the object and the real, they are all manifestations of God. Because they are all his energies. And the Bhagavatam, the Jata Shloki, defines what is actually illusion.
It says, vityartham yat pratyed na pratyed kshatmati kavnityadatmano maya yathagvasu vipatamaya That to see anything as separate from God, to see anything meaningful as separated from God, from the absolute truth, that is maya. So that means maya, is it just a matter of perception? If I see something connected with Krishna, there is no maya. If I don't see something connected with Krishna, then there is maya.
So yes, that is one level of understanding. Now the important thing is that the Bhagavatam, sarvam, as the Upanishads say, sarvam kalpamidam brahma, everything is Brahma. Yes, everything is Brahma, but what is the ninchiva tattvam? Vadam vidat tattvam yath tattvam yath gyanam advayam.
Brahmeti paramatmeti bhagwani shakti. That one absolute truth, Jiva Swami explains in Sandarvas, tattvam yath gyanam advayam, that is tattvam, the absolute truth. This was 1 to 11 in the Bhagavatam.
Gyanam advayam is non-differentiated. It is non-differentiated, but that same one absolute truth, which the impersonalists call as advayam jnana, their idea of advayam, advayam is duality, jnana is knowledge. So advayam jnana means the knowledge which goes beyond duality.
So advayam jnana tattvam that is there, the Bhagavatam says that there is advayam jnana tattvam, but advayam jnana tattvam manifests at multiple levels. It is brahmeti, paramatmeti, bhagwani shakti. So the advayam jnana tattvam is not just at the stream of consciousness.
The advayam jnana tattvam exists also as paramatma. The advayam jnana tattvam exists also as bhagwan. And in this way, that same one absolute truth manifests in different ways.
And the whole absolute truth actually, the absolute truth is all that exists. We also exist as parts of that absolute truth. Mammai vahamishu jiva loke jiva bhoktasana.
We are its parts. Amsha. So, yes, that God is all that exists.
That is a fundamental teaching of the Upanishads. And the Bhagavatam accepts that. And the Bhagavatam nuances that teaching.
It does not mean that akti exists, that no subject or no object exists. That subject, object and the stream of consciousness, they are all God at various levels of manifestation. So here, when I said that there is a subject, there is an object and there is the stream of consciousness in between.
Now where exactly does the illusion lie? Now, if the subject and object are not illusion, as the impersonalists and the monists say, then where exactly is the illusion? Is the illusion in the object? Okay, certain objects, they are mine. But Krishna is quite clear in the Bhagavad Gita, when he in 3.36 to 43, he analyses the enemy of selfish desire, which is referred to as kama. Kama can specifically refer to lust as the sexual attraction.
Generically, it can refer to selfish desire that sabotages our spiritual growth, that makes us act against our best interests. So there, when Krishna is talking about the location of kama, where he does not say anywhere that the kama resides in the vishaya, the kama resides in the sense of this. He says, So he says in 3.14 of the Bhagavad Gita that this kama, where does it reside? Senses, the mind and intelligence.
This is where it is situated. By this, one gets deluded. By covering the knowledge of the emperor and so on.
So Krishna is not saying that the illusion exists in the sense of objects. The illusion exists in, not the object of perception, it exists in the subject who is perceiving. Somebody may say, but no, when I see some attractive sense object, that's when I feel the desire for it.
If I see some delicious food item, I feel like eating it. If I see some object that I don't like, I get the desire to possess it. So clearly, it is the object that is causing the desire then.
So isn't it the object the cause? Actually, the object is not the cause. The object is the trigger. The difference between the cause and the trigger is that the trigger triggers only when there is a particular mode of illusion present in the subject.
So for example, if a person has never drunk alcohol and has no intention of drinking alcohol, let's say a person passes by a bar. When they pass by a bar, they see the object. But that object does not trigger any desire in the person.
Why is that? Somebody else who is an alcoholic or is a covering alcoholic, when they pass by the bar, at that time they feel the desire. The same object, it triggers desire in one person, it doesn't trigger desire in another person. That means that the object is itself not the cause.
Now when we use the word trigger, what trigger means is that when the trigger is pressed, the bullet will be shot. But when the trigger is pressed, the bullet will be shot only when the bullet is present in the gun. If there is no bullet in the gun, the trigger's pressing will have no effect.
So like that, certain objects act as triggers of illusion for us. But those triggers trigger us only because the illusory desire is already there within us. The attachment is already there within us.
So, indriyani manodhir is situated in the senses, mind and intelligence. And only when the desire is situated in the mind and intelligence, in one of these places, senses, mind and intelligence, that is when we are prone to illusion. If the selfish desire, karma was not present, then even the presence of the trigger would not trigger desire to us.
And so the object is not the source of the illusion. The object is not the cause of the illusion. Although the object may be the trigger for the illusion.
Now, in the process of conception, now Krishna is interesting in the same third chapter of the Gita, he uses the word jnani repeatedly. In the same words, he says that indriyani manodhir asya abhishanam jitai limo yathyesha jnanam avrutte dhenam. Jnana, knowledge.
That the soul originally had knowledge. So, this is jnana, avrutam jnanam nitya vairena. Krishna said the soul is jnani.
Here Krishna is not using the word jnani in the sense of the seeker on the path of jnana yoga. He is using the word jnani in a generic sense to refer to one who possesses knowledge. The soul by its very nature is capable of enlightened perception.
That is the nature of the soul, but then the soul undergoes sometimes an illusory perception. And when this happens, so the soul is capable of enlightened perception, but the soul has an illusory perception. The soul pursues wrong and that wrong perception is caused by the contamination that is there surrounding the soul.
The soul, when we say the soul is an illusion, what does it mean? Like I say a person is in water. That means the water is surrounding the person. So, like that the soul is surrounded by the subtle body and the gross body.
And in the subtle body, that is where the illusion is present. Now, I am giving this as a background to discuss the significance of mukta yoga. How does the lord appear to the illusion? So, the lord appears to the illusion that is very different from how we are put into illusion.
None of the forces that put us into illusion actually act on you. But before I move on to the lord, one more point here that when we talk about illusion, say for example, greed or lust or anger, is that just a feeling within us or is that a thing within us? No. Is say greed just a feeling within me, I am feeling greed, you know, or is greed something within me that induces that feeling? Actually, it is both.
It is both in the sense that Krishna, when he talks about karma in the Bhagavad Gita, he refers to it as a concrete object which exists. This karma resides in the indriya, mana and kutti. So, that means it is an object and it is an object, it is a thing that exists and that thing kindles a particular desire in us.
So, to give an example for this, say if I have a computer and then sometimes some computers are taken over by, right now there is a big threat of ransomware. Many computers are being shut down by this ransomware which has caught and captured people's computers. Say, now if there is some bug in my computer, some virus, some software has come in my computer and that malware is, it just takes, as soon as I log on to the internet, instead of the browser opening to my home page, it opens on some other page and that site is a dangerous site where further viruses will come in, further harmful software comes in.
Now, that particular contaminating software is there within me, is there on my computer. But when that software starts getting activated, at that time my browser starts going to a particular site. When it is going to that site, I still have the choice.
I don't want to go there. How is it going there? Close it. I can close it off.
But if I am not vigilant, then that browser will go to that site and when it goes to that site, then further contamination of the computer will happen. That means, in the computer, when a computer is contaminated in this particular way, of a software in and of a particular site, then there is the code that is present on my computer and that code pushes my computer's browser to go to a particular site. So, if I have to deal with it, if I have to prevent my computer from getting further contaminated, two things are happening.
First is that if the computer browser is going to that harmful site, I just close it. No, I don't want to go there. Actually, I go there without my intention, without my plan.
I just go there automatically. I have to close it. No, I don't want to go there.
And then after that, I have to shut down. After that, I have to find out that particular malware and delete it. So, both these, first is, listen, control.
Control. Don't let the computer go to that site and then clean. Clean up.
Similarly, in the Bhagavad Gita, when Krishna talks about the qualities of a Brahmana, he talks about Shama and Dama. Shama is control of the mind and Dama is control of the senses. So, what it means is, it is best if our mind is controlled.
It is best if there are no contaminations in our mind. Like there is no malware on the computer, that's the best. But if there is malware on the computer, the site is going off to some undesired, the browser is going off to some undesired site, at least don't let it go there.
That is Dama. If the mind gets agitated, at least don't let the agitation express itself at the physical level, at the sensual level. Yeah, I am agitated, but I won't act on it.
So, for us, both Dama and Shama are important. And as long as we are not pure, as long as the contaminations are there, we will leave Dama. The malware will just take the computer off to an undesirable site.
Like that, even without our doing anything, our mind will just go off to some undesirable thoughts. So, we need Dama. It is going there, bring it back.
Going there, bring it back. यतो यतो निष्चिलति मनः चन्चिरमस्तिना तत्तस्तो तो नियमेतेत आत्मिये पशंदियेत Krishna says in 6.26 in the Bhagavad Gita, whenever and whenever the mind wanders, bring it back under the control of the site. That means you have to be aware.
Oh, where is my browser going? I don't want to go there. Where is my mind going? I don't want to go there. But then over a period of time, you keep doing this.
Krishna says in the next verse, युञ्जनेवं सथात्मान। योगी विगद कर्मशः। सुखेन ब्रह्म संपर्शः। अत्यम् तन्सुखाश्वते। It is युञ्जनेवं सथात्मान। In this way, the devotee, the yogi keeps practising yoga consistently. योगी विगद कर्मशः। The contamination goes away from the consciousness. सुखेन ब्रह्म संपर्शः। And there is contact with Brahman, contact with spiritual reality.
अत्यम् तन्सुखाश्वते। One starts experiencing the ultimate happiness. So the idea is, this process, there has to be, there has to be control and there has to be cleansing. So we can't expect the cleansing to happen overnight.
The cleansing is going to take time. Sometimes it may take a lifetime. And during that lifetime, when the cleansing is happening, then it's control that is needed.
So the soul in this world is मूद्ध. And what is it that makes the soul मूद्ध? That is माया. So माया, there is, the word माया can be understood etymologically.
Yeah, etymologically in terms of language and its meaning, माया, it is a false perception, that which is not. माया, in terms of effect, is our misreading of the situation. Our thinking that objects are what they are not.
And there is also माया as an agency. माया is a person. The Bhagavatam tells that, माया वैश्णवी जन्दर्वोखिदे। By describing माया, Bhagavatam says that it is actually वैश्णवी.
She is actually a devotee. वैश्णवी, वैश्णवी. She is a devotee.
माया is not against us. The purpose of माया is not to defeat us. The purpose of माया is not to thwart us.
It is to test us. Thwart means that you just don't want to be defeated. You cannot do this.
You cannot do that. You are trying to do it. I'll stop you.
I'll stop you. I'll stop you. And this is the purpose of माया is not to thwart us.
It is to test us. Test us means that Shri Prabhupada was once in Vrindavan and he was giving the Bhagavad Dharma lectures. It later came as the Bhagavad Dharma that you have to transcend.
You have to transcend this. And in one of his classes there, he was asked by devotees, Prabhupada, if our purpose is to serve Krishna, then why is माया so strong? And Prabhupada immediately replied, because your purpose is not strong. So माया is not here to stop us from going towards Krishna.
माया is here simply to test whether we want Krishna more than the things of this world. Whether we want Krishna more than the things of this world. Pure devotees are those who want only Krishna.
Very few of us are pure devotees. At least I am far from a pure devotee. But potential pure devotees are those who want Krishna more than anything else in this world.
The contaminations are there in our heart. And we can't wish the contaminations. There is lust, there is greed, there is envy.
These are there. But we don't entertain them. They may create certain desires within us, but we don't let those desires go.
We want Krishna more than things in this world. When that happens, then we move forward steadily onwards towards Krishna. No matter whatever temptations come our way, they tempt us.
But there is temptation and there is intention. Temptation is what comes from outside. Intention is what comes from inside.
Now what links the temptation to intention is perception. Temptation comes from outside. When will that temptation create an intention from inside? When there is perception.
When I perceive that this is a source of pleasure and that this is a source of greater pleasure than anything else. At that moment we think this is a source of greater pleasure than Krishna. This is what I want.
So the temptation creates the intention with its false perception. But if our intention is very strong, I want to serve Krishna, then we won't dwell so much in that temptation. When we don't dwell so much in the temptation, that temptation cannot pervert our intention.
That's why the more we hear regularly, the more by hearing about Krishna, by associating with devotees of Krishna, our devotional intention becomes strong. And to the extent our devotional intention is strong, then other perceptions which may come in the course of our life, then they won't sabotage us. They won't distract us.
Say if I'm coming to the temple. I'm driving by. And I'm coming to the temple.
And if I'm eager to come to the temple, Oh, there's a programme here, I'm going to attend the programme. If I'm eager, then I just straight come to the programme. But if I have myself at the temple, I could go to the temple, but then, I look around.
It's a movie theatre. This looks like a nice movie. Or along the way, there's a sports stadium.
There's a cricket match going on over here. So, if my intention is not strong, then whatever temptation comes on the way, that temptation will cause distraction. Now this is very graphic.
If somebody is going to one place, suddenly they end up at another place. That can also happen at times. But internally, this is what happens to us.
If our intention to come towards Krishna is strong, then the temptations will be present. But they won't distract us. But if somebody is going on a sightseeing tour, and they're thinking, maybe I can go to the temple, maybe I can go here, maybe I can go there, then we will be caught.
If we are casual, we'll become casualties. If we are casual in our devotion, then our devotion will become a casualty. Because there are so many desires that come up, and those desires will not be able to resist.
So now, in the case of Krishna, this mukta giver is remarkable. Because Krishna, there is, as I said, there is the illusion that is primarily in the subject. One who is perceiving they are contaminations because of which he is influenced.
And in Krishna, there are no such contaminations. So therefore, Krishna cannot be put in the illusion. Now, if the contaminations are already inside us, then what is the role of Maya? Maya Devi, what does she exactly do? Maya Devi, she basically provides us options.
She provides us, why don't you try this, why don't you try that, why don't you try that? She provides options. And it is for us to choose among the options. Now, as one has asked a question that, now if God wants us to do good things, then why are there so many bad options in the world? The good options are so few, and the bad options are so many.
So I explained, that's how it always is in any multiple choice exam. Because in any multiple choice exam, the bad options are always more than the good options. Like the choice were dependent only on probability.
Out of five options, four are wrong. The probability of the student choosing the right option is 20%, that means fail. But the choice is not dependent on probability.
The choice is dependent on education. The student who has studied well will be able to make the right choice. The wrong choices that are there, in a multiple choice exam, are not to taunt the student.
They are not to mislead the student. They are to test the student. Which choice does the student want to make? So Maya Devi, she provides these multiple choices for us.
She is like the examiner. She provides the multiple choices for us, and it is for us to choose. And if we are fixing our attention towards Krishna, Krishna gives us the intelligence by which we can make the right choices.
And we move straight towards Krishna. So in the case of Krishna, this muddhati word does not apply. Because first of all, there is no contamination within him.
And secondly, he is not a student to be tested by Maya. He is above Maya. He is transcendental.
Because he is transcendental, so he can never come under illusion. So with Krishna, it appears as if he is undecided. It is as if he doesn't know who is who, what is happening.
That is simply a part of his leela. Leela is, there is Maya and there is leela. So in both, there is a sense of unreality.
But that unreality, Maya is the unreality which takes us deeper into illusion. Whereas leela also has a sense of unreality in it. I will talk about leela in a later class.
Maybe tomorrow or one of the later classes. But leela is that which takes us deeper into reality. Deeper into connection with the supreme reality.
So in that sense, Maya and leela are opposite in their effect. Although there is some kind of illusion, where even the Rajvasis don't know that Krishna is God. And Krishna doesn't always act as God.
Krishna is God. Rajvasi is not acting like that. That is some kind of illusion.
But that is a deeper illusion. And that takes them closer to Krishna. So leela is the kind of illusion that takes people closer to Krishna.
Maya is the illusion that takes people away from Krishna. And here, what we are seeing in the 10th canto of the Bhagavatam is leela. So, the process of bhakti is for transferring us from maya to leela.
From this material world to the spiritual world. And to the extent, consistently keep practising bhakti, striving by the associative devotees, by the practise of sadhana bhakti, to make Krishna our strongest desire. Then, gradually, we become purified and will come out of this illusion.
Not only will, we have to… Right now, we have to struggle to make the right choices, even if the wrong choices are yours. But as we become purified, there will be cleansing. And once the cleansing happens, the right choices will become natural for us.
And then, as the right choices become natural, bhakti becomes much more easier. Bhakti becomes much more joyful. So, sukham karam bhakti.
That is Bhagavad Gita 6.9.2. That becomes our experience. So, I can relish in the process of bhakti, then the distractions from bhakti stop pulling us away from Krishna. Then we can focus on Krishna, we can absorb in Krishna, and relish the sweetness.
So, I'll summarise what I spoke today. I spoke about how in this world, the fundamental teaching of all spiritual traditions is that things are not as they are. There is counterfactual perception that's happening.
And the nature of that counterfactual perception, that is where the Vaishnavas and the Monists differ. So, when a hallucination means there is no object, but there is perception, which is wrong. Illusion means that there is an object, but it is wrongly perceived.
Like, just perceive a snake, a rope to be a snake. Now, in any perception, there is no object, there is subject and stream of consciousness. The impersonalists hold that the stream of consciousness itself, that is the reality, object and subject are the illusions.
And they hold that there is only God that exists. The Vaishnavas agree that there is only God that exists. But God is not just a stream of consciousness.
God as the absolute person is the supreme subject of consciousness. And all the other entities in existence, they are also energies of God. So, that is it.
Now, then what is illusion? Illusion is not something which exists in the object. The same object can cause illusion within one person, not illusion in another person. That's why the object is not the source of the illusion.
Krishna says it is in the person itself, that in their mind, senses, mind, that will damage the situation. And the object is not the cause, the object is the trigger. Just like when a person gets wounded, the trigger pressing is not the cause of the wound.
It is the bullet that is present in the gun that is the cause of the wound. Similarly, the object is not what causes us to fall down. It is the desire within us, the bullet that is there within us that causes us to fall down.
And then we discussed about how the process of, so is selfish desire like karma, is it just a feeling or is it a thing? It is both a thing which induces a feeling. Just like when some malware captures our computer, the code is physically present in our computer, but then it makes us do certain things, visit certain sites which are harmful. So then the way to deal with this is control and cleanse.
If the browser goes off that site, stop it, stop it, close it, then close it repeatedly, and then gradually find an anti-virus software where you can cleanse that malware. Like that, for us, selfish desires are there in our consciousness. When they impel our consciousness, this object, that object, this way, that way.
So whenever that happens, we cleanse it, that is dhamma. Sorry, we control it, that is dhamma. So we pull the senses back from whenever they go towards the object, and then we shaman, that means we make the mind peaceful.
We purify ourselves. So when illusion, when there is illusion, it is primarily because of what is present within us that we damage. And maya is the illusory energy, which is also a devotee of Krishna.
And she tempts us, her purpose is not to tempt us harder, it is to test us. And she tests us by giving us multiple options. It is only when our intention to serve Krishna is weak, that her temptations will change our intentions, and we will succumb.
Like a person wanting to come to the temple, but going off to watch a movie. Prabhupada said this, because your purpose is not strong, that maya gets stronger. And by associating with devotees, we strengthen our spiritual notions.
And as the intention becomes stronger and stronger, then the struggle becomes lesser and lesser. And once we are contaminating softer, and our thoughts go away from our consciousness, then bhakti becomes joyful. And as we move from the illusion of this world, which is maya, which keeps us, which takes us away from Krishna, to the illusion of the spiritual world, which is leela, which takes us deeper into the truth.
Krishna, when he appears to be an illusion, there are no contaminations within him. There is no maya which is testing him. He is above maya, he is a master.
If at all he seems to be perceiving things wrongly sometimes, it is purely illusion. Thank you very much. Thank you Krishna.
We have a few minutes. Any comments or questions? Just one question. Thank you.
In regards to the test of maya, there is a Christian saying that God is not sending us more pests than we can pass. But I heard from one devotee that it's actually not true sometimes. That God is not sending you? God cannot send us more temptations that we can overcome.
Or God is not testing us to the greater level that we can overcome or whatever. Pass. But I also heard that it's not true that.
So does Krishna only test us according to our capacity or does he test us beyond our capacity also? The temptations that come are commensurate with our capacity to resist them. So generally the process of bhakti is very subtle. At one level, yes Krishna always sends us temptations that we can resist.
That's what I understood. Because the word for ripples is education. The student is in the first grade.
The student has to prepare for the first grade. But the student doesn't have to worry about the exam in the 10th grade. The teacher is not going to do the exam in the 10th grade.
So in that sense, there is a progressive purpose of educational growth in whatever we face in our life. So at that level we can say the purpose of every test that we face is to help us grow. But growth is not necessarily unique.
In the sense that it is not necessary that only by rejecting a temptation will you grow. Because my eyes are subtle. Sometimes I may reject a temptation but in rejecting the temptation I become proud of my initiation.
I say, I came atop. If I am doing that, in a sense I am winning the battle against temptation. But I am losing the war for temptation.
Because I am not going closer to Krishna. I am going further away from Krishna. Instead of feeling dependent on Krishna, I am feeling proud.
See, I am so nunsed. The purpose of nunciation, the purpose of purity is so that we can undistractedly look up at Krishna. But Maya is so subtle that sometimes with that same same purity, instead of looking up at Krishna, I start looking down contemptuously at others.
It is so important. So adapt. It is such a sense gratification.
I may fast nirjano nikadashi. And then I go in the kitchen and see who is eating what. My body is fasting.
My ego is feasting. So, I have helped pass the test. I have helped.
So sometimes, what may happen is that we may, I will just give you an example to illustrate the converse point which I wanted to make. Sometimes we fail the test. And we say, this was such a temptation.
I just couldn't have resisted it. Things came in such a way that I just succumbed. But if that failure in the battle against temptation, if that makes us more humble, if that makes us feel more the need for Krishna, if that makes us understand, Krishna, I cannot live without you.
I need you, Krishna. Then that feeling of increased dependence on Krishna, that awareness of our neediness for Krishna, that increased awareness is actually a success. So, we may have lost the battle against temptation, but we have won the war for devotion.
We have taken one step forward in the war for devotion. Not only won it, but on the journey to winning it. So, in that sense, the way Krishna tests us, it is always for our good.
But growth may not just happen in terms of external success. Sometimes, we are given a service. And that service is just impossible to do.
If I have been given the instruction to do this service, if Vaishnavas have told me to do this service, then I have been empowered to do this service. And then we are not able to do it. Was it that the empowerment was not there? Was it that our sincerity was not there? No, none of these may be true.
If we just see that, Krishna wants to be just someone who has an impact. Who could be more empowered than Sri Krishna? And yet, for almost 40 years of his preaching, he did not get any success. So, both in terms of temptations, or in terms of tribulations.
Basically, Maya, the tests come in two ways. Temptation is, come on, do this, give up Krishna, because this is so enjoyable. And tribulation means, kill Krishna, because this is so troublesome.
Why do it? So, Krishna's test can come in both ways. There is so much pleasure elsewhere, so go there. There is so much trouble here, why are you staying here? Just go away from here.
Both ways. When either way the test comes, the tribulation that comes when you try to serve and you are not successful in the service, or that also has higher burdens. So, sometimes if a devotee keeps serving, even amidst lack of success, in terms of external results in the service.
Now, we may say that, oh, I was giving myself that, I just could not have done. Maybe that we are, in the material sense, or in the sense of this word, it's not always that things happen which we are capable of coping with. But even when there are things which we are not capable of coping with, if we face them, we will grow by that.
Even if we don't succeed. There is a story, it's like a folk tale, but let's take this point. Once a person was going through a forest and he heard a voice.
He said, this is God speaking. He said, just push this boulder up the hill. He said, it's a huge boulder.
He said, I can't push it. Push it. And he kept pushing.
He thought God has told me. He said, keep pushing. One day, two day, one month, two months, six months he was pushing.
And finally, he couldn't even budge the boulder. So he got frustrated. He said, God, why did you tell me to push this boulder up the hill? You knew I couldn't do it.
He said, what did I tell you to do? He said, I told you to push it. You told me to push it. He said, yes, I told you to push it.
Who told you to move it? He said, you said it has no effect, but look at your own muscles. You have become stronger. So sometimes, we will go for a particular service, no results will come.
But by being that service, we will grow. So in that sense, whatever comes in our life is for our growth. But exactly how it is for our growth, it may not be the linear external sense that we succeed and that's how we grow.
Sometimes even through failure, we may also grow. Does this answer the question? Great question. Yes, my dear.
Last question. How can we keep our intentions strong? Okay, yeah. So how can we keep our intentions strong? That is basically conviction and association.
Conviction comes from philosophy. It is intellectual. So basically, we could say although the contaminations are there in the senses, mind and intelligence, they are primarily in the mind.
The mind is often the reservoir, the primary agent of illusion. For all practical purposes, we could say that maya is equal to the mind. For all practical purposes.
Philosophically, maya is a being. But practically, maya is equal to the mind. So basically, when we have to counter the sabotaging of our intentions that is going to happen, then we have to launch an attack on the mind.
So there are two pronged attacks. It is internally with the intelligence, externally through association. So with the intelligence, what happens is, when we study the philosophy, when we hear the hear the past tense of Krishna, then we start understanding that this is actually the ultimate reality.
Chetan Chaitanya would say that Siddhanta Paliya Chitte Nagare Yadams Bihate Krishna Ravi Sudhura Manams Don't think that because this is philosophy, I don't want to study. I just want to pass. I don't want to study.
No, Siddhanta. By sudden, Siddhanta, what happens? Bihate Krishna Ravi Sudhura Manams By our mind, we come close to Krishna. Because we understand, Krishna is the reality.
Krishna is the real source of happiness. Everything else is temporary. So the interconnection by regular study of philosophy that helps us to solidify our intention.
And along with that, there is association. So usually our desires, we think of desires as linear. That means, I see a particular object and I get it.
I see a nice delicacy and I want to eat it. So yes, desires are linear. But desires are not just linear.
They are also triangular. Triangular means that say a new phone has come out. Now there are so many new phones which keep coming.
But there is some movie star, some sports star who endorses that phone. Say, I am using this phone. This is so great.
Then people go interested in it. So what has happened? Seeing the phone itself did not trigger the desire. But seeing somebody who was using that phone triggered the desire.
So our desires are not just linear. They are also triangular. Triangular means when we see somebody else doing that activity, we feel inspired to do that activity.
Or when we see somebody else enjoy that object, we desire to enjoy that object. And this triangularity of desires is especially important in bhakti because the object to which we are attracted in bhakti, that may not always appear attractive to our senses. Sense objects, they naturally appear attractive to senses.
But say, I am studying Bhagavad Gita. How many people just by seeing Bhagavad Gita get irresistible desire to study the Bhagavad Gita? Not many. But if you associate with somebody who is delighting in the Gita, you associate somebody who is delighting in the Bhagavad Gita, you say, I didn't know this point.
I didn't know there is so much taste over here. So what happens by associating with them, we get their desires. Now we come to a temple and Kirtan is going on.
I always think that goes on. But there is somebody who is closed eyes, completely absorbed, lost in the Gita. What is there in this Gita? I want to taste it.
I just close my eyes and try to absorb this. So it is the association of devotees that triggers spiritual desires. And that's why association is also not just physical proximity.
If you just associate with devotees and discuss mundane things or if you associate with devotees and criticise other devotees, then that is not association. Association essentially means the transfer of desires. You are associating with devotees when devotional desires are being transferred from one devotee to another.
Otherwise, even the association of devotees may just be mundane association. So why? And of course in association, there is not just the transfer of desires, there is also action. We engage in service.
So in terms of there is intention internal, there is conviction internal and there is associative external. These two, they solidify intention. And also, just by doing the service, by doing the service, there is purification that happens by connection with Krishna.
And that is the strength of the intention. Just keep doing the service. If you might have not pointed it out practically, it's trying to fix the non-dimensionalism.
By doing this, just by consistently doing service, also the intention becomes stronger. If you just keep keep sharing the knowledge of the Lord, keep preaching, keep the spirituals, gradually, that just becomes a part of our make-up and naturally we get it. So by conviction, by association, and just by repetition, by these three things, we can strengthen our intention.