Bhakti-yoga is the balancer of our emotional and rational sides

[Evening class at London, UK]

book table. Thank all of you for coming today evening. And I’ll speak on the topic today of Bhakti Yoga as the balancer of emotionality and rationality.
We all have two sides. The emotional side, which is driven primarily by our feelings. And the rational side, which is driven by logic, reasoning.
And sometimes these are referred to as the head and the heart. The rational side is referred to as the head. And the emotional side is referred to as the heart.
In the Bhagavad Gita’s language, these two can be connected with the mind and the intelligence. The mind is where emotions are stored and experienced. And intelligence is where reasoning is done.
Is anything spoken through this? No, now it’s better. So now, in the Bhagavad Gita, in the 8th chapter, in the 7th verse, Krishna says, smāt sarveṣu kāleṣu mām anusmara yuddhaja mayi arpita mano buddhir mām evaiśyasya samśayaḥ So he says, mayi arpita mano buddhir offer to you, offer to me your mind and your intelligence. And this theme of offering one’s mind and intelligence is talked about repeatedly in the Gita.
12th chapter also Krishna talks about describing the qualities of the devotees who are very dear to him. He says they offer their mayi arpita mano buddhir. Same quarter phrase, quarter of a verse he uses.
So the emotional and the rational faculties, both Krishna says, you offer them to me. And that way you will come to me. mām evaiśyasya samśayaḥ So now the start of the Bhagavad Gita is a setting where Arjuna’s emotions have made him powerless.
Emotions are themselves very powerful. Say sometimes when somebody becomes angry, that anger is an emotion. And in the spell of anger they may attack and they may beat up someone.
There is power over there. Now that power, whether it is channelled constructively or destructively, that depends on how well a person can manage the emotions. So the same emotion which can make a person act in a very forceful way, similarly the emotion can also paralyse a person.
Sometimes when we become too stressed, too overwhelmed, we just can’t do anything at that time. So Arjuna at the start of the Bhagavad Gita, what happens to him is he just gets overwhelmed by emotions. And ātam tathā kṛpayā viṣṭam āśrū-pūrṇā kulekṣaṇam āśrū-pūrṇā akulekṣaṇam ikṣaṇa is the eyes.
So akula is the hole of the eyes. So they are filled with tears. And in this way, he was not able to do anything.
na yod cheti govindam uktvā tūṣṇīṁ babhuvaḥ na yod sya, I will not fight. And uktvā tūṣṇīṁ, he spoke this, babhuvaḥ, he became silent. I will not do anything more.
So emotions at the start, emotions had paralysed Arjuna. Emotions had overwhelmed him. So Arjuna was preparing for a outer war.
But before he could even start fighting the outer war, an inner war was raging with him. The war between his emotionality and his rationality. Between his mind and his intelligence.
And the mind had caught his intelligence in his triangle folder. And Arjuna was not able to do anything. We also experience in our life that sometimes emotions overwhelm us.
Now, emotions are just natural human responses to situations. It’s not that emotions themselves are good or bad. So yes, certain emotions are pleasant, certain emotions are unpleasant.
But the emotions themselves are natural human responses. Say for example, I am sitting on this chair. Now if there is a nail over here, that nail will cause me pain.
That pain is simply a sensation which warns me that there is something dangerous over here, something hurting over here. If this chair is soft, then I feel comfortable either way. So just as there are physical sensations that are simply natural biological responses to the kind of stimuli that we experience.
Similarly, there are emotional or psychological responses to the kind of stimuli that we experience. Somebody insults us. Then naturally it hurts us.
Somebody praises us. That makes us feel happy. So emotions are just natural responses at one level.
Now, emotions in themselves are natural responses. But at the same time, we are not meant to be driven only by our emotions. Suppose we are going by a train to some important place for an urgent meeting.
In that train, there is very little space. Things are cramped. In India, probably locals are very cramped.
So it may not be like that here. So it’s still there? Oh, is it? So when it’s cramped, that is an uncomfortable feeling. But still, we have a higher purpose.
I want to get there. And I tolerate the discomfort. So the discomfort is there, but the physical discomfort is not the decider of my action.
I cannot wish away the physical discomfort. But if I have an intention to do something, then I don’t let that discomfort change my intention. I don’t let that discomfort sabotage my intention.
So I still pursue it. So that means, there are three levels we talk. There is sensation at the level of the body.
There is emotion at the level of the mind. And then beyond that, there is intention. Intention is actually at the level of the intelligence.
So we think, we feel, and we decide. So decision is like an intention. So our emotions cannot be wished away.
If somebody speaks harshly to us, we feel hurt. But then, if our intention is that, okay, I have to arrive at some negotiation with this person, then we neglect the way they’re speaking and we respond in a way that will further whatever is our purpose. So that means that the rational side of us, it is also important to balance the emotions.
So there is the emotional side, which needs to be regulated and directed by the rational side. It needs to be regulated. I know, yes, I feel angry, but I may not express my anger in the way I feel.
I may express my displeasure, my feelings, but I may express them in a regulated way. It’s regulation. And then directed.
Directed means emotions have power. But that power, if it is channelled properly, it is constructive. Otherwise, it can be destructive.
There is hydroelectric, there is water flow. When the water is flowing, say there is a waterfall or there is any other place, the waterfall, just water will keep falling. But if there is somebody intelligent, they make a hydroelectric power plant over there.
Then that water falls, the energy that is there is tapped. Otherwise, the water just keeps falling and flowing away. So like that our emotions are like a very powerful flow.
But if we have our intelligence, our rational side strong, the rationality can be the regulator and the director of the emotions. At the same time, the rational side alone can become too calculative and depersonalised. So our rational side, that means our thoughts.
So there are thoughts, there are feelings and there are intentions. So our feelings or emotions need to be regulated and directed by our rational side, which is our thoughts. I’ll come to intention a little later.
But intention is a decision that we make. So whenever we pursue something, we have thoughts in relationship with that and then we have emotions in relationship with that. So thinking is largely a faculty of the rational side.
Feeling is a faculty of the emotional side. So now our thoughts need to be animated by our emotions. Thinking can be very clinical and cold.
In spiritual life, there is a big difference between knowing about God and knowing God. Knowing about God is just theoretical intellectual knowledge. Knowing God is personal knowledge.
So Bhakti Yoga is about connecting with Krishna as a person. So to understand the difference between knowing about God and knowing God, let’s consider the example, say, of a child who is sick. And the child is sick, the mother takes the child to a doctor.
Then the doctor may ask a battery of tests to be done. And after that, the doctor may know the blood pressure, the blood count, the heartbeat, the pulse rate, the physical state by the medical parameters. The doctor may know very well.
The doctor may know them better than the mother. But then that is all knowledge about the child. It is the mother who knows the child.
Because the doctor is approaching the child primarily as a doctor’s purpose primarily is not to develop a relationship with the child. It is good if the doctor is personal and develops a relationship. But the doctor’s primary purpose is to treat the body.
So the doctor approaches the patient as primarily a biological mechanism. They want to find out what is wrong with this biological mechanism and treat that. So the doctor does not know the child the way the mother knows.
Because the mother is there as approaching as a person. So there is knowing about a person and knowing a person. Knowing a person is when we approach them as a person and there is emotions involved.
Knowing about a person is just abstract information. So now if the rational side is too strong then all that happens is we just get some factual information. All the information that we get, we are so caught in processing it, in evaluating it that we don’t get emotionally connected at all.
When we are not emotionally connected then there cannot be any deep relationship. So our thoughts need to be animated by emotions. And the process of bhakti yoga, sometimes people think of bhakti primarily as emotion.
Bhakti is emotion. It’s a bhavna. Yes, it is emotion.
But it is actually purified emotion. And at our stage, we may sometimes participate in the kirtan, sometimes go to a temple and when we take darshan of the lord, we may experience some emotions. It’s good if we experience some emotions in relationship with the lord.
At the same time, these are preliminary emotions which are indicative of what we will get in the future. But the purified emotions are of an entirely different scale. Of an entirely different intensity.
And they are the fruit. They are the destination. But to get to the destination there is a process to be followed.
And in that process, there is both the heart and the head. There is both the rational and the emotional side involved. Now, especially in the Bhagavad Gita, because Arjuna has been repeatedly overwhelmed by, not repeatedly, at the start of the Gita, he has been overwhelmed by emotions.
The Bhagavad Gita’s focus is throughout on emotional equanimity. Krishna tells Arjuna that, So he says that, in this 5.20 in the Gita, That one who does not delight when that person gets something pleasant. They get something pleasing, but they don’t delight, they don’t get elated by that.
And on the other hand, when they get something unpleasant, they don’t get dejected. They don’t get devastated by that. Now, this duality we might see on the two sides of a tennis court when the winning shot is played.
You know, the winner is going, Yahoo! And the other, Oh no! Other goes in the opposite direction. So, there is, The opposite of what the Gita is telling. So much emotionality over there.
So now, Krishna says that, avoid these emotional extremes. That is how a spiritual seeker acts. How does one do this? By the buddhi, the sthira is fixed.
So, the emotions will come. It’s not that the serious spiritualist is like an insentient person. Insentient means they are just not capable of experiencing any emotions.
It’s not like that. Because Krishna is saying that there is priya and apriya. They also understand that this is pleasant, this is unpleasant.
They are sensing it. But they are not letting themselves be influenced by it. So, there is the awareness that this is pleasant, this is unpleasant.
But, they are not influenced by it. Why is that? Because sthira buddhi, that their intelligence is steady. Asamudho.
Asamudho means that they are not bewildered. Asamudho. They don’t get deluded.
Brahmavit. Brahmavit means one who is spiritually situated. Brahmaisthitaha.
They are spiritually knowledgeable. Brahmavit is spiritual knowledge. And Brahmaisthitaha is spiritually situated.
Those who are in spiritual knowledge and those who are spiritually realised, they act in this way. And the converse of this is in the Bhagavad Gita. Many of its verses are both descriptive and prescriptive.
Descriptive means that they describe the state of spiritual seers. This is how spiritual seers are. Those who are very spiritually advanced, they don’t get elated when they get pleasant things.
They don’t get devastated, dejected when they get unpleasant things. So in that sense, these verses are prescriptive. Sorry, they are descriptive.
They describe what is the state of advanced spiritual seers. But at the same time, those verses can also be seen as prescriptive. We seekers, they are prescription for us.
Try to act in this way. We may not naturally be able to act in that way, but we don’t get too shaken up and down by emotions. So we can see these as descriptions and prescriptions.
Now, how does this happen? Is it that a person is not meant to have any emotions? No, that is not what the Bhagavad Gita is telling. I’ll take a few metaphors to illustrate this point. See, our emotions are extremely powerful.
They are like an elephant. And elephant is powerful. Now elephant has a elephant controller, mahout, one who controls the elephant.
And then there is an elephant rider, there is a passenger who is riding on the elephant. So, our emotions are like that elephant. And intelligence is like the mahout, is like the person who is going to control the emotions.
And then we as souls are the rider of the elephant. So there is the rider of the elephant, there is the driver of the elephant, and there is the elephant itself. Now, if the driver loses control, what will happen? The elephant can run pelmen.
Elephant can just run so fast that the passenger just gets knocked off, thrown out, can get trampled also. So, the elephant is extremely powerful. And relatively speaking, the elephant driver, the mahout, is not that powerful.
He is a small person. But the mahout’s strength is in the skill. Skill usually has some kind of a gourd, there may be some ropes.
The strength in terms of physicality is far greater of the elephant. But strength in terms of skill is what the mahout needs to have. So our emotions are extremely powerful.
And unless our intelligence is skilled, unless our intelligence is skilled, we will just be carried away by our emotions. And Arjuna was an extremely powerful warrior. Probably the foremost warrior in the whole Kurukshetra war field.
But still, he was carried away by his emotions. So, at the start of the Bhagavad Gita, it’s like the elephant dragging him away. And then, one definition of intelligence is to know what to do when we don’t know what to do.
I don’t know what to do. So, what should I do? So, at that time, what did Arjuna do? He surrendered. He said, Krishna, please help me.
I surrender to you. I surrender to you. So, at that time, when the emotions are overpowering us, it is not so easy to think rationally.
Because the emotion is too strong. So, we all have certain reflex actions. Certain things which we just naturally do whenever we feel ourselves troubled.
So, in some parts of the world, there are storms that happen. When the storms happen, then there are, in people’s houses, there are storm shelters. I just came from America.
There are many places where there are storm-prone areas. So, what happens in those areas, that they have either a basement or some other part of the house, which is usually underground, which is very secure. If a severe tornado or anything like that comes, then whatever is on top, on the ground, that may get devastated.
But as soon as the tornado alert comes, people take their whole family and all of them just go into that storm shelter. And in the storm shelter, although the storm is going, they are safe. So, like that, all of us, we have our own individual storm shelters.
You know, we have our own storm shelters. When life becomes stormy, there are certain things which we take shelter of. Most people, when life’s problems become too much, just turn on the television.
Turn on the TV and forget everything. Forget all the problems. Some people, they start drinking.
They just drink. There is no problem whose solution doesn’t lie at the bottom of a bottle of alcohol. That’s what they think.
Now, actually, this shelter is, it’s not an ashram. It is a bad shelter. It’s like, there’s a storm, and then we go into the shelter, and that shelter itself collapses on us.
We get into further trouble. But at that time, we feel that there is a shelter over there. So, based on our experience of whatever we have habituated ourselves to, that is what we take shelter of.
And that is how we try to cope with life’s problems. Some people, you know, they may have some boxing bags in their house. Box, box, box, box.
They try to work out all the anger from their body. So, different people have different ways in which they try to, when the storm comes in their life, they try to deal with that. Now, the process of bhakti is not just about chanting Hare Krishna, or coming for satsang, or doing some puja, or doing some shastra, adhyayan.
All these are good. All these are meant, ultimately, to change our storm shelter. So, we are meant to make Krishna our storm shelter.
That Krishna says, the characteristic of his great devotees is They, he is especially talking about great devotees who just travel everywhere, they don’t have a home. But, their consciousness has found a home. Where has their consciousness found a home? Their consciousness has found a home at Krishna’s lotus feet.
They may be anywhere in this world, but they are sheltered in Krishna. The Bhagavatam gives the example, Those souls who are purified. Why? Such people, the lotus feet of Krishna, they never give up.
Why? In the shelter of those lotus feet, they are freed from all anxiety. An example is given, This is a traveller after a long and tiresome journey, and they come back home. They feel safe, they feel comfortable, they feel happy.
Like that, a devotee, a purified soul, feels at home in thoughts of Krishna. Now, the home example is very appropriate because, you know, we can’t always stay at home. We have to go out of home.
We have our work, we have our profession, we have our various activities to do, so we go out of home. But then, we know at the back of mind, after doing this, I’m going to go back home. And home is the place where I comfort.
I’m sheltered. That’s why when people, if they invite some guests to their place, feel at home. Feel at home means be comfortable.
That’s the idea. So like that, by the process of bhakti, when we say we make Krishna our home, while we are living in this world, it is not always possible to think of Krishna constantly. Bhagavata’s aim is that we want to think of Krishna constantly.
But for practical purpose, we think of other things. But just as when a person goes out, at the back of their mind, after this, I’m going to go back home. So like that, for a devotee, Krishna is their home.
Even if they do other things, I’ll come back to Krishna. I’ll think about Krishna. And this intelligence that to intelligently direct our thoughts towards Krishna, direct our consciousness towards Krishna, this is where our rationality comes into the picture.
So the I was talking about how the mahout, the elephant driver, needs to have skill to control the elephant. So like that, when our emotions grow wild, the intelligence itself cannot control the elephant. Intelligence itself cannot control the mind.
Just like the ape, the mahout, does not have anything, does not have a gourd, does not have any rope, has nothing. The mahout will not be able to do anything to control the elephant. Mahout needs to have some, usually gourd or rope, something to control.
So like that, the intelligence needs to be equipped with scriptural knowledge that Krishna is my ultimate shelter. And that awareness, that understanding, that insight, when we take shelter of Krishna. So when our emotions are going wild because of something, something has gone wrong in our life, we just don’t know what to do at that time.
So at that time, to know what to do when we don’t know what to do. What does that mean? Okay, Krishna, I am your servant. Please, please guide me how I can serve you.
So we take shelter of Krishna. We remember Krishna. And in that way, we direct our emotions towards Krishna.
When there is a problem, quite often, our emotions get locked in that problem. We just get, God, what if this goes wrong, that goes wrong, that goes wrong, that goes wrong. We just get completely consumed.
But if we have practised bhakti regularly, if we have chanted Hare Krishna regularly, if we have worshipped the deities regularly, we have understood and applied the principles of bhakti, then there is a pattern, there is a habit created of directing our consciousness towards Krishna. Then at that time, we may not be able to intellectually process, you know, what is happening, what should I do, but we can just, because of that habit, draw our consciousness towards Krishna. Krishna, please help me.
Please guide me. Please help me. Give me the strength to serve you.
When that mood comes in, we take shelter of Krishna. So that way, the emotions become calmed down. Because basically, we all live in this world in a state of existential insecurity.
Existential insecurity. All of us have a deep-rooted sense of insecurity. We seek security through our bank balance, we seek security through our insurance, we seek security through having contacts with big people.
We seek security in various ways. But the very nature of this world is that it creates insecurity. So with spiritual knowledge, if our intelligence is guided by spiritual knowledge, we understand that ultimately the search for security is the search for spirituality.
Because at the material level, things are changing. The only thing unchanging in this world is that nothing is unchanging. The only thing constant in this world is that nothing is constant.
Absolutely nothing. So, now, where do we get security? At the material level, there is constant change. At the spiritual level, no matter how many changes happen, the soul remains unchanging.
Krishna remains the unchanging whole of which the soul is a part. Krishna remains the unchanging shelter. So, to the extent we are spiritually grounded, to the extent we experience security.
Now, the emotional side of us, when there is insecurity, when there is uncertainty, when there is anxiety, the emotional side feels that this should be solved. This problem should go away. This person should not behave like this.
The circumstances should change. And as long as that doesn’t change, our emotions stay locked in a turbulent state. It’s almost like going mad because of that emotion.
It may be resentment, it may be anger, it may be fear, it may be pessimism, whatever it is. It may be negativity, depression. Emotions are going turbulent at that time.
So, now our emotions are turbulently locked in a particular thing. So, we feel that this external insecurity that has been triggered, that is causing that emotion. That’s true.
But, and we feel that only if this insecurity is removed, then things will be alright. But, yes, if that insecurity is removed, things will become alright. But tomorrow some other insecurity is going to come.
Tomorrow something else is going to go wrong. So, it’s not that this is not to be solved, but we see that this insecurity is a prompt to seek security in Krishna, to remember Krishna, to become absorbed in Krishna. So, what happens is unfortunately, we, when we become, when we are sheltered in Krishna, then that itself, this is going wrong, that is going wrong, yes, but I pray to Krishna, I remember Krishna, I feel calm, I feel sheltered.
That is one thing that is right. Once we are calm, then you can find the reason how can I deal with this problem practically. But unfortunately, what happens, when the problem comes, we take shelter of Krishna, but instead of taking shelter of Krishna to absorb ourselves in Krishna, we take shelter of Krishna with the expectation or with the demand that the problem go away.
So, it’s like, chant Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. Has the problem gone? Krishna Krishna.
Has the problem gone? Ram Ram. Hey, problem is still not gone. Hare Krishna.
Krishna Krishna. Hey, still not gone. What is the use of this chanting? So, like that, when we are practising bhakti also, what happens is, we are still problem conscious.
We are not Krishna conscious. And then that happens, then we will never become sheltered in Krishna. We will never become deeply connected with Krishna.
That’s why the philosophical understanding, it is our emotions which are turbulent, it is our emotions which need shelter. But, if we leave ourselves only at the at the mercy of our emotions, then the emotions will demand, this problem needs to be solved now. And sometimes problems just take their time to solve.
So, then till that time, we will stay agitated. That’s why we need some philosophical understanding, by which I understand, okay, this problem, let’s see how to solve it. First, I need to calm myself down.
I need to get my consciousness to Krishna. So, the the I said earlier that our emotions need to be regulated and directed by our thoughts. So, our intelligence it regulates, okay, I’m feeling angry, I’m feeling depressed, I’m feeling shocked, but I’ll not just unrestrictedly express myself, I’ll regulate it and I’ll direct my thoughts towards Krishna.
I’ll direct my thoughts towards Krishna. I’ll take shelter in Krishna. So, in that sense, although Bhakti Yoga is about emotions, it is not only about emotions.
It is about purifying our emotions. So, when the unregulated emotions are there, at that time, we need to use our intelligence and to the extent this philosophical intelligence is there, we don’t need to necessarily understand the intricacies of philosophy, but the basic philosophical understanding that everything in this world is temporary, Krishna alone is eternal and it is Krishna who I’m to take shelter of. That philosophical conviction, if it is there, then we will use that.
That is like the goal for the elephant driver, for the mouth. The elephant is running? No. Use the goal, elephant slows down.
Like that, when we take shelter of Krishna, when we use our intelligence to direct our thoughts towards Krishna, then the emotions that are running turbulent, they calm down. The elephant slows down. The elephant stops.
Like that, the emotions come under control. And then, now, if the rider is there on the elephant, the driver and the rider, both of them are there, it is the elephant which they ride. So, they have to take the elephant.
It’s not that they can just put away the elephant and go somewhere else. They have to use the elephant. So, like that, our emotional faculty is not to be given up.
It is to be used. But the elephant should be used to go where we want to go. Not wherever the elephant wants to go.
Like that, our emotions are meant to be used to direct us towards our intentions. Not towards wherever those emotions want to go. Now, the process of bhakti, what does it do? It is, as I told you, with the intelligence we control and we regulate and direct the emotions.
But this is more mechanical. Mechanical means the elephant wants to go in a particular direction but with the goad, we restrain the elephant from going in that direction. But, you know, the mahout is not just meant to control the elephant.
The elephant rider, elephant driver is also meant to train the elephant. Once the elephant becomes trained, then the elephant naturally goes in the right direction. Similarly, the process of bhakti yoga, it is not just mechanical.
Bhakti yoga is not just mechanical, it is also transformational. So, mechanical means the emotions are going in another direction, I bring them back. But transformational means gradually the emotions themselves change.
And we all will find that by the practise of bhakti, many things which would just trigger wild emotions within us earlier, they don’t trigger that much emotions within us. So, many times we start practising bhakti and some undesirable habits which we may have had, we are able to give them up. Now, when we say I gave up the habit, what exactly happened? Actually, earlier that particular thing which we were indulging in, it would just trigger too much emotions within us and we would not be able to resist it.
But now the emotions are not triggered that much. And that’s how we are able to give it up. So, when we talk about transformation, transformation means that our emotions, they are going in a particular direction at one time.
And then as we practise bhakti, the emotions going in that direction decrease, decrease. And the emotions start going more in another direction. So, somebody might be very attached to a particular thing earlier.
But, gradually, by the practise of bhakti, say somebody was alcoholic. As soon as they see alcohol, just like, wild desire comes within. I must have it and I must have it now.
The emotion becomes so forceful, that emotion immediately pushes, creates the intention within them and drags them there. But, when purification happens, then even when they see it, the emotion doesn’t go in that direction. The emotion, energy starts going in a different direction.
So, that is, so, initially, mechanically, the emotions are going in a particular direction, we bring them back. But, when the transformation happens by the practise of bhakti, then the emotions don’t go in that direction. They start going in a healthier direction.
So, now, till now I was talking about emotions in relationship with the world and how to process them properly. And we are talking about Krishna more as a shelter. When the emotions in the world are turbulent, we see Krishna as a shelter.
But now I will talk about emotions in relationship with Krishna. So, emotions in relationship with Krishna means that ultimately, Krishna is not just meant to be a shock absorber in our life. You know, if I am going on a, if we are going in a car or if we are going on a bike, the road is too turbulent, all vehicles have shock absorbers.
And if the shock absorber is not good, then the jerks become too many. So, like that we think, when life gives me a shock, I will bring Krishna in between. Krishna absorbs the shock.
I take shelter of Krishna so that I don’t experience the shock. Yes, we naturally need shelter and we take shelter of Krishna. But, it’s not just that I am going on a journey and in that journey, Krishna acts as a shock absorber.
Krishna is ultimately meant to be not just a Krishna is meant to be not just a shock absorber, but he is also meant to be a goal transformer. It’s not that I am going wherever I want to go and Krishna is a shock absorber. Yes, Krishna is there, we get shelter.
But ultimately, Krishna is meant to become our ultimate goal. So, when our emotions become invested in Krishna and we start experiencing the deepest emotions in relationship with Krishna, that is when our devotion becomes very strong. So, bhakti at one level is the balancer of emotions at the material level so that the emotions don’t become too turbulent, like a sine wave is there and there is a huge amplitude above and a huge amplitude below.
Too much elation, too much rejection. So, the emotions at the material level they become balanced. They become balanced first, the ups and downs will be there, but the ups won’t toss us up, the downs won’t knock us down.
It won’t be so much. So, the emotions will become balanced. First by intelligence and second by purification.
But secondly, apart from that in bhakti there is the when we direct our thoughts, direct our emotions, direct our consciousness towards Krishna, then in relationship with Krishna there is the intensification of emotions. There, the intensification of emotions. Till the first six chapters of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna is repeatedly talking about detachment.
When things go up and down, just stay calm. Be detached. But in the seventh chapter, the first verse itself signifies a change.
Krishna, the first verse is mayy āsakta manah mayy āsakta manah pārtha yogaṁ yuñjanma dāśayā asaṁśayaṁ samagrahmāṁ yathā jñāsasitaśyono Krishna says make your mind attached to me and I will tell you the process by which your mind will become attached to me. So, initially in spiritual life we think that attachment is the cause of my problems. And if I become detached, my problems will go away.
But actually, in bhakti we understand it is not attachment that is the cause of our problems. It is detachment that is the cause of our problems. What is detachment? We are detached from Krishna.
We are meant to have attachment to Krishna but we have no attachment to Krishna. So, we are here in this world and we need, we cannot wish away our emotions. Emotions are there.
And if the emotions are not invested in Krishna, they will be invested in this world. The process of bhakti is ultimately meant to foster attachment for Krishna. And the propeller in bhakti is not detachment.
It is attachment. It is not detachment from the world. It is attachment to Krishna.
That’s what will take us to Krishna. So, the process of bhakti is meant to invest our emotions in Krishna and intensify our emotions in relationship with Krishna. And for that bhakti actually takes us beyond attachment and detachment to commitment.
Commitment. In every relationship there is, our mind’s emotions are always up and down. Sometimes, you know, we we feel, oh, I love this person so much.
Sometimes I feel, you know, why is this person here? Our mind goes to different emotions. But if we are in a committed relationship, yes, I feel like that, but I still do whatever is required in that relationship. That is the meaning of commitment.
Sometimes a newborn baby is there. Mother feels so much love and sympathy. But sometimes in the middle of the night, the baby starts crying.
His mother is overflowing love. There is concern, but still there is also exasperation. But still, sometimes there can be positive emotions and sometimes negative emotions.
But when there is commitment, we can’t wish away the emotion, but we don’t let the emotion govern our actions. So, commitment means that our emotions don’t govern our actions. However I feel, I will do whatever is required.
And similarly, and this is what actually, this commitment is what leads to the deepening of relationships. Without commitment, all relationships will stay superficial. And the same principle applies to our relationship with Krishna.
So, Krishna says, how will your mind become attached to me? You have to follow a process. And the process has to be followed in a committed way. So, when we practise bhakti, when we chant the holy names, when we study scriptures, all this, sometimes we feel like doing it, sometimes we not feel like doing it.
So, here also, the emotions will be there. Bhakti is ultimately meant to fill us with rich, sweet, deep emotions of love for Krishna. But in the process, we may or may not feel those emotions.
Then, we have to still stay connected. And that is where, again, the intelligence is required. So, at one level, intelligence is required to balance the material emotions.
Intelligence is also required to sustain the devotional process. Jiva Goswami is one of our prominent acharyas. And he explains in the Bhakti Samvat Sindhu that for those who are pure devotees, those who are perfected spiritual beings, for them it is their priti that keeps them on the spiritual platform.
They love Krishna. That’s why they are on the spiritual platform. It is for us sadhakas, for sadhakas, they don’t have so much priti.
So, what will keep them on the spiritual platform is buddhi. Not priti, but buddhi. Not attraction, not affection, but intelligence.
So, in our spiritual journey also, the intelligence plays a very important role. Krishna says, in this way, with your intelligence, situate yourself on the spiritual platform. And when we use the intelligence to sustain the practise of bhakti, no matter what happens, sometimes I feel like it, sometimes I don’t feel like it, still I persevere.
Then gradually, the connection with Krishna becomes steady. As the connection with Krishna becomes steady, Krishna is all-pure, Krishna is all-attractive. So then, the attraction of Krishna starts manifesting in our consciousness.
And then we start feeling more and more taste in relationship with Krishna. More and more happiness, more and more joy starts flooding in our consciousness in relationship with Krishna. So, I’ll conclude with one example and one parallel point here.
In the Bhagavatam, there is a very interesting verse, which seems to be self-contradict. It says, atavai kavayo nityam bhaktim paramayamudha vasudeve bhagvati kurvantyatma prasadanim So, it says, therefore, kavayo, the wise people, nityam, constantly, bhaktim paramayamudha they joyfully practise the process of bhakti. Vasudeve bhagvati unto Lord Vasudeva, the Supreme Lord.
Kurvanti, they do it. Atma prasadanim which brings joy to the heart. So now, the paradox of this verse is, it says, they joyfully practise the process that brings joy.
They joyfully practise the process that brings joy. Now the question comes, if joy is going to, the process is later going to bring joy, how can they be joyful right now? So, it’s, the understanding is, that if a person is sick, and they’ve been struggling to find, to find some cure, and they’ve tried many things, and nothing has been working. Now, finally, after a lot of search, they have found a treatment that works.
Found a treatment that works, they’ve been diagnosed, they’ve been treated, and they’re on the path to recovery. Now, at one level, they’re not yet cured. But they’re happy that they have found the cure.
And, so, they are happy to practise the treatment which will lead to the, which will treat them, which will heal them. So similarly, at our stage, it is not necessary, or it may not happen that just because you’re practising bhakti, you’ll be naturally joyful. But if you understand what this process of bhakti is going to do, at an external level, there may be a devotee, there may be a non-devotee.
Both of them may go through similar problems in life. It’s like two people are there in a hospital, both of them are sick, and both of them are in pain. But one of them has been diagnosed, and is being treated.
The other has not been diagnosed, and no treatment is being prescribed. So although at present, both of them are in pain, in future, one of them is going to heal, become better, the other is going to become worse. So similarly, when we are practising bhakti, at an external level, it may appear as if both of our devotees and non-devotees are at the same level.
But devotees, whatever they are doing, yes, there may be some problems, there may be some troubles, but we are in the process of recovery. And we are happy that we have that process. We are happy that we are practising the process.
We are happy that we are recovering. And that’s why we say, joyfully practise the process that brings joy. Krishnaprabhupada would say, chant Hare Krishna and be happy.
So now, is this one instruction, or is this two instructions? Two instructions. One instruction. They are both.
So, we will chant, and sometimes while chanting, we will feel happy. But when that doesn’t happen, then what happens? We chant, and I am happy that I have the opportunity to chant. I am happy that I have the opportunity to practise bhakti.
I am happy that I have the opportunity to become purified. So, the mind, while practising bhakti, will also go up and down. It’s not that at our stage we don’t experience any spiritual emotion.
We do experience, periodically. But, even when we don’t experience, we need the intelligence. So, the intelligence is what will sustain us in the practise of bhakti.
And when we make our practise of bhakti based on the intelligence, whenever emotions come, we are grateful. Whenever we feel some spiritual connection, spiritual joy, we are grateful for that. We cherish that, and we move forward.
And sometimes when no spiritual emotions come, just understand, I am in the process of recovery. So, if I keep persevering, the appropriate spiritual emotions will come into course. So, intelligence is what will keep us steady on the practise of bhakti.
And, the emotions that we wish to experience, we will experience them far more in richness, in sweetness, in relationship with Krishna, than with anything else in this world. So, while practising bhakti, it’s not that we deny the emotions that we experience in relationship with each other, with things in this world, with relationships, but we don’t let those emotions alone determine our actions. Let our actions be determined by scriptural guidance, using our intelligence.
And that way, the same very powerful energy of emotion that is there, that will eventually, as we become more and more purified, propel us towards Krishna. The whole emotional energy, which often acts against us, that will start acting for us. In the purified state, the Gopis, Vrindavan, you know, they, their minds are naturally attracted to Krishna.
Sometimes they decide that this Krishna, he left us and gone away. So, you know, we don’t want to think about it. So, the Gopis at one time decided, we will sit, we will sit in meditation.
Why? Yogis sit in meditation to remember Krishna, the Gopis sat in meditation to forget Krishna. They said, if Krishna has left us, we will leave him also. So, they sat in meditation.
And they are thinking what to think. And as they are thinking what to think, they are trying to sit in yogic posture. Suddenly, one of the Gopis starts talking about Krishna.
You know, Krishna did like this, Krishna spoke like that. Now, other Gopis start speaking. Third Gopi starts speaking.
And they start speaking for a long time. Hey, we want to forget Krishna. What happened? So, at that time, their emotions are naturally attracted towards Krishna.
And that will happen to all of us as we become purified. So, I’ll summarise. What I spoke today is about Bhakti Yoga as the balancer of our emotionality and our rationality.
I started by talking about the emotions that we have. We all have this rational and emotional side, the head and the heart. And the emotions need to be directed and regulated by thoughts.
And our thoughts need to be animated by emotions. So, if the emotion is not directed and regulated by thought, then the emotions often make us speak and do things which hurt others, which hurt us. Emotion is a very powerful energy.
Like, say, a waterfall. The waterfall, if it is tapped, there’s so much electricity that can be generated. But if it’s not tapped, the water just keeps falling, falling, falling.
This gets wasted. So, the emotions can either be the energy that is wasted or it can be energy that is tapped. So, at the same time, in the Bhagavad Gita, at the same time, it is described that it is just thought alone is not enough.
Like a doctor who knows about a child and a mother who knows the child. So, we don’t want to just be just only rational creatures. We have thoughts and we want to animate those thoughts with emotions.
Arjuna was overwhelmed by his emotions at the start of the Gita. That’s why the Bhagavad Gita tells him to become equipoised. So, it’s not that one has to become unfeeling.
Yes, we see this is priya, this is apriya, this is nice, this is not so nice. But then we don’t get elated or dejected by that. We moderate our emotions by staying connected at the spiritual level.
I talked about how we all have our inner storm shelters. Whenever there is a trouble, somewhere our thoughts go and we take shelter over there. But often this shelter is a bad shelter.
It only gets us into further trouble. So, bhakti is not just about doing some activities. It is about making Krishna our storm shelter.
So, intelligence means to know what to do when we don’t know what to do. When the emotions are overwhelming us, it’s not possible to rationally think and calm down the emotions. At that time, we just take shelter of Krishna.
If we habitually practise bhakti, then taking shelter of Krishna will be easier at that time. And then, when we take shelter of Krishna, there is external, ultimately there is so much insecurity in this world. If we practise bhakti but demand the external insecurity be solved first, then we are still problem conscious, not Krishna conscious.
Just get our thoughts off that, take shelter of Krishna. And then, after we become calm, then we find out how to appropriately deal with that external situation. So, by first, mechanically we direct our emotions away from the agitating things into which our emotions tend to get locked and we get them towards Krishna.
And gradually, from mechanical, we become transformational. That our emotions will not get so much into certain things which we were earlier attached to. And we will be naturally able to channel our emotions more constructively.
And the example of elephant, that the elephant is physically very strong, the emotions are very strong. And the mahout has to control the elephant with the skill. So, the skill of the intelligence, like the mahout is the scriptural intelligence, to take shelter of Krishna.
With the scriptural insight, to take shelter of Krishna. And Krishna is not just meant to be a shock absorber. He is also meant to be a goal transformer.
So, ultimately, we have to make Krishna our goal. We want to invest all our emotions in Krishna. And in everything, the relationship with Krishna.
So, in the process of bhakti, sometimes we feel good while practising bhakti. Sometimes we may not feel so good. So, we want to ultimately experience pure emotions, but intermediately, while we are going, even if we don’t experience the emotions, we need intelligence to keep perceiving.
So, bhakti is not simply about detachment from the world. It is about attachment to Krishna. Our problem is not attachment to the world.
Our problem is primarily attachment from Krishna. So, the attachment to Krishna will come by commitment, the process that generates attachment. So, every relationship deepens when there is commitment.
Same with our relationship with Krishna. So, while practising bhakti, we joyfully practise the process that brings joy. That is, even if I don’t feel joy right now, and this is a treatment which is going to cure me, and I am grateful that I have the treatment.
So, if we look externally, we will feel, oh, with my practise of bhakti, still I have similar problems like other people have. But internally, we understand there is a big difference. We have been treated, we have been diagnosed, we have been treated, we are on the path to recovery.
So, the recovered state is where our consciousness naturally goes towards Krishna. Just like the gopis naturally thought of Krishna. That time, our life will become naturally joyful.
But till that time, we have to, using our intelligence, effortfully direct our thoughts towards Krishna. But the wonderful thing about bhakti is that even in the effort, although there is initially a little struggle, even in the effort stage also, once the connection with Krishna is established, there is joy. So, we experience joy even now, but even if we don’t experience joy, we connect with Krishna, and gradually the joy will flood our heart.
Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. Are there any questions or comments? Are there any questions or comments? Anybody like to ask, or have any reflections or anything which are stuck in your mind, which probably still… So, we said like, knowing about Krishna and no Krishna.
So, which part should we choose to attain speech or attain wisdom? So, everything like knowing about Krishna would bring or push me towards attaining… Okay. So, now, knowing about Krishna and knowing Krishna, which part should we choose? Won’t knowing about Krishna also push us towards Krishna? Yes, it is not that these two are necessarily mutually exclusive. Sometimes the mother may also be a doctor.
Isn’t it? So, like that, it’s possible that we can have a lot of knowledge about Krishna and we can also have personal relationship with Krishna. But the important thing is in the process of bhakti, you want to develop a personal relationship with Krishna. So, there can be academic scholars who know, in this Purana, this is said about Krishna.
In this Purana, this is said. They know in terms of factual information, they may know so much about Krishna. But they may not even have faith in the existence of God.
For them, Krishna is simply an object of study, academic study they are doing. They have no faith at all. They leave alone any devotion.
So, what has happened? They know a lot. They know about Krishna. But they don’t know Krishna at all.
So, we want to develop a personal relationship with Krishna. And that’s why we want to know about Krishna also. But our purpose is to know Krishna.
And that’s why when we learn about, learn to hear, we hear about, hear about Krishna from those who are connected with Krishna, those who are, they love Krishna, are aiming to love Krishna. Then, that knowledge doesn’t just stay as knowledge. That knowledge can use affection.
That knowledge stimulates attraction towards Krishna. So, knowledge is important, no doubt. But knowledge alone will not automatically stimulate attraction.
It is when that knowledge is got from someone who is attracted to that thing. Then, our attraction also develops. Bhakti Sanjayate Bhakti.
And this is a principle to some extent it applies in material life also. Say, which is a popular sports here in America? Sorry, in UK. I’m sorry.
Football. Football. No, something which is not common in India and is common here.
Goal. Cricket. That is super common.
Tennis. Okay, tennis. India is not all that great in tennis.
Suppose, say, in America there is baseball. Say, somebody may go to Wikipedia and write, what is baseball? Get some information. But then somebody, they meet someone who loves baseball.
He says, you know, okay, this player is hitting the shot like this. This player has made a home run. This has happened.
That has happened. When they meet someone who is excited about baseball, then they will get excited. Then their emotions will get activated.
Otherwise, just reading some article about baseball, you know, there are this many players, there are this many innings, this is how the player gets out. But then this is dry. So, our emotions get triggered when we, not just through information, it is, usually they get triggered through someone whose emotions are activated.
That is especially true with Krishna, because Krishna reveals himself to his devotees and through his devotees. So, Krishna’s attractiveness is revealed to his devotees, and when the devotees speak about Krishna, then their attractiveness becomes revealed further. I mentioned Prabhupada, for example, when he came to India with his western disciples.
So, many of the Indians, they thought that we know Krishna. But then they found that the western devotees, they would, they would participate in kirtans with such enthusiasm. For Indians, kirtan is just like a ritual you go and do in temple.
They are completely absorbed. Closing their eyes, literally tasting Krishna. What is there in this kirtan? They also want to find out.
So, it was, for them, Krishna was just a part of the cultural knowledge. It’s a part of the cultural knowledge. But when they associate with devotees who are so devoted to Krishna, they feel, oh, we also want to know what is this special, what is so special about this? So, usually, with respect to in bhakti, knowledge about Krishna, if we get it from those who are devoted to Krishna, then that knowledge about Krishna will also enhance our devotion to Krishna.
Any other questions? What is the difference between intelligence and intellect? Okay. When we are trying to control our emotions through intelligence, at the initial stages, is it a state of paradox paradoxical that as a human being, we have emotions, but over the period we are trying to learn or acquire intelligence to control those emotions, which comes in the sense of maturity towards spirituality. So, at that stage, I think, there is some sort of paradox within the human personality.
So, is there any difference between intelligence and intellect? There are terms, and there are concepts. So, if there is a suitcase, the suitcase has a handle. So, the handle is what enables us to carry the suitcase or pull the suitcase.
So, terms are like handles. The concept is like the suitcase. Now, one time, my suitcase got broken, and then just before, I realised it was broken just before I started off from one place to another.
So, then the devotee got a new suitcase for me. And then I had forgotten what that new suitcase looked like. All that I remembered was the handle.
So, when the carousel came out, this is my suitcase. When I pulled it out, no, no, I opened it without my suitcase. So, then I had to go through 6-7 suitcases before I found out this is my suitcase.
So, what happens is the handle, the handle is meant to be attached to a particular suitcase. So, we shouldn’t get too caught in terms to understand the underlying concepts. Sometimes the same term may refer to a different concept.
Like, I gave a class, and then one young boy came and says, you killed it! I said, what did I kill? Now, in today’s world, you killed it is a way of appreciating. You did a very good job. You killed it.
So, the term is the same, but the concept is very different. Killing is not about murder. Killing is about doing something very successful.
So, basically, the terms and concepts can be very different. So, now, broadly speaking, intelligence refers to the capacity to choose right action. That this is good, this is bad.
This is short term, this is long term. This is spiritual, this is material. This capacity to discern, that is what we mean by intelligence.
Now, intellect basically refers to information processing ability. Information processing means some people can remember a lot of things. Some people can.
They can just do calculations in their head. Some people can just, they see a person, they remember that person’s name. Different people have different intellectual capacities.
Some people they see, enter a room, they see the structure of the room, the visual picture gets imprinted in their mind. So, we all have different intellectual capacities in different ways. So, now, these can be helpful in decision making.
But a person can have phenomenal intellectual capacity and still have poor intelligence. Because they are able to remember a lot, they have a lot of information processing. But information processing and decision making are not necessarily the same.
So, intellect refers to information processing capacity. Intelligence refers to decision making capacity. So, now, all of us by our past karma have been given a certain kind of body, a certain kind of mind.
So, we all have certain intellectual capacity. We can expand a little bit, but we may not be able to develop phenomenal intellectual capacities if we don’t have them. But we all can develop our intelligence.
So, intelligence is something which if the more we reason carefully, the more we study scripture, the more we become purified, the sounder decisions we can keep making steadily. So, we all can develop our intelligence. Now, the second question is about say, if we use our intelligence to control our emotions, then isn’t that sort of paradoxical? Yeah, definitely.
To some extent, this is the process of growth. When a child is newborn, child practically has no intelligence. It’s only emotions.
The child starts crying and then the mother comes, the father comes and pacifies the child. Then as the child starts growing slowly, initially, when even the child is drinking milk from the infant is drinking milk from the mother’s breast, the infant may not be aware also that there’s somebody called mother. There’s some nice place, something is coming and I want to drink it.
That’s all. But gradually as the child starts growing, child starts becoming aware. This is my mother.
She loves me. This is my father. And as the child starts growing more and more, child starts understanding that I can’t just cry and demand things.
I also have to do certain things. You know, I should do this. I should not do this.
So as we grow from childhood to youth to adulthood, basically our emotions are always there. But our intelligence starts growing. Children are largely mind, very little intelligence.
In adolescence, there is intelligence, but the mind is also very strong. So what happens in adolescence? The intelligence is controlled by the mind. So the very, sometimes the kids in their teenage, they are very sharp.
But they are sharp in somehow doing what they want to do. And they are not very sound in their decision making. But as we come to adulthood, then our intelligence becomes the controller.
The mind doesn’t become the controller. So that way, basically, this inner conflict between the mind and the intelligence is the very nature of the human condition. The animals, they really don’t have much intelligence.
Their intelligence, you could say, is some kind of intellect. A bird knows where I can find some food to eat, how to build a nest, but it’s largely instinctive, just driven by instincts. So we humans, we have the intelligence to think long term.
So to the extent we develop that intelligence, to that extent we are acting according to our humanity. And gradually we are moving to the divine level, the spiritual level. So that inner tension is just natural to the human condition.
But that tension can become more manageable when we don’t fuel our unhealthy emotions. See, if a person is an alcoholic and they decide, now I want to give up alcohol. But then their house is above a bar.
Then it’s almost impossible for them to give it up. Because what has happened, the emotions which they are trying to control, there is so much stimulus available for those emotions, constantly, that they will not be able to control it. So the emotions, we need to avoid exposing ourselves to stimuli that agitate our emotions.
Our willpower is a finite resource. It’s not an infinite resource. So you know, if we keep exerting our willpower too much on battles that are not necessary, then it becomes exhausted and then we just succumb.
We have willpower, but it is finite. We have to use it wisely. So on one side, certain things agitate our emotions, then we minimise our exposure to that as much as possible.
And secondly, whatever it is that nourishes our intelligence, we do it on a diligent basis. So studying scripture, hearing, spiritual wisdom, all this nourishes our intelligence. And then by that, this inner conflict that is there, the intelligence starts giving the upper hand.
And that’s how we can act for our long-term interests. Thank you. Jai Krishna.
So shall we stop here?