What to do if our material ambitions are stronger than our spiritual intentions?
Answer Podcast
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors. Yeah, so if say our material ambitions or aspirations are stronger than our spiritual intention, then what can we do? It depends on what kind of material aspiration it is. Some desires can be worked away by the practice of bhakti. Some desires can be worked with in the practice of bhakti. And some desires can be worked for in the practice of bhakti. Means worked away means because they are anti-devotional. Then just by the practice of bhakti, we get rid of them. We work them away. They are there, but we reject them. Worked with means they are okay. They are fine. It is dovetailing. But worked for means it can be directly spiritualized. So, somebody had a desire to build a big building or somebody had a desire to write a book. They use that in Krishna sense. So, it is like I would say basically desires can be anti-devotional, non-devotional and pro-devotional. So, depending on which desire it is. Anti-devotional, it is difficult to do anything. You just have to work them away. But other desires, they can be worked with. And the whole point of varanashram is actually to work with and work for. So, somebody is intellectual, you can work intellectually. Somebody is a, what shall I say, manager, whatever. Somebody is a business person. So, broadly speaking, our desires can be classified in three levels. One are, they are the same thing, but the desires which are like kama, krodha, lobha, moha, they are vasana. The desires which come from our nature, which is the vritti, brahminical, kshatriya, and then the desires are purely spiritual, to serve Krishna. So, those spiritual desires are at our stage very less. But it is the vritti which we can dotate in Krishna’s service. So, it depends on which kind of desire it is. We will have to decide how to deal with it. It is not that we have to get rid of every desire and we have to learn how to manage the desire appropriately. So, it is okay. I mean, it is impossible to wish it away. It is impossible to wish it away. It is there. It is just that how we deal with it. So, depending on how strong it is, depending on how it is going to affect us. So, sometimes our devotees may feel inspired to serve in a particular way. It may be a long cut. Somebody wants to become a musician, they want to learn this, this, this, this, and then they go to practice music. Well, the amount of time they spend in learning music may not be directly bhakti. So, ultimately they can use it for bhakti. The music is relatively easy to understand. But what about say somebody who is wanting to study academics and then teach and share Krishna Maharshi. That will require a long time. But if that is what they want to do, that is what they can do. So, we all have to find out how strong the desire is, what our inspiration is. And then this is something which is to be individually worked out. Thank you. Hare Krishna.
Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.
Question from Ashutosh, why is it wrong to have material desires that are not sinful but that are connected with attaining limited luxury, using one's abilities and proving oneself in the world and offering the good things of this world to our family and experiencing love in this world? Why is all this wrong? Why can't we do all this and also practice Krishna Consciousness? Answer, to desire the good things of material life is not wrong, it is short-sighted, especially if it is disconnected with Krishna and Krishna Consciousness. In the Vedic culture, there were two paths for spiritual advancement. One was the gradual path where one primarily focuses on being a religious materialist.
One may have some vague understanding that I am not the body, I am the soul, that I have a future life, but the primary focus of one's thoughts and desires is the here and now and the materialistic here and now. So at such a level, one practices dharma primarily for artha and kama. So one considers the purpose of one's religion is that it will provide us material fruits, material gains by which one will be able to enjoy material life, kama.
And gradually, as this goes over many lifetimes, the individual realizes the futility and the impotency of artha and kama to provide lasting happiness. And then one aspires towards moksha. So this is considered the gradual path which takes multiple lifetimes for one to come to a serious and significant level of spiritual advancement.
In contrast to this is the rapid path. So the first path is a gentle incline. The incline is often so gentle that it is not even noticeable.
But in the second path, there is a steep incline. And that is the path of pure devotional service. So in this path, one tries to give up all material conception and all material desires.
First through knowledge, by understanding that I am not the body, I am the soul, and everything material is actually foreign to me. Even the good things that I want in this world are not good because they are like the allurements that trap a prince in exile, in his exile. All of us are the children of God, are princes.
We are the beloved children of a supreme millionaire, billionaire, zillionaire, whatever you want to say. Krishna is not just lakhpati, karodpati, arappati, kharappati, he is lakshmipati. And we are his children.
So when we return back to him, it is like the exiled son of a millionaire returning back to his his super wealthy father. And therein lies the ultimate happiness for him. So if the son gets caught in the petty pleasures that are available in his exile, and prolongs his exile, then he underutilizes his potential.
And that is why this path of pure devotion service doesn't tell us to abandon our duties, but it also tells us not to unduly expand our duties. It urges us that do the needful in material life, and do your duties at a basic level, and return back to the spiritual world where there will be real happiness. So this is called in the Srimad Bhagavatam as paradharma.
This is spiritual religion. Now one rung below this paradharma is aparadharma, that is material religion. And that is the religion of dharma, artha and kama.
And below that is adharma or irreligion, where a person does all kinds of sinful activities. Now paradharma can fulfill our spiritual potential in its entirety in just one lifetime, if we are sufficiently serious. Aparadharma can take multiple, even innumerable lifetimes for us to achieve that same destination.
And adharma can catapult us, can propel us into suffering, fling us headlong into suffering as a result of our karmic misdeeds. So the conflict that you are envisioning is primarily between aparadharma, material religion, and paradharma, that is spiritual religion. So the aparadharma is what most religions practice today.
People go to God because they expect that by being devoted to God they will get the good things of life. And religions like Christianity and Islam, they don't really free a person from the bodily misconception. They may tell a person to regulate himself a bit materially, and to not go into the zone of adharma.
But if we look at the promises that are offered for pleasure in the next world, the Quran describes Jannat, and describes that every faithful Muslim will get 73 virgin girls to enjoy with. And the kind of pleasures that are described are entirely materialistic. Of course there is a hint, and in some places more than a hint, that one needs to love God, Allah, or Jehovah, or Yahweh, or Christ, by whatever name he may be called, purely, and then one can attain the highest destination, the perennial, perpetual, eternal happiness.
But these hints are mostly sidelined in the many other verses in those scriptures that talk about worldly religion. So they are basically talking about dharma artha kama. And moksha is put aside in the back burner so deep that most people don't even know that it is there in the back burner.
And that's why these religions basically reinforce our materialism. They reinforce our bodily misidentification. They reinforce our stay in material existence.
And staying on in material existence means staying on in the realm of suffering. You can read the article, why is the Bhagavad Gita so pessimistic, on the site, to understand how this world is not just a place of happiness and distress, which come in equal proportions. It is largely a place of distress.
The pleasure-pain balance is heavily tilted on the side of pain. And then one recognizes this, that actually all the achievements that I will have in this world, they will be ripped away from me at the time of death or even before. Then one starts thinking, do I really need to work so hard to achieve these things? So imagine if you are an engineering student and you work for your education for almost 16 years.
And then you get a degree which is allowed to stay with you for one year. And after that you are no longer allowed to call yourself an engineer. You seriously think whether it is worth it, working all those 16 years, to get that one year degree? Or is there any more productive direction in which I can utilize my energies? So serious spiritual life begins when we understand that this world is the Kalayam.
It is predominantly a place of misery. If we look at our own relationships, we may have a few friends, few people who love us. But there are so many others with whom we have misunderstandings, with whom we have hard feelings.
If we look at our body, it can give us a little pleasure. But there are so many ways in which it gives us pain. If we look at the climate and nature, sometimes the climate is pleasant.
So many times it is too sultry, too cold, too hot, too windy, too rainy. So overall, whether we look at our body, whether we look at our social circle or we look at our environment, the pains outweigh the pleasures. So these are called the soul is engaged in progressive circles.
The first circle is the bodily circle. And that leads to Adi-Atmic Klesh. The soul is further engaged in a social circle.
That leads to Adi-Bhautic Klesh. And then it is engaged in an environmental circle. And that leads to Adi-Daivic Klesh.
So if we think seriously and philosophically, we understand that this world is primarily a place of misery. And trying to make this world into a place of happiness is like trying to stay dry in the ocean. Without having any boat, while swimming in the ocean, trying to stay dry.
Certainly one can float. We can minimize the miseries that we suffer. We can avoid certain problems.
We can solve some problems. So we can avoid getting drowned in the ocean. But we cannot avoid getting wet in the ocean.
So similarly we can face and counter some problems. But the problems will keep coming. And even if we successfully tackle problems and make it big in life, actually the bigger we make it in life, the bigger will be our suffering when we lose everything that we have.
We may have the idea that if I achieve a lot in life, then when I look back at life, when I have to die, I will feel satisfied that I achieved something in life. Unfortunately, our mind doesn't work like that. Our ego might give us a little satisfaction that I achieved something.
But the fact that I have to leave everything and go, with nothing in my hand, that will cause us far greater pain. So when we understand that this world is dukkhalayam na shashvatam, it is placed primarily of misery and it is sabotaged by the presence of death for everyone, then real serious spiritual life based on philosophy begins. And this is what the Krishna Consciousness Movement is teaching us.
Many religious and spiritual organizations treat spirituality and cater spirituality to people as if it is a shock absorber for material life. Yes, you are having this problem, just do this meditation, pray to this, do this, take this pill and you will feel better. Yes, we will feel better, but for how long? We may get some relief.
But that's like temporarily getting a towel to wipe yourself dry while you are still in the ocean. Another wave will come and it will make us wet completely once again. So, the Bhagavad Gita, that's why it concludes by declaring, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja, in 18.66. Lord Krishna is telling Arjuna that yes, there are a lot of material religions which you can practice, but give them up, just surrender to me and practice spiritual religion.
And by that, whatever problems you face, whatever sinful reactions you get, I will remove all of them. So, once we are clear about this by due reflection that this world is a place of misery and it is temporary, then we can now again look back at what the Krishna conscious culture recommends. The Krishna conscious culture doesn't necessarily recommend a life of poverty and dryness with no activity or ambition.
Rather, it encourages us to engage in productive and fruitful ambition. Why strive for something which will only lead to frustration and disappointment in the long run? Why not strive for something which will lead to a lasting gain? Then we can do that. So, going back to the engineering college example, if there are two engineering colleges, both require, say, studying for 16 years, the 10th junior college and then the senior college, and one gives a degree which lasts for one year, another gives a degree which lasts for a full lifetime.
Naturally, most intelligent people would choose the degree that lasts for a lifetime. So, like that, material religion gives us fruits which last for a very short while. And spiritual-based religion gives us fruits that last not just for a lifetime, not just for a long time, but for eternity.
So, Krishna consciousness doesn't tell us that we need to do our duties as students, we need to do our duties as family members, we need to utilize the talents that we have, and we need to fulfill our responsibilities. But not that we get so caught in responsibilities that we neglect our spiritual life, that the thoughts of this world occupy our mind so much that we have no time and mental space or mental energy left to think of our eternal destination. Ultimately, the law of desires works in this world.
Whatever we desire, Krishna, through buttered literature, arranges to give it to us. So, if we desire temporary things, we will get them and we will lose them, and we will be disappointed and frustrated at that time. If we desire the eternal and strive for it, Krishna will give us that also.
So, now, regarding the material desires that are not sinful, can we try to fulfill our material ambitions? As I was telling, there is one path which is the slow incline, and one which is the steep incline. So, the Krishna Consciousness Movement which follows the Bhagavad Gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam doesn't recommend the path of slow incline, because these scriptures don't recommend that path. And the steep path of steep incline has been made especially easy.
It is like somebody is offering to pull us up the steep incline so that it is not as tough as it would have been otherwise. Because of the ease of the process of chanting the holy names and the mercy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. So, now, while going up this path, we do have the latitude, the freedom to decide at what pace we want to go up this path.
Generally, serious devotees are expected to follow the four regulatory principles, no meat-eating, no gambling, no intoxication, no illicit sex, as explained in the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, that these are the abodes where Kali resides, and we need to protect ourselves from the attacks of Kali, that's why we avoid these activities. And serious devotees spend around two hours chanting the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra every day. And if we do these two basic devotional activities, one devotional, one regulative, and also spend some time at least once a week, preferably, if not more, associating with devotees by going to some program.
Beyond that, we can pursue our material life. That pursuit of material life, if it completely occupies and dominates our thoughts, that will, to some extent, slow down our spiritual advancement. But as long as we are doing this basic practice, we will still keep making spiritual advancement, and gradually, because of our practice of spiritual life, we will get faster realizations, we will grow in wisdom faster.
We will realize quickly that material life is not what it promises to be, that the satisfaction that comes from fulfilling our desires and achieving our targets and showing in the world that I count, that really doesn't satisfy our heart. We will realize this faster if we are practicing Krishna Consciousness. And gradually, a deep sense of detachment will come in our heart, not because of frustration that we were not able to achieve material goals, but because of realization that material goals are not worth striving for.
So, till we get this realization, if we artificially try to do away with those desires, then that will lead to dissatisfaction and discontentment and resentment in our hearts. So, as long as our desires don't propel us on the path of adharma, and as long as we can maintain our basic sadhana, sangha, and the regulative principles, then, if we are strongly impelled by some material desire, we can follow that, but with maintaining our sadhana, and gradually we will get the realization. And then we will be able to focus more single-pointedly on our spiritual advancement.
So, Krishna Consciousness doesn't mean that we give up all our material desires. Rather, we spiritualize our material desires by using them for Krishna. So, yes, Krishna says that in the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 12, the best devotee is one who always thinks of Me out of love.
In Chapter 12, He says, If one cannot do that, He says, That means, practice fixing your mind on Me. And if you can't do that, He says, you work for Me. You work for Me, that means, do seva for Me.
If you can't do that, then He says, If you can't do that also, then He says in 12.10 and 12.11, as the verses go forward, 12.8 to 12.11, Krishna is describing this hierarchy, He says then, The goal is not just to develop detachment from worldly things, the goal is to develop attachment to Krishna. But if for some reason we are not able to practice the principles that will lead to positive attachment and bhakti to Krishna, then actually, as Krishna says, practice those principles that will lead to some detachment. So, you will see that Krishna Himself extends the ladder of mercy downward, downward, downward, depending on how much we are ready to accept Him in our hearts.
So, we can climb on to whichever rung of ladder we feel comfortable at this level of our spiritual advancement. But we should know that staying on that rung is not the goal, that we have to climb upwards. And the pace at which we climb, we can decide that ourselves.
And gradually, we can also contribute positively to this world. Bhakti is not just about getting out of this world. Yes, we do want to go down to the spiritual world, but it is also about doing Krishna's work in this world.
So, if we have some of our material desires, we can do that, if they are not sinful. But along with that, if we acquire some position, power, prestige, then we can use that for assisting in Krishna's mission. If we have the sincerity, Krishna will guide us in a practical sense, how we could do it.
And even devotees can guide us in that sense. And also, if we have some special talents which we can use in Krishna's service, then Krishna has not given us talents just to be, just that we have to negate and reject them. If we have some specific talents, we can use them also in Krishna's service, in whatever way is best suited for us.
So, gradually, we do get realizations, even when we practice spirituality at this basic level. But if we practice at the level of just material dharma, material religiosity, then the realization takes a very, very long time to come. So, try to be on the path of spiritual religion, practicing the basic sadhana, the basic sangha, and the basic principles.
And you can decide for yourself, at what speed you would like to advance in spiritual life. Thank you.