How can the impatient people of Kali-yuga have the patience to wait for the results of bhakti-yoga?
Podcast
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, because people in Kali Yuga want quick results, how can they get the patience to experience spiritual results of Bhakti Yoga? The results of Bhakti Yoga come at various levels. There is immediate, intermediate, there is ultimate.
So, just the practice of Bhakti can offer us some immediate relief. For example, we are disturbed and we come to the temple. Just feel the spiritual atmosphere, participate in Kirtans.
We can sense a calming of our consciousness. So, there is immediate result also. At the same time, a sign of intelligence is to see not just the immediate but to see beyond the immediate.
Not far from here is the place where Newton saw the fruit falling or felt the fruit falling, whichever version of the story you want to believe. Now, but imagine if instead of Newton there is a monkey over there. The monkey would just have picked the apple and eat it and went on its way.
Newton did not do that. He could also have done that. What made this apple fall? He asked that question.
And in the answer to that question, he was able to postulate the law of gravity. So, what that means is that we have an instinctive side. The instinct as soon as I see food, I eat it.
But we also have an intelligent side which asks questions. So, not just in the spiritual field, in any field of growth, if we act with instinct, we act with just impulses, impulsive side we could say. We act with impulses, we will not grow.
In music, in art, in writing, in sports, in sports also, it is not the impulsive players are successful. They have to discipline themselves. They have to work hard.
So, even in material life, people do understand this point. That if we act impulsively, we cannot be successful. We cannot achieve in long term sustainable worthwhile success.
The same principle applies in spiritual life also. That there is immediate relief. But if we learn to act not impulsively but intelligently, then we will get far deeper results than what we could get in material life.
That’s why when we start practicing spirituality, yes, there is immediate relief. We get some good feelings. But spirituality is not just about feelings.
It’s also about education. It’s about intellectual understanding. The Bhagavad Gita is a philosophical book which addresses Arjuna’s concerns intellectually.
So, that’s why if we are to practice spirituality, if we understand the philosophy, then that will equip us so that we are not impulsive and just driven only by the urge for immediate results. But we will be intelligent and we will be able to persevere till we get lasting results. Even if they take time, we understand that they are worthwhile.
So, by scriptural study, we will be able to get the patience and by sharing scriptural knowledge with others in an appealing way, we will be able to inspire others also to get the patience to get enduring spiritual results. Thank you.