Bring out the best you 3 – Spiritual help

[Retreat at Fort Clinch State Park, Amelia Islands, USA]

Hare Krishna. So we come to the last session. And this we’ll discuss about spiritual help.
So to quickly summarise how we have gone till now. Discuss if you want to bring out the best. First is that we have to remove the negativity, the blockages that are there within us.
And for that we understand with our intelligence and we boost our conviction. Then we get the inspiration from others. That was what we discussed in second session.
And how association essentially means the transfer of desires. And now, so we can to bring out our best, we can go inwards, we can go outwards and we can go upwards. And going upwards means we seek spiritual help.
We seek help of the supreme spiritual reality. We seek help at the spiritual level of reality. So this part, I’ll take in two parts.
First is we’ll focus on Krishna’s relationship with this world and our contribution, our actions in this world. And then we’ll also talk about Krishna’s love as it transcends this world. In case, sometimes I go a little fast, please just, you can mark it.
Raise your hand and tell me. Sometimes I just, towards the end of a sentence or something, I speak a little fast. So I’ll slow down at that time.
So this is a conventional understanding of what it takes for a person to be successful. Conventional means mainstream materialistic understanding. I’ll talk about materialistic, I don’t use it in derogatory sense.
It’s just the way people think. And I’ll, later apart, I’ll refine this the philosophical perspective. But let’s start with this right now.
Talent and temperament are required for achievement. Say somebody is a very talented sports player, a good soccer player, a good tennis player. But if that person just crumbles because of nerves, big movements, he doesn’t have a cool head at that time, then that person can’t achieve.
Somebody may actually be a good speaker in terms of the capacity to speak, but if they get too much stage fright, then when they come on the stage, they can’t perform. So we have, when there is talent and then there is temperament to go with the talent. One has the calmness, the purposefulness, the focus, then one can get achievement.
So we will talk about this understanding. How can we, with a spiritual vision, understand this better? So, if you want to look at our talents, one way we can understand it is that what we are is God’s gift to us. And what we become is our gift to God.
That means we have all been given some talents, some abilities, some resources and they are God’s gift to us. Every one of us is distinctive. In fact, every one of us is unique.
And we all can make a distinctive contribution with what we have. So what we are? Many times, we look at other people and we think, oh this person looks better than me, this person speaks better than me, this person has a better memory than me. We compare and sometimes we feel inferior.
Or sometimes we may compare and we think, oh I am better than this person. And we may feel superior. But either way, we just distract ourselves through such comparison.
And especially in today’s world, because we see through the media often the best in every field. In the movies you will see the most good looking people. In the advertisements we will see the most attractive, the most well built, the most shapely people.
So whatever it is, we see very wealthy people, we see smart people. So often when we compare ourselves with such people, we may end up feeling inferior. I am not as well endowed as these people are.
And you have to understand that we don’t have to become like anyone else. We don’t have to become like anyone else. If God had wanted us to be someone else, He would have made someone else.
God has made you you and He has made me me. So in that sense, certainly we want to improve. But that improvement is not lateral, where I become like someone else.
The improvement is vertical where I try to become the best me. I don’t have to become you. I have to become the best me.
So when we turn inwards and we look at what talents do I have. So often we may have certain abilities, certain interests, certain capacities which we don’t even focus on because our eyes are caught in looking at others. So suppose if we go for a programme and there is a feast.
But the feast is such that everybody gets different items in their feast. So what’s on your plate is different from what is on my plate. And what is different from your plate and what is on her plate.
Everyone has different items. Imagine it’s a feast. And then I have many delicious items in my feast.
But instead of looking at what I have, I look at what has he got? What has she got? What has she got? And then just by looking at others, what they have, I feel dissatisfied. Although I have many good things on my plate, instead of looking at them, I’m looking at what all is on the other’s plate. And in that way I stay dissatisfied.
So actually, both for our nourishment and our taste, we have enough on our own plate. But we are neglecting that. So quite often when we understand that what we are is God’s gift to us, that means we have enough on our plate.
The difference is that it’s not always visible on the plate. It’s often something like a treasure that is buried somewhere in the backyard of our house that we have inherited. We have to dig and find out.
Sometimes we may have to do some introspection. But whatever talents we know, we develop them. We don’t have to imitate others or feel deprived because we don’t have the abilities that others have.
So using the abilities that we do have, we develop ourselves. And what we become is our gift to God. So in this way, we see our talents as a way of reciprocating with God.
He has given us some gifts. And through those gifts, we improve those gifts and we make some contributions. And that’s our gift to Him.
We’ll come back to this. So now in the… when we look at spiritual life or when we look at the material world, from the view of the Bhagavad Gita, there can be three broad attitudes towards the world. We may romanticise the world.
Romanticising means we start thinking, oh, you know, this is so good. This relationship is so good. This position is so good.
This house is so good. This particular ability is so good. This job is so good.
This financial situation is so great. If I just get this, everything in my life will be happy. So sometimes we romanticise things.
This is what largely materialistic people do. They romanticise. They just think that if something, if we just arrange for this, this, this, then everything will be happy in our life.
Now this is in the Bhagavad Gita, there are three broad strands of thought. There is karma, jnana and bhava. Karma is trying to work to make this world better.
So karma means they romanticise the world. Then jnana is the path of intellectual analysis where they understand this world is a place of misery and whatever we do, we get more entangled in it. We suffer because of it.
We get attached to things and those things are taken away from us and then we suffer. So jnanis demonise the world. They think whatever is attractive in this world, that will eventually entangle me, which will eventually cause distress to me.
Therefore, let me not get attached. But their focus is on detachment, on just moving away from the world as much as possible. So they demonise the world.
Sometimes in spiritual life, if we do not have a proper understanding of the bhakti philosophy, we may also start thinking, oh everything in this world is temporary. This world is miserable. And what is the use of living in this world? Ultimately, what is the use of achieving anything here? Everything is temporary.
But, this is an incomplete understanding. Because the bhakti understanding is not just that this world is to be demonised, it is to be utilised. If we see, Krishna speaks the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna.
And the purpose of Krishna’s descent to this world is that he wants to establish dharma. Dharma samsthapanartha is sambhavami. He wants to establish dharma and he wants to engage Arjuna in the purpose of establishing dharma.
So why would he do that if he considered this world as just simply a miserable place? Or, for that matter, this world is a distressful place, but what happens is, the Bhagavad Gita is meant to help us come out of the distress. This world is, when we say this is a place of distress, that means that if we pursue happiness in this world alone, without any consideration of raising our consciousness, then we will be frustrated. But, we are meant to make a contribution in this world.
Krishna says, He says that from me this whole world has come. In me this whole world exists. Therefore, through your work done in this world, you worship me.
So, how do we do our work? With whatever talents, with whatever abilities we have. So Krishna says, you worship me through your work. These are talents.
They are to be utilised in the mood of service to Krishna. And when we do that, we can also remember another meditation point in the Bhagavad Gita is that, Krishna says, I am ability in human beings. So, our abilities are actually a manifestation of God.
There are very good singers, there are very good speakers, there are very good players, there are very good actors, there are very good writers, whatever it is. There are very good teachers. Where does that ability come from? That is actually God’s gift to them.
That is a manifestation of the Divine. So, when we see our abilities as not our abilities, but as gifts from Krishna, meant to be used in His service, meant to make a positive contribution in this world, then we get a positive vision of our talents. So, there are some talents which we know, and there are some talents which others have, which we don’t have to compare with.
What we have is enough for our contribution. What we have is enough for our evolution. We just need to use what we have and discover what we don’t know that we have, gradually.
So, this is one part about talent. The second part is about temperament. In the New Age spirituality, there is often this saying, live in the present.
Be in the present. Yes, that is true. Sometimes we just get too distracted by what has gone wrong in the past or we were too fearful about what will go wrong in the future.
And that way, we just get paranoid. Or we get just too lamentful because of what has happened. So, living in the present is very good.
This is the moment which I have and let me focus on what I can do in this moment. But live in the present is not the complete understanding. We live in the present, but we don’t live for the present.
We have a higher purpose that we live for. So, when people talk about temperament, temperament means, say, if there is a sports, if there is a tennis match which is coming towards the final and there is a grand slam final and then the player is playing. At that time, they have some nerves.
So, they have to live in the present in the sense that they have to focus on that particular match, particular point. But at the same time, they understand that they are not living for the present. If they win, they lose.
Tomorrow is going to be another day. Life is going to go on. And they have to continue playing tennis and they have to continue evolving.
Sometimes they will win, sometimes they will lose. So, when we have a perspective that is long term, but a vision that is focused in the present, then we can focus and do the best without getting consumed by it. The problem with living only in the present and living only for the present is that sometimes the present can be very distressing.
Somebody has got a very painful disease and their only hope of relief is if they get cured in the future. Tell them, live in the present. It is very painful for them.
So, yes, whatever we can do in the present, we should be doing. But we have a higher purpose to live for. When we live for Krishna, that means that we understand that through every moment I have an opportunity to move closer to Krishna.
I have an opportunity to remember Krishna. I have an opportunity to serve Krishna. I have an opportunity to direct my thoughts towards Krishna.
And in that way, I can move closer to Krishna. So, we live for Krishna. Now, Krishna at every moment is actually just one thought away from us.
Just only one thought away. If you think about Him, He is there right in our hearts. We can invoke His presence just by our thoughts.
So, Krishna, we live for Krishna. We live in the present because in the present is our opportunity to serve Krishna. But the present is not our entire existence.
And that’s why sometimes the present may be negative. We will not get overwhelmed by negativity. If the present is positive, we don’t get too elated by positivity.
We move forward through positivity and negativity both. Forward through the journey that we have. Now, this is about one more point about temperament that the Bhagavad Gita often talks about detachment.
It says that work, but work in a mood of detachment. So, detachment, sometimes people ask if I am detached, then what will inspire me to work? When I study, I think, I want to come first in my class. I want to get a good job.
I want to pass a competitive exam. It’s often the thought of the goal that inspires us to work. So, if I am detached, then what will inspire me to work at all? Krishna is very precise in what He is saying.
He is saying, don’t be attached to the results. He is not saying, don’t be attached to the goals. What is the difference between goals and results? Goals is what we set before we do an activity.
Results are what comes after we do an activity. So, say a student is preparing for an exam. Say we are preparing for a job interview.
At that time, preparation for that interview, preparation for that exam is in our hands. But what happens after that? What is the process by which, what kind of questions will come over there? What will the way they will be assessed? What is the comparative performance of the other candidates? All that is not in our control. So, any situation that we face in our life, there is something which is in our control, something which is not in our control.
And, if we are detached, that means what Krishna is saying, if the activity which I have to do, before that I set a goal so that I can be focused on it. I do it wholeheartedly. But after I have done that, I am thinking, will I get this result or not? Will I pass this exam or not? Obsessed with it constantly.
Then what is happening? That is not in our control anymore. So, then we are detached. Krishna says, be detached.
Why? Because focus on that which is in your control. And, that which is out of our control, we just leave it to Krishna. So, detachment in that sense is actually empowering.
Because when we are attached, we are thinking about things which are not in our control and that only makes us feel powerless, feel insecure, feel fearful. In any situation that we are in, there is always something which is in our control. And we focus on that.
And we just be detached from other things. So, when I started public speaking, just two minutes, when I started public speaking for the first time about 20 years ago, we were given some guidelines. So, the last guideline was, depend on Krishna.
But in bracket, but only after you have prepared. So, if I depend on Krishna, I don’t prepare anything for the class. And then I come and sit.
I am depending on Krishna. I am not depending on Krishna. I am simply being irresponsible.
So, what is the difference between detachment and irresponsibility? Detachment is after the action has been done, there is no emotional involvement in it. Irresponsibility is even before the action is done, there is no involvement in it. So, if I am cooking something for Krishna, the food comes out terrible.
And then say, it’s not cooked well. No, I am detached from it. If I had myself not seen the recipe properly, if I had not prepared the food properly, then that is not detachment.
That is irresponsibility. Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we try to cook something, but then the sabji comes out to be rotten, or the gas goes off, something like that happens. And despite our best efforts, the food doesn’t come out right.
That’s okay. Sometimes it happens. But detachment and irresponsibility are two very different things.
And Krishna talks about detachment. The purpose is, if you see, Krishna himself tells Arjuna to set goals. Both of them, at the start of the Kurukshetra war, every day, they had a plan.
Today we are going to attack this regiment. Today we are going to fight against this enemy. Today we are going to bring down this enemy.
So, they would make plans like that. In fact, on the 14th day, Arjuna made a plan that the person who was responsible for the death of his son Abhimanyu, I will fell him today. And Krishna helped Arjuna to achieve that goal.
So, detachment is not against goal setting. The whole idea is, there are some things which are in our control and some things not in our control. So, we focus on those things which are in our control and we leave what is not in our control to Krishna.
So, in that sense, our detachment is empowering. I do one thing, the best that I can, I move to the next thing after that. And in that way, detachment enables us to move forward in our life without getting stuck mentally in the past or stuck mentally in the future.
Okay, why did this happen like that? What will happen over there? No. This is right in front of me. Let me do it.
This is right in front of me. Let me do it. Let me do it.
In that way, I can move onwards. So, let’s take one more slide and then we can have questions after this. Yeah.
So, earlier I said talent and temperament lead to achievement. That is the general understanding among people. But actually, there is one more factor involved.
I may have a very good talent. I may have a very good temperament. But actually, unless destiny is favourable, the result will not come.
Now, a player may be very cool and composed. A player may be very talented. But what if that person is well set to win the match? But then at that time, rains come.
And the match ends in a draw. Person wanted to win but they can’t win because at that time, sometimes destiny may not be favourable. So, actually, talent and temperament are only the human aspects of the process for getting achievement.
There is another aspect to it that is the non-human or the trans-human aspect which also plays a role in our life in getting results. Without those things working out, there are certain things which are in our control whenever we work to get a result. And there are some things which are not in our control.
And those, we could say, comprise destiny. Now, destiny, free will, karma is an entirely different subject which I am not going to go over here. But suffice it to say that at this stage, we can just say that whatever is not in our control, that we can call as destiny.
So, roughly, it paraphrases, what happens to us is destiny. What we do is free will. So, our free will, our endeavour is with our talent and with our temperament, we do the best.
But beyond that, there are things which are not in our control. And we just leave it. Sometimes they will work out right, sometimes they will not work out right.
Often, we talk about it when some things go wrong. Some things go wrong and why did this not work out right? Why did this not work out right? But if you look at our life, there are many times when things did work out right. Now, we did some efforts.
We did 1, 2, 3. But then there are 5, 6, 7, we just everything happened at the right time. And the results came out. So, that way, if we look in the overall sense, sometimes destiny works out favourable, sometimes it may work out unfavourable.
But, without going into the specifics, the principle is that sometimes we may have our talent and we may have our temperament, but the results may not come. But the principles of bhakti bring another dimension to it. So, if my destiny is unfavourable, I may say, I will not get achievement, I will simply get frustration.
But, if I have devotion, achievement is external, what I achieve in the outer world. Fulfilment is internal. What will happen is, if I do the best that I can in a mood of devotion, then that will take me closer to Krishna.
And by moving closer to Krishna, who is the source of the supreme fulfilment, I will get fulfilment. So, sometimes we may not get results external. But, if we are doing it in the mood of service to Krishna, still, the inner result of moving closer to Krishna, moving closer to inner satisfaction will come to us.
The people who met Srila Prabhupada, when in the early days of… He was gone. Prabhupada was almost 70 at that time. And he, in a sense, had not been very successful.
He had been trying to preach for 35-40 years, but had not really got many followers, not got any organisation. But, people who met him, he was so happy. He was happy, not in a bubbly, effusive sense, showy sense, but he was happy and satisfied.
He was experiencing Krishna and he was satisfied. Every day, he was glorifying Krishna by doing his bhagavatam purports. He was offering food to Krishna.
He was speaking about Krishna to whoever came to meet him. He was satisfied in that. So, later, in the last 7-8 years of his life, Krishna arranged miraculously for him to have phenomenal results.
But, even without those results, there was fulfilment. So, even if the results don’t come out in this world, of course, by the understanding of bhakti, our temperament will improve, we will be able to better tap our talent and the possibility, even the probability that we will get better results is more. We are talking about a situation, even if results don’t come somehow, still, if we are connected with Krishna internally, we will experience fulfilment.
And thus, we will be able to move forward in our life. So, bringing out the best means that, with respect to divine help, we have a divine vision of our talent. That means, it’s not just, I want you to prove that I am so great.
Rather, it is God’s gift to me, which I want to use in a mood of service to him, in a mood of contribution in this world, which he has created. And the temperament means, yes, I have certain things in my control and I will focus on that. And whatever is not in control, my control, I will leave it to Krishna.
So, with this vision, actually, we can make the best use of our talents and we can develop the best temperament. And thus, we can set up the best launching pad for success in our life. Best launching pad for achievement.
So, yes, I will take a break here. Any questions till now? So, appreciating the role of destiny in our life is something which can help us to understand that we are a part of something much bigger than ourselves. And when I was in my college, at that time I was always among the top students.
But I was never the top student. So, I was never the number one. I was a joint number one, sometimes second, sometimes third.
But never number one. And that was my obsession. India is an education-obsessed country.
So, that was my obsession. I want to be the number one. And then, when I gave my GRE, I gave it my third year engineering, first semester.
So, at that time, I always liked English words. I liked English. And generally, Indians have a challenge in English language itself.
Maths and the general aptitude, what was there, that was normally very good for most Indians. So, at that time, I remember I always loved English words. But it was as if something just possessed me.
And I used to memorise words. So, you know, I would make flashcards. And when I’m crossing a road to go to college from my hostel, if there are two lanes to cross, I would have one flashcard, look at it, memorise the word.
And when I’m crossing the road, I’m thinking of that word. And then, as soon as I come to that line, I look at another card. And I look at, I cross that road.
And then I move forward. So, at that time, I had made a rule that walking from the hostel to the school would take me around ten minutes. And for three months, every single day, while going to school and coming back from school, I was memorising ten words while going, ten words while coming.
Now, I’m not saying this to brag. I’m saying that something possessed me at that time. And later, now if I try to memorise Bhagavad Gita verses, I can’t do like that.
Although I have that capacity in terms of Krishna has given me good memory. But something entered at that time. Just everything I could see.
When I’m thinking of things working out right, it is not just in the outer world. It’s also in an inner world. The mind stays so calm.
This is what I have to do. I’m going to focus on this. Then as the exam approached, I started doing mock tests and I was getting very good marks in the exam.
And when the exam actually came, I was just sometimes I used to have some nerves actually going to the paper. But that day I was just completely calm. Totally like in a zone.
And there were at that time in our hostel, I was staying in a hostel and there, a number of students got malaria. And I was prone to malaria. Whenever the infection would come, I would get malaria.
But somehow that year, although I was there in that same hostel, people who were much, much healthier than me, they got malaria. I never got anything. So, in retrospect, when I look at it, yes, I did work hard, but even the situation externally, so that my hard work could produce results, and the disposition internally by which I could focus on the hard work, all that, there was some higher arrangement going on.
Of course, what happened after that was Krishna’s mercy also. I got 2350. That was the highest in my, not just in my college, that was the highest in the history of my college.
That was the highest in the state of Maharashtra, which is like several million people in that state. So, I was elated. But then it struck me that just looking at the marks doesn’t give you any happiness.
What do you do? Look at the marks and, okay, what next? People come and congratulate, then you feel some happiness. And then people congratulate for a few moments, and then it’s over. And then two of my friends, somehow they forgot to congratulate me.
And I started wondering, what is going on? And I felt really irritated. Why are you not congratulating me? Don’t you know what I have achieved? And probably they thought that, you know, that everybody knows about it. Everybody is congratulated.
What’s the big deal in that? So, at that time, when one of them just forgot to congratulate me, it just struck me that actually, by this achievement, I have not become happy. I have become more dependent for my happiness on others. And when I become more dependent for my happiness on others, that means this is not really the way I need to go.
Tomorrow I’ll give another exam. Again, I’ll try to get some great, good marks. But what next after that? So, of course, that is how it led to spiritual realisation.
But even in that particular area, I felt that there was… I could see things beyond my control just working out right. One, two, three, four, five. And the way they worked out right, that’s what led to the result coming out.
Both in terms of a material result and in terms of a spiritual result of my coming closer to Krishna. After that, some devotees gave me a Bhagavad Gita and then that’s how I became more spiritually interested because I was looking for some higher achievement in my life. But this is not the way to fulfilment.
I need something more. So, would any of you like to share of how you have found some experience of… So, in our life as devotees, if things which are beyond our control, do we see them as a result of destiny or do we see them as Krishna’s mercy? And how do we differentiate between the two? Firstly, it is very difficult to know from our perspective. But what we can see is that it’s not that Krishna necessarily has to act by transcending the laws of nature.
Krishna can act through the laws of nature also. That means that sometimes we may say that Krishna performed miracles say he lifted Govardhan Hill for protecting the Vrachavasis from the anger of Indra and the torrential rains that came. So, that was where Krishna intervened and stopped the working of the law of gravity at that time so that he could protect his devotees.
But there are many other times Krishna can work through the course of nature itself. When Prabhupada went to America, there was apparently no great miracle. Of course, Prabhupada had a vision of Krishna.
But he went by a ship and the ship went through stormy weather. Prabhupada had seasickness. But then, Krishna was there.
Prabhupada went just at the time when the counterculture was coming in America and people were open to Indian spirituality. And Prabhupada went to the Lower East Side and there, there were people who were seeking, looking for spiritual guides. So, my point is that if we look at it from a socio-cultural historical perspective, Prabhupada came to America just at the right time.
Still a tough audience, but it was at the right time. And he just got people. Prabhupada could have come in his youth, he could have come in his middle age, he came in his old age.
Krishna arranged for the right time. So, in his case, of course, he is a pure devotee, so we say it is Krishna’s arrangement. But the point I am making is, Krishna’s arrangement can work through the normal course of nature also.
Prabhupada did not miraculously fly from India to America, like Hanuman left from India to Lanka, something like that. Prabhupada went by normal means. Still the result that came out was extraordinary.
In just a few years, less than a dozen, a whole worldwide spiritual movement was established. So, similarly, when we talk about Krishna’s mercy, which comes in our life, Krishna’s mercy can come, say, you know, we are to meet by our past karma with an accident. And then somehow something happens and we get some intelligence and we don’t drive along that way, we slow down, drive slowly, and then somehow we are saved from that accident.
We could say being saved from that accident is Krishna’s mercy. But sometimes we may go through an accident and that accident may give us some realisations. That accident may deepen our conviction in the importance of spiritual life, in the reality of Krishna’s protection.
So, that could be protections. That could be Krishna’s mercy. So, it’s a, you know, we cannot mind-read Krishna.
You know, what is he thinking exactly? But what we can see is that any opportunity to go closer to Krishna or any impetus to go closer to Krishna, those can be seen as Krishna’s mercy. Opportunity means some devotional facility comes up. That is Krishna’s mercy.
But impetus means some circumstance which makes us realise, I am helpless. I need Krishna. That could also be Krishna’s mercy.
So, in general, devotees, we don’t go too much into hyper-analysis. For example, if I get sickness, is it because of past karma? Is it because of Krishna’s mercy? I would say it’s because of past karma. But during that sickness, I have an opportunity to remember Krishna.
I have an opportunity to remember Krishna’s teachings about how this body is ultimately going to be filled with diseases. I have an opportunity to raise my consciousness about the body by remembering Krishna. That is Krishna’s mercy.
So, devotees, we have to see what attitude is favourable for our bhakti. So, if I get a sickness and if I start thinking, you know, the sickness is Krishna’s mercy, then what does that mean exactly? Is it that I am sick because Krishna wants me to be sick? Well, Krishna doesn’t want any bad things to happen in our life. Krishna is ultimate well-wisher.
The sickness is not coming because of Krishna. It is coming because of our past karma. But Krishna will either minimise the sickness or will give us the opportunity to transcend the sickness or will give us the opportunity to grow through the sickness.
That is Krishna’s mercy. So, we have to take the attitude that is favourable. So, I’ll give an example what I mean by the attitude that is favourable.
That if some other devotee falls sick, so, I should not think if some very senior devotee who we thought was very advanced, that person gets a terrible disease. Then if I start thinking, you know, I thought you were a very exalted devotee, but the fact that you got a terrible disease means that you must have done some terrible karma. You are a sinful person, that’s why you got this reaction.
Now, thinking like that is very unfavourable for my devotional disposition. So, what I should think is, Krishna has some special plan. Krishna is either purifying this devotee or teaching me something through this.
So, let me see this devotee’s current condition of sickness as an opportunity to serve, as an opportunity for Vaishnava Seva. So, if I have that attitude, then, okay, what is happening, why the sickness has come, that is between this devotee and Krishna. That’s not for me to judge.
But I see it as an opportunity to serve. But on the other hand, if I get some sickness, I think, you know, this sickness is Krishna’s mercy on me. If that helps me to go closer to Krishna, that is fine.
But sometimes, you know, I am trying to do some service, this sickness is coming in the way of my service. And what I should see is that I may not be able to see that sickness as Krishna’s mercy. This is simply the result of my past karma.
But Krishna is giving me the opportunity to tolerate this. Krishna will help me, give me the strength to tolerate the inconvenience, to tolerate the pain, to become more absorbed in Him. So, in general, the scripture doesn’t tell us that everything that happens is good.
Everything that happens is for good. But it is not necessarily that everything that happens is good. Because, see, for example, when Draupadi in the Mahabharata, the Kauravas attempt to dishonour her by disrobing her.
Nobody tells her afterwards that whatever happened is good. That is a terrible thing. And the Pandavas take revenge against that.
But Krishna arranges for good to come. Krishna arranges for the whole world to know how He protects His devotees. How He supplies an unlimited saree for her at that time.
When Sita is abducted, nobody tells Sita that whatever happened is good. No, but through Sita’s abduction, her immense devotion, her immense faithfulness to her Lord, even amidst separation, that is demonstrated. So Krishna can bring good even out of the bad.
So it’s not that as devotees, when bad things happen to us, we have to somehow deny our experience and think that this is good. It can be for good. But it will be for good when we have a positive devotional disposition towards it.
But it’s not that whatever happens is good. So sometimes when bad things happen, then we have to see that what is the way I can go towards Krishna in this situation. Sometimes thinking that bad thing is simply my own karma.
But Krishna will give me the strength to tolerate this. And that is Krishna’s mercy. So that can help us to have a more positive disposition towards Krishna.
Krishna is never the cause of our suffering. He is the cure for our suffering. So we have to have that conviction and have the disposition that enables us to grow in that conviction.
Does it answer your question? It’s a complex subject. So continuing this discussion about how Krishna helps us. So sometimes we may seek Krishna’s help in our getting certain results which otherwise we would not have got.
That’s also wonderful. That’s not the only way Krishna helps. So another way, sometimes we may have a problem and we want solution of the problem.
We want release from that problem. And Krishna sometimes we pray to him and he helps and we get release from that problem. But other entirely different way in which Krishna may help is that, not just release from the problem, but relief amidst the problem.
That means the problem is there, but because I managed to absorb myself in Krishna, I don’t feel that problem that much. I don’t get overwhelmed by that problem. Just like say it’s outside hot.
I am finding the heat unbearable. So if I come inside an AC room, now the heat has not gone away. But what has happened is, I have got relief.
Outside the heat is still there, but I have got relief amidst the heat because I have come into an air-conditioned room. So similarly, what can happen for a devotee is that the problem stays, but because the devotee becomes absorbed in the remembrance of Krishna, so that remembrance gives the devotee relief. The problem is there, like the heat is out there, but because we are not thinking about that problem, our thoughts are redirected away from that problem.
We don’t feel that suffering up to that magnitude. So, I have been coming to America for three years now. In 2015, first when I came to America, I had gone for a lecture in Ohio State University.
So after that, one boy came. I had given a talk on regulating our mental diet. So it is vegetarian society.
So I spoke about how we need to expose ourselves to positive stimuli, not negative, discouraging, critical stimuli. So this boy, after the class, he came and told me that just before this talk, he was planning, he was thinking of committing suicide. He had been in a steady relationship with a girl and then suddenly that girl had broken up and gone with some other boy.
So he had been very shattered by that. So as he was practically planning to go and commit suicide, he saw this poster of a programme. And he came and he heard the talk and he said, now I understand that actually it is not I who wanted to commit suicide.
It was inside me there is a mind and the mind is telling me to commit suicide. So he said that regulating the mental diet means that because I have an environment where many people get frustrated and they think something like this, that’s why the thought has come in my mind. Then I told him to read Bhagavad Gita, to chant.
And then whenever I go, he is now becoming a steady devotee. So I meet him. And in 2017 when I had gone this year, so he told me, he said that this time again I had gone into a similar situation.
He had been in a relationship for about a year or so with someone and then that girl suddenly left him, again for some other boy. He said, but this time when it happened, he said even the thought of suicide didn’t enter in my mind. He said, I just when I got that text from her, I just went and went into my room in my house and locked myself.
And he plays plays a guitar. That was the guitar you were playing yesterday. Who was playing? Ok, you are playing.
So he said that, ok. So he plays the guitar and I said, I just started. I closed my room, closed my door, cut off my phone and I started playing the guitar and singing Hare Krishna.
He said, for 6 hours I was continuously singing alone. And he said those 6 hours I was just praying to Krishna, calling out to Krishna. He says, those were the best moments of my life.
I could feel the presence of Krishna. I could feel the sweetness of Krishna. I could feel the love of Krishna.
Because what would normally have been a devastating situation for me, it turned out to be an uplifting situation for me. The relationship breakup was a problem that just happened. And he did not get release from that problem.
That relationship remained broken. But he got relief amidst the problem. Sometimes for us as devotees, if we focus too much on expecting a particular material result from Krishna, we pray to Krishna and I want things to work out this way.
Then what happens? Krishna may help us in some other way. Krishna may still be able to, may still want to and may still be giving us relief amidst the problem. But if we limit our expectation, this is the way Krishna should solve the problem.
Then we can’t feel his help. We can’t feel his love. So sometimes our expectations limit our vision.
Our expectations limit our vision. Whenever I go to airport, whenever I arrive at airport, devotees come to pick me up. And when I came from Singapore to India, normally I always go in the saffron dress.
But in Singapore, legally devotees are not allowed to go in that kind of dress. Like in the Middle East also it is like that. They don’t allow us to go in this dress.
So when I came from that country, I was very shirt packed. So the devotees had come to pick me up. He was looking for me and I was looking at him.
And I was calling out to him. But he was looking everywhere else without looking at me. Because he was expecting somebody in saffron.
In these robes. And I was in normal dress. Then I finally went, Prabhu, when I went right in front of him, then he saw me.
So what has happened was the expectation limits the vision. So because he was expecting somebody in saffron, that person was right in front of him but he couldn’t see. Sometimes in our life, we expect that Krishna should help and he will help.
But we expect Krishna to help in a particular way. This is the problem and this is the solution. And when that doesn’t happen, we start feeling why is Krishna not helping? But Krishna does help.
And if we just, yes, we can have some expectation because with our intelligence, with our heart, with our head and heart we feel that this is the solution that will be good. But we see, in bhakti, having expectation is not the problem. It’s normal, natural, human condition is that we’ll have expectations.
But being attached to the expectation is a problem. I have an expectation that I want things to work out like this but I won’t be attached to those expectations. If Krishna, you have some other plan, as Jesus said in the Bible, let thy will be done not mine.
There is a very good mode of surrender which Jesus exhibits. He says, O father, let this cup pass. In those times when somebody would be killed, often the way they would be killed would be they would be given a cup of hemlock.
That’s how Socrates was killed. He was told to drink the poison himself. So Jesus was talking in those terms.
Of course, eventually when Jesus was killed it was in a more brutal way. He was crucified. But what he says is, let this cup pass.
He could foresee what was going to happen. You see, let this cup pass, let this not happen. But he surrenders, let thy will be done, not mine.
So like that, it’s not wrong for us to have expectations. But we don’t become attached to the expectations. We don’t make our bhakti conditional to the fulfilment of our expectations.
That means, Krishna, if this works out, then I’ll practise bhakti. Otherwise, how can I practise bhakti? No, this is not working out right. That is not working out.
Whatever doesn’t work or doesn’t, works or doesn’t work, still we can practise bhakti. So Krishna does help. Sometimes he may help by giving us relief from, release from problems.
Sometimes he may give us release amidst the problems. So I’ll talk about this now. This point, when I’m talking about this point is, sometimes we want a particular result, but that result may not come.
And we may just feel frustrated. But if in the absence of that result, also there is devotion. Through that devotion, we will experience fulfilment.
We’ll experience an inner connection with Krishna that will be fulfilling. Otherwise, we may get an achievement, but if there is no inner connection with Krishna, that achievement will simply trigger a craving for another achievement. And there is no end to that.
How do I go back? Okay. So Krishna’s love. So I’ll focus on understanding and appreciating Krishna’s love.
We are talking about in this session, seeking Krishna’s help. So till now we talked about how what we are doing, we can spiritualise that vision and see God’s hand in those things. But we’ll now try to understand how Krishna from this side, he loves us and helps us.
Some of us may be feeling, oh, I have done so many sinful activities, I have done so many conditionings, I have done so many wrong things. Does Krishna even care for me? Actually, Krishna’s love is unconditional, is unfailing in the sense that it is not based on who we are. It is based on who he is.
It is just his nature to love all living beings. And that’s why he loves us. Krishna says that in 3.15 he says that I am situated in the hearts of all living beings.
He does not say that I am situated in the heart of only devotees or only pure devotees. No. He is there in the hearts of all living beings.
And why is he there? He is there to guide us. He is there to help us. So that is his presence in our heart is out of his love for us.
So his love is based on who he is. He is the benevolent Lord of all living beings. Now of course who we are also matters.
It matters in what sense? Who we are determines how much we can experience Krishna’s love. That means the sun is giving light to everyone. But if I am in a dark cellar, I can appreciate the sunlight.
When I come out of the dark cellar I can see the sun giving so much light. Sometimes if we are too attached to something then we may not perceive Krishna’s love. Because what happens? That attachment becomes like a cellar around us.
Only when that attachment is fulfilled then the cellar door opens. Oh! Some light comes in. If that attachment is not fulfilled we don’t perceive Krishna’s love.
So if we try to perceive Krishna’s love through the filter of whether my particular desire is fulfilled or not, sometimes it may appear that Krishna doesn’t care for us. But Krishna always cares for us. So Krishna’s love is not based on who we are.
But our capacity to experience his love is based on who we are. That means what? Another example to illustrate this is, let’s say a small child wants a toy. And a mother says, no, you already have enough toys.
Not now. No, I want this toy. No, not now.
I want this toy. No. And the child starts crying loudly.
And the child says, Ah! You don’t love me. And the mother has provided so many things for the child. And what the child sees is, not all the things that are provided.
The child sees this one thing that is not provided and says, Mother, you don’t love me. So like that, if you look in our life, there are many things which are right. But our mind obsesses on this one thing that is not working out right.
And you say, no, Krishna doesn’t love me. Does Krishna even care for me? Does Krishna… Does Krishna even exist? So what is happening is, we may say, okay, the problems that are in my life are not like toys. They are serious problems.
Yes, they are serious problems, no doubt. But still, if you consider from the perspective of eternity, from the perspective of eternity, whatever thing we get or don’t get at a particular time in our life, it really doesn’t matter so much. So, in that sense, if you focus on this understanding that Krishna always cares for us, but our attachment sometimes blinds us to His care.
Of course, Krishna can work in many ways and sometimes what we want, He may also provide. But that’s not the basis on which we try to see His love. We see His love based on how He is present with us.
And if we chant His holy names, no matter whether we are in distress or we may be in happiness, in His holy names we can experience His presence. We can experience His sweetness. And we can come closer to Him.
Krishna’s love is not only unfailing, it is unflinching. Unflinching means that no matter what we do, we may do a terribly wrong thing, but there is nothing that we can ever do which can make Krishna stop loving us. No matter what somebody does, we cannot make Krishna say that.
Krishna says, I am tired of you. I am going to leave your heart and go away now. Krishna is always there in the heart.
So, in that sense, Krishna never abandons us. There is nothing that can make Krishna forsake us. Sometimes we may feel forsaken that is because our consciousness is misdirected.
But Krishna never forsakes us. He is always there in our heart. Even if a person loves us very much and that person holds us in a tight hug, that person cannot come as close to us as Krishna always is.
And Krishna is Krishna’s greatest blessing. Krishna is Krishna’s greatest blessing. That means often we go to Krishna and expect, let this problem be solved, let this desire be fulfilled, let this goal be achieved.
Yes, those things, getting them is wonderful. If we get them, that’s great. But, actually, even if we get them, tomorrow some other problem is going to come up.
Tomorrow some other desire is going to come up. It’s not that we don’t pursue these, but we don’t have to make those the defining basis of our relationship with Krishna. Sometimes some things work, sometimes some things don’t work.
So what do we do? We focus on connecting with Krishna. If we can absorb ourselves in Krishna, if we can remember Krishna, then whatever situation we are in, actually we can be satisfied. So in India and Pakistan there is a very great cricket rivalry.
And there is one devotee’s small son, he used to chant Hare Krishna and he stopped chanting. So his parents were telling him to chant, he refused. So they took him to their guru.
He asked, they’re talking nicely, and he says, why did you stop chanting? He said, no, I’m upset with Krishna. Why are you upset with Krishna? He said, you know, we had this India-Pakistan match and I prayed to Krishna that India should win. But, Pakistan won.
Now when we look at it, it was childish. But then he said, you know, then what the guru told him is that, actually, just like you, there was a boy in Pakistan. And he was praying that Pakistan wins.
So he prayed more than you. So, if you want, rather than giving up, you pray to Krishna, pray more to Krishna. That is the level that a child could understand.
But, when we look at it from this perspective, it seems so childish. But actually, if you look at it practically in the world, there are always this world is a place of limited resources. And sometimes some things will work out, some things will not work out.
So, rather than just basing our relationship with Krishna on some things working out in this world, we understand that our relationship with Krishna is actually transcendental. That, yes, we want things to work out in this world, and Krishna will make things work out by his plan. But we don’t focus on that.
We focus on connecting with Krishna primarily. So, no matter, even if something bad happens to us, something bad even we do, sometimes we feel, you know, I did such a terrible mistake, I did such a terrible wrong activity. Now, I have become so contaminated, I cannot go to Krishna.
Now, we are never too contaminated for Krishna. Actually, Krishna can purify everyone. And Krishna doesn’t reject anyone because of their conditionings, because of even their wrongdoings.
Yes, our wrongdoings, whatever it may be, that may lead to some reactions. But that is different from our opportunity to approach Krishna. See, our actions and their reactions are in the horizontal realm, in this world.
There is karma, and there is its reaction. But that’s all in the material level of reality. But our connection with Krishna is vertical, it is spiritual.
So, therefore, we don’t let the action and reaction that have happened come in the way of our relationship with Krishna. So, Krishna’s love is also unflagging. Unflagging means that it continues lifetime after lifetime after lifetime.
So, again, if you want to appreciate Krishna’s love, we need to understand the length and the breadth of our existence, or the depth of our existence. Length means, sometimes in a… sometimes, a doctor, a child goes to a doctor, and the child has got some pain in the arm. And the doctor says, now we have to do surgery.
And that surgery causes the child even greater pain. But after that, when the child comes out of the surgery, there is greater pain. And the child may think that, that actually, I went to this doctor for relief from pain, and what I got was greater pain.
So, what is going on? What does this doctor do for me? This doctor has actually hurt me more. But the problem is, this is the difference between an uninformed vision and an informed vision. While the child is seeing the present, I had this much pain.
Now I have this much more pain. What has this doctor done? What has this doctor done for me? It actually hurt me. But the doctor is seeing the future.
This disease is there, and if you don’t do the surgery, in the future there is going to be greater pain. So, the doctor has done the surgery to prevent that future aggravation of the pain. So what happens is, the difference between our vision and Krishna’s vision is that, we see the present and prepare for the future.
See, this is the problem. And if this happens, this happens, this happens, the problem will be solved. We see the present and prepare for the future.
But Krishna sees the future and prepares for the present. Krishna sees the future. Sees the future doesn’t mean that he has controlled everything in the future.
Rather he sees that actions have consequences, and by our destiny certain things are going to happen in our life. Just like a doctor knows, this is the symptoms now, this disease is going to be aggravated like this. So, the doctor sees the future and then prepares the present.
Doctor helps the child to prevent future pain, about which the child doesn’t even know anything right now. So, same way, sometimes it may appear as if in our life, it was going on nicely, we started practising Krishna Bhakti and sometimes problems seem to increase. But it is not like that.
If we look from a more long-term perspective, long-term perspective means that not just this lifetime, we have been going through many many lifetimes. So, what may seem to be problematic in this lifetime, that might just be purification which can save us from problems in the future lifetime. We may just get purified and liberated in this lifetime by going through that situation.
So, when we understand the length of our existence, it is not just this moment, it is not just this day, it is not just even this life, then Krishna sees the future and prepares the present for us. So, by this long-term vision of our own existence, then we can see how actually even terribly difficult things are also opportunities for going closer to Krishna. So, how is all this related to bring out the best in you? Talking about, when life gives us a bad deed, when life gives us gives us adversities, at that time we can react with resentment which will only make things worse.
Or, we can react with hope, with faith, with positivity and that can bring out the best within us at that time. So, one is the length of our existence. If we appreciate that, Krishna sees that and He acts accordingly.
And second is the breadth of our existence. Breadth or the depth of our existence. Depth means that we often look at things only at the material level.
But we are not just material beings. There is a physical level of reality, there is a mental level of reality and there is a spiritual level of reality. Sometimes some devotee may appear to be suffering a lot at the physical level.
But if that is causing the devotee to remember Krishna, to go closer to Krishna, to increase their faith in Krishna, then actually the devotee is positive for that devotee. It’s positive for that person. Like I told about the boy in Ohio.
At a physical level, at a relational level, he went to trauma. But, so if somebody just sees at an external level, you had a breakup, you must be suffering. But then what happened? At an internal level, he was connected with Krishna deeper.
So again, if we expect Krishna’s help only at the physical level, then we miss out on the fact that Krishna can act at other levels also. Sometimes a devotee may very well be very troubled at a social level or at a financial level. But in that, if the devotee goes closer to Krishna, devotee becomes more dependent on Krishna, then that inner faith that comes, that is a far, far greater achievement, that is far, far greater blessing than simply an external situation that is favourable.
So sometimes when difficulties come and we just feel like giving up, then we may lose our heart. But then we can look at such times, instead of just looking at the present, okay, this problem is there, this problem is there. When I look at the future, you know, this problem is going to become like this.
This problem will become like that. This problem will become like that. And we get overwhelmed.
What is going on? What am I supposed to do? But there are such times you can look behind to see how far Krishna has brought us. How far Krishna has brought us can be in many senses. Now most of us probably were living non-devotional lives, involved in all kinds of activities.
And now, whatever has happened, Krishna has brought us to a better life. So yes, there was some intelligence that we used, some determination that we showed. But if you look in our own heart, so many times when we still do wrong things, desire wrong things, so it’s not that Krishna has brought us this far because of us.
Quite often, if we are honest, Krishna has brought us this far in spite of us. In spite of our doing this thing wrong, that mistake, that attachment, that conditioning and holding on to that, Krishna has brought us this far. So we appreciate that.
We look at what we were. On a day-to-day basis, what happens is everybody faces problems. Devotees also face problems.
In some ways, similar to what non-devotees face. So if we just look at a day-to-day level, then we’ll feel, you know, what is this Krishna Bhakti helping me? But if you look from a long-term perspective, you’ll see that Krishna has made a big difference in my life. And then that can give us hope.
Even if the present is dark, still there is light in the future. And the whole message of the Bhagavad Gita was what? That Arjuna was disheartened. Jiva Goswami is one of our prominent Acharyas and he says that how do we understand the message of a book, central message? He says, look at what is told at the start and look at what is told at the end.
Because in the middle, so many things may be covered. But if somebody in the introduction says, this is what I want to talk about. And in the end says, this is what we are talking about.
Just looking at the start and the end, we can understand. Okay, this was the central message. So like that at the start of the Gita, Krishna begins by saying, do not lament for that which is not worthy of lamentation.
And the last verse of the Bhagavad Gita is do not fear, do not lament. So essentially the Bhagavad Gita’s message we can see is do not lament, do not become disheartened, do not become fearful, do not become negative. And how does one do that? That is explained through philosophy in the Bhagavad Gita.
So if you see, at the start of the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna had put aside his bow saying, I cannot fight. By the end of the Bhagavad Gita, he has picked up his bow and he is ready to fight. So while the Bhagavad Gita is a historical reality, it is much more than a historical reality.
It also represents what happens in our own heart, in the battlefield in our own heart. So Arjuna had put aside his bow saying, I can’t fight. Often we become disheartened saying that, oh, I can’t do this.
I just give up. Just as hearing the message of the Bhagavad Gita inspired Arjuna to rise, similarly the Gita’s message can inspire us also to rise. If we hear the Gita’s message, there is a lot of philosophy, but ultimately the central message is that Krishna’s love for us is unfailing, it is unflinching, it is universal, going on lifetime after lifetime.
So with this understanding, in this world sometimes favourable things may happen in our life, sometimes unfavourable things will happen. But our vision is beyond this world towards Krishna. And when we focus on that and try to connect with him, then we find that wonderful things will happen in due course.
So just as Arjuna, he picked up his bow, we also will feel inspired to pick up our bow. Whether it is in some internal battle for self-improvement or an external battle for some achievement, whatever disheartenment we might have, just by looking at the world around us, we just feel there are so many problems. But if you look up beyond the world to Krishna, that he is always there with us, he loves us and he will enable us to go through the situation, to learn through the situation, to grow through the situation, then we will become confident, we will become optimistic, we will become spiritually confident.
And that’s how a devotee can march ahead. So when we want to bring out our best, actually this, we need to focus on the best reality. The best reality in life is that Krishna’s love for us is unfailing, unflinching.
And with that vision, whatever comes in our life, we move forward. Prabhupada was once asked, I’ll conclude with this point, Prabhupada was once asked what is the best prayer that we can offer to Krishna? And Prabhupada said that, Krishna, please give me the strength to serve you. Whatever situation I am put in, please give me the strength to serve you.
Whether it is a service we are doing directly, just chanting, whether it is a service we are doing by developing a career so that we can have a life of service to Krishna, whether it is a service by which we are developing a relationship with someone, so that we can have enduring, stable life, whatever it is, Krishna, please let me do it in the mood of service and give me the strength to serve you. So when we have that mood, whatever happens, we focus on that mood of service and take steps forward. One step, one step.
And gradually, whatever adversity that is there, that will just go away. Because nothing stays eternal. Pleasures don’t stay forever.
Problems don’t stay forever. So they will come and they will go. But Krishna’s love will always stay with us.
And by leading our life in the reality of Krishna’s love, then we will be able to move confidently. So we all have certain conceptions of who I am. And because we are all relational creatures, we define ourselves in terms of our relationships.
So for example, we define ourselves, I am the son of so-and-so, I am the daughter of so-and-so, I am the husband of so-and-so, I am the wife of so-and-so, I am the mother of so-and-so, I am the father of so-and-so. So we all define ourselves in terms of our various relationships. And sometimes when we face problems in those relationships, then we feel a sense of not just pain because of the problem, but we feel a fear of unworthiness.
We feel a sense of rejection. So the whole principle of bhakti is that our defining relationship is not any relationship in this world. Our defining relationship is our relationship with Krishna.
My identity is first and foremost I am a servant of Krishna. I am meant to love and serve Krishna. And as a servant of Krishna, yes, I am the husband of someone, I am the wife of someone, I am the teacher of someone, I am the doctor of someone.
Whatever other roles we have, they are secondary. And sometimes in those roles, success will come and sometimes failure will come. But if our sense of identity is coming from our relationship with Krishna, from our service to Krishna, then that is something which is inalienable.
That will never be taken away from us. Our horizontal relationships in this world, they may sometimes work, sometimes not work. If we define ourselves in terms of achievements, oh, I am the wealthiest person in this city.
Or I am the brightest student in this college. Or I am the best surgeon in this country. Whatever.
If we have certain ideas, if that is our defining identity, then again there will be a problem. But if our defining identity is I am a servant of Krishna. I will try to be the best surgeon.
If that is our service. As a servant of Krishna, I will try to be the best teacher. As a servant of Krishna, I will try to be the best in whatever field I am in.
But that is not my identity. My identity is that I am a servant of Krishna. So when we are rooted in that identity, so when Krishna’s love for us and our relationship with Krishna becomes the defining reality of our life, then we can always be positive.
No matter what problems come, we can actually still bring out our best. How best can I serve in this situation? And thus we can actually face whatever life sends our way and we will find that through it all, Krishna had a plan by which he brought the best out of us and he brought the best to us. We will get the ultimate results by Krishna’s mercy.
So I will summarise. I talked about when we are trying to achieve the whole journey of self-help. So we look inwards to understand what is it that is choking our potential and we try to remove that.
We look outwards to get inspiration from others so that we can bring out our best. And also we look upwards. So when we look upwards, we look first at the conventional understanding of success.
What are the ingredients? Talent plus temperament leads to achievement. Some of us, in normal convention, if we see, we may say Oh, I don’t have any talents. People have so many special talents.
So many people have special talents. But then with a God-centred, Krishna-centred vision of reality, we understand that we all have certain gifts. I have food in my plate.
I don’t have to look at what is there in someone else’s plate. Krishna doesn’t want us to, if Krishna had wanted us to be someone else, he would have made someone else. He wants us to be the best we.
So this is the affirmative vision of what we have. And then what we become, what we have is Krishna’s gift to us. What we become is our gift to Krishna.
So I discussed about talent is what we accept. To develop that talent, to bring it out, we need temperament. And temperament can come best when we focus on what we can do now.
So we try to have goals we set for ourselves so that we can bring out, put in our best effort. But we are detached from the results. Detachment enables us to focus on what is in our control and to leave that which is not in our control to Krishna.
On the other hand, irresponsibility means we don’t even do that which is in our control. And that is undesirable. So I talked about how conventional idea that talent plus temperament leads to achievement, something more to be added to it.
That is not just talent and temperament, there is destiny. So destiny also plays a role in whether the results come out or not. But as devotees we see that ultimately it is Krishna acting for our ultimate good.
So sometimes bad things happen in our life. Everything that happens is not good. But everything that happens is or can be for good.
If we react appropriately, if we respond appropriately. And in that connection I talked about how sometimes bad things happen but if there is devotion then there is fulfilment even in that situation. So Prabhupada did not get so many results for the first 30-40 years of his preaching.
But still he was fulfilled because he was doing it all for Krishna and he was feeling Krishna’s presence. He was rendering service to Krishna. And then I talked about how Krishna’s love for us is unfailing.
It is based on who he is, not who we are. Sun gives light to everyone. Of course who we are determines whether we perceive that light or not.
If we are too attached to something then that expectation that demand from Krishna that this is what I want, that can limit our perception of Krishna’s love. Just like a person in a dark cellar cannot perceive the brightness of the sun. So we can have expectations but we needn’t be attached to our expectations.
Because sometimes our expectations limit our vision of what Krishna is bringing in our life. Like somebody we are expecting a person in a particular dress and that person comes in another dress we can’t recognise. So then I talked about how Krishna’s love for us is not just unfailing, it is unflinching.
He is always there with us. No matter what wrong things we do, no matter how we react, there is nothing we can do that can stop Krishna from loving us. And to appreciate Krishna’s love we need to expand our understanding of the length of our existence and the depth of our existence.
So we look at the present and plan for the future. Krishna looks at the future and plans the present. Like a doctor treating a patient.
So rather than looking at things from a short term perspective, we expand our perspective. And then the depth of our existence also means, sometimes something may be traumatic at a physical level but at an inner mental or a spiritual level, it may actually bring fulfilment to us. It may bring satisfaction to us.
It may take us to a deeper wisdom, realisation. We talked about that boy who had a breakup but earlier was suicidal. Here he became more spiritual instead.
How did that happen? Because now we are connected with Krishna. So rather than expecting release from problems, we can also get relief amidst the problems. And lastly I talked about how Krishna’s message in the Bhagavad Gita essentially is from the bracketing verse in the beginning and the end, it is, do not lament.
So when we look at the world around us, there will be many things which may cause us lamentation. But we look up towards Krishna and his love for us is unfailing. And when we make our relationship with him as the defining basis of our life, as our defining identity, then whatever ups and downs we face in our relations or in our positions in the world, they won’t affect us so much.
But just as Arjuna picked up his bow and was ready to fight, by understanding Krishna’s love, similarly by understanding Krishna’s love for us, we can also, through whatever difficulties come in our life, we can actually respond positively and bring out our best through it all. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.
Yeah, I got it. If our goals are in the future, then how can we live in the present? Yeah. See, we see the future as resulting from the present.
So if we see that connection, now in some situations we may not be able to see it. Say if I am studying for an exam or if my career, my future career depends on the results I get in the exam. And right now I am not studying for it.
Otherwise, then I may see not, I can’t see the present as connected with the future. But then ultimately my career doesn’t depend just on how I do in a particular exam. That is important.
But my career depends on my overall disposition, my overall attitude towards life, my overall approach towards life. And that is something which I can work on even now. So when we see the future as determined, as emerging from the present, then we can work in the present and also prepare for the future.
So it’s said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So each step that I am taking, I am actually moving towards my destination. So it’s interesting, sometimes surveys have found that if cyclists have to cycle up a big hill, a very tall hill, then they can actually cycle more at twilight and at night than in the daytime.
It seems counterintuitive, but why? In the daytime, they can actually see, oh how far I have to go. I can’t do it. But in the night, when all that they can, they have just a torch on their cycle, I can take one paddle, one paddle, one paddle.
And that just, their energy is there but demoralisation because of distance is not there. So like that, sometimes seeing the long term can dishearten us because it is so far away. But we think, okay, all that I have to, can I paddle one more? Yeah, I can.
Can I paddle one more? I can. And like that, if you keep moving forwards, it does, we do cover a long distance. So by seeing the future emerging from the present, then we can do what it takes in the present so that we prepare for a better future.