You said if we do whatever we like we end up disliking ourselves – isn’t varnashrama based on working according to our likings?

I said if we keep doing whatever we like, we end up disliking ourselves. But in material world also he said you should do a work that you like. And also in spiritual circles he said that we can do a devotional service that we feel like doing.

Yes, I would say when we talk of like, I was talking more in terms of sensations. Yes, we could say there is also inclinations that we have. So, if we are simply looking for likeable sensations, I like this, so I will do this, I like this, so I will do it, I like this, so I will do it.

Then that will lead to as it is said in English, a rolling stone gathers no moss. We will get nowhere. Now, when we talk about inclinations, so yes, we certainly have certain things which we deeply like, which we deeply feel connected with.

Our consciousness is inclined towards them. And we are meant to serve accordingly. If you see Varanashram dharma was people, the traditional social system of division was people are engaged according to psychophysical nature.

That means they basically do what they like to. But here there is a difference. That the nature of the world is that even if we are doing that which we like to do, still there will be problems.

And if I am simply looking for sensations, good sensations, then my mind will not even let me do what I like to do. So, suppose, one of my main services is writing. So, when I write, I can get very easily absorbed in writing.

But there are so many times when writing can be frustrating. Because just the right word doesn't come, the right sentence doesn't come, the right idea doesn't come. And then, many times the writers get something called a writer's block.

They just get blocked completely. And that's not just writers. In all our lives, when we do something which we like to do, even then the nature of the world is problem-solving.

I give the example of a mother. A mother naturally loves her child and wants to take care of the child. But while taking care of a child, it is not that the mother can feel liking for the baby all the time.

If after a hard day's work, suddenly the baby wakes up at night. The mother may not feel joy at that time. She will still wake up.

The point I was making is, when I was talking about if we keep doing whatever we like, I was saying that if we are simply driven by sensations, we keep looking for whatever I like to do, and we keep flickering from one to another, then we will end up not doing anything worthwhile, and we will end up disliking ourselves. So, we could say there are some things which are superficial likes, and some which are deep likes. So, for a brahmana, being an intellectual is a deep like.

So, studying, sharing knowledge, that is what they like to do. But even when studying, it is not that everything is easy to understand. Even for a person who is an intellectual, there may be some concepts that are difficult to understand, some memorization that is difficult to do.

So, that is a struggle which one has to pass. And that is where absorption and contribution come into play. One has to work at it.

So, in spiritual life also, we can and should find out a service that we like to do. But after we find out what we like to do, we need to commit ourselves. And commitment, dedication, this is what I am going to do.

I have decided, and even if I don't feel like it, I will do it. Nowadays, devotees often ask the question, we should serve according to our nature, so how do we know what is our nature? Now, if we ask our mind, what is my nature? The mind will say, whatever you are doing right now, that is not your nature. Yes.

That means, the mind will simply keep us dissatisfied. Even if we went to paradise, the mind will say, yes, but… So, we need to rise above the mental platform. Internally, we can have superficial likes that come from the mind's feelings, but there can be also deeper likes which come from our innate inclinations, which come from our psychophysical nature.

If we are too driven by the mind, then we will not even be able to focus on that which is our inclination also. Because even when that difficulty comes, the mind will take us away. So, yes, we can't keep doing that which we don't like to do.

So, my point was not that we do that which we don't like to do, but rather, we don't go by the mind's likes, but we focus and commit ourselves, of course, according to that which is our inclination. Thank you for the important question.