To transcend our emotions we need to begin by accepting our emotions

[Sunday feast class at ISKCON, Alachua, Florida, USA]

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This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Thank you very much. Lord, please instruct me how I can serve you. I’m no longer going to pursue good sensations and avoid bad sensations.
I’m not going to pursue the palatable and avoid the unpalatable. I simply want to serve you. How can I do that? Please guide me.
So we all have a particular body and a particular mind and this is something which is given to us as a starting point of our life journey and we can’t change that. That is the way we are and frequently the attempt to try to change this often at especially at the level of sensations and emotions is what consumes us a lot. So sensations are what arise from the senses coming in contact with various stimuli in the outer world and they also lead to emotions within us.
Sensations are more associated with the senses. Emotions are associated with the mind but the two are often connected. So if it’s cold, I experience a cold sensation and I feel uncomfortable.
Now these sensations and the emotions that we are going to experience because we have been given a particular body-mind machine to some extent these are predetermined. They are fixed. We can’t change that much.
So we could have two approaches to the emotions that we have. Sometimes when we are trying to live a pure spiritual life, we feel I shouldn’t feel like this. I shouldn’t feel angry.
I shouldn’t feel greedy. I shouldn’t feel lusty. I shouldn’t feel depressed.
I shouldn’t feel envious. I shouldn’t feel we have a lot of some emotions when they come we shouldn’t be there at all. So that is denial or resentment or rejection of emotions should be one reaction and the other is because I am feeling like this so I have to act like that now.
So because I’m feeling angry so I’m going to explode at someone. Because I’m feeling depressed so I’ll give in to depression and not do anything. So one extreme is denying the emotions that are present or wanting that this should not be present at all.
The other is because it is present I’ll act on it. Both of these are unhealthy reactions. In many ways our inner world with its emotions and sensations is like the outer world.
In the sense that in the outer world there will be some people whom we like and there is some people whom we don’t like. And we can’t control that much. There will be pleasant people, there will be unpleasant people.
Say if we are going from here to here to meet someone. Say after the programme if you’re going for prasadam and along the way there are some people whom we like, there are some people whom we don’t like. Just standing around, they are there, hanging about maybe.
And say we have to go to the prasadam place to meet someone or we have to go to something important over there. Now if there’s something pleasant, someone whom we get along nicely, we nod. Someone whom we don’t get along so much, then also we just nod and move on.
But if someone we don’t like, if we start thinking, why is this person present over here? I don’t want this person over here. And then we try to get rid of that person. In trying to get rid of that person, we get distracted.
Why are you here? Get out of here. And we try to make that person leave. That person is not ready to leave.
And there’s to and fro. And in that whole process, our time, our energy, our emotions get so consumed that we don’t get where we want to get in time. So just as in the outer world, if someone we don’t get along with is present, if they are there, nod at them and move on.
So similarly in our inner world also, there will be at times emotions which are present that are unpalatable. And Krishna recommends in the Bhagavad Gita in the 14th chapter that we become observers of our inner world. This is the sakshi bhav.
Sakshi means witness or observer. So when Arjuna asks Krishna in the 14th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, how can we transcend the modes? He asks three questions in 14.21. He says that when Arjuna has heard from Krishna about the three modes of material nature in that whole chapter, he then asks, कैर्लिङ्गैस् त्रीन्गुणानेतान् अतीतो भवति प्रभः किमाचारः कथं जैतान्स त्रीन्गुणानति वर्तते He says, कैर्लिङ्गैस् त्रीन्गुणानेतान् What are the characteristics of a person who has transcended the modes? किमाचारः How does such a person behave? And then कथं जैतान्स त्रीन्गुणानति वर्तते How can I transcend the modes? So, the Acharya has explained that the first question refers to the internal characteristics of a person. What are the inner attitude, what are the inner emotions of a person who has transcended the modes? The second question is किमाचारः How does such a person behave? How is the person internally disposed? How does the person conduct themselves externally? And कथं जैतान्स How can we transcend? Then Krishna answers in 14.22 to 25, the first two verses he answers about the internal characteristics.
Next two verses are the outer behaviour. And 14.26 he talks about भकति as the means to transcend. So, the first two verses 22 and 23 talk about how we just need to become an observer of our emotions.
So, प्रकाशम्च प्रवृत्तिम्च मोहमेवच पाण्डव नद्वेष्टीसं प्रवृत्तानी नन्युवृत्तानी कांशती उदासीन वदासीन गुणयो नविचाल्यते गुणावर्तन्थित्येव योवतिष्ठतिनेंगते So, Krishna says प्रकाश, which is a characteristic of the mode of goodness, clarity, illumination, sometimes there will be illumination within us, प्रवृत्ति, sometimes there will be passion, I have to do this, I have to do that, I have to do that, sometimes मोह, which is don’t feel like doing anything, just want to live in the mental world, not do anything at all. Yes, all these emotions will come, when they come, नद्वेश्टी संप्रवृत्तानी, don’t resent when they come, नन्युवृत्तानी कांशती, if they go away, don’t crave for them, उदासीन वदासीनम्, be situated as if detached. And how can we be detached? By understanding two things, गुणैर्यो नविचाल्यते, गुणावर्तन्तित्येव, that understanding that this is simply a product of the modes, and I as a soul am different from the modes, गुणावर्तन्तित्येव, यो अवतिष्ठतिनेंगते, one becomes situated firmly by remembering that I am beyond these modes and the motions that they are causing.
So at one level this can seem very abstract, but at another level it is actually very empowering to understand what Krishna is recommending over here. So first as I said the two extremes could be, I shouldn’t feel like this, I shouldn’t feel angry, I shouldn’t feel lusty, I shouldn’t feel greedy. We may feel like that, especially when we are trying to live a life of principles, then there are certain emotions which we know are not considered emotions.
I should not be feeling this. But what happens in our emotional world or our inner world in terms of what emotions we will witness over there, that is often not in our control. And to understand this point, we can say that our mind is somewhat similar to our body.
Now some of us may have a body which is very thermal sensitive. So if the weather becomes cold, we find it quite unbearable. We need warm clothes and even after we have warm clothes still we feel shivering.
Now if say we want to go somewhere where it is cold, at that time if I start saying, I shouldn’t be feeling cold. What do you mean I shouldn’t be feeling cold? I am feeling cold. Now just because I am feeling cold doesn’t necessarily mean that I will not go out.
Yes, I acknowledge I am feeling cold and if I can do something to guard myself from it, I will do that. But if it is an important purpose I want to go, I will go for that. So if I come out of my house and say, I shouldn’t be feeling cold.
But I am feeling cold. Then I start fighting with, why am I feeling cold? No, I shouldn’t be feeling cold. And I start trying to fight off the cold, it’s just not going to work.
How can I fight the cold? It is there. What I can do is, I can tolerate it and move on. I can try to protect myself from it and move on.
So just as physical cold is a sensation that we will experience and some of us may experience it more and some of us may experience it less. And that is determined by the kind of body we have. Similarly, some of us may experience certain emotions more.
So sometimes some of us may be more prone to anxiety or fear, worry. So in the same situation, one person may get quite worried, the other person may not feel worried. Okay, we’ll take care of things.
How are you going to take care? What is the plan? What if this goes wrong? What if that goes wrong? Now when we start practising bhakti, we understand that we are meant to have faith in Krishna. And then we start thinking, oh, if I’m feeling all this fear, all this worry, that means I don’t have faith in Krishna. And then we start feeling negative about ourselves.
Oh, I don’t have faith in Krishna. I’m full of doubts. I’m so weak.
So what happens? First we get worried. The mind based on its own nature, it makes us feel worried. And because we don’t want to feel worried, but that worry is still coming, we become worried about being worried.
Or, so to say, in our mental world, sometimes we become angry, we feel anger. And when we get angry, I should not be feeling angry, but I’m feeling angry. We start feeling guilty about being angry.
So what happens is we just get caught in the emotional, the level of the emotions, trying to deny or get rid of the emotions that are simply arising by default within our consciousness. So just as different people, some people may feel more cold than others. Some people may feel more hot than others.
It’s physical sensation, which is determined by the type of body that we have. Similarly, for all of us, by the kind of mind that we have, we will all be prone to certain emotions, whether it be anger, whether it be doubt, whether it be depression, whether it be fear. And when these emotions come, if we start resenting them, I should not be here, why are you here? And so like earlier I said, if I go to meet someone, and we see this person, why is this person here? And we try to get rid of that person.
What happens by that is our energy goes off in trying to deal with that person, get rid of that person. Similarly, I will not feel angry, I will not feel depressed, I will not feel fear, I will not feel worried. That’s just not in our control.
Those feelings are already there, and trying not to feel like that. Now when Krishna is saying here in this verse, don’t delight on getting the pleasant, or don’t lament on getting the unpleasant. Now what does that mean? There are two things over here.
Krishna is acknowledging that there are certain things may be unpleasant. And he is not denying that they are unpleasant. That which is unpleasant is something which is unpalatable, which creates a negative reaction within us.
And that, it’s a fact, it is there. But don’t get emotionally involved in it. Krishna is not telling us, be unfeeling.
We cannot be unfeeling. What he is saying is, some things will feel good, some things will feel bad. But don’t get carried away by those emotions.
So some things are palatable, but don’t delight when you get the palatable. And some things are unpalatable, but don’t lament when you get the unpalatable. So the situations that we experience in life, and the sensations and the emotions that they create within us, they are often intrinsically associated and we can’t avoid that.
So, for example, say, if a person is staying here, and they have an office here. And say, there are two people staying here like this. One of them is alcoholic, and the other is a sober person.
And in between there is a bar. Now, the person who is sober may not even notice there is a bar, he just goes straight to their work. But the person who is an alcoholic, as soon as they see the bar, immediately, I want to drink.
No, I should not drink. I want to drink. No, I don’t want to drink.
Now, this duality will go on within that person, because they have drunk in the past, and because of that, the desire is going to come. Now, if that alcoholic starts thinking, I should not get the desire for alcohol. And going by the bar, why am I getting this desire? I shouldn’t be getting this desire.
Well, if they have drunk in the past, that desire is going to come. So, to think that this desire, this emotion, this sensation should not come at all. That is an unrealistic expectation.
And many times, when certain unpleasant emotions come within us, we react by trying to fight those emotions. No, I should not be feeling like this. But, and what do we do? Frequently, when that unpleasant emotion comes, in trying to get rid of that, we do something which leads to further unpleasant things.
So, for example, I feel insecure. I feel fearful. And in order to get rid of that fear, I may decide that, oh, I just start bingeing and overeating.
Or I start going into entertainment and watching a lot of entertainment. Or some people get into some bad habits, drinking or smoking. So, when we try to get rid of unpleasant emotions and unpleasant sensations, the effort to do that makes us go into activities which further complicate things.
But, okay, this emotion is there. I acknowledge its presence and I move on. Udasin vadasinam.
Krishna says, be detached. The attempt to get rid of unwanted emotions can consume a lot of energy. And not only consume a lot of energy, that attempt can cause us to get entangled in activities which cause many more unpleasant emotions in the future.
So, I don’t want to feel bad. I don’t want to feel lonely. I don’t want to feel depressed.
So, somebody says, okay, I’ll just drink. The drinking takes away the unpleasant emotions. But then the drinking causes many more problems in the future.
So, if I just say, okay, I’m feeling like this, I acknowledge its presence, but I don’t have to circumvent it. So, one extreme is to deny its presence, to resent its presence. The other is to think that because, okay, because I’m feeling fear, so then I’ll become fearful and I won’t be able to function.
Because I’m feeling anger, so I’m going to become angry and explode at the other person. Our emotions, just because they are present, doesn’t mean we have to act on them. Our thoughts, the whole process of spiritual growth is a process of learning to create a distance between our inner emotions and our outer actions.
Krishna says, that those people are happy who, even when lust and anger come within them, they tolerate the presence, don’t act on them. So, Krishna is not telling, you should not feel lust, you should not feel anger. Yes, this will come, but don’t act on it.
If we can do like this, we’ll be peaceful. So, we say, how can I do that? I feel angry, but I don’t act on my anger. I feel fear, but I don’t become fearful.
Actually, our thoughts are simply, we could say, units of consciousness that are present within us. Just, we could say, words that are going through our inner world, and they don’t necessarily have to shape the way we act. Say for example, if I say, if I start thinking, I can’t lift this laptop.
I can’t lift this laptop. I can’t lift this laptop. Now, even if I think like this, still I can lift the laptop.
So, thought is present, saying something internally, but that thought doesn’t necessarily determine the action that I do. Now, it can happen that the thought may become so dominant that I don’t even try to lift the laptop. I think, I can’t do this, but the thought itself doesn’t have that power.
If I accept that thought, then it gains the power by which I may not be able to do something. So, fear, for example, when we face some uncertainty, some danger, fear is just a natural human response. And frequently, fear is not just a natural response, it’s a necessary response to uncertainty.
Say, if a child is on a 10 story building, and looking down, peering from the window. Normally, when we peer down from a big height, we feel some fear. And that protects us from doing something foolhardy.
Now, if a child is peering down, a child feels no fear. And the mother who sees will feel great fear. Come back, what are you doing? So, fear is a healthy human response to danger.
And it prompts us to act in proper ways. Okay, don’t do this. This is somewhere there is danger.
So, be cautious. Now, when that fear comes, it can be a prompter to danger. But if we become fearful, that means I have come back home, and I am sitting peacefully at my home, but still in my mind there is a replay.
Oh, there is this big fall, I look down, what if I fall down? So, that means, when there is a stimulus, which is dangerous, and at that time we see it, fear is a natural, necessary response that guards us about danger. But if the stimulus is not present, and still that emotion is present, then it is an unhealthy fear. So, sometimes our mind, when it becomes conditioned in particular ways, the fear may be present because there is actually a danger.
Or sometimes the fear may be present because we are imagining some possible danger in future. If we look back at our life, it is filled with many fearful experiences, most of which don’t happen. Our life is filled with many fearful experiences, most of which are simply fear in the mind and they don’t happen at all.
So, what it means is just because I am experiencing some emotions, doesn’t mean I have to act on them. So, udasin vadasinam. Udasin means stay like detached.
So, one example of detachment would be like a referee or umpire in a sports match. I come from India where people are mad for cricket. We hear it’s baseball.
But suppose there is a referee or umpire and the players are saying, this batsman is out, this batter is out. Now the players are going to appeal. Now what is the umpire going to do? Just because the players are appealing, the umpire is not necessarily going to say yes.
Nor is the umpire going to say no. The umpire will evaluate based on merit. Is this person out? Is this person not out? Now in English, there are two words.
There is disinterested and uninterested. Disinterested means that one who has no vested interest in something. Uninterested means one who doesn’t care about it.
So, has no interest. So, the umpire who is administering a match has to be disinterested, not uninterested. If the players appeal, is that out? That’s out.
How’s that? And the umpire says, I was not watching the match. What are you doing there? You have to be there, you should be watching the match. So, the umpire evaluates, is meant to be attentive and evaluate based on merit.
Similarly, Krishna says, be as if detached. That means we are meant to be a disinterested observer of our emotions. Okay, I am feeling angry now.
I am feeling fear now. Is there some actual danger because of which the fear is there? Or is it just the imagination because of which the fear is there? So, we evaluate and then we respond. So, for example, I am going from here to here and some unwanted person is present over here.
So, I see the person is present. Now, what is important? Do I need to get rid of this person or do I have to go to my apartment? Okay, I want to go there. That’s more important.
So, just keep moving on. And the person is there, we acknowledge, just nod a little bit and move on. So, if we understand this, that in our inner world, many emotions will be present, which we can’t wish away, but at the same time, we don’t have to be carried away by them.
How do we do this? How can we become an observer? This may seem very abstract and difficult. So, Krishna acknowledges that and two verses later, he says the way to do it is, माम्चयोऽव्यभिचारेण भक्तियोगेन सेवते सगुणान समतीत्यैतान ब्रह्मभुयाय कल्पते माम्चयोऽव्यभिचारेण This is one who, by unflinching devotion, भक्तियोगेन सेवते, serves me with determination, सगुणान समतीत्यैतान ब्रह्मभुयाय कल्पते, such a person will go beyond the emotions induced by the modes and will attain transcendence. That means, Krishna is saying that the modes will create certain emotions within us, but we don’t have to get carried away by those emotions.
We acknowledge them, but we stay fixed in our purpose of serving Krishna. In 1976-77, Aishwarya Prabhupada was in India. Once a journalist asked Aishwarya Prabhupada, Swamiji, after you, who will lead your movement? There are so many religious movements, after the founder departs, then they break apart.
So what is going to happen to your movement? He was going on, some people are just critical and negative, saying your followers are so young, what will happen to your movement? Will it also break apart? So Prabhupada, when he was asked this question different times, he gave different answers. Here Prabhupada said, why are you discouraging me? What do you mean, Swamiji? I am not discouraging you. No, but you are discouraging me.
Now, can a pure devotee get discouraged? Prabhupada, when he was all alone, without any money, when he was driven out of the only place where he was staying by this drug mad David, still Prabhupada persevered in his service to his Guru Maharaj and Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Krishna. So Prabhupada was not someone who let obstacles stop him. But is it that Prabhupada did not feel any emotions at all? Somebody speaks negatively, that may cause discouragement.
But the discouragement does not mean that Prabhupada will give up doing what he is doing. Krishna uses a fascinating word in the 2nd chapter, 70th verse. He says, nakamakami.
One who is not a desirer of desire. I’ll conclude with this point. This is 2.70 verse.
He says, just as rivers flow into an ocean, but they don’t disrupt the ocean. Similarly, desires may flow into the consciousness of a spiritual person, but those desires don’t disrupt that person. So it’s interesting in this case, Krishna is talking about desires as something flowing into the consciousness.
Normally we think of desires as something which flow out of our consciousness. Now I see some object, I desire it. So desire, we think of something as flowing from us to the objects.
So this key word here is nakamakami. Kami is the desirer. Kam is the desire.
So Krishna is saying, one who does not become a desirer of desire will attain peace. That means that based on the situations that we are put in externally, based on the dispositions that we have internally, certain desires may arise within us. They are like the water coming into the ocean.
But when those desires come in, just like in a cricket match or a sports match, the players appeal, this is out. Now just because the players are saying this is out, doesn’t mean the referee has to say, they are out. The referee doesn’t just accept whatever the players are appealing.
Similarly the emotions come in, nakamakami. One doesn’t get carried away by those emotions. One doesn’t immediately accept the desires.
And how can one do this? Imagine there is a small puddle and in that a river flows in. Then the puddle will get overflown and things around it will get disrupted. But if instead of a puddle there is an ocean, then when the river flows in, it will not disrupt the ocean.
So our consciousness, if it is not fixed on Krishna, then we have no inner satisfaction. We have no inner strength. We are internally dissatisfied, we are internally weak.
When desire comes in, we get carried away by it. But if our consciousness is fixed on Krishna, if we are absorbed in Krishna, then our consciousness becomes like an ocean. And even when desire comes in, that desire as a temptation coming from outside will not trigger a reciprocal intention from inside.
This is so attractive, I want to do this. This is so bad, I want to get rid of this. No.
The ocean stays as it is. So to the extent we seek absorption in Krishna through the various activities, whether it is our sadhana, our seva, our svadhyaya, our sangha, through our association, our service, our study of scripture, our chanting of the holy names, our worship of the deities. Through all this, to the extent we can seek absorption in Krishna, first absorption will be a cultivation.
We will not feel absorbed, but we strive to become absorbed. And eventually absorption will become our protection. First I have to cultivate, I want to focus over here.
If I am feeling fear, no I shouldn’t be feeling fear. If we give in to that, it is a problem. But if we don’t give in to that, ok I am feeling fear right now, yes this fear is there, but let me focus on Krishna.
We become absorbed as a cultivation. Absorption will eventually become our protection. If our consciousness is not absorbed in Krishna, why is this fear here? Why is this desire here? Why is this anger here? Then our consciousness is like a puddle, when the river comes in, it will completely disrupt.
But if, ok this emotion is there, but let me focus on Krishna. As we focus on Krishna, our consciousness will change from a puddle to an ocean. And even if that is present, that disruptive emotion, it won’t disrupt us.
So absorption is first a cultivation, then it becomes a protection. And ultimately absorption will give us the supreme satisfaction. When we become attracted to Krishna, it says in the Bhagavad Gita 12th chapter, 9th verse that, If we consistently practise bhakti, then our desire for Krishna will increase by that.
By doing the worship of the deities, by chanting the holy names, the fruit of all this is that our desire for Krishna becomes stronger and stronger. And when that desire becomes stronger, then absorption becomes not just natural, absorption becomes joyous. And that state of absorption is the supreme satisfaction.
That is the happiness that is going to last forever. So, that is life’s ultimate purpose. And Krishna says when we get that, yam labdhva cha param labham manyate nādhikam tathār.
Once having gained this, there is nothing more to be gained. And having gained this, even if great distress comes, yasmin sitona dukkhena gurunāpi vichāyate. When great distress will not disorient us, it won’t disrupt our life, because we will be situated in the supremely satisfying absorption in Krishna.
So, I’ll summarise. I spoke about how acceptance is the foundation for transcendence. And this talk about two definitions of happiness.
Happiness as sensation. From there, it’s a journey to happiness as absorption. So, in the world, when we think of happiness as pleasant sensations externally and good feelings, emotions internally, this sets us up for a misdirected quest.
Even if we pursue sensations, those sensations don’t last for long. And the pursuit of getting pleasant sensations, avoiding unpleasant sensations, that causes the soul to wander in material existence. One object after another after another.
But, so, how do we deal with the sensations and emotions? Two extremes. One could be, they should not be present at all. Or second is, because they are present, I have to give in to them.
So, they should not be present, that is unrealistic. Because, just as some people may have a body which is vulnerable to feeling cold, similarly, some of us may be vulnerable to fear, some of us may be more inclined to anger, some of us may be more inclined to negativity or depression. So, that is just the tendency of the mind.
So, while travelling, while walking from one place to another, this unwanted visitor is present. Just nod at them. Don’t try to get rid of them.
Because in getting rid of them, our time and energy goes off. Nod at them and move on. So, we acknowledge the emotion, but don’t act on it.
For this, we need to become observers of our inner world. So, just like umpire observes the players appealing, but doesn’t uncritically accept their appeals. So, we become disinterested, not uninterested.
So, one is we try to deny, the other is we just succumb to those. So, just because we have a particular thought or a particular desire, doesn’t mean that we have to act on it. We have the capacity, okay, I am feeling fear, but I will not act fearfully.
Fear is a healthy response to the presence of danger, but sometimes the mind misfires, we feel fear even when the danger is not there. So, if I evaluate, just like umpire evaluates, is there a danger? Then I will do course correction. If there is no danger, let me move on.
So, Krishna says, don’t be a desirer of desire. That means, desire can be a temptation that comes from outside, but desire as an intention or insight doesn’t have to be triggered. And for that, our consciousness has to be large like an ocean, absorbed in the oceanic reality Krishna.
Our consciousness is like a puddle, and when the river flows in, it will disrupt. So, if we are empty internally, then whatever emotion comes in, that will just carry us away. So, if we seek absorption in Krishna, irrespective of whatever our emotional state is, we don’t deny it, we don’t act on it, we acknowledge it and strive towards absorption in Krishna as a cultivation, then that absorption will give us protection from succumbing to those negative emotions.
And absorption itself will give the ultimate positive emotion, that is, the emotion of being satisfied in the all-attractive Krishna. And that’s life’s ultimate perfection. Thank you very much.
Hare Krishna. Are there any questions or comments? On a very practical level, can you expand a little bit on how to take this paradigm shift and you say, absorption in Krishna. On a practical level, how, on what are you saying, how to do that, create that? For all of us, we have to find out what is it that triggers the flow of our consciousness towards Krishna.
We are all individuals. And as individuals, we have, say, at a material level, certain sense objects, which may trigger emotions. Say, somebody who is from a particular part of the world, somebody who is a South Indian, as soon as they say idli or dosa, their emotions get triggered.
I want this. Somebody who is from Mexico, they have never heard of idli or dosa. They look at it, okay, what is this? There is no emotion that is triggered.
So, just as individually, for us, certain objects trigger emotions at the material level. That is our individual nature. Similarly, because we are all individuals, certain stimuli will trigger spiritual emotions within us more than others, more than other stimuli.
Say, for example, for some devotees, kirtan is what makes them feel connected with Krishna. For some others, it is darshan of the deities. You see the deities decorated beautifully, if you just absorb in Krishna.
For some others, it may be just reading scripture. For someone else, it may be just reciting verses and prayers. So, this, Rupa Goswami in Ujjwal Neelamani uses the word uddhipan.
Uddhipan is spiritual stimulus. So, each of us has to find out what is the uddhipan, the spiritual stimulus that is the most readily stimulating for us. So, when certain bad feeling comes within us, I want to cultivate absorption in Krishna.
I don’t want to get distracted by this. So, as we practise bhakti and get purified, eventually that absorption will become natural. But right now, if we have that uddhipan ready for us, say, I just love to look at the deities.
Then if there is a particular picture of the deities that we like, keep that always with us. And whenever the mind starts getting agitated, distracted, look at that. And then, pray to that or just behold and get absorbed in that.
So, for some of us, it may be kirtan. It is not just kirtan, a particular tune sung by a particular devotee. That’s what we get connected with.
So, we follow the standard process of bhakti. At the same time, we individuate our application of bhakti. That means, while following the standard process, what is it that for me as an individual enables me to connect with Krishna? And I do that more.
I do that more intensely, I make that more readily available for myself. And through that one way in which I can get absorbed in Krishna, by that I can get the conviction to keep practising bhakti. And eventually through the purification, I will get absorbed in Krishna in a broader spectrum of devotional activities also.
Thank you. Yes, Madhavi. So, explain what is the difference between disinterested and uninterested.
So, disinterested basically means that one does not favour any particular side. It is impartial basically. Neutral.
So, in a sports match, the umpire is meant to be neutral. It is not that they favour, want one side to win and want the other side to lose. That is disinterested.
Uninterested means they just do not care what happens. So, like there is a sports match going on and some people are not interested in the sports. So, they may be in the stadium itself, but they are not interested in the match.
They may be with their vendors selling something to the people who are watching the match. So, that is uninterested. So, now for us, in terms of our application, we cannot be uninterested in the sense of being uncaring of what is happening in our inner world.
So, if there is some sense of insecurity, if there is some sense of irritation, if there is some sense of resentment. Now, if I don’t even acknowledge it is present, I am feeling irritated with something. If I don’t even acknowledge that, then that irritation will grow and suddenly at one point it will explode.
So, being uninterested, being uncaring or being unaware of what is happening in our inner world, that is not healthy. Because what is there will grow and at an unexpected moment it may make us act in an unhealthy way. So, in that sense, we don’t want to be blind or deaf or unaware of what is happening in our inner world.
But at the same time, we don’t necessarily have to be prejudiced or biassed towards a particular thing. So, sometimes when I feel fear, that is healthy. So, say, if I am to give a class and if I am not prepared for the class at all and I have only one hour and I start feeling fearful, what should I do? Then that is a healthy fear which will prompt me to prepare for the class.
But if I have prepared adequately and I am sitting for the class now and then what will happen? Okay, I am prepared now. So, there is no need for the fear in that. So, when fear comes, we have to evaluate whether there is a valid danger which I have to deal with or it is an imagined situation which I just have to not get carried away by.
So, that is like an umpire or a referee who evaluates the appeal. Okay, this fear is coming. I evaluate it using my intelligence.
Should I feel, is it a valid fear which I should respond to by taking corrective action or is it just an imagination that I can neglect? So, in that sense, we are interested to evaluate but we are not biassed or we are not by default. But if by default fear has come, that means now I am going to become paralysed, I am not going to be able to do anything, I am going to stutter and stammer and make a fool of myself. So, I will not give the class, I will just quit.
That is one way is giving into fear. Other is that I just don’t care for it. If I am not prepared at all and I don’t feel fear, then that is just simply being irresponsible.
That fear actually makes us a little serious and makes us do things responsibly. So, that is evaluating on merit. So, the emotions may be arising of some valid situation or they may be invalid.
So, evaluating based on merit, that is being disinterested. Thank you. Shall we stop? So, thank you very much.
Shri Prabhupada ki, Gaur Bhakta Vrinda ki, Nithai Gaur Premanande.