How are some people emotionally tough even when they don’t practice bhakti?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Some people seem to have a better capacity to tolerate emotions than others, handle emotions better. See, emotional health is like physical health.
Some people, their health is preliminary. Some people, they eat a little and body blows up. Some other people, they treat their tongue like a conveyor belt.
But nothing seems to happen. It’s like normally we say the law of karma is there, where action will lead to reaction. But it’s not that simple in terms of the manifestation of the reaction.
Some people, by their karma are meant to have a healthy body. So, no matter what they do, they still have a healthy body. So, even if they don’t eat properly, by their karma they are meant to have a healthy body, they will have a healthy body.
So, if they are eating improperly, that will have some consequences, but it will not be manifested immediately. Our past karma often determines when our present karma will be a reaction. Every present karma will have a future reaction.
But whether that reaction will come immediately, or after some time, or after a long time, that can be determined by our past karma. So, Ravana, he had a karma to be prosperous for some time. So, he did a lot of sinful activities, but still he remained prosperous for a particular period of time.
Then he went into karma. So, similar what applies to physical health also applies to emotional health. Some people are emotionally more fragile or vulnerable than others.
So, somebody speaks one harsh word to them, they just get very disturbed by it. Some people, by nature, are more prone to worry than others. Some people, it is almost as if they are fearless.
Some people just like to do bounties, jump from an airplane, jump from a mountain. And we are devotees, we have faith in Krishna. We may have fear in doing that.
So, that fearlessness is not necessarily spiritual. That calmness is not necessarily spiritual. That is simply a result of past karma.
Some people are given, by their past karma, a sense of adventure. They get a thrill in embracing risk. Whether that is positive or negative, that depends on what kind of risk they take, whether they are foolhardy or calculated.
Similarly, some people are just gifted with a stoic disposition. Even if problems come, they are not affected by those problems. So, we understand this is like an emotional toughness that is given to them.
So, emotional toughness is also a result of past karma. And past karma doesn’t necessarily mean past life. It can be also upbringing in this life.
So, we see that we have to work with the body-mind that we have. Sometimes some devotees, in general, by our practice of bhakti, their emotional toughness will decrease. But still, it’s not that somebody who is a very introvert person, they like to be alone.
It’s not that by the practice of bhakti they are going to become extrovert. You are a Kshatriya, even if you are a pure devotee, you are not going to become a Brahmin. You are going to be a Kshatriya.
So, of course, an introvert, if required, can act like an extrovert also. He can mix with people, talk with them. But if given a preference, he would like to be an extrovert.
Some people, if they come to a group gathering, if they are extroverts, then if they are introverts, the more people they meet, they have to go. They may come to the room with a smile, but as they keep meeting people, the noise has become smaller and smaller. Somebody is extrovert, they come to the room with a smile, and the more people they meet, the bigger their smile becomes.
They are so happy about it. That’s just human nature. That may not change.
So, we can go from whatever emotional level of health we have to an improved level of health. But, it’s not necessary that our psychophysical nature will change entirely. What will happen is, we will be able to deal with our nature better.
We don’t live for our nature, we don’t live against our nature. We live with our nature for Krishna. So, live for our nature means, I am extrovert, I just want to meet everybody.
And if they are devotees, non-devotees, if it’s a purposeful discussion, I just want to chit-chat. I just live for our nature. Live against our nature means, I like to talk with people, so I will not talk with anyone.
I will torment them. We don’t live for our nature, we don’t live against our nature. We live with our nature for Krishna.
So, if somebody has a greater need for adventure, then they may take up services which involve doing new things, you know, go for puja, meet new people, or do things where all kind of new experiences you get. But some people have a greater need for security and order. Then they may take up services for Krishna, which are involving more security and order.
There are also meticulousness is required. But there are also unpredictable adventures. Do two things at a time, do it well.
So, we live with our nature or we work with our nature for Krishna. Even if somebody likes to speak about Krishna. Some people like to go and speak to new people where new questions come up and there’s a sense of challenge for them.
Some people, it is more that they would like to teach devotees. Now, where we can have systematic studies, systematic discussion, you know, organize their religion. So, we accept our nature and we act according to our nature for Krishna.
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