Resolutions in the three modes – and in transcendence

[Class at ISKCON, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA]

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Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna I’m grateful to be here amongst all of you.
This beautiful temple in this beautiful natural background. It is truly up to the name. Goloka Vrindavan, you feel it must be something like this.
So, it’s great to all the wonderful devotees here that by Shri Prabhupada’s mercy he has manifested replicas of the spiritual world in different parts of the world. So, I’ll speak today on the topic of resolutions in the three modes and in transcendence. Last year, or in 2017, at the start of it I was invited to a TV talk show in India on the topic of New Year resolutions.
And that time I did some research and I found that 90% of the resolutions the New Year resolutions that people make, 90% of the New Year resolutions are not new. So, there were resolutions which were made in the previous year but somehow we couldn’t keep them. So, now we make them again.
So, making resolutions is an expression of the natural human sentiment that we all want to have a better life. We all want to improve ourselves. And in some cases we know what we need to do to improve ourselves.
In some cases we need to find out what we need to do. But something seems to sabotage our resolutions. So, if we conceive our resolution to be like a plane, the plane takes off with great speed but before reaching the destination it crash lands.
So, the resolution starts off with great enthusiasm but somehow we don’t sustain it. So, I’ll talk today about what it is that causes or prevents our intention from transforming into action. And what we can do about it.
So, the Bhagavad Gita explains human behaviour and indeed all of nature in terms of the three modes. The three modes are subtle forces that shape the interaction between matter and consciousness. So, matter is the world out there, consciousness is we souls.
Now, how we respond to the world out there, that is shaped by the modes we are in. A simple example, say somebody, say people are watching a movie in a theatre and suddenly a fire breaks out. When the fire breaks out at that time usually there is a stampede.
Everybody tries to rush to the nearest door to get out. And many times when accidents happen in crowded places the accident does not cause as much casualties as the stampede involved because of the accident. So, we can consider three kinds of people.
Some people just rush to the nearest door and they fall over each other, they push each other because of stampede. Some other people who just become petrified. Fire! Just don’t know what to do.
And there is a third category of people who think of fire. Where is the fire extinguisher? And everybody is going towards the nearest door, they go in the other direction, where is the fire extinguisher? They go there and they extinguish the fire. So, now, these three kinds of people, what do they represent? The person who tries to run immediately, that is passion.
Person who becomes petrified? Ignorance. And the person who looks for a fire extinguisher? Goodness. So, now, we intuitively understand this but to put it in a more analytical terms, we could say that our interaction with the world has two aspects.
There is contemplation of what I should do and then there is action. So, in the Bhagavad Gita in the 14th chapter where Krishna talks about the three modes of material nature, there he talks about the characteristics in 14.11, 12, 13. He talks about it.
But let’s look at these three verses. In 14.11 he says, So, when the mode of goodness is prominent, at that time the doors of the body, that is the senses, they are illumined. Illumined with knowledge.
That means, we understand what to speak, what not to speak, what to look at, what to not look at, what to do, what not to do. This understanding that is there that is characteristic of the mode of goodness. So, we could say, in the mode of goodness, there is contemplation before action.
Somebody makes me very angry and I feel like blasting out at them or I feel like physically hitting them also. But before the action, there is contemplation. There is a Prakash.
Now, if the door is dark over here, then who is coming in, who is going out, I will not be able to see. And say, a child may slip out and go into danger or a thief may come in and put me in danger. But, if the door is illumined, then I can check who should be allowed in, who should be allowed to go out.
So, in the mode of goodness, there is illumination. So, illumination ensures that there is first contemplation then action. In the mode of passion, Krishna says, there is greed and insatiable desire and a strong craving for action.
To do something and do something immediately. So, that is the characteristic of the mode of passion. So, we could say, conversely, we have first action, then contemplation.
Do something, what is the right thing to do? Just run. Whenever there is an exit, was it necessary to run like that? So, we could say in contemporary terminology, look before you leap. That would be action in the mode of goodness.
And we have this shoe company, just do it. So, that is the mode of passion, just do it. Whereas, if we have the mode of ignorance, Krishna says, So, prakasha, he says, illumination is the characteristic of goodness.
And action, pravrutti, is the characteristic of the mode of passion. But here he says, with respect to the ignorance, there is aprakasha and apravrutti. There is neither illumination nor action.
And what is there? Moha, there is simply delusion. So, the person just doesn’t think, what should I do? Fire, fire will burn me, this will happen, that will happen. Just imagination, just delusion, nothing is there.
So, neither action nor contemplation, that is the characteristic of the mode of ignorance. So, put it another way, you can say that some people make things happen. They are thoughtful, okay.
We’ll do this, you do this, you do this, they make things happen. Some people watch things happen. They try to do one thing, they are rushing out with one thing, they make a mess of the second thing, third thing, this went wrong, that went wrong, that went wrong.
Just watch things happen. Some people make things happen, some people watch things happen, and some people wonder what happened. They are just so lost in their own world.
They are just not even aware. So, this is broadly, goodness, passion and ignorance. So, those who make things happen, goodness.
Those who watch things happen, their passion. They try to do things, but just too many things go off unwanted. And, those who just watch what’s happening, that’s the mode of ignorance.
They just don’t even understand what is happening at all. It’s lost. So, now, these three modes, they shape not just our perception, they shape our whole interaction with the world.
Now, in our interaction with the world, we broadly interact in two ways. We take in knowledge from the outer world, and that is done through the Gyanendriyas, the eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue, the skin. Krishna said in 15.8 that all of them present the input to the mind.
So, we take in knowledge from the outer world. And then, we act on the outer world through the working senses, through the hands, the legs, through the power of speech. Now, when we are doing this, interacting to the world in these two modes, we take in information, we execute action.
So, we could say, if you want to use some alliterative terminology, we perceive the world, we process what we have perceived, and then we pursue, we do scores of action. So, P-E-R-C-E-I-V and P-U-R-S-U-E. Perceive, process, pursue.
These three are what we do when we are interacting with the world. Now, the modes can affect all these three. The modes can shape how we perceive things itself.
Two people may come in the same room. A person in the mode of goodness will look, okay, oh, there’s such a big library over here. I can read so many books.
A person in the mode of goodness, hey, there’s a nice couch. I can go and sleep over there. So, in the same room they come, but the direction of their vision will be different.
That’s what we perceive varies depending on the mode we are in. Similarly, how we process. Different people, based on the mode, they’ll process differently.
And then pursue. What will we do? So, when we talk about resolution, it is largely in terms of the action that we do in the outer world. So, Krishna in the 18th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita talks about the three modes of material nature and there he talks about first knowledge in the three modes, then he talks about work in the three modes, and then he talks about determination in the three modes also.
So, knowledge we could say broadly means how we perceive the world, how we take things in from the world, and then processes what we do internally. And pursue means how we act in the world. So, with respect to that, it is determination.
So, I don’t want to make this class very analytical, but just I’ll talk about primarily the aspect of pursue and how we look at the world because ultimately our actions are shaped by our perceptions. If I’m going through a desert and if I see a mirage, I will chase after it because I think it is water. So, if I want to change my actions, if somebody is really thirsty and we catch his leg, don’t go over there.
Why, I’m thirsty, there’s water over there. No, there’s no water over there. Unless we change the perception of that person, the action will not change.
Our action is a result of our Hare Krishna. Our action is a result of our perception. The way we perceive things determines what we will pursue.
So, let’s look at what Krishna says about the three modes, how it affects the knowledge that we acquire. Let’s start from bottom up, 18.20, 21 and 22 in the Gita talk about knowledge in the three modes. So, 18.22 is knowledge in ignorance.
It’s a paradoxical statement. What do you mean? Knowledge and ignorance are two opposite things. So, how can we have knowledge in ignorance? Knowledge in ignorance means that there is knowledge but that knowledge does not promote understanding.
That knowledge actually deepens ignorance. Let’s see how that happens. So, he says in 18.22, Is this clear behind or is the voice going up and down? You are clear? So, he says, When one looks at one thing and makes that into everything.
When one looks at one feature of reality and makes that into everything, that is perception or knowledge in the mode of ignorance. So, in practical terms, say we could say in America, there was racism. In India, there was casteism.
What is happening in these cases? We look at only one thing about a person. We look at the colour of their skin and we assume this person must be like this. Or, we look at the family of birth of a particular person and this person is like this.
So, that person is a multifaceted human being but we reduce them to one aspect of their being. So, the mode of ignorance is very conducive to prejudice. Because how do we get prejudiced? Prejudice basically means that from a small experience we make a huge extra position.
We have a little experience of this person is like this, therefore people from this region are like this. This person is like this, therefore people of this country are like this. Or people of this caste are like this.
People of this race are like this. So, when we take one feature and make it into everything, that is knowledge in the mode of ignorance. So, last year when I had come to America and I was in a college programme and after that I was talking with one of the students and then he told me that he grew up in a foster home.
So, then as we became a little closer, we were talking many things, I asked him what happened? Did your parents die in an accident? He said no. Both my parents are alive. I said what? If both your parents are alive then why are you in a foster home? He said when I was five my parents divorced.
It was a very bitter divorce and both of them they told me that this marriage was the biggest mistake of my life and you remind me of that mistake. So, both the parents said we don’t want anything to do with you and despite having parents, the boy had to go to the children’s care department and he was put in the foster home. Now, it’s so tragic as people can have differences, they may not be able to live together but to reduce another human being to just one feature, you are the product of that mistake.
The child is a person on his own. So, this may appear very drastic. How can anyone do like that? But when the mind becomes biassed in a particular way, it happens.
In the 4th canto of the Shubhadbhagavatam, there is a story of Sati of Daksha’s daughter, Dakshayani and Daksha. Now, Daksha felt that Shiva had offended him and Shiva was married to Dakshayani, Dakshayani was his daughter. So then, when there was a celebration at his house, he did not invite his daughter and her son-in-law.
But she thought this is just my home, I’ll go there. And she came there but he completely neglected her. Now, why did he neglect her? She thought, this is my father, this is the home where I lived and grew up.
But she did not see her as his daughter. He saw her only as the wife of the man who disrespected her. And therefore, by neglecting her, I’m getting back at that man who disrespected her.
And then eventually, things went so bad that Sati felt so devastated that she was ready to immolate herself. And even then, Daksha did not do anything. So what happened? We take one feature of a person and make that into everything.
So when that happens, and then, why is it called knowledge? Because we have some knowledge. And then what we will do is also, if I have a bias against a particular person, if I think, people of this caste are like this, this race are like this, then I will get, selectively get, whatever information will reinforce my idea. This is called cherry picking information.
So, if I think this person is a very domineering person, then, I will remember all the incidents when this person tried to dominate me. There might be other incidents when that person was nice, kind, respectful, but we’ll just forget that. So, there is knowledge, but the knowledge is very selective, selective to the point of being deceptive.
So that is knowledge in the board of ignorance. How all this is related to resolutions, I’ll come to it a little later. But, let’s look at knowledge in the mode of passion.
So, Krishna says, this is 18.21, So, he says that, when we see different bodies, and we see, this means different natures. Basically, we equal people, we equate people with their material bodies. That is knowledge in the mode of passion.
So, that means that, in the mode of ignorance, also, we’ll be looking at a person, but we don’t even look at the full person, just look at their complexion or their birth. So, in mode of ignorance, we see even material reality fragmentally. In the mode of passion, we see only material reality.
In the mode of goodness, Krishna says, we see the material and the spiritual. I’ll come to that in a few minutes. But, when we see only the material reality, then, our perceptions are based, our actions are based very much on externals.
So, say, a young boy and a young girl, they get attracted to each other. A boy looks at the girl’s looks, the girl looks also at the boy’s looks, or the girl looks at the boy’s bank balance. And then, you know, and then, they get attracted to each other.
And they form a relationship. And when they form a relationship, they fight against the whole world. They say, I can’t live without this person.
I can’t live without you. And then, as they come closer to each other, they get to know each other, maybe they get married also, they stay for some time. And then, externals are not the whole person.
They start getting to know the other side of the person. And then, the same two people, I can’t live without this person. Now, they say, I can’t live with this person.
So, it’s just oscillation from one extreme to the other extreme. So, in the mode of passion, we focus only on the externals. External means the material body.
And we judge people based on their externals. In the mode of goodness, we see both the material and the spiritual. sarva-bhuteshu yenaikam bhavam avyayam ikshate avibhaktam vibhakteshu taj jnanam viddhi sattvikam He says, we see that in all living beings, there is the imperishable spirit that animates them all.
And that spirit is the same. This means that in the mode of goodness, we see that there is diversity. All of us are materially different.
But spiritually, we are similar. We are all souls. We are all parts of Krishna.
So, we may not, at this stage, just in the mode of goodness, we may not see the soul and the soul’s relationship with Krishna. But all that we see is there is a spiritual commonality among all, everyone. So, to be able to see the material and the spiritual together, that is knowledge in the mode of goodness.
And of course, in transcendence, we see everyone as a part of Krishna. So, Krishna says that in 6.29.30 that one who sees me in all living beings and all living beings in me, that person is never lost. So, that is knowledge in the mode of transcendence, we could say.
Now, based on how we perceive things, our actions will follow. So, if we perceive in the mode of ignorance, then, if I make a resolution, the impetus for making the resolution is also, I just think. Sometimes, nowadays, there are a lot of people who are becoming obese and they want to lose weight.
And there are many weight loss diets. Some of them are good, some of them are quite damaging to the health. Just all kinds of crazy things people do to try to lose weight.
And then they just, look at one picture, this person was like this, this person became like this. Prabhu is saying there are two separate people also. Photoshop, okay.
So, sometimes, you just look at that. Now, okay, some people might just even change like that, whether that is, that kind of change is sustainable and how healthy it is. Just look at one aspect and you go for it.
So, if our resolution is based on fragmented material perception, then that action will also not be sustainable. I’ll come to the sustainability action afterwards, but I’m just right now talking about how our resolution will be shaped by our perception. So, if I just see a fragmented aspect of material reality, this is what I’m going to do.
So, then, that sort of knowledge, because it is incomplete knowledge, it is not sustainable. If I look only at the material and not at the spiritual, then, also, I may make some resolutions, but then, the whole resolution depends solely on my willpower because I don’t see anything higher beyond myself. Matter is all that is.
So, at that time, we depend entirely on our own willpower. But when we see matter and spirit together, then we understand that the soul is interacting with the body, and the soul has some capacity to control things. Of course, in transcendence, we connect with Krishna.
But broadly speaking, our perceptions will shape our actions. And unless the knowledge we have acquired is proper, the resolution will not be sustainable because it’s based on fragmented knowledge. Sometimes, we may say that, I want to work very hard.
So, I am sleeping 6 hours every day. From tomorrow, I’ll sleep 4 hours. Now, I may hear somebody who is sleeping 4 hours and say, I’ll sleep 4 hours.
But that’s not healthy. That’s not sustainable for most people. The body is variable and different people need different amounts of time for sleeping.
You just want to take one idea and do something. So, then, it doesn’t work. Now, to take this further, let’s look at 18.33 and 18.35 where Krishna talks about determination in the 3 modes.
Then, he talks about, first, let’s look at determination in the mode of ignorance. So, is determination in the mode of ignorance. And what happens about this? Swapnam.
Swapnam. They are dreaming. Here, he is talking about daydreaming.
I’ll do this. I’ll do that. He is dreaming.
But, they don’t do anything. Once, there were 3 frogs on the sill of a well. 2 frogs decided to jump into the well.
How many frogs remained? Yeah, all 3 remained. Because, the 2 frogs decided to jump into the well. How many remained? All 3 remained because they only decided.
They did not act on it. So, sometimes, our thoughts just stay in the daydream. I’ll do this.
I’ll do that. But, it never goes beyond that. There is no systematic plan.
There is no action. And conversely, there is bhayam, fearfulness, paranoia. This will go wrong.
That will go wrong. Now, anxiety or fear is just natural. And fear is not only natural, it is actually essential.
If I look down from a skyscraper and I peer down, I feel some fear. And that is good. That fear protects me from the danger over there.
So, if a child is peering out from a 10-storey building and a child feels no fear, then the mother will feel great fear. Come back! What are you doing? So, fear is a natural and essential protector from danger. But, fear is different from fearfulness.
When there is a danger, the response to it is fear. That acts as a caution. But, when the danger is not there and still the fear remains.
So, I’ll come back. I’ll look down from that window. But now I come back, I’m sitting comfortably at my home.
But still, I’m thinking, Oh, I peered down. What if I fall down? So, in the absence of the stimulus, when the fear is present, that is fearfulness. So, this also happens in the mode of ignorance that we just get continuously caught in thinking about terrible things.
Now, why is this called determination? Normally, we think of determination as something positive. Determined to do this. But, determination basically means the capacity to hold on to something even when it is difficult or even when it is painful.
So, the converse of determination is obstinacy. Somebody is obstinate. Just keeping on doing it although it’s bad for them.
So, this kind of compulsive worrying is actually obstinacy. What are we getting by that worrying? We’re getting nothing. But still, we keep worrying.
Now, worry is like the interest we pay on loans we haven’t yet taken. It’s like the interest we pay on loans we haven’t yet taken. So, it’s just the problems are not there but still we’re worrying about it.
So, it is actually distressing but still we somehow hold on to it. Hold on to it. Hold on to it.
So, it’s called determination. But it’s perverse determination. It’s obstinacy.
Shoka is lamentation. Vishadham is moroseness. And when nothing works, oh, this is going wrong, that is going wrong, that is going wrong, then madham.
Just forget everything. The solution to every problem lies at the bottom of a bottle of alcohol. Drink and forget.
Now, vimunchati durmedha. One who doesn’t give up this kind of behaviour despite the behaviour causing trouble. That is dhruti sapartha tamasi.
Dhruti, that is determination in the mode of ignorance. So, now, vishadham and madham. Oh, that went wrong, that went wrong, that went wrong, madham.
Nothing is going to work right. So, sometimes the people just, some people find solutions to every problem and some people find problems with every solution. So, that’s how some people think.
So, what happens in the mode of ignorance is that we make some resolution and somehow we are not able to keep it. And then we are not able to keep it, then just that, oh, you know, I failed, I failed, I failed. Only that, oh, I could not keep it, I could not do it, I could not do it, I could not do it.
That keeps going on a perpetual replay inside us. And we feel completely disempowered, completely hopeless, completely helpless. I couldn’t do it.
I’m good for nothing. I’ll never be able to do it. I’m useless.
In terms of analysis of capacity to control, in our life, there are some things which are in our control and some things which are not in our control. But again, the perception is done wrongly based on the modes. So, in the mode of ignorance, we underestimate our capacity to control.
We think nothing is in my control. Some people say, my destiny is rotten. My destiny is only rotten.
Everything is going to go wrong in my life. But this is, yes, all of us go through bad phases when many bad things happen to us. But that doesn’t mean always bad things are going to happen.
But when we just look at the bad things only in life and think, oh, this happened to me, that happened to me, that happened to me, that happened to me, we say, oh, so many bad things have happened to me. And we start just feeling sorry for ourselves. And we go into what can be called as a pity party.
I feel pity for ourselves. I feel pity for ourselves. So, this is my mode of ignorance.
We just look at the bad things that have happened and even the bad resolutions we couldn’t keep and just feel sorry for ourselves. So, those in the mode of ignorance, they say that I don’t have any determination. Whatever I try to do, I can’t do it.
Sometimes somebody would say, they try to wake up in the morning. I have no determination. I can’t wake up in the morning.
Well, you have determination. You have determination to keep sleeping in the morning. So, nobody can say that I don’t have determination.
Actually, if somebody says, an alcoholic, a British playwright, Mark Twain, he said that giving up cigarettes, smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I have done it over a hundred times. So, if I gave it up a hundred times, what happened? I gave it up and I took it up again.
It came back to me again. I couldn’t resist it. So, the point is that if somebody says I have no determination to give up smoking, but that means you have determination to keep smoking.
Any unwanted behaviour that we do, it has its consequences. If we are too lazy, then our whole schedule gets disrupted. Now, we lose respect for ourselves.
Others lose respect for us. We feel miserable. But if we keep doing it, still, in spite of all that, that means we have determination.
But it is misdirected determination. So, nobody can say that I don’t have any determination. We all have determination.
If it is not determination to do the right thing, it is determination to do the wrong thing. And determination to do the wrong thing, we often call as attachment. When I am attached to something, attachment, when I am attached to something, that means that I am holding on to it very firmly.
So, now, for us to keep our resolutions, we need to raise our determination from ignorance to passion to goodness and ultimately to transcendence. So, everybody has determination. It is just a matter of where it is directed.
In the mode of ignorance, we just try something, it doesn’t work and then we just lose confidence. I can never be able to do it. And we just quit, but we are not quitting entirely.
We are quitting, changing ourselves, but that means we are persisting and continuing the way we are. Now, what happens in the mode of passion? Krishna says, That, here Krishna says, that’s for Kaam, for fulfilling one’s desires or Artha, for earning money. For these people, one works with great determination.
phalaakanshi prasangena, very attached phalaakanshi with the craving for the fruit. That is determination in the mode of passion. Many materialistic people, especially those materialistic people who have achieved something in their lives, they have determination like this.
Even to do anything in this world requires determination. If somebody is a sports player, they want to become a world champion athlete and they regulate their diet, they exercise, they do workouts, they work extremely hard. In the world, even if we are destined to achieve something, the destiny also doesn’t fall into our lap.
Whatever we are destined to get, also we have to work to get it. So, people who become successful at the material level, they work very hard. But their motivation is what? Artha Kaama.
That they want wealth and they want sensual enjoyment and for that purpose, they are ready to work extremely hard. Bhaktivinoda Thakur in one of his books says that I feel inspired on seeing the materialists. Just as they work so hard for their material profit, let me work similarly hard for Krishna.
So now, how is it that a person in the mode of passion has determination? Sometimes we say if our senses are uncontrolled, if our mind is uncontrolled, then we will not be able to do anything. But we see many materialistic people, they work extremely hard and they achieve a lot of things in their life. So, is it that they have controlled their mind, they have controlled their senses? Not exactly.
It is rather than saying that they have controlled their mind and senses, it is that their mind and senses have controlled them completely. So, in some cases, for us, when the mind and senses control us, they pull us in many directions. Come on, eat this, watch this, touch this.
When they pull us in different directions, I want to do this, I want to do that, I want to do that. So then, we can’t do much at that time. We are just pulled in too many directions.
But sometimes, the mind and senses work in such a way that one desire captivates them. And when that desire captivates the mind and senses, then our full determination gets directed on that desire. See, somebody just becomes convinced.
I want to become the world’s number one tennis player. Then that becomes their driving dream. It’s not that mind and senses are under control.
It is they have a particular desire. What do I mean by saying mind and senses are under control or not in control? Actually, we have to see who is controlling the mind and senses. Is it the soul who is controlling the mind and senses? Or is it some material desire that is controlling the mind and senses? So, in some cases, the material desire, normally we have many material desires, but if one material desire becomes very strong and that acquires control over the person, then it may appear as if that person has tremendous willpower.
And the person is working extremely hard. And of course, they are working hard and for the determination that they have, for the sacrifices that they do, credit can be given. But the point is that it’s not that they have controlled mind and senses.
Rather, one among the many desires in their mind, one has somehow captivated them and now they are fully or largely controlled by that desire. So, in the mode of passion, we can work very hard. But usually, what happens in the mode of passion is, we get obsessed with something which is material and temporary.
So, we get that fruit, but after getting that fruit, it is almost always the material goals that we achieve, they turn out to be an anticlimax. Just when I think I’m already successful, I’m at the top of the world. We climb up the mountain, we reach the top and we are about to plant our victory flag on the summit.
And as we plant the victory flag, on the summit we find that summit is just a cave. It’s a valley and we fall right into the valley. So, what happens is that after we achieve something, we find it’s not really that great.
I’m from India and India is a very, you could say, education infatuated country. So, since my childhood, my dream was I wanted to be a topper. I wanted to be number one in my class, in my school, in my college and I was always among the toppers.
But I was never the topper. Somehow. I was second, third, fourth, joint first, but I was never the first.
So, that was like big, big dissatisfaction and craving within me. In my third year in my engineering, I appeared for GRE. At that time GRE was 2400 marks, 800 marks for maths, 800 marks for analytical ability and 800 for language.
So, generally Indians don’t do so well in language. For me, since my childhood, one of my hobbies was just to pick up a dictionary and memorise words. So, I loved dictionary.
I loved English words. That’s not a problem. So, then at that time, I worked very hard and I gave my GRE exam and I got that time 250 out of 2400.
So, I was not just first in my class, I was first, not just in my college, I was first in the history of my college. So, I thought all my dreams have come true now. Like in sports, you say, Yahoo! I’ve done it! So, I was celebrating like that.
And after that, I came to my college and then many of my friends and other people, they came and congratulated me. But somehow it happened that three of my close friends, they forgot to congratulate me. And the first time it happened, why is he not congratulating me? Doesn’t he know what I’ve achieved? Then second time also same thing happened.
Third time it happened, I was just angry. And then suddenly, it was like as if I looked at myself from an out of body perspective and I felt, hey, wait a minute, what is going on? I thought by achieving this, I’ll become happy. But actually, I have ended up becoming more dependent for my happiness on others.
Earlier, I could just interact with people normally, but now I’m interacting, I’m so needy. Now, why are you not congratulating me? So, I said, where is the happiness here? Actually, the happiness, just looking at the mark sheet, the mark sheet is not like a beautiful DT of Krishna that you can keep looking at. Looking at the mark sheet is a touch player.
So, okay, I realised that there has to be that, okay, I can give another exam, I can again crack that exam, but again I’ll be dependent on externals. There must be something which gives higher happiness. What is that? And that’s how I started exploring.
Somehow, by Krishna’s arrangement, that time I got a Bhagavad Gita and then I started reading it and Krishna said in the Bhagavad Gita in the 6th chapter that when we attain Samadhi, at that time, that is an achievement having achieved which we’ll feel there is nothing more to achieve. yam lam dhva cha param labham manyate nadikam tatah Having achieved this, there is nothing more to achieve, 6.22 in the Gita. I felt this is what is really an achievement worth seeking in one’s life.
No matter what else I achieve, always I’ll be dependent on others, externals for validation, for congratulation, for felicitation. So, in the mode of passion, we may work very hard to achieve something but what we seek to achieve doesn’t turn out to be what it promised to be. It lets us down.
That’s why determination in the mode of passion often doesn’t lead to satisfaction. Either we are not able to achieve it or even if we achieve it, it turns out to be anticlimax. In the mode of goodness, Krishna says dhritya yadhar yate mana pranendriya kriya yogena vimicaryanya dhriti sahpartha sattvika Krishna says we control our mind and senses mana pranendriya kriya and how do we control it? Yogena, by the steady practise of yoga and by this, when we act with determination, that is determination in the mode of goodness.
So, in the mode of passion, we are actually very determinately following the mind and senses to whatever desire they want us to fulfil. Whereas, in the mode of goodness, we control the mind and senses and pursue a goal that is truly worthwhile. How do we sustain that determination? Yogena, by the practise of yoga.
It’s interesting that since the 1920s, scientists have been trying to look at the effect of religion on people’s behaviour. Sigmund Freud and others, they had the idea that religion is like a narcosis. Faith in God is a delusion.
That’s what some people say. So, researchers have tried to look at what happens. They compared the psychological, mental states, mental health of religious people and non-religious people.
And they found that consistently, religious people, they have better physical health, they have better mental health. And Cambridge University published a handbook of religion and health where they compiled 2,000 published studies all over the world about the relationship between religion and physical health parameters such as stroke, heart attack and other things as well as mental health parameters such as stress, anxiety and other things. And they found consistently a positive correlation that religious people had better physical health, better mental health.
In fact, they also said that these people live longer than the non-religious people. But more significant for us, they found that if a religious person and a non-religious person, they make a resolution to do something, in general, exceptions will always be there, but overall, the religious people, the percentage that they keep their resolution is much more than the non-religious people. In fact, in 2007, there was an article in the New York Times.
At that time, I had written a book on recession. Recession was going on globally. So, I quoted that article.
So, the New York Times said that the article’s theme was that if you want to keep your new year’s resolutions, add one more resolution. And that resolution is to stick to your religious commitment. So, if you stick to your religious commitment, somehow that will give you the willpower to stick to your other commitments.
So, I’ll conclude with two points. And then you can have question and answers. So, now religious commitment can mean many different things to different people.
For us, yoga is bhakti yoga. And bhakti yoga is, say, for us, the primary activity is chanting Hare Krishna. So, recently, a devotee was asking me a question.
We say, initially, that if you chant Hare Krishna, your mind will be controlled. You’ll be able to control your mind. But then, after I start chanting Hare Krishna, now devotees tell me, to chant Hare Krishna, you have to control your mind.
So, what is the reality? Does chanting help us to control the mind or do we have to control the mind to chant? So, I told him that, actually, for doing anything in life, we have to have some level of control of the mind. Even if you want to enjoy watching a movie, you have to control the mind and focus on the movie. If in the movie some action scene is coming, start looking somewhere else.
You’ll miss the action. You’ll not enjoy the movie. So, some amount of focus, which means control of the mind, is required for doing anything in life.
And similarly, for chanting also, some amount of control of the mind is required. However, the difference between other activities and chanting, if everywhere control of mind is required, what is the difference? The difference is, chanting purifies our mind. And by that purification, the forces that cause the mind to go out of control, they decrease in their power.
And that’s how, chanting promotes the control of the mind in a much more effective way. So, I may be attentive and read a book for one hour. I may feel peaceful by that.
I may be attentive and watch a movie for one hour. Or I may be attentive and chant Hare Krishna for one hour. In all of these, being attentive is a prerequisite.
But the effect, okay, after watching a movie, how long am I going to feel peaceful? After thoughts of the movie go out of my mind, then all the problems of the world will come back to me. I read a book, okay, it’s nice. But after that, it depends on what I am reading also.
It will not last long. But if I chant attentively, the result will last much longer. So, it’s like weight lifting.
If I have to lift a 20 kg weight, it’s going to require an effort. But if I have a lever, a system of a lever by which, you know, I can press over here and the weight gets lifted over there. So then, I may have to apply only that much force which is equivalent to lifting a 2 kg weight.
But by that, 20 kg weight is getting lifted. So, chanting will also require application. Chanting also requires determination.
But, if we can resolve to connect with Krishna through our chanting, that will calm our mind and the calmer mind, everything else that we have to do, will be able to do it more effectively. So, that’s why, if we want to sustain our resolutions, the strongest, the first resolution that we need to sustain is the resolution to solidify our religious commitment. It may be chanting the holy names, it may be studying scriptures, it may be worshipping the deities, whatever it is.
If we do that, that will help us in everything else. Because that will help us to not just control the mind, but to purify the mind. What is the difference between controlling the mind and purifying the mind? Controlling the mind means opposing force is there, but I am restricting it.
Purifying the mind means the opposing force itself goes away. Just like, say, many of us may have been eating meat before. But now, if we are travelling in a plane and see somebody else eating meat, how much do we feel irresistibly attracted to eating that meat? Well, not so much.
Most of us, we don’t even notice it. So what has happened? Here we have become purified. That means the desire itself has gone away.
This also happens by the process of bhakti. So, by contact with the all-pure Krishna, to contact all-pure Krishna, also we need some willpower. We need some resolution.
We need some determination. But that determination will have a spiralling effect. It will go over and make us better in control of the rest of our lives.
And then, how can we get this determination to stick to our resolutions in bhakti? So, I’ll talk about three things over here. That’s the last. Conviction, association and process.
Jiva Goswami in the Shastra Sandarbha says that for the pure devotees, they stay in Krishna Consciousness, in bhakti, because of priti, because of their attraction towards Krishna. But sadhakas, they will stay in Krishna Consciousness by their buddhi, by their intelligence. We don’t have spontaneous attraction to Krishna.
So, we need intelligence. So that’s why, if we hear a very good class on the importance of the holy name, and next day when we chant, feel inspired to chant this. So, what happens? Our intelligence needs to be convinced.
So, conviction. So, regular study of scripture, hearing of scripture, that gives us the impetus to push on even when our mind starts saying, no, enough. I don’t want to do this.
Conviction. So, we regularly nourish ourselves intellectually. Why do I want to do this? Then, write it down and read it.
Keep the intelligence well nourished. The second is association. Association means that actually our desires are not just linear.
They are triangular. What do I mean by this? Linear means, say, I see a particular item and I want to eat it. If I see a gulab jamun, hey, delicious, I want to eat it.
That’s linear desire. First time when I started travelling abroad, I had gone to Australia, and there, one devotee offered me a baklava. I didn’t know till that time, what is a baklava? He says, would you like to have a baklava? I said, maybe later.
And then, there’s a devotee with me, we both were taking prasadam, he got the baklava and he ate it. I looked at him, give me also one. So, seeing the baklava, seeing the object did not create the desire.
But seeing somebody else enjoying that object created the desire. So, that is, our desires are not just linear, they are triangular. So, this triangularity of desires is what advertisers use when they have celebrities endorse their products.
You know, there are so many new cell phones that come up. Let’s say, a Hollywood star or a support star, they say, this is the cell phone I use. Oh, really? Use that.
I want to use it also. So, triangularity of desires. And this triangularity is especially important in spiritual life because the object to which we want to be attracted to, that may not seem so attractive to our senses.
Chanting of the holy name is okay, that’s nice, but the holy name is just one mantra, what is so attractive about it? If we see somebody chanting attentively, then what is this person getting in this chanting? We come into the temple, look at the deities, they look very attractive, but nice, somebody may say, nice decorated dolls there. But, if we meet a devotee who has been worshipping the deities for years and years, day after day, month after month, year after year, and we talk with them, what is this devotee getting in this? It must be something special over here. So, for us, if we want to sustain our spiritual life, sustain our spiritual determination, tapping the triangularity of our desires is very important.
That means, if I want to do something, I need to have someone else who will inspire me to do it. So, if I want to memorise verses, I want to memorise one verse everyday. I start with one verse today, and the next verse I remember after one week, the next after one month, and then after one year, I want to memorise the verse everyday now.
Okay, start off. But if I start with some other devotee, and then we decide, okay, everyday, every week we will memorise one verse, everyday is too much, it’s not possible. Every week we will memorise, and then every week when we meet in the temple, I will ask you which verse you have memorised, you ask me which verse I have memorised.
And then, what will happen? I think, oh, when I go to the temple, he will ask me, she will ask me. Then that will inspire us to memorise. So, basically, association is extremely important.
Resolutions that are done alone, they are almost impossible to sustain. The mind gets us alone, and then gets us. It gets us alone.
Disconnected from everyone. I alone am going to do this, you know. I will stand top above all other devotees.
Nobody else can do it. I alone can do it. And then it gets us alone, and then gets us.
And we can’t do it. We can’t sustain it. So, association.
And last thing is process. See, as the CAP, as the CAP, acronym you could say. Process means, it is, we are finite and fallible human beings.
So, the process of growing towards a resolution or sticking to a resolution is going to come with slips and falls. It is the mode of passion which makes us think that if you are going to do this, better do it perfectly. Otherwise, don’t do it only.
But, how many of us can, the rest of our life, where all do we do things perfectly? If we cook food for the first time, if I decide, if I cook food, I will cook perfectly. Otherwise, I will not cook only. We will starve, isn’t it? If I do, if I am going to ride a cycle, I am going to ride a cycle perfectly.
You will never ride a cycle. We fall down, we learn. That’s how it is in spiritual life also.
So, what happens? We think that if I make a resolution, I must stick to it. Only if I stick to it, I am successful. If I can’t stick to it, better not make it only.
But, it’s not like that. Say, if I decide to make a resolution, every day I am going to read Bhagavatam for half an hour every day. Now, even if I can’t, if I stick to it for one month, and then on the 31st day, 32nd day, I can’t do it.
You know, I failed in my resolution. But, what happens? In transcendence, we don’t just look at the resolution. We look at the purpose of the resolution.
The purpose of the resolution is not just to stick to the resolution. The purpose of the resolution is to establish a connection with Krishna. Isn’t it? Why do we want to read books for? Why do we want to chant the holy names for? It’s to connect with Krishna.
And for the 30 days that I read daily, I had a connection with Krishna. In that sense, I was successful. So, if we fixate too much on the fact that I am going to make this resolution, I am going to keep it lifelong.
Then, one day we are not able to keep up, all our determination will go away. These are good for nothing. But, rather than thinking like that, the resolution is important, but the purpose is more important.
If I connect with Krishna, I am getting purified. I am getting spiritually advanced. So, even if I can’t stick to the resolution in future, let me make a finite time bound resolution, stick to it, and as long as I stick to it, I am moving forward.
Bhakti is actually very subtle. Sometimes I may make a resolution, and I succeed in it, but I may fail in my bhakti. On the other hand, I may make a resolution, I may fail in the resolution, but I may succeed in my bhakti.
How is that? Say, if it’s Ekadashi, and I decide I am going to fast without water. I am determined to fast without water. But, while fasting without water, I go to the kitchen and look at who all are eating what.
This person, so attached. This person, sense gratifier. This person, hopeless.
So, what is happening? My body is fasting, but my ego is feasting. And, even if I succeed in that resolution, I succeed in the resolution, but I fail in my bhakti. Because, how much am I remembering Krishna? I want to think I am better than others, I become superior.
On the other hand, I may make a resolution, I may fail in the resolution, but if that makes me humble, that makes me feel the need for Krishna. Krishna, I am so conditioned, I am so fallen, I need you, please help me. And, that makes me more dependent on Krishna, call out to Krishna more intentionally.
Then, by that calling out to Krishna, actually I may make more advancement than by being successful in keeping the resolution, but becoming proud by that. So, that’s why, even while making a resolution, we don’t see the resolution separate from the purpose of the resolution. The purpose of the resolution is to connect with Krishna.
And, as long as we stick to the resolution, we are connecting. And, that is success in that sense. So, we need to, Krishna says, be detached from the fruits of your work.
So, we make a resolution, so that we can connect with Krishna. But, sometimes, we may not be able to stick to the resolution. So, no need to get too worried about that.
Okay, I stuck to this resolution for this much time, now situation has changed in my life, I can’t stick to it now. Okay, let me do whatever is required in the situation. And, then in future, when my situation becomes better, I will have this experience also.
And, again I can make a resolution. So, rather than making a lifelong resolution, better make a time bound resolution, stick to it, learn from the experience, and then we can either renew the same resolution, or we can make some other resolution. Based on what we find is beneficial for us.
So, this way, if we see the resolution, resolution in transcendence means what? We see the connection with Krishna. And, we focus not on the resolution, but on the connection with Krishna. By that, we will all move forward steadily, and irrespective of whether we stick to the specific resolutions or not, whether we succeed in specific resolutions or not, we will succeed in moving towards Krishna.
And, that is life’s ultimate success. That is the ultimate purpose of all resolutions. So, I will summarise.
I spoke today about resolution in the three modes. I started by talking about how most new resolutions are not new, because something sabotages the resolutions. To understand what sabotage is it, I discussed about three modes.
Modes are subtle forces that shape the interaction between matter and consciousness. And, they shape how we perceive things, how we process them, and what we pursue. So, some people run away, some people just get petrified, some people go for a fire extinguisher.
So, in goodness, first contemplation, then action. In passion, first action, then contemplation. In ignorance, neither contemplation nor action, only delusion.
Then, perception in the mode of ignorance means, we look at fragmented material reality, label people based on their race or their caste, or one particular behavioural pattern, or we label ourselves also based on one failure, we think, I am a failure, and I am good for nothing. In mode of passion, we look only at externals, at the material, and we think that is the essential person. And, that’s why we oscillate, I can’t live without this person, I can’t live with this person.
So, we oscillate in extremes. And, in mode of goodness, we see the complete picture. We see the matter and the spirit.
And, in this holistic picture, then we act. So, in transcendence, we see the spirit as a part of Krishna and Krishna. And, we talked about determination in three modes.
Determination in the mode of ignorance means, we hold on to things, even when those things hurt us. Like daydreaming, worrying, being pessimistic, being morose. Nobody can say, I don’t have determination.
Because, we have the determination to hold on to the unwanted behavioural pattern. So, we just need to redirect that determination. In the mode of passion, we can work very hard, we seem to have a lot of determination, but it’s not that we have controlled the mind and senses for our purpose.
Rather, a particular desire produced by the mind and senses has become our purpose. And, that controls us and drives us. The problem with determination in the mode of passion is, that what we achieve turns out to be an anticlimax, even if we achieve it.
In goodness, we focus on yogen avibhicharya. We try to control our mind and senses for a higher purpose. And, we get the determination to control that by the process of yoga, means connection with Krishna.
So, chanting also requires control of the mind, as any other activity would require. But, chanting purifies the mind, so that, that mind control will percolate in all aspects of our life. It’s like, I have to exercise, exert energy to lift a weight.
But, chanting is like, I lift a 2 kg worth of, I exert 2 kg worth of energy on a lever, and a 20 kg weight gets lifted up. How do we get the determination to chant, or to practise bhakti determinately? First is conviction. We have to regularly nourish our intelligence, by hearing a scripture, especially appropriate aspects of scripture, that sustain the particular resolution.
A is association. Our desires are not just linear, but triangular. So, if we have somebody else who inspires us to do the same thing, then we can sustain.
And, last is process. Process means, it’s not that, once I have done it, I should be able to do it always. The process is, we connect with Krishna for as long as we can, and that connection will purify us.
The very process of functioning for us finite, fallible human beings is, that we may take a few steps, we’ll fall, again we get up, we fall. So, rather than expecting perfection, we just work with whatever we have, and by that connection, we will become purified. So, we redefine success, not just as sticking to the resolution for all the time, but rather, connecting with Krishna as long as we can, in whatever way we can.
With this redefined success, we can always stay connected with Krishna, and grow in our bhakti. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.
Are there any questions or comments? Yes. Somebody has not asked till now. Somebody else has questions.
I had this, well, sort of this thought, this question. I kind of think like, well, why make a resolution? You know, you got to do something, just do it. I mean, I don’t see like why I have to say, alright, I am going to do this now.
No, just go do it. That’s success. Okay.
So, why do we need to do resolutions? Why can’t we just do the right thing? Yes, we all have different minds, and different ways in which our inner world works. So, some of us, we may just be able to spontaneously, I am going to do this, and just do it. It works.
Some people, they are more action-orientated. Okay, start it off, do it. But some people need to process things in their inner world.
I am going to do it. So, we have to see what works best with our particular mind, but we have. So, if some of us, we just do it, we get a taste of success by doing it, and feel like doing it, and we keep doing it.
It’s fine. Some people have to process things in their head, and then do it. So, the nature of the mind and the senses are such that, no one formula works at the material level for everyone.
The shoe that fits one leg, bites another leg. So, for some people, we just start it and move on with it. For some people, they start it and they just stop.
So, why am I doing this? They have to think about it, they have to commit to it. So, depending on our particular way, our particular mind works, sooner or later, we have to get out of our head and do things, no doubt about it. But for some of us, to sustain that, being in our head and having the impetus in our head helps.
So, we have to see what works. But ultimately, yes, we have to do it. It’s only by doing it, we will get the experience, we will get the taste, and then we will be able to sustain it.
Thank you. The chanting in three modes of body and nature, sometimes the modes are very heavy. So, how do I transcend that? Because at night, I am very active.
At night, when the sleep takes over, my determination is just, how do I go over that? How do I do that? So, how do we, if chanting, sometimes we feel very sleepy, how do we overcome the mode of ignorance? Well, the first thing is, that we cannot fight for very long against our body. The body has its needs. And, if I sleep late and then I want to wake up early, and I say, I am feeling sleepy, it is not going to work.
Krishna has given us the body. We have a responsibility to serve Krishna, but we also have a responsibility to provide the body its needs. Krishna says, Krishna is talking about yogis who have gone to the jungle in the sixth chapter.
Those who have gone out to the jungle, and they are doing meditation, and for them, Krishna is saying, Krishna says, if you eat too much or eat too little, you sleep too much or sleep too little, you cannot be a yogi. So, what to speak of people like us who are in this world? So, first point is that we have to make sure that we provide the body what it needs. Now, if the body needs a particular quantity of sleep, once in a while, having less sleep and then waking up is fine.
But, we cannot expect the body to do it on a daily basis. So, first is that we need to plan our life in such a way that we are not chanting while half asleep. We may think, so much willpower, I will wake up in the morning, I will chant.
But actually, chanting in the morning is important, but chanting attentively is equally if not more important. If say, now we all may work in different time zones. So, if you have an important Skype meeting with somebody in India, here morning 4 o’clock, you have to wake up.
Now, if it’s an important meeting, you will make sure that you sleep by 9 o’clock or 10 o’clock so that you are not just awake at 4 o’clock, but awake and alert at 4 o’clock. So, if it’s an important meeting, we rearrange our life in such a way that we are fresh for that meeting. Chanting is the time when we are meeting Krishna.
So, it’s not just we have to wake up early, we have to make sure that we are adequately rested. That’s the first point. We have to plan our life in such a way that we get adequate rest and then we chant.
Then, after that, what happens with respect to chanting is that for the mind, it’s like one devotee was recently asking me, why does my mind wander so much when I chant? I told him, because you are not chanting. What do you mean? I said, the tongue is chanting, the mind is wandering and you are thinking what to do among the two. And most of the time, the mantra doesn’t seem very interesting, the movie that is going on in the mind seems much more interesting.
So, we go off with the mind. And, especially in the morning, externally, the mode of goodness and the mode of ignorance are very similar. In both, in passion, there is activity.
In goodness, there is contemplation, that means there is not much activity, there is thoughtfulness. In ignorance, there is not contemplation, there is delusion. But again, there is no activity.
What happens? Actually, chanting is best done when in contemplative mood, when in the goodness. But, externally, goodness and ignorance are similar. So, instead of in goodness, we soon slide into ignorance.
And then, we can’t chant very well. So, sometimes if you are feeling very sleepy, then just standing up or walking or splashing some water on the face. Basically, sometimes we have to get out of the head into the body.
In chanting, it’s like In chanting, we want to be aware of spiritual reality. That is, the holy name, which is spiritual sound vibration. But, for the mind to rise to the spiritual level is quite difficult.
So, better that we at least… So, if this is the physical reality, this is the mental reality, this is the spiritual reality. So, when we are chanting, sometimes the mind just goes off into the mental level. We are not even physically aware of what I am doing.
Sometimes we chant the whole round, the beads go round and we say, Did I chant a round? I don’t even notice. So, what will happen? We are not aware of spiritual reality. We are not remembering Krishna.
We are not even aware of physical reality. We are not even counting the beads properly. So, what is happening? Just the mind has gone off somewhere.
So, ideally, it’s good if we rise to spiritual reality by being attentive, by being contemplative. If we are in the mode of goodness, transcendence is very close. But, if we cannot be in the mode of goodness, then at least come to physical reality.
Come to physical reality means that maybe stand up and walk. Now, we cannot be completely wandering all over if we are walking. Because at least where am I walking, I have to see.
And that’s why even when you go for a walk, it is good not to go for a long walk with a lot of scenery. Because I start looking here, looking there, looking there. If it’s the same place, I have to turn around after a few minutes.
And what happens? I have to keep an eye. So, I come back to the physical world once again. I come back to the physical world, I will be chanting.
So, basically, if we are in passion to come to goodness, we have to get out of the world and get inside, get into the head. So, if I am running around doing things, okay, sit down in here. Sit down and do something contemplative.
That takes us from passion to goodness. But when ignorance is troubling us, we have to come from ignorance to passion. Then from passion we can come to goodness.
So, to come from ignorance to passion means from the mental level where the mind is in delusion, at least become aware of physical reality. Then start walking. That creates some momentum, some energy in the body.
Look where you are walking. And then try to focus on at least the sound vibration of the holy name. So, if ignorance is there, it’s very difficult to come to goodness, leave alone transcendence.
So, at least we come to passion. Now, walking itself is not in passion. But by passion I am simply connoting some physical activity and awareness of physical reality.
So, if we are very sleepy and somehow we have had adequate rest but still we are feeling sleepy, then it’s better to walk for some time, get some muscles moving, get some blood flowing in the body. That will create some energy. And then from passion we can move towards goodness thereafter.
Hare Krishna. Do any of them? Yeah, Matajis. Hare Krishna.
Does the place of residence matter in Krishna consciousness? It is ultimately a matter of consciousness. So, even if somebody is living far away, from a temple or from a holy place, if one can be conscious of Krishna, that is what is important. However, for most of us, our consciousness is usually very caught at the physical level.
We are affected by physical things quite a bit. So, if physically we are close to a spiritual place, then the possibility of spiritualization of our consciousness is more. Let’s look at it from the other way.
Let’s say somebody is an alcoholic and they want to give him alcohol. And their house happens to be next to a bar. Now, no matter how much determination they have, we all may have strong determination, but we all have our weak moments.
And in that weak moment, they will slip out of the house, go to the bar and drink. So, for us, many times, to make a significant change in our life, change of externals is almost always necessary. Change of externals.
For an alcoholic, they cannot stand next to a bar and give him alcohol. Change of externals is necessary. Now, while change of externals is almost always necessary, change of externals is almost never sufficient.
If I am changing only the externals, I just go and stay far away from a bar. But then the desire will come in me and then I will drive all the distance and come to the bar. So, we also have to work on changing the internals.
So, it is that if externally also, the spiritual stimuli are easily available to us in the physical environment that we are in, then it is more conducive for our spiritual consciousness. So, that’s why if we are staying in a dham, that is good. If we are staying near a temple, that is good.
At the same time, we cannot just focus on one thing. For our bhakti, there are many parameters over there. Like some devotees, I know in some cities, the temple is right in the heart of the city.
Very expensive area. And then to get a house over there, they have to take a big loan. And they take the loan, they are staying next to the house, but now to pay the mortgage for the loan, they have to take two jobs.
And the temple is next to them, but they don’t get time to go to the temple. Oh, I want a house close to the temple. But what is the use? You can’t go to the temple.
Similarly, if our place of working is so far away from the temple, that we have to work over there, and travelling takes one hour, two hours, we are next to the temple, but we hardly ever get to go to the temple. So, staying close to the temple is one important factor, but that is not the sole factor for deciding. We have to look at our overall situation, and then see what is the best for my practise of Shakti.
Similarly, staying in the holy Dham, that is good. However, the Dhams today are places of devotion, and they are also places of deviation. Because there are so many people with so many different ideas.
And if you don’t have the right association, then we can just get caught and deluded over there. So, if we go to a Dham, it’s generally just to go to retreat to a Dham, for a few days, that is very good. If we are going to stay in a Dham, then it is important that we have a well-defined service.
If we don’t have a well-defined service, we say, oh, I will just chant 64 rounds every day, I will do this, I will do that. In a few days we will do it, and the mind will say, what next? And then, if we don’t have that spiritual taste, then what next will be? There are many people who will be there, who will be ready to gossip. You know, this person did like this.
You know, this happened like this. This happened like that. See, we will have spare time soon, and during our spare time, our mind works overtime.
So, we need to holistically see what is the best for our Bhakti. So, geographical proximity to a temple or a Dham is very good. But we have to see the balance, other factors in our life, and arrive at a balanced decision.
How to help a non-Krishna conscious person to overcome depression? See, non-Krishna conscious is a better word than non-devotee. It’s a good word. It’s a good word.
And it’s definitely better than a Karmi. It’s a judgemental word. So, how do we help others, who are not practising Bhakti right now, if they are having depression? Basically, if we consider that the physical reality is out there, the mind is in here, the soul is here.
So, we don’t respond to the physical reality, we respond to the mental representation of the physical reality. So, ideally speaking, our mind should be looking at what is out there. Say, I am looking at you, you are looking at me.
So, the physical scene should be replicated on the inner screen. Inner screen is the mind. I am the inner seer.
But, the inner screen is meant to act like a window, which shows us what is outside. But sometimes, this inner screen starts acting like a TV. And just takes me into the past, takes me into the future, takes me all over the world.
So, then, that’s when we get absent-minded. So, I am physically somewhere, but my mind is elsewhere. When this inner screen starts going to the past, and showing me all the bad things that have happened to me in the past, that is when we get depression.
Basically, there are two major mental disorders that people have. One is depression, the other is anxiety. So, in depression, the mind goes off to the past, and says, this went wrong, that went wrong, that went wrong, that went wrong.
Therefore, in the future also, everything is going to go wrong. So, we get depressed. In anxiety, the mind, the inner screen, goes into the future.
What if this goes wrong? We get fearful, worried, we get a panic attack. So, basically, we need to… Bad things have happened to every one of us. For some of us, more bad things may have happened at a particular time than at other times.
But, the point is, it has happened to everyone. And if we are honest, good things have also happened to us. Otherwise, we would not be where we are right now.
So, the very fact that we are living among, say, all of us are 25, 30, 40, some of us are of course kids, but still, just if we consider how many people have died before the age of 20, 25, 30. The fact we are living, that means at least some good things have happened in our life. Otherwise, we would not even be alive.
So, but somehow, our mind just looks at all the bad things that have happened. So, the key thing is that when the mind is become like a mirror, like a TV screen which is replaying the past bad things, to get it back to the present. Get it back to the present.
Okay, that’s in the past, that’s history. Don’t think about it so much. It’s not possible to not think about something.
What we have to do is have something purposeful to think of it. Have something tangible to do. That’s why people who are depressed, if they have something which they like to do, not just something which is casual entertainment, but something which is valuable for them, something which they consider important.
So, often depression is caused not so much because so many bad things have happened in our life and we are remembering them, but because we don’t have a worthwhile purpose in our life. See, the material vision of life is we define our success based on our possession. What did I get? I got this.
I got that. I got that. A simple way to understand the difference between material and spiritual is if I am in material consciousness, as soon as I see another person, I think what can this person do for me.
If I am in spiritual consciousness, I think what can I do for this person. That is spiritual consciousness. Similarly, in material consciousness, we define our self-worth based on possession.
See, I got this car. I got this house. I have done this.
I have made it. I am a big person. But in spiritual consciousness, we define our self-worth not by our possession, but by our contribution.
What can I contribute? What can I do? Contribution also will give us some reciprocation. We will learn something. We will possess something.
But our focus is in what I can do. So, if we can help that person find out what is it that they would like to do in their lives. Now, I don’t feel like doing anything.
Okay, these bad things that have happened to you. Before these things happened, what would you like to do in your life? Not just in superficial sense. I want to go to Disneyland.
I want to go here. I want to go there. But no.
At the end of your life, what would you like to be remembered? What do you want to contribute in your life? Then, that will give them something worthwhile to do. So, that way, we bring them to the present and help them find a purpose for themselves in the present. Sometimes people say, live in the present.
It’s not, we can live in the present, but we are not meant to live for the present. Because if the present is gloomy, if I have got a terrible painful disease, and you tell me, live in the present. I can’t live, I have got so much pain.
You know, we live for something bigger than the present. So, we have to have a purpose for our life. So, if we can help them find something purposeful in their lives, that helps them a lot to overcome depression.
And slowly, we can bring in the spiritual aspect to it. That actually, you are an eternally indestructible being. Bad things have happened, but you are bigger than your situations.
You are bigger than your emotions. So, therefore, you don’t have to be so affected by it. And then, we can bring in Krishna.
That actually, whatever happens, ultimately, God is our well-wisher. And he wants our best. So, if this has gone wrong, that has gone wrong, just focus on what is right and move forward with that.
So, what we are, God’s blessing to us. What we become is, what we are is God’s gift. What we become is our gift to God.
So, we look at some good things that are there in life, see that that is God’s blessing and see what you can do. So, if we can somehow help them move beyond that, that God exists and God cares. And even if bad things have happened, good can come out of that bad.
Just focus on doing what you can now. So, we live in the present, but we don’t live for the present. We live for Krishna in the present.
How can I serve Krishna? How can I contribute in this particular situation? So, when you focus on small things, I can do this one thing, I can do this one thing, I can do this one thing. And gradually, I just keep doing one thing, one thing, I did so much, that’s good. I can do something.
And then we’ll find slowly that depression will disappear. Thank you so much, Guruji. Hare Krishna.
Do we have time? Hare Krishna Guruji. Thank you so much for the wonderful lecture. I have a very small comment to say.
Particularly, I liked the point you told that I should watch actions, particularly driven by action that will be anti-climax. I was really thinking the actions of Alexander the Great. He actually conquered the entire world by his passion.
And at the end, what happened is, he has to die grateful. But at the same time, when Alexander died, he thought he conquered the entire world. But if you look at the actions of our former Acharya, Acharya Prabhupada, his actions were completely entrancemental and mode of goodness.
And look at what the end result we have now. Like you told, every town, like in the village, or all over the world, we have beautiful temples and people. Yes.
Yeah. So, I was really comparing. It’s beautiful.
Yeah. Beautiful meditation, yes. Yeah, yeah.
Thank you. Thank you. Shri Prabhupada Ki.
Jai. So, Hare Krishna. So, let’s again thank this great gentleman.
This is like one of the best things I’m going to do.