SELF EMPOWERMENT through understanding karma & Bhakti

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Transcript

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.

So, today morning we are discussing from the 2nd chapter of the Bhagavad Gita today evening. So, I will talk about this class in three broad parts. So, I will talk about it using an acronym M.E.T. M refers to the mechanism of how our mind works and we will talk about exploitation of how this mechanism is exploited in today's world and T is transcendence and how we can use the same very mechanism to rise above to raise ourselves to raise ourselves above the entanglement of the world.

The principle that this verse is talking about is that we all know that attention is important say if you go to college and if you do not pay attention then we do not grasp much that we are studying something we are hearing something in a class and then sometimes a long class is going on and then what happens when there is a long talk our mind goes for a walk and then if there is some humor the mind comes up hey what was the joke I want to know the joke I also want to laugh. So, what happens is we miss the joke, but we might miss some important points also. So, in one sense our attention determines what we grasp what we understand when something is spoken, but this is something which is very easy for us to explore to develop or understand when we are talking with somebody somebody is absent minded we see their eyes rolling hey where are you come back to earth which planet are you gone off to.

So, the idea is we all understand the result of absent mindedness and we do not understand what is going on. So, our attention determines what we grasp that is true, but there is something more and that more is described in this verse our attention determines what grasps us not just what we grasp, but what grasps us grasp means to understand, but grasp also means to catch hold of I have grasped the subject that means, I have caught hold of it now it is going it is there it is fit in my mind I am not going to forget, but what grasps us means what catches us. So, this is the phenomena which is outlined in this particular verse that the thing that we give our attention to that starts growing in our consciousness and as it starts growing then it starts catching our consciousness.

So, I will explain the sequence that is described in this verse say if this is our consciousness and say this is some object may be it is some food item that you would like to eat may be it is some good looking person that has caught our eye may be somebody has a drinking habit and they are going for a corporate meeting and on the way they see there are some drinks over there and then that catches their eye now they may move on, but they have seen it and it has gone inside their consciousness now there are many things which come in our visual range, but we do not necessarily notice them see if we go to some event we might meet 50 people and most of them we may not even remember them at all some people we tend to remember now some people make an impression on us oh this person is very tall this person was overweight or this person was very smart this person looked really dumb anything out of the range that is there out of the normal that is there that creates an impression. Now when we use it creates an impression means we are talking that I remember it it is there in my mind we use the word impression in that way so that has a double meaning I will come to that so what happens is we are seeing it here at this stage the consciousness has gone outwards and here there is simply perception so perception we could say is Drishta this is the stage before this we cannot go through the world with closed eyes there are many things we will see and there are many things which are not necessarily desirable or healthy so many agitating sides are there so many disturbing distracting things are there in the world but Drishta is not the problem just seeing things is not the problem then this is the you could say this is the pre 2.62 this does not lead to any problem but the first stage 2.62 is this particular was we are discussing is that thing comes into our consciousness and it has created an impression over here so this is where the contemplation is starting that means the object may or may not be there in our perception right now but it is being mentally replayed hey which drink was that no I have had a few drinks but that seems to be this is a big hotel maybe this is a special expensive kind of drink I would like to have a taste of it so we start it starts replaying in this is the stage of the higher though so this is though many things come in our eyes and they don't even register but this registers then it starts replaying now in general circles in the world the word contaminant sorry contemplation may not be very common so especially when there is contemplation what is involved is imagination the thing triggers our imagination hey if I eat that how would it taste I'm sure it would be great but drink I have a drink of this it must be a very special drink so that particular object when the replay is happening it's not just a path like on YouTube we play the same thing again and again and again now what is being replayed on YouTube might be the same thing or YouTube shorts or insta rings but if it's some sensual image or something like that our mind starts imagining more and more so it is the imagination that triggers us so this contemplation is the imagination starts happening now once the imagination starts happening it's incremental process and we will go through the process eventually but I'll focus right now from at this stage it's just we are giving our attention to it we gave our attention we saw it and then it caught our attention then over a period of time I'm not going to the sequence I'm just right now going to the end last stage what happens is that particular object becomes so big that it fills our consciousness and at that time we can't think of anything else at all so somebody has a drinking habit they see a drink as they pass by for a meeting and then they go for the meeting and their boss is speaking and they're looking at their boss and then it abducts our consciousness kidnapping abduction so it just catches our consciousness and takes it away so the person might be in the in the boardroom meeting looking at the boss but the consciousness has been abducted by the bottle of alcohol and the consciousness is gone over there so our attention determines not just what we grasp how much we understand but also what grasps us what catches us it just abducts and drags our consciousness away. See when a child is kidnapped what happens is the process of kidnapping or abduction it can happen in many different ways but quite often if the child is in a public place then a the abductor comes and pounces the child the child will scream and somebody will come and rescue the child so initially what happens is the abductor allures the child do you want this chocolate do you want this do you want this toy so the abductor offers something which is alluring so the child may be going in this direction and what happens is when the alluring is there the child comes here and as soon as the child comes here then the abductors come and take the child in the opposite direction so this is where the child gets abducted so initially the act of abduction may not seem like an abduction it's just like some adult is offering something nice to a child but that which seems to be simply enjoyable or wonderful it turns out to be something dreadful so what we give our attention to we don't realize it but it will grasp our consciousness and it will drag our consciousness away so this is how attachments are formed and so this is I said I'll talk about three things the first was the mechanism that I mentioned so the mechanism is what when we give our attention to something first that thing is a component of our consciousness it is one thing in our consciousness but afterwards it becomes not a component in our consciousness it becomes the controller of our consciousness it takes over consciousness so this is the way initially that thing is a component of our consciousness but eventually it becomes the controller of our consciousness it grows in such a way that it has a controlling influence here it has become the controller so when the European colonizers came to India say when the Portuguese came to Calicut initially this came and they were one among many visitors to India and they were welcomed by the king over there so they were just one among many it's like one component in the consciousness they were one visitor in the kingdom through their manipulation their trickery their cunning whatever then after just a few decades they were ruling that country but the colonialist others British took over the country so they came in as just one visitor but then they became the ruler so now now as compared to the many Islamic invaders who came to India they came openly as invaders there were a few few Muslim people who had come as traders and some trading was going on between India and the Middle East before that but when the invaders came they were openly coming as invaders and then at least some resistance was put to it now it's a historical mystery at why so many times so many invaders came and India was defeated so many times one thing was we were always divided but there are many factors involved over there many factors Indian kings fought on elephants and elephants have majesty but elephants are unwieldy those who come on horses you can have a majesty but you are right on top anybody can shoot you from anywhere and the elephants won't move very fast that's why Shivaji Maharaj completely changed strategy and he didn't even use a chariot he just ride on a horse so many of the Islamic invaders who came to him it turned their trick on them like on a chariot the horse has to pull the chariot the horse it takes a lot of effort the chariot can't move as fast as a person on a horseback so that's how he was able to move very swiftly and attack and ambush and plunder and harass the Islamic persecutors at that time the point I'm making is that as contrasted with the Islamic invaders the colonialists as traders they said oh we will give you some products and we will charge something for it we are here to give you something but they came apparently to give something then they took everything you know about Africa they say that when the Europeans came to Africa the Europeans had the Bible and the Africans had the land hundred years later the Africans had the Bible and the Europeans had the land so they changed completely so the idea is here of course the Europeans also fought some battles but they did not come off as invaders initially they came off as traders so and they were respectful and deferential to the deferential means very very courteous to the king so like that when temptations come initially they don't come as invaders or at least they don't seem to be invaders to us they seem to be there to give us pleasure and it's come in and one component in the consciousness and hey that's nice let me explore this a little bit let me fantasize about it let me imagine about it so what do we give our attention to that self-destruction through attention or captivation through attention I said what we give our attention to that grasps us so how does that captivation happen so this is imagination is dhyayato infatuation is hey that's nice sangha now from there so here before that there is attraction attraction is sangha infatuation is karma so from that's nice to I want it so that's nice is more like a observation but I want it from there comes anger infatuation so how would that feel is imagination that that feels nice that's nice that's attraction I want it that is infatuation who still I can't act whoever is it will be angry towards that it could be society it could be culture it could be our parents could be our financial situation it could be our religion it could be our it could be our country whatever it is we start feeling cruel so in this state the Krodha may not be a form of violence, at best Krodha can also be in the form of resentment.

Silence, seething anger. Who says I can't have it? Why are there so many rules like this? Why so restrictive? Then that Krodha, it is called. Krodha bhavati sammoha.

It is deluding. Sammoha. Now, sammoha means that we forget or we become confused about, what is the confusion? About what is important, what matters more and what matters less.

There is a confusion. So, a student may have an exam tomorrow and they are thinking, okay, you know, that movie is being released today. I have seen so many trailers about it, so many people are saying anti-sleeping, I saw there are some trailer reactions, people are excited.

I should watch it. I have got an exam tomorrow. I need to study.

Okay, then I will come back and study later. Let it go. So, what is happening is, okay, even if somebody wants to watch a movie, you know, watching a movie just before an exam is not just a waste of time, it is a tragedy.

It is losing a precious opportunity, maybe hurting or ruining our career. But when the confusion happens, we lose our sense of what is more important, what is less important. Sammoha.

Sammoha, what is? Sammoha, Smriti Vibhrama. So, it is oblivion. Oblivion is forgetfulness.

So, Smriti, Smriti is remembrance. Vibhrama. So, we may have been warned by someone, when you go to college, there will be some distractions.

You are staying in hostel, maybe our parents are not there to watch us, our elders are not there. Be very careful. You are going there to study, don't waste time in movies, don't waste time in things, don't waste time, you will get caught in drugs.

Hey, my parents are having a party, let me go. No. What happens is, forgetfulness means, whatever good instructions or good guidance, what happens is, there is a delete button pressed over there.

Tuck. It just controls all delete. Tuck, gone.

So, Sammoha, Smriti Vibhrama. And, now this can refer to scriptural instructions, it can also refer to general good instructions that we never. Say, we see some product, and a new version of a phone has come.

I want to buy it. I don't know. It is quite expensive.

Just maybe wait for 6 months, 1 year. As the phone becomes older, its price also goes down. Even if you want to buy it, you can buy it later.

Now, if you buy it, you don't have enough money, you will have to take some loan, you will have to pay for it, your savings will go away. So, what happens? No, I want to buy it. So, Smriti, people may have told us, some, even a financial guide or some people may have told us, don't spend beyond your capacity.

But, Smriti Vibhrama, we forget that. And then, Smriti Vibhrama, what happens? Smriti Vibhrama Shah? Buddhi Nasha. So, what happens at this point is, after Guru guidance is forgotten, then, intelligence is destroyed.

Intelligence is our guide about right and wrong. What should be done, and what should not be done. So, our sense of right and wrong gets lost.

And then, that happens, Buddhi Nasha Pranashyati. Then, there is self-destruction. Self-destruction is Pranashyati.

So, nowadays, see gambling was always there. Nowadays, there is online gambling, there is cricket gambling, there is so many things of gambling. Somebody doesn't even have to go to a gambling den.

They don't even have to go to casino. They can just be there in their home. Their bank account becomes empty.

Their credit cards become used. They just play for 6 hours and after that, what did I do? Ruined my life. Self-destruction.

What have I done? This is the time when we start beating ourselves. What have I done? We start realizing this, but by this time, it is too late. So, this is the sequence of self-destruction.

What we give attention to, it grasps us. It takes control of us. And it makes us do things which we would normally not have done.

So, how does this happen? I will tell the overall outlook. But, there are two things which can make this whole process worse. That's what we will talk about now, exploitation.

The mechanism is, something enters into our consciousness, it's small. But, then with time, it becomes big. And these are the stages through which it becomes big.

Now, some of these stages may be conscious for us. Some of these stages may not even be conscious. Most of the times, when it is happening, we are very conscious of it.

But, if we, afterwards, retrospect, retrospect, look back, we can think, you know, maybe, when I was about to spend some money, spend too much money on something, when I was about to gamble something, you know, a voice inside me said, no, don't invest this money. That was some smoothie field. That was, maybe our parents had told, maybe we had heard some good advice.

Maybe we had read some stories from pihasas about the danger of greed. That smoothie was going on. But, that smoothie was sidelined.

So, what happens is that, when one thing we are paying attention to, that starts becoming bigger and bigger and bigger, other things become smaller and smaller. Till they are just sidelined, banished from our consciousness. So, that's how we fall.

So, there are two things. I talked about mechanism, now I will talk about exploitation. So, when today I am going to talk about karma and bhakti and self empowerment, I am not going to do the law of karma in terms of what action leads to what consequence in the future.

I am going to talk about the consequences of actions in terms of the impressions that they form inside us. See, when first time we do this, this path from contemplation to self-destruction, it is relatively a gradual slope. It is a gentle decline.

So, when we are going downwards, at any time, we can stop ourselves. It's possible, if a cycle is going on a incline. If we don't do anything, it will just go down the incline.

But, we can stop it. If we put in an effort, we can stop it. However, as a person keeps doing the same thing again and again and again.

So, first time a person goes to a party, or maybe a person goes to where drugs are available, then call other friends and say, let's smoke weed, let's have some drugs. Okay, we will try it. So, what happens is, at that time, at any time, we can stop.

It's a gentle incline. But, the person drinks once, twice, thrice, four times. Each time this cycle happens.

But, it's not the same thing happening. When there is repetition, what happens is, the inclination becomes stronger and stronger. And basically, over a period of time, this goes like this, from contemplation to self-destruction.

So, if somebody is on a cycle, the cycle is pushed off the cliff of a mountain. Then, it will just go down straight. And using your willpower will not be enough to stop it.

What can we do? Incline has become so steep, we just can't do anything. So, this is the stage where it's an addiction. Arjuna talks about it when he says that, अथा केन प्रयुक्तोयं पापं चरति पूरुषः पापं चरति means, if something sinful is dragging me.

And he uses two words, अनिच्छन अपिवार्षि It's like, I don't want to do it. I don't desire to do it. But, बलादि वन्योजिता So, he is using अनिच्छन.

अनिच्छन means, it is not desired by me. But, बलाद. बलाद means, I am forced.

So, what is happening here is, when that particular habit becomes very deep rooted, then as soon as we see that thing, from that ध्यायतो to प्रणश्यति, it becomes very rapid. So, if somebody has become an alcoholic, then as soon as they see a bottle of alcohol, सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मायामेकमिशनम् Ekam. मायामेकमिशनम् Only.

Only that alcohol. One of my friends showed me, there was an alcohol awareness ad in Soviet Russia. See, after the Second World War, initially when communism was spreading, Russia suffered the most in the Second World War.

Because Hitler had penetrated way into Russia, had almost conquered Moscow, and then Russia pushed them back. It was the bloodiest war that happened, in terms of casualties. So, the Russian economy was devastated.

So, at that time, people just didn't have anything, any job, any proper things. So, drinking was a huge problem at that time. So, there was an ad at that time, where a family is sitting and watching TV, and the TV, there is a news, the price of vodka has gone up.

And there is the child, the son in the family is very timidly, fearfully asking his father, Dad, will you drink less now? And the father immediately replies, No, you will eat less now. So, now, what kind of monster will want to drink while keeping their child starving? That's the kind of monster that alcoholism is. So, alcoholism is a monster, and it can make a human being into a monster.

So, in this case, what has happened is, as soon as that bottle of alcohol, thought of alcoholism, it has become like a steep cliff. It's not a gentle incline. And then what happens? The person just falls.

So, now, from here also, the person can be seen, but it's very difficult. So, the point to understand over here is, when we are repeatedly engaging in some activity, it's not just, Oh, I am enjoying once, what's the big deal? No, each time we are indulging in that activity, the inclination of the flower is changing, changing, changing. And that means, we may think that any time I will stop it.

There was a British thinker, Oscar Wilde, he said, Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I have done it over a hundred times. So, I gave up smoking a hundred times.

What does that mean? I gave up smoking, but smoking didn't give me up. Isn't it? I started smoking again, and then again I gave it up, and again it caught me. So, we live in the illusion that, Oh, it's easy to give up.

And that's why we keep indulging. So, the way karma works, So, when we say, Karma has external consequences and internal consequences. So, the external consequences will come in the future.

But the internal consequences, they are formed in our mind. The impressions are created. And the internal consequences are that, inclination becomes stronger.

The inclination becomes stronger means what? The slope of that surface, slope of the mental floor, we can say, the floor inside our mind, becomes steeper. So, this is the internal consequence of karma. Many times we think that, if I can just do something secretly enough, then nobody will catch me for it.

And if nobody catches me, then I can get done with it. Didn't you see the speed limit? I saw the speed limit, I just didn't see you. So, the idea is that, if nobody catches us, then no matter how fast we go, it doesn't make any difference.

But the problem is that, each time we get away by going over the speed limit, what happens is, that tendency to go over the speed limit becomes more and more and more. You may have heard this word, speed demons. Has anyone heard this word? Speed demons means, like some people are possessed by a speed demon.

They just go at a dangerously reckless speed. And they get a thrill in that. You know, especially if people are on a bike, a two-motor cycle, a two-wheeler.

You know, there is like a perverse thrill that comes in. Going very fast, creating a huge noise, and catching the attention of everyone who is seeing us. So, one of my friends is an orthopedic surgeon.

He was going to his hospital in his car, and he saw a young man just going very fast. So, then there is a red signal where he had to stop. And he came also there, this jodi friend of mine.

And his car pulled over, and he rolled down his window and he took out his card. He said, I am an orthopedic surgeon. You are soon going to need my services.

So, each time a person goes fast beyond the speed limit, So, what happens is, Who has made the speed limit? Who says I have to stick with the speed limit? Nothing is going to happen to you. I just want to have some fun. So, that krodha is basically the krodh against the rules, the boundaries, the seema that is limiting us.

Or we think it is limiting us. And each time we go against it, the tendency to repeat that increases more and more and more. So, now what happens is, somebody might just go above the speed limit once, twice.

Maybe they go at night where the road is very clear. But then the speed demon, it's almost like something, what we give our attention to that grasps us. So, that speed demon seems to catch hold of that person.

And then, even in the day time, even if they are going through school area, they just go at a dangerously high speed. And then kid is crossing the road or kid is running and playing. And then they see and before they can brake, they have hit the kid.

It's a tragedy. It's a horrible thing. The kid's life could be ruined.

The driver's life could be ruined. So, what happened is, that when they keep doing the thing again and again and again, the inclination becomes stronger. So, when we do something wrong, by our wrongdoings, so, we may not be caught for them.

Caught for them means, somebody else catches us. So, police catches doing something. You know, we do something secretly and somebody finds out and they catches.

We may or may not be caught for them. But we will be caught by them. By them means what? By doing the same thing again and again, our tendency to do that will become more and more and more till that very action will lead us to self-destruction.

So, caught by them means initially, it is a gradual thing. Eventually, it becomes super steep. Super steep.

And then nobody else has to catch us. That thing will only catch us and drag us down. Drag us down to self-destruction.

So, this is how karma works in terms of disempowering us. When we keep doing something, unwittingly think, I am just enjoying, what is the big deal? I can give it up anytime I want. But it's not that simple.

Because the karma creates impressions. And the impressions change the inclination of our mental floor. And what makes this danger worse in today's world is that that dhyayato, it has become especially easy with technology.

That there is always the possibility to contemplate on the objects is there. Whichever desirable object is. But now through technology, what has happened is, we have access to the objects to contemplate on them very easily.

Say, just like there is alcoholism, there is something called shopoholism. Alcoholism, shopoholism. Alcoholism is very common among men.

Shopoholism is very common among women. Shopoholism is shop, shop, shop, shop till you drop. Just keep shopping things, keep shopping things.

I don't want to generalize. Women are also alcoholics. Men may also be going on shopping sprees.

But it's an overall pattern. Now what happens is, that in earlier, at least you had to go to some shopping mall and you had to buy things, put them in a trolley and carry them out. But now, you can just sit in your home, not even on a computer, just on a phone.

Just take an Amazon app, click buy, click buy, click buy, click buy. If somebody has enough money, they can just spend the whole money. People have rooms that are filled with packages that they have hardly ever opened.

It's opened once and okay, what do we do with it? So, Amazon has this policy in America that you can buy something and return it for 30 days. Initially, when Amazon came to India, they tried to do it and India just started exploiting that facility. So, now Amazon doesn't have that facility in India.

But the point is that dhyayato, that contemplating and acting upon it becomes very easy. So, the eyes always desire to see enjoyable objects. Now, anybody who has a broadband connection can take in more sensual, obscene images in 15 minutes than the wealthiest collector of such perverse images could watch in 50 years.

Somebody has to get a painting book or a photo book or whatever. So, now that dhyayato has become dangerously easy. It's not just easy, it is actually made easy.

It is, as I said earlier, it's an attention economy. That means that the attractive objects or objects presented attractively, they are bombarded into our senses. And there are many sociologists who are now questioning whether our technology has become too strong for our morality.

That means the human will, it was not designed to withstand this level of temptation. It's like press a few buttons and you can access the tempting, contaminating, agitating images from the whole world. So, that the access to dhyayato has become extremely easy.

And the example given over here often is that see, it's often when we are surfing on the net. Okay, I would look at some, we are on YouTube, we are on Insta, we are looking for something interesting to watch. So, we think we are searching for something.

So, what happens is we think I, so this is something I want to watch. So, we think like I am the fisherman and the object is like the fish. I am trying to catch something.

I am trying to watch something. I am trying to find something that I can watch, I can enjoy. But the reality is that actually speaking that object is like the bait.

And there are companies, there are media giants, they are like the fishermen. And we are like the fish. So, we think we are searching for something, but actually something is searching for us.

Something is trying to catch us. That's why the world out there, it's not just passively existing. So, it is not like this, it is like this.

The world out there is not just passively existing, it's like they are trying to catch us and trap us. So, we are not the fishermen, we are the fish who is being caught. Whatever we give our attention to, that grasps us.

So, it comes into our consciousness and over a period of time, it takes over our consciousness. So, the media landscape that is there in today's world, how is it? How is it like a bait? See, the visible thing that we are seeing, they are active. When we are watching TV, it's active.

Something is always happening over there. Then, it's attractive. It is, I was in America, I think it was Columbia University, and there is a kid, many people put very strange coats on their T-shirts.

And they themselves are not even aware. They are just wearing things like a nice T-shirt. This quote was, 90% of the world's women are beautiful.

The remaining 10% are in my college. Now, at one level, it's like a slap at all the girls in that college. But, it's also a perception.

See, what happens is, when we see images on TV, in movies, on social media, you know, they are doctored images. They are made up images. First there is physical makeup and then there is digital makeup.

So, when we look at images on the internet or in the media, they look very very attractive. And as compared to what people look around, people don't seem to be very attractive. Isn't it? Repetition, not just because of our vulnerability, of repetition leading to change of the mental inclination, but there is a tendency out there, trying to present the images in such a way, they will more and more easily catch our attention and entrap us.

So, therefore, we are in a vulnerable situation. What we give our attention to, that will grasp us, that will catch us. So, think of initially our desires.

Our desires, eventually, we think, I am pursuing that desire, but then what happens, that same thing, it becomes our demons. And they start, initially we chase our desires, but then our demons chase us. Now, when I am using the word demons, I am using it in a more contemporary sense.

Like people say, you know, I have some horrible demons inside me. I give in to anger, I give in to fear, whatever, there are demons inside me. So, common language, that means, there is something inside me, which harms me, which tends to threaten me, which tends to destroy me.

And I don't know what to do about it. So, this is the danger that we all have. So, what do we do about it? I don't want to just paint a dark picture about the reality.

The last part I will talk about is, what was the acronym, you remember? Met. So, T was Transcendence. So, fortunately for us, this principle of Dhyayato, that is a universal principle, also applies for spirituality.

So, if we bring Krishna into our consciousness, so, initially what happens is, when we are practicing Bhakti, initially, we may start with, we just bring Krishna into our consciousness. This is the level of attention. So, initially, we give Krishna entrance into our consciousness.

There is kirtan going on, then our mind may wander here and there, let me focus on the sound. When we are doing japa, we try to focus on the sound, the class is going on, we try to bring Krishna into our consciousness. But then, if we keep focusing, the central principle of Bhakti is, remember Krishna.

Abhyasa, practice to remember Krishna. So, when we do this, over a period of time, what happens is, the same principle, that our Krishna becomes bigger, and at this stage, there is absorption. Absorption means what? It's like our consciousness has entered into Krishna.

We don't merge with Krishna, literally, but our consciousness becomes immersed in Krishna. Just like, the Brajwasis were sheltered under Govardhan. There is a huge rainstorm going on, but because they were under Govardhan, they were not affected.

So, like that, when Krishna becomes big in our consciousness, then, our consciousness becomes immersed in Krishna. And now, the difference is that Krishna is Surdham Sarva Bhutanam. He is the well-wisher of everyone.

If He grasps our consciousness, He will guide us towards the things that are best for us. He will give us intelligence by which we can make good choices. So, being grasped by Krishna is auspicious.

And again, when Krishna fills our consciousness, then maya has no place over there. So, for us, that attention, the attention that is there, when we give attention to Krishna, gradually Krishna starts becoming bigger and bigger. And I'll conclude with one last point.

How can we start with attention and how can we move toward absorption? So, basically, Krishna talks about mayi arpita mano buddhe. So, initially, there is attention. At this point, I'll allow two images to explain this.

We consider spiritual journey. Essentially, what happens for us, initially, and if you forget everything from this class, just remember this one image, you will get something of substantial value. See, initially for us, the world is big.

And Krishna is small. That means, may be Krishna exists, He doesn't exist. What difference does it make? You know, about 30 years ago, when I was introduced to bhakti, I started sharing with my friends and relatives.

So, one of my uncles told me, he says, yeah, I believe in God. He is happy there, I am happy here. So, the idea is, God seems very small and irrelevant for us.

But, as we grow spiritually, what happens is, the world becomes smaller and Krishna becomes bigger for us. So, this is the essence of spiritual growth. The world becomes smaller means, that the world's problems are not that big for us.

Yeah, problems come, they will stay, we will deal with them. They will come and they will go. And the world's pleasures are also not that big.

If I get something that is good, if I don't get it, it's not the end of the world. Things come, things go. So, the world becomes smaller for us.

And, when Krishna becomes bigger, Krishna becomes, Krishna is himself the source of shelter, he is the source of satisfaction. So, if Krishna becomes bigger, the shelter and the satisfaction that we get also becomes bigger. So, how do we do this? How can we make the world smaller and Krishna bigger? That is, what Krishna has said, to manage the mind.

He says two principles, abhyasa and vairagya. Abhyasena tu kaunteya, vairagyena chikruhyate. So, these two words, abhyasa and vairagya, they can be understood in many different ways.

They may be translated in various different ways. But one way we could understand is, vairagya is boundaries. Abhyasa is meant to create bonds.

So, what does it mean? That we need to create some boundaries between us and the world. We don't expose ourselves to the world so much. Then, if we don't expose ourselves to the world so much, gradually the world starts becoming smaller and smaller.

There is somebody constantly looking at news. Oh, this thing is going to happen, this thing is going to happen, this thing is going to happen, this thing is going to happen, this thing is going to happen. Oh, this thing happened and this happened like this, this happened like that.

In the news cycle, this goes on and on. But sometimes, if you just turn away from the news cycle, you realize it's not that big a thing. There was a social commentator, he said that news is basically the same old things happening to new people.

You know, oh, this person won the match, this person lost the match, this person was attacked, this person cheated that person, this person did that. Same old things happen in the material world. It just happens to new people.

So, we need to decrease our exposure to the world. And in one sense, for us, the boundaries come in the four regulative principles. No meat-eating, intoxicating, harmless, etc.

What is that? We are creating some boundaries. So, when we don't expose our mind to the world, then that thing, even if it is big, because there is no exposure, it will start becoming smaller and smaller. On the other hand, we need to create bonds between us.

That means, we start consciously exposing ourselves to Krishna. We start exposing our consciousness to Krishna. We come to the temple, we come to satsang, we do our sadhana.

By this, slowly, Krishna will start becoming bigger and bigger in our consciousness. So, whatever gets our attention, gets us. It starts becoming bigger and bigger.

So, as we try to form a bond with Krishna, that bond initially can be in the form of a discipline. This is what I am going to do. And from that discipline, gradually, it will grow.

So, in this way, the bond that is formed, how do we form the bond at this stage? This is the last point. The bond can be formed with our intelligence and with our mind. Now, what do I mean? With our intelligence, we can try to cultivate appreciation.

Appreciation is, what is the value of remembering Krishna? What is the benefit? Why is it important? There are many things important in the world, they are all artha. But Krishna is paramartha. He is the most important reality.

Our relationship with Krishna is the only relationship that is permanent, that is enduring. Everyone else may leave us, but Krishna will never leave us. Krishna is the one shelter that will never be lost.

So, with our buddhi, we try to have that appreciation. Evam buddhe param buddhva. Now, with the mind, we try to cultivate attraction.

Now, at one level, we say we have to discipline our mind and focus our mind to force it to stay on Krishna. Some amount of discipline is important. But, we also need to find out how, at present, I can find something in Krishna bhakti that is attractive.

So, we may like music, we may like Newton's. Then, whenever our mind gets agitated, you know, some past habit comes up. Okay, I want to watch this, I want to drink this, I want to take this drug, I want to do this.

Whatever comes up, at that time, we can try to find out something that is… There are many things that feel good to us. And there are many things, there are some things that are good for us. So, there is much food that is tasty and there is food that is healthy.

If we had that tasty and healthy, just one circle of life would be so easy. Isn't it? But, unfortunately, it is not like that. But, that does not mean that there may be no food that is both healthy and tasty.

There may be few food items like that. They taste good and they are also healthy. So, we try to find that.

So, similarly, in bhakti, there are many activities. So, what is it that is good for me and also feels good for me? So, it will be easier to focus on it. If something is good but doesn't feel good, it will be difficult to focus.

We need to do that also as a discipline. But, especially when we are tempted, when we are agitated, at that time, we have to focus on what is difficult. At that time, we focus, we find out.

And after the session, we just take five minutes to list three things which are good for you and which also feel good to you. Music might be something. There are many kinds of music.

You may just like music, devotional music. It feels good and also is good for us. It calms our consciousness.

It cleanses our mind. And we may like to do some seva. We like to be of help to others.

We come to the temple and serve some prasad and do some seva. We feel good about ourselves. That is good for us.

It feels good for us. So, if we can find the purpose and we try to fix our mind on those. And then gradually what will happen is from the stage of attention to the stage of absorption, it goes by the path of these two lanes.

It can go through by appreciation of the intelligence or it can go by the attraction of the mind. So, either way, if both things work, that's wonderful. But even if one thing works, that is also we are taking a path forward.

So, ena kena prakaarena manna krishna diveshe When you say somehow or the other fix the mind on Krishna, what it means is sometimes we will find that there is something which we are doing which our mind likes to do. Then that's nice, we do it. But sometimes it's not like that.

Then we have to push ourselves using our buddhi. In our life we all do something which we don't like but we know they are important for us. We may not like our job.

But we know this is what is paying my bills. This is what by which I am going to be able to take care of my family. So, I do that job.

So, we have the appreciation of the intelligence for the value of it. So, we try through the mind's attraction or the intelligence appreciation through either of those we try to fix our mind on Krishna. We try to give our attention to Krishna.

First, what will happen is pehle hum bhagwan ko mann me late hai aur phir mann bhagwan me late hai. First we bring Krishna into our mind and then we bring our mind into Krishna. bhajahure mana shrinandanandana abhayacharna vindare So, when we bring our mind into Krishna then we feel sheltered.

Then there is no fear that comes because we are sheltered in Krishna. That fear is not just the fear of dangers of this world but the fear even of the temptations of this world. We will become safe.

We will become satisfied. So, I will summarize what I discussed today. We were talking about how with the whole topic was about self empowerment.

How we can become disempowered and how we can empower ourselves. So, empower means that we rise we have the power to rise upwards. So, I started we talk about three topics M, E and T. So, M was the mechanism.

The mechanism was what I talked in 2.62. dhyayato vichayan pumsa So, what happens is initially something comes in our consciousness and then eventually that thing rules our consciousness. So, this is the object and that object becomes controlling. I gave the example of colonialists.

They didn't come as invaders. They came offering gifts. So, many of the tempting objects they come in a very unsuspicious way.

They come in a very disarming way. But then they disarm us, they overpower us. So, from giving attention to self-destruction.

So, this cycle happens and we discussed that when we do something initially that from attention to self-destruction it is gradual. It happens very slowly. But by repetition then it starts happening very rapidly.

It becomes a steep incline. This happens through repetition. And when the inclination becomes like this then this is the stage of addiction.

A person is trapped. They feel as if as soon as they think about it I am in control. I just can't say no to it.

So, then exploitation. I talked about the internal consequence of karma. Internal consequence of karma is that we don't have to be caught for our wrongdoings.

We are caught by our wrongdoing themselves. Even if nobody else catches us the wrongdoing itself will catch us by creating stronger and stronger impressions that attract us. See, in some places in America they have decriminalized drugs.

You can buy drugs. You can sell drugs. And they think by this we will be able to deal with the problem.

But the thing is whether it is illegal or legal people are caught by it. They are going to keep doing it. So, we are caught by our wrongdoings.

And that's why it is not just one side of it. Only I am thinking about it. I am doing it secretly.

Nobody is catching me. No. We are going to be caught by our own negligence.

And then I talked about the media. It is the attention economy. They are all trying to catch our attention.

So, we feel, so we think I am the fisherman. But actually what are we? We are the fish. What is happening is we are, it is our attention that is being caught with the various media that are offered online being like the bait.

So, I talked about how the virtual world is destroying us not only spiritually but even physically. So, they have overexposure to porn. How it is having sociological consequences leave alone spiritual consequences.

So, we live in a very vulnerable world where our technology may have become too strong for our morality. That our minds and our will power is not designed to deal with this level of temptation. So, what can we do? Fortunately for us the same mechanism we can use for transcendence.

So, initially we bring Krishna into our consciousness. We give attention to Krishna and eventually what will happen is Krishna will fill our consciousness. In fact, Krishna will contain our consciousness.

That is where there will be absorption. And to bring about this absorption what we need to do is we need to create boundaries. So, or bury boundaries so that we do not expose, we do not give our attention too much to other things.

And then we create bonds. I talked about the bonds can be created through buddhi, through the intelligence. Sorry.

Through the intelligence what we do? There is appreciation. We appreciate the value of remembering Krishna, of serving Krishna, of connecting with Krishna. With the mind we find something that is attractive for us.

And in this way as our consciousness will become absorbed in Krishna what will happen is Krishna was initially smaller and the world was bigger. But eventually what will happen is the world will become smaller and Krishna will become bigger. Because at this stage we will become materially peaceful.

Because the world's desires or troubles would not agitate us so much. We will become materially peaceful and because we are connected with Krishna so we will become spiritually joyful. This is the joy of Kritisa Bhakti.

Materially peaceful, spiritually joyful. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.

Transcendence. Transcendence. Yes, go ahead.

Here you mentioned with intelligence we should do appreciation. Yeah. And with mind we should be attracted.

We need to find what we find at present. So, in that you mentioned. Knows the importance of the medicine.

The mother will make the child take the medicine even if the child is not ready. So, when there is appreciation of the value of something then we can push ourselves to do that thing even if we don't feel like doing it. So, now if we don't appreciate the value of something.

Say suppose somebody has a very wealthy parent and they don't need the money from a job. And if they just don't like the job, they don't like the boss and the job, they don't like the money, I just quit. Getting a job is not so easy.

You cannot just quit job like that. But if you don't appreciate the value of something then what happens? As soon as we dislike it, just forget it. So, when there is appreciation of the value then we don't leave it on our emotions alone so much.

But when there is not appreciation of the value then we handle it based on our emotions. If I like it, I will do it. If I don't like it, just forget it.

Just one more thing. With this boundaries that you mentioned, so, you need not to expose to those like worldly things. But like most of the audience sitting would be working or maybe a student.

So, preparing for civil exams and so on. So, at that level Prozi, these boundaries what practically should be working out? See, there are boundaries. There are boundaries which are social and there are boundaries that are individual.

What that means is the social boundaries can come from culture or they can come from law. So, for example, that say we will be attracted to some food item in a shop. But we cannot just go and rob it from there.

Shoplifting is a crime. So, by law certain boundaries are actually put on us. Now, a male will be attracted to a female.

But a man is going to force himself on a woman. It's a crime. So, there are certain boundaries that come by law.

There are certain boundaries that come by culture. See, in the past smoking was considered very cool. You know, movie stars would all show themselves smoking and everything is so nice.

But now more or less it is worked in such a way that smoking in public is frowned upon. There are some smoking areas where people go and smoke. Don't make others passive smokers.

So, it's a boundary that is created through culture. That culturally something is disapproved and people stop drinking. Now, at an individual level.

So, now what happens is in society also there are some boundaries. No society can live without boundaries. So, like even when a man and woman are attracted to each other.

But even in moral materialistic society staring at someone is considered impolite. So, there are certain boundaries. So, but like that we need to consider our situation and we have to see what boundaries are possible for us and essential for us in our particular situations.

So, you know, we can't just avoid phones. So, on our phones there are so many apps and we have to use the money of the apps. But then we can put a boundary like, okay, I won't use this app for more than this much time.

I mean the technology can create the temptation. But the technology can be sattvic, rajasic and tamasic also. There are thoughtful people also who are considering, even materialistic people who are considering the harmful effects of technology.

So, there are some apps that create regulation. So, you know, okay, there is app. Okay, I use this app for 15 minutes and then close the app.

So, we can create some net surfing regulators, social media regulators. So, individual boundaries can be concerned by what is essential for us and what is feasible for us. So, for most of us say, it's not feasible to live without a phone.

We need a smartphone. But, okay, how much do I want to use my smartphone? So, we may decide that, okay, these apps I am not going to open before 12 o'clock every day. Then I will do my important work.

I will complete that and after that I will open the app. So, we can create boundaries like that based on our particular situation. See, when we are interacting with people, male-female interaction cannot be avoided.

We work in the same place. But then we can have certain boundaries. You know, we can be polite.

But we don't have to be too familiar. We don't have to flirt. We don't have to be frivolous.

So, we don't have to be rude. But we don't have to, we can create boundaries for ourselves. And one thing about the culture today is that people understand these boundaries.

Now, if we don't show much interest, then people also let go. It doesn't happen all the time. But many times it happens like that.

If I don't step on your toes, then you won't step on my toes. That's the way it works. So, we have to create individual boundaries for ourselves.

Okay. Thank you. Other questions? Yes, please.

One thing that you repeated quite a lot of time is that whatever we give our attention to, we are grasped by it. So, in our Krishna consciousness, in our spiritual journey, we are trying to give our attention to so many spiritual activities. Right? And we are trying to do it intentionally.

Even then, why is not our mind or intelligence being attracted to those activities? So, how is it applicable in spiritual sense, what the statement you said throughout the lecture? And there was one more question. Okay. So, why is our mind not getting attracted to spiritual things? I won't say it is not getting.

Are all of you able to hear me? Little volume has gone down, I think. Okay. So, see it depends on what kind of past impressions are there.

Certainly, some change has happened. Otherwise, we would not even be sitting here. We have some, developed some attraction.

We have developed some appreciation. But depending on the past conditionings, the change may take time. So, there is a small thing not very far away from here.

Have you heard of this? Now, suppose somebody has visited a website called Bollywood.com. May be they have visited the website 100 times. And they come to a spiritual talk like this. And they hear about Bhagavad Gita.

And they want to know what is Bhagavad Gita. So, they open their browser and type in. And what happens? Bollywood.com comes as auto-complete.

They didn't want to go to Bollywood.com, but still it came as auto-complete. Why? Because of the past visits. Now, at that time, if they want to go to Bhagavad Gita.com, they have to type all the 18 letters.

So, typing the 18 letters, 12 letters is a blast. And while you are typing B-H-A-G, auto-complete is in Bollywood. So, not clicking that, that is the vairag.

Thank you. So, our mind will propose something, but to say no to that. And this is what I am going to do.

So, the abhyasa and here vairag. Now, suppose somebody has visited Bollywood.com 100 times. And then they visit Bhagavad Gita.com 10 times.

Now, after 10 times also, when they type B, Bollywood.com is only going to come as auto-complete. Because they visited so many more times. But at least Bhagavad Gita.com will also come as one of the auto-completes.

It may come as the second one, but it will still be there. So, the 10 times they visited Bhagavad Gita.com is not gone waste. But 10 is not sufficient to counter 100.

So, if they just keep visiting Bhagavad Gita.com, if they visit Bhagavad Gita.com 100 times, then what will happen? And especially the recent 100 visits are to Bhagavad Gita.com. Then what will happen is, after that Bhagavad Gita.com will become the first auto-complete. Bollywood.com may still be there, but it will become the second auto-complete. And if they visit Bhagavad Gita.com 10,000 times, and they do not visit Bollywood.com, then that will no longer come as auto-complete.

So, it takes time. Now, for some of us, if we have visited Bollywood.com only 10 times. Then 10 times we visit Bhagavad Gita.com and then Bollywood.com just goes off.

But for somebody who has visited Bollywood.com 10,000 times, then even 100 times or 1000 times will not be enough. So, each one of us, we have a different set or degree of conditions from the past. And that's why our redirection of the mind may take less or more time for someone.

But we shouldn't be discouraged. Our focusing on the mind of Krishna is never going waste. Although the effect is not being seen.

So, focus on Krishna, it is always helpful. It is always helpful. But about it being fruitful.

Fruitful means we see it to be fruitful. That means our mind becomes attracted to Krishna. That will take time.

Or take, you can say, different degrees of time for different people. So, depending on our conditionings, it may be easy, it may be difficult. Say somebody was eating meat before.

And they start taking prasad. And then they are going by train or by plane and the person next to them is eating meat. Now, how many people feel attracted to the meat? Practically no one.

Prasad is the higher taste. So, what has happened is, the prasad, if you can say that, prasad has actually overwritten meat. And that is not even coming as an option.

So, for some things it happens quickly. For some things it may take more time. Now, what can complicate things is, we are visiting 25 times Bollywood.com, but in between 5 times we visit Bollywood.com also.

Then what happens, the browser, you know, that is also, you are interested in that also. Then that will not get deleted or that will not get pushed out by the browserist. That is why if you can have consistent abhyas and consistent vairagya, then the transformation will be faster.

But if it is interrupted abhyas, sometimes you do it, sometimes you go to Bollywood.com, sometimes you don't. It is interrupted vairagya. Then what will happen is, sometimes we don't visit Bollywood.com, sometimes we visit Bollywood.com. So, the speed will be more if it is consistent.

Consistent abhyas, consistent vairagya. And the speed will be less if it is interrupted. But whatever it is, we do what we can and things will grow, the change will happen.

Thank you. Yes, please. Thank you.

So, all the factors, they contribute to different degrees. So, see the conditioning that come to us, like the browser, say the auto-complete that comes. That is the, in one sense, the effect of the subtle material mechanism and the modes are a part of that mechanism.

So, the modes do affect us. In one sense, you can say the modes are shifting the steepness of the inclination. So, now, rather than getting too caught, is this affecting it, is this affecting it, we understand there is a whole set of factors affecting us.

And we just try to be as earnest as we can be. That means, ok, maybe somebody is an alcoholic, I cannot give up alcohol. Ok.

But, you know, I can drink three times a day or I can drink two times a day. Now, giving, no drinking throughout the day, that is not possible. Gradually, the capacity for evolution will increase.

So, we just start with doing what we can. So, whatever boundary works for us, we try to establish that boundary. And whatever bond works for us, we start with that.

Ok. You know, I cannot fix my mind with Krishna. I cannot dance sixteen rounds.

Ok. Start one round. You know, I cannot study the Bhagavad Gita for two hours.

Ok. So, we have to tell the list. Start with whatever bond we can, start with whatever boundary we can.

And gradually, the capacity will increase. Ok. Do not get caught too much in analysis.

There is a need to analysis, analysis, analysis, analysis. Ok. There is a question.

Ok. How many questions are there? Ok. A lot of questions.

We will take two, three more questions. Yeah. Ok.

I cannot hear you. Speak a little loudly and repeat it. No, no.

I think the mic is a problem. You speak loudly. I will repeat the question.

Yes, sir. Devotees may also have the fear of missing out. Yes, it is possible.

Yes, sir. Devotees may also have the fear of missing out. Yes, sir.

Devotees may also have the fear of missing out. Yes, sir. Devotees may also have the fear of missing out.

Devotees may also have the fear of missing out. Yes, sir. I think it is possible.

Sometimes initially when you start practicing bhakti, you may have like a complete 1 0 attitude. This is spiritual, this is material. I will give the everything material and go towards spiritual.

That is ok but what happens is? You could classify things into spiritual and material. And is putting it for size because the material is much more visible for us, right. That is why they are putting like that.

But the other way to look at it, there is spiritual and then in the material there is sattva, there is rajas and there is tamas. So sattva we can say is generally pro-spiritual. Rajas is non-spiritual.

I want to have a career, I want to have a job. They are not against spirituality, but I don't have time for this. Now tamas is anti-spiritual.

Even in material life, not that everybody is into drugs and everybody is into sexuality. There are people who have boundaries because they want to achieve something in material life. So it is tamas is anti-spiritual.

So sometimes what we think is I have to give up everything material and start practicing spiritual. And maybe initially, for the first 5-10 years, because of the enthusiasm, we have youth, we have rajas because of the youth. And then we lose that rajas practicing bhakti very forcefully.

But as we come to 35, 40, then rajas starts going down. And then we start realizing that maybe something sattvic, which I didn't have to give up. So we don't have to go back to all materialistic things or rajasic and tamasic things.

But somebody says, you know, I like to go to nature. I like to have a walk in nature. And I am walking in nature for a little bit.

It's ok. It's not a simple activity. It's not a bhakti.

It's a sattvic activity. It will calm our mind. So we can find out.

Krishna said, yukta ahara viharasya. So ahara is entertainment, recreation. Some devotees may be able to find their recreation in some bhakti activity itself.

But some devotees may not be able to find it out. Some devotees may, look, I just hear yukta and I feel relaxed. Some devotees may feel, no, ok, I want to go on a nature walk.

That's what relaxes me. You know, maybe I want to read some subhadita, some good quotes, estimate my intelligence. I am not a spiritual.

Not like that. So we may have to find out something that helps us to relax a little bit. So that fear of missing out doesn't mean that we are going back to realistic life in the sense of tamasik.

But we can find out some things which help us relax. And it's not that we are losing our spiritual taste. It's just that we are learning how we can practice bhakti sustainably.

Would you sometimes, on spirituality also, do you have some hope that I have to do this spiritually and relax? Yeah, I think that comes from, we are practicing spiritual life, but we are practicing the material world. So spiritually also some activities get glamorized. You know, somebody is a good kicker, somebody is a good pitcher, somebody is a pijari on the altar.

These are very visible services. And those who do service, they get a lot of praise and recognition. Others do not get that recognition.

So everybody wants to do those services. So what happens is our seva that we do, there is some external happiness that comes in, some internal happiness that comes in. So we need to, over a period of time, find out some service which we feel satisfied doing even if nobody will organize us for that service.

But till we find that service, we also need some external recognition. And that external recognition cannot be an expression of the ego. It might just be that we also want reciprocation, we want to feel that what I am doing is valued, that others are valued.

That's not a bad thing. Do it in an acceptable way. So we can evaluate.

Is this really important for me? Is this important for the community that I am bringing in? Then maybe do it. But A, what we are doing is enriching us, satisfying us. We do not have to let others get distracted by it.

Two more questions. So what I have observed, that when we are mainly doing mundane activities, and self-realization, that in the sense of that, the response was very good, but we may not want to increase the productivity. So how can we maintain that high productivity? If it is even good that we shall expect from Krishna, then we shall expect from Krishna.

Yeah, good question. So the problem, we want to turn away from the material world to Krishna, from Maya to Krishna. The problem is that Krishna is invisible, and Maya is ultra-visible.

So it is not easy. It is definitely not easy. As you said that, the pleasure in this world comes quickly.

Pleasure in bhakti takes time. So what do we do? That is not just like material and spiritual life. In material life also the tension is there.

Like if I want to be, if I am in college, do I want to be an achiever or do I want to be an enjoyer? If I want to be an enjoyer, I will do a drink and party, and I will do all those things. If I want to be an achiever, I will focus on my studies, I will focus on my career. So that tension between long term and short term, it is always there.

So basically what happens is, we need to balance our relationship with ourselves. What do I mean by that? See there is the present me. There is the present me, and there is the future me.

So if I care only for the present me, I have to be happy right now. So if I care only for the present me, then what will happen is, I will stagnate. I will not do much.

I want to enjoy right now, I eat this, I watch this, I go to this party, I do these things. That happens in materialistic life, that can happen in spiritual life also. If I just care only for the present me, I will stagnate.

But if you care only for the future me, now this is good for me right now. Even if it doesn't feel good, but if we care only for the future me, we will suffocate. At present, how long can I do it? I can't continue this way.

So each one of us needs to find the balance that my present me and my future me. So how can I do some pleasure to my present me in such a way that it does not damage my future me? So we all want some pleasure. So I want to eat some good food.

If I eat some good food, that's not necessarily going to damage my future me. If I get to drugs, that is going to damage my future me. So I need to make sure that I do the pleasure to present me in such a way that it does not damage my future me.

And similarly, when I am facilitating my future me, I shouldn't suffocate my present me. So some things may be good for us, but they may be impossibly difficult for us. And we just feel so burdened.

Like some people do some tapasya, like some people fast, and when they are fasting, the whole world knows they are fasting because they are so miserable when they are fasting. They are miserable like everyone else is miserable. Then do it fast.

You don't have to perform austerity like that. So each one of us has to find that balance of how to care for my present me and my future me. So in material life also, it's not that we are giving up all materialistic pleasures.

See, we eat food. Is it material pleasure or spiritual pleasure? Well, it's both. Salsa is spiritual, but isn't it tasty material also? So we have to find out that balance.

Yukta viharasya. So how can I take care of my present me and take care of my future me? That balance, each individual has to find on their own. Thank you.

Last question. Sorry, I don't have time to answer this. Actually, I am leaving for Singapore now.

I have a flight to catch. Yes. I won't be that harsh.

It's not that you get on the ayato from where destruction still happens. From the ayato, sanga is there. Sanga is also one stage.

So it is not non-stop reading. So if we contemplate on something and the desire starts growing, can we stop this process? Well, as we move forward, it becomes more and more difficult to stop. Like, you know, if somebody is riding a horse.

Now, often horses have blinders. Blinders doesn't mean they are literally blind. They have some cloth or some flap on the sides.

So the horse doesn't get… Horse may see some fruit or some vegetable on the side of the road and they go over there. So we don't want that. Eyes are focused where the rider wants the eyes to be.

Somehow the horse rider doesn't put the blinders. And the horse sees something. And the horse starts going in that direction.

When the horse starts going in that direction, if the horse rider is alert, pull the reins and check the horse. The more the horse starts running, the more it gains momentum. And once it gains momentum, then it will become that much more difficult to pull the horse.

But even if the horse goes into a ditch and the horse throws off the rider and the horse goes… Even after that, the rider can come back and climb back the horse. Maybe they are a little injured and the horse has gone out of control. It will take effort.

So it's never a permanent loss. It's a serious loss. But it's always we have a next time loss.

But each diversion and each distraction or each destruction will cost in terms of time, in terms of energy, in terms of pain. So that's the principle. It's always possible to stop.

But more effort and if they are falling, it's even more effort and trouble. But generally, again the principle of boundaries comes in. So for all of us, some boundaries are inviolable.

So we all may get angry at others. But even if I get angry, I may yell at someone. But if we are in a cultural society, we will not use fear words.

We will not use guns. That is a boundary. Even in materialistic culture, adults may use fear words.

But if they are in the presence of children, they will not use fear words. So we all have a sense of boundaries. So our boundaries can protect us at any particular place.

That kama and krodha, from kama to krodha, see kama itself is not the problem. Because Krishna Yada says, dharma gruddho bhuteshu, kamosu bhartarshu. Kama that respects the boundaries given by dharma, that kama is not a bad thing.

In fact, that kama is one of the purusharthas. Dharma is the kama nakshatra. So, Ravana is considered bad not just because he had kama.

He had kama that did not respect dharma. Sita was someone else's wife. He abducted her.

Ravana had mandodari. Ravana is not under him for dealing with mandodari. Kama within dharma is not the problem.

Kama that goes against dharma. So dharma is not just religion. Dharma is, it means, there are many different meanings.

One of the meanings is order, harmony. So, boundaries and rules maintain harmony. So, we all need to create some boundaries.

Either by our culture and upbringing and our conscience. We have some boundaries we implicitly accept. There are some boundaries which come because of law.

There are some boundaries which we want to build on ourselves. And then we may tell others, if I do this, please warn me about it. So, if you have a tendency to spend too much time on inappropriate sites, then we have some accountability software and we give the password to someone else and that person can monitor our registry.

What happens by that is, we are creating a boundary over there. So, basically in this process, at any place, boundaries can check us. Now, exactly how those boundaries can be implemented that is something which has to be seen.

Say, you know, even if buddhinashad has happened, but say, if you want to enjoy something and that object is physically not available itself. So, at night we get urge to eat some food. We don't have that food.

We wake up, we may go to our room, we go to our locker, we go to our fridge, that food is not there. Okay, now I have to go out somewhere, I have to buy that food, which shop will be open and how will I go over there, it's so cold right now. Okay, I have to go.

Then that physical unavailability is also a boundary. Like, if somebody is alcoholic and they are serious about recovering from their alcoholism, then to a bar. Then what will happen is, there will be a bar for them to go to the bar.

So, if they are serious, they will have to relocate. So, like that, we have to see what boundaries we can create by which we can protect ourselves. So, thank you very much.

Shrimad Bhagavad Gita Ki Jai.