Why Emotions Matter_ 1 Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Wellington New Zealand – Chaitanya Charan

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna. I am grateful and delighted indeed to be here.
Today morning I came and, you know, Mrishma Guru picked me up and it struck me that, although we are meeting after two years, like we are talking as if we had, last time also talking with Mataji, you know, it’s like, whatever conversations we had two years ago, we are just continuing them. So, now, in romantic movies people talk about chemistry. Isn’t it, you know? Like two people have chemistry about each other.
So, that chemistry, actually, in our tradition is Sajatiya, like-minded association. So, I feel that all of you have a educational mood over here and now, of course, your responsibilities are diversified to managerial role also, but I look forward to coming here every year and being of service to Mrishma Guru and all of you over here. So, this topic, I will broadly give an outline of the topic and then we will look at the book that we have given, either you have got.
So, the topic is Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. And now, what does emotionally healthy spirituality mean? It is, spirituality can be said to be our spiritual practices, our chanting, our sadhana, our seva, that is spirituality. Now, if we consider physically healthy spirituality, what would that mean? That we practice spirituality in a way that maintains and even improves our physical health.
So, that could mean, say, if we start practicing bhakti, maybe our diet become more regulated, we give up unhealthy food, then that can make us physically healthier. But it’s also possible that somebody has got diabetes and they get a Tirupati Balaji laddu. And they say, this is not sugar, this is Krishna’s mercy.
And they take the food. What is going to happen? That is going to be physically unhealthy spirituality. It is spirituality, it may be spiritually purifying, but physically it will be damaging.
So, just as there is physically unhealthy spirituality. Spirituality itself is not physically unhealthy, but if we misunderstand or misapply it, it can be physically unhealthy. So, like that, spirituality actually nourishes and elevates our emotions.
But sometimes we may misunderstand or misapply spirituality in a way that it can be emotionally unhealthy. That means our emotions may become more and more suffocated. We’ll discuss what it is, but broadly, that is the idea that how to practice spirituality in a way that our emotions are healthy.
And I’ll talk about this in three parts. So, using the acronym ART. So, today what I’m going to talk about is APPRECIATE.
Appreciate the role of emotions in our spiritual journey. Then I’ll talk about REGULATE in the second part. In the last part, I’ll talk about TRANSCEND.
And what does transcend mean and what it does not mean. That’s why I’ll be talking about three broad parts about the topic of emotionally healthy spirituality. So, if you have this book, if you can go to page 28, that is verse 146.
I have a copy here. All of you have a copy? I’m displaying here also. So, basically, in this book, I have been writing many articles in the Bhagavad Gita since 2011.
I have been writing one article in the Gita daily, 5000 articles. At the start of this year, I started feeling that I was writing, doing a lot of analysis of the Gita. Of course, the analysis would try to conclude in Bhakti, but still I did not feel that devotional connect with the Gita.
So, I was observing how not only the Acharyas commented on the Gita, but how at other places our Acharyas have quoted the Gita. And I noticed that Jiva Goswami or Chakravarti Pada or other, those who are devotionally, who do more devotional analysis, in that other context, often they have used the Gita as a takeoff point for their devotional connection and prayer to Krishna. So, what it means is that if we consider Krishna is above us, and we are here, now we can consider the Gita as Krishna’s wisdom given to us.
And that is true, no doubt. But the Gita is not just Krishna giving some information to us. Krishna is giving us also information that we, not only we are meant to apply, that he wants us to apply.
So, Krishna can not only educate us, but he can also empower us to elevate us. So, in one sense, Gita we can say this is instruction. But if based on the verses of the Gita, if we can offer prayers to Krishna, that is Krishna, this is what you have said, and this is how I want to understand this and apply it in my life, then it can become a beautiful devotional cycle where the words that Krishna speaks, they become inspirations for us to offer prayers so that we can apply them better in our life.
So, for example, Kulshekhar Maharaj has a prayer in the Kund Mala Stotra where he says that, it’s a long prayer, but the key part is, Uddharatum arasi hare purushotam osmi, samsara sagara nimagana mananta dinam. He says, O Lord, this ocean of material existence is unending. And I am fallen, I am weak.
I cannot cross over this ocean. Therefore, he says, uddharatum arasi, it behooves you, O Lord, to lift me out of this ocean of material existence. Purushotam osmi.
Now, when I read this verse, it seemed to me, I had read this verse many times before, but when I was trying to see how the Acharyas are quoting the verses from the Gita, so it struck me that this seems to be a direct prayer inspired by the Bhagavad Gita, 12.6 and 7, where Krishna is saying, tesham aham samuddharta, mithyu samsara sagarat. He says, I will lift you from the ocean of material existence. So, what he is, what Kund Mala Stotra is doing is, Krishna, you have promised that you will lift me out of the ocean of material existence.
Therefore, O Lord, it behooves you to lift me. So, like that, the Gita’s verses can also become prayers for us. So, that’s what I have tried to do.
So, in this particular book, I have taken 122 verses from the first 6 chapters of the Gita. And like that, I hope to make 366 verses eventually for one full year. So, let’s read this one by one.
So, what I have done, we have one picture of a deity of Krishna from various temples across the world. Then I have done the Gita’s verse poetic translation. And then there is a reflection, a prayer based on that particular verse.
So, I request different devotees to read out one one paragraph as we come up to it. So, if you like, you can repeat after me. O Lord of my heart, let me never lose heart.
So, let’s recite the verse. Let’s try to recite this, not collectively, not responsibly, but collectively. Let’s do it three times, all of us together.
Thus speaking, Arjuna, dawn inside, Set his bow and arrows aside. Upon his chariot seat he sank, His heart heavy, his mind blank. So, who would like to read the first paragraph? Yes, Madhurya.
My dear Lord, the challenges that the world throws upon me can sometimes be so complicated. It has to be overwhelming. Stultifying.
That word stultifies everyone who wants to read it. Just as Arjuna cast aside his bow, unwilling and unable to fight, many are the times when I have felt like casting aside my metaphorical bow, losing my will to fight against problems that seem unfair, unending and unsolvable. Yes.
So, Arjuna was emotionally overwhelmed. So, overwhelmed is at the level of emotions. Stultified is at the level of the intelligence and paralyzed is at the level of the body.
So, all three happened to Arjuna. When he had to fight against the Kauravas, especially when he had to fight against Bhishma and Drona, this was the stuff of nightmares for him. Bhishma and Drona were not just his elders.
These were the elders from whom he had learned archery. These were the elders for whose pleasure he had learned archery. And these were the elders that he now had to kill with that very same archery.
He just couldn’t bear it. So, he was overwhelmed. And not only was he overwhelmed, that’s at the level of emotions, but then from there it leveled to the level of buddhi.
Sometimes when we say emotions, we become emotionally weak. We know something what is the right thing to do, but we just don’t have the strength to do it. Arjuna was not just emotionally weak.
He was also at an intellectual level, ethically confused. Stultified. What? Is this really the right thing to do? That’s why if you see in the cycle of the series of verses from 126 to around 130, there’s a description of Arjuna’s physical symptoms.
But then after that, Arjuna’s reasons are given. Why he thinks I should not fight. And in this particular verse, he has become paralyzed.
He puts aside his bow and he sinks on the chariot. So for all of us, life sometimes brings situations where we just feel like quitting. So I was in America.
There is one disciple who is a temple president. He was previously a comedian. So when we meet, he we have a lot of humor.
He said I will. He’s a very humorous person. So I told him, can you help me develop a sense of humor? He said, you’ll have to pay me for that.
I said, what? He said, I will make all your all my jokes at your expense. So one time he had come for one of my classes and after the class, I could see that he had been a little tired and he was nodding off during the class. So I spoke.
It seems you are very tired. I was tired of you. So there is physical tiredness and there is emotional tiredness.
I’m tired of you. That what it means is you are just joking over there, hopefully. But sometimes when we are emotionally tired, just don’t feel like doing anything.
The physical tiredness, it’s relatively easy to recover from it. But emotional tiredness is just I just don’t want to do anything at all. What is the point of doing all this? What is the point of doing anything at all? So Arjuna was, in that sense, emotionally drained over here.
So we face situations like this in our life at times. Let’s look at the next paragraph. Who would like to read? OK.
Yes. So emotions are just natural. They will come.
We cannot avoid them. So broadly when we are talking about emotionally healthy spirituality, we have situations in our life. Now situations lead to emotions.
Now situations can go up and down. That is the nature of situations. Sometimes our emotions can go way up and way down.
So the emotions can go far, far beyond the situations. And sometimes based on the emotions, we make decisions. So if we consider the situations and the emotions, both of them are reversible.
Today we might be in a very difficult situation. Today I might be feeling very frustrated, hopeless. The situations and the emotions that come from them, they are both reversible.
But from emotions, if we take decisions, the decisions can be irreversible. So what we are trying to do in emotionally healthy spirituality is we will be trying to build some barriers so that the situations don’t trigger such strong emotions within us. And even if the emotions are triggered, we don’t take decisions based solely on the emotions.
So it’s important that for all of us, we don’t let the emotions control us. Now one day I was starting my chanting in the morning and I picked up my phone and one devotee had sent me a message. Please accept my final obeisances.
So immediately I had to put aside my chanting and call him and ask him what happened. So final would mean irreversible. So sometimes it’s not that as devotees we are immune.
Now we can also face situations where we are frustrating, where we may also feel hopeless. So the decisions, the emotions of the moment can lead to decisions that go far beyond the moment. And that’s what Arjuna, when he said I’ll not fight, he’s taking a decision based on the emotion of the moment.
The consequence of that would be far bigger. So Krishna is through the Gita helping him to see that not just the political consequence of the war, but Krishna gives a philosophical vision of what this war is a part of. And based on that, he explains to Arjuna how he should and should not act.
So let’s go to the third part of the next paragraph. Just as you blessed Arjuna with the wisdom to see light amid darkness, bless me, O Lord, so that I can find shelter in your words and let them become my guiding light when the world around me envelops me in blinding darkness. And when my own mind compounds the darkness, grant me, O Lord, I beg you, the remembrance that the light coming from you is greater than the darkness coming at me from outside and from inside.
Yes. So darkness from outside is in terms of situations. Darkness from inside is in terms of the emotions.
Sometimes both they have a causal connection. Outer darkness can lead to inner darkness, but both of them can come separately also. Now, overall, life is going through, we are going through a difficult phase in life.
And we also feel completely dejected, disheartened, depressed, and then we cannot function at that time. So now turning towards Krishna does not mean denying the presence of the darkness. We understand the darkness is there, but we need to be able to look beyond the darkness to Krishna.
So we’ll come back to this. So broadly, it’s about emotionally healthy spirituality, appreciating the role of emotions in our life. So that’s the topic I’ll discuss today.
Appreciate. Now, in this, I’ll talk about three broad parts. Now, each of these, each session that I’ll take, I’ll use the same conceptual flow map.
I use an acronym called CHIT. So we’ll try to understand the concept. Then we look at the implication of the concept.
What does it mean? And then what would be the takeaway for us? So now what is the concept here? See, the key thing is that within the Gita’s worldview, the mind is also real. There are three levels of reality, the physical, the mental and the spiritual. So the mind is real.
And because the mind is real, the emotions that we experience in the mind are also real. So let’s try to understand this. If we consider the soul, mind and body.
So all of these together is the self. This is a Jeevatma. So now, when we use the word Jeevatma, Prabhupada translates it often as a living entity.
The living entity is slightly different from the soul. The soul is the spiritual side. The living entity is the combined everything.
The body, mind, soul, it is called the living entity. So we have the soul, the mind and the body. Now, the important thing is all these are real.
The soul is real. The body is also real. Now, when the body is real, what does it mean? That means at the level of the body, we have this is to some extent a bit simple division.
But let’s start with that. At the level of body, we have sensations. Sensations means, say, if you are sitting on the floor, you’re not so comfortable sitting on the floor, then you may feel some discomfort in your back or in your thighs.
That’s a sensation. At the level of the mind, there are emotions. Now, at the level of the soul, there are intentions.
Now, if you go into Sankhya, we can go much deeper into each of these. And exactly where intention comes from, it comes from the false ego, from the interaction of the false ego. I’ll not go into all that.
I’m keeping a minimalist model over here. So I’m not separating the subtle body into the mind, intelligence and ego. Let’s keep it simply as the mind.
That means there is a subtle element within us, there is a gross element and there is a spiritual side, poured to us. So now, from the Atma comes Chetana. This is consciousness.
So consciousness is like the energy of the soul. So. Consciousness is the energy of the soul.
So, for example, if I. Now, can you see this flashlight? So there’s the source of light and there’s the beam of light. The source of light is the Atma and the beam of light coming from it is Chetana. So from the Atma comes Chetana.
And now, if I put my hand like this, can you see it? So this pathway through which the Chetana comes, that is the mind. So the mind is the link between the soul and the body. So now, when the consciousness goes outward, at that particular time, we, consciousness has two functions.
One is it gathers information. And then it conveys intention that will go into action. I’ll talk about that shortly.
But let’s focus on the information part right now. So right now, say you are looking at me and I’m looking at you. So the soul’s consciousness is coming through the mind to the outer world.
You’ll be looking at me, you’re looking at the projector and then information comes in. You’re taking the information and you understand it, assess it. Now, when this is happening, when the consciousness goes outward and collects information.
So at that time, when that information comes in at the level of the senses, at the level of the body, we experience sensation. So sensation, senses are associated with sensation. When the sensation becomes very striking, that is called sensational.
So we are always experiencing sensations. But we are always hearing something. But if we hear some news, which is very controversial, very shocking, then that is sensational.
Sensations are constantly coming. So when the consciousness comes to the level of the body, that’s sensations. And sensation is information.
So, for example, if I move my hand, my hand touches here, I suddenly feel electric shock. Maybe there is an earthing problem or something over here. So then that is basically a sensation.
And the sensation is an information which I need to act on. And the way I act on it is by, OK, I don’t touch this anymore. That’s sensation.
So for us, the sensations are not meant to be neglected. Sometimes we may decide, OK, I’m sitting on the floor and I’m not very comfortable on the floor. But OK, this class is only going to go for six hours.
I can tolerate it. So, OK, it’s for half an hour, one hour, one hour. I can tolerate that.
But we take in the sensation and then we decide that I don’t have to act on it. But the sensation itself should not be considered a bad thing. The sensation itself is not to be neglected.
Now, suppose somebody says, I’m feeling cold. And they tell the person next to them, I’m feeling cold. And the person next to them says, don’t feel cold.
What do you mean, don’t feel cold? It’s not a choice. It’s a sensation. It’s information.
OK, they can say, we are going, maybe, Vrindavan, we are doing Gaurdhan Parikrama and somebody says, I’m feeling cold. OK, you can walk faster, the body will generate heat and you will not feel so cold. We can talk about how to deal with it.
But telling a person don’t feel this, that is not really very healthy. It’s not practical also. So similarly, when we experience emotions, the body is real, the mind is also real.
So emotions are also information. So when we, for example, feel angry, that’s an emotion. Now, we don’t want to act on that emotion and yell at someone or hit someone.
But that emotion conveys that something is wrong over here. Something is seriously wrong about something that is seriously important for me. Now, what exactly is wrong? Maybe I’m only perceiving things wrong and nothing is wrong out there.
But still something is wrong as per the information that is coming to me. So emotions are, in that sense, information. And we need to appropriately process the information.
But the emotion itself is not to be neglected. So in the concept, the mind is real. And the emotions are also real.
Now, these terms that are used, emotions, sensations, intentions, these terms can mean many different things in different contexts. I’m using it in a particular sense over here. So now I would like to differentiate between emotions and desires.
How many of you think emotions and desires are the same? There is no difference? OK. How many of you say there is a difference? OK, for the remaining, the difference does not make any difference. OK.
So those of you who say that there is a difference. What do you think is the difference between emotions and desires? For desires you have a choice. OK.
So we could say desires are more voluntary. Emotions are more involuntary. That means they come automatically, whereas the desires we can choose to some extent.
It’s a good difference. Thank you. Anything else? So this is a progression.
So from thoughts to emotions to desires. So the more we dwell on it, thoughts will turn into emotions, emotions will turn into desires. Yes.
So it’s like a progression. So you could say these are in the inner progression. We could say this is the second stage.
And this is the third or final stage. Thinking, feeling, willing, we can say. Willing is, you could say, the stage before desiring.
But yeah, this is true. Anything else? Emotions is like, you will react at the spur of the moment. Sometimes you can’t control your emotions.
But desires you can contemplate on it. And if you want to implement it, you can. OK.
Yeah, OK. So you could say that emotions are more impulsive. So desires can be both.
Emotions, the impulse, suddenly we feel the emotion in the moment. The desire can be that, OK, you know, I saw this particular ad and I want to buy this thing. Now, sometimes we can do impulse buying.
So we just go there and we go to a shop, market and then we go to a shopping mall and we buy a few things. And suddenly we see something. I’ll buy this.
So it can also be impulsive. So it’s a desire to get it. But sometimes the desires may be much more long term.
OK, I decide to buy this, but I have to save, I have to plan, then I’ll buy it. Now, emotions can also accumulate over time. But overall it is that emotions are more reactive, we could put it.
Impulsive or reactive. Whereas the desires can be less, less of, they can also be impulsive, but less of them. So in one sense, this is similar to the involuntary-voluntary difference.
It’s on the scale. Yes. Thank you.
One way to understand this, what you said is true. Now, within this model, if you consider, there is the soul, the mind, the body. Now, broadly we can say emotions are associated with the Gyanendriyas.
Emotions are associated with the knowledge acquiring senses. Emotions are associated more with the inflow of consciousness. Desires are associated more with the outflow of consciousness.
They are more associated with the Karmendriyas. So this is not a completely watertight differentiation because sometimes what comes in the Gyanendriyas can immediately lead to the Karmendriyas also. Like for some people, whatever thought comes up in their mind, it just comes as words in their mouth.
Like the distance between their mind and mouth is zero. So afterwards they may regret, hey, what did I speak? Why did I speak like that? So, but broadly, emotions are what we perceive, based on that we feel some emotion. And the desire is, okay, so if we are going by a school area and we see some big kid bullying some small kid.
When we see that, we may feel anger, we may feel outrage, we may feel concern. And then we may desire, okay, what do I do there? I’ll teach this kid a lesson. I’ll complain about this kid.
Something has to be done about it. So there is the inflow and outflow of consciousness. That is the key difference, we could say, between desire, between emotions and desires.
So now with this understanding of the broad concept over here. So I said, what are the acronyms we are going to discuss? Expanding our consciousness. So see the concept that the mind is real and therefore what happens in the mind is also real.
In the mind, from the karmendriyas, when information comes in, emotions are triggered. And then when they come from the mind towards the karmendriyas, when the consciousness starts flowing outwards, that’s when desires start coming in. So, dhyayato vishayan pumsaha, sangas teshu pajayate.
So sanga is I like it. That’s nice. That’s an emotion.
But sangat sanjayate kamaha. Kama has become desire. That’s nice.
I like it. From I like it to I want it. So that is the difference between emotion and desire.
So it’s like when inflow is happening at that time, I like it. And here from I like it, it becomes I want it. So now both sometimes we may like something and we may decide, OK, but I don’t want to pursue it.
So Krishna talks about regulating at both levels. For example, when he says, When he is talking about just as the tortoise withdraws the limbs into the body, like that, withdraw your senses. So he’s talking about regulation over here in 2.58. Now, that means don’t pursue.
The information may be coming in. We may see something and we say, I like it. But no, I won’t dwell on it.
I’ll just look away from it. So that emotion won’t go so strong as to become a desire. Now, later in 2.67, when Krishna is talking about it, he says that, What is the verse about? Vayur naavam ivam bhasi.
Indriyanam hi charatam, yanmano anubhidhiyate. Tadasya harati pragyam, vayur naavam ivam bhasi. He’s saying just like a boat is swept away by a stormy wind.
Like that, we can get swept away by our senses. So there he’s talking about more the karmendriyas. There is, kim asita vrajet kim arjunas.
How does a person be situated and how does the person act? So first Krishna is talking about how to regulate the, Arjuna is asking how does a wise person, how does a sthita pragya regulate the jnanendriyas? And then how does the person regulate the karmendriyas? So when we are in the ocean and a stormy wave or stormy wind comes, Krishna is not telling, get out of the ocean only. We have to be in the ocean. But what we need to be is, we have to be careful.
If a stormy wind or stormy wave is coming, don’t get in its path. Get out of its path. So the method of sense control is slightly different in both places.
One is the avoidance of perception itself. The other is the avoidance of the action. If you don’t get swept away towards action by it.
If you are not familiar with this verse, don’t worry too much about this. But I’m just differentiating between these two different approaches. So now the implication that both are real.
What this would mean is that sometimes when we experience certain emotions. So when is a particular emotion that is coming? The emotion comes, is consciousness coming into the mind. So when it comes into the mind, there is a certain level of that there is a physical reality, which you can call broadly as objective, associated with the body.
There is an objective reality. And then there is a subjective reality that is associated with the mind. So, for example, if somebody sees a food item and say, like, or let’s take another item.
I was talking with one devotee in America who was previously an alcoholic. He was a very high performing individual. What do they call it? HNVI.
High network individual or a high value HVI. Very successful individual. But he had a very dysfunctional side of his life with respect to alcohol.
So he once told me many times when somebody is alcoholic or somebody is addicted, one of the biggest problems is that they don’t consider it to be a problem. It’s called the no problem problem. Then denial.
So he told me when he realized that he had to do something about it. He had gone to a, he was working in a Fortune 500 company and he was very successful. So he was invited to an international retreat in Switzerland, a seven star hotel.
And as he was passing by, he was going into the boardroom for a meeting. And as he was passing, walking toward the boardroom, he saw some alcoholic beverages kept nearby. And he just glanced at them and he kept walking towards the meeting.
But then when he came, he met his boss. He told me in my mind’s eye, my boss body changed into a bottle of alcohol. I just couldn’t talk with him.
So now the alcohol was present. That is the objective reality. But the subjective is that it became such a prominent presence, like an overpowering presence in his mind.
So when we when we experience some emotion, that is, there is an objective side. There may be some stimulus out there, but there is also the reaction that is created in the mind. So till now, when I talked about it, the way I talk about the mind was the mind is more like a transmitter.
It allows information to transmit. But the mind is not just a transmitter of information. It is also a storer of information.
It’s like a memory device. And the memory is here. There are what is the impressions are stored.
The impressions in Sanskrit can be called as samskara. Now samskara, it can also be written in English as some scar. So everyone has some or the other scars in their psyche.
Now of course the word samskara has a positive meaning also. When we say we want to give good samskaras to our children or this vivaha samskara or namakarana samskara. So there it is that there are impressions in the mind.
So there is a value neutral meaning or a positive meaning with the impressions and ceremonies that lead to positive impressions. But samskaras also refer to the vasanas that are there, the scars that are there inside us. So now when we have certain samskaras within us, what happens? So again this metaphor, this comparison that the mind is like the body.
That is an important point to remember all the time. That is that say one time I was giving a class and there’s something urgent that the organizer wanted to convey to me. So the organizer was like a big program and I was in the auditorium on the stage.
The organizer came behind me. I was talking. He just patted me on the shoulder.
He patted me on the shoulder. I screamed. So he said, what happened? He said, actually I had fallen on my shoulder and I have a sprain over here.
Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that. So what happens if there is an injury, then there is a small stimulus and a huge reaction.
And what applies to the body also applies to the mind. So when we have a particular samskara, then one indication of the presence of the samskara is a disproportionate reaction. So if somebody in their childhood was bitten by a dog, now if they see a dog, any dog, this dog might be a small, cute, cuddly little poodle.
But when they see that dog, what will happen is they’ll feel alarmed. They’ll start feeling scared. So a small stimulus, a large response.
That is one indication that there is a samskara over there. So sometimes when we’re talking with someone, I don’t know whether you have heard this phrase that’s used in English. Oh, did I strike a nerve? Strike a nerve or did I touch a nerve? What does it mean? That’s like something which triggers a heavy reaction.
Like suppose somebody is doing some root canal kind of treatment. Then at that time, if they touch a nerve, then there’s a lot of pain. They’re just drilling the bone.
They don’t feel much pain. So like that touch a nerve means what? Like inside us, something is spoken, something is done. That samskara is triggered over there.
And that’s when we tend to overreact. So for all of us, we have certain samskaras inside us because of which we may overreact. Now, when I say emotion has an objective element and a subjective element, what it means is that there could be an objective problem.
There’s a dog out there, but the dog is not a dangerous dog. The subjective is based on the impression that is there, there is a heavy reaction. So consider two situations.
If there is some stimulus that this is our mind, and there is some stimulus for which there is no samskara, then what happens? That will just go unfiltered, untransformed. It’s just information that goes in. Say, if you’re walking along the road and we see some pigeon or something like that, some bird we see.
Okay, we don’t have any samskara associated with it. It just goes by. But if there is some stimulus with which some samskara is associated, then what happens? When that stimulus comes in, that stimulus expands and fully consumes our consciousness.
And it fills our mind. That’s how it becomes very difficult at that time to think of anything differently. And this is now when I say the word subjective, it’s just in the mind.
Yes, it’s just in the mind, but it’s really in the mind. There is something real in the mind that is being triggered. So for us, when we all have different kinds of samskaras inside us, and that’s why the same situation may not may agitate one person too much and may not agitate the other person much.
So, you know, one time I was in Pune, I was I was visiting and one devotee after the chanting, he came to me and he said, you know, today my chanting was completely spoiled. I just could not chant. I was very agitated.
I said, what happened? He said, you know, that devotee, he did Tulsi Aarti today. He was not singing the Tulsi Aarti, but he was doing the Tulsi Aarti ritual. I said, yes.
When he was moving the diya, instead of moving it seven times, he moved it nine times. Now, he may say, what were you doing counting that also? He said, there is something else that you could have done. No, diya is meant to be seven times.
She moved nine times. That’s Aparaj Tulsi Devi. Now, for some people, even in spiritual life, some things may be very important.
Maybe we grew up in a culture where rituals were very emphasized a lot. Or some people have that, whatever they do, they have that urge for perfectionism. Whatever I do, I have to do it exactly, precisely.
And even if something is small, wrong, then it agitates us a lot. So, I was, when he told me this, I was trying to constrain my laughter as I speak. But then, a couple of days later, what happened, this was in an American temple, and there they had this Guru Pooja.
The Guru Pooja was going on. And in many western temples, if you are new, they display the Guru Pooja. And in the Guru Pooja, of course, I know the Guru Pooja, but I was just reading that.
And while reading the Guru Pooja, I noticed two typos in the Guru Pooja. And two proofread mistakes. And I just couldn’t focus on the Guru Pooja.
So, for me to see anything with, if I read anything, it’s like, there is a part of my brain like a 24 by 7 proofreader. So, anyway, it’s like, for me, if I see something with a typo, it’s like an intellectual torture for me. It has to be fixed.
So, when I say it’s, I realize, you know, for me, so sometimes what happens, we are disturbed by something. So, it would happen, especially now with ChatGPT, everybody is becoming good at punctuation now. And grammar.
But before that, it was like, the grammar, the way the punctuation would be, especially in India, even in notice board, it’s like an atrocity. There are so many mistakes. And sometimes I would tell them, there is a big notice in the temple, in the temple notice board, something is wrong.
And I would tell the in-charge or whoever it is. And they would just not take it seriously. Everybody understands.
Why are you so finicky about this? So, sometimes what happens, we are disturbed by something and we tell that to the other person, and then we get disturbed because they are not disturbed. So, now, here when I talk about samskara, it is not necessarily something bad. It is not necessarily some lust or greed or envy.
But it is just that there are some things which based on our conditioning are important for us. And a small stimulus leads to a huge reaction. So, like that, this whole point of when we understand the mind is real, we all will react differently, sometimes with the same stimuli.
And just because we are devotees, even if we are practicing bhakti, now we may also, others may not be practicing bhakti, but everybody has a mind. And their mind has different samskaras within it. And that’s why certain things become extremely important for them.
And that’s why the idea is, it is said that even among devotee association, we want to value all devotee associations, but we also need like-minded association. Sajjatiya, where Acharya Prabhupada also translated as like-minded, it is not like-hearted. Because in one sense, every devotee’s heart is meant for loving Krishna.
That’s what we want to do ultimately. But although in our heart we want to love Krishna, our mind, each mind is different. So, the implication is that we all need to understand our samskaras and we also need to understand others’ samskaras.
So, especially when people we interact with on a regular basis, they need to, we need to recognize what are their samskaras. So, I was in, when I was in Pune, one devotee came to meet me in the room and my room is always a mess. So, he told me that, I can’t understand how your thoughts are so organized and your things are so disorganized.
So, I had to think about it. I never thought about it. Then I told him, actually, I am so busy organizing my thoughts that I don’t even notice my things.
So, it is not that I am intentionally disorderly. It just doesn’t register in the mind so much. So, I may be organizing my things and some new thought comes in and I just get caught in the thought and I forget about the organizing.
So, for all of us, we have certain things which are important for us. When you say it’s important for me, you can say objectively it’s important. For example, if things are very unhygienically unclean, you know, germs may come, some insects may come.
There is an objective danger over there. But then there is a subjective aspect also. How important, what level of cleanliness we want.
So, like that in every area, there is objective side and subjective side. But the subjective does not mean that it’s just mental. It means it’s just in the mind, but the mind is real.
So, when we are trying to practice emotionally, when we start practicing spirituality, when we are trying to practice emotionally healthy spirituality, what it means is that each one of us, we need to understand that our mind is different. My mind is different from yours. And now we all have to learn to regulate our mind.
That is true. And I’ll talk about that in tomorrow’s session. But the important point is Krishna also says that we have to make our mind our friend.
Krishna, sometimes we talk about the mind as our enemy. If you consider the word enemy, in the Bhagavad Gita, it is used at three distinct levels. One is that it is used the physical enemies.
The Kauravas are the physical enemies. And that is used primarily in the first chapter where Arjuna talks about how can I kill them. And in the 11th chapter, Krishna talks about by my arrangement, your enemies are killed.
And he gives the Vishwaroop darshan also that they are killed. So, we can say chapter 1 and chapter 11. The physical enemies are talked about.
Now, the second is that the Anarthas, they are talked about as enemies. So, for example, lust is talked about as an enemy. This is in 3.36 to 43, that section.
And there Krishna does talk about how we need to destroy this enemy. If you don’t destroy it, it will destroy you. So, he says conquer over it.
But the idea is conquer to destroy. The Anarthas are some of the impressions in the mind. But then Krishna also talks about the mind as the enemy.
He talks about this in 6.5 and 6. And there he doesn’t say destroy the mind. He doesn’t say eliminate the mind. He says elevate the mind.
Make the mind your friend. So, the idea is when we are talking about the mind, there are emotions inside it, there are desires inside it. These are not to be eliminated completely.
They need to be elevated. So, there is destruction for, destroy for the enemies, destroy for the Anarthas. But here it is more of transform.
Transform the mind from being an enemy into a friend. So, when we are talking about this particular point, that each one of us, when we practice spirituality, we have to ultimately live with our mind. Our mind is, we can’t replace our mind with someone else’s mind.
This is the mind we have. We can say this is the body we have. At least we can say the body we will change at the end of this lifetime.
But the mind may more or less be same in the previous next life also. Unless we work to change it. So, we have to work with our mind.
That means the mind is real. The samskaras in that are real. And now, of course, not everything in the mind is good.
Some impressions in the mind have to be removed. But we can’t just reject or repress the mind. We have to work with it.
If I go back over here to this particular diagram, the mind is a very essential, essential tool in our functioning. When we function in life, the mind is a very, what is the word for it, the mind is indispensable for us. We require, just like we need the body to function in the world, we also need the mind to function in the world.
Now, the mind can also malfunction. It can, just as the body can become not function properly, the mind can also not function properly. But the important thing is the mind is necessary for us.
We are not our mind, but we need our mind. We need to work with our mind. So, understanding this means that if something is suffocating or damaging my body too much, I can say, I’m doing this for Krishna.
OK, that’s fine. If somebody says, you know, some guest has come and they brought a huge suitcase. And you say, oh, I’m doing this for Krishna.
I will lift that huge weight. And I lift that huge weight. And after a few minutes, I become a huge weight that others have to lift.
So, I have to be physically aware of my capacity. Similarly, for serving Krishna also, sometimes some situations may agitate us emotionally too much. And if they agitate us, some amount of emotional difficulty, emotional challenge, we all have to deal with.
But we cannot suffocate ourselves. We have to acknowledge the mind and if we get too suffocated, then we’ll just not be able to function. So, we don’t want to go in that direction.
So, tomorrow when I talk about regulate, I’ll talk about tolerance and what all is involved in that. But the takeaway for us is one key point for self-observation that how do we understand our samskaras? We try to look at situations where we tend to overreact. And not only it is for me as well as for others.
Now, I don’t really like the word overreact over here because overreact conveys the idea of some negativity. But it may not necessarily always be negative. You could just say that there are some areas where we are sensitive.
Now, we could use the word hypersensitive, which has a negative connotation again. But the point is, where is it that the small stimulus and a huge reaction? Now, for us, there may be certain areas and for others, there may be certain areas. And when we are working with others, so Krishna says in 12.15 in the Bhagavad Gita, that how should we function? He says that don’t disturb others and don’t be disturbed by others.
For most of us, our life is that when I interact with somebody, I interact with you, I disturb you, you and you disturb me. And together we create a disturbed world. Our family is disturbed, our society is disturbed, the world is disturbed.
So Krishna says we don’t want to be like this. So a devotee functions in such a way that don’t disturb others and don’t be disturbed by others. Now, we may say, is it possible? The point when he says is that there may be certain things will disturb us, which others will do.
And certain things we do will disturb others. But at least if we are aware, when he said don’t disturb and don’t be disturbed. So if we start understanding that everyone has their particular conditionings and based on their conditionings, some things may be very important for them.
And some things may be very important for us. So if something is very important for the other person and we keep neglecting that, then that person will keep getting disturbed with us. Now something may be very important for us and they may neglect it.
And then now they may be doing many other things right for us. But they are neglecting the thing that is important for us. So then we will get disturbed by it.
So in general, the understanding of this point of samskara, the mind is real. By that what we will be able to do, we will elaborate on this little later in a future class also. But the takeaway is for us, if I am here, for me, there are certain things which are non-negotiable.
And there are certain things which are negotiable. And similarly, for you, there are certain things which are non-negotiable and certain things which are negotiable. So when we interact, we may interact over, there are hundreds of activities we do in a regular interaction with somebody, the family member or a colleague or a close member in our community.
But then, OK, maybe there are 10 areas which we interact, broadly speaking. So out of this, 2-3 may be very important for me and 2-3 may be very important for the other person. So if we understand that, OK, these are important.
So if what is non-negotiable for me, if you respect that. And what is non-negotiable for you, I respect that. Then what will happen is I won’t disturb you and I won’t be disturbed by you.
Now, we can’t control how others act, but at least we can communicate why these things are important for me and why these are important. So how do we understand our takeaway over here? The takeaway is that we try to understand our samskaras. What are my samskaras and what are other samskaras? So one way to understand is where we overreact.
Now overreact is how do we know what is where we are overreacting or whether other person is overreacting. Now we can try to look at what are the things which when we are not done. So if the other person doesn’t do it, we feel very irritated by that.
Or if we don’t do it, the other person becomes very irritated. Other person complains, other person becomes very uncooperative. The other person starts becoming sometimes almost vicious, starts speaking terrible things.
Now, sometimes it may not be possible for us to accommodate them in those areas. And that we will discuss later on. But that’s at least if you are aware this is important for this person, then this is something which if I don’t do it, this person will get very agitated.
Similarly, when something is done. And they become delighted by it. Sometimes you do something for some person and it’s a small thing, but that person is so happy by that.
Say, okay, you know, that means this is really important for this person. So if we understand this, then each one of us can become a bit more emotionally intelligent about ourselves and about others. And that way, when we interact, when Sivan Shila Prabhupada went to America, at that time, the difference between him and his early and his disciples, culturally there was a difference, educationally there was a difference, religiously there was a difference, ethnically there was a difference, linguistically there was a difference.
But Prabhupada was actually expert at connecting with people at an emotional level. Sometimes when we read Prabhupada’s books, Prabhupada can seem to be very cutting and strong. And Prabhupada was that.
But Prabhupada at an individual level was able to connect with devotees. Very nicely. I was talking with one Prabhupada disciple recently that he was going through a phase where the husband and wife were there.
And the husband was very serious in bhakti. The wife, both of them were Prabhupada’s disciples. The wife was having second thoughts about bhakti.
So Prabhupada called the husband and talked with him. And then when the wife came to meet him, Prabhupada just gave one of the necklaces that he had used for the deities, his deities, he used to have small tower, he just gave it to her. And he said, just keep this.
And he said, this is Radharani’s mercy, just keep it with you. And he did not give any instruction to her. So why are you not doing this? Why are you not doing that? She felt so touched by that.
Because what her concern was that she had felt that devotees are only using me. And you know, do this service, do that service, do that service, do that service. And if you don’t do it, they don’t care at all.
So what is that? Sometimes when new people come, we feed them fried pakodas. When they become devotees, then we fry them like pakodas. Now, there may not be any intention to do like that.
We may just feel that, okay, this person has become dedicated and this person can take up more and more responsibilities. And they may also want to serve more. But sometimes that emotional experience comes, you know, if I am not doing any service, will you even value me? Will you even care for me? So that was what had caused her that aversion.
So when Prabhupada, leave alone service, even basic sadhana, whether she was doing or not, Prabhupada did not judge her. Prabhupada did not criticize her. Prabhupada just expressed love for her.
She felt very valued by Prabhupada. So now this is where we see Prabhupada also being sensitive. When somebody is already agitated, you don’t agitate them further.
You have to see, okay, what is important when? There was Ashutosh Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Sivananda Sen. He was like the yatra organizer. And he had a nephew called Srikanth Sen.
So Nityanand Prabhu once got upset with Sivananda Sen because he had got caught in some other place and he had not arranged prasada. So Nityanand Prabhu did no accommodation, no prasada. So Nityanand Prabhu got very angry and yelled at him and kicked him.
And now Srikanth Sen felt very offended. He said, this, Sivananda Sen is also a great devotee. He is also a close associate of Lord Chaitanya.
How can Nityanand Prabhu do like this to him? So he just walked away in half and he went ahead. He did not come with the yatra group. He went ahead.
And when he reached Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he saw Mahaprabhu and he offered obeisances. So in those days, the etiquette was that if you see a sanyasi, if you are offering obeisances, you take out the angavastra or the upper cloth that is there and then you offer obeisances. So he offered obeisances without taking out the angavastra.
And Mahaprabhu’s servant was there with him, Govinda. And he was telling him, hey, take out your angavastra, signaling to him, take out your angavastra first. And Mahaprabhu said, don’t trouble him.
Mahaprabhu told him that, no, I can see from his face he is already disturbed. Don’t disturb him further. So, yes, that does not mean that the etiquette is not important.
But we also have to be aware. What is going on in a person’s mind? What is going on in the person’s situation? What is important for them? I remember one devotee, he was sick. One devotee was sick and another devotee was serving that devotee in the hospital.
And then somebody from the temple came and brought prasad for them. And now this devotee was in ICU. So the second devotee was running around.
And he brought him prasad and started eating the prasad. You didn’t chant Mahaprasad. You know, now is that the time to tell that? If somebody is in emergency and you’re running around doing service, at that time, that’s not the most important thing.
So we may lack emotional sensitivity. So what is likely to disturb the other person? That has to be carefully recognized. So sometimes we may think I’m being spiritually serious and I’m practicing.
I’m being spiritually serious. I’m just emphasizing a particular standard of spiritual seriousness. But because of that, what may happen is the other person may become very agitated.
We may disturb their mind unnecessarily. So we should not be doing that. That’s emotionally.
We may practice spirituality, but if you’re not aware of how our words are impacting others, then that may be emotionally unhealthy spirituality. So emotionally healthy spirituality means to understand each other, understand what is non-negotiable for others and take care of those points so that we don’t disturb them excessively. So I’ll summarize what we discussed today.
Our topic was in the broad topic of emotionally healthy spirituality. Today’s topic was more on appreciate, appreciate the importance of emotions in life. So A-R-T.
So A was appreciate. That is our session today. And within that, I talked about C-I-T.
C was what? The concept. The concept is that clearly that just like the body and the mind are similar in the sense that both are real. So I discussed about how the mind is the link between the soul and the body.
And at the level of the body, there are sensations. And the level of the mind, there are emotions. So and then at the level of soul, there can be intentions.
We didn’t get into that. We’ll discuss that later. And then we discussed about how if we consider the mind, there are the consciousness actually comes out from the soul and goes outwards.
So the inflow of consciousness, there is, there are emotions associated with the inflow of consciousness. That is associated with the karmendriyas. And with the outflow of consciousness, we have desires.
Sorry, emotions associated with the jnanendriyas. Desires associated with the karmendriyas. So then when we talk about the implication of this thing.
The implication is that just as the body can be injured, the body and mind both can be damaged or injured. So when the body is injured, a small stimulus leads to a strong sensation. So like that, with respect to our mind, some sensation may just go untransformed because there are no samskaras associated with it.
But some sensation when it comes in, the emotion that arises from that may be overwhelming. So we have these samskaras inside us. The samskara means that a small stimulus leads to a huge reaction.
So when we say that this is happening, the mind, rather emotion, when we experience certain emotions, the emotions, there is an objective side to it, means there is some physical stimulus out there, but there is also a subjective side to it. The objective means what is the strength of the sensation. Then the subjective is what is the strength of the samskara and the arising emotion from there.
So we need to consider both. And we can’t just dismiss the, oh, it’s all in the mind, it’s just unreal. Now, of course, we may all need to tolerate certain things, but understanding why some things are more difficult for others to tolerate, why some things are more difficult for us to tolerate.
So the takeaway was that we try to have more self-understanding and mutual understanding. Self-understanding as well as others’ understanding. So how do we understand that? We try to see two things.
One is that which is the things that when we our actions or actions that when done, they lead to a lot of delight. That means this is important for the other person. Or the actions that lead to not done, they lead to a lot of anger, complaint, dissatisfaction, irritation.
So by that we can broadly understand what is how important for some person. So the way we function in life is that I don’t disturb you and I don’t get disturbed by you. So this is not just a matter of like we controlling ourselves very forcefully or we very forcefully controlling others.
It is more of we understand from both sides what is non-negotiable for the other person, for each person and what is negotiable. So if I respect what is non-negotiable for you and you respect what is non-negotiable for me, then what will happen is that we will be likely to less disturb each other. And that way we can be more emotionally, our spiritual practice and our overall life can be much more emotionally aware and emotionally healthy.
Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. Thank you very much.
Do we have time for questions? Okay. Yes, sir. Thank you very much for the enlightening class.
There were so many takeaways in that. Whoever the Surya Prabhupada’s disciple was, that was the comedian, whatever price you pay, Prabhupada, I think it was well worth it because definitely that was very entertaining as well as very informative as well. So thank you.
The questions I have is around, there is some response from the audience. You know, it’s like sometimes after a class I ask people, what do you like in the class? So they say, I like the jokes. That is the response I don’t like.
I try to have the humor so that it’s interwoven into the, sometimes what happens, some humor, it’s just for the sake of humor. You sometimes remember the joke and forget the point word. So I try to do it in such a way that it’s combined.
One devotee told me that, you know, it’s important that you have some humor because at the very basic level, humor keeps people awake. So go ahead please. So my question is, you are quite sensitive, I had a response.
My question is around the samskaras that we have. You mentioned the example of the devotee who, you know, also of yourself, right? When you notice the mistake, the grave mistake of the devotee that, notice the nine rounds being done. I’m one of those, just compulsive and the process of it.
So how do you, in bhakti, what is important in terms of rituals and rules, for example in the aptis and things like that, and what is not important? Or is it that it is important but you have to know when to act on that importance and when to just leave it? Yeah. So again, bhakti, what is important and what is not so important? I think again, there is an objective and subjective side to it. That is a certain initiation vows we take, certain standards.
That is our objective. Now, beyond that, there could be something that are important for us. And if we have a particular kshetra, then within that kshetra, we can emphasize that as important.
So, for example, for somebody, a basic level of cleanliness is required for everyone. But if for us cleanliness is very very important, then maybe in our home or in our room, in our corner, our kshetra, we can establish that as a standard. And that is fair enough.
But we imposing it on others, see what happens? It is often Krishna attracts us through the things that are naturally attractive for us. That means, say for somebody music is very important. Or they are naturally attracted towards music.
Then they can connect with Krishna through music. Now, because music is very important for them, they will also want to play the instruments very very carefully. The tune will also be sung very nicely.
So, now, to the extent do they do it precisely, they feel connected with Krishna. Because for them, that becomes their offering to Krishna. This is what I can do well, Krishna, and I will do it as well as I can for you.
So, for us, in that sense, if you consider Krishna is here, then we all approach Krishna from different directions. So, somebody may approach Krishna through rituals. And doing the ritual precisely becomes the primary way they feel connected with Krishna.
And if they do that, that’s wonderful. Because we all need to feel that connection with Krishna. So, for some devotees, they may say, okay, every morning, I’ll wake up at this time.
And this time to this time, I’m going to do this sadhana. And this time, this time, this time, that’s like that. And they feel very strongly, I am serious in my relationship with Krishna through this.
Some other devotees may be more into preaching and counseling and they may sometimes spend hours and hours talking with somebody and they may sleep at 1 o’clock, 2 o’clock, because they are talking with people. Then if you want to sleep at that time, then you cannot be expected to wake up at 4 o’clock or 5 o’clock on a regular basis. Once in a while is okay.
But you know, it’s not that if they are waking up late, they are not serious about bhakti. For them, they may experience the connection with Krishna through extending themselves for other people. Now, of course, we have to be careful.
We don’t want to spend time with anyone and everyone and disrupt our schedule. But when they are extending themselves, that’s when they feel that I am doing something for Krishna. So for some people, the rigidness of the routine is the way they express their seriousness to Krishna.
And for others, the readiness to give up the routine is the way they express their seriousness to Krishna. Now, who is right? Well, it depends. You know, each person is different.
And we all have to find our way we can connect with Krishna. And so is it that some things are important? Of course. So maybe if we are working in a community, then again, if we understand what is non-negotiable, what is negotiable.
Or another way to put it is, instead of putting non-negotiable, negotiable, any standard, there could be a range in it. There is an aspirational level. This is what we would like to do.
But there is a, you could say, a baseline level, minimum level. So now we cannot be at the aspirational level in everything at all times. So, for example, if you have a huge Janmashtami festival, and then lots of things to do, and Janmashtami, we may sleep at 1 o’clock, 2 o’clock, 3 o’clock.
Then at that time, extending ourselves at the aspirational level, that’s required. Seva is, we have to do a lot more seva on that day. Now, on that day, we may decide, okay, sadhana, I may not be able to do it the same, exactly the same way I do every day or sadhana.
I may have to adjust at particular times. So in every, for us, we need to decide what is the aspirational level that is important for us. And we at least have one or two areas in which we are trying to be aspirational.
But then when we are working with the community, we need to be aware of, okay, what is the baseline level? And that baseline level, we make sure that is implemented. Now, some people you can encourage to rise beyond the baseline level also. But if they don’t, that’s okay.
So, but if we ourselves stay at the baseline level throughout, then we will lose the spark in our bhakti. Because we won’t feel like I’m doing anything worthwhile for Krishna. When we do something beyond the baseline, that’s an expression of our love.
Did I answer your question, Varun? Thank you. Yes, Radha-ji. Hare Krishna, Prabhuji.
Very scientific and such an insightful lecture. Thank you so much. I’ve got a couple of questions.
Is that okay? One is practical, one is more like a philosophical, if that’s okay. My first question, Prabhuji, is you have been mentioning about mind is real quite a few times in your lecture today. So, I really want to understand when you say mind is real, what exactly does that mean? Okay.
I thought you should have said that when the mind is real, what does that really mean? Okay. So, I think three things. First is the mind is a thing.
Not a gross thing, but it is a thing. The mind is not just a concept. It’s not just an imagination.
The mind itself is a real thing. Now, not only is the mind a real thing, the mind has real samskaras. So, that means there are certain impressions that are stored in the mind.
So, for example, if we consider lust, for example. Now, is lust a desire that comes up within us? Yes, it is. But is it only a desire? No.
Krishna says that, It is situated in the senses, mind and intelligence. What does that mean? There are certain impressions that are stored inside it. So, alcoholism, for example.
Let’s take a less personally intrusive example. None of us are alcoholics, so we can talk about that. Now, if somebody is an alcoholic, you tell them just give up alcohol.
Now, is it possible for them? It depends. If the impressions are not very deep rooted for them, some people just they go cold turkey and they just give it up completely. But some people, the impressions may be much more deep rooted and it may take more time for them to give it up.
So, when we say that, so there is in psychology and in medicine there is a debate. Is addiction a disease? Is it like a disease or is it a deficiency? Is it like a, is it indicative of a weak willpower or is it a disease? Is it the disease of the mind or is it deficiency of the will? Now, what is it? It can be both. And what is it for a particular person? That person has to decide.
So, somebody may say, I just can’t stop drinking. Okay. I was giving a talk to in America in a college and after that one devotee, he came and told me, there is Sattvic drinking, Rajasic drinking and Tamasic drinking also.
I said, what do you mean by that? So, what he meant by that is, sometimes kids go for a party. And there may be 5-6 kids are going in a car and they are going to drink in the car. So, then party.
So, when they go for a party, they take turns. And okay, in this party, you know, you are driving us. So, this party is the time for tapasya for you.
No drinking. So, they are drinking, but at least they have that level of sattva, not pure sattva, but at least that level of sattva to recognize that if I am drinking, I should not be driving after drinking. So, sattva generally conveys regulation.
So, now, drinking is indulgence. But even within that indulgence, there is a destructive indulgence, but there is some amount of regulation over there. So, can somebody say, I just can’t stop drinking? Well, maybe.
But whether you take one glass or two glasses or 10 glasses or 20 glasses, we certainly have control over that. Somebody may say that, okay, I can just take, I have to drink. Okay, you may have to drink, but you don’t have to drink 10 glasses.
We can stop at 5 or 3 or 2. So, there is some level of willpower is there. So, the exact range of willpower may vary from person to person. By the same time, there are some samskaras.
So, when I say samskaras, the impressions are there, that is also real. So, in that sense, I’m saying that when somebody is feeling a particular desire or feeling emotion, when I say it’s real, that does not mean or that means that it cannot just be managed by willpower. Like somebody has a physical fracture.
You tell them lift a heavy weight. Come on, use your willpower. And now it’s not going to work.
Why? Because the body is really injured. Now, even if somebody is injured, they may use their willpower. If somebody is wounded, they run away and they hide somewhere and they get to a hospital or something like that.
To some extent, they can push after they are wounded also. But the wound is a real thing. And it’s going to cause real limitations in their functioning.
And those real limitations have to be really addressed. That means properly remedied, maybe through proper treatment or whatever. So, like that, the real samskaras, the samskaras in the mind are real.
And they need to be acknowledged and addressed appropriately. So, that’s the second meaning of the word that the mind is real. The third meaning of the word mind is real is that I didn’t get into so many thoughts today.
Thoughts are also, thoughts are the basic unit of mental activity. And thoughts are the beginning of the formation of impressions. So, when we say mind is real, that means we also have this concept of mental karma.
One devotee recently asked me, not necessarily a couple of years ago, he asked me a question. He said that, you know, if I insult someone and that person does not get the insult, then do I get the karma? So, I told him that. Now, if you are aware of karma, then why take the risk? But the thing is, we may, that the fact that it has come on our tongue and we have spoken it, that is going to create impressions inside us.
So, that is the consequence. Next time, we are more likely to speak like that. And this time that person may not get the insult, but next time some other may get the insult, they will feel very hurt by it.
So, just this, when something comes on our tongue, that creates an impression. Similarly, sometimes something goes on in our mind, that also creates impressions. So, not only the impressions are real, but what we contemplate, what we dwell, what we entertain in our mind, that can also be reinforcing the impressions.
Or that can be revising, changing, refining the impressions also. So, somebody may have impressions about alcoholism or something, but if they are remembering Krishna, they are chanting the holy name, they are remembering philosophy. And just that remembrance is also creating positive impressions.
Thank you. Thank you. OK, so we will continue tomorrow and I think tomorrow or day after? Friday.
So, in one of the sessions, we will try to keep some separate time for question and answers also. And if all of you are part of WhatsApp group, if you have any particular questions, maybe you can send in that WhatsApp group also. We will try to address them in the next session or the session after that.
So, thank you very much. Shrimad Bhagavad Gita ki Jai! Shrila Prabhupada ki Jai! Gaur Bhakt Prindaki Jai! Gita Igaur Premanande! Jai Krishna!