After practicing bhakti for many years our enthusiasm goes down and we just go through the motions – how can we know whether we are actually going towards Krishna?

Answer Podcast

I’ll rephrase.
So when we keep practicing bhakti, the initial enthusiasm after some time goes down and because the taste of love for Krishna seems very far away, so we may tend to get attracted towards sense indulgence once again because we are not really experiencing its consequences. Now we, as a balance, we try to find our nature and serve according to our nature. But then while serving according to our nature, we may become complacent in a sense that we are just doing something that we like to do and whether that is actually taking us, building a bridge to take us closer towards Krishna or that is simply building our false ego which will become a wall between us and Krishna.
How do we understand that? To get such a question itself requires an introspective mind. And that introspective mind itself is a sign of the sincerity that will help us to overcome whatever obstacles we may face in the long run. Now, our enthusiasm which was there initially, like there is a Utsahamayi stage which Vishwanath Jagadguru talks about in Madhurya Kadambani, you know, where actually we are very enthusiastic to show off what we are practicing and what results we are getting.
We are not really interested in actually practicing the process in a sustainable way. So, that could be our initial enthusiasm. And generally, new converts to any path initially have a zeal that decreases over a period of time.
That zeal decreasing can be a negative thing where they just stop practicing or it can be a positive thing where they come to a kind of balance where they can practice sustainably. So, for example, Srila Prabhupada, he initiated many young devotees into sannyas. Now, he knew in his books only he has told that is not the standard and he himself acknowledged that they had problems.
But he felt this is what is required at that time for preaching. But now, we won’t be doing that. So, just as there were certain things which are necessary at the start of the movement, similarly, a certain thing which may happen or should be necessary, which may be inevitable at the start of our movement towards Krishna and Krishnamurti.
And those same things may not be the best, most sustainable way to practice. So, over a period of time, we just to keep practicing sustainably, we need to gravitate towards our own nature and we serve Krishna according to our nature. So, that way it is that we are moving closer to Krishna by the practice of bhakti and we are also moving closer to, like we say, discover yourself.
So, it is not just discover the self as the atma. It is also discover one’s own psychophysical nature. So, and Varanashram is also about that.
And we can’t be something which we are not. Now, it can very well happen that we serve Krishna according to our nature, we get some dharmic material pleasure, as it is the word dharmic higher taste. Now, sinful, no, it’s a dharmic, yeah, it’s a material higher taste.
It’s not necessarily a spiritual higher taste. But that’s okay. So, it’s like this material higher taste, it can have three consequences.
It may make me think that material life is only enjoyable. So, let me look at the material lower taste also and may drag me down. Or the material higher taste is good enough.
I don’t need anything more. I’m happy. It may keep me there itself.
Or that material higher taste can act like a, act like some kind of satisfaction, which helps me to survive so that I can move on towards getting the spiritual higher taste. So, it’s just as we are not meant to deny the body or reject the body. We just meant to make sure that the body doesn’t monopolize our consciousness, that the body doesn’t take us away from Krishna.
So, we are not meant to deny the body. So, we need to use the body so that it can take us towards Krishna. Similarly, we need to ensure that we are moving towards Krishna just as we have a particular body.
Similarly, we have a particular nature. And the body will be something which can help us, the bodily nature is something which can help us to move closer to Krishna. If we are, if we are doing the, if we are spiritually also active, studying scripture, we are doing sadhana, we are associating with devotees, then if we settle in a group of people who are also complacent like that.
So, a lot will depend on both our own conviction and our association. So, if our philosophy, if you are philosophically strong, you understand what is what, then you won’t get so captivated by that, that transitional material higher taste. It’s transitional because that’s not really eternal.
And also if you have association, we do need like-minded association, but in the like-minded association, we need someone who is, at least some devotees who are spiritually very intense. Without that, if I just associate with other intellectuals, and none of them is spiritually intense, they may just discuss intellectual stuff and that’s all, then I will not really move towards Krishna, despite being so intellectual. Although I might get intellectual satisfaction.
So, even in intellectual association, it’s important that there be at least some, some senior, advanced devotees who are spiritually intense. And within that association, we can move towards Krishna. So, how exactly to get that association? How exactly to keep that focus on Krishna? So, that is something which we individually have to regularly introspect.
But the fact is, for a sustainable growth, there is just no other way. Now, if as a preacher, if as a speaker, we are associating with people, just by associating with them, not just giving classes, but mixing people, spending time with people, we hear enough horror stories about material life also. People have their own problems, scary problems, gory problems, all kinds of things.
So, even if we have personally not experienced the consequence of sense indulgence, just by associating with them, we do understand that this is terrible. And that can give us the impetus to stay away. So, that is one thing, which ensures that we will not go down lower.
And as far as the spiritual goal being far away, that is why at least for some of us, it is vital to share spiritual knowledge. And not just share it, share it in a very, at least to some extent, in a tangible way, where we can see that our contributions are benefiting others. So, we see people not just externally chanting Hare Krishna and becoming devotees, but actually becoming better human beings, becoming internally transformed.
So, then that sense that we are making a contribution to others’ lives, that gives us the impetus to persevere in our struggles. Even when our struggles don’t seem to be being spiritually fruitful immediately, spiritual fruitfulness will come in due course. But even if it is not coming right now, if we are able to see this, yes, this is benefiting, it’s worth it.
And for us also, although spiritual journey seems far away, spiritual destination seems far away, but still we can look back to see how far we have come. And that gives us the encouragement that this process works, even if it’s gradual, but still it works. And that sense, feeling that this works will help us to move on.
So, I said that when we start becoming proud, we should look ahead to see how far we have to go. When we start feeling depressed, we can look behind to see how far we have come. And that way, we can keep moving steadily towards Krishna.