Destiny determines our situations and emotions we determine our intentions and actions
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Nirvishesha Shunyavadi Pashyatya Desha Tarine Vancha Kalpataru Bhyascha Kripasindhubhyavecha Patitanam Pavanebhyo Vaishnavebhyo Namo Namaha Jai Shri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu Nithyananda Shri Advaita Gadadhara Shri Vasadhi Gaurabhakta Vrinda Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare Hare Krishna I am grateful to be here amongst all of you today.
Am I audible behind? Can you increase the volume a little bit? Hare Krishna Is it better now? Okay. So, I will speak today on the topic of destiny and I will speak for around 20 minutes, 10 to 20 minutes and then we will have some question answers. So, you can all give your questions.
There are chips available which you can give and then they will be forwarded to me. So, the theme which I will be speaking on is destiny determines what happens to us. We determine how we respond.
During the course of our life, we often grow up thinking that whatever I set my mind to do, I will do it and I will be successful. I will be happy. I will be famous.
But if we just go through our life, we find that sometimes just factors beyond our control change things irreversibly. One of my close friends, my maternal uncle came to America and he worked very hard. He came in the 80s and he built a big company and in 2006, he had big dreams but when the recession came, just beyond his power, he lost practically everything.
So, he was shattered. He worked very hard to succeed but then there was nothing that he could have done to anticipate or prepare for it. It was just beyond him.
So, there are some things which happen to us just not in our control. So, those we can call broadly as destiny. So, destiny determines what happens to us.
We can envision that we are in an ocean and in that ocean, we want to go in a particular direction. So, we are swimming, planning and exercising and moving forwards but sometimes just huge waves come in the ocean and those waves just sweep us away in another direction. So, destiny determines what happens to us but we determine how we respond.
In whatever situation comes in our life, how we respond to it is in our control and that is where free will plays into picture. Some people when they lose their business, they might just get so depressed, they may commit suicide. Some people may decide I am going to fight on and they keep fighting on.
Some people may decide what is the nature of this world? I want to understand it and they become more introspective, more spiritual. So, there can be many different responses to the same situation. Now, I will elaborate this a little bit more when we say that we determine our responses.
Actually, destiny determines our situations and our emotions and we determine our intentions and our actions. So, destiny also determines our emotions. Some of us may be short-tempered, some of us may be pessimistic, some of us may tend to worry a lot.
So, now these are just default natures that we have. So, our just as physically we have a particular kind of body and the way we look, the physical complexion and other things of the body, they are determined. They are just given to us.
And we may change them a little bit, but we can't do much about it. So, just as the physical body is a real thing which we have got from birth and that is we could say one instalment of our destiny that by our destiny, what exactly is destiny, this unknown force that determines what happens to us. In nature, there is a principle of cause and effect.
So, actions produce reactions. Now, different actions produce reactions at different times. Just like every action is a seed.
When I sow the seed, some seeds may fructify. Grass may come overnight. Some crops may take a few months.
Some fruits may take a few years to grow. So, like that actions that we do, they are like sowing of, they are the seeds being sown. And the results that we get, they are what we want from those actions.
So, some results come immediately, some results come later. So, some actions that we do, the results come immediately, that action-reaction sequence gets over. But some actions, their results accumulate.
And we are souls who move from one life to another. That the idea that we go through cause and effect, in the Bible it says, as you sow, so shall you reap. The idea of cause-effect is universal.
Even in science, we accept this principle of cause and effect. When Newton saw the fruit falling, he asked, what made this fruit fall? That means, this was the effect, what caused it? That's the question. So, throughout our life, we accept the principle of cause and effect.
But sometimes, we see that causes don't produce effects. And we do work hard and somehow the result doesn't come. So, when this happens, at that time, we may think there is no causality.
Or we may think that there is a bigger picture. The Bhagavad Gita explains that we are souls who are different from our physical bodies. And the soul is on a multi-life journey of spiritual evolution.
So, therefore, some of the actions, the results we get in this life, they come from a previous life. If we just stick to this life as the frame of reference, then, life seems unfair. As I said, some of us are born in wealthy families, some of us are born in not so wealthy families.
Some of us are born with great looks, some of us are born with ordinary looks. Some of us are born with great intelligence, some with poor intelligence. So, life seems very unfair.
But if we expand the frame of reference, then, the starting point in this life is determined by what we have done in the previous life. So, say, now, karma is not mathematical. It is much more subtle.
But just as an example, if we have done 100 activities we have done, and in that life, in a previous life, and in that life itself, we got the results of 50 activities. So, the remaining 50 activities, the results which we did not get, they get accumulated as destiny. And those results come to us in various ways in this life.
So, what happens to us is also ultimately determined by us only. Because it is based on what karma we have done in a previous life. But, in this life, there seems to be no correlation.
So, what happens to us is destiny. Now, I will, whenever we do some action, we want some result. Say, we study, we want good marks in our exam.
We work in our office, we want a raise. But, so, normally, the action produces the result, and we feel there is nothing more. Now, I eat, and I get energy.
So, I see there is nothing more in this. But, we could, sometimes we eat, and our stomach gets more upset. There is something more over there.
So, actually speaking, there is, how do results, the desired result that we want, there are three factors involved in getting the result. We could call it the four Ds. The duty, plus destiny, plus duration, leads to desired result.
Say, if a farmer sows the seeds and ploughs the land, that is the duty. If the rains come in the right quantity at the right time, that is destiny. And then the seasons change till the harvesting season comes, that is the duration.
And then is the desired result. That is, the crops, husband and the wife, they desire to have a child. Now, they unite, that is the duty part.
But, sometimes conception occurs, sometimes conception doesn't occur. Whether it occurs or not, that is destiny. And even if it has occurred, there is a period of gestation before a child is born.
That is duration. And eventually, there is a desired outcome. So, in many situations in our life, we just, the destiny almost acts invisibly, in the sense that we do something and we get the result.
But, when it doesn't act, then we can ask the question, why is this happening? So, but that is because, the destiny is acting in a different way from the way we are acting. So, destiny determines whether our actions will produce the desired results or not. Our actions are important, no doubt.
But, whether they will produce the desired results or not, that is determined by destiny. Now, as I said, the destiny determines the starting point in our life, that is our body. What kind of body we have.
And it determines certain events in our life. Just like the waves, if I am falling in an ocean and I have to swim to the land. Now, sometimes the waves may be forceful and I may get swept away.
But, I can, after the wave's force goes down, again I can start swimming in the right direction. So, sometimes, situations may force us in a particular way, but we can always keep ourselves, our intentions strong. So, most often, in the western world that we live, in this compound of duty, destiny, duration leads to desired result.
Eastern civilisations focus more on destiny. But, there is a lot that is ordained and therefore don't get too hyped up about things. Just accept that some things are beyond your control.
Western civilisations generally focus more on duty. They don't use the word duty. We could say, more of human initiative.
More of human initiative. You know, if you work hard, you will get the results. But, the problem with this attitude is, many times we work hard and we don't get the results.
And if we have grown up with the idea that, if I work hard, I must get the results. When the results don't come, we start feeling something is wrong with me. And that's how we end up getting a lot of mental health problems.
Because we just can't accept, why is this not working out the way I want? We think, I am meant to make it work and if I can't make it work, something is wrong with me. Yes, there could be something we are doing wrong. But, there could be something which is beyond us.
So, the acceptance of things beyond our control is vital for psychological health. To the extent we can't accept, to that extent, we become resentful and we hurt ourselves. So, acknowledging the role of destiny can protect us from increasing our hurt.
Sometimes life will hurt us. We make a plan, we work hard, we don't get it. When life hurts us, we don't have to let we don't have to let our mind hurt us more.
Life is going to hurt us. Why did this happen? Sometimes, these things are beyond our control. So, if we recognise that I am not the soul doer, sometimes things beyond me may work out.
And if I can accept that, then that can substantially decrease our mental agitation. So, destiny determines, as I said, the situations that we encounter in our life. But along with that, destiny may also determine our tendencies at an emotional level.
Some of us are short-tempered, some of us are pessimistic, some of us are very worry-prone. This is just the kind of mind we have. But the Bhagavad Gita says that we are not our mind.
If somebody is, say, watching a TV, and it's not just a TV, it's some people in their homes, they have a TV which shows who is at the door. So, if somebody is knocking at the door, somebody is entering their premises, they can see in that monitor, in that camera. So, our mind is like that screen.
From the various senses that the inputs are coming in, they come on the mind. And we, the soul, are the observer. So, there is a outer scene, that is the physical reality.
There is an inner screen, that is the mental reality. And there is an inner seer, the soul, that is who we are. So, destiny determines what happens in the outer scene.
Destiny determines our situations. And destiny also determines what appears on the inner screen. But we are different.
And we can choose to respond properly. So, by the kind of destiny we have, some of us may be more worry-prone. When we start worrying, essentially what happens? There is this inner screen.
This inner screen means to see the outer world and respond appropriately. But the inner screen starts going to the future. It becomes a TV, which starts showing a horror movie.
This may go wrong, that may go wrong, that may go wrong, that may go wrong. Everything will go wrong. And we might just get an anxiety attack because of that.
But anxiety essentially means what is happening? The inner screen is going into the future and showing us all kinds of worst-case scenarios. Anxiety is like the interest we pay on loans we haven't yet taken. The problems haven't even happened, but still we are worried about them.
Conversely, the second major mental health problem that people have in today's world is depression. Anxiety is one, depression is another. Depression, what happens? The inner screen goes to the past and starts saying this went wrong, that went wrong, that went wrong, that went wrong.
Oh, so many things went wrong in my life. Nothing is going to work right. Everything is going to go wrong.
And we get depressed. Now, what appears on the inner screen is determined by our past. But still when something appears on it, we can choose whether to focus on it or not.
So, we can consider the inner screen to be like a computer with many windows open. So, one window pops up. Do I pay attention to it or do I not pay attention to it? That is up to us.
And this capacity to distance ourselves from our inner screen is increased by our spirituality. So, sometimes we may worry and the mind is so tricky that we may decide, no, I am not going to worry about this. And then we start worrying and then we start worrying about why am I worrying.
So, we just get caught in our head more and more. No, we can acknowledge that, okay, this is the tendency of my mind. My mind is going to worry.
That means a pop-up window is going to come. Hey, this may go wrong, that may go wrong, that may go wrong. Okay, we will see when it happens.
Let me focus on what I am going to do. So, what appears on the outer scene and what appears on the inner screen, that is sometimes not in our control. But what we focus on and what we do is in our control.
So, our intentions and our actions are in our control. Now, what do I mean by our actions and our intentions? In every situation that we are in, there will be a certain default reaction that comes, which is just unavoidable. Even somebody is a trained firefighter.
At that time, if they see a big fire, there will be a few moments of panic. If somebody is an ordinary citizen, somebody is a new firefighter and somebody is a seasoned firefighter. In all of them, when they see a huge fire, there will be a certain amount of fear.
But the ordinary citizen, he just gets overwhelmed by panic. Paralysed. The new firefighter may still, what do I do? Just not exactly paralysed but unsure of what to do.
The seasoned firefighter, there is a little panic but the firefighting instincts, the training comes up. Okay, let's attack the fire from here. You go here, you pour the water, you do this, do this.
So the default reaction of horror, fear is there in everyone. But the training ensures that the default reaction doesn't become the standard response. The default reaction comes temporarily.
Okay, no. Let's go there and do this. So similarly, as we go spiritually, things may go wrong in the outer world and they may create some emotions in the inner world but we can choose to change our responses.
So certain emotions may pop up, this has gone wrong, everything will go wrong. No. Things have gone wrong but I can respond rightly.
So this capacity to choose our responses that increases when we get spiritual knowledge and we understand that actually I am different from this outer world and I am also different from this inner screen. I am a soul. I am indestructible.
And beyond this, if we understand that we are a part of God and God is known by different names in different traditions. In the bhakti tradition, we know him by the name Krishna. He is ultimately in control of everything.
And even if bad things happen, he will bring good out of those bad things. So what this means is that by not glueing to the outer scene or the inner screen but by distancing ourselves from it, we can make our response healthier. We have each of us the capacity to create a better future for ourselves.
So in that sense, we can change our destiny and we can make our destiny. Destiny in terms of what happens to us is not in our control. But how we respond to it is in our control.
And what results we get are determined not just by what happens to us but also by how we respond to it. So I will conclude with one incident to illustrate this and then we can have questions. From last few years, I have been coming to America.
So, first time when I came to America, I met a student in… America and the western world I have been coming. So, I tend to forget this is Canada. But, when I came to America, first time I went to university and I spoke on regulating our mental diet.
So this noise is destiny. So we all have the free will now, whether we focus or not. So, I spoke on regulating our mental diet at vegetarian society.
And after that one boy came and talked with me and he said that actually, just before this class, I was contemplating suicide. It's an American boy and he said he had been in a relationship with a girl and that girl had broken up with him. So as he was just wandering around gloomily in the campus, he saw the poster of the programme, talk which I was giving.
And he came and he said, now after hearing this talk, I understand that actually it is not I who want to commit suicide. It is my mind that is prompting me. Commit suicide, commit suicide, commit suicide.
So then I told him, it's a vital insight you have got and I encourage you to study the Bhagavad Gita. You will get much more insight. I connected him with the devotees over there.
I didn't tell him about because he told me to keep this private, not mention his name to others. But, I also write daily on the Gita, on gitadaily.com. I told him he could read that also. And every year when I come to America, I try to meet him if I go to that university.
So last year when I had come to America, he met me again. He told me that I went through exactly similar situation. Again I was in relationship with a girl and she just sent a message breaking up and she said that, I don't want to talk with you.
I am going to block you. So he said, as soon as I got that message, I just went numb for some time. Then, he said, I went straight to my room.
I locked the door, bolted the windows, turned off the lights, pulled out the curtains and he liked to sing. So, he had a violin and he liked to sing Hare Krishna. So, he picked up the violin and he started singing Hare Krishna.
And he said, for 6 hours continuously I was singing. I was calling out to Krishna. He said, those 6 hours, I felt as if I was being held in a divine presence.
I felt as if some sublime light was bathing me with it. That moment which could have been the most depressing moment of my life, it became one of the most enriching experiences of my life. So, this is the transformative power of devotion.
For whatever reason, the relationship breakup happened. It happened once, it happened second time. But, that was we could say destined.
But his response changed completely. First time he wanted to become, he was almost suicidal. Second time he became spiritual.
So, we all have the capacity to choose our responses. And our spiritual practises help us to choose healthier responses. And in that way, even if destiny hands us a rod eel, we can still make the best out of it.
So, life or you could say destiny determines our problems. But we determine the size of those problems. When we keep obsessing over those problems, they become bigger and bigger.
But if we take shelter of Krishna, then he can guide us to go through those problems and to grow through those problems. So, when destiny hands us a rod eel, instead of telling God how big our problems are, this problem, this problem, why don't you solve it? Instead of telling God how big our problems are, let us tell our problems how big God is. And take shelter of Him.
And then, no matter what destiny sends our way, the Lord of destiny will guide us through it towards eternal spiritual safety. So, I'll summarise. I spoke about what happens to us is destiny.
How we respond to it is determined by us. So, destiny like an ocean, we want to go in a particular direction, the ocean may sweep us away sometimes. But afterwards, when the ocean becomes calm, we can still keep moving.
So, destiny determines our situations and our emotions. We determine our intentions and our actions. So, what is destiny? It is simply the karma which we have accumulated from our past, which we did not get reaction in the past.
Every action is like a seed that we sow. It gives results. But some results come immediately, like some seeds fructify immediately.
So, how do results come? Duty plus destiny plus duration leads to the desired result. So, by our past karma accumulated as destiny, we get a particular kind of body and a particular kind of mind. And a particular set of circumstances coming in our life is determined.
But we can choose how we respond. So, the outer scene and the inner screen, what appears on both is determined by destiny. But what we choose to focus on is determined by us.
So, when problems come, we can get worried, we can get depressed or we can choose to focus on connecting with Krishna and striving to serve Krishna. And if we do that, then even the most depressing, distressing situations, they may come, but they will be transformed into enriching experiences for us. Thank you very much.
Hare Krishna. You can select. Are our actions cancelled by our destiny? Actions are not cancelled.
The actions translating into results may not happen. As I said, duty, our actions are a part of duty. We always do that.
But the result, if we have done that, if the result comes or not, that may be determined by destiny. So, our actions, if we have done a good action, the result will come eventually. But destiny will determine whether the result comes right away or it may come later.
So, actions don't get cancelled, thus the results don't get manifested. So, we have a lot of questions. Next one is, can we determine destiny by ourselves? Can we determine destiny by ourselves? In terms of what future we create for ourselves, yes, we can.
In terms of what the future is going to bring to us, that we can't. So, destiny means that certain situations are going to happen to us, we may not be able to change that. But how we respond to it and thereby how we create a future for ourselves, that's up to us.
So, a storm is going to come on my path. Now, I may panic in the storm and I may hit a tree and may injure myself. Or, I may drive calmly, safely and negotiate the storm.
So, destiny in terms of what is going to happen to us, we can't change that. But destiny in terms of what result eventually comes to us, whether we grow through the situation or get crushed by the situation, that is something which we can change. How can life and death be incorporated in the 4D theory? Okay.
How can life and death be incorporated? Basically, the body is like a house for the soul. So, just as if we rent a house, we sign a contract and we pay a particular amount of money and say this house, you can stay in this house for the next 5 years or 10 years. So, like that, based on our past karma, by the destiny that we have created in the past, we get a particular body and we get a particular duration to stay in that body.
So, the duration that we stay in the body is determined, the kind of body we get and the duration for which we stay in it, that is determined by destiny. But within that body, what we do, how we act, that is up to us. We can act spiritually and get liberated.
We can act in other ways and stay entangled in this world. Yes? The next question is, destiny created a situation and I reacted in a particular response after my choice. So, how do I verify that I have reacted correctly to the opportunity that destiny created for me? So, if in a particular situation created by destiny, I react in a particular way, how do I know whether my response is right? Actually, life doesn't come with any guarantee of right responses.
So, we just make the best response and we see how it moves forwards. In a sense, there is no absolutely right or wrong responses. The Mahabharata describes that the rightness or wrongness of actions can be determined in three ways.
The intent, the content and the consequence. The intent, why did I do this? The content, what exactly did I do? Normally, speaking lies is bad. But if speaking a lie may save someone's life, then I should speak that because the intention is good.
Sometimes, with the knowledge that I have, I make a decision with a good intention, with a good analysis, but then some other factors come into the picture and the consequence turns out to be wrong, unwanted. Then I may decide, okay, that action was not good. So, we are not, the world may judge us by the results of our actions, but Krishna ultimately judges us by the thought that we put into the action and the action that we did.
So, we don't have to get too much into this whole zone of the mind where we keep second-guessing ourselves, was my decision right or wrong? We do the best thinking that we can in that situation and arrive at a decision. And if we have done our internal homework in terms of analysing and deliberating, then we will ourselves get the red signal, okay, this is turning out to be a wrong decision. We'll make the course correction.
If it turns out to be right, we'll move forwards. So, basically, we just do our due thinking and arrive at a decision. And in time, it will turn out whether it is the best decision or something else would have been the best.
In general, if we are, the more spiritual we are, the more connected with Krishna we are, the more, the less there is an inner fog which makes us take mistaken decisions. And the more we'll be able to take better decisions. That's often a difficult question, right, how to make the proper decision.
So, the next question is what is our destiny in spiritual life? What is our destiny in spiritual life? Ultimately, we are all destined to return to Krishna and to be with him for a life of eternal love and eternal joy. Now, that destiny is what Krishna wants for all of us. Now, we have to cooperate with him for that.
So, to the extent we choose to practise spiritual life intensely, to that extent, we will go straight towards that destiny. And while going towards that destiny, in this world, also we'll contribute. Bhagavad Gita gives the example that yatha nadinam bahuam uvega.
Just as rivers flow towards the ocean, similarly we are meant to flow towards Krishna straight. And when the river is flowing towards the ocean, along the way also it provides so much water to so many people. So, like that, when we try to serve Krishna to the best of our capacity, not only we will get the best result at the end of our lives, but also in this life we'll make constructive contributions.
But Krishna's plan is so wonderful, so inclusive, that even if we don't take the straight path to him, even if we take wrong turns, still, Krishna keeps guiding us. It's like, say, Google gives us the easiest, straightest path to a particular destination. But if we take a wrong turn, Google reroutes and again gives us a path.
If we take one more wrong turn, Google will reroute and give another path. So, like that, our spiritual destiny will ultimately be fulfilled. But, and Krishna, wherever, however wrong turns we take, Krishna will take us to him.
But, how long it will take, will be determined whether we take the straight path or we take many other turns along the way. So, in spiritual life, the destiny is known. And it is also your own, right? Yes, that is the ultimate destiny.
Okay, here's a question from the Mahabharata. Was Karna from Mahabharata a victim of destiny or did he act according to his gunas? Was Karma a victim of destiny or did he act according to his gunas or his nature? Yes. In some ways, all of us are victims of destiny.
Karna was a character who was born in a virtuous family, in a royal family. But, he was given away and he was brought up by a family who was not in royalty. And that's why he did not get the respect of royalty.
So, you could say that that part of his life was, he was a victim of destiny. But, then if we look at the Mahabharata, the Pandavas, at one level they were also victims of destiny. They were born in a royal family, but when they were small children, their father passed away.
And then, they were thrust into a family under the care of an uncle who was basically a part of a conspiracy to have all of them killed. And for no fault of theirs, they had to tolerate being poisoned, being burned alive, being dishonoured. So, life gives a raw deal to everyone.
It is not that Karna alone got a raw deal. The Pandavas also got a raw deal. Not in the exact same way, but in a different way.
So, now, Karna's actions in response, yes, some of his actions were understandable. He always resented that he did not get the recognition that he deserved as a warrior. But at the same time, he sometimes overreacted.
He said, hurt people, hurt people. So, Karna was hurt because he did not get the due honour. Then he acted vindictively and he hurt others.
So, it was unfortunately Karna who suggested. When Draupadi was brought to the assembly, at that time, Karna suggested that dishonour Draupadi. This was a ghastly suggestion that he gave.
And yes, he might have felt earlier dishonoured by Draupadi because she rejected his offer. She did not want to marry him. But, what he did was completely disproportionate and ghastly.
So, that is, we can say that his resentment, that was understandable. But we can't say that whatever he did in terms of participating actively and instigating the dishonouring of Draupadi, that was something which he did by misuse of his free will. So, he got the consequence for that.
So, destiny gives a raw deal to all of us and in fact, all the scriptures frequently talk about how to respond to integrity when life gives us undeserved adversity. Ram, he was just living a virtuous life and suddenly for no reason he was exiled. But Ram did not react by becoming vindictive.
He was deprived of the kingdom that he deserved. But he did not respond by becoming vindictive. Unfortunately, Karna, he became vindictive and he acted in quite a quite an evil way at that particular time.
So, for those of you who don't know, Prabhuji has a tremendous course on the Mahabharata. If anybody is interested, you can sign up for it, talk to him about it later. So, why are devotees afraid of the future even though they are devotees of Krishna? So, why are devotees afraid of the future even if they are devotees of Krishna? Well, I am right now afraid what question is going to come next.
Spiritualising ourselves does not mean dehumanising ourselves. Just being a human being means that certain emotions are going to come. So, fear is just a natural human response to uncertainty.
Especially uncertainty that is very serious and consequential for us. So now, as devotees, we do know that Krishna is with us. But it is not that the future is clearly charted out for us.
It is that we have to, whatever situation comes, we have to try to respond in a devotional way to that. And whether we will respond or not, that uncertainty might be there. So, fear itself is not bad.
Fear can be a protector from danger. If a child is peering down from a 10-storey building, the child does not feel fear. The mother will feel great fear.
What are you doing? Come back! So, fear is not bad. Fearfulness can be bad. So, as devotees, fear as a natural response to danger may come.
But that fear makes a devotee take greater shelter of Krishna. And okay, I do not know what the future will bring, but let me take shelter of Krishna. Even as devotees, we do not know what the future holds.
But we do know who holds the future. So, if we just worry about the future, that will cause uncertainty. But if you remember that Krishna is in control of the future, and if our fear about the future makes us take shelter of Krishna more and more, then that fear will become spiritually positive.
Because it will inspire us to become more devoted to Krishna. Our actions in previous life determine the outcome in this life. And our actions in this life determine what kind of life we will have in our next life.
Does this mean that we can determine our destiny through our actions? Yes. Can we, if our present destiny is determined by past actions and future destiny will be determined by present actions, does it mean that we determine our destiny? Yes. We determine our destiny in terms of the karma that we create for the future.
But in the future also, some past karma might be executed. So, if we consider karma to be like a tank. So, a tank of water, in which water is going in from one side, water is coming out from the other side.
So, the whole water tank, accumulate water in it is called the Sanchit Karma, the accumulated karma. The actions that we are doing right now, that is like the water going into the tank, that is called the Kriyaman Karma, the action that we are doing. And the results that we are getting right now, that is like the Prarabdha Karma.
That is the results that are coming to us. So, now, by the actions that we are doing, if we are doing good actions, then we are putting in good water into the tank. But we don't know how much water is already there in the tank.
So, in that sense, even if we were doing good actions for a good amount of time, still there might be some dirty water or contaminated water from the past and that will also come out. So, the best thing that we can do is that we can try to become devoted to Krishna. Because Krishna takes us beyond this phase of action and reaction, beyond this world of action and reaction to his eternal abode.
So, Krishna will help us to tolerate whatever distresses come during our life journey and ultimately, he will enable us to transcend the world itself. Is committing suicide also destiny? Is committing suicide destined? No. Facing situations which are very distressful is destined.
But how we respond to it is up to us. So, basically, I was at a mental health care hospital a few months ago and I gave a talk. After that, I was talking with the care providers and they told me that we all have certain impulses.
See, all of us when things go wrong, we become angry. But now, different people express their anger in different ways. Some people may just give everyone as a silent treatment, not talk with anyone.
Some people may just become irritable and snap at others. Some people may just explode. Some people may actually become physical and start attacking others.
Some people may take a gun and shoot others. Now, anger or that provocating situation in terms of a situation that made us angry, that is not in our control. But how we respond is a wide spectrum to that.
So, basically, the distressing situation coming in our life is not in our control. But certain impulsive responses may come up within us based on the nature that we have. But if we have practised spirituality or if we have a cultured upbringing where we know the value of life, then we won't become self-destructive at that time.
The nature of materialistic worldview is that we tend to, at one level, glamorise material life but at another level, we tend to trivialise life itself. Okay, life is not worth it. Just end it.
So, if you don't have that trivialisation, if you understand that life is sacred, life is a gift from God, and I am meant to use it, even if distresses come, let me tolerate it. Let me get the strength to go through it. If we have that understanding through our spiritual growth, then even when situations come which may make us suicidal, instead of becoming suicidal, we can become spiritual.
So, suicide is never destined. Suicide-inducing situations may be destined, but our responses are what we can choose. It's a very complex discussion here.
The next question is, how do I stop unnecessary worry? How do I stop unnecessary worry? I am writing a book on this topic. Basically, I use a four-point formula. I call it FEAR.
It's an acronym. F-E-A-R First is focus. Focus means, this may go wrong, that may go wrong, that may go wrong.
Focus, what is the exact problem right now? So, I go in my office, my boss gives a strange look and I think, is my boss going to fire me? What is going to happen? So, what happens is, focus. What is the exact problem? I told earlier that the inner screen goes on in the future and starts worrying. So, focus means what is the exact problem? Just keep asking yourself the question.
What is the exact problem right now? Then that gives us something. I have not completed my assignment. I have not completed what my boss wanted me to do.
Then that gives us engagement. What can I do about it right now? See, basically worry is when the mind gets disconnected from the present and goes into the future. So, by these two things, focus and engage, we get the mind to the present.
Engagement is what can I do about it right now? So, okay. One, two, three. These are things I can do.
What if I get some cancer in future? Okay. What is the exact problem right now? Hey, I am just feeling a little pain in my hand. What can I do about it? I will wait for some time and if it persists, tomorrow I will go to doctor and check.
So, when things are a haze, they just burden us. But when we cut them down to specifics, it's like worry basically attacks by just making a problem appear very, very big. But we just cut it down by these two questions.
I have to eat a watermelon, I can't eat it. But I cut it into pieces, I can eat it. So, focus and engage brings us to the present.
That is in the mode of goodness. Worry is largely a characteristic of the mode of ignorance. So, by these two questions, we bring ourselves to the mode of goodness.
Then A is arise. Arise means that raise the consciousness to the spiritual level. I am a soul, I am indestructible.
Whatever problems come, they are not going to hurt me. So, that arise means we raise our consciousness to spiritual level. Just remember that I am spiritual and we may chant the holy names or we may do some other process to raise our consciousness to spiritual level.
But that will give us further security. And then R is release. Release means that there are some things which are not in our control.
So, we need to let go of them. And how do we release it? By understanding that things that are not in our control are not out of control. They are in Krishna's control.
So, let me let go of this. So, when we let go of the things that are not in our control, paradoxically, that gives us strength to hold on to the things that are in our control, to focus on doing that which we can do. So, when we release, that means, when we arise, we go to the spiritual, transcendental level.
When we release, we go to the devotional level where we become connected with Krishna and thus we can experience security even amidst that uncertainty. We'll take the last question here. Can we take shelter of the Lord by crying out to Him and therefore change our destiny? By taking shelter of Krishna, can we change our destiny? Yeah, definitely.
Basically, we can say that destiny comes to us, our Krishna bhakti changes our destiny in four ways. So, as I said that, sometimes the destiny may come as things that happen to us in the physical level and the emotions that come within us at the internal level, at the mental level. So, the first thing that the process of bhakti does is, it gives us the knowledge of right and wrong, not only knowledge of material and spiritual.
And that knowledge itself increases, it gives us a map. It's like, suppose I'm blindfolded and I'm beaten up. I don't even know how to defend myself, I don't know what to do.
But when we get spiritual knowledge, okay, I'm a soul, I'm caught in this world and I need to become spiritual. That is like the blindfolds come off. Still the beating may happen, but at least I know what is happening.
So, we get the knowledge of what is the best course of action for us, in a broad sense. And we should practise bhakti, we should become spiritual. We understand what is right and wrong, what is bad karma and that will give bad consequences.
So, that is the first protection that comes from bhakti. So, ignorance is also, you can say, ignorance is also a result of destiny. Because in the past I acted with spiritual ignorance, now I was born and brought up in spiritual ignorance again.
But, if Krishna comes in my life through his devotees and gives me spiritual knowledge, that itself protects me from the ignorance. The second is, even if I have knowledge, I may still have some unwanted desires. I may still get angry, I may still get negative, I may still get lusty, whatever.
But, by the practise of bhakti, we get purified. So, the default tendencies in the mind that are there, the capacity to change them increases by bhakti. So, bhakti offers this internal protection in terms of knowledge and taste, knowledge and healthier taste.
Externally, there are many problems which Krishna may just remove. See, Prabhupada said to have said that once a devotee was cutting sabji for Krishna, cutting vegetables, and his finger got cut. And the devotee asked Prabhupada, Prabhupada, when I was serving Krishna, why did my finger get cut? Prabhupada said, actually, your neck was meant to be cut.
But, Krishna minimised the reaction. So, we actually don't know what the future holds. So, Krishna can minimise the karmic reactions also.
So, in that sense, also, the destiny can be changed. And, most importantly, Krishna can give us from inside the strength to tolerate the distressful situations that may come by destiny. So, I'll conclude with the example which is to illustrate this.
Suppose, there is a child who goes to school, and the teacher is very strict. So, the child doesn't do homework, and the teacher, show your hand, the teacher beats with a stick. Now, the mother knows, my child has not done the homework today.
The mother doesn't want the child to be punished. At the same time, the mother doesn't want the child to be irresponsible. So, when the child is going to school, what the mother does is, she puts on a nice, thick glow on the child's hands.
And then, the child goes to school. So then, the teacher says, have you done your homework? No. Show your hands.
A loud noise comes. The stick hits, but the stick does not hurt. Similarly, for us, we are like that child, Krishna is like the mother.
And, the laws of karma, the system of justice, material nature, is like the teacher. Sometimes, some reactions are going to come by our karma. But what Krishna does is, Krishna gives us his remembrance.
Krishna gives us the opportunity to absorb ourselves in him. That is Krishna consciousness. If we become conscious of Krishna, then that is like the glow around our consciousness.
And that shields us from the impact of the distress. The distress may come, but the distress won't hurt us so much. So, if the child thinks, what is the need for this glow? The child just takes out the glow and throws it away.
Then, the blows will hit. But if we take shelter of Krishna, that even if problems come, Krishna, that remembrance of Krishna gives us the strength to tolerate those problems. And, not only tolerate, actually we can grow spiritually through those problems.
So, about 7-8 years ago, in our temple in Mumbai, in Juhu, I was in the early morning chanting, and I was walking, somebody had spilled water on the floor. I just slipped on that floor. It was a minor slip, but because my legs were already weak because of polio, I just fell and had a severe fracture.
So, the leg already had osteoporosis. So, because of that, almost 3-4th of the thigh bone got broken. So, at that time, I was in great pain.
Okay, I'll tell later and I'll come back to this. So, I have a friend since my school days who has been an atheist. And he always tried, you know, you are doing a wrong thing by devoting yourself to God.
So, when this happened, he wrote a letter to me. And he said, see, you were in the temple of God, chanting the names of God, and he couldn't protect you from this accident. What is the use of worshipping such a God? So, I wrote back to him that actually, at that time, when I fell, I wrote an article about it, titled, Do You Still Believe in God? So, I wrote that when I fell, it was immense pain, kind of pain I had never experienced in my life.
And somehow, I am very connected with the Bhagavad Gita. So, whenever I have any distress, I try to chant the Gita's verses. So, at that time, suddenly I just started chanting the Gita's verses.
And it was almost magical. As I started chanting the Gita's verses, I felt as if the pain was not there. And then, even to take a breath, if I stopped chanting, stopped reciting the verses, I could feel the pain.
So, it was just, I tried to absorb myself, and it was not out of devotion, it was out of situation. Just to avoid pain, not because I was attracted to the Bhagavad Gita, but it took several hours, by the time, we thought it was a minor fall, but then the pain continued, and then we went to do an X-ray, and then they found that it was a serious fracture, then we went to a hospital. So, throughout it all, I was just constantly trying to recite the Bhagavad Gita's verses.
And finally, when I got to the hospital, the doctor said that, I said, okay, I've got a fracture. He said, okay, let us do an X-ray. He said, no, the X-ray is already done.
So, when you look at the X-ray, he says, this cannot be your X-ray. I said, what do you mean? He says, a person with this much fracture is screaming in pain. So, it is not, I am not saying this to say that I am spiritually advanced.
I am not. I am struggling sadhaka. He is saying, at that time, just by the reciting of the Gita's verses, I found that the consciousness got absorbed.
And many of us also, in distressful situations, if we compare, that same distress, if it had come to us before we were practising bhakti, and that same distress comes to us after we practise bhakti, it is not that the distress will go away, but our response can become much healthier. And that protection is something which you can surely get by the practise of bhakti. So, in that sense, if we expect that Krishna will remove all problems in our life because we have taken shelter of him, that may or may not happen.
But, Krishna will be with us, helping us to deal with those problems. Krishna is actually always with us, but by the process of bhakti, we learn to be with him. And when we learn to be with him, then whatever problem comes, he will help us to go through it.
So, I put it this way, whatever karma may get us to, Krishna will get us through. Whatever karma may get us to, Krishna will get us through. Thank you very much.
Hare Krishna.