Do intellectuals find it more difficult to love Krishna?

Thank you. Consciousness is essentially the soul. When we are in the conditioned state, our heart may be invested in worldly things.

So, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says, mora manna vrindavan. That means, we could say our emotions, they can come from, the consciousness originates from the soul and the emotions also originate from the soul. They cannot be present without the soul being present.

But, depending on our attachments, which are stored in our mind, we feel emotions about certain things and we don't feel emotions about certain things. So, if somebody is very attached to cricket, then the impressions regarding cricket are stored in their mind. And they feel a lot of emotions associated with the ups and downs of a cricket match.

So, now these emotions have got nothing to do with the soul. So, we could say that the heart, which is the seat of emotions, it is meant to be the soul, but in the conditioned stage, often it is the mind that is the seat of emotions. So, in the conditioned stage, if somebody is very attached to cricket, not so much attached to Krishna, although the soul can have an eternal relationship with Krishna, but the person may not experience any emotions in relationship with Krishna, but may experience a lot of emotions in relationship with cricket.

So, basically we could say that, I use the example of center of mass and center of gravity. If an object is properly aligned, then its center of mass and center of gravity are the same. Like the earth is slightly tilted.

So, then the center of mass may differ from the center of gravity. So, we could say that our center of being is the soul. That is who we are essentially.

But in the conditioned stage, because of our attachments, our center of being shifts from the soul to the mind and we experience most emotions in relationship with the mind. So, in the present stage, when we say, some people are more rational, some people are more emotional, some people are more head, some people are more heart, actually in all this, the soul is not directly involved. So, it is that the mind, which is the seat of our conditioned emotions and the head, which is the seat of our conditioned intelligence, both of them are engaged in our day-to-day actions in a different proportion based on whether we are more rational or more emotional.

So, both being emotional and being rational are features of conditioned nature and any conditioned feature has its pluses and minuses. So, those who are more emotional can naturally feel emotions when they connect with Krishna. So, Srila Prabhupada also says that women, normally they come more for any religious programs because they have that tendency to have emotions and then if they come to religious programs, they offer their emotions to the Lord also.

But then, that emotionality, which is good in the sense, if it is directed properly, but if it is not balanced by rationality, they also equally easily get misdirected to something else. So, people can just become sentimental and they may worship anybody. They may worship people who claim to be God or whatever else.

So, sentiments, a more of a hard kind of person can connect with Krishna well, but may be undiscerning and connect with others also well or may get devoted to someone else also. Conversely, those who are rational more, that means their head dominates more than the heart, they will be more discerning and they will not get misled so easily. But at the same time, they will not be led also so easily.

So, it will require lot of convincing for them. And sometimes, you could say that in some people emotions come too fast and in others emotions come too slow and both can be a problem. If a loved one passes away and the bereaved are constantly crying and they are not stopping only, that is not so good.

Grieving is required, but eventually one has to go beyond the grief. But somebody doesn't cry at all, somebody doesn't feel any emotions at all, that could also be a problem because then they may become hard-hearted or stone-hearted. So, beyond both the rationality and the emotional nature is our spirituality.

So, in our spirituality, the soul, Krishna many times says, you offer your mind and your intelligence to me, that means you offer your emotionality and your rationality to me and thus you will come to me. So, ultimately, when we are at a spiritual level connected with Krishna, then both rational and emotional aspects will be blended together in a way that is pleasing to Krishna and is fulfilling to our hearts. So, in Vrindavan, we could say that the rational aspect goes down considerably.

The devotees are mostly absorbed in love for Krishna. But even in their love for Krishna, the devotees are not so carried away by their emotions as to not serve Krishna properly. Radharani wants to cook for Krishna and she is filled with love for Krishna.

But she is not so covered with emotions that she is not careful about how she is cooking. So, there is, the principle is that emotions are good, discernment is good, but most important is how best we can serve Krishna. So, that principle applies in the spiritual world also.

There is a description of pastime and nectar of devotion that Chitrak and Patrak who are Krishna's servants, when they are fanning Krishna, they feel his form so beautiful in their eyes and they start cursing those tears because those tears are preventing them from seeing Krishna and they can't see where Krishna is sweating and where they should fan. So, the concern primarily is how best can I serve Krishna. Similarly, for us, in the spiritual world, the principle is we want to serve Krishna.

Emotions are good, but our practical service also has to go on. So, applying that same principle that one is good and other is bad, that the emotional nature is good and the rational is bad, whatever reacher we have, we use it in Krishna's service. And to some extent, those who are more rational, they may have more questions, they may have more doubts, they may have a need for greater philosophical analysis and then they have to find out like-minded devotees with whom they will be understood and they will be able to practice Bhakti accordingly.

Those who tend to be more emotional, they too need to find out like-minded association so that their emotionality can be channeled devotionally. It is true that in some places, it is said that if your intelligence is too much, that, Kunti Maharani says that one who has lot of intelligence among four things, like that, then they cannot call out to Krishna. So, if our rationality makes us proud of our intellectual capacities and makes us feel that we no longer need Krishna, then that can become an obstacle.

But rather than just thinking that this is a disadvantage, we can be aware of the potential problems of our rational nature and then focus on using it in Krishna's service. Especially, we could say that rationality is often a necessary bridge for rational people to come to spirituality. That means, those people who have a good rational intelligence, they can also share Krishna's message in a rational way and that's how they will be able to attract people to Krishna.

So, they themselves have a greater need for rational analysis, but they can also serve that need for others once they themselves have become convinced. Similarly, those who are emotional, they can actually connect with Krishna at a personal level, they can connect with people at a personal level and as long as their emotions don't make them too vulnerable to moodiness or the mind's ups and downs, if they can keep that emotionality within limits, then that emotionality can also become a forceful current that can take them and others towards Krishna.