Even if we can’t be on the same page as God, be at least in the same book
Hare Krishna.
We should be in the same book. We should be on the same page. That means, idiomatically, to be in agreement, or to be in a generally similar thought pattern, or a generally similar opinion.
Now, actually, when we go through our life journey, we often face different situations, and based on situations, based on experiences, our opinions get moulded in different ways. So, when our opinions are moulded in particular ways, at that time, we may get certain ideas about certain books. They should be like this, or like this.
And that is like that. And we can't deny the reality that our opinions get shaped by particular things, by our experiences. And yet, we also need to acknowledge that our experiences are not necessarily the ultimate reality.
Many times, our experiences cheat us. They don't necessarily give us the complete picture of reality. Sometimes, our experiences may give us partial understandings.
So, for example, if we meet a person who is normally gentle and amiable, but they are at a very hard day, and there happens to be an irritable mood on that particular day, which is very exceptional, then we may get an impression that they are irritable. But actually, they are not. So, our experiences, we can't deny.
We have experienced them. But, to say that our experiences alone shape reality, or they alone, they are the reality. So, our experiences shape our perception of reality.
No doubt about that. But our experiences are not the reality itself. Because there can be many other things happening beyond our experiences also, which we are not aware of.
Which we have not even thought about. Therefore, it's important for us to recognise that we all need to be a part of our spiritual processes, by which we will be able to move towards Krishna, and we need to have openness to understanding things from his perspective as revealed in scripture. So, for example, Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita initially has an opinion that is different from Krishna's.
Krishna wanted him to fight, and he said, I will not fight. Krishna started speaking his message. And at that time, Arjuna started understanding.
Arjuna sometimes did not accept it immediately. For example, Krishna tells at one level that I spoke this knowledge to Sun God. Arjuna asked, how is it possible? Sun God is older than you.
Similarly, when Arjuna understands that actually, Arjuna is told in this chapter that the best way to control the mind is to do yoga. He objects, this doesn't seem practical. How can I keep my mind in equanimity? So, he does conclude in the Bhagavad Gita with the words of Krishna, I will do yoga.
So, there is agreement. That agreement, however, comes at the end of the Bhagavad Gita. Along the way, there are discussions.
There is no such difference of opinion where Arjuna walks away from Krishna. So, sometimes, specific things that happen in our life, we may just not be able to understand why they are happening. So, we may face distress, we may face reversals, and we may feel, why is this happening? I am trying to serve Krishna and this is simply making my life more difficult.
So, why is this happening at all? So, we may see no point in it. And, at that time, it is really quite difficult to see Krishna's benevolence. To be on the same page as Krishna means, to be broadly having faith in that Krishna is benevolent and that what is happening is for our good.
It may not specifically be good. Bad things do happen in life, but it is for good. And, as we move on, over time, we start realising that whatever Krishna is doing, it is for… we will realise in due course of time that whatever is for Krishna's good is by Krishna's plan for our good.
So, sometimes, when specific things go wrong, they may evoke negative emotions within us, and we may feel frustrated, we may feel agitated, we may feel exasperated, we may just not feel like doing anything at that time, just feel like giving up. But, if we are at least in the same book as Krishna, that means, we accept that Krishna is still my well-wisher, even if I don't specifically understand how. Even if in a specific situation, we are unable to see how Krishna's plan is working for our good, if still we maintain the overall faith that Krishna is my well-wisher, that what Krishna does is ultimately for my good, and if that faith is just born in our life, that generic faith, even if we can't see the specific good that Krishna is going to bring about from a specific situation, then, we can still be in the same book as Krishna.
It's possible that certain situations may challenge us specifically, when bad things happen. It's not that you have to somehow imagine bad things to be good. When bad things happen, they happen.
We have it in Bhagavatam. Even Bhishma, acknowledging the misfortunes that have befallen the Pandavas throughout their lives. Oh, what a distress! What injustice has befallen you! And he analyses various reasons why that injustice may have befallen.
And he concludes by saying that it is ultimately the will of the Lord. So, it's an inconceivable plan of the Lord, which is for everyone's good. So, what it means is that he is acknowledging that what happened was unfortunate.
What happened was distressful. He even uses the word Anya. It's unfair.
It's significant that at that particular point, Bhishma does not use the reasoning of past karma and tell the Pandavas that all your students have suffered because of your past karma. It is not unjust. Now, he knows the principles of past karma.
But, when people are in distress, when we are in distress, and others are in distress, at that time, talks of karma are not adequate. They are neither adequate nor appropriate for offering emotional solace or strength. he does use the word Anya.
From this life's perspective, it was definitely injustice that happened to the Pandavas. And they had to live with it. So, life, as we said, is unfair.
Get used to it. Even if we say that yes, what happens to us is by our past karma. And in the karmic sense, extended over multiple lifetimes, life is fair.
But, it doesn't seem like that to us from this precise perspective. And, when life seems unfair, at that time, we do have to acknowledge that that feeling is undeniable. And, just trying to force people to deny the feeling by telling them that it is their past karma, that doesn't help much.
So, we have to overhead our thoughts and our analysis in such a way that it strengthens us, not that it cripples us. So, if we demoralise and on top of that we are told that oh, you are a sinful wretch, and that sort of thing demoralises us further. I think it's better that we think not in terms of powers and fullness, we can think in terms of God's gracefulness, God's graciousness, God's mercifulness, God's benevolence.
He is omnipotent in fact. And, we can have the faith that Krishna will bring good even out of the bad, even if right now the bad is happening. So, this can, this approach of being in the same book as Krishna, being in the same book means, for example, scriptures talk about God and His benevolence.
विदं सर्वभूर्तानं या त्वामां शान्तिविच्छति Krishna says that when we understand that those who understand that He is the eternal well-wisher, He is the greatest well-wisher, then, after that, that understanding will bring great deep peace. या त्वामां शान्तिविच्छति So, the only way we can move towards that peace is by, because life and all these things are going to go wrong. And, we can't deny, we can't wish away with the resentful or the negative feelings that come, the stressful feelings that come on us when things go wrong.
But, by looking up to Krishna with faith, we can gain the strength to tolerate and transcend the immediate distress and persevere in our emotion. So, faith in Krishna's benevolence helps us have this positive, faithful attitude. That is the meaning of being on the same page as Krishna.
Or rather, at least being on the same page would mean that when something happens, we are immediately able to see, oh, why is this happening? So, Parashar Niharajan was cursed. At that time, he immediately was able to make sense of that curse. Although it was unfair, making sense was that I was attached and the Lord has made His arrangement to free me from attachment.
And by making sense in that way, he was able to make peace. He was able to come to peace to himself. So, understanding that this curse, although from the immediate sense of view, it was not at all fair the curse to die just because of a minor disrespect.
That was not at all fair that somebody should be sentenced to death for that. But he was able to make sense and he was able to come on the same page as Krishna. Sometimes it's difficult, but at least we can be in the same book, having faith that Krishna is our well-wisher.
…individuals, Krishna is an individual. So, because we are individuals, we can't always be expected to think in entirely the same way as Krishna. Of course, not just because we are individuals, but also that He is infinite.
And we are finite. So, given our finitude and His infinitude, we cannot possibly understand the ways in which His intelligence works. We cannot understand His plan.
At the same time, we have to live our life and we have to use our God-given intelligence to make decisions. when something disastrous has happened to us, and at that time we are not just emotionally distressed, but we are also practically perplexed. That means we don't know what to do in the situation.
We had a particular plan about what we were going to do. And suddenly, because of some reversal, because of something going unexpectedly and even disastrously wrong, we just don't know what to do. So, when we are perplexed, it's not that easy to deal with that, even if the confusion at an emotional level we can address.
The confusion at a practical level, what am I going to do? How do we address that? So, that is where our service attitude comes into the picture. We understand Krishna. We accept Krishna.
Whatever happens, I am your servant. I am going to serve you. Please, O Lord, guide me as to how best I can serve you.
So, that service attitude will calm us down. That service attitude is like a torchlight. It shows us the way ahead and suddenly the path becomes dark because of the adversity that has befallen us.
Being on the same page, being in the same book as Krishna means, at least in essential, broad conclusions, we accept the reality that Krishna, I am your servant and I am going to serve you. Please, O Lord, guide me. What is the service that I can do in this situation? That prayerful, devotional disposition geared towards practical action we will find that I can take small steps forward.
Like when it goes dark, when it suddenly goes dark on the road that we are going through, we can see way ahead of us. At least we can see a small flashlight with us. With that we can see one step ahead.
So, like that, when we are bewildered and perplexed, then that service I can do. Krishna, how can I serve you? What can I do? At the very least, when we don't know what to do, we can just pray to Krishna. We can just chant His holy names.
We can immerse ourselves in remembering His message and His constants. And that will give us the conviction that something is still right, even if this big thing is wrong. What is this that's right? That remembrance of Krishna still provides shelter.
That by trying to fix my consciousness on Him, I can still experience peace, I can still experience joy. That understanding will enable us to gain some calmness. Just as when a storm comes in an ocean and the ship is there, the storm can cause the ship to go here and there and everywhere.
But if I am in the storm, the person feels that actually something is working. Okay. The steering wheel is working and I can take, I can move the ship in this direction or that direction.
Or at least we can manage to get to some land or we have some anchor by which we can steady ourselves. So, that anchor doesn't make the storm go away. The anchor makes the storm manageable.
Similarly, Krishna becomes like our anchor when we face storms in our life. And it brings some stability. All of us need, when life becomes unstable, we need some stability.
And Krishna can be that stability if we have service attitude. If we don't have service attitude, if we have that controlling mind, if we have that mindset that things should work according to my plan only and why are they not following my plan? Then, we are expecting or demanding that the storm stop instead of simply trying to see whether the anchor can stabilise us. The storm will stop in its own course.
It may take time. Until such time, what can we do? We simply need to be patient and perseverant. We need to accept the reality as it exists and take steps from that point onwards.
From that fundamental acceptance, we move on. Okay, this is what has happened. And this is what I can do to deal with it.
So, when we work with such acceptance, even if we don't see a solution immediately, we see a solution essentially. Let me just hold on to the anchor till the storm goes away. Bad things happen.
Bad things are like storms. Sometimes, when storms can batter, a ship quite badly. But if the anchor, the ship is anchored, the amount of damage will be much lesser.
And a storm, no matter how deadly it may be, no storm lasts forever. Storms come and storms go. On the temporality of storms, then again, we won't let ourselves get inordinately disturbed when storms start going off in the, when storms start going off and storms cause turbulence for us.
We just wait out the storms rather than getting worked up by the storms. Of course, we will be worked up on the simple fact that a storm has come. But we won't become panicky and feel fearful and dreadful that everything has gone wrong and our life is crumbling now.
We will stay calm and faithful recognising that at least we have the anchor that we can hold on to. And if we just hold on to that anchor, things will slowly resolve themselves. We don't have to expect at the moment that everything will resolve itself immediately.
That will help us to find the anchor and to hold on to that anchor. So, when we face adversities, the question, why is this happening, that can take us out of the same page that we have Krishna, Manu's same page. It may even be out of the same book.
Obviously, that question will come to us. And we can use our God-given intelligence to find the reason whenever we can. But when no reason seems to be forthcoming, insisting on asking the right question simply sets us up for more and more frustration.
Because the right question just sometimes has no answer. Looking at the storm and demanding, why is the storm not stopping? When is the storm going to stop? Why is the storm not stopping? And why is the storm coming at all? That question, with all due respects, is just useless. Because we are powerless in trying to stop the storm.
And the how question, Krishna, how can I serve you in this situation? The how question is the answer. It helps us shift our focus from where we are to from the storm to the anchor. How can we anchor ourselves in this situation? How can we move on in this situation of anchoring ourselves? A positive focus is actually very important when we face adversity in life.
One of the greatest causes of panic in adversity is the sense of total loss of control. At one level we can say that we are never the controllers. That is true.
But we also need a certain amount of controller to acknowledge that, oh, I am not the controller. For example, if I have paralysis which prevents me from speaking, then I can't even say that. You have to think and acknowledge at the level of power that I am not the controller.
We need some control of the thoughts. So that control comes when we shift our focus from the idea that we are the controllers to the understanding that we are the servants. To the extent we operate based on this understanding.
Krishna, you are my lord. I am your servant. Whatever happens, I will keep trying to serve you.
Please guide me how you want me to act. This understanding helps us to move through life's ups and downs without getting unevenly disturbed. Without getting inordinately shaken.
We will be shaken when things go wrong just as when there is an adversity and there is a storm. The ship will naturally get shaken. But what we are concerned about here is the magnitude of the shaking.
Either we can be violently shaken and disastrously destructively shaken or we can be shaken but regulatedly shaken by which it's not devastating. So the shaking can't be avoided but the magnitude of the shaking can be regulated by how we approach things. If we approach them with the how question.
Krishna, how can I serve you? The how question shifts our focus from the storm to the anchor and that in itself is empowering. That shift of question gives us a positive channel, positive focus and that is how we can move onwards towards Krishna even in the midst of adversities. Even in the midst of difficulties rather than giving up we keep moving towards Krishna with this attitude of service So that is the overall significance of the theme of the idea that at least let's be in the same book as Krishna even if we can't be on the same page.
Even if we can't understand with our intelligence why something is happening the way it is happening we can at least have that faith that Krishna is two, is twin elements of faith. One is that Krishna is our no matter what is happening specifically in our life and secondly that we are his servants. These twin items of faith can help us to weather many of the otherwise impossible storms of life.
The storm that could normally seem unbearable can become bearable when we go through when we go through the go through life with this attitude Krishna how can I serve you? Please oh lord guide me so that I can serve you. These twin elements of faith in Krishna's benevolence and our servitorship can help us stay at least on the same page as Krishna at least in the same book as Krishna and thus we progress amidst life's inevitable ups and downs. Thank you.