Everyone’s mind tell them different stories – don’t be judgmental be purposeful

[Class at Govardhan Eco-village, Wada, India] Video:

Hare Krishna. It's beautiful to be here amongst all of you today. And I'll be speaking on this section of the Avanti Brahmana song, where he's talking about his realisations of how the mind leads and misleads us.

So, in this particular verse, he says that the mind creates or imagines friends and enemies. So, I'll speak on the theme of how the mind is an expert storyteller. And it is telling each one of us different stories.

So, by storyteller, what do I mean? Story is basically a narration. And now the narration may be real, it may be fictional or it may be a combination of real and fictional. Rupa Goswami has written a book called Natak Chandrika, in which he describes that when in the Gaudiya Vaishnav tradition, writing dramas was very common.

It is considered to be a very artistic and refined way of glorifying the Lord. And then he says that we can have these three different kinds of dramas. Some dramas are completely historical, depicting events as they happen.

Some dramas may be a combination of historical and non-historical. That means there are some historical characters over there, but there are some other characters who are used as literary devices. They are literary tools.

So, for example, the book Gopal Champu describes Krishna's pastimes, but also describes two narrators who are narrating Krishna's pastimes. Now, those narrators themselves are not mentioned in the Bhagavatam or any of the Puranas, that actually Krishna sat with all of them and Krishna heard his own pastimes. It's possible, but it's not described in the scriptures.

So, this can be taken as a historical event that has happened and not described in scripture, or it can also be taken as a tool, which is used to depict certain things. And some things can be fictional. They can be non-historical.

Normally, we don't use the word fictional because it has a negative connotation, but we use the word non-historical. So, basically, there is something which is to be told, and we may use some non-historical ways of describing it. And this is also perfectly fine.

Sometimes we may tell stories of something like, you know, a person went here and he heard the voice of God saying something, and then God told him to do this, don't do this, like that. Now, whether God, there is such a person like that or not, it doesn't matter. There is a theme to be taught over there.

So, similarly, our own mind, it also tells stories. And what do I mean by stories? Certain events happen in our life, and each one of us interprets those events differently. For example, if we hear a class.

Now, after the class, if we ask different people, what did you like about the class? Or how did you find the class? Now, some people say, the class was very good. Some people say, the class was so boring. Some people say, the class, I was just waiting for it to get over.

Somebody else will say, I was waiting, I was just longing, it should go on and on. And different people will, even if they say they like the class, they'll say, I like different points. Now, why is it that they all like different points? Because all of, every one of us has our own mind.

Now, the mind basically refers to our software, internally that is there. And whatever information comes within it, we process it based on what is present in the programme of the mind. And that's why each one of us will find, in our situation, a particular point striking.

So, those who teach public speaking, they say that generally, when a speaker gives a class, the audience doesn't get more than 20% of what the speaker has spoken. And only God knows which 20% the audience gets. Because for all of us, we may be physically present in the class, but our mind is a very active jogger.

It keeps jogging here, there, and everywhere. And whenever it finds something interesting, it comes back. Otherwise, it just goes off.

So, first of all, the mind has to be present, and then it has to find something relevant. So, this is a simple example of how the same stimulus, the same input may be coming to different people, but we all may find something different within it, which is striking to us. This is based on the interpretive framework that the mind gives us.

This happens not just to information that comes in, but even activities that we do. So, when ready-made food started being made in the 1950s roundabouts, at that time, the idea was that people were becoming more and more busy. So, you just give them, so for example, in America, the company started making ready-made biscuit powder.

So, you just take the powder, mix it with some water, cook it, and biscuits are ready. And that became very popular because life was becoming fast-paced. Then the same companies, they made ready-made cake powder.

And they found that people were not purchasing it at all. It is why actually cake is more difficult to make. And the same recipe, same process, but people are not ready to take it.

And then it is a market reserve. And then they found that actually each food item has a certain message associated with it. Normally, if a cake is made, a cake is cooked at a time when you want to offer something special to someone.

Maybe somebody's birthday is there, or some occasion is there. A cake is considered to be a delicacy. A biscuit is normally served with some other food item.

You may make tea, you may make something else, and then with that you give biscuits. Biscuits are more like a snack item. Cakes are also snacks, but cake is considered to be a delicacy.

So many hosts, when they would be cooking ready-made cakes, they felt that it is as if we are actually not doing anything at all. If the guests who come, if they feel, you just got a ready-made cake powder and made a cake, then they felt that there is no opportunity to express one's creativity, to express one's affection, to feel that I have done something over there. So then the same companies, they actually took the ingredients of the cake and they said that we will provide you the powder, but in that you can put eggs and you can put sugar.

And then you can make it. And then the ready-made cake powder sales started increasing. Why? Because people felt that I should also be doing something.

Otherwise, they felt that we are not doing anything in cooking something special and others will feel that you have not done anything. You just got some ready-made cake powder and gave it to me. So now here the mind is telling a different story at each time.

So what is happening? The event is, okay, I have to cook. And there is something which can make cooking easy. But some things we want them to be easy.

Some things we don't want them to be easy. We want to have a sense that put in some effort. And then I have done this.

So if somebody is giving a class, so one time in the early days of my spiritual life, maybe 15-20 years ago, the one devotee gave a very good class. At that time, we all would hear classes from senior devotees and would more or less repeat those classes. As we grow in our spiritual life, we get our realisations, we can create our own structure, have our flow of thought.

And then, so after that we give the class. So this, he gave a very good class. I was talking with him after the class.

Very good class. Now, so whose class was it based on? Normally. So then, later on he told me, he said he felt very offended.

He said, what do you mean whose class was it based on? Can't I give my own class? Do you think that I am simply copying and repeating others? Now, some devotees, they, if they have to give a class and then you give, this is a class you can speak on and these are the notes you have. You can use these notes. It's a big relief.

I don't have to worry about preparing. I already have got the notes. You know, we all may add some, our own examples, some things and we speak.

But for somebody else, you give them, okay, this is a topic and these are the notes. What do you mean? I won't speak on these notes. I'll speak on my realisations.

So for some devotees, giving ready-made notes will be seen as we are helping them. And for others, giving ready-made notes will be seen as you are minimising them. You think I can't prepare? So in both these cases, the mind is telling a different story.

So when I, now it's not necessarily a deficiency. All different devotees have different talents. So for some devotees, they are very good at different services, but philosophy may not be their strength.

They have realisations and they share their realisations, their genuineness, their authenticity, their bhakti comes out in their classes. But creating a structure for the classes may be quite difficult. So when somebody gives them some structure for giving a class, then their mind tells a story.

Oh, this person is so, this devotee is so nice. This devotee is helping me in my service. But for somebody else, they can give their own classes and somebody gives them notes.

Does this devotee not trust me? Does this devotee think that I don't have the intelligence to prepare my own class? So what is happening? The mind is telling a different story. So for each of us, depending on our situation, depending on our disposition, situation is external, disposition is internal. The same event may happen to two different people, but their minds may tell different stories.

And here the verse talks about how we may, we create some, we treat some people as friends and some people as enemies. So this is what happens in relationships or in different situations that we go through in life. The same event happens and different people based on their mind perceive that event differently.

So one may see it as a, see something as a, oh, you're helping me. So you're my friend. Somebody else may see it as, you're hurting me.

You are minimising me. So you're my enemy. Now, if we look at ourselves also, in different situations, our mind tells us different stories.

So for somebody who wants to do a particular service, for somebody, say, who loves the deities and wants to do Pujari service, if you tell them, can you do this Pujari service? Oh, thank you very much. You gave me such a wonderful opportunity to come close to the deities, to serve the deities. Somebody else may be a little more outgoing.

They want to preach and they want to travel and they want to do other things. How do you tell them to do Pujari service? They will feel as if they're wings are being clipped. Yes, we all want to do Pujari service.

That's not what I want to do full time. I don't want that to be my main service. So the same action is there, but the response within is different because the mind tells different stories to different people.

Now, I started by saying that some stories can be historical, some stories can be historical plus fictional and some stories can be fictional. The same three applies to the mind also. So for example, when I'm saying the mind tells a story, it's not necessary that the story is false.

The story can be true also. Because sometimes some people are very sharp at understanding things. So if this person is doing like this, why are they doing like this? Okay, this must be the reason.

They're thinking like this, they're planning like this and they're trying to avoid the situation, they're preparing for the situation. So all that we have seen is X event has happened. But why has it happened? The mind may tell a story and say if somebody is travelling somewhere and they are taking a lot of warm clothes.

Now, normally, if you see somebody taking a huge suitcase, you wonder what is the luggage you're carrying? You find it, oh, you're going to a cold place. So when we see somebody taking a lot of warm clothes with them, then based on our experience, we say, okay, either that is a cold place or maybe this person is vulnerable to cold, that's why they're taking so many warm clothes. So now all that we are seeing is that they're taking some warm clothes with them and that has increased the bulk of the luggage that they're carrying.

But from that, we tell a story. Now, the story can also be true and our ability to extrapolate from the observed facts can help us to gain better understanding. So our experience helps us to connect our observation to valid inferences.

So the mind's capacity to tell stories is not necessarily bad. It is either we have expertise in a particular field or we have experience in a particular field. Then by both of these, the stories that our mind tells us can work out to be accurate.

So for example, if we have heard a particular devotee many times giving classes, then for some devotees, their classes are like, we have these Lego toys which are made. You have these movable, detachable parts. So you take this part, take this part, take this part.

So the creativity is primarily fitting different parts. So then as soon as they start speaking one point, for the next five minutes, this is what this devotee is going to speak. So because for this point, this is the example, this is the story, this is what they're going to tell.

So now they're not told all that till now. But based on either our experience of how we have heard them before or our expertise, this is how the reasoning will flow. So we can tell, okay, this is the argument they're giving or this is the example they're going to give.

This is the illustration they're going to give, whatever. So the mind's capacity to tell stories can be positive because it can help us extrapolate validly from the observation that we are having. But quite often, the mind's stories are a combination of historical and fictional.

Sometimes the mind's story is maybe entirely fictional. That means there is no basis in reality at all. For example, when Kaikeyi was trying to be persuaded, Mantara was trying to poison the mind of Kaikeyi.

So at that time, Kaikeyi loved Ram just like her own son. And when initially Mantara told her that this is a disaster that Kaushalya's son is being coronated instead of your son, she actually said, what are you talking about? And then she said, if there were no conspiracy, then why is this coronation being done in such haste in the absence of Bharat and his close friend Shatrughan? And that one thought became the seed of poison from which a huge poisonous tree erupted, grew in the mind and heart of Kaikeyi and completely perverted her. The Ramayana says that Kaikeyi was kind, gentle and wise.

But by the malicious speech of Mantara, she became cruel, harsh and foolish. So complete distortion. Now in this case, it was just oversight.

Dashrath Maharaj had got such an intense urge. He felt that I should retire now and I should hand over the throne to Ram. So he just decided it and he decided to do it soon.

And in his excitement, that was just oversight. He forgot to ensure that Shatrughan and Bharat were there at that time. So there was no malefic intent over there.

So there was an event that was there, but the spin, the interpretation that Mantara gave and Kaikeyi accepted was entirely fictional. Now quite often, the interpretation, the story the mind tells is usually a combination of historical and fictional. That means there is some fact, there is some experience that we have, some expertise that we have based on which we can infer, okay, this is happening.

Therefore, this, this, this is likely or this could be the reason. But the challenge is that when the mind tells a story, it's an expert storyteller. And most of us don't have a very high critical intelligence when we are evaluating the stories of the mind, that the mind is telling us.

Recently, I was in Pune. So I was telling some of my experiences when I had gone to America. I was there almost five, six months in the last one and a half years, one year or so.

So then after that, one devotee, Saji came and told me, he says, are all the stories you are telling real? I said, why, why do you think that the stories are real? So he said, no, no, they appear very, they appear very fantastic. So then I discussed further asking what doesn't seem believable to him. So then I was telling about especially how in the Western world people are mad for dogs.

So I was telling some stories about dog love and the magnitude to which people have love for dogs. So then I discussed and then I understood, okay. So then he said, in India, people are not this mad for dogs.

So that's why I was wondering whether you are exaggerating it. So now in this game, there are many others also who will be having that question. Is this for real or is this some exaggeration is there in it? So then if you come and ask, then okay, we can find out, okay, this doesn't seem so believable.

Then we can discuss why is it believable? Why is it not believable? So there is this critical intelligence by which we can evaluate whether a particular story is real or fictional or a combination of both. Or if a narrative is being told in which some part is fictional and some part is real. So we need to parse it, we need to separate it.

But usually when the mind tells a story, it is very difficult for us to separate which part of what the mind is telling is real and what is fiction. And that's why sometimes some small thing may happen and we just become very angry. How did he do like that? Why did he do like that? Then what was the issue? The other person may not understand why we are angry.

And we may not understand why you can't understand that I am so angry. Because for both of us, the mind is telling different stories. So if we consider that our own mind, it tells us stories, it's an expert storyteller.

And when some people are expert storytellers, when they start telling stories, they can tell you such a drama and flair that we get completely absorbed in it and just forget everything else. So the mind is the most expert storyteller. Once he starts telling a story, it is Sarva Dharmaan Parityaja Manam Ekam Sharanam Vraja, which is surrender to the narrative of the mind.

So, if it is difficult for us to discern, sometimes we do something, we get angry about something. And then afterwards, why did I get so angry about that? This is a small issue. That time it did not seem like a small issue.

Because that small issue by the mind storytelling was made into a big issue. So that it was simply a story that it was not really based on fact that we understand afterwards. So if it is so difficult for us to understand what stories our mind is telling us, it is much, much more difficult for us to understand what stories whose mind is telling whom.

So, when we live in a community of devotees, we often get inspiration and guidance from each other. Okay, this person is like this, this person like this, this person like this. And by their association, by their inspiration, we move forward in our life.

So, we all need, basically, if we want to move forward in our life, do any kind of self-improvement, there are three broad categories. There is self-help, there is social help and there is spiritual help. Self-help means that we have to have the determination to change.

We have to have the determination, the resolution, the conviction that this is the path I want to follow. So, but self-help alone is not enough. Social help refers to association.

We need like-minded people who will boost us whenever we feel disheartened. And beyond that, spiritual help means we have our connection with Krishna. And the remembrance of Krishna gives us strength, the wisdom about Krishna, our own relationship with Krishna, that gives us strength.

Now, all these three, self-help, social help and spiritual help, all three are important. And at different times in our life, we may rely more on different things. Sometimes we feel very discouraged and then we go and talk with some devotee and that devotee speaks something and we feel unburdened, we feel understood, we feel heard and we become again encouraged.

Sometimes we are just feeling very discouraged and then suddenly we get some experience. We come in front of the deities and then we feel very attracted to the deities or some series of coincidences happens and then we feel, hey, this is so wonderful. I never thought this would happen like this.

And then we feel this is Krishna helping me. We get some spiritual experience. We get some realisation through this chain of events that happens.

So, sometimes we are having a lot of problems and a set of coincidences happens by which that problem gets resolved. And then when that happens, it is said that coincidences are Krishna's, God's way of staying anonymous. When God does something for us, but he does it anonymously.

But for one who is spiritually minded, this A, B, C, D, E, how did all this work out? It was Krishna helping me. Actually, when Prabhupada was alone in America, he had no money even to do any publicity for doing his programmes. So, Prabhupada had a simple strategy for publicising.

He would just go out for long walks and in his address, his age, on the streets where mostly hippies were there, it was quite unusual. And the first serious people who came for his programme, Keith, Howard and Valli, who became Kirtanananda, Hayagriva and Vahapati, they actually came. How did they come? Prabhupada was walking along the road and Howard, who became Hayagriva, Prabhupada was walking on the other side.

And he just saw him. What is this? He thought he was going to take drugs. He was going to his friend and he said, I have already gone high because of drugs.

How can this? There is Swami on New York streets. And that truck came in between the way. And then he saw Swami is still there.

Surprise! He saw another truck coming. He saw the Swami had stopped and was looking at him. And then he crossed over and he said, are you from India? He asked, yes.

And what about you? He said, I am not from India, but I have been to India. And they started talking. In fact, he had already gone to India in search of a guru.

But he could not find one. So, then he and this group actually became serious followers of the group. The point I am making is that here, Prabhupada was walking on the street.

He was walking on that street. I mean, people get the urge to take drugs at any time, any place they may get the urge. So, for everything to be coordinated, it was Krishna arranging.

So, Krishna arranged for his sincere devotee to have receptive souls meet him at the appropriate time. Sometimes, certain coincidences, if we see the pattern in them, we will see this is actually Krishna helping. And sometimes, we may just need to depend on our own conviction.

In 3.17, Lord Krishna says that we have to be self-motivated. We have to have the determination to pursue inner happiness. Atmajyoti means the light which is going to show us the way has to be present within us.

So, there are times when others will help us. There are times when Krishna will do something to help us. But there are times when we have to fall back on our own conviction.

Why have I chosen this path? Why am I doing this? So, when we depend excessively on any one of these things, if we depend excessively on spiritual help, that means we count a lot on things working out very well and somehow Krishna will miraculously intervene and help us. Yes, that's good. Krishna can help, but Krishna has also given his intelligence.

And Krishna can do miraculous interventions, but a devotee does not demand those miraculous interventions. A devotee's mood is, let me do according to my best ability. When Arjuna wanted to kill Jayadrath, it was not that Arjuna said, Krishna will take care of everything.

Arjuna had said, Krishna, why are you worried? You know my strength and I know your strength. So, he was confident. But throughout the day, he planned, he fought and tirelessly kept fighting.

So, if we, and at the end, Krishna did miraculously intervene. But if we depend too much on miraculous arrangements making things work out, and we don't do our part in planning properly, in thinking, analysing, evaluating the situations, then we are actually not using the resources, the intelligence, which Krishna has given us. So, sometimes some people say, does God, if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.

Now, this is actually not a scriptural quote. This is an American comedian, Woody Allen, who said this. And it is true in the sense that if we think that we can be controllers and we can execute everything according to our plan, the idea that we are controllers is laughable.

So, that can make God laugh. But that doesn't mean we are not meant to make plans. Planning is a sign that we are taking something seriously.

It is, if I am coming for a class, if I don't prepare for the class, and I say, I am depending on Krishna. Well, am I really depending on Krishna or I am simply being irresponsible? Isn't it? So, I have to prepare. And after preparing also, sometimes a new idea may come up and the class may go in a different direction.

That's later. But if we count too much on Krishna's miraculous intervention, then we may not do our part. And then we may feel, why did Krishna not help me? Well, you didn't help yourself.

As we say, God helps those who help themselves. So, Prabhupada says in the Chaitanya Charita Amrit section, where Balabhadra Bhattacharya, Balabhadra is, he is taken by the, he is misled by some tribal, was it Balabhadra? No, Kalkrishna Das. Kalkrishna Das, sorry.

Kalkrishna Das was misled by some tribals. So, Prabhupada says that if we are not determined even Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot help us. So, on one side, we cannot, we have to depend on Krishna, but we also have to make our own intelligence.

If we depend too much on association, association is also important, but then there is also self-motivation that is required. So, we understand that there are three kleshas in this world, Adhyatmik, Adhibhautik and Adhidaivik. And as per our past karma, different distresses are going to come to us.

Sometimes some diseases will come to us. Sometimes the weather will be very unfavourable for us. That will cause some problems.

Now, similarly, some Adhibhautik klesh is also going to come to us based on our karma. And now, if we are living mostly in the association of devotees, then the Adhibhautik klesh has to come through devotees. It is not necessary that the devotee is necessarily doing something bad.

We have to understand that this is just something which happens. So, even in material life, we go through phases where people are completely misunderstood by everyone else. And they feel very lonely, isolated and somehow they have to move on.

And then there are other times when they are loved, respected, when fettered by everyone, just a great person. So, that duality in the association is simply the way we get our past karma through Adhibhautik. Sometimes we get a lot of positivity from the association around us.

Sometimes we get a lot negativity from the association around us. So, the Bhagavatam says each one of us is ekastu, we are all alone. Prabhupada says we have to fly our own plane.

So, we don't minimise the importance of Krishna's intervention, spiritual help. We don't minimise the importance of social help. But we have to know that it is our life and our choice.

If we have chosen the path of Krishna Bhakti, if we have chosen a particular way to practise Krishna Bhakti, it's my life, it's my choice. And others can inspire me. I can take inspiration from others, but this is my decision, this is my conviction.

And I'll conclude with one point, then you can have some questions. That if we talk about the stories of the mind. When you use the word story, there is the whole idea that it's fictional.

I clarify it's not necessarily fictional. It is, can be historical also, it can be a combination of historical fiction also. So, one point is that when the mind tells certain stories, it is at sometimes almost impossible to resist the story that the mind is telling us.

Because each one of us has a particular body and a particular mind. And based on that, we pursue things in a particular way. So, when our mind tells us a particular story, this is how things are, this is how we should be doing.

Now, somebody else may perceive it is not like this, this is like this. Why do you need to do this? But no, in that particular situation, that is what the mind is telling. When I'm saying the mind is telling, it's not necessarily wrong, it is different.

We tend to often see things in terms of black and white, this or this. And seeing this or this is actually, this or is the mentality of Rajoguna. Why? Because it's a division.

Divide this, this like this, this like this, this like this, categorise, divide, analyse, break things down into categories. This is right, this is wrong. Yes, of course, there are things which are right and there are wrong.

So, morality can be categorical. To speak the truth is good, to speak lies is false. This is categorical.

But morality is not just categorical. It can also be contextual. If there's a rioting gang who has come to kill a friend of ours, and that friend is hiding in our house.

And then that gang knocks on our door. Is this person there? Should we speak the truth at that time? No, we should not. Because speaking the truth will lead to the death of that person.

So, speaking truth is normally, it is in the right category. But in the context, it can be wrong. And speaking a lie is what is required for pursuing the higher good.

So, right and wrong is not simply categorical. It is also contextual. And to think that this is right and this is wrong, in a very blanket sense, without considering context, that is Rajasic.

Because in Rajoguna, we want to be in control. Now, control can be in the, at one level, it can be in the sense that I understand things, I figure out things. This is like this, this is like this, this is right, this is wrong.

So, controllership can be physical in terms of we want to have power, we want to have possessions, we want to have the things by which we can control and dominate in the outer world. But there will be control in the inner world also, where we want to figure out things. This is like this, this is like this, this is like this.

But in the mode of goodness, we have humility. And humility means the willingness to accept that I do not understand. And maybe I cannot understand.

Humility means the willingness to accept that I do not understand and maybe I cannot understand. In fact, this is the basis of the concept of achintyatva. Achintyatva is inconceivability.

And many of the questions which atheists use to try to counter the idea of the existence of God, that is because they are trying to use their logic to figure out everything about God. If God had made this world, then why would God make the world like this? If God had made nature, okay, there are so many, why had he made it in such a way? If God has arranged for rainfall, so that we can get water, then why is there rainfall in the ocean? Because there is rainfall in the ocean, because there are waterfalls where there is no need for water. Therefore, this design is flawed.

And therefore, it does not come from God. So, this is actually called negative theology. Negative theology means that we place ourselves in the position of God, while disbelieving God, and then try to say, if God had existed, he would have done like this.

Because things are like this, therefore, God cannot exist. But we do not know the mind of God. So, God's intelligence is far bigger than ours.

What to speak of understanding God's mind, when we live with people, we understand that we cannot even understand our own mind. What kind of thoughts come in, what kind of actions sometimes we do, we cannot understand each other's minds. So, in every relationship, people begin relationships with the promise of becoming controllers.

When a man and a woman come together, the man feels I will control the woman, the woman thinks I will control the man. So, every relationship begins with the promise of being a controller, of becoming a controller. And every relationship gives us a realisation, I am not the controller.

Sooner or later, we realise, I cannot control how people behave. So, this satvaguna means that it is not necessarily understanding that just because I do not understand things, just because somebody is acting in a way that I do not understand, that does not necessarily make it wrong. It is just different.

So, we, rather than trying to figure things out by putting them in neat conceptual categories, this is right, this is wrong, we have to understand that there is context. And context determines what is right and what is wrong. So, the context is determined by the mind and the stories that the mind is telling us.

So, because we do not understand the other person's mind and other stories that the other person's mind is telling them, so, we do not know the context. And in that particular context, what they do is something which may not make sense to us. But just because somebody else has done something like that, does not necessarily mean I have to do like that, or I have to change my idea of what I am going to do.

Because my mind is different, my context is different. So, I have to find out what is the best way I can serve Krishna. And we move forwards.

So, our mind, naturally, because we live in a community, so, the way others act naturally influences us. And depending on whether we are introverts or extroverts, the influence that others have on us may be more or less. But the important thing is that we have to, rather than, one extreme is if somebody does something, it does not make sense to us, we just label it as wrong or bad.

That we are becoming judgemental and we are becoming presumptuous. Because we really do not know what is the context. We can try to understand, but we are finite beings, we cannot always understand things.

So, but the other extreme is to think because somebody else has done something, then that is what I also have to do. Maybe this is not right. This may not have been right for them, but that does not necessarily mean it is not right for me.

We have to see our mind and our mind is also telling us stories constantly. So, we, especially when we study scripture regularly, when we associate with devotees closely, then we can understand how our mind makes us misunderstand. So, intelligence means to understand how our mind makes us misunderstand.

Now, this intelligence, when we study scripture and when we, not just study scripture in a practical, applicational sense, and then try to see ourselves in the mirror of the scripture. Okay, this is what scripture is saying and this is what the mind is saying. When we are, when we come to the mode of goodness, at that time we can start perceiving, oh, my mind is saying like this.

And then we can evaluate the mind's narrative. Sometimes it may be true, sometimes it may be false. Sometimes it may be wrong, right for us, wrong for someone else.

Sometimes it may be right for someone else, wrong for us. But we need to recognise that we have to, each of us, find out what is the best way I can serve Krishna and choose that path. And depending on the situation that we are in, sometimes we may get social help, sometimes we may get spiritual help, sometimes we may have to fall back on our own conviction.

And if we rely only on the other two things, some miraculous events happen, yes, Krishna exists, Krishna cares, I want to help. But when things start going wrong, where is Krishna? Does Krishna even exist? Why am I doing all this? Maybe I shouldn't be doing it. So, our mind will do flip-flop.

So, if devotees are loving and caring, oh, wonderful. So, one devotee in America, he was telling me that. When devotees come new, when people come new to our temple, we feed them fried pakodas.

And after they become devotees, we fry them like pakodas. You know, sometimes we just burden them with too many services, we are not sensitive to their needs. And we just burn them out.

So, if that is happening, then if, you know, why is this? Devotees are so kind. No, nobody is kind to me. It's not that nobody is kind, it's that we are expected to have grown up.

It is that on one side, when I said that, you know, frying like pakodas, that is from the authority's perspective, the authority should be offering care and kindness to the devotees. But from the devotee's perspective, the way a mother pampers a newborn child or a child who is one or two years old, the mother is not going to pamper a 15-year-old or 20-year-old child. That child is rather than expecting pampering has to grow up and take up responsibilities.

So, if a 20-year-old child explains the kind of pampering which is there for a one-year-old or two-year-old child, it's not going to work. So, we have to, as we grow up in our spiritual life, we have to become more and more self-motivated. And to the extent we do that, self-motivated doesn't mean either being whimsical or thinking that devotee association is unimportant.

It simply means that, self-motivated means we have to find out what is the best way I can move towards Krishna. And moving towards Krishna is the choice that I have made and I have to pursue this choice. With this conviction, when we practise bhakti, then we will find that we will get inspiration from miraculous interventions of Krishna.

We will get inspiration from others. But when that doesn't happen, we won't just completely go out of fuel. It's not that our vehicle will just stop.

Maybe let me take a reverse and go off. It's like sometimes if you're taking a vehicle up a hill, if the engine breaks down, then the vehicle doesn't stay over there. What happens is because the slide is the engine starts going down.

So, if the only fuel for us is coming from some miraculous events happening in our life or devotee's love and care, then when either of these is not there, then hey, our vehicle starts going down. But no, we have to have our own fuel. That's our own conviction.

And of course, now if we have conviction, then even in devotee association, if we are not getting the necessary inspiration, we will, rather than blaming that association, seek inspiration where we find it. Even if we are finding that things are all going wrong in my life. Why is Krishna not helping me? We will, if our intention is strong, we look back at times in our life in the past when things didn't work out right.

So, now also some plan is going on of Krishna. I don't know what it is. So, I'm thinking things are going wrong, but Krishna will work out right in the future.

So, if we have that self-motivation in Krishna, then we will find the necessary support from our association as well as from Krishna's intervention in our life. And that way, all of us can move forward in our journey towards Krishna. So, I'll summarise.

I spoke about how our mind tells all of us certain stories. And when it tells us these stories, basically, stories can be historical, historical fictional, or historical or simply fictional. So, when a particular action is done, or a particular thing happens to us, our mind interprets it and tells us a story.

So, I give the example of ready-made cake powder and ready-made biscuit powder. How the two were interpreted differently by those who were cooking. Or appreciate somebody, oh, it is a very good class.

Whose class are you based on? That may be seen, oh, you are minimising me. So, we may give some support to some devotee by providing notes. Somebody may say that, hey, you are helping me do my service.

Or somebody else may say, you don't trust me that I can do my service well. Why do you have to give this to me? So, our minds tell us different stories at different times. And our expertise and our experience can actually help us that the stories are true.

And the stories help us to make valid extrapolations from the observations. But sometimes our stories may be entirely fictional. Just like it happened for Kaikeyi, when Mantara said that there was conspiracy against her.

And quite often, it is a combination of historical and fiction. And to evaluate it is not very easy. When especially somebody is an expert storyteller, then everybody says, oh, what a wonderful story.

But only people who have some critical intelligence will evaluate. Is this really true or is there some exaggeration in it? So, like that, we often, when the mind tells its story, it is such an expert storyteller, that we just believe it and go along with it. So, we need to develop that critical intelligence.

If we cannot understand our own mind and how it gives a spin to things, how much can we understand what spin other's mind is giving to the event that are happening in their life. So, to want to control and figure everything out, to put everything in neat categories, this is right, this is wrong. That is controllership in the realm of thoughts.

And that is also a characteristic of the mode of passion. In the mode of goodness, we have humility. Means we try to understand, but we also accept that I cannot understand and maybe I may not be able to understand.

So, that is achintatva. Krishna is inconceivable. And the mind is also Krishna's energy.

Krishna says, indriyana manasyasli. I am the senses, I am the mind. So, the way the mind works can also sometimes be inconceivable.

So, rather than labelling things as right and wrong in categories, you can see there is a context, which may, which is different for different people, which is based on the stories the mind is telling each one of us. Rather than thinking of something as wrong, we can say this is different. That this person, for each of us, our particular situation determines our individual needs.

And then for different people, these may be different. So, if we count too much on social health or spiritual health, then our vehicle or bhakti vehicle may just run out of fuel when we do not get those. So, self-help, social help and spiritual help, all three need to go together.

We have to have our conviction, we get inspiration from others and we also get solace and strength by seeing Krishna's intervention in our life. But if we count too much on Krishna's intervention, when things start going wrong, we will start thinking, does Krishna exist also? So, atheists may take some evidence and say that, no, where does God exist? So, the answer to that question is, why does rain fall on oceans? Rain falls on oceans so that atheists can ask this question, why rain falls on oceans? And they can deny the existence of God. So, that is a different issue.

But if we count too much on association, we have to understand that sometimes our quota of adhivotik klesh has to come to us in some way. And if we are a devotee association, it will come through devotee association. So, rather than blaming someone, we just accept it and move on.

If our conviction is strong and if we have made our conviction strong by studying scripture regularly, by associating with devotees who are close to us and helping us to understand our mind and the kind of stories it is telling us, then even if there is discouragement in terms of things going wrong or people behaving strangely, rather than getting disheartened by that, we will shift our vision to find that association which inspires us and focus on that and we shift our vision to look at times in our life when things have worked out well. And then from that we can get inspiration and move on in our life. So, each of us has to have our conviction to pursue our path to Krishna.

We take inspiration from others, but it is our conviction which will help us to find the best way we can move towards Krishna. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.

Are there any questions or comments? Yes, sir. I have a question related to that you had a four-day session mind and also this. So, every human being has a mind, I would say, three-way and also three modes acting upon us.

So, considering the factors, so many factors, but I am bringing two factors, like three modes and this three-way, three-way of the jiva, of the human being and this three modes. Before Krishna Consciousness practise and after Krishna Consciousness practise, how should they work each other in the three-way and three-modes? So, our actions are shaped by the three modes as well as our free will. So, how does the practise of Krishna Consciousness change this, their influence, their action? Broadly speaking, the three modes are external forces that come upon us based on our past karma.

The kind of kaala karma guna dhino, the Bhagavatam says in the first canto. So, guna is one of the things which are adhi, they are subordinate to the modes and why are they subordinate or why are different people subordinate to modes in different ways? That is based on their karma. Now, the practise of Krishna Bhakti, it basically strengthens our free will.

All these influences, the gunas, they push us, they don't force us. The modes push us to do certain actions, but we can counter-push. Now, how much we can counter-push, how much we will want to counter-push also, that will vary from person to person.

So, when we become connected with Krishna, then at least we understand this is beneficial, this is harmful and then we get the understanding by which we want to push back. And then Krishna Bhakti also gives us the highest strength by which we can push back. So, the modes influence will still be there even after we start practising Krishna Bhakti, but our capacity to push back against that influence will become more.

And still, it's not necessary that we will always be able to push back against the modes. Because just as by our past karma, sometimes external troubles come upon us. That means, say, people misunderstand us or there is a storm, there is a hurricane, whatever, external troubles.

Sometimes by our past karma, internal troubles also come upon us. That means by the past karma, there may be certain phases in our life during which the influence of the modes may be especially forceful. And during that time, it may be a little difficult to resist it.

So, the key thing is not what we do during these phases of storms. The key thing is what we do before and after the storms. During a storm, if I am driving to a particular place, a storm comes and just sweeps my boat away.

Well, that time is powerless. But after the storm goes, do I still keep going on the off track or I try to come back on track and move on? So, the free will is definitely strengthened and our capacity to counter-push when the modes push is increased by the practise of bhakti. But there will be stormy phases when our practise may not be enough and we may get pushed off track.

So, rather than becoming disheartened ourselves or becoming judgemental towards others when they get pushed off, we understand the phase that they are going through. And it is important that they come back on track after the storm gets over and keep pursuing the path of bhakti. Does that answer your question? Thank you.

Yes, ma'am. I wanted to understand what is the difference between emotions and mental satisfaction. And does emotion is a characteristic of soul? That means when we say that the soul is satisfied, then we are emotionally nourished and satisfied.

So, what is the difference between emotions and mental satisfaction? So, is emotion the characteristic of the soul? When we are satisfied, does it mean that the soul is satisfied? In general, it is very difficult to specifically identify where something is coming from. Suppose I come in front of, I participate in the kirtan, I feel very happy in the kirtan. I hear a class, I feel very nourished by the class.

Now, I might just have some very, very strong musical inclination or I may have a very strong intellectual inclination. And that satisfaction and strength I am feeling, that may be because of my musical or intellectual inclination after I hear, after I participate in the kirtan or hear a class. Or it may be because through those things I am feeling the connection of Krishna and I am very connected with Krishna.

So, now, which it is, it is very difficult to know. So, when we feel good in bhakti or we feel bad in bhakti while we are practising, we feel satisfied and joyful or we feel frustrated and, frustrated and irritated, whatever, then is that spiritual or is that material? It is difficult to know. So, rather than focussing on where some emotion is coming from, we focus on where that emotion is taking us.

We focus on, not the source, but the destination, because what is happening, where something is coming from is difficult to know. But phalena parichayate, or the operating principle is, anukulnesa sankalpa, pratikulnesa varcha, accept that which is favourable and avoid that which is unfavourable. So, if I feel good while hearing a class or participating in a kirtan, well, it is connected with Krishna, it is in the purview of Krishna and through that I am, I am coming, I am staying in the circle of Krishna bhakti and that is good.

So, maybe right now it is only intellectual, but if at least by that I am staying connected with Krishna, then that is going to purify me, at least at some level. Gradually from the intellectual, I will move towards the spiritual. From the musical, I will move towards the spiritual.

So, when the emotions are favourable to Krishna bhakti, we can accept them. But we don't simply rely on the emotions alone. Oh, I feel good, so I will do it.

I don't feel good, so I will stop doing it. If that happens, then we will just become prey to our minds. If we keep liking whatever our mind likes, we will end up disliking ourselves.

What does that mean? If, say, if somebody starts saying, okay, you know, I want to study now, but then let me watch this movie, let me read this news, let me go on this Facebook, let me go here, let me go there. We keep doing whatever we like and then that person fails in the exam. What a fool I am, why did I waste my time? So, if we keep doing whatever we like, we will end up disliking ourselves.

Because the mind is such that it will never let us be satisfied. Now, even if we go to paradise where everything is wonderful, the mind will say, yes, but and it will find some reason to be dissatisfied. So, one thing is that if we like to do something, if something feels good for us, it's good to do it.

But if we keep doing things only based on whether they feel good or not, then eventually we will not be able to do anything good in the long run. So, our likings are important. At the same time, our likings can also be flickering.

So, then unless we go beyond our likings, we go beyond our sentiment to commitment. I like to write. That's my service and I do it.

But even when I like to write, there are times when I get completely frustrated. It's just the ideas don't come, the right words don't come, the thought flow is not coming. There are people who say they get a writer's block.

Just think, why did I ever start this writing process? So, and all of us will experience this. Some of us may be good at management. We like to do management.

But why did I get into this management? So, that is, I just want to give this up and go somewhere else. Now, that is our version of smashaan vairagya. When somebody dies, people feel, hey, you know, this world is temporary.

Let me just detach myself from it. So, but actually that is not necessarily how you realise it. Sometimes, even when we are doing a service we like to do, when we get frustrated, I want to give this up.

But if we do that, then we will just become prey to the mind. So, even when we are doing something which we like to do, in the sense that that is our psychophysical nature, even then there are times when the mind will dislike. And that's why we need to have commitment.

So, that's one side. The other side is, so we can't simply go along, the mind likes and dislikes constantly. At the same time, the mind's likes and dislikes can also, some of them can be fleeting and some of them can be lasting.

We try to do something, we can push ourselves against our nature for some time. One day, two day, one year, two years, five years. But after some time, this is just not what I want to do.

So, I was talking with one senior devotee, a Prabhupada disciple in Australia and he was telling me how different senior devotees are all, if you see Prabhupada disciples, gurus, sanyasis, Vaishnavas, they are all serving in their own distinctive way. They all found their niche and they are serving in their way. So, I asked him, as we become more advanced, is it that we can fight, as we become more advanced, we can fight more against our nature? He said, no.

As we grow older, we lose the energy to keep fighting against our nature. See, in traditional Varanashram, we more or less knew our nature since childhood and then we use our nature to serve Krishna. In today's world, most often, we serve Krishna and while serving Krishna, we bang against our nature.

I can't do this. And then we find the right way. So, for us to find our nature also takes some time.

So, if it's going on for a long time, we are feeling this is just incompatible for me. This doesn't work for me. When we are practising bhakti, bhakti is not simply like… Sometimes there are these marathon runs that people do and they are of symbolic value.

It's symbolic in the sense that you run for a particular cause. I run for the cause of, say, protection of women. I run for the cause of social equality, whatever.

Now, in these runs, who wins is not important. You just have to cross the finishing line. You ran for that.

Bhakti is not like a symbolic run where we have to get to the finishing line. In bhakti, we have to develop a relationship with Krishna. So, yes, we want to practise.

When I said get to the finishing line means we have to practise bhakti lifelong. But if we just keep fighting against our nature and things are not working out and we are just to in a sustained way for a long time, we are feeling incompatible or we're dissatisfied, then if something is not just coming and going, coming and going, but it keeps coming repeatedly and it is something which is not making us do something adharmic, but just we want to serve Krishna differently, then that rather than see that this is coming from the mind or it is coming from the soul, we focus on how can I in my particular way move towards Krishna. So, if we are internally tormented and distracted and dissatisfied, even if we are practising bhakti, it may not be wholehearted.

Sometimes in a particular situation, the mind may be so strong that we may not be able to resist it. So, normally we say we should neglect the mind, but neglecting the mind is with respect to its whimsical urges which keep coming. But the Bhagavad Gita also tells Arjuna, you are a Kshatriya, you cannot act like a Brahmana.

Now, where is the Kshatriya propensity and the Brahmana propensity present? It is in the mind only. So, you have the mind of a Kshatriya, you cannot act like a Brahmana. Don't try to resist it.

Nigraha kim kareshasi. What can repression accomplish? So, we have to see that in a steady way, there will always be intermittent satisfaction, dissatisfaction. But a steady way, we should be feeling my life is on track.

This is how I want to live. There are phases when I feel dissatisfied, I feel just totally exhausted, exasperated with the way things are going. But those are simply phases which come and go.

Overall, if you feel our life is on the right track, then casual or intermittent, brief, transient period phase of dissatisfaction are something which we don't have to worry about. But if that dissatisfaction keeps coming on consistently, then maybe that indicates that we need to serve in a different way. So, thank you very much.