Feeling our feelings

Today we will discuss on this topic of feeling our feelings. So feelings means emotions. The word feeling also means sensing.

It's like if I touch an object I feel whether it is hard or soft. So feeling our feelings means understanding, evaluating, analysing our feelings. So basically in the class we discuss these four questions.

Are our feelings our needs or our wants? How can we avoid negative feelings? How much should we let our spiritual life be shaped by our feelings, devotional feelings? Are such devotional feelings actually sentimental? And is our dependence on devotees emotional or transcendental? So let's look at the first topic. Are our feelings our needs or our wants? So this is from the book by Barry Schwartz, American psychologist. He wrote a book called The Paradox of Chance.

So in that book he mentions that in 1973 30% Americans felt that air conditioning in their cars is a necessity. America for 50 years has been car is a necessity. There are billions of people who are living without cars.

So the question is not whether car is a necessity, whether air conditioning in the car is a necessity. And now 30-40 years later 41% feel that it is an absolute necessity. Now has the temperature of the planet increased 40 years so much? Some people say that global warming and the temperature might have increased a little bit but not so much that so many people should start feeling that there is a necessity.

So is it that human beings have become more and more permanently sensitive, more intolerant to hot weather? No, human beings are more or less the same. So why is it that what was not thought of as a necessity earlier is now thought of as a necessity? Now that has multiple reasons. One of the reasons is externals shape our feelings.

Depending on what are the things that are portrayed in our culture, in our media, depending on those we start feeling that I need these things, I need these things. So to a large extent our feelings are shaped not by our authentic needs but by our external influences. So by needs I mean what actually we need for us.

This doesn't mean that everybody has to live like a pauper. It essentially means that whatever we need for our responsible living, for our effective functioning society, that is what we call as a need. Now wants are unlimited.

So a very important aspect of life, even if one wants to be materially successful, one has to differentiate between the needs and the wants. Because as students you know we may want to say watch a movie, watch a cricket match, go for a picnic and we also want good marks in our exams. Now if we can't get all of these at the same time, even if we are not interested in spiritual life, even at a material level we have to select.

So what is our need and what is our want? To the extent we are able to differentiate between this, to that extent we can understand what is important for me, what is my priority. So in our society, enormous amount of propaganda is made for causing people to feel that they need certain things. Nowadays video games are very popular and since 1985 onwards, video games have become popular in India also now, but since 1985 onwards in America a special genre of video games came out which were called as entertainment games.

And there was a various company which came out called the Einstein company. So Einstein has become an archetype, it's become a genre. So these were video games meant for children less than three years old.

Now what can children less than three years old do actually? But their idea was actually let your children watch these things and they will see the stimuli and by this they will become sharper, they will become more alert, more intelligent. And that industry was basically spawned in 1995 and today it is this infant toys industry is a multi-billion dollar industry in America. And there is not a shred of evidence that giving such toys to small children actually accelerates their learning process.

There are many surveys on the contrary which say that once the small infants get habituated to seeing these high speed, high action visual stimuli, they find it more difficult to concentrate in the classes. So actually it impedes learning, it doesn't accelerate learning. But the propaganda that was made by the advertising industry was such that parents felt that if we are not giving our children these toys, we are not helping them to learn.

We are failing in our duty to our children and by that propaganda, parents just spend so much money on their children and it is not even good for them. A very vital aspect of the learning process between infancy is learning to use one's own body to act. For example, children may play marbles, they play various games.

When they move their hands and legs, they pile things together and they interact with others. Actually the most important thing that children need to learn is to coordinate their own actions and to coordinate their actions with the actions of others. So these two get completely cut off when children get addicted to video games.

So for millions of years, the parents have grown their children without the help of any video games. But because of the propaganda, parents started feeling that if we are not giving our children these video games, then we are not really adequate to them. So this is a very blatant example of something which is not at all needed.

That is made, propagated into a need and then people just get completely bewildered. So how externals shape our feelings. What is the feeling over here? I need this.

Actually I don't need it. I don't even want it. It's not really a very important form.

But externals shape us. So now Bhagavad Gita tells us that we should learn to observe our feelings. You can recite this verse after me.

manuṛṭhāni kāṅkṣati udāsīna vadāsīna asattam teṣu guṇaiyona vichāryate guṇāvataṅgitteva yo vatiṣṭha-dhīneṅgate yo vatiṣṭha-dhīneṅgate So this is 14.22 and 23 in Bhagavad Gita. In this phrase udāsīna vadāsīna, it comes in 9.9 also. There it is udāsīna vadāsīna.

And then from the third verse comes. So then in 9.9 Krishna is telling that I am udāsīna, I am detached. And here he is telling us you be detached.

Let us look at what this verse means. Most of us have heard of something called moods, isn't it? Sometimes I think my mood is not good today. I don't feel excited.

I don't feel like chanting. I don't feel like doing these things. So we talk about moods.

Bhagavad Gita explains that the moods come from the moods. The moods are what is called, Bhagavad Gita calls guṇa, prakriti, as three guṇas, three ways of functioning. So moods are subtle forces which shape our thinking and our perceiving of the world.

They act on the mind. So here Krishna is describing three moods in one one word. The first word prakāśam.

Prakāśam is light or illumination. It's like we have the steam light or the projector bulb. It's giving light.

So prakāśa is the characteristic of the mood of goodness. Pravṛtti is action. What is your pravṛtti? What is your natural tendency? What is your natural action? So pravṛtti refers to the mode of passion.

And moha is illusion. That refers to the mode of ignorance. So what are these three modes, prakāśa, pravṛtti and moha as is guṇate, passion, ignorance.

There are different ways in which people respond to steam. In goodness, a person is thoughtful. They say if there is light, then a person will be able to look around and then decide.

Suppose suddenly a fire breaks out in the zoo. And a person is illuminated. It's not external.

He is illuminated. What should I do? Okay, I can just go out the door, but the fire also has to be extinguished. Is there any fire extinguishing in the zoo? So when there is light, we can see the way properly.

Similarly, when there is goodness illuminating us internally, then we can understand this is right and this is wrong. In 14.11, the Bhagavad Gita or Krishna describes, sarva-dvāreṣu dehyasmi. Deva is the body.

The body has dvāra. Dvāra is doors. So what are the doors for the body? The absences, the eyes, the nose, the mouth.

So sarva-dvāreṣu dehyasmi prakāśam upajāyate. When these are illuminated by prakāśa. Prakāśa is light.

That means we understand what is to be done, what is not to be done. What should be allowed inside of us and this is what should not be allowed inside of us. Jñāna, idāgata, vidyā.

So how is this illumination coming? It comes by jñāna. And when such happens, such a thing happens, Krishna says, vibhūte sattva-mītyu-dhā. Understand that this is the indication in the mode of goodness is prominent.

So then he says, lobha pravṛtti ārambhā karmaṇā maśyamās brahā, vajasye dāgare jāyante vibhūte kuruṇandana. This is 14.12. This is 14th chapter actually. So he uses the word pravṛtti in the next verse.

Lobha pravṛtti ārambhā. Pravṛtti is the word which comes over here. Lobha is greed.

So when there is greed, then I want to do this, I want to do this. Pravṛtti. And one feels impelled to an action.

And what kind of action one does? Ārambhā karmaṇā maśyamās brahā. So ārambhā karmaṇā. One keeps starting new activities.

It's like when people are in passion, when they want to read also. Sometimes when you want to study, you take up one book and study for 10-15 minutes. I'll study some other book.

I'll take some other book and study for a few minutes. I'll study some afterwards. And then we'll go through 3-4 books and then think okay, let me watch TV for some time.

So from ārambhā karmaṇā. We just keep doing new things. Why? Because there is no illumination at that time.

There is just action. So it is said that a vision without action is a dream. If I'm only thinking, vision without action is a dream.

And action without vision is a nightmare. So if I'm just acting but I'm not thinking, then I get myself into far greater trouble. So vision without action is a dream.

Just thinking, thinking. It's like a dream. And action without vision is a nightmare.

I don't think, so I get myself into much greater trouble. So ārambhā karmaṇā. So I keep doing newer and newer and newer work.

In passion, a person can't stay peaceful. A person wants to do things. Wants to do things.

Something I have to do. So then this is, what Krishna says is an indication of passion. When this happens, prajasya etān jāyante, this is an indication of passion.

And then he describes in 14.13, a prakāśam, a pravṛttiśca, he says there is no prakāśa and there is no pravṛtti. There is no illumination and there is no action. There is just lethargy.

There is just lethargy. So actually video games are an ideal example of mode of endurance. When a person is so lazy that the person doesn't even want to get up from the bed and the person thinks I am a big hero shooting down images on a video screen.

Isn't it? So in endurance, there is neither action nor is there contemplation, nor is there thought. So now we will see that we ourselves may go to a different mood like this. Sometimes we feel āyā, kuch karke dikhānā hai.

Āyā, duniyā to chalte re, ārām karo. So when we feel I have to do something, that is in passion. Other time we feel like just relax, that is in the world.

And then sometimes you may think, you know I am thinking I do this, I do that. But what is the ultimate purpose? What will I gain? What is the real value? So when we get thoughts like that, we are in goodness. So actually we ourselves go through these different moods.

So now Krishna is telling something very interesting here. So he is giving a summary description of the mode, one word word. But then he says, na dveshti sampravṛttāni na nivṛttāni kāṅkṣati sampravṛttāni, when they arrive, na dveshti, don't be resentful of them.

And when they depart, nivṛttāni, when they go away, kāṅkṣati, na kāṅkṣati, don't anger about them. That means, what he is saying, sometimes we may start feeling lethargic, lazy, or pathetic, not feeling like we, we may, why I am feeling like this, I don't want to feel like this. We may become angry with ourselves, we may become irritated, which has no use, we all become angry with ourselves.

And sometimes we may feel very introspective, thoughtful and doing this, this feeling is so good, I can think clearly. But Krishna says that, when that feeling goes away, don't anchor for it also. So why does he say don't anchor for it? This is because these are actually like mental visitors.

They are visitors. So that to actually understand that these are visitors, what we have to do, udāsīna vadāsīna, gudaiyona vichāyate, we have to become udāsīna, we have to become observers for our feelings. And this is a very interesting mental exercise.

How can we observe our feelings? Actually, if we study the philosophy of Bhagavad Gita a little bit, we can understand that I am not the body. I understand that actually this body is just head and eyes. And I have consciousness.

So we can understand that I am not the body. But the next step in going towards self-realisation is to understand that I am not the mind. And that is much more difficult.

But one way to understand it is by observing our feelings. So now what does it mean to observe our feelings? Actually, when to some extent we are self-satisfied, we are satisfied within, then we are not stimulated or agitated by our feelings. But when we are not self-satisfied, when we are internally bored, then looking for something, then as soon as some thought comes in the mind, some desire comes in, immediately we start building that activity.

So in the second chapter, in the 70th verse, Lord Krishna gives a very interesting example of a motion. So he describes that just as rivers flow into the ocean, but don't disturb the ocean. Similarly, desires flow into a wise person, but don't disturb the wise person.

Now, there are several interesting points in this verse. Normally we think about desires flowing outwards. I desire, I see somebody has a cell phone, I want that cell phone.

I see somebody has got a very posh new bike, splendid bike, I want that bike. So normally we think of desires flowing outwards. But Krishna is sitting over here, the desires flowing inward.

It's not that water from the ocean goes into the river. It's water from the river comes into the ocean. So Krishna is talking about desires flowing inwards over here.

So what does he mean by this? To understand that, there's a key word in this verse, na kama kami. So kama can mean specifically lust, broadly it can mean desire. So na kama kami means not a desirer of desires.

So not a desirer of desires. What does this mean? That means, so when I see, okay, somebody has got a very good looking bike, then when I see that, that desire enters into me, like the river enters into the ocean. So that kama comes into me, but I don't become a desirer of that desire.

So when the desire enters, we can't avoid it, we can't close our eyes and walk on the road. But when the desire comes in, actually only when the desire goes out, then we will get disturbed. So to understand this, when the salesperson knocks on the mental door, normally when salespeople come, they will knock on the door, we have got this product, we want this, we want this.

So normally, or somebody may call us on the phone, sir, we have got a new scheme for the mobile, we will get this for this, this, this, this rate. And then if we are not interested, we will just say, I'm not interested, stop it. And normally also some salesperson comes to our door and says, I got this product.

Normally we will be a little sceptical. First of all, what is the scheme? How much are you offering? Then we'll say, before I accept an enquiry, I'll come tomorrow. And we'll call up some other people and say, okay, this is the scheme, I'm getting this rate here, what is the other rate? We'll basically evaluate if any salesperson comes to our door, we'll evaluate it.

Similarly, the Bhagavad Gita is telling us, when any desire comes in our mind, we need to evaluate it, evaluate it. Is this desire really good for me? For example, if I'm studying for my exam, and then a desire comes, hey, you're very good, you need to do this, let's go and do this. I'll say, then, now, the desire has come, maybe a friend has come and told us, assisted that, or we know that some friends are going and suddenly we remember that.

Or we remember, oh, actually today a cricket match is there. So when India is losing the cricket match, then we become detached. When India is winning, then we think, I want to go and watch.

But actually, to the extent we delight when India is losing, to that extent we will be miserable when India loses. We can't be enjoying when India wins and say, I'll become detached when India loses. It doesn't work like that.

Why? Because once we become attached to it, we have to get bored instantly, both the feelings. To the extent we enjoy particular activities, the extent we suffer when that activity doesn't work out right. But the point which you're making is that we can, whenever any desire comes in our mind, we can treat it as if a salesperson is knocking at our mental door.

Let me evaluate this. What is this desire? Does it really make sense? Is it really important for me? And actually speaking, how do we evaluate this desire? Most often what happens when the feelings come, we immediately get carried away by those feelings. We think that they are my feelings.

They're my feelings. So I'm sitting in front of, I'm doing my studies, and I'm thinking, maybe today I want to eat ice cream. And as soon as the desire comes, what happens? Immediately, we start acting on the desire.

So we need to be a little, the word sceptical means not believing very easily. And valuable means believing very easily. So we need to be sceptical about whatever feelings come in our heart, whatever desires come.

So yes, now sometimes what happens, the desire comes so strongly that we can't say no to it. So at that time, what we require is what we'll discuss a little later. But the important principle is that it is not that every single desire that comes in our mind, we have to accept.

It is not even our desire. It is something just come from extra outside, and then it just pollutes our mind. And we often see this happening, say, when students, when they are at their homes, and the parents are looking over them and make their little culture, like once they come to the hostel, then there's a whole world of sin which opens up.

There are so many immoral and negative activities that a person can do. And as soon as the options open up, and we start going along the options. But we need to evaluate.

It is not that every desire that comes in our mind, it is our own desire. It could be a desire that is imposed from outside. So how do we understand this? So whenever any feeling comes, we have to try to think, what is the source? Why am I doing this? Why am I really doing this? So then you can trace out, okay, when I went to this person, he said like this, and then he said like that, that's how it's going to be.

Is it really important to me? No, it's not. Why should I do this? So one way to evaluate it is looking at the source. Another is by having our own shelves, having our own plans.

See, plans don't work, but planning works. What is the difference between the two? It's a big difference between plans and planning. When we make plans, we say, okay, tomorrow I'll do this, afternoon I'll do this, evening I'll do this, night I'll do this, day I'll do this.

Like that we try to make a systematic plan for what we'll do in the day. Then it doesn't work very often. Why? Because, unfortunately, we are not God.

If all our plans were to work, then we'll need to be able to control everything. And to be able to control everything, we have to be God. So we are not God, so we can't control everything.

That's why it is quite often that our plans won't work. But even if our specific plans don't work, if we have done planning, planning will understand, okay, these are the things which I need to do, and prioritise. Over the next one week, I'll do these things.

So planning basically gives us a sort of compass. This is what I have to do in my studies, this is what I have to do in my future life, these are the things that I have to do at my home, these are the things that I have to do for administrative work or whatever. So our specific plans are unlikely to work.

But planning is an indication of seriousness. Whenever we take anything seriously, we plan it. And even if you see in companies, when you start working, some of you are working in companies, some of you are in college, you'll see that when we start working in companies, they make very systematic plans about how projects are to be done.

And of course, the plans keep a little flexibility there. Some work may take more time, some work may take less time. That's right.

So in general, when we try to make specific plans and insist on sticking on those plans, then we see we are trying to play God. And playing God is typical of the mode of passion. And we get frustrated.

But planning basically means trying to bring some regulation in our life. That is in the mode of goodness. So that means, for example, say we decide every morning I'll wake up and chant Hare Krishna and do my Mukha Darshan in the morning.

Now this is basically planning. Now we can't control exactly how much we will concentrate in our chanting. We may not be able to control how will be the weather in the morning.

Sometimes it will be cold, sometimes it will be hot. Sometimes the fan will be there, sometimes the fan may not be there. These things may irritate us.

So we can't control everything. But that doesn't mean we can't control everything. So if we have a broader direction of where we want to go, then even if one thing doesn't work out, we have second thing to do.

Second thing doesn't work, third thing we have to do. But if we don't have any plan, if we don't do any planning at all, then what happens? Whatever desire comes in our mind, we just get carried away by that. So if we don't stand for something, then we fall for anything.

So we have to have certain priorities in us. So planning is very important. Planning helps us to check ourselves from getting carried away by just passing thoughts and passing feelings that come in our mind.

And third thing is what you could do is actually not have the facility for fulfilling those desires when it is available for us. This happens in childhood with everyone. A child may feel, every toy that the child is in, I want this toy, I want this toy, I want this toy.

Isn't it? Now imagine if the parents gave lakhs of rupees to the child. What would the child do? Child just completely waste it. Take this, take that, and then at the end, the child's home will be filled with toys and the child will not be satisfied over it.

So actually today our society is filled with grown up children. What is grown up children? You know people have grown up physically, biologically they have grown up. But emotionally they are just like children.

Just like children don't have any discrimination. As soon as they see anything, anything good looking, I want that, I want that, I want that. So like that the media specialises over the day.

Take this new watch, take this new shoes, take this new jeans, take this, take that, and I want that, I want that, I want that. So what happens? People are just grown up children really. They are emotionally not at all grown up.

And the whole advertising agency is a flourish by keeping people emotionally immature. Emotionally non-discriminating. That's why we need to be sceptical.

We can't be carnival in these situations. So this is basically, so I said three things. First is what? With respect to understanding whether our feelings are our feelings or not.

First is source. Because where did this come from? Second is hard planning. And third is don't have ready facility to pull through things.

For example, if I go for shopping. If I know I want to purchase something for 100 rupees, then I can take 200 rupees. But if I want to purchase something for 100 rupees, then I take 5000 rupees with me.

And what happens? I see something, maybe I'll take it. Maybe I'll take it. So people just, and the worst part of having credit cards is this.

It actually, people just spend, there is a saying in English. Those who purchase things that they don't need will have to soon sell things that they need. Those who purchase things that they don't need.

I want this. You watch. I want this cell phone.

I want this new TV. And then you get such a big load. And then after everything I'll work more, but it doesn't work.

And finally, we have to start selling things. The loans that we have taken, people will come and then not only will they take the cell phone and the watch, they'll take the house only. And then we'll be left with nothing.

So therefore, actually not having too much easy facility for fulfilling the desires is very helpful. It's very helpful. So in that sense, the more choices that we have, the more vulnerable we become.

For example, if I have a TV, and the TV has only one or two channels. Okay, this programme is not good, this programme is not good. Then just forget it.

Let me do something else. Or what happens, there are 200 channels. Then maybe some channel I'll find out some good programme.

And actually, surveys have shown that that people are more enthusiastically watching the TV when they are surfing the channel than when they're watching a programme. Because once the programme starts, actually, it's never as interesting as surfing a channel. Just go for this, this, this, this, this.

So actually, the way people surf the channel, that is a glimpse of how their mind is going round and round and round and round. Very understandable. Therefore, not having facilities for immediately fulfilling our desires is very helpful.

That is very helpful. So creating obstacles in the fulfilment of our desires. That means not having easy money, not having too much technological facilities with us.

Now there is internet and internet has a duty. We can do research, we can get quick information very easily. And there can be so many distractions that come up.

Therefore, keeping things restricted in terms of access to things is helpful. Because when there are too many choices, then we feel lost in just the choices itself. So this is the first point.

So now, go back to what we were discussing. Are our feelings our needs or our wants? Second point we discussed is how can we avoid negative feelings? So negative feelings come up in various ways. They may come up because of some bad things that happen in our life.

You know, we don't get good enough marks in our exam. We don't get the kind of job that we want. Or our health may suffer.

So one of the best ways to avoid negative feelings is by remembering that this world is a station, not a destination. That this world is a station, not a destination. What does this mean? This means that actually life is a constant journey.

And no matter how big a problem may be, no problem in this world is permanent. It's like if I'm going in a train, and then I come to a particular station, which is very dirty. There are, say, nobody cleans the station, there is stink over there.

And then the washrooms are also not washed and everything looks so dirty. So there is a station like that. And then the train moves on from that station.

But imagine if I just keep thinking of the station. I'll be very interested. So actually, even when problems come, life moves on.

But we don't move on with the problem. We stay on with the problem. Okay, somebody insulted me.

Why did he speak like that? Why did he just stay on in negative situations? So not staying on in negative situations doesn't mean denying the problem. Okay, situations come, situations go. So by remembering that train, life is permanent.

That is one very, very powerful way to avoid negative feelings. So even if I think, okay, I did not get good marks in this exam. Fine, I did get good marks, but no exam is like final.

Nothing is final in life, actually. There is always tomorrow. There is always a chance for improvement.

So actually, you know, when there was this T20 World Cup a few months ago, Sri Lanka lost in the finals. And two young people, young Sri Lankan cricket fans, they committed suicide. Just because Sri Lanka lost in the finals.

I am actually shaking. There is a World Cup every four years. There are so many cups now.

So what is the big deal? And actually, Sri Lanka got to the finals. You know, that itself is a big achievement. So in general, there is this, in psychology, we call this as counterfactual thinking.

Counterfactual means real. Counterfactual means opposite of real. That means imaginary.

So what is this counterfactual thinking? If only that had happened, things would have been so nice. So you know, in athletics, there is gold medal, there is silver medal and there is bronze medal. So actually speaking, the number one medal is gold and bronze is third.

So hundreds of surveys have shown that when the prizes are distributed, the bronze medallist feels happier than the silver medallist. Now why is that? That is because they are doing different kinds of counterfactual thinking. You know, the bronze medallist is thinking, I might not have won any medal at all.

At least I got a bronze. Whereas the silver medallist is thinking, if only something had gone, I would have got the gold medal. So actually, what happens is that we often do the kind of counterfactual thinking.

Counterfactual thinking means imaginary thinking. So the silver medallist is doing the counterfactual thinking. If only I had run faster, I would have won the gold medal.

And because of that thought, he is becoming miserable. Whereas, the bronze medallist is thinking, thank god, I at least got the bronze medal, otherwise I got nothing. You know, actually, sometimes there are competitions like consolation prizes.

So actually, consolation prizes, the word itself is consolation, you know. It's good, some prizes there. But the idea is that it's not a consolation prize, it's not a distinction prize.

So he is thinking, at least I got some prize. So very often, when we feel bad about things, it is because we are doing the wrong kind of counterfactual thinking. That means, okay, I did not get the kind of job that I wanted.

But okay, I did not, I have not got the best kind of boss that I wanted. My boss is very troublesome. Then if we look around, we may find that somebody else has a much worse boss.

So generally speaking, we look at others in a way that often just increases our trouble. That means, we look at those who are better than us and think, only I will be like that thing would have been so much better. Yes, we can try to improve ourselves, there's nothing wrong with that.

But if we let ourselves become miserable by such comparison, then we are simply draining a little too much. So therefore, if I get a disease, if I have a sickly body, then yeah, I mean, if I can look at healthy people and think why this has happened, or I can look at more sick people, at least I'm not that sick. So this sort of thinking is in our control.

It is in our control. We cannot control what happens to us. But we can control how we look at it, how we think about it.

So by doing the right kind of counterfactual thinking, we can remove negative feelings and we can bring positive feelings to the world. So, Bhagavad Gita talks about positive thinking at a much higher level. Actually, Bhagavad Gita explains that ultimately, everything is happening is by Krishna's arrangement for our ultimate benefit.

So, at a material level, if we don't have war in the picture, then we can just compare the material level. And we can say, I'll compare with this person and I'll feel better. And I'll compare with that person, I'll feel miserable.

But still the mind will have a background, why should I compare with him? I want to compare with him, I want to be compared with him. The mind will keep troubling us. But if we understand the spiritual perspective, from the spiritual perspective, we understand that actually, this world is like a hospital.

It is like a hospital. And in a hospital, if the doctor gives the kind of treatment to the patient, which the patient needs. So now, the doctor may give an injection to one person and doctor may give a tablet to the other person.

The doctor may give a surgery to the third person. Now, the patient who has got an injection says, hey, this needle gave me a big trouble, it pains so much. Then he can recall that person, you know, he did not get a needle, he got a big surgery also.

By thinking like that, he will feel, okay, I did not suffer so much. But still the mind may say, he got only a pill, why I had to get an injection? The mind may feel like that. But when I understand, actually, he is also sick, I am also sick, he is also sick.

We are all having different kinds of sicknesses. And Krishna, the doctor is treating us according to our sicknesses. And what is being given to us is the best according to our situation.

Once we understand that, then actually, we are not doing counterfactual thinking, we are doing factual, structural thinking. And this thinking can bring simultaneous acceptance and dynamism. When a patient is taking treatment, on one level, there has to be acceptance, the acceptance that, okay, this is the treatment, let me accept it.

But of course, the patient also has to do things. The patient has to take the medicine on time, follow the rules and regulations. So, in our case, actually, there are a lot of things which we can do also.

Our treatment is not just passive. Our treatment is active. So, therefore, as devotees, when we understand that whatever is happening in our life is the best thing for me, it is the treatment for me, then when I understand this, then a huge amount of the mental energy that goes in resentment, resentment, why did this happen? So, actually, sometimes we pray to Krishna, Krishna, please solve this problem.

Please solve this problem. And then nothing happens. Then we start wondering, is Krishna listening to our prayers? Then we start wondering, does Krishna even exist also? Because the mind just goes from one level, does God answer my prayers? Does God exist also? But the problem is not Krishna answers everyone of our prayers.

But the problem is that if we half trust Krishna, what is the meaning of half trusting Krishna? That means we don't trust Krishna's power but not Krishna's intelligence. What does it mean when I pray to Krishna? Krishna, this is the problem and this is the way you should solve it. Then what does it mean? We believe that Krishna has the power to solve the problem but he doesn't have the intelligence.

So, I have to give him the intelligence. So, Krishna, this is the problem, solve it this, this, this, this way. So, if we do like that, then what happens? We are actually cutting ourselves from Krishna's wisdom.

So, trusting Krishna is not just trusting his power but trusting his intelligence also. That means when I pray to Krishna, Krishna, we can tell Krishna, Krishna, this is the problem and this is the solution. But if you have a better plan for me, help me to understand and accept that plan and act according to it.

So, most people like to serve God. Is it true? Do people like to serve God? What do you think? Yes, even atheists like to serve God. As advisors.

As advisors. Do this, do this, do this, do this. You know, for atheists, then God exists only when they want to give advice to God.

So, whenever they want to give advice to God, atheists say actually this whole world is a mess. If God had existed, he would have made this world like this, like this, like this, like this. So, for them, God only comes into existence when they want to give advice and after they finish giving advice to God, God readily accepts their advice and disappears into non-existence.

So, it is such a crazy idea. So, actually, when we serve God, we serve him not as advisors but as servants, as assistants, as cooperators. So, therefore, once we understand that Krishna is a doctor, Krishna is an expert, he is far more intelligent than me, then we can avoid this negativity entirely because we understand that Krishna has the best plan for me.

I just need to go out and do things. So, rather than half trusting Krishna, I will fully trust Krishna. And if we do this, we will find that only our friend Krishna's plan will be revealed to be far better than our best plan.

So, this is how our negative feelings, what are they? World is a station, not a destination. Remember that everything is temporary. And second is, that this world is like a hospital.

And all of, sorry, second thing I said is, look out of actual thinking, which is comparing with those who are worse than us, not those who are better than us. And third is, this is a hospital and all of us are getting customised to it. And fourth is, trust Krishna's not just individual, not just power, but also his intelligence.

So, by these four things, we can actually destroy negative feelings at their root entirely. So, now, I won't be able to take all these points. I'll just take one of these points and then we can have question answers.

So, now, how, generally speaking, when we practise spiritual life, we may sometimes get some nice duties. We go down to Kirtan and we feel very nice. And we sometimes come into Darshan and we feel very nice.

Sometimes we start chanting. And we feel, is this 108 days or 1008 days? But sometimes we feel so burdened, we don't feel like doing anything at all. So, actually, our feelings affect us even in our spiritual life.

So, is it that, we say, sometimes I feel so nice in devotional life and then we say, I'm a very advanced devotee. And then after that, I say, am I a devotee at all? We start feeling like that. So, are our feelings real or they're not real? When we feel devotional, when we feel some devotional sentiments, they are real, but at our stage, they are not sustained.

So, at our stage, we should not let feeling become the guide of our spiritual life. At our stage, scripture should be the guide of our spiritual life. A scriptural knowledge, scriptural understanding.

Because when a patient is taking treatment, sometimes, actually, when a surgery is done, the patient may feel more pain after the surgery than before the surgery. So, actually, just the moment to moment feeling of a patient is not necessarily the best indicator of the health of the patient. See, the health is to be judged, it has to be judged over a gradual period of time.

So, similarly, our moment to moment feelings, we should not take them very seriously. So, actually, for continuing on a spiritual life, our devotional practises need to be based on two things. Convictions and commitments.

Convictions and commitments. Convictions means, we study the philosophy properly. By studying the philosophy properly, we understand, this is what I should be doing.

So, that gives us philosophical convictions. Krishna describes in 3 verses 24-25, 6th chapter, he describes, gradually, step by step, calm down, just slowly, step by step, calm down the mind. Wherever, whenever the mind wanders, bring it back and calm it down.

How will one do this? Bhuddhi, Bhuddhi is intelligence. Intelligence sustained by Bhuddhi. Bhuddhi is conviction.

So, conviction. When we come in the ashram, hear the philosophy, study the scriptures, that strengthens our conviction. And when we are convinced, this is right, this is beneficial, this is what I want to do.

Then our feelings will not shake us up and down in our emotional life. And actually, along with convictions, there has to be commitments. Commitments means, if somebody says, you are a very good doctor.

Doctor says, okay, I am a good doctor, but please take my medicine. No, no, I will not take your medicine, but I believe, I have faith that you are a good doctor. Well, that faith is good, but that faith is not good enough.

You know, faith that a doctor is good has to be accompanied by following the doctor's prescription. So, conviction is like addressing the doctor as good. Commitment is like following the treatment of the doctor.

So, commitment means I decide, every day I will chant this mantra. Once a week or whatever time, I will come in the ashram and do this. These are the things I will do.

So, commitments are things which are extremely important. Not just for our spiritual advancement, but for our all-round development. Sometimes we find that people don't take us seriously.

If you tell somebody something, you should do like this. Please laugh and don't take it seriously. And we feel bad when that happens.

When we are saying something and somebody doesn't take it seriously, we feel bad about that. Actually, you know, if we want people to take us seriously, first, we should take us seriously. Now, what does it mean to take, we should take us seriously? That means, you know, we should respect and honour the commitment that we make to ourselves.

Now, if people see that this person sticks to whatever he decides, then people start taking it seriously. So, actually, first, we need to start taking ourselves seriously. Not taking ourselves seriously in terms of saying that every thought that comes in the mind, start taking it seriously.

That would be very bad. But when we decide, this is what I am going to do, then we should take ourselves seriously. And if you find that people don't take themselves seriously, that means, when they decide certain commitments, and they stick to those commitments, then believe me, you will find that people around us start taking them seriously.

Because in the end, if this person decides to do something, he does it. If he tells me also, I have to do this, then he does it. So, now, it's not that as devotees, we want to crave for the respect of the world.

We don't want to be proud. But just to live in the world, there has to be a sense that we are not being respected by others adequately. It may not necessarily be because of our ego.

It could just be because we are not acting in ways that will command other people to respect. So, we can't direct, respect me. That would be very arrogant.

But if we start taking our commitments seriously, we will be better off as humans. Automatically, without our asking for it. So, therefore, it is very important for us to make commitments and keep commitments.

Actually, apart from making commitments and keeping commitments, there is no other way in the world to increase one's willpower. There is no other way in the world to increase one's willpower apart from making and keeping commitments. Anybody who has any level of willpower, that is basically because that person has made and kept commitments.

So, we may feel that I don't have enough willpower. We will not get that willpower without using whatever willpower we have. So, actually speaking, making commitments is the way we use whatever willpower we have and we develop our willpower.

Now, you may think, but if I don't have willpower, how will I keep commitments? That's it. It's nothing like a vicious circle. But we can always begin with something.

We can start at whatever level we are and make commitments accordingly. And from that, we can move forward onwards. So, if we get some nice devotional feelings, that's good.

That's good. If by chanting Hare Krishna, I feel very happy, that's nice. I'm grateful to Krishna.

These are the glimpses of the wonderful feelings that await me when I become purified in the future. But by chanting, I don't get any feelings. I feel bored.

It doesn't matter. This is my commitment and I do this. Actually, if we do it, it is not just that our willpower is becoming stronger by that.

Actually, we have become purified. We are praising Krishna. We are showing Krishna that Krishna, I am chanting not just for my pleasure, I am chanting for your pleasure.

And then by that, we get a far richer taste in our chanting. We will become much more purified, much more spiritually advanced. We will become more spiritually healthy and we will get a far greater experience of spiritual satisfaction.

And the last point now is our dependence on devotees, emotional or transcendental. What does this mean? Actually, one of the important aspects of spiritual life is that we should feel dependent on devotees. We need the devotees.

We come into the association, we get inspiration, we get guidance and then we move forward. But even the association of devotees, we should not become emotionally dependent on devotees. What does emotional dependence mean? When we are emotionally dependent on somebody, we want that person to make us feel good.

Whenever we come to that person, that person should smile at us, should make us feel good. And basically, we dump all our problems on that person and that problem acts like a dumb principle. That person acts like a dumb principle.

Now, of course, sometimes when we have troubles, we need to share our heart with somebody else. And we can do that with devotees. But in general, if you are emotionally dependent, then we are always looking outside for emotional support.

And what happens when we are looking for just emotional support? Devotees need emotional support. But devotees need something far greater. Devotees need Krishna.

But we are just looking for emotional support because then we can't get Krishna's support. So, yes, emotional support is there in the Sunil Vedas. You know, in the town, in the church, in the console.

But ultimately, at the material level, emotions will always be troubles. The best emotional support that one can get is, one goes beyond his emotional system. So, the real gift that we get from devotees is not just emotional support.

It is transcendental support. It is the inspiration to practise devotional service. It is the inspiration, the guidance, the instruction, the pathway to practise devotional service.

So, when we come to devotional service, what we are looking for is important. If we are just looking to feel good, that's fine. We need to feel good as we are devotees.

But that feeling will stay only temporarily. If we want it to stay for a longer time, then we need to actually do the things which will change our feelings. And that is the practise of devotional service.

So, the assertion of devotee is, even the most advanced devotee, even if we get up, even if Srila Prabhupada was there on this planet, even Krishna himself came over here. You know, what can Krishna give us? Krishna, or the most advanced devotees, they can give us only three things. They can give us knowledge, they can give us facility, and they can give us inspiration.

They can give us knowledge. This is what we should do. It's like a treatment.

Okay, this is medicine, this is a treatment. You can go facility. Somebody says, okay, you have to take this medicine.

Where is the medicine? I'll know where the medicine is. Then they will give us beads, then they will give us the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. And then they give us inspiration.

You see, this inspiration means, you can see that devotees themselves do the same thing which they have. They say, you should chant. They wake up and chant in the mornings.

They say they follow the principles, they are following the principles. They use knowledge, facility, and inspiration. But after that, it is we who have to choose.

So, if we don't take the knowledge, don't take the facility, don't take the inspiration, but we just look for emotional support, and we look at the bad, and we look at the good, and the good talks with us, and consoles us, and leaves the problem, fine. But then, that is not going to solve the problem. The problem will be solved only when we purify ourselves.

When we purify ourselves. So, that's why, actually, when we come to the association with devotees, this is what we should be looking for. Knowledge, facility, and inspiration.

For what? For practising emotional service. And by that, we will steadily march, and then, rather than looking for emotional support from others, we will be able to give emotional support to others. We will become so mature, so emotionally balanced, that we will be able to give support to others.

And that is the true sign of actual growth in our lives. So, I will summarise. We started by discussing about, you remember what we discussed today? What I will do is, I will summarise for you, so that, I have already summarised questions.

So, how do we judge our feelings? Look at the source. Where is this feeling coming from? Have planning. Not necessarily plans, but planning.

The third is, no quick facilities. Actually, here, I also said here is that, we should be a little sceptical. Whenever any feelings come, don't just accept them, be sceptical about those things, evaluate those feelings.

If you have a plan, then nobody can interrupt those plans very easily. And don't keep good facilities for evaluating. Then, how can we avoid negative feelings? The world is a station, not a destination.

Then, what was the second point we discussed? Yes, do beneficial counterfactual thinking. That means, compare with those who are lesser than us, rather than those who are above us. And third is, our treatment is custom made for us.

So, no need to compare. The last was, trust Krishna's intelligence, not just his power. So, by this, we can avoid negative feelings.

Whatever the problems come, we can still deal with them and get away from those problems. Then, we discussed about how much should we let our spiritual life be affected by our feelings. We said that we should focus our spiritual life around convictions and commitments.

And then, last we discussed about, is our dependence on devotees, emotional or spiritual. So, what is the way to know that? We should focus on knowledge, facilities and inspiration for practising devotional service. Then, we will be able to steadily advance and we will come to a level of both emotional and spiritual life.

We will become more in support rather than constantly requiring emotional support. So, Krishna Consciousness is actually a science of emotions. This is a stimulating process for developing emotions and purifying and refining all the emotions.

So, we just discussed some aspects of it today. Are there any questions? So, people feel the presence of ghosts. On their side, we go to Krishna Prabhupada and say, Prabhupada, I think I am being haunted by a ghost.

Prabhupada says, this is just your imagination, you can't understand. So, we do accept that ghosts exist and ghosts can haunt people. A ghost can actually, it is said, they haunt places and they possess people.

They are living in a body, this is called haunting. And they enter into something, this is called possession. So, it's possible, but we don't have to bother too much about it.

So, if some people feel that kind of presence, then rather than trying to go into an analysis to prove whether it is false or whether it is right, it's best to focus on dealing with it. And the best way to deal with this is, is it intentional or is it a question? So, even if the ghost is there and you are chanting Hare Krishna, you know, you will benefit the ghost also. And if the ghost is not there, at least we will benefit.

So, therefore, there is no need to get too much caught in these things. So, if a person is in the mode of goodness, can ghosts haunt him? Can ghosts haunt a person in the mode of goodness? Generally not, but there are exceptions that are always possible. Because, the economic consequences for different people come in different ways.

Just like, we could say that smokers get lung cancer. So, now there is a normal correlation between smoking and lung cancer. But it's also possible that some people, without smoking, get lung cancer.

So, why? Because they may have sweetened water from the alcohol itself. That means that they had some other karma because of which they committed. So, in general, people who live in the mode of ignorance, karmic circumstances, they get haunted by ghosts.

But some people who live in the mode of goodness, they may also, there is an exception to that, that we occasionally have. But normally, it is, we live in the mode of ignorance when it is like Abhay and Jai Maharaj. So, it's like, oh God, please come, I want to eat.

So, that's when we all, the mode of ignorance are possible. Any questions? If our desires, like, desires are not disasters, like, they are towards the spiritual life, then how should we, like, deal with our desires? And there are, like, other duties that are studied. So, how should we deal then with our desires? Yes.

How do we deal with our spiritual desires? So, in general, the whole art of living is the art of balance. So, we have our material desires. We can't let our material desires overwhelm our spiritual life.

And we can't let our spiritual desires overwhelm our material life. So, therefore, we have a lot of obligations. Therefore, we need to plan it.

Okay, this is why, as I said, if we feel like, I want to come to the temple mode of ignorance, or I want to read a particular book, I want to hear a particular line of classes, then we can make a drastic plan, we can make a drastic plan, this is how much I can do. So, in general, with respect to spiritual life, it is better to err on the side of more than less. And in material life, it is better to err on the side of less than more.

Because, the peer pressure in material life will always make us do more than what is necessary. And, I am not talking about studies. Peer pressure will make us study everything.

Peer pressure makes us waste our time solving all these activities. Peer pressure makes us anxious about marks. It definitely forces us to study.

So, actually, if we have a culture of rebuilt engineering, that will inspire us to study also. But, in general, if we feel inspired about doing something in our devotional life, then, it is very good. Because, though you desire us, if we have some unfulfilled desires, then we will always be looking for time to fulfil those desires.

Isn't it? So, if I have unfulfilled spiritual desires, then as soon as I get time, I will use and fulfil those desires. So, it is better to have unfulfilled spiritual desires than to have unfulfilled material desires. Isn't it? So, if I have a desire to read some spiritual books, then I don't have time.

Then, I am in the college, NCAA lecture is on. Then, what happens? Then, I don't have time to read. But, on the other hand, if I don't have any unfulfilled spiritual desires, if I don't have any modern ideas, what should I do? Maybe I should study.

Because, I am very far away. Maybe I should read this book. But, there are so many books to read.

I don't know. Maybe, I think I slept a little bit yesterday. Laughter So, generally, if we have not made a plan, then by default, we will choose the path of least resistance.

So, therefore, it is always good to have something which we like to do in our spiritual life, which we are unable to do. So, just because I like to do something in spiritual life, that doesn't mean that I put aside my material duties and start doing it. We have balance, but it is good to have unfulfilled spiritual desires also.

Then, we look forward to doing it as soon as we get the time. Any other questions? We are making a plan to get up early in the morning, but she can't able to get up. there are so many thoughts in her mind.

Why is that? Why not planning? How can we ensure that we wake up in the morning? There are certain things in spiritual life which needs association. One thing is waking up in the morning. It is something, unless you develop a habit, like now, most of us, we have been waking up in the morning for 10-15 years.

So, we will normally wake up. We will be sleeping, and we will wake up. Unless, of course, it is very exhausting.

But it cannot happen until the habit happens. It is like, if a train is moving in a particular direction, it has got a momentum. Then, you need a lot of force to stop it from going in that direction.

So, what will happen is, we have lived in a culture, where the momentum is sleeping late, getting late. Or, it is sleeping early and getting late. But in general, the momentum is not waking up early.

That's why, resisting that momentum requires a lot of time. A lot of effort. And it is difficult to make that effort in an individual basis.

That's why, if we have youth centres, then waking up becomes much easier. And even if that is not possible, then it is good to plan with some other emotions. So, we can plan that, I want to wake up at this time, and somebody else is also waking up at that time.

We can just tell that devotee, please give me a call on my cell phone. Something like that. Because, if we make an alarm on the cell phone, we just chop the alarm.

So, it is good that somebody else calls us. So, that way, if we take help from somebody, then the most practical way will be that we stay in the association of devotees so that they help us to wake up. Or we try to take help from devotees which will make a wake up.

Otherwise, it is quite difficult. But, if that is not possible, or with an addition to this, it is good to plan so that we sleep early. Because we can't, we can't extract more from the body than what it is capable of.

In the morning, seven hours of sleep. If I sleep at 12 o'clock and say, wake up at 4 o'clock, the body will wake up at 9 o'clock. Because the body needs that wake up.

So, we have to plan and make sure that we can sleep on time. So, we can't just do one side of the bargain, wake up early. Practically speaking, we sleep early and we put an alarm.

And another thing is, we avoid eating too much at night. Because that creates a little more, makes it more difficult to wake up in the morning. So, if we do this over a period of time, it works out.

If it takes time, it's a struggle always. But, it's a complete struggle. Once, actually, we can break through to waking up in the morning, then, the spiritual nature becomes so much more steady.

So, actually, why do we need to wake up in the morning for journey? Actually, many times, we fail in our commitments, not because our commitments are not strong enough, but because our convictions are not strong enough. So, actually, it is good for us to write down, why do I want to wake up in the morning? It is not just because you are awake. I am awake.

I am convinced about you. So, put it down in my own words. Why do I want to wake up in the morning? And then, it just forces me to read that.

So, if we are convinced internally, our conviction will be our internal alarm. And that internal alarm will do much more to wake us up than the past external alarm. So, therefore, making ourselves convinced is very important.

So, I will talk about three reasons why we wake up in the morning. 1. We are physically less distracted. 2. We are mentally more alert.

3. And we are spiritually more receptive. So, we are physically less distracted. What does that mean? In the daytime, I am doing my chanting.

This is to be done. That is to be done. That is to be done.

At least my cell phone comes along. It is so amazing. People, we are more attentive nowadays to machines than to people.

You know, I am talking with somebody and that person is talking at a loud tone. And in my pocket, my cell phone reads very gently. Some messages come.

But I forget that person wants to look at my cell phone. What is the answer to that? So, what happens? There are so many messages rushing to us in the daytime. That is why physically, we become more distracted.

In the mornings, the world is sleeping. It is our own fortune. So, we are less distracted.

Physically, we are less distracted. And actually, if we are unequally rested, waking up is difficult. When we wake up, take a bath and then get ready, we find that we are quite fresh.

So, if we chat in the morning, mentally, we are much fresher. So, mentally, because if you start chatting in the daytime, it is not just things to do. It is also a burden.

I have to do this problem. How will I do this? So, apart from the physical things to do, the mental anxiety is there which also drains us. That is why we are not mentally alert, mentally fresh in the daytime.

Much more we are in the mornings. And spiritually, we are receptive. Why? Because spiritually, the time is not just the Godavari, Godavari itself could be spiritual life.

But the transcendent moment is in Brahmaguru the time when actually there is spiritual potency in the atmosphere. And there are blessings which are kind of waiting for us in the atmosphere which is streaming into those. That's why I have written an article on my website about why morning is the best time for spiritual life.

You can look at that in the spiritual language of the comment section. So, we write that we commit ourselves. So, when we want to do anything, before, many times we rush into commitment without connections.

And that is why our commitment is beautiful. It's like what happens is, if a plane is supposed to go from Bengal to Mumbai, and the pilot is so eager for take-off, that he forgets to put the plane. Then what is going to happen? What does it have to be? What does it have to be? An expert predictor to know that the plane is going to crash.

Isn't it? If the plane is going on take-off without adequate fuel, then it is going to crash before reaching the destination. Isn't it? So, actually, the take-off is like making a commitment. But the conviction is like putting the plane.

So, we often make resolutions. I have done this, I have done that. We try to make commitments.

But it doesn't work because we are not yet convinced. So, that doesn't mean we don't make any commitments because I am not convinced at all. No.

That is the other extent. That would be like saying, I don't have fuel, so I will not take-off. But then nobody else can take-off for us.

Nobody else will take-off for me. No. So, sometimes people say, my mental desires are very strong.

My mental conditioning is very strong. That's why I have made my commitments. That is not true.

That is like saying the plane crashed because of gravity. Gravity is under all planes. So, it is not that Govindanthu or I came out of our mother's womb with a feed-bag in our hands.

All of us have our mental conditions. So, everybody has mental conditions, just like all planes. So, why is it that only some planes crash, not all planes crash? Because we don't have fuel.

So, we cannot say, because of my mental conditionings, I cannot do this. Now, whatever mental conditionings we have, if we practise devotional service properly, we can actually go beyond these conditionings. Mental conditionings are there for everyone, but devotional service has the potency to take us beyond our mental conditionings.

This is what Bhagavad Gita Krishna describes. Even the most sinful path is the most sinful of all sinners. So, why is the person ascending in the boat of spiritual knowledge? Because he feels there is an anxious feeling in which a person can go beyond the ocean of existence.

So, actually speaking, it is not a matter of our conditionings. It is a matter of our conditionings and our commitments. So, if we convince ourselves that when we commit whatever we plan, we can succeed.

Definitely. It may not happen overnight, it may take time to do that, but it surely happens. Any questions? Many times, things are going balanced, we are studying also, but sometimes the fear of excel or the fear of getting marks in the class forces us to think we are not doing, we are not balancing our studies, we should study more, more, more.

How to control these feelings? We know that we are balancing our studies and going perfect. But then also the fear of doing excel overcomes everything and then we leave everything. How to control that fear? So, when we start thinking that we need to do more and more in our material life, in our studies, and that makes us unenthusiastic about our spiritual life and wants us to give up everything else.

How do we deal with that? Actually, Krishna described in the 18th chapter, 25th verse, that compression with any one thing is an indication of the more dangerous. One just starts doing one activity. Without connection with reality, without connection with reality, focus only on one thing.

That is actually inside the world. Because even from the material point of view, success is not just determined by one activity. I mean, after your college, when you go into a company, you will find that your success in the company may not be determined by your marks.

The marks may determine where you start in the company career. And what kind of job you get. But actually, within the corporate ladder, the success depends on your relationship skills and on your communication skills.

Primarily, these two things are important. And our education doesn't equip us at all for this. Now, most of our exams are written.

So, there's not much commitment on them. Overall, they're also more of a technical question. So, communication skills, we don't get.

We get very little commitment on that. And relationship skills. Very important.

Generally, studies is a isolated work. I do my studies, you do your studies. But when you go into a company, it's very rarely solo work.

It's team work. Therefore, actually speaking, if we just focus only on our studies, we will not succeed in the company. Studies are important.

But we have to grow, not just as good students, but as good human beings. I'm not talking about good devotees of a certain kind. I'm just talking about good human beings.

So, actually, in the association of devotees, we learn these things. Just by coming into the devotional culture, we learn sensitivity, humility, respectfulness. And these are what are essential for communication are relationship skills.

And also, we learn community skills. Because we try to understand the philosophy, we try to understand concepts, we discuss concepts, talk about it. In the future, you can also become a teacher, you can also start sharing Krishna Vaheguru, you start speaking about it more and more.

So, even from a little point of view, just that unilaterally focus on studies is harmful. It will not be very productive. That's why that is not desirable.

We need to have balance in life. And that one way to understand it, the nature of the mind is that it will always keep us disinterested. No matter what I do.

This is the amount of time that I can study, this is what I need, I will study. Because even if you give us more time, we can't study. Can you study for 12 hours or 15 hours every day? No, I can't.

So, then let me… If I try to study 12-15 hours every day, what will happen is, I will study for a few hours and I will waste time and time. So, it's better that I have a certain amount of time for my studies and fill my remaining day also throughout the English course. So, that way you can balance the nature of life.

And not let this mutual anxiety trouble us. Are the positive feelings and negative feelings determined by the environment and all? Are our positive and negative feelings determined by our previous karma and our current karma? Yes. Definitely.

See, all of us have a certain kind of prati, a certain psychophysical nature. So, we see that all of us are mentally different also. That means, some people are more emotional, some people are more rational, some people are a little introvert, some people are extrovert.

This is why I have a past karma. At the same time, our past karma, we are products of our past. We are not prisoners of our past.

We are products maybe. Our past is made like what we are. But this is not the way we always have it.

So, even if I am a little sentimental, that doesn't mean I have it always anyway. We are products. Technically, this is how I have been made.

But I am not a prisoner of my past. And actually, it helps us to become free from our past, much more powerful in the end than it is. But still, it also present also matters.

For example, I have a tendency to get anxious about things. And then, I have best friend Tanah Jyoti also becomes very anxious about it. So, what happens when 1 plus 1 becomes 11? There exists a double in triple and triple.

Multiple I have anxiety about. Or if I have a tendency to always look at negative things, Tanah Jyoti also looks at negative things. And that means it works.

So, therefore, we should, in the Jyoti circle also, if we find that other devotees also have some weaknesses that we have, then rather than increasing the weaknesses associated with them, we should look at those devotees who don't have that weakness. And associated with them, thereby, overcome that weakness. But in general, yes, we are determined by our past.

We can't change our past. But we can definitely change our present. So, that is how we can create a better future for ourselves.

Can you see this? Any other thing? May I ask a question to them? Last question. I think having a personal diary about our daily activities can really help us to balance both spiritual and mental activities. Can you know, I think, personal diary help? Yes, definitely.

But it need not be about our daily activities per se. Because that will become very monotonous. It can be more about our feelings and responses to the activities.

Because just like if we have some evokes someplace, we go for a picnic and we like that place, we go for a yatra, we like that place, then we take photos of that place. That's a snapshot technique. So, a diary can be used to take snapshots of our emotions.

And that can help us later. Let me say, because some problems I am being very objective about something. And then I start writing it down.

On my website, I have written an article about this. The right service. So, five reasons to write in your own service.

There I talk about WRIT is Ekrani. So, WR is Worship. R is Realisation.

I is Introspection. P is Therapy. And E is Education.

So, these two. Introspection and Therapy. These two are about our personal writing.

So, you can bring that in more detail. But here shortly, I'll tell you that it's good for us to sometimes we may not have a friend with whom we can share our emotions. Or sometimes, even if we have a friend with me, that person will not be able to understand me right now.

Why? Not because that person is not understanding. Because I don't understand myself right now. Because our emotions are a tumble.

Just a mess. So, at that time, writing down our emotions. This is what happened.

This is how I responded. Did I need to get so much work done for it? It was not really that I needed to. And then I think, okay, yeah.

And then we write down. And the next time something happens like that, then we retell it. Oh, last time I got so much work done.

But now I retell it. What happens is, when suddenly negative feelings are getting triggered in our mind, at that time, all the good thoughts that are there in the mind, it seems like an F2 button gets pressed. We don't remember any of those things.

That's why a diary can help us. That way we can use our diary. A diary is definitely helpful.

But rather than just making it a record of our reverence, we can make it a record of the most salient emotions of our life. And our responses. So, some striking event that happened and our response.

Was that right? Was that wrong? What could have been better? That way the diary can become a tool for self-discovery and self-improvement. Thank you very much.