From mindless accumulation to mindful realization
Hare Krishna. Thank all of you for coming here today afternoon. And I'll speak today on the topic of, you don't need a projector, so from mindless accumulation to mindful realisation.
So I'll start with an experiment in psychology, then I'll give some psychological analysis, then I'll give some spiritual perspective and then I'll conclude with some practical points for contemplation and application. So a couple of years ago, experiment was conducted by Dr. Christopher Zee at the University of Chicago and he basically had people sit in front of a computer and he told them that you can hear some pleasant piano music and relax. You can take a five minute break from your work, enjoy some leisure.
Or if you want, you can press one button and you will hear some nasty, short, loud noises. And if you hear 20 such noises, you will get one chocolate. And they shot a few, just a second or two, three seconds.
And the more such noises you hear, the more chocolates you can get. They asked that five minutes, you have to hear this, either music or noises. And they asked to estimate how many chocolates, and after that, the second part was, you'll have five minutes in which you can eat those chocolates.
If any chocolates remain after that, you can't eat them, they'll be left behind. So most people estimated that in about five minutes, they can eat around three and a half to four chocolates. And when they started playing, they started hearing, they started hearing that noise again and again and again.
So they were divided into two groups, one where the low earners, the high earners were, for 20 sounds, you get one chocolate. The others were, for 120 sounds, you'll get one chocolate. So on average, the high earners, they got around 10 chocolates.
They earned 10 chocolates. And although they had estimated that you would eat only four chocolates, still they went on, went on, went on, hearing, hearing, hearing. And when the whole time got over, they had their 10 chocolates.
They tried to eat it, trying to eat as fast as they could. They couldn't enjoy it much. And they were able to eat around three and a half, four chocolates, and the remaining went.
So they did this, again, telling people in advance that instead of chocolates, they decided to use jokes. But the more nasty noises you hear, the more jokes you can see watching in front of you. But they also told that if you have earned too many jokes, then the jokes will flash by very fast on your computer screen.
They'll flash by so fast that you cannot even watch the punchline. And even in this case, the people said, okay, in five minutes, we hear the sound. In five minutes, we can only hear the jokes.
So they felt that maybe if a joke is a particular length, you might be able to hear a few number of, say, five or 10 jokes per five minutes. But again, they earned more jokes than what they could enjoy. And those who stopped, okay, I can enjoy five jokes in five minutes, they stopped at that point.
They just stopped hearing the unpleasant sounds. And after the experiment, they felt that they just found that they felt happier than the others who had earned 15-20 jokes, but they just couldn't enjoy them because they were flashing by too fast. So here, so Dr. Christopher Zee, he calls this phenomenon of people earning more than what they can enjoy.
They expose themselves to more unpleasant sounds, get more chocolates, even when they know that they won't be able to enjoy that much. This he calls as mindless accumulation. So accumulation is getting more and more mindless.
Why? Because no thoughtfulness is being put in it. So it has been observed more and more that people often are compulsive in trying to acquire more than what they need. And we know the standard stories, many of us may have heard in our childhood about greed, how people acquire a lot and then nothing is left.
When we die, everything is left behind. Now, of course, we may say that, actually, you know, I'm doing this for my children. I'm doing this for my descendants.
Even if I don't have the wealth, at least they will enjoy the wealth. But unfortunately, in the mania for earning wealth, people even neglect their relationships. And they may be earning for their loved ones, but their loved ones don't feel love.
Because they're not able to give time, they're not able to give attention, they're not able to give affection. The only way they give affection is by throwing money at them. And after some time, that doesn't really sound too affectionate.
So it doesn't benefit them, nor does it benefit their loved ones for whom ostensibly they're doing all this. So what is it that makes people work so compulsively? Now, in youth, we are more concerned with, say, stabilising our career, building a career for ourselves, then stabilising ourselves in a career, so that we can have a good life ahead. That is fine.
But in youth itself, we make some behavioural patterns. And those patterns stay with us. So it is said that in youth, people lose their health to gain wealth.
Because they take a lot of stress, work disproportionately hard. I want to make money. They lose their health to gain wealth.
By the time they come to middle age, then they lose their wealth to gain back their health. Spend a lot of money, do this exercise, take this pill, have this medicine, go to this gym, do this, try so many things, try to get back the health that is lost because of stress. And at the end, we lose both the health and the wealth.
We lose everything. So the Bhagavad Gita explains that there are standard behavioural patterns, which are called as modes. Guna, the Bhagavad Gita uses these words.
Trayaguna, three modes of material nature are there. And they impel us to act in particular ways. Sattvaguna, Rajoguna and Tamoguna.
Sattvam rajas tamaiti guna prakriti sambhavan nibbannanti mahabaho dehe dehinam avyayam. In the 14th chapter, 5th verse, Krishna says that there are three modes and they bind all living beings. They are goodness, passion and ignorance.
So in goodness, there is contemplation before action. You think and then decide what to do. In passion, there is action before contemplation.
I just speak. Why did I speak that? Just act on an impulse. Yeah, I should not have done that.
And then there is ignorance with a simple illusion. We just do not think properly, do not act properly, whatever comes in their mind, they do it. So another way of understanding this, some people make things happen.
Some people watch things happen. Some people wonder what happened. So, there are three modes of material nature according to which different people function in different situations.
Now, what do we mean by these modes? If say, this floor, some water spills on this floor and in this water, in the floor, there are grooves, there are three grooves and if the water falls there, the water will go towards one of the grooves and once it goes into that groove, it will just flow along. It can just stay on the floor, but the groove offers a path for it to flow. So, the water tilts towards that groove and flows along that groove.
Similarly, our mind has certain grooves, certain patterns and it oscillates towards that, gravitates towards that naturally. So, now many of us, the icebreaker question was, what is it that about us we would like to change? So, at the start of the new year, I was on a TV show where they asked a question about, the topic was new year resolutions and I quoted a statistic, 90 to 95 percent of the new year resolutions that people make, those resolutions on new year are not new. So, people had made those resolutions earlier, but they are not able to keep them.
But there seems to be something within us which impels us to act in particular ways. Even against our interests, even against our intelligence, even sometimes against our intentions. So, against our interest means it is not good for me, against our intelligence means that we know it is not good for us, against our intention means if we have decided we will not do it, still we end up doing it.
So, what is it that makes us function like this? And the Bhagavad Gita explains that our current existence is three-dimensional. Three-dimensional means that we are the, we are not just these physical bodies, there is the body, the mind and the soul. This is like a computer system where there is the hardware, the software and the user.
So, the body is like the hardware, the mind is like the software and the soul is like the user. Now, the software often has certain default programmes in it. As soon as we start our computer, certain programmes start off.
And if we use a particular programme repeatedly or say in our browser, we visit a particular site repeatedly, then say if somebody visits to read news, they visit NYTimes.com. So, as soon as we type n, immediately the browser does the autocomplete in NYTimes. So, basically, certain settings are default in the computer and certain settings become like default by repeated choosing, by repeated acting in that way. Similarly, our mind is like a software and our mind has certain settings to it.
Because of these settings which are there, some settings, they come from the past. The soul is non-material. The soul is present in this body.
Say, as a user, I can use this computer, I can use some other computer. The soul is presently in this body. The soul was before this in other bodies.
And all of us have different psychological orientations. Even people who are twins, even there is a genre called identical twins. Identical twins means they were actually one zygote which split into two.
That means they are not genetically similar, they are genetically identical. So, I was in London giving a talk on this similar science and spirituality topic. So, I was explaining how this even identical twins are not identical.
They are distinctly different. And at a genetic level, there is no difference, still there is a difference between their personalities, their likes. And that is, what is the reason for that? That is because we are not just our genes.
We have a genetic side to our being, but we transcend our genetics. So, that we at our core are spiritual beings. And the soul along with the mind, the soul and the mind and the body, all three are together as one unit.
But we bring certain impressions with us. It is like if I move from one computer to another computer, and as soon as I log into that computer, as soon as I log into my Gmail ID, then all my preferences, all my passwords, all my favourite sites, all my bookmarks, they all get associated with this new computer. So, it is not just the user that is coming, but the user's preferences also get transferred as soon as there is logging in.
So, like that, the soul is same from one body to another, but along with the mind, which carries the impressions, which carries the default settings, that also goes from one body to another. So, because of that, each one of us is different. So, I was talking about this when I was in London.
After that, one of the young man stood up and he said, actually, you know, I have an identical twin. And we are so different. I till now never understood scientifically, there is no explanation why we are so different.
So, now I understand that actually, it is because we are different souls. So, the bodies are same, but the soul is different. And the soul is, has its own impressions from its own past life.
Basically, why I am talking about this is that we all come with particular default settings. And also in this life, based on the way we act, we also acquire some settings. And as we acquire these settings, they, as we use them again and again, they start becoming like our default settings.
So, we live in a culture which is highly materialistic. Just like there is, there is alcoholism, where people can become compulsive addicts of alcohol. So, alcoholism basically means that, say, this is the home, this is the office.
And in between, there is a bar. There are two young people staying over here. Now, when they go to the office, both of them may just go along.
One of them has decided, I am not going to get into this alcohol. I do not want to get into this. The other thinks, let me enjoy, let me have a life.
As if it is drinking that tells you to have a life. Take away one's life, but whatever it is. The mind gives different rationalisations.
Once, twice, thrice. Now, after they are drunk, once, twice, thrice, every time they pass by that bar, they start thinking, maybe I should go and take a drink. Maybe I should go and take a drink.
And then after some time, if they keep drinking as per impulse, then practically by the time they step out of their house, so thinking of the office, their mind is already in the bar, maybe I can go and drink. And people become addicts, sometimes the last thing that they can think of before sleeping is drinking. The first thing they think of after waking up is drinking.
So, what has happened? You know, the impulsive, when indulged in repeatedly, becomes compulsive. Just as I said, initially, when I chose NY times, I had to type. But after all, as soon as I just type N, NY times gets completed.
Sometimes, you know, that may even become my homepage. So, I do not have to do anything. As soon as I open my browser, it comes up.
So, like that, whatever we do repeatedly, that becomes like our default setting. And once it becomes a default setting, even without our conscious choosing, it becomes chosen. Rather, we need conscious choosing to deselect it, because it will be by default selected.
So, in today's world, which is very materialistic, just as I was saying that alcoholism, alcoholic may appear to be externally free. They can go here, they can go there, I can do whatever I want. But actually, mentally, they are bound, they are bound.
Wherever they go, that desire for alcohol pulls them. Just as alcoholism is an addiction, there is another form of addiction, which is called as workaholism. Workaholics are people who are compulsive workers.
And they work not just for earning, they work simply because they have made their work, their soul defining identity. Work is a part of our life, work is an important part of our life. But our work alone is not who we are.
As I said, when people, our life has different aspects to it. Some people may be extremely successful in their work. But if they have, if they neglected their family members, and say, their children are alienated from them, their spouses are alienated from them, then success in one area of life cannot compensate for failure in another area of life.
Success in say, work life, in professional life, cannot compensate for failure in home life, in family life. These are two distinct areas. In both areas, we need to work to be able to function effectively.
Now, why we do what we have decided not to do, that is because we have certain default settings, or certain settings have become like default for us. And to change those default settings, we need to put in conscious intention. So mindless accumulation has become like the setting for many of us today.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna talks about the mode of passion. He says in 14.12 in the Bhagavad Gita, lobha pravrttir aarambha karmanam ase mahaspruha rajasye tani jayante vibhrudhya ikuru nandana This is lobha, greed, pravrttir aarambha, lot of work, person does. Karmanam ase mahaspruha, and aarambha karmanam, that means the person keeps starting new new work.
You start a project, like I start this work. And then even before that is completed, get on to the next one, get on to the next one. Karmanam ase mahaspruha, all of us have desires.
But some people have insatiable desires. They can't control their desire, their desire completely controls and dominates them. Often we feel that I am dissatisfied because I don't have that.
Oh, I want to have a car like that. I want to have a house like that. I want to have a spouse like that.
I want this. I want it. And if I don't have this, so I'm dissatisfied.
Once I get this, I'll become satisfied. The acquiring things is not the problem. It's natural.
You all have desires. And with desires, we'll try to desire and acquire things. The problem becomes when we start thinking that acquiring those things will make me happy.
Because dissatisfaction is not just an emotion. So dissatisfaction is not just an emotion we feel. Oh, because I don't have this, so I'm dissatisfied.
That's possible. But over a period of time, dissatisfaction also becomes a disposition. Dissatisfaction becomes the default setting of the mind.
And when that happens, what I have or what I don't have doesn't matter. No matter how much we have, there will always be things which we don't have. Nobody can ever claim that I'll have everything that is there to be had.
It's never going to happen. So in the mode of passion, in a culture that is highly materialistic, our mind becomes conditioned to seeing that which we don't have. Once that becomes the default setting of the mind, then what I have or what I have acquired, that doesn't matter.
Yes, I think because I don't have that I'm dissatisfied. I get that I feel satisfied for some time. But the mind's disposition has not changed.
The mind is disposed to again look at what I don't have. And again, it makes me dissatisfied. And in this way, no matter how much we acquire, we stay dissatisfied.
So this is how we become compulsive in earning, in working, in accumulating, where in the past the goal was happiness, goal of satisfaction. But that goal is forgotten, goal is neglected. And we just become compulsively chasing after things.
In 16.16 in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says that there are many desires which drag us, the consciousness is pulled by these desires. With hundreds and thousands of desires, they're like shackles, they pull us. Here, pull there, pull there, pull there.
And then, अनेग चित्तवि ध्रान्ता, मोह जान समावतस, Complete illusion, प्रसक्तः काम भोगेशू, Everyone becomes very attached to material enjoyment. पदलति नरकेशु जाओ, One starts experiencing hellish suffering. Now, the solution to this is from mindless accumulation to mindful realisation.
Mindful realisation means that we realise who we are, what we really need in life, what is it that is going to make us happy. Some people say, you should never be satisfied, be ambitious. Now, yes, being ambitious is not a problem, but being always dissatisfied is a problem.
Ambition can stem from dissatisfaction. If ambition is stemming from dissatisfaction, that will always keep us insecure, keep us dissatisfied. Because even if I achieve a particular ambition, my dissatisfaction as a disposition will make me look at what I don't have and I will keep looking, keep looking for something else, keep looking for something else.
Ambition can also stem from the desire to make a contribution, where there is no core insecurity. I accept who I am and with what I have been given, I want to make a contribution. So, the spiritual understanding of life helps us to put first things first.
The first thing is that I am a spiritual being. And as a spiritual being, what brings me satisfaction is actually spiritual. The soul is a part of God and the soul is lovingly connected with God.
That loving connection with the supreme is what brings satisfaction. Krishna says in 15.7 in the Bhagavad Gita that that we are all his eternal parts. But when we forget that we are his parts, then what happens? The mind and senses drag us.
Come on, get this, acquire this, enjoy this. And Karshati, Karshati is great struggle because of that. So, when we turn towards Krishna, when we connect with Krishna through meditation, through spiritual affirmation, through cultivation of spiritual understanding, that connection with Krishna brings with it some calmness, some clarity.
So, when there is clarity within, then there is proper priority without. Put first things first, often we say. What is really important for me? What is not so important for me? This, when there is clarity within and there is proper priority without.
And this sequence of clarity within and priority without, this happens more systematically when there is spiritual dimension to our life. So, the Bhagavad Gita's explanation is that souls are intimately longing for love. We all want to love and be loved.
We all form many relationships in this world. And some relationships are more fulfilling, some relationships are less fulfilling. Some relationships can be outright frustrating.
All these are relationships in the horizontal realm. We have a vertical relationship with God, with Krishna. And to the extent we are centred in that vertical relationship, to the extent we can be stable internally, to that extent we can be secure internally.
And with that stability and security internally, then whatever horizontal relationship we form, we will be able to form them with greater maturity. We will be able to bring that stability and security into our horizontal relationships. So, the Bhagavad Gita's message is not that we reject everything.
Arjuna was a warrior and he did his prescribed duty as a warrior. But the Bhagavad Gita's message is, whatever we are doing, put God first. Mindful realisation means that we understand who we are.
And with that mindful awareness, we progress towards the reality. Realisation means that which is a reality, we understand it to be a reality. That is called a realisation.
Epiphany is a more common word, a sudden insight that comes upon us. Now, once we are connected internally with God, then we see whatever talents we have, whatever abilities we have, they are God's gift to us. So, we understand that what we are is God's gift to me.
What you are is God's gift to you. What you do is your gift to God. So, life is meant to be a positive reciprocation.
Rather than thinking that we ourselves are somehow inadequate. Now, what we are for our spiritual growth, for our inner evolution, whatever we need, we have been given. We just have to go inward and discover our gifts.
What we are is God's gift to us. What we become is our gift to God. I'll conclude with two points.
First is that without a spiritual worldview, our life becomes a story of WWS. Now, what is WWS? That's it. People just mindlessly work, work, work, work, work, work.
People work so much. Now, after work, we want some break. So, we come back home and start watching our television.
Or nowadays, we have our phones where we can watch. So, I need a break. So, watch, watch, watch.
Now, when we watch, we may watch some movies. We may watch some cricket matches. We may watch some entertainment.
Now, within all of these, there are so many commercials which can come. And quite often, in a three-hour movie or a two-and-a-half-hour movie, the money that is spent on the two-and-a-half-hour movie is less than the money that is spent on making the 30 minutes of advertisement that event. Because for them, the advertisements are what they want people to act on.
So, when we watch, what happens? Basically, we watch. Now, your watch is so old-fashioned. Your phone is not so smart.
Your this is not right. You know, you have to get this. You have to get that.
You have to get that. So, after we watch, watch, watch, we get filled with so many desires. So, shop, shop, shop.
Just like there is workaholism, there is also shopaholism. Shopper people shop, shop, shop till you drop, they say. Just keep shopping, shopping.
And now, when we shop, I don't have money to shop. No problem, you take credit. You take credit and you shop more.
Then you realise, my God, I have to repay this credit. So, what do you have to do? Work more. Work more, work more, then we are more tired.
So, we want more of a break. So, then watch more. Watch, watch, watch.
And then you watch more. Again, we get more desire. So, shop more.
Shop, shop, shop. So, like that, work, watch, shop. This practically becomes like the life story of people.
The primary thing that they do in their life, work, watch, shop. WWS, it has become the worldwide stupidity. It's very sad that we can do so much more in our life.
But we are letting our life just get into a rut. We are chasing for happiness on an avenue where happiness is never to be found. The alternative for us is to become more spiritual.
When we become spiritual, as I said, first point is we discover our gifts. So, now there are some snacks available for everyone. Say after a programme, you go on for a programme, after which there is a feast.
That feast is special in that everybody is going to get a different delicacy. Everybody is going to get different items. So, you have a plate, you have different items.
He has different items, I have different items, you have different items. Suppose I am eating, there are many delicacies over here. It's a feast.
But I am looking, what is there in your plate? What is there in his plate? What is, oh, what is there in his plate? What is there in his plate? I am looking at what is there in everyone else's plate and I am dissatisfied. Although I have a feast in my plate, I don't see that. I just see what is not there in my other, what is there in other's plate? What is not in my plate? I see that and I get dissatisfied.
So, focus on what we have. Satisfaction is not just an emotion. Satisfaction is also a decision.
I make a decision. Now, I have this plate. This is what I will say.
I won't bother about what others say. So, like that, if we always keep comparing ourselves with others, then we will feel always dissatisfied. You know, I can't, I am not that smart enough.
I don't look so good. I don't speak so well. I can't do this so well.
I can't do that so well. We will be dissatisfied. Now, if God had wanted us to be someone else, he would have made someone else.
God has made you, you. He has made me, me. So, we just have to become the best.
We don't have to become someone else. So, once we have the spiritual understanding, then there is self-acceptance. You know, without self-acceptance, there cannot be any self-transformation.
You know, without self-acceptance, there cannot be self-transformation. Why? It's like, say, if I have gone on a wrong track, I am coming for a programme, I take a wrong turn and go somewhere else. On my map, now I have to find out where I am, and from there, I can find a way where I should go.
If I am just berating myself, why did I take the wrong turn? Why did I take the wrong turn? Why did I take the wrong turn? Well, unless you accept where you are, you cannot go where you want to go. So, self-acceptance is the beginning. And even if we have some inadequacies, we also have some strengths.
So, mindful realisation means, we realise who we are, what our strengths are, what is it that we feel inspired to do. Not what the world tells us, do this, do this. The world may glamorise certain careers.
The world may glamorise certain lifestyles. But are those what really make us happy? That is something which we have to realise for ourselves. And by that mindful realisation, we will be able to make choices that help us to find satisfaction.
That will help us to find satisfaction internally and make contribution externally. So, I will summarise. I spoke today about the topic from mindless accumulation to mindful realisation.
I talked about the experiment by Dr. Christopher Zee at University of Chicago, where people subjected themselves to nasty noises so that they could get chocolates. But they earned more chocolates when they could eat, even when they knew they would not be able to eat so much. And why was that? Because this mindless accumulation, just compelled to just keep getting more and more and more, even if we know we will not be able to enjoy it.
So, what makes us do this? Our existence is three-dimensional. There is a body, mind and soul. So, it is like the hardware, software and the user.
So, just as softwares have default settings, like that our mind often gets default settings. And when the default settings, by default they choose, they open up, they act. Like that, we have got certain default settings, certain conditionings.
So, those automatically pop up, they automatically function. So, we sometimes do things against our interests, against our intelligence, against our intentions, because those have become default settings for us. So, there can be default settings like alcoholism, where it is very clearly visible, this person is destroying themselves.
But what is happening? Externally, they appear free, but internally, they are bound by their desires. And if we are to get over this, we need to recognise what is actually happening. The whole idea in materialistic culture is, get more, then you will become happy.
But dissatisfaction is not just an emotion induced by our lacking something. Dissatisfaction is a disposition, which compels us to look at what we do not have. I talked about the three modes of material nature, sattva guna, rajoguna, tamoguna.
Goodness, passion and ignorance. Today's culture is primarily in the mode of passion. And in passion, the default setting is greed.
The default setting is looking at what we do not have and staying dissatisfied. Whether to secure this, to correct this default setting, to move away from this mindless accumulation, we need to understand who we really are. That is mindful realisation.
Understand the reality of who we are and how we can be fulfilled. So we are parts of the whole. And if we don't connect with the whole, then we are dragged here and there by the mind and senses.
We all have a tendency, innate longing to love and be loved. We direct that longing toward anyone in this world. Yes, there is some pleasure, but there is always instability in the horizontal relationship.
They're temporary. They're insecure. And if we put God first, Krishna first in our relationships, then that brings security and stability for us in turn.
And then with that security and stability internally, we can bring about security and stability externally. Success in one area of life cannot compensate for failure in another area. Success in professional life doesn't compensate for failure in family life.
Similarly, success in material life will not compensate for failure in spiritual life. If you are not internally connected with Krishna, we will not be satisfied no matter how much we acquire it. So our fate will become like of WWS.
What is that that you remember? Work, watch, shop. We just compulsively just keep doing things which never bring the satisfaction. If we have spiritual understanding, then the spiritual understanding means that what we are is, what we are is God's gift to us.
Yes, very good. Thank you. What we are is God's gift to us.
What we become is our gift to God. So self-transformation or self-development begins with self-acceptance. If I have lost the way, I have to accept where I am, then from there I move on.
So we all have gifts. Rather than looking at what is there in other's plates, we savour what is there in our plate. And we can work and achieve.
That achievement does not necessarily require dissatisfaction as its fuel. It can also come from the desire to make a contribution. When we are internally connected with Krishna and we are stabilised and satisfied in that internal connection, when we bring out our best, not because we are dissatisfied and insecure without it, but because we want to make a contribution.
And thus by having a balanced life with proper attention to our spiritual side, we will find satisfaction internally and we will make contribution externally. Thank you very much. So are there any questions or comments? There are some chits which have been given if any of you want to ask questions.
It's also fine. So everything is changing. It's an insecure world.
How do we define? What is the limit to how much we can achieve or how much we should accumulate? Our material needs are important for us, for our survival in this world, they are essential. At the same time, they are functional. It's like we all need food.
Now, how much food should we eat? Others cannot mandate to us. They may feel that we are over-eating, but that's what is our appetite. They may feel we are under-eating, but that's what we really need.
So we have to, over a period of time, decide how much is too much, how much is too little for me. And how do we decide that? Eating, what is the effect of eating on the rest of our life? If after eating I feel so heavy and exhausted that I just have to fall asleep, then eating instead of giving energy is taking away all my energy. Then that kind of eating is unhealthy.
It is de-energising. So over a period of time, I understand that eating this is good enough, this is too much. Similarly, with respect to earning, with respect to saving, with respect to accumulating, our life, this is important, but this is not the only thing in our life.
When one thing starts encroaching on other things in our life, when we have no time for our family, when we have no time for taking care of our health, when we have no time for developing our spiritual side, for God, when one thing starts encroaching on other things in our life, that's when it becomes harmful. So there has to be proportionate growth in life. The bodies, as a young person, we grow, the body grows naturally.
All cells grow in the body. Now cancer cells also grow. But the characteristic of cancer cells is disproportionate growth.
They grow so much that they encroach upon and destroy other cells. So if our accumulation tendency, it is encroaching on other things. If we are simply fixated with money, oh, life is so uncertain, so I have to save a lot of money.
I have to, well, if life is so uncertain, tomorrow even the currency may devalue and my money may not be of use. Uncertainty of life is just a given in life. But at the same time, we have to be reasonable.
We cannot be paranoid. So we have to see our feeling of the need for security or our urge for possession or accumulation in the light of our overall life. If that one thing starts consuming our mind, consuming our time, consuming our energy, and we have nothing left for other things, then that desire is cancerous.
That tendency for accumulation becomes cancerous. So by having the big picture in life, I have various aspects to my life. I have professional, I have family, I have health, I have a spiritual side.
I achieve a balance in all of them. And there is balanced growth in all walks of life is actually far more sustainable and far more satisfying than dramatic growth in one area of life and a disastrous diminution in other areas of life. Does this answer your question? Any other questions? Yeah, please.
Thank you very much. My question was, it is not true, the question about how our mind is shattered into certain habits and certain dispositions. But when we are connected to Krishna, to our soul, even then we have certain dispositions.
If we are not aware whether that is something that is good or bad, then the situation cannot be settled, it is still not there. So how would you recommend that when we are connected to Krishna, that we are able to speak with what is right and what is wrong, and we are not left in our dispositions. So when we have, when we are connected to Krishna, even then we have certain dispositions.
Even then our decision-making ability is not sound. So how do we make wise decisions in that situation? The two different things when you talk about our disposition, when I talk about dissatisfaction becoming a disposition or greed becoming a disposition, I am talking about something that is changeable and that needs to be changed. So there is also an aspect to our disposition.
Some of us may be more intellectual, some of us may be more musical. Some of us may be more introvert, some of us may be more extrovert. These are dispositions which need not be changed.
They can be used. Say if I have an Apple computer, somebody has a Windows computer, somebody else has some other OS or whatever. Those are just there and they all can be, you can use the machine that way.
So we can say that there are certain aspects of our psychophysical nature which are a given. And they need not be changed. They can be used as they are.
But for using them also, there are certain settings which need to be changed. So it is not that everything about us needs to be changed. Certain things just need to be channelled, used properly.
And certain things, as I said, there is greed, there is selfishness, there is anger. These are kind of things which are emotional drives which need to be curved. So it is not that everything needs to be changed, that is the first thing.
Some things can just be used. We accept that this is what I am and I use this in Krishna sense. Second thing is that with respect to deciding whether a particular thing should be done or not done, it is always good to decide when we are in the mood of goodness.
That means in the heat of life, I am running from one thing to another to another to another. In between, if I have a few moments in between one thing and second thing, I try to decide. Should I do this or should I not do this? It will not work.
Because when we are in the course of the day, we are running around doing things, we are in the mode of passion. And the mode of passion means there is the urge, the drive for action. When there is a drive for action, there cannot be serious contemplation.
It will just be pushed towards acting. It is like, say, if our car is moving at a speed of 140, now how much of the surrounding scenery can be taken? Zooming past here. So like that in the mode of passion, we are just zooming past.
At that time, we cannot really think. There are times in our life when we are in the mode of goodness, when we are calm or we can do some reading, some prayer, some meditation, some journaling by which we calm ourselves down and we will take major decisions at that time. So when we are in the mode of goodness at that time, Krishna says that at that time our inner doors become illumined with knowledge.
That means we can see within, understand, okay, this thought, this desire, this is important for me. This thought, this desire, this is a circumstantial. Because someone said this, because this happened, that's why I'm feeling like this.
But it is not really important to me. So when there is the mode of goodness, we can understand what is central for us and what is circumstantial for us. And then that is circumstantial, it doesn't require much attention.
But that is central, that requires attention. So that way, when we are serving Krishna also, when we are connected with Krishna, at that time also we need to use our intelligence to differentiate between what is central and what is circumstantial and then act accordingly. But if we situate us in the mode of goodness while taking such decisions, and we prelude such decisions with a prayerful attitude, then we will get guidance by which we can make wise choices.
Okay, thank you. Yeah, you had a question? So all of us go through ups and downs in life. We see that there are two people who are worthless, both of them are putting the same effort, but someone does exceptionally well while the other person is not able to achieve things.
So how do we see this in the right way and stop feeling envious? Okay. If two people put in the same effort, sometimes one person gets much more success than others. So how do we see this in the right spirit without getting envious? All of us are on a multi-lifetime journey and actions and results are not simply one simple linear connection.
We think, okay, I did this action, this result comes. I did that action, this result came. Why the difference? But although causes and effects are connected, the connection between cause and effect is not simply linear one-to-one correspondence.
Why is that? Because, say a simple example, somebody is farming. There are two farmers. One is, both of them sow their seeds and both of them plough their land.
But say in one part of the world or one part of the country, rains come. Other part of the country, rains don't come. One, the place where rains come, the farmer will get lot of harvest.
Other place, the farmer may not get any harvest. So, you know, there is, in Sanskrit it is called, there is karma, there is daiva. Then there is kaala, that is time.
And there is phala, that is fruit. So, if you want the result, we think karma should produce phala. But actually, there are two more factors involved.
Karma plus daiva plus kaala leads to phala. So, the karma is the farmer ploughing the land, sowing the seeds. Daiva is the rains coming.
The kaala is the passage of time till the harvesting season comes. And then the phala comes. So, like that, whenever we do any actions, it is not just our actions that determine the results.
Our actions do play a role. Farmer has to plough the seed and plough the land, sow the seeds. But that alone does not produce the result.
So, sometimes we may go through a phase when the daiva, the destiny is not favourable to us. So, because of that, we do the work, but the result doesn't come. So, if we look back at our life, we will also see situations when we did small things and still we got a good result.
Now, whenever some good things have happened in our life, whenever we have achieved something, if we are honest, we will realise that as we worked hard, but along with our hard work, many other things fell in place. This contact worked out, this thing happened on time, this thing worked out. So, our results, even our greatest successes, they require not just our good performance, but they also require other things beyond our good performance.
So, now the daiva is destiny. Destiny is also not something arbitrary. Destiny is also the sum total of the karma that we have done in the past that gets accumulated as our daiva, destiny.
So, when we work and don't get the result, that means that the karma is not ready to follow because the daiva at that time is not favourable. But daiva is like weather. Sometimes it is cold, sometimes it is hot, but it is not that the destiny will always be unfavourable to us.
By recognising that sometimes with the unfavourable destiny, despite our best efforts, we may not get results. So, we can actually distance ourselves from our present situation. We understand that failure is an event, failure is not a person.
So, it is not that I am a failure because I did not produce the result. Rather, I did my part, but at this particular point, because the destiny is unfavourable, therefore, the fallow did not come. So, failure is an event in a person's life.
Failure is not a person. So, just tolerate that. It is not that the unfavourable destiny is going to be there forever.
Therefore, sometime it will go. And there is no need to be envious of others because everybody has done a mix of good and bad karmas. So, other people will also have times when their destiny becomes unfavourable.
So, just as we would not want them to be envious of us later on. What is gained by envy actually? Nothing is gained. So, we can focus on the point that if we are doing our best, then what is happening? Even if the results are not coming, we are doing our karma.
That means we are becoming better at what we are doing. We are growing internally. Einstein said, become a man of value, not a man of wealth.
Now, strive to become a man of values, not a man of wealth, because the values are enduring. Wealth is fleeting. Sometimes wealth is there, sometimes wealth will not be there so much.
But if we have developed a culture of discipline, of dedication, of values, and that will bring result in due course of time. Does that answer your question? Thank you. Yeah, just a minute.
I will take one question here. So, how does one maintain balance on a regular basis? And are there times when we should prioritise the spiritual over the material or material over the spiritual? Yes, definitely. See, balance is never static.
Balance itself is dynamic. That means if you are driving, if you are riding a bike, the balance state of the bike is the vertical state. But if you are turning right, and the vertical state would not enable us to turn right, we have to tilt the bike slightly towards the right.
Now, after I turn towards the right, again, I have to straighten the bike. If I keep the bike tilted towards the right, what will happen? I just go in a circle. So, if I have to go straight, then I tilt towards the right, move towards the right, then afterwards, okay, this again I turn towards left and move onwards.
So, the basic nature of the balance state for the bike is not necessarily the vertical state. It is that state which enables one to move onwards. And depending on how the traffic is, how the roads are, sometimes the tilted state will be the balanced state.
So, if we expect balance in life to be that, you know, I do this in the morning, I do this in the afternoon, I do this in the evening, I will do that night, we make a rigid plan for our life, then we will soon find ourselves frustrated. Because life just cannot be so micro controlled like that. And balance in that sense is not a static set of schedules.
It is more a dynamic planning of purpose. These are the things which I am to do in my life. One, two, three, four, this is the direction which I need to go, that is where I need to get.
So, sometimes I may stay vertical, sometimes I tilt left, sometimes I may tilt right like that. Now, plans often do not work. But planning works.
I mean, specific plans, I will do this at this time, I will do this at this time, that may not work. But planning itself gives us a overall sense of priority and purpose. Okay, these are the important things for me, and this is what I need to get done.
And then we can be flexible. Sometimes you can do one thing more, sometimes another thing more. All that can be adjusted.
Just like another example, if we are driving to some place, sometimes the traffic is a lot, we move slowly. Sometimes the traffic is less, we move faster. So, overall, we keep moving forward.
But depending on the traffic, we may move slower or faster. Similarly, with respect to our material spiritual balance, there are times when our material life may require prioritisation. Now, if there is some family function, there is a marriage, there is some other family emergency, sometimes those require attention, I need to give attention.
So, we could say if we consider the spiritual journey at that time, there is a lot of traffic over there. So, spiritually we move slower. That is fine.
As soon as the traffic clears, we can move faster. And sometimes we may prioritise a spiritual life also. Sometimes we may say go for some spiritual outings, some pilgrimages, or there might be some retreats, where we may have a whole day, a couple of days events, or it might be an outing to some other place.
We focus exclusively on spirituality. So, if there are some special associations, special programmes available, we prioritise that. So, as long as we have the overall purpose clear, we can adjust the specifics.
Sometimes material life can be more, sometimes spiritual life can be more. We have certain basic spiritual commitments, which we always try to fulfil. Along with that, we have some basic material commitments, which we always try to take care of.
But overall, within that basic level of material and spiritual commitments, some things can be beyond that basic, which to do more, which to do less. That is something which can be adjusted according to our specific situations, according to time, place, circumstance. So, instead of seeking for balance in terms of a rigid formula, doing this, this, this, at this, this, this times, we can see balance as a dynamic planning of priority and purpose.
And with that planning of priority and purpose, we will be able to adjust things according to time, place, and circumstance while moving onwards in the direction which we want to go in our life. Yes. Yeah, first of all, thanks for the brilliant talk, very enlightening.
Just a quick question on this. I mean, whatever you said around the mindless accumulation, it makes perfect sense intellectually, right? So, how do you emotionally understand when you make a decision, right, emotionally? Okay. So, mindless accumulation makes sense intellectually.
But how do we get it to emotionally sink in? Yes, it is a very important question. Because emotionally, often we are driven towards things where our rational side is just thrown off. It is like, you know, our, sometimes our rational side is like a, like a mount, like an elephant rider.
And our emotional side is like the elephant. The rational, the intelligent side is meant to connect, control the emotional side, just like the elephant rider is meant to control the elephant. But sometimes the elephant will just go out of control.
Like that our emotions go out of control. And they just pull us, drag us in certain directions. That is why the, among various spiritual paths, there are many different spiritual paths, but the process of bhakti is distinctive, even unique in that it channels our emotions for our spiritual growth.
So most spiritual paths talk about meditation, peace, calmness, clarity. Basically, all these are about, about decreasing the emotions. Don't be so emotional, just calm down.
Just calm, calm, calm. Bhakti also involves calming our thoughts and desires. But bhakti also involves activating our spiritual emotions.
When, when we connect with Krishna, and when we cultivate a desire to serve Krishna, then that creates spiritual desires within us. That gives us emotional fulfilment through a sense of connection and contribution in relationship with Krishna. Now, as soon as we say, don't do this, the word don't immediately creates a sense of deprivation and rebellion.
Don't means no, I won't get this then if I don't do it. And why can't I get it? So don't creates deprivation and rebellion. So if we are focussing on don't, it just doesn't work.
If I tell all of you, for the next one minute, please don't think of a pink monkey. Now for the last one year, you may not have thought of pink monkey. But in the next one minute, you will again and again think of pink monkey, pink monkey, pink monkey, don't think of a pink monkey.
So you know, in respect to the mental realm, the don'ts are not very effective. Don'ts are required. But the way to do the don'ts is to do the do's.
That means to have something positive to do. And bhakti in that sense is not so much about giving up desires as it is of taking up desires. Now we take up the desire to do something constructive for the service of Krishna.
Okay, I want to understand the Bhagavad Gita. I want to practise meditation. I want to do this service.
So we take up devotional desires. And that will give us a sense of emotional fulfilment, a sense of wellness that will help us counter the urge for accumulation. So even within bhakti, we may find there are certain things which connect with us emotionally.
Now there may be certain spiritual music, certain kirtans, which we really like this. Or there may be certain darshan, certain pictures of the Lord, which we feel very beautiful. Or we may have certain activities, which which basically nourishes emotional.
So we need not just intellectual conviction, we also need emotional connection, emotional satisfaction. And we have to find how we can get that in positive activities. Then our focus is more on saying yes to the positive, rather than saying no to the negative.
In saying yes to the positive, the no to the negative automatically we get said without being emphasised. So we focus not so much on on emptying the mind of desires, we focus on crowding desires out of the mind. But is that not superficially distracting your mind? So is taking up, is crowding desires out of our mind not superficially distracting? It depends on what it is that we are filling it with.
Like sometimes some people say, oh you have to give up drinking, try something else, substitution. And some people take up eating chocolates instead of drinking. Okay, we say eating chocolates is a lesser evil as compared to drinking.
But still chocolates, taking too many chocolates also is a problem. So it's like we are giving up one bad thing, but taking up another superficial thing. But actually when we connect with Krishna, that is not at all superficial.
Because Krishna is connected with our very core, that is the soul. So within the practise of bhakti, initially there is some amount of discipline that is required. See, we have to understand that there is a difference between doing what we don't feel like doing and being superficial.
Being superficial means that okay, this is not important for me, I don't care for it, I don't value it, just for a show for others I am doing it. So when we are doing something superficially that means we don't care for it, just because others have posted or just to show others we are doing it. But it's simply a fact of human psychology that our emotions don't always point the way we want to go or we intend to go.
So if we rely on our emotions, we will never be able to do anything worthwhile. So doing something when I don't feel like doing it, that is not necessarily superficial, that can very well be a sign of a disciplined person. If what I am doing is actually truly important for me, with my intelligence I understand this is important, with my intentions I have understood that this is what I have decided, this is what I want to do.
But right now I don't feel like doing it. So determination means to subordinate emotion to intention. Determination means that this is my emotion, this is my intention.
The two both work together, both two are pointing in the same direction, great. And sometimes they will, but sometimes they will not. So if my emotion points in some other direction, my intention points in this direction.
So I subordinate my emotion to my intention. That is not being superficial, that is actually being disciplined. And that is the way to growth, that is the way to bringing out our best.
So when we are with our intelligence, we have decided as an intention to do something which is constructive, which is positive for us, even if I don't feel like doing it, that is not superficial, that is being determined. Does that answer your question? Thank you. Any other questions? We have one here.
Now in material life, a job working dedicatedly and receiving promotion, is it good? Yeah, of course. If we see Arjuna, he was in his job the best archer. And how did he become the best archer? He did not become the best archer simply by relaxing.
He worked hard, he practised tirelessly. He would practise archery so much. So it is, bhakti is not about apathy or lethargy in our material life.
It is about making Krishna the centre of our life, Krishna the purpose of our life. So we do need some quality time for directly connecting with Krishna through our daily spiritual practises, through our periodic coming in spiritual programmes. But along with that, we permeate our entire life with Krishna.
So we do our job and we do it because we want to do that as a service. That is also an offering to Krishna. Svakarmanatam abhyarcha siddhim vindati manava.
By your work, worship him, Krishna says. Some people say this, some people translate this word as work is worship. Now Krishna is not saying karma hi puja hai.
Krishna is saying svakarmanatam abhyarcha, by your work, worship him. You know, if work were worship, then the donkey would be the greatest worshipper. Work can be done as a worship.
Work alone is not worship. Now, work is worship is a fine enough slogan, a good saying, if we want to imbue all work with dignity, if you want to recognise that no, no people, whatever work they are doing, they should not be looked down upon. Everybody should be offered dignity based on their work.
That is fine. So as far as offering dignity to work and to workers, work is worship is a good enough principle. But it is not a philosophical truth.
It is not that work automatically itself is worship. Rather, work is meant to be done in a mode of worship. So, but if it is done in that mode, that means I understand that this job which I am doing, ultimately I am using the talents which Krishna has given me to make a contribution.
And my life's purpose is Krishna, for that I need financial stability, for I need, if I have a social standing, then that helps me in practising bhakti, in sharing bhakti. So if our life's purpose is Krishna, then pursuing improvement and excellence in our material life as a service to Krishna, that is natural, that is good. The important thing is that we do not let material pursuits encroach so much of our time and thought that we have no time left for Krishna.
So as I said, growth is not the problem. Disproportional growth has happened with cancer, that is the problem. So growth in material life is fine.
But when our material life's growth becomes cancerous, it just takes up all our time and energy and not leaving anything else, any time for anything else, that is when it becomes a problem. Otherwise, the more we, the more we grow in our material life, the more we can contribute, directly, indirectly, to make, to deepen our connection with Krishna, to help others connect with Krishna. So it's always positive.
Thank you. If one's, some commits an unintentional karma which harms someone else, will that harm the person as per the law of karma? Will that harm the doer as per the law of karma? The principle, the principle of law of karma, or the purpose of the law of karma is not retribution. It is reformation.
Retribution means taking revenge. You did this, so you have to be punished for this. The point is not primal retribution.
The point is reformation. So sometimes we do some things with our best intelligence, but we find out, no, this is not worked out. This had this consequence.
I didn't realise this. I did not come to know about it. So we, we focus on doing what is in our power.
And if some things work out to be negative, despite our best efforts, sometimes a doctor, based on a particular assessment of a particular patient, prescribes a particular medicine. But sometimes it suddenly has, the case becomes complicated. Now, could it be that the doctor could have done more investigations, and based on those more investigations, the doctor could have found out, oh, this complication was there.
This patient had this case history. Well, if the doctor had not done the necessary checkup, then the doctor is culpable. But if the doctor had done some necessary checkups, but there was some unknown factor which came into it and complicated things, the doctor won't be held culpable.
So we shouldn't think of the law of karma as some kind of cosmic fault-finding mechanism. It's not that, you know, you made this mistake, now we are going to punish you. It's not that there is someone out there waiting to catch us do wrong.
That's not the point. Krishna's purpose is not to catch us when we do wrong. Krishna's purpose is to catch us when we fall.
And when we fall, he's there to help us rise, to come back on the right track. That's why we use our God-given good intention, good intelligence, and try to do things the best we can. If some things have not worked out well, somebody has been hurt by that, then we can sincerely apologise.
We can try to make amends for that as much as is possible. We can try to make sure what we can learn so that we don't repeat it in future. So if we do this, apologise, we amend and we learn.
Then we don't have to be too paranoid about the law of karma. If we are reforming, if we are learning, then the ultimate purpose of the law of karma is being served. And especially if you are practising bhakti, then Krishna says, I will protect you from all sinful reactions.
The law of karma, it is meant to make sure that when we know we make right choices. If we don't know and we make wrong choices, then we come to know and we start making better choices thereafter. So the purpose is not retributional, the purpose is reformation.
So why is spiritual life so important when money provides all comforts? Yes, because money makes us comfortably miserable. It can make us comfortably worried. This is a great paradox.
Psychologists are talking about what they call an anxiety epidemic. There's so much anxiety all over the world. And it's curious, normally we associate anxiety with uncertainty.
I have to catch a flight. I don't know whether I'll reach on time for the flight or not. And then I feel anxious.
But so externally speaking, if you see in say, India, which is somewhat like a third world country, you say the western world is first world country. In the third world countries, there is far more uncertainty than in first world countries. You turn on a tap, there is no guarantee whether water will come or not.
Sometimes it's like that. So now, although there is greater certainty in first world countries, and then greater uncertainty in third world countries. Still, sociologists have found that anxiety levels are higher in first world countries than third world countries.
So that means greater monetary security has not brought about lesser anxiety. Anxiety is caused not so much by certainty or uncertainty. Anxiety is caused not so much by financial security or insecurity.
These do matter. But anxiety is caused primarily by mentality. Mentality means that if we are led to believe that we can control everything, and the more things seem to be out of control, the more we become anxious.
But if you understand, there is a greater whole which takes care of things. Now I have to play my part in it. So we focus on doing the things which are in our control.
In the materialistic world, we have two options only. Things are in control or things are out of control. But in the spiritual world, we understand that things which are not in my control are not out of control.
They are in Krishna's control. If you become conscious of me, I will help you cross over all obstacles by my grace. So money cannot provide us freedom from anxiety.
It may provide us comfort, but even in the comfort of a soft bed, of a luxurious couch, even in the comfort of an AC room, we will be fearful, we will be anxious. And anxiety will go away not just by getting more money, but by cultivating a spiritual consciousness. When our consciousness is sheltered in Krishna, then whether we have little money or whether we have more money, that will bring us satisfaction.
It will bring us security. So we need spiritual connection if we want satisfaction. Otherwise, we may get a lot of money, but the money will simply increase our anxiety.
It will not bring us security, it will not bring us satisfaction. Yes? I have a question. Earlier you talked about the tendencies that people have.
People might not be aware of their dispositions. Sometimes people might find themselves in the same situation that you are in. So how do you identify what are the dispositions or Okay.
So if we are not aware of our dispositions, and we sometimes keep doing the same things again and again without realising what we are doing wrong, how can we detect and correct those things? Yeah, there are two basic ways in which we can learn about ourselves. First is through introspection. And the second is through discussion.
With discussion, we look at ourselves. So introspection means when we are just going through our life, instead of just running from one event to another to another, we can have periodic breaks. When we look at ourselves as human beings, we have the capacity to be the subject of observation as well as the object of observation.
That means I can think, okay, I'm sitting now, I'm sitting on this chair. How do I look to others? Am I making sense in what I'm speaking? I can envision myself in your place looking at myself. So like that, we can look at ourselves and evaluate, okay, in this situation, I acted like this.
I could have acted like this. What made me act like this? What was I thinking at that time? What was right about that thing? What was wrong about that thing? Sometimes if there are major issues which we are dealing with, it might be helpful to journal, to write things down. Because when we write things down, we get the thoughts out of the head.
So the congestion in the head goes down. And the thought comes out and there is more objectivity. We can evaluate what is what, whether the thoughts are right, or they are wrong, or they have their mixture of right and wrong, we can all evaluate that.
That kind of introspection is very helpful in understanding our patterns, some of which will be conscious, some of which will be subconscious. Secondly, if we have some close friends, normally, we look at everyone through our mind. That means somebody speaks sweetly to us, thinking, what does this person want? Why is he speaking so sweetly? We always tend to see people through that filter.
But there are some people, if they are close to us, and especially if they are themselves spiritually minded, and they also have some wisdom within them, then most people, we look at them through our mind. But some people, if they are really close to us, we look at our mind through them. My mind is saying like this, they are saying like this.
How is this? Why is this conflict? Who is right? Sometimes if somebody tells us something which does not agree with us, our mind just rejects them. We start blaming them, labelling them, and basically rejecting them. But if somebody is close to us, then we can evaluate our mind through them.
So they help, they can become like a mirror, not a judgemental mirror, but a mirror that helps us discover or uncover ourselves. So through the discussion also we can learn. And sometimes just when we go through life, it is that adversity introduces us to ourselves.
Sometimes in certain adversities, we crumble. Sometimes in some adversities, we find that I thought I would not be able to do it, but I was able to do it. So sometimes when we crumble in some adversities, we discover some weaknesses which we did not know we had.
Sometimes in some adversities we struggle, but we go through them, we discover strength that we do not have. So both that we did not know we had. So that way by introspection and by discussion and by observing ourselves in life, especially in the extreme moments of life, we can learn more about ourselves, both our strengths as well as our conditionings.
Does it answer your question? Yes, very good. Thank you. So is there any other question? Yes.
Can you let us know when we should stop? So we all have senses and sense organs and we know that we are inclined to enjoy. So why is it said that sense gratification is bad and how does it actually bind us to earth or make us suffer? So we all have senses and they are attracted to sense objects. So why is sense gratification considered bad? How does it bind us? It is more than thinking in terms of good or bad.
We can focus on that which helps us grow and that which constricts our growth. We, as spiritual beings, are meant for lasting happiness. Now and if our consciousness is directed towards the eternal, we can get lasting happiness because that is eternal, because Krishna is eternal, we as souls are eternal.
We can have an eternal connection with him and that will give us lasting happiness. Now, during the journey of our life in this world, we will inevitably encounter various material objects and we have to interact with them, whether they be physical objects, they be people, we interact with them, we form relationships with them, that is functionally required. Now there are certain objects, certain things in this world they emotionally consume us.
So sports is not bad, sports is just a part of life. It has been a part of recreation, a part of exercise, even for millennia it has been there. But say today, sports is made into a mania because it is big money involved over there.
So all the big money is minted when people are manic about sports and then the whole propaganda machinery is there to induce mania among people and then people just lose a sense of perspective. So when they lose a sense of perspective, they get emotionally consumed by it. So similarly with respect to sense gratification, there is the possibility of getting emotionally consumed by the dreams and schemes of the mind for getting sensual pleasures.
So I often use the acronym TIME, T-I-M-E, Temporary Illusory Miserable Enjoyment, T-I-M-E. What that means is that often we think that the pleasure, say basically say suppose you go for a programme where there is a feast and then there is a rumour that there is going to be gulab jamuns over there and then we go with the anticipation, oh I want gulab jamun, I want gulab jamun. Now there are three possibilities.
First is the rumour is not true. So we go there to get a particular object but it is not there only. So then we are disappointed.
The second possibility is that we go there, we get that object but it is not cooked well. The sugar is not enough, the texture is not good and it is a disappointment. So we get it but it does not turn out to be good enough.
Third is that we get it and it is great but we take 1, we take 2, we take 3, we take 5, we take 6, we take 7, we take 8, we take 9, we take 10. After that if somebody says, you also take some. Our capacity is limited.
At that time when we say you also take some, when we enjoy the senses, we stop not because we are satisfied. We stop because the senses capacity to enjoy is exhausted. When people enjoy sensual pleasures, sex is the most glamorised of all sensual pleasures.
When people engage in sex, they stop not because they are satisfied. They stop simply because the body's capacity is exhausted. The great propaganda in the world today is that if you just get a good enough sense object, then you can enjoy so much.
The movies and other such media, they often talk about almost like endless erotic enjoyment. But the reality is no matter how great the object may be, the body's capacity to enjoy itself is limited and nothing can extend that capacity. So, basically, with respect to sense gratification, we may crave for something, we do not get it, that causes frustration.
We crave for it, we get it, but it does not turn out to be all that great. It often turns out to be an anticlimax. Then again we crave it, we get it, we enjoy it, but afterwards it is limited.
Our body's capacity to enjoy is limited. So, these are the only three possibilities that are there in sense gratification. And none of these lead to lasting satisfaction.
So, at best, it is temporary. That is the third possibility. I get it, but it is temporary.
The second is, I get it, it is. It is not what it was made out to be. So, it is illusory.
Illusory does not mean that it is an illusion. The pleasure is there, but it is illusory in the sense that the magnitude is far less than what I had imagined it would be. I am madly thirsty for water.
I am dying for water. And then I am in a desert, I am desperately thirsty for water, and I see a helicopter on top, and it is W-A-T-E-R. I am so desperate now, what is going to come out? And then, for that airport, the aircraft lands, it lands, and then a person comes out in uniform, the big can, okay, W-A-T-E-R, I turn, I move forward, cup my hands, person tilts the whole bottle, and one drop comes out.
That person goes back, lands in the helicopter, flies up. One drop! You know, all that big show, helicopter landing for one drop, what is this? So, quite often, sense pleasure turns out to be like that. The mind builds up fantasies for hours and years, and the actual pleasure ends in moments.
So, unfortunately, in today's world, see, when there is a stabler relationship, stabler marriages were there, so what would happen is, people, okay, you do it, and then you understand, it is not all that great, and move on to something more in life. But today, with so much propaganda of sensuality, people think that if I am getting only one drop, there must be something wrong in the way I am doing it. So then, try a different relationship.
Like people change houses, people change spouses now. So, we will just try some other relationship, try something else. You know, among psychologists, among the highest paid psychologists are sexologists, who think, I am doing something wrong, you know, everybody is saying sex pleasure is so much, but I am not getting it, what is wrong? So, now the matter, actually, when the sexologists are sexually frustrated, because nobody can be, the mind's imagination for sex pleasure is so great, and the actual reality is not much.
So, at best, it is temporary, it is illusory, because it never lasts for long. At least, it is not of the magnitude that it is made out to be. And then, it is miserable.
Miserable because sometimes you crave so much, and it just doesn't work out. Or even if a relationship works out, then eventually, it is going to end. And then there is again agony.
So, the point is not that sense gratification is bad. Now, sense gratification, we eat food, if we enjoy food, that is fine. It is not that we are deliberately meant to eat foul-tasting food.
It is not like that. The point is, even sense gratification becomes the driving purpose of life. It is just one part of life, the senses will interact with sense objects, and there is some pleasure over it.
But when that becomes the driving purpose of life, that is when it distracts us. And because the mind, when it gets attached to it, thinks, okay, I did not get it this time, I will get it next time, I will get it next time, I will get it next time. And in this way, we just do not go from one day to another day, from one object to another object, we also go from one lifetime to another lifetime, hoping that in the next life, I will get pleasure.
And that is how the infatuation and sense gratification binds us. So, from the perspective of spiritual growth, if we recognise that we will get lasting satisfaction by our connection with Krishna. And by living in this world, we have relationships, we have gratification.
It is not that it is to be completely rejected. But the point is, we should not become so emotionally consumed by it, that we let it distract us from our life's primary purpose. Does this answer your question? So, in moderation, it is okay.
Yeah, there is, as I said, in the Vedic culture, there is grahasthashram, where most people always be married. And yes, the important thing is that, again, there is no need to, the mind infatuates it too much. See, it is a bodily function.
It is like eating is a bodily function. Now, if a person is constantly 24 hours thinking about when I am going to get it for next time, well, then they are underutilising their life. So, we do not have to make a big, what is a biological function, when that becomes a psychological obsession, then it becomes a spiritual distraction.
It can even lead to a spiritual destruction. So, it is a biological function. At that level, we do it.
At that level, we just do not get infatuated, we do not become emotionally consumed by it. Does it answer your question? Thank you very much. Thanks to all of you for asking such wonderful questions.
So, if you do not have more questions.