Gita 14.22 Be a non-judgemental non-committal observer of your emotions

Transcript

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thank you Bhagavad Gita 14.22 Prakasham Prakasha is the characteristic of the mode of goodness Krishna has used Prakasha early in 14.11 when the mode of goodness arises and the feeling of illumination comes with it pravrttimcha pravrtti is action action according to action for material fulfillment pravrttimcha that is that is more in the mode of passion lobha pravrttirarambha Krishna says in 14.12 so here Krishna refers to the mode of passion moha mevaca pandava moha is illusion that refers to the mode of ignorance aprakasho pravrttischa moha evaca ramado moha evaca that’s 14.13 so Krishna is saying when the symptoms of the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance come at that time na dveshti sampravrttani one shouldn’t resent them when they come na nivrttani kankshati and one shouldn’t na nivrttani and one should not hanker for them after they leave so here Krishna is actually urging us to become observers of our mind and observers of our emotions this is vital for us if we are to process our emotions rather than simply act on them suppose we work in an office now we have our office room and outside the office is the place where visitors or guests who want to meet us may be waiting now when those guests come they will be waiting to meet over there and if we have say an open door policy then they might just barge in and that may be counterproductive because we may be interrupted in our work sometimes some people are gossipy some people are grouch we just keep complaining and that may waste a lot of our time at the same time if we just keep a totally closed door policy and we walk away or we enter and exit from some back door where we never see who is coming to visit us then there might be some important visitors which we may miss out of course some visitors may even if the door is closed they may just barge in, they may break the door and come in also and we need to have the appropriate means to deal with them we may have security which doesn’t let them come in or we may talk with them briefly the point is that all of us we have to have some system for processing the people who come to meet us especially if somebody is in a very influential position then they may need to they may have far more people waiting to meet them than they themselves want to meet so again processing is required so something similar can be applied in our inner world where there are lots of thoughts emotions, ideas that get generated either because of our external perceptions of things or our internal recollection of things either way when such perceptions happen at that time we need to we need to be able to process them rather when the thoughts come in because of perceptions or recollections we need to be able to process them so for that we need to be observers without being enamored by them without being appalled by them sometimes some very disreputable people may come to meet us disreputable people may looking people at least may come to meet us sometimes some very seductive looking people may come to meet us we have to look at not their appearance but their substance what is it that they want what is it that we may be able to do in relationship with them only when we process things in this way will we be able to decide how best to take things forward whether to meet them whether to act on what they have said whether to reject their proposition whether to do it partially and defer some part and then reject some part maybe even delegate some part so appropriate processing requires meeting a non-judgmental non-committal meeting so like that Krishna is saying here that we too can be a non-judgmental non-committal observer and processor of our emotions non-judgmental doesn’t mean that we have no moral values or that we don’t judge at all non-judgmental simply means initially when we hear our reaction is as neutral as possible and not visceral so for example sometimes we may start feeling very lethargic about things now when that lethargy comes what do we do either we can just immediately go off to sleep because we are feeling lethargic or we may fiercely fight the lethargy beat ourselves up why I am being so lazy or we may appropriately process the lethargy that means we may decide that ok I am feeling lethargic like that right now that’s acknowledgement but there is no need to achieve to attach a value judgment to it oh I am such a lazy fool that I am feeling so lethargic no it is not judgmental and non-committal that means we don’t have to just because I am feeling lethargic that doesn’t mean necessarily I have to take a nap or I have to sleep we might find out that we are just sitting in one place and that physical inertia is causing mental torpor that is the cause of lethargy so we might just go for a walk we might freshen ourselves up by washing our face or just have a brief conversation with someone whatever is appropriate in that situation similarly when we feel angry when we feel lusty when we feel greedy at that time we don’t have to become disgusted with our feeling nor do we have to become delighted by that feeling we just observe that doesn’t mean because I am feeling like that I have to act like that but we observe and then we process what can I do about this feeling where has it come from what exactly is the feeling and where is it going to take us and in this way we can appropriately process and take things ahead so for us as spiritual beings it is important to be able to process in the same way sometimes we may feel very clear very reflective our consciousness may very conducive to spirituality that is characteristic of the mode of goodness but even that consciousness may not stay for long naturally we would like that kind of consciousness because it is conducive for our spiritual growth but we have to work with what we have and not simply delay our work till we get what we think we need that means even if we don’t have a reflective consciousness still we have to practice spirituality we have to still try to serve Krishna practice bhakti so we have to work with what we have and not postpone our work till we get what we think we need that means till we get a reflective consciousness sometimes agitated or lethargic consciousness may be what we need not necessarily to be Krishna conscious but to realize the transformational potency of Krishna consciousness sometime ago I was feeling so agitated but now I am feeling calm because I connected with Krishna so even in the mode of goodness we use it appropriately when it comes but we don’t crave for it and we don’t resent the mode of passion and ignorance which sometimes feel unconducive for our bhakti and as we appropriately process these emotions that come within us we will find that the emotions that we nourish they will become stronger and the emotions that we we put aside they will grow weaker and this way we will actually move towards goodness and transcendence