How can devotees face anxieties caused by worldly threats like crimes?

From Dinabandhu P:

Answer Podcast:

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna. Question from Dine Bandhu Tu.
How can we deal with worldly anxieties which may come from crimes like kidnapping of children or terrorism or other such fears? Answer, there is anxiety, dealing with anxiety there is a spiritual component to it, there is an emotional intellectual component to it and there is a practical physical component to it. So that means we have a gross body, subtle body and we are souls. So sometimes we may say at a level, if we just chant Hare Krishna then we become free from all worries or chintan karo, chinta mat karo.
Now philosophically this is true. The more we meditate on Krishna, So if we meditate on Krishna, we do become free from fear. This is the solution at the spiritual level.
What this means is, it’s not impractical, it is also practical but we have to understand what it means. That just as if a person is in a river or in an ocean and the waves are coming, now the waves are going to toss the person more and more and more. The waves become stormy, the tossing will become more and more.
Now if that person becomes situated in a boat or situated in a boat which has a firm anchor, then the tossing will become much lesser. So like that, in this world there are always dualities, there are sources of anxiety and those anxieties keep our mind tossing up and down, restless, restless, restless. But when we connect with Krishna, when we pray to Krishna, when we chant Hare Krishna, when we absorb ourselves in Krishna, we can easily absorb that many of our… if you go to a temple and hear some nice Kirtan or get absorbed in Katha, we can absorb, we can experience that we do forget many of our worries.
We just, our consciousness gets raised upwards. So essentially what happens, that the waves of dualities which keep shaking us up, they can shake us, shake our minds. But when our mind is rooted in Krishna, Krishna is the ultimate unshakeable reality.
So what we understand at a philosophical level is, that at a spiritual level we understand through the philosophy, that no matter what changes in this world, Krishna is never going to change. Krishna is always going to be there with me. And because Krishna is always there with me, that is my ultimate security.
So spiritually we need to get the experience of the shelter of Krishna by absorbing ourselves in Him regularly. Sometimes we get so caught in the problems, that we think first I will solve the problem, then I will take shelter of Krishna. Then I will try to absorb myself in Krishna.
But then, often because we are not taking shelter of Krishna, so the mind stays restless. And with the restless mind, when we try to solve the problems, often we don’t solve, we aggravate the problem. So we need to have some regular program by which we can take shelter of Krishna.
So yes, we do chant our rounds, we do go to temple, but within that we try to take shelter of Krishna as much as possible. And taking shelter of Krishna is not just an occasional activity whenever we have a crisis. It’s a habitual activity where we daily try to take shelter of Krishna through our practice of bhakti.
So that means spiritually to the extent we can absorb ourselves in remembrance of Krishna, to that extent we will get inner strength by which we will be able to cope with anxieties. Many devotees have this experience that when they have exams, before they became devotees, the exams would put them in huge amount of anxiety. People would get paralyzed by worry.
But after they started chanting Hare Krishna, then overall the anxiety decreased. Naturally if exam is there, anxiety will be there. But generally if we are in the mode of ignorance or in the mode of passion, then we are too connected with material things.
And actually even when we are in the mode of ignorance, there is a simple way I say that if you want to understand the difference between the three modes, let’s say some people make things happen, some people watch things happen and some people wonder what happened. So some people make things happen, they are in goodness, they are calm, they think, okay, I’ll do this, this, this. They make things happen.
Some people watch things happen, this happened, that happened, what will I do? They are just paralyzed. In 1717, people are just caught in too much anxieties. 1716 and then there are people who are in ignorance, they just don’t do anything.
They are just worried, this may go wrong, this may go wrong. And all that they can do is they can probably just lose themselves in television or lose themselves in drinking or something like that. So now to the extent we are in the lower modes of passion ignorance, to that extent worry will overwhelm us.
To that extent we come to goodness by the practice of bhakti, even there also the worry becomes lesser. And the more we become transcendental by the practice of bhakti, then worry becomes much, much lesser. So this applies to various kinds of anxieties, whichever they may be, from whatever source they may be.
So spiritually we need to experience Krishna’s shelter. At the same time there is also a certain component. We will find that sometimes when we are too agitated, at that time even when we chant, the chanting becomes too mechanical, we just can’t absorb ourselves.
So the soul is transcendental but our consciousness is not transcendental. So at that time sometimes when we are too overwhelmed by anxiety, we talk with some devotee and the devotee speaks some soothing words. Those are the devotee expresses affection, expresses concern and it’s both devotee can speak some soothing words which are intellectually stimulating and which are also emotionally reassuring.
And that’s how also the anxiety goes down. So there is this component of the intellectual and emotional side. So that’s why we need devotee association.
Now is devotee association not spiritual? We could say it is spiritual but often there is both the intellectual guidance that we get and also the love and care that we get which pacifies emotionally so that we can practice the spiritual activities of bhakti. So that’s why when we have too much anxiety over something, it is good to talk with some senior devotees and get the reassurance, get the calming of the mind. So that way we can be calm and we can get a philosophical perspective by which we can deal with that anxiety.
So beyond that, philosophically of course, there can be different points which may inspire us at different times and we have to find out what helps us deal with the anxieties the best. So beyond that there is also definitely a practical side. It is not that as devotees we are meant to just depend on Krishna.
Yes, we have to depend on Krishna but dependence on Krishna is active. It is not passive. Now often we see this in the Bhagavad Gita that Arjuna, normally we have this stereotype that in movies sometimes they surrender.
So one person points a gun to another person. Surrender means you raise your hands. And basically, generally surrender means you put down the weapon and become inactive.
Now Krishna tells Arjuna, surrender. sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja This is in 18.66. And Arjuna says, karishye vachanuṭhava, I surrender to you. I’ll do your will.
But after surrendering, what happens? Arjuna picks up his weapon. Because the Bhagavad Gita ends with, yatra yogeśvara kṛṣṇa yatra pārtha dhanur-dhara Arjuna has picked up his bow and is ready to fight. That means surrender, Arjuna surrenders but after surrendering he doesn’t become inactive.
He becomes active. So surrender is not a passive. When we say we should be dependent on Krishna, we should surrender to Krishna, that does not mean that we do not do things practically.
Prabhupada was very surrendered to Krishna but Prabhupada was still very dynamic. Even at an old age, he was trying to find out how can I share Krishna Bhakti. And he was making so many arrangements for that.
Now, this is not just for our spiritual life, but even for our practical material life, we have to find out ways, what are the things we can do practically. So if there is an anxiety, then how do we deal with that anxiety? So there are safety measures which have to be taken. So for example, there are crimes, there is practical security measures which have to be taken and devotees should take those security measures.
It is not that in the name of dependence on Krishna, we become irresponsible with respect to practical security. So whatever is necessary, whatever is practical, we take those measures. So for example, if devotees are going to stay in a particular locality, they will take a house.
Now if they have a choice where to take a house, if there is a locality where there is more probability of crime, there is a locality where there is less probability of crime. If other factors are not relevant, then naturally devotees can take a place where there is less probability and then they can peacefully practice bhakti. Or whatever the practical measures are there, they need to be taken.
When in Mayapur, at one time some rioters came and started attacking the devotees. So at that time Prabhupada, when he got the news, he told that you should keep weapons. Of course at that time the devotees were foreigners and they had not much finances also, they could not hire security.
So at that time devotees themselves had guns. But now of course devotees don’t need to have them because we have security personnel. But Prabhupada also said that we need to, as a movement also, have kshatriyas to protect.
So that could mean three different things. When Prabhupada said that there should be kshatriyas for protection, some devotees of kshatriya inclination, they themselves may become kshatriyas. Some devotees may have martial skills and they train themselves martial skills or some devotees themselves specialize in developing a security agency or in that field they can go and they can provide security.
That’s one aspect. But the other aspect is also that devotees themselves, because we don’t have that categorical division of Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra in today’s society. In principle it is there but in practice it is not there.
So everybody has to take whatever measures are required for self-defense, for protection. So as devotees we are transcendental in the sense that we are aiming for transcendental activity but also we have to work at a practical level. And thirdly, we see that Arjuna was transcendental.
And Arjuna was guided by Krishna. But that does not mean that Arjuna, when he was fighting the war, he was incompetent. No, he was a topmost archer.
And he won the war, we could say that. Yes, it is because Krishna’s mercy won the war. That is true.
But there is also the reality that Arjuna did not depend only on Krishna’s mercy. Arjuna also practiced rigorously. There is that well-known past time that Arjuna, when he found that he can eat in the dark, he thought that he can shoot in the dark also.
Day and night he would practice archery. So he strived for competence. So this principle applies for all professional activities that devotees do but also it applies specifically that at a material level we cannot be irresponsible.
Once some devotee in a temple, he lost some Lakshmi. It is a boon situation. He just lost the Lakshmi.
It fell out of his pocket. And then when the temple authority told him, how could you lose like this? He said, Krishna said you should be equipoised against a loss. So I am not worried about it.
This is not transcendental. This is a responsibility. Because when we say that we should be equipoised in gain and loss, that means that when the gain and loss comes by its own accord and we are unable to do anything to change it, we are equipoised at that time.
But when it’s our endeavor, it is not that we are equipoised about doing our part. That means the Bhagavad Gita says, So as far as our duty is concerned, we should take all practical measures possible to do our duty the best. And then the detachment is after the action.
Detachment is not before the action. Detachment before the action will become irresponsibility. I don’t endeavor only in the action.
So that way Prabhupada told Tamal Krishna Maharaj. When Tamal Krishna Maharaj was looking after the Juhu project, he went to Sri Prabhupada and told Prabhupada that getting this permission and dealing with this is causing so much anxiety. I am not able to chant also properly.
So Prabhupada said, I am also not able to chant properly. There is so much anxiety. He was very surprised.
He didn’t know what to say. Prabhupada said, transcendental, pure. Prabhupada said, I am in anxiety.
Prabhupada said, your anxiety for serving Krishna will take you back to Krishna. So as devotees, it is not that we just want a simple, peaceful life. No, we want to serve Krishna and service is based on love.
And love means, there can be anxiety also when there is love. When Yashodamayi heard that Krishna had eaten dirt, she said, oh, what will happen if the dirt goes to Krishna’s mouth? His body will fall, his stomach will fall sick. She is in anxiety.
When Trunavat carried away Krishna, Yashodamayi was in such anxiety that she fainted. So it’s not that devotees want to run away from anxiety. We want to run towards Krishna.
And in running towards Krishna, anxiety is an emotion that comes along. We will accept that anxiety also. So we don’t go around searching for anxiety.
Certainly, at the same time, we don’t run away from anxiety. Our focus should be on running towards Krishna. So we do whatever we can to practically serve Krishna in the best possible way.
But after doing whatever measures we have done, if there are anxieties, we accept that as a part of our service to Krishna and keep moving onwards. So in general, if we take care of these things spiritually, we regularly take shelter of Krishna, by which we realize our experience that there is a higher reality. Beyond all the agitating things in this world, that gives us a center of calmness by which we can deal with the agitations of the world with strength and stability.
And along with that, when anxieties start overwhelming us, we should have some devotee friends, counselor or other guides with whom we can talk and they can emotionally and intellectually solace and encourage us. And practically, we can look at whatever measures are being taken and we can try to take the best possible measures within our capacity, within our circumstance. And in that way, by taking transcendental shelter, by getting emotional and intellectual support and by being practically competent, we can navigate through this world which is filled with anxieties and ultimately attain Krishna’s abode, which is Vaikuntha, which is free from all anxiety.