How can I overcome the tendency to neglect aspects of bhakti like Kuntis prayers that are not focused on the worship of the highest form of Krishna?
Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.
Question, while practicing devotional service, even when things are going on reasonably well, I feel insecure that some major problems may come up in the future and then I feel fearful that I may not be able to deal with those problems. I suspect that these fears through which the mind tortures me are because I have to travel constantly from place to place and because of that I don't have a fixed spiritual mentor. So how should I deal with this problem? Answer, there are two distinct questions and I'll answer them then I'll talk about the relationship between the two.
First is the fear of the future, that is something which is not necessarily negative, it is also a sign, it can be a sign of intelligence. If that can help us to become more alert and more prepared, just like if a student doesn't think about the future, then the student will not be inspired to study and naturally then when the exams come, the student will become overwhelmed and will not be able to deal with the exam properly and may even fail. At the same time, if the student is in first standard and the student thinks about the 10th standard exam and wonders how I will pass those exams, then naturally that sort of fear will only make that student paranoid, helpless because that is not a challenge which can be prepared for right now and if at all it has to be prepared for, the only way to prepare for it is by doing the studies that can be done right now.
So just as in education, there are challenges but there are challenges which can be met. Similarly, life also is an education, although there may not be an explicit setting of a school and a teacher, but ultimately this world is like a university and it is Krishna who is teaching us from within and from without, from within as a super soul, from without as Guru Sadhu Shastra and then what he teaches, he demonstrates through the scriptures, sorry through the experiences in the world that we observe and that we get in our own lives also. So therefore, we needn't be fearful about future problems that how will I cope with them because whenever life sends any exams to us, Krishna who is ultimately arranging for everything will also give us the strength to face the exam and we need to take whatever steps we can to deal with the problems of life and the future steps will be revealed as and when the problems come up and how we can solve them.
It is said that faith means to take the one step that we can see right now while climbing up a staircase, although we cannot see the top or the end of the staircase right now. So imagine that I'm climbing up a building and I can't see the full staircase up, light is there below but not above but I keep taking one step, then the next step is illuminated for me, the next step is illuminated for me, next step is illuminated for me, like that I keep moving forwards. So same way, actually one aspect of faith is that we can't expect complete, we don't demand or expect complete security from Krishna and a complete clear picture of what will happen in future and how we will be able to deal with it.
We take life one step at a time and actually even if we were not practicing devotional service that is the only way we could have taken to life. The difference between our devotional life and our pre-devotional non-devotional life is that is firstly the direction of the steps. In material life also we face problems and we try to deal with those problems but the ultimate purpose is either unknown or it is materialistic which ultimately becomes futile at the time of death whereas in devotional life also we take one step at a time but now we know the purpose that ultimately I am a soul and I have to develop eternal relationship with Krishna and that's what gives us faith and strength to pursue with a greater enthusiasm and determination and beyond that the other aspect of the difference between our pre-emotional non-devotional life there could be many differences but with respect to the focus of our discussion is that whereas in material life it's just a black hole we don't know what will come in the future.
In spiritual life we know that whatever comes Krishna is there with us and Krishna will protect us and Krishna will guide us and empower us to deal with whatever problems that come up. So to give another example it's like a school where we know that there is where everybody is unfamiliar and we don't know anybody and we don't know much about the examination pattern then we will be much more insecure when the exams come but when we are in university where we know that the teacher is our well-wisher the teacher is cares for us and teacher wants us to grow then we know that the even in the exams come the exams will be such that we'll be able to if we apply ourselves in religious studies we'll be able to get through them. So that's that's how we can avoid becoming paranoid by focusing on the steps that we can take right now one so we take life one step at a time okay this this this and that way we can avoid worrying too much about the future unanticipated problems when they come then we will see how to deal with them.
At a realistic level whatever are the immediate challenges that come we deal with them just like a student prepares for the immediate upcoming exams not for the whole long-term career actual preparation for that long-term career is also by the immediate preparation only so like that every day when we keep serving Krishna and dealing with the challenges for serving Krishna we will keep moving forward in our spiritual life. Now regarding the connection with a regular spiritual mentor yes those of us who are physically moving repeatedly from place to place may find it difficult to have a steady mentor but with the nature of our world the fast-paced lifestyle and if we are in urban places the cities themselves are so big say in Mumbai or Delhi or wherever then even then to meet regularly may not always be very easy or practical so general principle with respect to relationships is that wherever they work we need to make them work that means that if we find some senior devotee whose guidance inspires us helps us and with that with whom we can relate very nicely then we don't have to let that relationship become subject to physical proximity we can we may need some extra efforts to maintain that relationship when physical proximity is not possible say if the devotee whose guidance we find inspirational if that devotee is another city we are another city then we may have to make some phone calls set up some appointments and try to have the association guidance through phones or through other means like that through emails whatever is convenient through skype nowadays technology makes a lot of things accessible for us so in one sense it is because there is so much technology that our lives have become so mobile because of which we don't get the association of devotees because of which our jobs make us go here and there various places but at the same time we can use that same technology which makes the culture spawn from which makes us move here and there we can use that same technology to stay in touch with devotees also so rather than trying to find a spiritual mentor with whom we can yell at whichever place we go if we look back at our devotional life and we look at we find out who is the devotee with whom we can yell nicely and then make some level of steady guidance arrangement with that devotee irrespective of where we are and of course where we go we can interact with the devotees there also and participate in the local temple activities there also but that need not be our primary devotional nourishment in terms of personal relationships because relationships take time to develop and many times they develop organically based on nature so wherever the relationship work let them work and make them work hard wherever we find that we are having some devotees with whom we can relate nicely then even if we go from that place we need to maintain those relationships and that's how this problem the spiritual mentorship can be dealt with now regarding the connection between the two yes sometimes when we have some fears apprehensions concerns we may want to have somebody to whom we can just share those things especially if they are major concerns and then get broader or alternative perspectives on those situations so if there are certain fears or anxieties which repeatedly trouble us then it's best to consult senior devotees about them that will help us to deal with that problem in a more mature way along with that or instead of that if that is not practical writing a personal diary also helps in dealing with these problems because a personal diary enables us to get a mental snapshot of ourselves which we can subject to scrutiny evaluation analysis afterwards mental snapshot means that just like when we go to a go to a place which is very beautiful then we take a photo of ourselves a snapshot to remember similarly when we feel a little insecure or worried or we if we write down those feelings in a diary then those that becomes like a mental snapshot so when those feelings come we are a little overwhelmed by them but afterwards when we are more calm and more composed that time if we again look at those feelings then we will find that oh i can uh i don't have to be so worried about this but yeah or this this this worry seems to be concern of authentic concern okay let me plan one two three this is how i can deal with it so normally when we are fearful that is generally a effect of the mode of passion along with a bit ignorance krishna describes that chinta is a characteristic of the mode of passion when material desires and material concerns overwhelm us but later on when we are calm and composed that time we are more in the mode of goodness and that time when we evaluate our feelings in the mode of passion ignorance we can scrutinize them and then deal with them as appropriate some we just reject as unfounded others where there is some some reason basis for those concerns then we plan how to deal with them and by that we can gradually overcome these anxieties i have talked briefly about diary writing in an article on the website called the right service five reasons to write in devotional service so there it's acronym w r i t e so i n t introspection and therapy talk about writing a writing a personal diary and how it can benefit us you can find that reference also helpful to deal with these anxieties thank you.