How can we apply the mood of “Krishna, I am yours”?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

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Thank you. But we all have a particular conception of who I am.
And based on that conception, we naturally do certain things. So, for example, I am a person who is a family man. I naturally think in terms of I want to live for my family, I will take care of this, I will take care of that.
If I am a mother, I think where is my child, I will take care of my child. So, our actions naturally stem from our self-conceptions. We conceive of ourselves belonging to some group.
I am a part of this family, I am a part of this dynasty, I am a part of this country. So, we have a self-conception which is also a matter of our self’s connection with a larger group. So, bhakti, growth in bhakti, at first level we change our self-conception that I am not the body, I am the soul.
But that is only a part of spiritual advancement. That we conceive of ourselves as belonging to the bigger whole, which is actually the biggest whole, that is Krishna. So, when that understanding that I am a part of Krishna enters deep into our consciousness, in whatever we do, we think, will this be favorable for Krishna or will this be unfavorable for Krishna.
Say, if a person is working and that person gets an opportunity for a job or for a promotion or some other place where he can get more money or whatever. We think, if I go there, these are the pros, these are the cons. So, why? Because our decisions, whenever any opportunity or situation comes in, our decision stems from our identification of who we are.
Who we are and where we belong. So, bhakti is not just about believing in God, it is about belonging to God. And God is a part of this, we should believe, but at a very preliminary level.
Bhakti means to understand that I belong to Krishna. That means, whatever we think, whatever we decide, we think of in terms of what is favorable for my bhakti or unfavorable for my bhakti. So, in that sense again, what boils down to Anupulya Sankalpa, a little lesson actually.
But of course, in the initial stages for us, we may have to consciously think like that. That okay, this is favorable, this is unfavorable. But as we go deeper into, as we practice bhakti more and more, this thinking will become more or less like a reflex action.
This I should not, this is not helpful, this is painful. It says, the more we identify with something, for example, if I am sitting here and suddenly something hot touches me on my hand, immediately my hand will move. I don’t have to think that way because survival, self-protection, that is a reflex action for us.
Because I identify with the body and I identify with the well-being of the body. Whatever sense it is, I am the body, this is my body, this is Krishna’s body, whatever it is. But I identify with that and as a reflex action, I want to protect my body.
So like that, similarly, as we keep practicing bhakti, what happens is that our reflex actions become more and more spiritualized. That is, we think in terms of what is favorable for my bhakti, what is unfavorable for bhakti. And that sense of belonging, that sense of connectedness, that is how, that’s why, that is a feeling which we are going to develop.
Missing Krishna, I surrender to you. I am yours, you are mine, what else do I need in my life? What else do I need? What other help do I need? Singing songs like this can also invoke that mood in us. But that invocation will be at present, temporary.
So for us, that emotion will come by gradual cultivation. Cultivation means action. We act in a way that we consider ourselves as parts of Krishna and think what is favorable and what is unfavorable and make our decisions accordingly.
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