How can we avoid getting carried away by worldly things?

Answer Podcast:

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
What to do when we get emotionally carried away by certain objects? Yeah. For all of us, there is the spiritual level or the intellectual level.
So we need to fight at all levels. So for example, when it comes to the intellectual level, we use philosophy to try to understand the futility of sense gratification. With respect to mental level, we try to find out some dharmic attachment that the mind may have.
So that there is a spiritual direction towards our emotion. At a sensory level, it is important that we alleviate some obstacles between us and the sense objects. Especially those sense objects that we are wondering about.
Because when the impulse attacks, at that time, it’s almost impossible to save them. So what we can do is create an obstacle. So for example, if somebody has an urge to overeat, then nowadays obesity is a big problem.
So what they say is, don’t keep fighting food. You have to keep food, keep food which is simple. Maybe some fruit, vegetables, you know.
So similarly, if someone has a frequency to surf on the net, an undesirable case, don’t keep unfiltered access. Nowadays, nobody can work without it. But we can always have some filter access in there.
So like that, when we create some obstacle between us and the sense object, we can of course remove the obstacle and go there. We can do that. But usually, it is not that lust or any anorexia is constantly agitating us.
Lust gets a spike, like when the surge is up. So like that, our desires will surge up for some time. And if we just tolerate that surge, it will come down.
And then we are going to move on. So if the obstacle is enough for us just to take us to the surge phase, that should be enough. So in general, when we are very emotionally overwhelmed, it is important for us to have that obstacle.
What that obstacle will be? It is essentially the rain. And also, if we find out something which can trigger spiritual emotion within us. That means some kirtan, some darshan, some Vaishnava songs, some shloka, something which gives us some level of higher taste without having to do any intellectual analysis.
The intellectual analysis can be done later. But the emotions are, let us say, it is like in an ocean, there are currents. Different currents move in different directions.
Say, one current may be moving from India to Australia. Another current may be moving from Australia towards, say, Antarctic, towards the southern-south pole. Another current may be moving from Australia back towards India.
So, now if a person gets caught in the current from India to Australia, and the person wants to come from Australia to India, it will be very difficult while caught in that current. So, boaters know that they have to actually find the right current. If they are in the right current, then they move automatically.
So now, we all know that he has certain currents in which we move emotionally towards a certain place or place. So, we also have to find out some opposite currents. And try to, when we get caught in that current, we try to restitute ourselves in this current.
If we are not, we may not intellectually understand this is bad, this is good. But just, if emotions can be triggered, then we don’t have to analyze the whole entire thing. And then afterwards, once we restitute in the whole current, then we can regain our intelligence.
So, it’s creating obstacles and finding something that triggers our spiritual emotions. That means I have to program my mind with some spiritual thing or shall I find some emotionally connecting thing? Yeah, while observing our bhakti, while practicing bhakti itself, we can observe what is it that triggers our spiritual emotions. So, that reprogramming of the mind happens gradually.
That will require intellectual conviction. That will require devotional purification. That is what Krishna says, the mind will eventually become our friend.
That will take time. But we are talking about something preliminary. Right now, something we just, even in our sadhaka state, we find that there is something that may be to trigger our spiritual emotions.
So, we can cultivate them and cherish them. And have them readily accessible. It could be as simple as Prabhupada’s photo, if you are feeling very grateful towards Prabhupada.
How can I do this in front of him?