How can we avoid labelling situations when say we go broke and still stay fixed in remembrance of Krishna?

From: TUSHAR VORA

You had mentioned in one of the answers, that you should not label situations as good & bad but instead be fixed in devotional rememberance of Krishna. But I find this quiet difficult. The mind inevitably does label situations good and bad. E.g. When you are  broke, won’t you feel it is a bad situation. How can we experience the situation when you do not feel the miseries at all due to devotional rememberance of Krishna?

Transcript

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Question from Tushar Vora Prabhu You had mentioned in one of the answers that we should not label situations as good and bad but instead be fixed in devotional remembrance of Krishna but I find this quite difficult the mind inevitably does label situations as good and bad Example, when you are broke won’t you feel it as bad situation how can we experience a situation when you do not feel the miseries at all due to devotional remembrance of Krishna Answer First of all there is the principle to understand and then there is the principle to apply practically so only when we are at least clear about the principle then we can think about applying it so in principle we understand that that Krishna is in control whatever he does is for our ultimate benefit so therefore nothing is actually unfavorable and we need to see how whatever has happened is actually favorable and we may not see it immediately, it may take time for us but first and foremost is the understanding based on faith that Krishna is always our well-wisher and benefactor and whatever happens is for our ultimate good although we may not be able to see that good right now now this is the philosophical or transcendental vision this is most often in our day to day life sabotaged overpowered by the normal material functional day to day vision where we see situations as good and bad so when we practice Krishna consciousness it is not subtracting the material from our consciousness it is adding the transcendental to our consciousness so what does this mean? it means that it is not that we become oblivious to the material reality if if in the temple say the bhoga is being offered to Krishna and the bhoga has not been cooked properly then do we just become unconscious to the fact that it has not been cooked properly and say it is Krishna prasad only, let’s see the transcendental part and not see that our taste or anything like that actually even the taste because it is connected with Krishna is not material, it is transcendental and it is a part of the service to Krishna so when people without a devotional consciousness come to the temple they will see only the material part they will say this is cooked so poorly or if it has been well cooked they will see that it is cooked so nicely now as devotees we see the way it has been cooked at the material level and we also try to perceive its transcendental aspect but perceiving the transcendental aspect does not mean that we neglect the material functional aspect so somebody might argue that there is nothing material about prasadam that is fine at one level but at the same time anything, any transcendental principle when it is manifested at the material level, it follows material laws so if I don’t put sugar in the sweet then the sweet is still prasad but it is not sweet to taste so there is an objective material deficiency that is there and if we try to oversee that and call everything as transcendental then we will not be able to function at all even Srila Prabhupada for the functioning of ISKCON said that if Krishna consciousness has to spread it will spread by organization and intelligence now organization in and of itself is not transcendental there can be materialists who can do excellent organization also Srila Prabhupada considered it important because that is how the spreading of Krishna consciousness in the material world will be facilitated so I am giving all these examples to emphasize the point that Krishna consciousness does not mean subtracting the material from our consciousness but it means adding the transcendental to our consciousness so if I am in a materially adverse situation if I am in a financially precarious situation if as you put it I am broke then naturally I will be concerned about it and I have to do whatever is required to deal with that situation if a student has an exam coming up and he is not well prepared now he may say that oh my not being prepared is just material but his material duties are also ultimately meant for Krishna and he has to do the needful last few days before the exam he has to intensively focus on the studies so along with that doing the studies at a material level a devotee also understands there is a transcendental principle yes I should do the best that I can but then I will leave the rest to Krishna because ultimately Krishna is the protector of his devotees and although I am not a serious devotee still I am a struggling devotee and Krishna will help me also in some way or the other so as devotees we do need to deal with the situation at the material level but if we see the situation only at the material level then we will be overwhelmed by the material emotions and if we try to artificially see the situation only at the transcendental level in the sense that we act as if there is no problem at all then we will actually miss out on the practicality of Krishna consciousness which is what brings most of the results and which is what actually the expression of our devotion to Krishna in this world so Srila Prabhupada was always having a transcendental vision that’s how even when considering the same example he went broke when his business collapsed because of various factors including some kind of cheating by others and some fire and various factors was Srila Prabhupada affected? He was certainly affected in the sense that that made him change his plans. Instead of continuing his business he decided to take sannyas but before that earlier in his grahastha life when he was acting as a grahastha he faced several reversals and he did the needful to deal with the reversals but at the same time he continued his Krishna consciousness also wherever his business would take him he would try to himself preach or assist the devotees who were there at that time in that place to help them to get business contacts and to help them preach in that place and set up a center over there so Srila Prabhupada in his life demonstrated a very keen awareness of things as they were happening at the functional level if you want to call it we can call it the material level at the same time he was very deeply connected to see everything at the spiritual level so he tried at a functional level to restore his business several times when it didn’t work finally he saw it as Krishna’s mercy and he focused entirely on his preaching but before that he was doing his due responsibilities diligently but he was not overwhelmed when the business reversals came and he did not become depressed or broken down or anything like that so in material level of consciousness if people become broke they often become broken down by that they break financially and they break emotionally because of that because the devotees emotions have a transcendental shelter so a devotee will not break down so as devotees at a functional level we should surely do whatever is required to deal with the situation at the same time by giving adequate time to connecting ourselves with Krishna through hearing about Krishna through chanting Krishna’s names through reading the scriptures associating with devotees we will be able to get a sense of shelter and security we will understand that ultimately things are stable that ultimately there is one shelter which will never be lost no matter what happens at the material level in my life Krishna is always playing his flute and Krishna is always present in my heart and the spiritual world and the pathway to the spiritual world are always there for me to march ahead so the more things change in our life the more we need to take shelter of things that don’t change so when we take shelter of the things that don’t change that doesn’t mean we neglect the change by taking shelter of the things that don’t change that is Krishna and his remembrance and his shelter then we get the maturity and the strength to face the things that change and in that way without being emotionally overwhelmed we can deal with the situation in the best possible way that is practical in that situation so as far as the labeling is concerned what I meant by the labeling is not ostrich like obliviousness to the situation that when things go wrong at the material level we just act as if nothing has gone wrong and act transcendental that’s not what I meant by labeling what I meant was that we often get emotionally clamped or overwhelmed because of the negative mental energy that is generated by the perception that everything has fallen down that nothing is going right in my life I have hit the dead end of the road of my life when we know that the spiritual world is much bigger than the material world and the spiritual pathway always remains open and beckoning no matter how grim or dreary or gloomy or despondent the material side of our life looks then that awareness that there is one thing that is always open and ready for me to give me shelter and to give me solace and strength that enables us to face the material side in a more mature way so by not labeling we don’t let our emotional energy get clamped and therefore without the labeling without losing the mental energy we can actually function more effectively at the material level also so in essence the answer is that Krishna Consciousness means not subtracting the material side of reality in our consciousness but adding the transcendental side of reality in our consciousness and thereby dealing with the material side of reality without being overwhelmed by the emotions that may otherwise be generated by the material side of the reality