How can we avoid moroseness caused by repeatedly falling for sense gratification?

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Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
We have already indulged in some temptation and we caught in it and we become morose because of that. How do we deal with that? So, in general, moroseness comes not because of our indulgence in the temptation, it is because of our self-centered focus.
Self-centered focus means that we are still after, oh, I did this, I did that, why did I do that, I should not have done that, I am still fool, I, I, I, it is ultimately I-centered. And the whole purpose of bhakti is to stop being I-centered and become Krishna-centered. So, no matter what wrong we have done, Krishna never leaves our heart and goes away.
Krishna always stays in our heart. And opportunity for practicing bhakti still stays with us. So, we focus, yes, even if we have indulged, no matter how badly we indulge, our focus should always be on practicing bhakti.
So, if we focus on all the wrongs that we have done, that will definitely make us morose and it will become very difficult for us to have any enthusiasm. Okay, now there is one, one negative attitude is you think, chalta hai. Whatever wrong I have done, I am just chanting Hare Krishna, everything is okay.
No, we are not talking about that. Yes, if there is something wrong done, we should take it seriously. Yes, it is wrong and I won’t take steps to avoid it and I will do whatever steps I take.
But the focus eventually should be on Krishna. The focus should not be on, okay, so many bad things I have done. Even if we have done bad things, then also we can turn, if your mind goes, no, you are such a fool, you are such a sinner, you are this, you are that.
Okay, even if it is all true, still Krishna is so kind, there is a long way to go. So, how merciful Krishna is, let me focus on Krishna. So, if we, if we focus on Krishna, moroseness will go away.
If we focus on ourselves, we will have either of the two. We will have, we will feel very bad about ourselves or we will feel very good about ourselves and both are bad. Feeling very good about ourselves also is bad.
So, in general, our lapses, our slips, our falls, it is not that 24 hours a day we have fallen down. Sometimes temptations come and we fall. So, what defines us, what defines our bhakti is not so much how we fall, but what we do between the falls.
What we do between the falls? Yes, sometimes temptations come and I may fall. But what am I doing in between? If in between, I am trying to practice bhakti, it tells me if I am trying to pray to Krishna, if I am trying to strengthen myself, then gradually, so it is like if you have a waveform, there are spikes which come. So, material desires, they spike up sometimes.
But, so sometimes, in the initial stages, combating and resisting those spikes may be difficult. But, what do we do in between the spikes? That is important. If at that time we are strengthening ourselves by practicing bhakti, eventually we will present the spikes also.
But, if after the spike has come and gone also, then also, why did the spike come? When is the spike going to come next? Just thinking about that, then we are not strengthening ourselves, we are weakening ourselves. And so, we should know that Krishna’s love for us is not based on who we are. Krishna’s love for us is based on who he is.
It is his selfless, compassionate nature because of which he loves us. So, no matter how fallen we are, Krishna is not going to stop loving us. And that is why, as devotees, we should focus so much on ourselves.
If we focus on Krishna and try to connect ourselves with Krishna, then we can avoid all this. And the spikes, we have to plan how I can deal with those spikes. So, spikes which they come, the spikes, strong desires that come, how do you deal with those spikes? You can plan that in such a way that see, there are two things which we can do.
One is pushers towards Krishna and the other is blockers between mind, blockers in the direction of mind. That means, if we indulge in a particular temptation, we try to create obstacles between us and that temptation. Ultimately, we can just break down the obstacle and go and fall in the temptation.
That can happen. But if there is a blocker, it slows down the process. And usually, when the desires come, they for some time, they just madden us.
But if there is a little delay in that also, like when Bilvamangal Thakur went to enjoy with Siddhanta, he was intoxicated. And at that time, when Siddhanta spoke, his intelligence awakened. So, like that, if we can create some blockers between, like basically recovering that sweet item, in a translucent box, that is creating a blocker.
So, to deal with the spikes, we can find out what blockers we can create. And then, if we also have pushers towards Krishna, what are the ways in which we can take shelter of Krishna? What are the ways in which we can pray to Krishna? See, Bhakti is not just a matter of ritual. That means, it is not just chant Hare Krishna, everything will be alright.
Yes, that is true. But chanting Hare Krishna is not just a verbal activity. It is an activity in the heart.
So, sometimes we may find that we can take shelter of Krishna in some other way. Other way is not that we are replacing chanting Hare Krishna, but that we will be able to, in the times of temptation, connect with Krishna in some other way better. Now, if we have some very sweet Kirtas, which we love, just hearing those Kirtas, you know, we are like, hey, there is so much creativity.
Why are we going in this direction? Or if we have some deity darshan, which really catches our, attracts us, it is just to keep that with us and look at that. And then, after that, we can take shelter of the pushes towards Krishna. And we surround ourselves with them more and more.
And whatever are our blockers between us and him, we create more blockers. And that way, we can avoid both the moroseness and the relapse into whatever we may have indulged in. And we can come out of that.