How can we know what is Krishna’s plan and what is Maya’s action?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, how can we know when something is happening in our life? Is it Krishna’s desire or is it Krishna’s plan or is it our desire and Maya’s response? Actually, Krishna can work even through what might seem to be actions of Maya.
So, ultimately, even Maya’s temptations are also Krishna’s plan. Just like in an exam, there is a right alternative and there are wrong alternatives. Even the wrong alternatives are also the teacher’s plan only.
But that is not the plan that the teacher wants the student to follow. So, similarly, in our life, there are broad guidelines that Krishna gives. You can sit here if you want.
Chair is there. Okay. So, there are broad directions that Krishna gives.
And the more we follow those directives, for example, chanting, associating with devotees, studying scripture, the more we do that, the more our consciousness becomes clearer. And then, the specifics, we start understanding, this is actually Krishna, this is Maya. So, rather than getting too much worried about the specifics, if you focus on doing the universal principles right, then the confusion in the head becomes clear because our consciousness becomes more clear.
And then we can take a decision about whether I should do this or that. That’s one thing. That’s the general process of purification by which, when we are doing the big things right and the small things, we get the guidance from within about how to do them right.
Apart from that, of course, we can consult senior devotees and check with them that this is the situation and what should I do in this situation. And we have to, over a period of time, find out those devotees with whom we can connect because we also need like-minded devotees. Otherwise, we ask someone and they don’t understand our situation.
So, if we have one or two devotees at least with whom we can connect well, they can understand as well, then we can seek their guidance. Ultimately, we will take a decision from a spiritual master. Then we have a spiritual master who can act as our guide.
But till then, we can have other senior devotees who can guide us. And along with that, I also find that journaling for our major decisions helps a lot. So, of course, journaling is a whole subject in itself.
But the way I see it applied to Krishna Conscious Philosophy is that journaling is a tool by which we can make our intelligence the counselor of our mind. That means, when we have certain thoughts going around, we just put them down. If I do this, this, this, this will happen.
If I do this, this, this, whatever our thoughts, as long as our thoughts are inside the head, during that time, they just congest the head. And they don’t allow us to think clearly. They just keep going round and round and round.
But once you get them out, then there is a little space created in the head. And after that, just getting the thoughts out also helps in creating a distance between us and the thoughts. Then we can evaluate them more objectively.
So, whatever our thoughts going around, if I do this, this may happen. If I do this, this may happen. Just write everything down.
At one time, at that time when we are writing, it should be completely uncensored. Just write everything down. Don’t worry about whether it is right or wrong.
Whatever is the concern in the mind, write it down. And then after that, you will find that some pressure decreases in the head. Because at least we have expressed ourselves.
And after we have calmed down, then maybe a day later or something like that, we come back and look at it with calmness. Yeah, this makes sense. You know, this is just too sentimental.
Or this is not going very sound. We can evaluate that. And if some major decision is to be taken, then maybe we can do this for a good amount of time.
See, basically, this sort of journal becomes like a snapshot of our mind. And if you find that the state of our mind is steadily staying in a particular way. Say, if you want to pursue a relationship with someone or you want to pursue a particular career, particular change in our career or whatever.
So, is it just a passing feeling of my mind or is it a steady inclination? So, if we take a snapshot of our mind and then we look at it after one week, I am not feeling like that at all now. Then maybe it is just the mind’s sign we are going up and down. But if you find that something, I am strongly feeling like continuing this, not just one day, two days, one week, two weeks, three weeks, then we understand that that may well be our inclination.
And that may be if something is steadily, a steady feeling, then we may well be having a steady strong inspiration to do that and we could continue that. So, expressing ourselves and then evaluating our expression afterwards, not at the same time. In the mind, when we are thinking, we are trying to do both the things.
Feelings are also coming and we are trying to evaluate also. That doesn’t work. Separating the two into two distinct phases, it helps us in first making sure that we have expressed ourselves properly and then we have also analyzed properly.
So, both happen when we can do journal. And usually after we have journaled, then if we consult senior devotees also, then we are also able to express our concerns properly. So, otherwise, we spend a lot of time talking and then we feel I didn’t express myself well.
Then it’s like if the patient doesn’t describe the symptoms properly, the doctor cannot even diagnose or prescribe properly. So, doing the introspection can help us in also gaining more pertinent guidance. So, overall, rather than thinking of this is Maya or this is Krishna, we can focus more on trying to understand ourselves better.
And then we will be able to see, yes, this is a path which is the best for me and this is not such a prudent path for me. Does it address? Yes, and I’ve been thinking about starting a journal recently. Now I know what to put in it.
Thank you. Hare Krishna.