How can we live in the present instead of the past or the future?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

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so how can we live in the present rather than going into the past or the future now when Krishna says in 6.5 it says elevate elevate yourself with the mind and don’t degrade yourself the mind is the friend as well as the mind is the enemy, so what Krishna is doing is basically creating a conceptual it’s a thought exercise where we are creating within ourselves the difference of a subject and object like say right now you are looking at me, I am looking at you, so if I am looking at you I am the subject and you are the object or you are looking at me then you are the subject, I am the object so when Krishna says elevate yourself elevate oneself with the self what it means is we are the subject but we make ourselves the object let me say I am sitting right now I am sitting here we can conceptually think ok I am sitting here how do I look am I sitting properly or am I sitting twisted or what am I what am I doing we have the capacity for self awareness so like that if we make this periodic exercise that means while we are going through our life just while we are rushing through things it’s like suppose there is a TV you know now this rarely happens but suppose imagine this happens that there are two channels which are next to each other channel 5 and channel 6 so suppose somehow there is some technological mess up and the visual is shown of channel 5 and the audio is coming of channel 6 no it will make no sense so like that we we are doing one thing physically but the mind is doing something else mentally so there is a mismatch that’s how we become absent minded we become inattentive and so just when we are doing things just taking a break maybe a few words what am I doing just ask yourself what am I doing right now I am sitting in a class I am trying to understand the Bhagavad Gita what am I doing right now just asking this question normally we are caught in looking at the world and not only we are caught in looking at the world actually we are caught in looking at the world or looking at whatever the mind is showing us we are asking the question what am I doing right now that forces us to look at ourselves and we look at ourselves then oh ok I am supposed to be doing this but I am doing this or sometimes we are doing something but we are half hearted about doing it so what am I doing right now why am I doing this see something is worthless if I ask the why question there is no point in doing this I should not be doing this let me not do it why am I doing this oh this is important for me even if it doesn’t feel good actually it will bring good in future so let me focus and do it so basically the what question what am I doing makes us aware and then the why question makes us discriminate this is what I will do this is what I will not do and the third is how am I doing it I am doing this I am chanting right now but I am half hearted let me focus let me become whole hearted so basically to live in the present it is good to become periodic observer of oneself so and the way to become observer of oneself is to ask this question what am I doing why am I doing how am I doing so if you ask these three questions then we turn the focus on ourselves if we turn the focus on ourselves then we can correct ourselves but if the focus is just going wherever the mind is going then we don’t we can’t correct ourselves so Krishna talks about this actually points to this in the 14th chapter when he says and he is talking about how to transcend the modes so he says 14.22 23 says that 14.22 23 14.22 no 22 23 are one verse put a dash and put 23 next to it or maybe is it a slash Let’s go to 14.14.21 and go to the next page from there.
Next, next. Oh, 25 or 12. So na prakasham cha pravrttim cha moham eva cha panda.
Prakasham, pravrtti and moha are the shorthands Krishna uses to refer to goodness, passion and ignorance. In 14.11, 12 and 13 he has used this word prakasham for goodness, pravrtti for passion and moha for ignorance. What is he saying over here? Na dveshti sampravrttani, na nivrttani kankshati.
So when these influence of the mores come, don’t be resentful of them or don’t hanker for them. Na nivrttani kankshati when they go. Rather what should one do? Udaseena vadaseeno.
Be situated like detached. Gunair yo na vichalyate. Don’t be shaken by the mores.
Guna vartante teva. Know that this is happening because of the mores. Yo avatishtati na ingate.
One who stays without being agitated, without being disturbed. That means, okay, what am I doing right now? I am supposed to be studying, but I am feeling sleepy. Why am I doing this? It’s because of the more of ignorance.
Let me shake it off. Maybe I can just stand up. Maybe I can do some physical activity.
Maybe I stretch a little bit. Put some water on my face or whatever. How am I doing it? So basically, rather than certain emotions may just come upon us.
Influence of passion may come. Influence of ignorance may come. So we don’t have to get agitated by that.
Okay, it has come. Na dveshti sampravrttani, na nivrttani kankshati. It has come.
Okay, let me try to avoid it. Let me try to get rid of it. So if we can observe ourselves, then it is a very good way of living in the present.
And actually our purpose ultimately is not just to live in the present. Our purpose is to live in Krishna. But the present is our channel to Krishna.
So if you see the perfection is, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, when he goes into a trance, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is walking along the street. His associates are there next to him and suddenly they, hey, Mahaprabhu has disappeared. It is gone.
Mahaprabhu has seen Krishna behind a tree and is running over there to see Krishna. So Chaitanya Mahaprabhu many times is not aware of the external circumstances at all. That is a state of very great absorption in Krishna.
And that is a perfection. So for us, the perfection is not just to live in the present. Our perfection is to live in Krishna.
And advanced devotees, they may actually live in Krishna and for that they may live in the past also. The gopis, when Krishna had left them and gone away, at that time they were constantly thinking about Krishna. When Krishna was with us, Krishna was… They are remembering how charming was the voice of Krishna, how endearing were the words that he spoke with that voice, you know, how meaningful, how sweet was the import of what he spoke.
When will this Krishna come back? So the gopis were actually not living in the present. The gopis were living in the past. But they were living in Krishna.
So in the sadhaka stage, we do need to live in the present. But living in the present is not the ultimate perfection. The ultimate perfection is to live in Krishna.
And for us, to live in Krishna, the channel is to live in the present. And that is how we live in Krishna. Did I answer your question? Thank you.