How can we prevent our leisure time from being consumed by worrying?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, whenever we have some idle time, we start worrying about things. And we are busy, we feel better. As soon as we stop being busy, we get caught by worrying.
What to do about it? There are two distinct situations. One is, there are worries about which we can do something. There are worries about which we can’t do anything.
So, for example, the weather is bad. We just can’t do anything about it. Let’s say, somebody has some misunderstanding about us.
We might be able to correct it. We may not be able to. We don’t know.
Some people are just unreasonable at times. Or say there is something wrong with our health which if we exercise, we do take simple care, it’s within our control. So, basically our problems itself are of three types.
There are problems on which we have direct control. We change ourselves and the problem gets solved. Second is indirect control where we can try to influence others to change by which our problem will be solved.
Third is no control. We just have to live with it. When the weather is bad, just accept it and move on.
So, first of all, we can see what the worry is about. About what kind of problem is it. And if it is about a third category, then we have to just understand this is a waste of energy.
And for either of the problems, any of the three problems, what I talked about, having some alternative channel, source of positive thought, an alternative object of thought where we can direct our mind, direct our intelligence. That is very helpful. It’s like say we go out of our home and we get tired and we come back home and we feel safe, we feel secure.
That’s what I feel at home here. We say that so, just as we have a home for our body, we need a home for our thoughts. We need a home for our mind.
Ultimately, it is God who is the home for our mind. … Krishna says that those who are, in the Gita it is said that those who are exalted spiritualists, physically, they may not have a home. Aniketa, Niketan is home.
Aniketa, they don’t have any home. But Sthiramate, their consciousness has found a home in the service of God, in devotion to God. So, we very much need an inner shelter, an inner home.
Once we have that, we, there we can get rejuvenated. It’s like, if we are in a place where we have no home, then we always have to be on guard. We always have to be on the watch out.
At home, we can be secure. So, at one level, the process of Bhakti Yoga is meant to help us reside in our inner home. Bhakti Yoga connects us with God, helps us to focus our thoughts on Krishna, who is revealed to be God in the Gita.
And then, therein, as we keep doing the practice of Bhakti, we start feeling that shelter. Initially, we may not feel the shelter immediately. Sometimes we may feel good, sometimes we may not feel good when we are doing Bhakti activity.
But over a period of time, we start seeing that we feel that shelter. And once that shelter is there, then we don’t feel directly threatened by the problem. If you want to paraphrase the Bhagavad Gita’s message about or Bhagavad Gita’s approach to problem solving, it says, be concerned but not disturbed.
So, when we don’t have any inner shelter, we feel personally threatened by the problem. That’s why we get disturbed. Be concerned says, this is important for me.
This is the area where it matters for me. Therefore, I am concerned. But I am not threatened by this.
I am safe myself. So, that way, that experience if we get of inner shelter, then we won’t feel threatened. And then we can act.
So, if it’s a no control problem, we will be able to accept, okay, this can’t be changed. Let me see what I can do in my life and focus my energy there. If it’s a direct control problem, the inner shelter will give us the strength by which we can make the necessary changes in our own life.
And we can help solve the problem. And if it is an indirect control problem, then again, our inner shelter, if we are internally calm, then we will be able to better understand the other person, other person’s perspective. So, when we are agitated, then we see things only from our perspective.
When we are calm, the other person’s perspective, we may not agree with it, but at least we understand where they are coming from. And then we have better chance of communicating more effectively, of influencing them. So, either way, whether it’s a no control and direct control problem, finding an inner shelter that helps us in dealing with that problem.
So, as soon as our mind is idle, whenever we don’t have anything to do, if we make it a habit to do some spiritual discipline, we can start with a spiritual activity that we like to do. So, if you like to read, just find some books that interest you and read them. If you like to hear music, you can try to hear some spiritual music.
Again, calm the mind. So, first we could find out something which we can easily connect to it and which connects us with spirituality. By that, we start getting that shelter.
And then the other, then once that becomes like a rest for the mind, being rested, then whatever other situations are, we need to deal with them better.