​How can we protect ourselves at various stages from contemplation to degradation?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
contemplation to degradation there are various stages so how can we protect ourselves at different stages see broadly for us when we fall there are there is it’s like from internal to external and then again back to internal what does that mean that if I see something and I desire it then I go out to get it and then I indulge in it so in that sense that’s the process so there is desire or there is perception we could say contemplation I observe something, contemplation from contemplation comes emotion I like it, I want it so thought becomes emotion and from emotion comes intention I want to do it, I will do it and from intention comes action so broadly instead of the eight stages analyzing them step by step will take a long time but let’s divide it into these parts the mind has three functions, thinking, feeling, willing so there is contemplation, emotion intention and action so now in these stages actually internally we have the protection of two things, there is the conscience and there is the intelligence the conscience is our innate sense of what is right and what is wrong we all have a sense of conscience so based on what our parents have taught us, based on what our culture has taught us I should not be doing this so if I go to a shopping mall and I see nobody is watching I can just shoplift I can do that and maybe nobody will notice but then I have my conscience which tells me don’t do this so this is just a voice that comes from within so to some extent our conscience is our is our is like our instinctive inner guard we don’t consciously think no just immediately this should not be done you cannot be doing this instinctively the voice comes so conscience is like a inner protective reflex action like say if I sit on this chair and I find there is a thorn or a nail over there immediately I get up it’s not that I don’t think oh this is hurting me it’s instinctive, it’s like a reflex action so conscience is like that like our internal reflexive protector and beyond that there is an intelligence intelligence means it’s by deliberation this is right, this is wrong if I do this, this will have harmful consequences if I do this, this will have beneficial consequences so then either avoid a particular course of action or persevere in a particular course of action so intelligence is also another internal protector so conscience and intelligence both of them are inner protectors and then externally the culture often acts as a protector also if you are in a pious culture if you are in a spiritual culture certain things are frowned upon and just to not earn the disapproval, just to avoid getting the disapproval of people, we may avoid certain things so if we are in a materialistic if we are in a devotional culture and we engage in sensual activities, then we disapprove so the devotional culture itself acts like a protector, no I should not be doing this so that is the culture itself can be a protector and that means at this stage we are talking about there is thought, there is contemplation, there is emotion, there is intention, there is action so when there is contemplation, emotion, action emotion, intention, at this stage there is the protection through conscience there is protection at the level of contemplation itself, don’t think about this don’t even entertain this but intelligence can act at the level of emotion it can act at the level of intention also actually Prabhupada says in one letter that intelligence means to kill the thought before it becomes an action to kill the thought before it becomes an action thought is coming, from that it will go to emotion from that it will go to intention, action stop it, somewhere in between that’s intelligence but beyond that if we know that there are certain things which are my weak points there are certain things which I am vulnerable to then we can, to protect ourselves we can create obstacles between us and that object so for example, if somebody has been alcoholic and is now recovering alcoholic then they are told don’t keep any bottles of alcohol in your house don’t keep, if you are staying if your house is next to a bar it is going to be very difficult so you may have to take a measure of shifting your house, basically don’t make that object very easily accessible create some obstacle between oneself and the object, so suppose somebody is a shopaholic, just shop too much then a practical guideline that is given is don’t take your credit card with you just take cash so what happens, there is an upper limit to how much I will purchase, so even if I have something, even if I feel I want to purchase this what happens is when the impulse comes, the impulse takes away our rationality, takes away our intelligence so even if I find something good, it is not that it is going to disappear overnight I can go back, I can evaluate it tomorrow I can go and purchase it also so if we find that we have certain weaknesses, then we can create some obstacles between ourselves and that particular object, so if I find that say, you know on the internet, I tend to waste a lot of time looking at this, looking at that looking at that, then I might put some net filters, you know where you know, the internet will be accessible only at particular times of the day or internet only certain sites will be accessible or whatever almost all devices now come with parental control functions, so basically this is important if there is no distance between us and the object to which we are tempted then it is very difficult to protect ourselves because if you see when the temptation comes when the desire starts going strong it is not that the desire stays strong 24 hours a day if we consider our consciousness level to be like this we have spikes of desires the desire shoots up at that time, I just have to do this how can I not do this I must do it, I must get it but that spike it doesn’t last for long after sometime the spike goes away, the desire comes down, so if when the spike has come, at that time the spike of desire overrides our consciousness, it overrides our intelligence it makes us do that thing so when the spike is there if during that time somehow we have created some obstacle by which the object is not available to us then by the time we make the arrangement to get that object, see ultimately if I want to do something wrong, nobody can stop it now I may go and get a house in the opposite end of the town from where a bar is but if I really decide I am going to drink, then I will go across the town and go to the bar so if I have parallel control software on my computer, if I am determined to do something, I will find some way around I will just delete the program I will reset the machine, I can do anything but the point is, all this takes time to remove the obstacle between us and the object, that takes time and quite often during that time the spike goes down our intelligence comes why am I doing this there is no need for me to do this so we can find out what our temptations are and create spikes for ourselves, sorry, create obstacles between us and that object so if somebody finds that, they tend to overeat and they also feel hungry it is not possible that I can’t eat I have to eat when I am hungry but then what I can do is, I can make sure that I will keep healthy food maybe I will keep some salad some fruits, some healthy snacks not some unhealthy snacks that way we can create some obstacles between us and the object and that way we can avoid we can protect ourselves from succumbing when the desires come and most important thing is that even if we succumb we can rise and move on actually see when the spike comes, sometimes it is almost unmanageable and we just we may fall at that time but we may fall down but we don’t have to fall away fall down means I am up to a particular standard and I fall down from that standard but fall away means I give up the practice of bhakti so we fall down but we don’t have to fall away okay, the spike came and I did something wrong but now the spike is not there now let me do the right thing the mind is so devious that the mind first makes us a criminal the mind is like a criminal which makes us a criminal and then the mind becomes a judge who beats the criminal so first the mind says come on do this do this you are so dumb when will you learn so many times you did the same mistake, you are hopeless and either way what is happening in both cases when we are doing the wrong and when we are beating ourselves up for doing the wrong in both cases we are mind conscious we are not Krishna conscious and when we are mind conscious next time when the spike comes we are no better prepared again we will suck up so even if something happens when the spike goes up just put it behind now the spike is not there let me focus on doing constructive activities let me focus on practicing bhakti and if during the period between the spikes I am doing constructive activities I am practicing bhakti then during that time I am getting purified I am getting spiritually strengthened and over a period of time I will become strong enough that even if the spike comes I will be able to resist it so we don’t have to become discouraged by anything in bhakti even if we fall down from some standard we don’t have to become discouraged because falling down is maya falling down is the first attack of the mind discouraging us because of having fallen down is the second attack of the mind so we may not be able to resist the first attack but we can resist the second attack so what we need to do? associate with devotees who will encourage us know that Krishna has still given me the opportunity to practice bhakti so let me practice bhakti and that way no matter whether it is at the level of contemplation, emotion, intention there is a conscience or the intelligence which protects us between intention and action there is the external guard, external culture or the personally designed obstacle between us and the object that protects us and even if none of these protections work still we can always rise we shouldn’t become discouraged and rise and start practicing bhakti in between the spikes and gradually the spikes will become more manageable and controllable thank you any other questions?