How can we strive to overcome our anarthaas without becoming anartha-conscious?
Answer Podcast
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, sometimes it’s said we should not be anartha conscious. We should just focus on serving Krishna and anarthas will go away. But other times, it is also said that we should strive to overcome our anarthas.
So, should we depend on Guru and Krishna or should we strive? There are two different extremes. When it is said don’t be anartha conscious means that don’t let the anartha dominate our consciousness. That means let the anartha become the most prominent thing in our consciousness.
Say, for example, if I tend to get angry or I tend to have some weakness and I let that alone define me and that dominates and burdens and drains me. Oh, why do I have this anartha? I can’t give it up. I’m useless.
My whole spiritual practice is useless. Then that leads to a very unhealthy psychology. And so, being anartha conscious means letting our anartha almost completely define us.
The other is that we are not even aware of our anartha. We are not even caring for our anartha. We just think that I’ll just practice bhakti, everything will be all right.
So, that is also not healthy because how are we going to practice bhakti? It is with our body and mind and with the instrument that we have. If that instrument has some weaknesses, we need to be aware of it. So, one example to understand this could be, say, if I have a car and, say, the car is slightly damaged because of which when I try to take the right turn, this goes off control.
So, then when I have to take a right turn, I really slow down and take the right turn very carefully. This is a hypothetical example. The car has some weakness or, say, the car consumes a lot of fuel.
Now, if I just let this car take so much fuel, take so much fuel, take so much fuel, well, okay, but let’s move on. You can still drive with your car. The important thing is to drive the car.
But on the other hand, if I’m not even aware that the car consumes so much fuel, I just drive blissfully and then the fuel gets over. I don’t know what to do then. I’m trapped.
So, say, we can consider our conditioning to be like some physical limitation. Say, if I need crutches to walk with or, say, somebody else might be having a little hard at hearing. I’m dyslexic.
Dyslexic, dyslexic. Then we can’t let that define us. We can’t, oh, I’m handicapped.
I’m dyslexic. But we can’t let that dominate our consciousness because we are much more than that. That is one part of us, but we are much more than that.
So, if we let that define us, then it becomes very difficult. We will cripple ourselves much more than that particular weakness crippling us. But at the same time, if I’m not aware of that, if I start walking and I don’t make sure that I have my crutches with me, I’ll struggle to walk.
If somebody is hard at hearing and they don’t take the hearing aid, they’ll be in trouble. So, just as in general, I have found that addressing our emotional issues or inner issues, conditioning issues, emotional issues, it becomes easier if we compare them with corresponding physical issues. So, the physical issue has to be acknowledged, but it doesn’t have to be allowed to define us.
Same way, if, say, I have anartha by which I tend to forget things. And it’s not exactly a serious anartha, but it’s anartha. So, then maybe I have to remember that I have to forget.
So, maybe I need to make note of things, take care of this, take care of that. So, that way, being, so there is being aware of something and being obsessed with it or letting it dominate us. So, if it is a part of our awareness, that is good.
But if it fills our awareness, that becomes a problem. So, now with respect to facing our anarthas or overcoming our anarthas, do we depend on Guru and Krishna? There are two aspects again. One is, yes, the process of bhakti yoga is the process for curing all diseases, including whatever conditionings we have.
Hmm. So, if we are taking the bhakti treatment, we will be cured in due course. But at the same time, bhakti is also very vast.
There are many things in bhakti. And sometimes bhakti’s vastness can work against our capacity to connect with it. If I want to read, I can read about Krishna Leela, I can read about Chaitanya Gaur Leela, I can read about this.
There are so many things which we can read about. So, now what do we choose to read about? What do we choose to hear about? That can be determined by two things. One is our interest.
The second is our need. I like to hear Gaur Leela. It’s good.
I’ll hear it. But then I say, I’m giving this class on Bhagavad Gita. So, I need to read Bhagavad Gita at that time.
So, if we consider that if I have certain anarthas, then if there are certain sections of scripture which deal with that, then we will read it with more urgency because we’ll feel the need for it. If I have a problem with lust, then I read some sections where the dangers of lust are talked about. Lust is analyzed.
Then I’ll be able to have a greater connection and absorption when I read it. So, in that sense… Probably one of the things I was wondering from your association, as you proved as well, when I’m trying to understand certain topics, if I can communicate… Please, please, please. Please, sure.
…more like, I’m thinking about this. Where shall I read about it? Because I’m not so well-read. Yeah.
So, it depends on the anarthas specifically what we want to. So, there are sections in the Bhagavad Gita which talk about lust, say. There is the 9th Canto has many pastimes.
Jayati, Pururabha is there. Ajamila is also there to some extent. Ajamila also is about the reading power of the holy name.
But the point which I’m making is, without getting into specific issues, the principle is that if we have a particular anartha, then reading about how to overcome that anartha is helpful. So, we are within the purview of the process of bhakti only. But within the broad purview of the process of bhakti, we are focusing on one aspect of it, which addresses the particular anartha we have.
And in that sense, we are not going out of the purview of bhakti, but we are customizing our application of bhakti so that it addresses more directly our specific needs.