How can we use fear in Krishna’s service?
Transcript
Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.
So how can we use fear in Krishna's service? Basically, fear, when it is channeled properly, it becomes caution. There can be a ranger over here and let me prepare for it. Let me be cautious about it.
So, different people have different natures. As I said, some people like adventure. They throw caution to the wind and they take risks.
Some people are cautious. And in different situations, in some situations, caution may be a strength. In some situations, taking risks may be a strength.
It's not always this or that. So if we have a particular nature, then we use that. So if say we are more prone to fear, then that means we will progress more cautiously whatever we are doing.
And that is also an advantage. In negative thinking, there is a difference between negative thinking and negative thoughts. Negative thoughts are more bad.
It is negative thinking. And that itself becomes a major or the only pattern of thought that we have that is bad. So, positive thoughts, positive thinking is good.
But positive thoughts are not always good. We have to see what is helpful. Sometimes positive thoughts are helpful.
Sometimes positive thoughts can be harmful. If a pilot thinks, I am such a good pilot that I can drink and drive. That will be a positive thought but it's definitely not a helpful thought.
It's an extremely harmful thought. Not just harmful for the pilot but for all the passengers. Similarly, a negative thought may not always be a harmful thought.
Say if I am going out somewhere and I think maybe there will be a storm over here. So let me prepare. Maybe it will be very cold.
Let me take some warm clothes. Let me take an umbrella or whatever. Somebody will be there.
There is no storm. I don't see any clouds. Let me go.
But somebody may be more cautious. And that may be helpful. So, if we have a nature where we tend to be more fearful, you see that means that I will do things more cautiously.
And we see that we may take up services where there is more predictability, more order, where that thing can be utilized. So, there are some services which require more sense of adventure, more unpredictability, more taking risk. So, even when we are serving Krishna, it's not that all services require the same kind of things.
So, for example, when we are doing pujari services, there the focus is on order, punctuality, predictability. There are also challenges that we have to be on time, we have to be clean, we have to be in good consciousness. But there is not so much risk.
Of course, there is a risk that we may offend the Lord by our carelessness. But it's not that suppose I am going out of a good institution, I am going to go and meet some unknown people. How will this person react? When I meet someone, what if I become tongue-tied? I don't know.
So, there are some services which may require a little more adventure. Some services may require a little more caution. Even in Buddhist institutions, we can do it differently.
We may go to a place where relatively people are pious and people are approachable. Sometimes we may go to places where people are hostile. And then there is more adventure in it.
So, it's not that one who is taking more risks is necessarily more advanced. It could be that that is their need. So, we have to always be in a way that we always have to function in a way that we make our nature our partner in our service to Krishna.
We don't want our nature to be our opponent. We don't work for our nature, we don't work against our nature. We work with our nature.
We work for our nature would mean that if I like security, if I like order, then I will not do anything which has any lack of order. That will not work. Sometimes we may have to, sometimes we go for a yatra and everything is not so orderly over there.
But we just go. So, if we work for our nature, then we will be restricted. If we work against our nature, we will feel choked.
If I just go in front of new people, I just become paralysed, I can't speak anything. Well, maybe in future I will be able to do it, but right now I don't do that. So, we work with our nature.
This is my nature, this is how I will best function. And as we become purified, as our faith in Krishna increases, then we will be able to do more also. Does that answer your question?