How do we deal with the inner conflict created by having within us both dharmic knowledge and worldly emotions?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
The question is that the awareness of dharma and the presence of emotions these two often pull us in two different directions. And that cause what psychologists call as cognitive dissonance.
Resonance most of you must have heard. Resonance means when two frequencies come together and sound becomes louder. Dissonance means when two are separate.
So cognitive dissonance means we are trying to hold two contradictory thoughts in our head. We just don’t know what to do. So this happens when we are having knowledge of dharma and we are also having say adharmic emotions.
So how do we deal with this? And the strategy for dealing with this is different in personal and professional situations. Firstly it is not that cognitive dissonance happens only because we are trying to give a call to dharma. Even people who are materialistic it’s not that the mind travels only to devotees.
The mind travels only to materialistic people. Why? Because devotees may have so many desires to control but materialistic people have so many desires to fulfill. And they just can’t fulfill all the desires.
Our boys capacity is limited. Our financial capacity is limited. Our social situation is limited.
So everybody is troubled by their mind. And even materialistic people go through cognitive dissonance. Should I pick up this job or that job? Should I watch this movie or that movie? And sometimes people just get paralyzed over trivial choices.
There is one book written by a psychologist called Barry Schwartz, Paradox of Choice. How more is less. So he is saying how some people they go for shopping a simple thing is just a jeans.
And sometimes there is a record saying that one person spent three months to shop one jean. And there are… So the point which I am making is cognitive dissonance is there everywhere in materialism. Should I shop this? Should I purchase this? Now as I said three months it was not just three months going for a one hour every day or something like that.
Three months continuously going there. Going to all the shops and trying to find out which jeans I should purchase. So cognitive dissonance is simply a fact of material existence.
Because there are we all have different desires. Even materialists have different desires. And we all get pulled in different directions.
And largely it happens in Rajoguna. Krishna says अनेक चित्त विभ्रान्ता मोह जाल समावृता प्रसक्तः कामभोगेशित तन्मेविष्ट। अनेक चित्त विभ्रान्ता. By many desires चित्त विभ्रान्ता.
The consciousness is ripped in many different directions. So that is a feature when the mind is controlling us and is dragging us with its various desires in different directions. So now, how do we deal with this? Firstly, it is very important for us to strengthen our intelligence on a regular basis.
To sharpen our intelligence. Because if our intelligence is not very strong then although we may feel this is right and this is wrong. If you see Prabhupada’s presentation of Krishna Consciousness was not based so much on this is right and this is wrong.
This is allowed and this is forbidden. That was not the stress. Stress was what will give you real happiness.
You are not the body, you are the soul. Bodily enjoyment will not give you happiness. So, now if we do not keep the philosophy in the foreground of our consciousness not Shastra, then we start getting caught by the worldly propaganda and we start thinking happiness is here but I am not allowed to enjoy it.
So, you know, the sadhaka’s problem is that we are meant to see Krishna and stay away from maya. But Krishna is invisible and maya is ultra visible. So, that’s why we need Shastra Jaksha.
We need eyes of scripture. So, when we regularly study Shastra, it doesn’t just give you the knowledge this is what I should do, this is what I should not do. It reminds us why I should do this, why I should not do this.
And in that, when we have such knowledge then what we should not do does not seem like deprivation. We see it as protection. I should not do this because this will harm me.
So, for dealing with any cognitive dissonance, you know, each of us has our own pet definitions of happiness. If only I could do this, I will enjoy. If only I could do this, I will enjoy.
So, studying Shastra is not just a ritual of opening the Bhagavad Gita or opening the Bhagavatam and going through its pages. That’s important. But what we should do is let the Shastric knowledge challenge our mind’s pet definitions of enjoyment.
The mind says this is what will make you happy. Is this really true? Let me find some scriptural verses which challenge this. Let me contemplate on this.
Then, when we look at what is there in our mind, what are the battles we are facing and see what section of scripture speaks to us and dwell on that section then we will get the intellectual strength to deal with the situation. And the principle remains the same for personal and professional although the specific practices may vary. That means, in a devotee community, we may behave in a particular way.
In a professional setting, by doing specific interactions we may deal with it in a different way. So, that is basically a time-based circumstance. But the basic principle remains that although there is conflict, there is a tug-of-war within us The fact is that the tug-of-war is unavoidable for everyone.
And if we strengthen our knowledge of Dharma, by not just that this is the right thing to do but why this is the right thing to do. By studying Shastra then we have a far greater chance of being successful in winning the tug-of-war. And if you also do sadhana regularly Sadhana means, not just we move the beads but we remember Krishna.
Bring our consciousness in contact with Krishna. That gives the higher grace. And then we will be able to deal with the situation We will be able to survive in the tug-of-war and gradually we will get the upper hand.
So, till that happens, it’s important that we always try as much as possible to keep ourselves in a safe environment. That means, if we are in a devotee association then we can use our ego in bhakti yoga How is that? I said, whichever social circle we belong to we want to be accepted and respected in that social circle. So, if we are in a devotee circle we want to be thought of as good devotees So, at least because of that desire we will not do wrong activities.
That is not the noblest motive for not doing wrong activities. But, in a war any weapon works. Or which weapon should I use? Whichever works.
You know, we are fighting a war. So, association of devotees, at a higher level we want to please devotees. And that’s why we want to do the right thing and we want to avoid the wrong things.
But even if that emotion is not very strongly there in our consciousness right now I don’t want devotees to think that I am a lazy devotee or a loose devotee or I am a bad devotee. Because of that I don’t do wrong things. No problem.
I think that’s what is protecting us. So, it’s important that we try to keep ourselves in a protected environment. And by that protected environment we will make the chances of our accidentally or impulsively losing that war, inner war.
It makes chances much lesser. And we will be in a safer position. So, like there is the adversary that all of you have a series of flags which all of you stay together.
That is a very good protective environment. And of course, when you get married, you have a family. That also is a protection.
And that way when we keep ourselves in a protected environment, the practice of bhakti doesn’t have to be more difficult than what it is. Yes, it is going to be difficult. There are challenges.
But a safer environment makes it much easier to practice bhakti. Does that answer your question?