How do we know the difference between what feels good and what is actually spiritual?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So how do we know what is the difference between what feels good and what is actually spiritual the main difference is in terms of what is taught by guru sadhu shastra the spiritual master, the sages and the scriptures they guide us in the process that will elevate our consciousness to the spiritual level so actually the soul is sat chit ananda sat chit ananda that means ananda, joy is the nature of the soul and to the extent we come, our consciousness comes to the spiritual level to that extent we will naturally feel happy, we will naturally feel good so wanting to feel good and feeling good these are natures of us as souls but to experience that nature we have to rise to the spiritual level of consciousness and how do we rise to the spiritual level of consciousness that is by following guru sadhu shastra they know the process when a patient is sick the patient may take some gulab jamun and say this feels so good but you know that may feel good right now but afterwards it will not feel good, it will feel very bad it may feel terrible afterwards so we have to if the doctor says ok you can take this food, you are feeling bad take this painkiller, you will feel better follow this treatment eventually you will feel good so the primary definer is what is told by guru sadhu shastra and it is not that to be spiritual means you should not feel good if you say feel good is one circle being spiritual is one circle it is not that the two are non-intersecting circles it is not that to be spiritual we have to feel bad all the time it is not like that but there is a big area within these two circles that is overlapping there are activities in bhakti which we do, we will feel happy we will feel joyful we will feel strong, we will feel satisfied doing those activities and if we find those activities we can focus on those activities that is the way krishna is manifesting to us so if we like to do kirtans if we like to worship the deities, if we like to distribute books if we like to hear classes, whatever it is that we like to do if we do that that is how we can solidly connect with krishna in the bhakti samudra siddhu a word is used uddipan uddipan means spiritual stimulus so for all of us our uddipan will be different and what attracts you to krishna what stimulates spiritual emotion for krishna in you may be different from what stimulates spiritual emotion within me for krishna like when i take darshan of the deities i like to recite verses when i recite the verses then i meditate oh this same lord who is being glorified in this verse, he is present over there then i feel a connection with krishna so once in a class i told, we can recite verses then we will feel connection with krishna then after two days one devotee came and told he says that you know if i go in front of deities and i try to remember verses, the tension in remembering verses causes whatever bhakti is there to go away so of course we should try to remember verses but what is uddipan for me was austerity for them that was not necessarily uddipan for them so bhakti is an individual process and we have to find out what is it that attracts us to krishna and so if we find out what is in that intersection set for us what feels good and what is also in the realm of bhakti and we focus on that and by that we can solidly, steadily connect with krishna and by the connection with krishna through that one activity gradually we will experience krishna, we will become purified and we will be able to connect with krishna through other activities also so right now i just like to do kirtans that is good but do kirtans consistently and gradually by that as you connect with krishna you start getting taste for hearing you start getting taste for deity worship and you start getting taste for other things so primarily we follow guru sadhu shastra and while following guru sadhu shastra we can take individual initiative to find out within the process given by guru sadhu shastra what is it that connects me with krishna and do that so if anything makes me feel good outside the circle of bhakti then i have to have a red alert for that this may feel good but its result will not be very good and if the process of bhakti requires me to do something which does not feel good say something in that circle where it does not feel good but that is what i am expected to do at that time we should do that as an austerity because this will purify me so it is not that we should not feel good in bhakti but we should not make feeling good the basis of our practice of bhakti the basis of our practice is guru sadhu shastra and within that if something makes us feel good we accept that gratefully as krishna’s mercy we can do that more but we also do the other activities knowing that its all a part of the purificatory package which will eventually help us to realize our spiritual nature by which we will constantly feel good when we realize ourselves as souls who are parts of krishna thank you