How do we realize that Krishna consciousness is like 5 million dollars and worldly things are like 5 dollars
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Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.
So, how do we get convinced that Krishna Consciousness is 5 million dollars? We feel, okay, this is important. See, our state is like, yes, Krishna is good, but Maya is also not bad. So, that's our state right now.
So, basically, broadly, you could say there are two ways. One is that we associate with those who value Krishna Consciousness very deeply. And sometimes, associating with those who have already achieved what we are striving to achieve.
And seeing that they don't value that so much, they value this so much. That, that can give us a lot of conviction. When I was introduced to Krishna Consciousness, I had this desire.
I wanted to be like a top student, a topper from a top university and be an academic achiever. And I met many devotees who were coming to class and they were all academic achievers. And they were practicing bhakti.
That attracted me. So, we all have a certain definition of success in our life. And we will be pushing for that a lot.
So, if we can meet some devotee who has already achieved that definition of success and they are still pursuing Krishna, then that means, you know, that, okay, I am still caught in this, but that is of greater value. That's why the person who has this is pursuing something else. That's one way to get that understanding.
That's why Bhaktivinoda Thakur says, associating with like-minded devotees is very important. Now, like-minded doesn't just mean we say something and they nod their head and they say something and we nod our head. That's not like-minded.
Like-minded means, like-minded means basically our minds work similarly. So, if we have a particular definition of success and the other person doesn't value that at all, then what is the big deal? It's all temporary. Now that, we are not going to register it, right? Oh, yeah, everything is temporary, but I need this.
But somebody who has gone over there has pursued that. They'll understand the way we think, what our desires are, what our dreams are, what our aspirations are, and then they can present the spiritual message in a way that enters into us. And that's why even when we hear from different devotees, we'll find that with some devotees, when they speak, something just enters into us.
With some other devotees, yeah, it's good, but it doesn't really, we can't really digest it at that time. So, like-minded means those whose mind works like us, but is also working toward Krishna, at a faster pace than what is working for us, what our mind is working. And through their association, we can get that appreciation of Krishna consciousness as more valuable than what we are valuing right now.
Another way could be that we, whatever we value right now, that we pursue it, but it lets us down. Means what we value, we turn out, we turn out that it's not that valuable. I was with a devotee from Zimbabwe, and Zimbabwe's economy has gone up and down quite a bit.
So he told me that he was, there was a phase when we went to the market to buy some bread, and the currency had depreciated so much that he took a bucket full of Zimbabwean currency notes. And what happened, the shopkeeper threw away the notes and took the bucket. And in exchange for the value of the bucket, they gave him some bread.
So, now currency can be, it's so valuable, but it may not be that valuable at all if depreciation happens. So, now that is because of socio-economic factors, but sometimes something which we consider as very important, so that lets us down. Then it's not that we reject it necessarily, but that also leads to, okay, this is not, this is not that important.
This, I'm valuing this so much, but this is not that valuable. So that way also we can realize it. And of course, one important thing is that we all, that there is, you could say, there is organic renunciation.
Organic renunciation means that the way we think at the age of 15 or 20 or 25, and the way we think at the age of 40, 45, or the way we think at the age of 55, 60, 65, it's all different. And most of us, we may have to go through certain experiences in our life before the value of spirituality will register fully within us. So that's why there is the organic way.
There are various ashrams. We progress through various ashrams. And at the very least, we may not feel right now that this is just five dollars and that is five million dollars.
But even if we don't feel that, if we at least understand this is also important. I may not feel that this is so important, this is unimportant. But we, with whatever appreciation of the value of Krishna Bhakti we have, we keep moving forward.
And if we keep practicing our spiritual life as much as we can, while doing our material responsibility, going through material life, gradually that appreciation will also increase. So it's a, in fact, you could say at one level, advancement in Krishna consciousness is essentially increase in appreciating the value of Krishna consciousness. That is, we might hear the same Krishna Katha and an advanced devotee might hear the same Krishna Katha.
But when they hear it, they are so absorbed, they are so delighted. We are hearing, yeah, yeah, it's my story. What next? So we are appreciating, but not that much.
So advancement in Krishna consciousness is essentially increase in appreciation of Krishna consciousness, appreciation of the value of Krishna consciousness, the importance of Krishna consciousness. So we can't expect at our level to feel that this is five million dollars. That's okay.
But at least with our intelligence, we can understand this is also valuable. How valuable? That will vary. But this is also part of my life.
How much? If we hear the philosophy, if we associate with devotees, there will be some value for it. I gave a class in the Bhakti Center in New York on centering our life on Krishna. See, like a diagram, broadly people come to Krishna, you could say, from four different ways.
One is for the social need, for a psychological need, for a cultural need and for intellectual need. That means, social need means people, they want to have a sense of community and belonging bigger than just their family. So because of that, they come to a temple, they come and become a part of the community.
Some people might just want, especially when they start becoming parents, they want to pass on the culture to their children. And that, oh, I want to go to a place where I can pray, we can do our traditional cultural activities, the cultural need brings them. Some people might come because of psychological need.
I'm just so distressed. I want some peace of mind. I want some relief.
They may come because of that. And some people may come because of intellectual. They have questions, they're looking for answers.
And the philosophy gives them answers. Now what happens is, so you could say Krishna is here and these four are broad paths. Social, psychological, cultural, intellectual.
There can be many more also, but you could put them broadly in this. So now what happens, because of whatever purpose we have come to Krishna, sooner or later, that thing itself will be thwarted. So if I come because devotees are so caring, oh, the devotee community is so kind, but then if some devotees behave terribly with me, how can devotees be like this? One devotee told me, he said, when I came first, devotees fed me fried pakodas.
But now they're frying me like a pakoda. I do this service, do this, do that, do that. So they don't care for me at all.
They only care for what I'm doing. So now when that happens, so if I have come only because devotees are so caring, then when devotees stop being caring, then what do I do? Then I have a choice. Do I, okay, whether devotees care for me or not, I am coming here for connecting with Krishna.
Then what will happen? That very thing which initially brought us to Krishna will become our challenge to come to Krishna. And then we have to scale that challenge. See Draupadi was practicing bhakti and dharma with her husbands.
But at one particular time it happened that none of her husbands were able to help her. So she did not hold, she did not keep, oh, help me, help me, help me. When she found that they could not help her, she turned to Krishna.
She took shelter of Krishna. Now she didn't reject her husband because of that. Later on she continued her service with her husbands.
But the point is sometimes the very thing that gets us to Krishna, if we hold on to that only, then we will not be able to take hold of Krishna. So we need to let go of that also. So basically the point I'm making here is that with respect to your question of appreciation, so we all have to go through certain experiences.
So we might come because we value some aspect of Krishna bhakti. If somebody comes because of the philosophy and they get answers to their questions, but then sometimes they find some question whose answer doesn't make sense to them. But how can this happen? How can this happen? Now other devotees just forget it, you know, don't worry.
Say, I can't forget it. Some questions are like, you could say intellectual banana peels. You stand on them, you slip.
Stand on them, again you slip. For some questions, humility in the intellectual domain means to understand that some things I can't understand. I'm after all not God.
I can't have answers to all questions. So basically whatever it is we value, sometimes you will realize that this, am I going to hold on to this or do I want to hold on to Krishna? So we have to go through certain experiences. So whatever aspect of Krishna bhakti we value right now, at least with that we connect with Krishna.
And then as we go through life experiences, we might value other aspects of Krishna bhakti also. Or we might value the core of Krishna bhakti rather than whatever got us there. So it is an incremental process.
Does it answer your question? So, thank you very much.