How is consciousness carried through food?

Answer Podcast:

Transcript

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then all beliefs including atheism become undercut by that. When we have a purpose, for example, if I am travelling, when I have some place to go, then I can decide, I can go here, then I can go there, then I can go here, then I can go there.
So, if I don’t know where I am going, then I cannot really make my travel systematic. So, we need to first of all decide a purpose. So, deciding a purpose can mean several things.
It can mean one thing is, okay, maybe five years down the line, I would like to be a systematic Bhakti Shastra teacher. Whether we get the opportunity or not, how we get the opportunity, that’s a different thing. But I would want to be prepared for my side to be able to teach like that.
So, now what would that mean? Look at some devotees who are teaching Bhakti Shastra right now. And we cannot become like everyone. We are individuals ourselves.
We are also individuals. But we broadly say, okay, these devotees have this level of understanding. They can answer these kind of questions.
If I study this, I can understand this. And then no one else can be a complete role model for us. But even broad models we can have.
Okay, I want to do something like this, something like this, something like this. And then once that purpose becomes somewhat clear, then we can decide, okay, to fulfil this purpose, how much time will I have to put in? Then they say, I would like to study all day. But that’s not practical even for Brahmacharis or Sannyasis.
So then, okay, on a realistic basis, maybe I can put in three to four hours of systematic study per week. I think it’s reasonable, possible. I mean, if you decide, one hour every day, seven hours every day, whatever it is, you decide that.
Then, you know, we will always get pulled in other directions. It will be even reading other books, hearing different classes, doing various services. So it just happens.
Sometimes the truth is unavoidable. Because sometimes emergencies do come, important things do come. But overall, based on our experience, we can decide that this is what I can manage within my current skills.
And once you develop that kind of schedule, okay, okay, if I study, say, four hours per week, then I can only hear one or two lectures or three lectures. Or maybe I can read Bhagavad Gita, this many verses or whatever. Then first you set a time, then you set a target with that thing.
So that we get a sense of momentum in our spiritual growth. Because we do live in a passionate culture. Unless we have some targets, deadlines, something tangible which you can measure.
Bhakti is intangible. So, you know, for us to think that I am spiritually advancing by this, that doesn’t really inspire us so much. So we can, while we are going towards the intangible growth of devotion, we can set tangible goals for ourselves.
So, and then as you said, tangible goals and universal truth. Okay, last three months I have been studying, and I have complimented one and a half canto of Bhagavad Gita. Or whatever.
So that will give a sense of momentum. So first is the purpose, second is the purpose of time and quantity. Now this will vary.
Some devotee may read one chapter in one day, some devotee may require one week to read one chapter. That doesn’t matter. We should feel nourished.
Don’t get into the zone of quantity too much. In one sense, although I have read a lot, I am not a reader. I don’t pride myself for being a fast reader.
I am a slow reader. I can go deep into subjects and from there I can get nourishment. Not so much by extensive reading, but by intensive reading.
So we have to find out what is our own way of nourishment. And after that, we all need some forum for output. Without that, we cannot, we will not be able to maintain the motivation to study.
So, if whatever we are studying we have an opportunity to teach, that is the best. But if we don’t have that opportunity to teach whatever we study, then, say in the temple there are some programs, or something very basic, and you want to study and teach something more advanced, then you will have to wait till you create a forum. Then you could very well be, just based on your study, prepare some notes.
That is, you don’t have a forum to do classes, but at least keep preparing notes, so that when you take the forum, you are well prepared. So, even that preparation of notes can also become like a forum. If I have to speak on this topic, this is what I have right now, and I can prepare it like that.
So, we can create some forums also sometimes, we can create our own WhatsApp group, where you say, we call it Bhagavad Gita study or whatever, something like that. And send some small messages on that, once in three days, once a week, whatever. That way, create some forum for sharing what we are doing.
That will also give us a sense of self-worth. Because again, we want something tangible in terms of, we need something tangible in terms of what we are doing and what it is resulting in. And the fourth thing would be, it’s very important to have like-minded association.
We need at least some devotees, they will not be immediately in our community, they will be far away also, somewhere else. Some devotees who share our definition of success. If there are devotees around us who are all saying, you should do Buddhism sharing, or you should do temple fundraising, you should do that, and then we all study scripture.
We will always feel insecure, am I really doing the right thing? Or we will feel always in the defensive. But if we have some devotees who share their definition of success, then bhakti will not only become spiritual, by doing that service of studying, will not only be intellectually stimulating, but it will also be relationally nourishing. The relationship will develop, emotional situations also happen.
And the last thing, bring some prayerful element. That means, when you study, to complete something, go in front of Krishna and the temple, or wherever you are in front of the temple, and ask for me, because I want to finish my study. I offer this study to Krishna, let me become proud.
Let me use this study to become more connected with you, and to help others connect with you. And just like in the past, they would consider the deity as their lord, and as their caretaker, they have a key to the deity. They will offer a cow to the deity.
So you can do that intermittently. So that you will be able to get even devotional motivation in that systematic study.