How to stay determined when our emotions overpower our good intentions?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Namit, you were saying how determination is keeping our intentions above our emotions.
So, even in devotional life, we might have the best intentions and heart, for example, we want to get up early and chant everyday, for example, but when that moment comes to get out of bed and, you know, go into the shower and then start that, we see that, you know, that determination goes up, even though the best intentions are at heart. So, how do we like, philosophically, we may understand this, but then how do we practically still apply this in our lives? So, how do we practically keep our intention above our emotions? We say we want to wake up in the morning, but at that time, the emotion overwhelms us, the best intention of it doesn’t stay strong. Yes, that is the battle of a sadhaka.
And broadly speaking, there are three aspects to this. One is that some of our emotions arise, they come from physical reality. Some of our emotions come from our imagination.
And some of our emotions come from a combination of both. That means, let me give you an example, say, that, suppose I have fallen down, and I have fractured my hand, and I am feeling pain. If I say, I will keep my intention above my emotion, and I will lift up this big bag, I will be injuring myself, that is stupidity.
So, when the emotion is arising from a physical reality, we have to acknowledge that reality. And then we may have to do some adjustment of our plan. So, say, if I have a plan, I am going to wake up early in the morning.
And if I have slept very late, then physically waking up early may not be possible. So, when I said we keep the intention above our emotion, I was not talking about the emotion that arises from the situation. If some emotion arises from the physical reality, then we have to acknowledge that.
If I have a body that is very sensitive to cold, and then, I want to go for Mangala Aarti, and somehow I don’t have any warm clothes. I may go for Mangala Aarti one day, and then for next one month there will be avangal in my life. I will be sick with cold.
No, it is not that the Mangala Aarti is responsible for that. It is my foolishness that is responsible for it. So, when some emotion is arising from a physical situation that is difficult, that is actually there, then that emotion cannot be simply neglected.
So, when I talked about it, I was primarily talking about the other extreme, where the emotion is arising simply from the mind. There is no reality, practically no reality to it. We have slept adequately enough, but still we feel lazy.
I want to sleep more. At that time, we just have to move on. Sometimes, one day we wake up and we feel like chanting very nicely.
We feel like japa should never end. And the next day we are chanting and we feel japa never ends. Now, in this case, there is no physical stimulus to this.
No physical cause to this. This emotion is just arising from the mind. So, when the emotion has no basis in physical reality, that means it is just a mood swing.
And then that is the emotion that needs to be resisted. Most often, our emotions are neither of these two extremes. They don’t arise only from the mind and they don’t arise only from the body.
So, arising from the mind may mean sometimes, sometimes a child wants attention and the child falls down and starts crying. Actually, nothing has happened. The child just wants attention.
Some people are hypochondriacs. They pretend to be sick so that they will get some attention. So, that’s the kind of emotion which is unhealthy.
And that emotion is something to be avoided. If we give in to that emotion, then we cheat ourselves of our potential to do positive things. Now, most often, our emotion arises from a combination of the physical and the mental.
Say, if I am very sensitive about punctuality and somebody doesn’t come on time. Now, the fact is they will not come on time and that will annoy anyone. But, because I am very sensitive about punctuality, I become wild.
So, in this case, my emotion has come both from the situation as well as from my particular disposition. And because of that, I may overreact to it. So, some reaction may be required or some response may be required if the person is coming late.
But, I might be overreacting. So, then, I will have to moderate. So, basically, when we say keep our intention above our emotion, that largely means the emotion that is simply being stimulated by the moods without any basis in physical reality.
So, if I have decided that I am not going to get angry with anyone, I am not going to yell at anyone, and then somebody does something which upsets me. Now, at that time, I cannot wish away the fact that they have upset me. And that annoyance, that irritation will be there.
But, I can, based on my understanding, you know, I tend to overreact about this. For me, this is very important, but other people may not consider this that important. So, then, let me not respond immediately.
Let me calm myself down. Let me respond. Sometimes, the emotion may determine that we respond.
But, the emotion shouldn’t determine how we respond. The emotion may determine that, because I feel strongly about this, I will take a stand. I will speak.
I will respond to this. But, if I let the emotion alone determine the response, my response will be disproportionate. So, therefore, I try to balance.
So, the more we come to the mode of goodness, the more we can perceive the reality and the emotion as two separate things. And, we can’t wish away the emotion. I am feeling angry.
That anger is there. I can’t deny it. But, I understand that this is a situation, and from this, anger is excessive right now.
So, in the mode of goodness, we can perceive things to a large extent as they are. We can perceive the situation, perceive the emotion, and we acknowledge the situation, we acknowledge the emotion, but we don’t let the emotion alone determine our reaction. We respond in an appropriate way.
So, for us, to have determination, it’s important that we make a realistic plan. If, in the name of being determined, we start having unrealistic expectations from ourselves, then it’s not going to work. Not only will it not work physically, but it will also weaken our morale internally.
So, when we make a determination, it has to be based on assessment of the reality and acknowledgement that when these things change, maybe I’ll have to do some adjustment. So, if I decide that, okay, you know, I want to read Bhagavatam every day. I want to read at least half an hour every day.
Now, that is a good determination, but sometimes life just becomes so busy, I want to speak of half an hour, you know, we don’t have even a few minutes. Then we plan, okay, if I can’t read half an hour every day, I’ll read three and a half hours in a week. Some days I’ll read more.
Some days we may not be able to read at all. So, basically, when we make a determination also, we have to have some acknowledgement of the dynamics of real life. And then we adjust.
Okay, how best can I execute this determination? So, we don’t have to consider determination in terms of like, I have to follow this path. It’s like when the Ganga wants to go to the ocean, there is a path. But if somehow there is a blockage in the path, the purpose of the Ganga is not to take the path.
The purpose of the Ganga is to get to the destination. So, if this path is blocked, Ganga will find some other way and get to the destination. So, our determination should not be just, you know, I’ll do this, this, this, this.
My determination should be, these are the purposes I want to achieve. And if this doesn’t work, I can take this course. So, determination should be the purpose of flowing to the ocean.
Not necessary to take a particular path to get to the ocean. Does that answer your question?