If my office workload has decreased but I can’t chant or hear much what should I do?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Thank you. Certain things which are more important. Certain things are less important.
And within that also sometimes. Some things may become more important. Temporarily.
So. If we have a overall sense of. Perspective.
What is more important. What is less important. Then we can accordingly.
Adjust how we function. So for example. If.
We have a reasonable amount of financial security. If we have a reasonable level of. Position professionally.
Then. At a particular point. We decide that this is.
This is good enough. And now if I have this. If I have more time.
Then let me use it for devotional service. Generally when we are in. When.
Generally we all have. A significant amount of mode of action. So.
We cannot wish away that passion. That we have to use it. Somehow or the other.
In many ways. We may complain that. In companies.
I have so much work to do. But when there is no work to do. We don’t know what to do.
That’s what happens to us. And we feel empty because of that. We can’t just stay peaceful and contemplative.
Because we. We have to work with the reality of where we are. If we had goodness.
Then we could have studied scripture. And relish devotion. Or done something more contemplative.
We have certain level of goodness. But we don’t have a lot of goodness. Even I. I read and study.
But I can’t just study. I have to speak. I have to write.
After studying the knowledge. I have to do something with it. Those who are Brahmanas.
They may just sit for hours together. I have asked one senior devotee. When we write.
How do we evaluate. How do we evaluate the success of writing. Normally if you see.
If you are doing preaching. We see how many people are coming for a program. How many people are becoming devotees.
But you cannot correlate between writing and. Somebody becoming a devotee. Because we write one book somewhere.
We go to different places. We never come to know. So that devotee told me.
Krishna is glorified. That is your success. Now I appreciate the transcendence of that answer.
That is not something practical for me. I have passion within me. That devotee is at very advanced level.
Krishna is glorified. I want Krishna to be glorified. But I want to see some result in this world also.
And that is also part of our mission in this world. Prabhupada was told by his spiritual master. That if nobody comes.
For program just preach to the walls. When the walls are here. And you will be purified.
Krishna will be glorified. But then. Prabhupada.
Could have kept preaching in India to the walls. Prabhupada came to America. Because Prabhupada also wanted external results.
In the service of the lord. So generally speaking. When the mode of passion is there in us.
At that time. We need something tangible to do. So sometimes our jobs.
Create the tangible task for us. If that is not there. Then we have to create some task for others.
Now how do we do that? It may be. At the material level. Sometimes people take up some other job.
Just because they think that job is not so challenging. Or they may try to. Prabhupada writes that.
People create self created duties. Because in the mode of passion. You can’t stay peaceful.
I have to do this. I have to do that. The mind is so.
The mind is so. Cunning. Or you say.
Cunning is not the right word. Mind is in some way. So merciless.
That. It. If we don’t have.
Enough to do. The mind. Do something.
Do this. The mind makes us do many things. And then it complains.
Why are you doing so many things? Either way. Whatever happens. You tell the mind.
I want you to relax. Do something in your life. How many things.
You don’t get any break. You ask the mind. What do you want? I want to keep you miserable.
The nature of the conditioned mind is. That. It will not be satisfied in any situation.
Even if you went to paradise. Where everything will be wonderful. The mind will say.
Yes. But. It will find some reason.
To be dissatisfied. So at one level. We have to understand that.
If we just keep doing engagements. According to the mind’s impelling. In no state will we be satisfied.
But at another level. We also have to understand that. If the mind has a particular.
If we have the mode of passion within us. We can’t wish it out. I can’t suddenly come to goodness.
So the broad path. It tells Arjuna. You are a Kshatriya.
You cannot act like a renunciate. Arjuna is telling Krishna. Why should I fight against my relatives.
I will just go to the forest. And live like a mendicant. Arjuna says.
No. You can’t do that. He says.
We are all bound by our nature. He says. Even if you say.
You don’t want to fight. You will not be able to restrain. The commentary he says over there.
Krishna is telling Arjuna. That now you are saying. You will live like a mendicant.
In the forest. But mendicants ask. They need charity.
There is a difference. The mendicants they ask. The Kshatriyas they take.
Kshatriyas take taxes. They are meant to take. They are for the government.
If you ask for charity. And somebody says. No I will not give charity.
Then immediately your soul will come out. How dare you say no to me. And that will be inappropriate for you.
Because you. You are not in the vocation of a Kshatriya. This is your Kshatriya nature.
Act according to that. But. How do you act according to it? He says.
So he says in 18.62 You surrender to the Supreme Lord. And by surrendering to him. You will become peaceful.
You will become purified. You will become ultimately independent. So we don’t work for our nature.
We don’t work against our nature. We work with our nature. For Krishna.
For serving Krishna. Working for our nature means. The mind says.
Do this. Get this job. Get this position.
Get bigger. This goes on and on. In the mode of passion.
Happiness is just one step away. One increment away. One purchase away.
One relationship away. Just one step away. But.
That is the way it stays always. So. If we work for our nature.
Then we will just stay forever in passion and will never be satisfied. But we work against our nature. Suddenly trying to come to goodness.
It won’t work also. So we work with our nature. For Krishna.
That means. We try to. Try to find out.
Some stimulating. Challenging service for Krishna. So some significant responsibility.
Bhakti. Is not just. Chanting Hare Krishna.
Going to temple. Attending classes. Bhakti is also.
About doing adventurous things in Krishna’s service. So. If the whole world became devotees.
How will the world run? If everybody starts chanting Hare Krishna. How will the world run? So Prabhupada answered differently at different times. But Prabhupada at this particular point he said.
If you think that bhakti means only chanting Hare Krishna. And not doing anything else. Then you have not understood what is bhakti.
He said look at Arjuna. Look at Hanuman. They were devotees.
But they were doing extraordinary things also. And Prabhupada himself. He wanted people to chant Hare Krishna.
See anyway people are doing a lot of things. But they are doing it for their nature. And that is keeping them entertained.
So Prabhupada’s primary emphasis was. We have to get people to chant Hare Krishna. But that is not the only thing to be done.
Prabhupada had his disciples. Do devotional service. And adventurous way.
He just met one senior Prabhupada disciple. She was. She was at that time just an 18 year old mataji.
And she. Prabhupada came back in 1968. From India he had fallen sick.
And he had gone there. And came back. So when he came back to New York.
At that time the devotees had a globe. Had a map of the world over there. So Prabhupada talked with all his disciples.
He said all of you. You take one one country. Go there and deliver that country.
So. Most of them had never gone out of America also. Then.
One of the matajis. He asked. Prabhupada what about us girls? We are not boys or girls.
We are souls. Servants of Krishna. You also take one country.
So. Prabhupada. How was he able to.
Young disciples that he had. They had tremendous passion. So Prabhupada.
By his compassion. Engaged them so that their passion could be used in Krishna. So similarly.
When we have to serve Krishna. There is the direct activity of bhakti that you have to do. But we also have to see bhakti as inclusive.
So we find out. Some service that we can take up. For Krishna.
Which will be stimulating for us. Which will be challenging for us. And then we use our passionate nature in Krishna’s service.
That way. So what it could be. You may have to.
Talk with other devotees. Look at the broader society. And then.
Find out what can be done. But there are many different ways. In which.
Krishna can be served. Krishna can be glorified. So we have to use our creativity.
That’s important. I was in one place. And there was this devotee couple.
They are telling. That child is just a small child. 7-8 years old.
But he is brilliant at robotics. He can make robots. And he has won a national level award.
And is going to an international level competition. He is brilliant. But they are telling.
To get him to the temple. He is just not interested. All the time he is in robotics.
Then. I told them that. What do you.
I started talking with that boy. What do you make for robots? He said. Last time you made a robot.
That could. Like a truck comes on. Whatever the crates in the truck.
The robot will carry it. So like that. We made different models.
I told him. Would you like to make something unique. Which nobody else will make.
He said. You can make a robot of Krishna and Arjuna. Speaking to Bhagwat Gita.
He said. Then he started thinking about it. I told him.
No matter what competition is there. We are sure nobody else will make something like this. Yours will be unique.
He became thoughtful. Then he just went away. After that he came back.
He told his mother. What is taught in the Bhagwat Gita? He became intrigued by that idea. So basically.
We have a circle of interest. And we have a certain conception of what Krishna Bhakti means. Sometimes we say.
Krishna Bhakti circle is not just finite. There is a very clearly defined circle. Of what comprises Krishna Bhakti.
In the sense of direct devotional service. In the sense of indirect devotional service. Or the expanded domain of devotional service.
Can practically be unlimited. So we can do many many things in Krishna’s way. So if we can find a way to channel our passion.
Then we don’t have to again. Just to fulfill that passion. Go into an excessive materialistic environment.
Where we just have to work harder and harder. But we have that urge to do something. We can find a way to do that for Krishna’s way.