If the only questions I have are inquisitve not transformative then what will be the effect on my devotional creeper?

From: Aakash

I am completely convinced of the process of bhakti. So, if I want  to get answers of questions like related to vedic cosmology, big bang, darwin’s theory, how earth floats in air, how far is abode of Lord Brahma and other questions that are just informative and not transformative, what will be the effect on my  devotional creeper?

Transcript

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question from Akash Prabhu I am completely convinced with the process of Bhakti so if I want to get answers of questions like related to Vedic Cosmology like Bang, Darwin’s theory how earth floats in air how far is the world of Lord Brahma and other questions that are just informative and not transformative what will be the effect on my devotional free will answer if we are practicing the process of Bhakti enthusiastically chanting our rounds and doing services studying scripture, associating with devotees worshiping the deity basically the high potent forms of devotional service that Bhagavad Goswami talks about in Bhakti Rasamritha Chandu then our devotions as a creeper will grow grow well and we will make spiritual advancement now beyond that if we have intellectual curiosity about the questions that we have mentioned then definitely we have a right to seek the answers and even if we say that these questions are only informative not transformative actually information is in many cases the basis of transformation if not for ourselves then for others there are many people for whom the inability to get answers to such questions creates obstacles in the path of Bhakti so if we have proper answers and if we can share those answers with them then we can help in removing those obstacles in their path and that way we can also help them to come closer to Krishna that will be our service to Krishna we are intellectually equipped to remove information based doubts of others so in that way by assisting in our outreach and leading Krishna thereof even our intellectual inquisitiveness can also help our devotional creeper to be nourished at the same time if our intellectual inquisitiveness is centered on information and not transformation and if that intellectual inquisitiveness so much dominates our consciousness that our practice of Bhakti becomes half-hearted because of that that we are spontaneously thinking about the answers to such questions or such questions themselves and we are not able to think about Krishna when we are chanting, when we are doing devotional activities then that can become an obstacle to the process of spiritual advancement and then our devotional creeper may dry because of that so we need to first of all make sure that our intellectual inquisitiveness does not interfere with the standard nourishment for the devotional creeper that the scriptures have outlined and secondly if we keep if we want to address this intellectual inquisitiveness then we need to find out the right devotee association some devotees may just condemn this kind of intellectual inquisitiveness saying that it is a sign of a jnani, it is a sign of doubtfulness, it is unnecessary inquisitiveness curiosity kills the cat don’t be so unnecessarily curious so some devotees may discourage us and although they may be well intentioned but if we find that these kind of doubts are, these kind of questions even if we don’t feel that they are doubts right now they are nagging us and if we feel the need to address them then we can we can do that but we need to find the right association we need to find some other senior devotee who is intellectually inclined who is well versed enough both in scripture and in contemporary streams of knowledge to be able to address these questions faithfully and intelligently and by gaining those answers from that source we can we can supplement our faith with a deepened intellectual conviction and not just intellectual conviction but also intellectual resourcefulness by which we can share that understanding with others and help remove their obstacles so we need to make sure that the main the standard nourishment for our Vakilta this goes on and then we find the right association which helps us address these questions another important point is that our intellectual inquisitiveness when it is fulfilled and when we have more information than other devotees we shouldn’t become proud of that information and think that these devotees don’t know anything, I know so much that pride can be the cause of our unknowing and also our intellectual inquisitiveness should not lead us to neglect the standard Krishna Katha that we hear even if we don’t find that Krishna Katha very informative or very intellectually relating we also should know that it is going to purify us because it is about Krishna so the whatever is a part of the standard sadhana, reading Shri Prabhupada’s books hearing classes about Krishna conscious core principles that is what we should also continue we shouldn’t disrespect those devotees and we shouldn’t disrespect those books or those classes which don’t satisfy our intellectual curiosity or we don’t measure up to that standard or higher level of information content now of course Vedic cosmology is also connected with Krishna and similarly refuting evolution is also ultimately connected with Krishna but it depends on our ability to see that Krishna connection that we will be nourished by that if we are not able to see that Krishna connection when we are studying those studying those questions then they will just be intellectual not devotional and in some cases if we study the atheistic propaganda then that can be not just intellectual and non devotional it can be intellectual and anti devotional so we need to be cautious that we address our intellectual inquisitiveness within devotional circles and not stray into anti devotional