If we don’t feel like practicing bhakti, should we pray to Krishna for help?

Transcript

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So, if we somehow don’t feel like practicing bhakti, at that time should we pray to Krishna that please help me change my feelings or what should we do at that time Yes, certainly we can and we should pray to Krishna in all situations and we try to connect with him in whatever way we can. So, prayer itself is a connection with Krishna Sometimes, we evaluate the success of our prayer based on whether what we have prayed for, we have got it or not But, the Bhagavatam talks about prayer as a form of devotional service So, these are all nine ways in which we can express our affection for Krishna and by which we can deepen our attraction for Krishna So, that means that just as when we hear about Krishna we don’t necessarily expect something except deeper understanding and deeper attraction to Krishna.
We hear about Krishna to get a deeper connection with Krishna. Similarly, we pray to Krishna for a deeper connection with Krishna. So, the specific result that we may pray for we need to see that as secondary The primary thing is just connecting with Krishna That itself is good So, if we don’t feel like doing Bhakti, at that time we pray to Krishna, Krishna I don’t want to feel like this That is how I am feeling.
Please help me Then, Krishna sees not just our feelings. He sees also our feelings about our feelings What does it mean? Our feelings about our feelings? At one level we can say, our feelings are not in our control. Sometimes the mind goes through different modes and in the mind in the mode of passion and ignorance, certain feelings of boredom, annoyance, tiredness, resentment, negativity they may just come within us Now, when they come within us Krishna tells in the 14th chapter when talking about the modes, just treat these emotions like visitors in your consciousness They will come Prakashancha Pravarthamcha, Moham evach Pandava Nidveshthi Sampravarthani, Nirutthani Kamashati.
Don’t resent them when they come. Don’t crave for them when they go away. They will come, they will go.
They are like visitors temporarily there. So, our feelings are there, but what are our feelings about our feelings? That means when I am feeling, feeling just so lethargic So, at that time if I am praying to Krishna, Krishna I don’t want to feel lethargic Please guide me what I should do So, then we are not welcoming and embracing the feeling of lethargy We are trying to distance ourselves from it And Krishna sees that and he appreciates that also Now, sometimes that lethargy may still be there It may not go immediately, but just our prayer to Krishna is also a connection with Krishna So, now each of us has a mind that works differently So, how best to deal with those phases when the mind starts working against us when the mind obstructs our connection with Krishna, that we will have to see Sometimes when the mind is just opposing too much, at that time maybe we just need a little break, do something else and then come back and do it Sometimes, we may if we are trying to practice bhakti then we don’t feel like doing one particular thing in bhakti, then we might do something else which we find that connects us with Krishna better We might sing some bhajans hear some kirtan, look at some darshan of Krishna hear some class hear some section from a class read some notes which you have made inspiring poems, and then come back and do that activity So, the mind is like a child When a child starts crying there is no one formula with which the mother can control the child The principle is that when the child starts crying it is not that the mother should also start crying Oh, my child is crying Now, obviously the child’s crying is not pleasant and the mother would best want the child not cry But how to deal with the crying child there is no one formula that all mothers can apply for all children Each mother has to find out how to deal with that crying child Similarly, we can treat our mind like a crying child We can’t deny that it is crying But at the same time we don’t have to start crying with it We accept that it is crying and then we say how to deal with it Sometimes we just talk with the child Sometimes we give some toys to the child Sometimes we give some food to the child Sometimes we just let the child cry and the child becomes silent after that We don’t know So, what works We have to find out, based on our own experience, how best to pacify the crying mind That is something There is no one formula Sometimes you may try to chant and chanting is very powerful But if you are not able to connect with Krishna through chanting then the more we try to chant, the more the mind starts yelling and the more we feel agitated Then maybe just take a little break Take a few deep breaths, maybe read something do something else, the mind calms down Generally, bhakti can be practiced from any mode from the mode of passion, ignorance, goodness from anywhere bhakti can be practiced But bhakti practice can be sustained only in the mode of goodness because sustenance is a characteristic of goodness So therefore, when we chant, chanting itself at one level can bring us to the mode of goodness But at another level, to connect with Krishna we need some level of goodness Otherwise, if the mind is in passion or ignorance, the mind is here, there everywhere, then we may be chanting but we are not connecting with Krishna at all and then chanting becomes boring chanting feels burdensome So if that is happening if the mind is too much in passion or ignorance and is not coming to goodness and we are not able to connect with Krishna through chanting then maybe at that time we need to do something else which will get us to goodness Maybe read some philosophy Just take some deep breaths The speed of our breath is very closely related to the speed of our mind So we slow down our breathing our mind also slows down Consciously slow down the breathing, consciously the mind gets slowed down by that So that way, we can find out what it is that brings us to goodness Whatever gets us to goodness that is not a substitute for bhakti But sometimes that may help us to connect better with Krishna when we are practicing bhakti So we have to take stock of our own mind’s nature and find out how best we can get the mind to goodness so that we can wholeheartedly do our devotional activities