In which service should we start fighting our inclination to the path of least resistance?

Anwser Podcast

Transcript

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take the path of least resistance we should avoid some of the resistance and move onwards we should force ourselves against the resistance and move on so where should we apply that force yes if we are given a particular service which requires some amount of difficulty then definitely we should take that initiative and try to do that service at the same time sometimes the whole devotee community may be so big and we may not have a particular senior devotee sitting next to the particular person then we also go through different phases in asking each other sometimes when I feel yes I really want to I have been around for so long and I have not even read the Bhagavatam once at least a few times focus on the study of Shastra sometimes you will feel I want to do some practical service I want to distribute books or I want to help some other people come close to Krishna I will learn some philosophy and try to do some classes whatever it may be so the purpose of serving Krishna remains steady the form of serving Krishna may change and that form can be determined either based on what instruction we have given by some by seniors or it may depend on our inspirations so it’s not that our inspiration always stays the same today I may feel very inspired to study Shastra but after one month I may feel completely drained, I don’t feel like doing it yes we should not just be fickle and keep changing things based on the mind but at the same time the mind is what we have to live with we can’t just constantly be fighting against the mind to some extent the mind also has to cooperate it’s like the mind is basically like a horse the horse we sometimes resist and they go here and go there and the horse rider has to force the horse to move in the right direction but at the same time if the horse is constantly resisting the horse rider cannot really move ultimately the horse rider and the horse have to become friends they have to work together so like that if we find that we are trying to do we decided to do one thing but we just have no inspiration in that right then we can’t just push ourselves infinitely then what we should do is we should have some regulation we say if I decide now I am going to study Shastra so I decide for one month I am going to focus on studying Shastra, now after one month if I feel oh I don’t feel so inspired I don’t feel so inspired I don’t feel at all inspired then we may decide to change something we may decide ok I will not study Shastra no I will study with someone else maybe I will regularly discuss with someone that might bring some enlivenment in my study of Shastra, if that doesn’t happen maybe we have some seminar on chanting of the holy names chanting is not important I have to chant nicely we may feel inspired to focus on that it’s good to focus on that but we don’t change our priorities simply based on the rim of the mind, we make a plan we may decide for one month whatever I start now for one month at least I will do it so then if I have to change something after one month I will change it again because our mind also needs variety so if you make only a single focus the mind may just become too resistant to it, so the key principle when we are dealing with the mind is that we just have to be open to whatever works the mind doesn’t work according to formula no formula works for the mind we may say that oh chant Hare Krishna the mind will become calm sometimes we are chanting Hare Krishna what is happening our mouth is chanting Hare Krishna but our mind is chanting that I am going to get back our mind is going on revenge fantasies so now I am chanting chanting chanting but the mind is chanting something else at that time you just have to calm down take a few deep breaths whatever it takes to deal with the mind so we definitely have to overcome the resistance we have to fight against the resistance but which specific fight we do just like the standard example in scripture is Ganga moves towards the ocean let my consciousness move towards you 1.8.42 if there is a boulder in between sometimes the Ganga may go above sometimes it may go below it sometimes it may go right sometimes it may go left sometimes it may just erode it and go through it so somehow or other the Ganga will move on the principle is it should move on how specifically it will move on that will vary so like that we should know that we have to fight against the resistance but which form we take for fighting against the resistance which form of resistance we fight against that will vary did you answer the question yes sir my question was actually