Irrational irritability results from indiscriminate sensuality

[Reflection at Gainesville, USA]

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
irrational irritability, is the result of, indiscriminate sensuality, when people, engage indiscriminately, in sensual pleasures, the result of such sensual indulgence, is that they become attached, and eventually addicted, and once they are addicted, then, they just can’t break free, even if they, abstain from indulgence for some time, even if they resolve, to give things up, the craving keeps tormenting them, and that craving, is, the cause of the torment, that eventually, manifests as irritability, the Bhagavad Gita explains, that, when desire is unfulfilled, it manifests as anger, ध्यायतो विशयान् पिमसः संगस्ते शूपजायते, संगात् संजायते कामः कामः क्रोधो भिजायते, in 2.62, it states, that, when we contemplate on the sense objects, attachment to develop, then develops, attachment grows into craving, and when craving is thwarted, it leads to frustration, it leads to anger, this can happen in various ways, one of the ways it can happen, is through, the problem of, craving having become mainstream in our consciousness, having got, the, we could say, center space in our consciousness, because, when we are attached, even addicted to something, then, the craving, is already deep rooted in our consciousness, and the contemplation can happen, through external perception, or through internal recollection, and either way when the perception happens, which is much more likely to happen, either way when the contemplation happens rather, which to some extent we can avoid the outer perception, but when we are addicted, the inner recollection becomes very difficult to avoid, and thus we end up, hooked, so, as soon as the desire comes, which it will inevitably come, then, how do we go about resisting it, we have very little resource to resist it, because, it’s already there in our consciousness, and, we also, have an inclination for indulgence, even if we say, that I do not want to indulge, but still that inclination is quite deep rooted within us, so, we need to, recognize, our extreme vulnerability, and because, the, even if we somehow have a resolution, that, by which we are able to resist, the temptation, but because the temptation is right within us, because, the recollection is strong within us, so, our resolution gives us a strong sense of deprivation, we feel that, I am being deprived, because of, my, inability, to, because of, not enjoying, if, say we had decided, not to, eat some chocolates, because, those have started spoiling our teeth, and, we don’t keep any chocolates in our house, then it’s relatively easy to resist them, but if the chocolate is not just in our house, it is right in front of our working table, and, we have no opportunity, to, remove it from the table, we are told that you have to keep it there, then it becomes, extremely difficult, we could say almost impossible, to, say no to it, and somehow, even if we decide to say no, and even if we somehow keep saying no for some time, still, the constant perception of the chocolate, will create the, will trigger the recollection of how tasty it was, and, when we have to say no, that will create, irritation, so, somebody does something small wrong, and we will just explode at that person, because that sense of deprivation, is what is the cause of the irritation, so similarly, for us, as, those who are trying to stick to some resolution, to resist some essential indulgence, then if we are already hooked to it, if we are addicted to it, then the recollection is very strong, prominent, even dominant in our consciousness, so, trying to, stick to our, resolution for renunciation, amidst the recollection of indulgence, is extremely painful, is, it fills us with the sense of deprivation, and that causes irritation, it has been well observed that say when people, give up something, like, say if they have been smoking for some time, and they give up smoking, quite often, they become irritable, they have to go through that initial teething phase, when, the recollection is still prominent, and the resolution, is strong, so, because of that, that deprivation, how do we deal with that, and not being able to deal with that, they become irritable, so, you know, we have to be cautious, and not let ourselves get irritated, and others also around us, when, if we are following some resolution, and if we are getting irritated, then we have to, they also can be understanding, that this is not an irritable person, but, the, this is this irritability, we could say just a withdrawal symptom, which has to be, lived with, so, if we understand this point and move on in our life, then we can actually, do a lot of things, we can, progress, towards purification, towards, absorption in Krishna, that is the great positivity that, Bhakti wisdom brings for us, it gives us the opportunity to absorb ourselves in Krishna, who is the supreme positive reality, connecting with whom provides, higher fulfillment, and, gradually, the process of connection with him, the process of service to him, the process of recollecting his, beautiful form, his glory, his pastimes, that creates positive remembrances in our consciousness, and with those positive remembrances, then, the remembrances of, sense objects that we have decided to give up, they become, not so alluring, not so prominent, not so irresistible, so, in that sense, spirituality, specifically devotional spirituality, is the, protector and deliverer, from both, sensuality and irritability, the resolution to, give up sensuality, and the, resolution to not succumb to the ensuing irritability, both can be done, both can be boosted and maintained, if we can absorb ourselves in Krishna, that’s why, more than, saying no to sensual things, we need to focus on saying yes to Krishna, absorbing ourselves in Krishna, on taking ourselves closer to him, through, the practice of bhakti which creates positive remembrances, so, going back to the example of having chocolate, on, our tape working table, if there we also had, some delicious, healthy, natural food, maybe some, candy made with natural sugar and, or with natural sweeteners such as, jaggery or dates, and variety of sweet fruits in it, and that was delicious and, we could eat that and we could eat as much of it as we want, then, saying no to that chocolate would become much much easier, similarly, when we through the intense practices of bhakti, create devotional remembrances, within our consciousness, then resisting sensual temptations become much easier, and thus we can, move, closer to Krishna, and ultimately, transcend both sensuality and irritability.
Thank you.