Make your own destiny 3

Seminar at ISKCON, Chowpatty

PPT

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Welcome to our last session today on the topic of make your destiny, I will be talking briefly today and then we can have a long question and answer session. So till now we have discussed about what destiny is, how it influences us and how we can within whatever circumstances we are put in, we can create a better destiny for ourselves in terms of what we will get in future. So I will talk today primarily in terms of this sense that destiny determines what happens to us, but our free will is to choose how we respond.
So how we can respond positively, constructively to the things that happen in our life, that we will talk in terms of an acronym TAB, T A B. So our thoughts, our attitudes and our behaviours, these are always within our capacity to change. Even if the circumstances that come in our life, the events that happen in our life, those we may not be able to change, but these three are the things which we can change and the more we learn to change these things, the more we can actually become empowered to create a brighter future for ourselves. Now the word TAB here has a, in computer browsers, you open a particular window that is called a TAB and there is another TAB.
So if sometimes we turn on a computer and then the browser opens a particular page as its home page by default. Now sometimes when that home page opens up, that may not be a page that we want to open. Sometimes some programmes, they are, they not only installing, they put their own software page as the home page.
And then as soon as we turn on the software, immediately that programme starts opening up. So we may just, if you do not want to go to that home page, just close that home page and close that TAB and open another TAB. But that is a mechanical process and we may have to do that initially.
But if you can go into the settings of the browser and find out, okay, where is the setting for the home page? And I find the setting for the home page and change that. Then whatever was my earlier automatically opening, that will not open. Something else will open.
So these two, so one thing is when the, it is not that because something has opened as a open home page, we have to read over there, we have to watch over there. No, we can avoid that. We can open some other new TAB.
So these two are the aspects of, first is closing whatever TABs, whatever pages have opened unnecessarily, which we again start with. And second is changing the settings so that those pages do not open. These are the two aspects of self-transformation.
The Bhagavad Gita in the 18th chapter talks about Shama and Dama. Shama is peacefulness or control of the mind. And Dama is control of the senses.
Shama and Dama. Now suppose if we are inside a house and we have got a treasury over there, we have got some precious jewels over there, and we know outside the door, outside the door, outside that room particularly, there is a thief. Then if we know the thief is there outside, what we will do is, we will close the door, bolt it, latch it and never open it.
Then the thief will not be able to come in. But if somehow we leave the door open, because of negligence or whatever, and a thief just barges in, it’s not that because the door has been left open and thief has barged in, we are like, okay, come on, whatever you want to steal, you can steal. No, then we push from inside, try to push the thief out and again lock the door.
So the first aspect, like closing the door so that the thief doesn’t come in itself, that is like mind control. Keeping the mind peaceful so that negative or lower thoughts and desires don’t come in. Keeping the mind constructively focused so that nothing negative comes into the mind.
But when that doesn’t work, somehow some negative things come in. It does not mean that just because the negative thoughts have come, that means we have to do something negative. We can fight that out.
So, Shama and Dama, because mind control, if you can keep the mind constructively focused, that is the best. But even if the mind gets agitated, we don’t have to necessarily act on that agitation. Sometimes some people may behave in irritable ways and then it gets to our nerves.
We may not be able to avoid that, but we can avoid expressing that immediately. We need to express that, but we can express that later when we are calmer, when they are calmer, and we can have a reasonable discussion. So, this, the stimulus that comes upon us from outside, that is the part of the circumstances that we face, that is what is going to come by destiny.
That, we may have certain people around us who are irritable, we may have a particular kind of body which is prone to sickness, we may have a job which is very demanding, whatever it is. We may be in a particular situation, that is not necessarily in our control. So, that comes to us because of our destiny.
But within that, we have choices and to analyse what choices we have. Okay, this particular situation has come. I have a person who behaves very irritably with me.
What do I do in such a situation? So, often we may say that, oh, we should be more tolerant. Yes, that is true, we should be more tolerant. But what does that mean? If there is a stimulus which is coming from outside and there is a response that comes from inside.
So, how do we create a distance between the stimulus and the response by which we can choose a healthier response? So, for that, we can analyse what happens between a stimulus and a response in terms of these three things, our thoughts, our attitudes and our behaviours. So, Dr. Victor Frankl was one of the most prominent psychologists of the last century. And he wrote a book called Man’s Search for Meaning.
And he was a Nazi captive. He had been captured in Germany at the time of Hitler’s Holocaust operation. And he lived in a very horrible condition at that time.
And because there were so many Jews who had been imprisoned in the gas chambers. So, at that time, the Jews themselves, the Germans had arranged in such a way that the Jews had to live on very, very meagre supplies. So, for example, they would just get a meal of soup with some very little vegetables, others just liquid.
So, there you observe that even in that situation, when even the basic needs were not available. So, he found that different people responded differently. So, for example, the food, they had some prisoners among the Jews itself who had been appointed here to serve the food.
So, he found that there also some people when they would serve the food, they would serve all the liquid to the others and they would keep the solid vegetables for themselves so that they could take it later. Others, they would stir it and mix it nicely and give an equal proportion of solid liquid to everyone. And some others, you know, they would give the solid to others and keep the liquid for themselves.
So, although they were in a prison situation, still there was that freedom. The point is that from the perspective of how say most of us live, that situation was still very restricted. But even within that restricted situation, recognise that they still have freedom how they act in that situation.
So, whatever situation we are in, we may or may not be able to change that situation. Now, the question, why me? Whenever some problems come in our life, the normal question comes, why me? The question why me is often a shortcut to frustration. The question why me is often a simply a shortcut to frustration.
Because even if we say that it is because of karma, whatever karma I have done in the past life, but we don’t know the specifics of the karma. And life will become very complicated if we start living in a perpetual flashback mode, constantly remembering, oh, I did this, so I got that, I got this, because of which I got that. We will not be able to live in the present or focus on the future.
So, rather than the question why me, a much more productive question is how now? Okay, how should I act now? What is the best response in the situation? How should I act now? How now? The why me question is a question that chokes us under frustration. Often resentment of reality hurts us much more than reality. There is a reality and the reality may be troublesome.
But the resentment of reality hurts us much, much more than the reality itself. So, when we resent some situation that has come in our life. Now, I am not saying that every situation that has come in our life, we have to just passively accept it.
We may work to change it. We may work to improve the situation, alter the situation, but whatever we need to do, we need to use our intelligence and be calm while deciding. But when we are resentful, at that time, our energy is so much choked in negativity that whatever we do, it is more of a knee-jerk reaction, which makes the problem worse than what it needs to be.
So, if we can focus on recognising that okay, why me? That has no answer and better not go into that zone too much. How now? How can I act in this situation? And how now involves these three things, thinking, our thoughts, our attitudes and our behaviour. So, here when we talk about thoughts, it is not just thoughts about that particular situation.
It is our default thoughts, our default pattern of thoughts. See, just as we have a home, we may go out for this work, we may go out for that job, we may go out for that, but then we want to go back home. And home is a place where we will feel comfortable, be comfy, feel joyful.
In fact, in English, there is a phrase, feel at home. That means be comfortable. We feel comfortable, secure, relatively satisfied at home.
So, just as we have a home for the body, we all have a home for our thoughts. A home for our thoughts means that when we have nothing else to do, where do our thoughts go naturally? For some of us, thoughts may go towards money. For some of us, thoughts may go towards sensual pleasures.
Some of us, thoughts may go towards prestige. Some people, thoughts may go towards cricket. For some people, thoughts may go towards video games.
Some people, thoughts may go towards movies. So, whatever it is. we all have some home for our thoughts and that home is often not a place that really gives us rest and rejuvenation.
We have a particular home for our thoughts. So people may say that okay when I want to relax I just watch TV. Yes when I watch TV I may all the anxieties and worries that are there I can just forget them for some time.
So we can look at ourselves and say when we feel disturbed, when we feel bored, when we feel irritated, at that time what do we by nature think about? You know when we want to know what a person is when we introduce people we say okay what do you do or who are you, I am an engineer, I am a doctor. Yes that is a that is an important marker of who a person is. Now what they normally do but an equally important marker of who we are for our own growth, for our own self-understanding and for our own growth is to look at what we do when we don’t have anything to do.
What we do when we don’t have anything to do then that will help us to understand what our default thoughts are and that is our that is the home for our thoughts and now when you say somebody that makes TV watching as the home for their thoughts, when I have nothing to do I just turn on the television and watch the television. Now yes that might give us some comfort that might give us some relief but this relief is quite often a relief that is primarily a painkiller. It is not a curative medicine.
We get relief. There are various forms of entertainment, various forms of titillation, they give relief but it is a painkiller. The painkiller doesn’t cure the disease, it doesn’t cure the pain, it covers the pain.
When it covers the pain we feel oh I am getting relief but after some time if a person keeps on taking only the painkillers then after some time because internally the disease is becoming worse and worse and worse so after some time they find that the painkiller doesn’t work. At least at that dosage it doesn’t work and then we need a much stronger painkiller and then a further stronger painkiller and a further stronger painkiller. So when this happens a particular time comes when no matter how strong a dosage of painkiller is given it doesn’t help much because the disease has become so bad.
So we all have various kinds of shelters for our thoughts and those shelters they offer a little shelter but over a period of time they end up creating greater agitation. So we may watch television and feel oh I feel relaxed when I watch television. Yes we may feel some relaxation but quite often when we watch television whatever we watch on the television may kindle our greed, may kindle our lust, may kindle our anger within us and it may fuel desires which actually agitate us more and more.
So in that way whatever it is that for example people may watch sports, some may watch cricket. Now it’s a sports may seem to be like a relatively harmless form of entertainment. Yes there is some entertainment over there but if you look at it from simple point of view of mathematics and suppose that the World Cup in 16 countries are participating.
So then basically out of them only one country is going to win the World Cup. That means 15 countries people are going to be miserable. One country the people are going to be happy.
So it’s and that happiness is also going to last for a brief time. It’s not going to be long. So it’s not a shelter that shelters always.
It’s a shelter but it doesn’t always shelter. Sometimes somebody may watch a cricket match and then if your favourite team loses and we end up feeling more frustrated than we started off while watching the match. So quite often whatever we take shelter of, whatever is the default shelter for our thoughts that is not a shelter which centres constantly.
The best such shelter is ultimately Krishna. So the Bhagavatam gives an example that the pure soul purified soul Krishna never gives up the shelter of Krishna. Why? Because in the remembrance of Krishna, in the absorption in Krishna, there is freedom from all misery.
The example is of Pantha, the traveller who has gone far and wide and the traveller after a long troubled journey comes back to one’s home. Just as a traveller after a troubled journey on coming back home feels relief. Similarly, our thoughts they may go here, there, everywhere.
But when they come back to Krishna, we experience relief. So the process of Bhakti is not just about coming to a temple or chanting the holy names or attending the classes. All these are important.
But all these are meant to be tools by which we make Krishna the home for our thoughts. We make Krishna our inner shelter. That means our thoughts may go in various directions, but then we get them back to Krishna.
And this, the shelter that comes in absorption in Krishna, that sense of shelter will increase more and more as we become more and more purified. Initially, when we are practising Bhakti, we may feel that okay, fixing the mind on Krishna is a big labour. It’s a big effort.
Yes, it is an effort. But if we keep practising Bhakti, then we start realising, we start getting a taste. 18.36 in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, that which tastes like poison in the beginning.
But eventually tastes like poison. That is happiness in the mode of goodness, enlightened happiness. So we practise Bhakti, we make Krishna as the home for our heart.
And as Krishna becomes the home for our heart, our connection with Krishna gives us strength. It gives us rejuvenation. It gives us relief and release.
Relief means we don’t feel so much. Relief means there’s a channelling of our emotions. We may feel burdened, we may feel crushed.
But our emotions get spiritually channelled. Just like if say now it’s very hot outside. When we are hot, we may be sweating, we may be feeling very uncomfortable.
But then as soon as we come into a room where there is air conditioning, we feel relief. So like that, our thoughts go here and there and they get agitated. But when our thoughts come to Krishna, the children Krishna, miseries are there.
Outside still the heat is there. But when we come into a room where there is AC, we don’t feel the heat. Similarly, when we start practising Bhakti, the problems are there still alive.
But when we find the shelter of Krishna, when we take the shelter of Krishna, it is like we are bringing our thoughts in a Krishna conditioned room. When our thoughts come in a Krishna conditioned room, we get relief. So this is the first aspect in terms of when you practise Bhakti.
We are talking about how we create a positive destiny for ourselves. By offering ourselves a shelter that is rejuvenating, that is elevating, we actually move, we conserve and channel our inner energy. When we don’t get a shelter mentally, our thoughts are very restless.
And then we can’t do much. Even when we work, we are not able to achieve substantially. See, we analyse our day and we think, okay, morning I have to do this, afternoon I have to do this, evening I have to do this, night I have to do this.
And we usually, when we talk about taking stock of our time, deciding where we spend our time, we usually divide our day in terms of activities. I think this activity takes this much time, that activity takes that much time. That’s true.
But actually, our time is taken not just by our activities. Our time is also taken by our thoughts. So for example, if I’m going for a class, and just before going for the class, I just see someone and I greet them, but they don’t even look at me, they snub me, knowingly.
I get so angry. Then I go in the class, and sitting there for one hour, but in that one hour, I am having revenge fantasies. And when I see them, I’ll snub them in public.
Now what has happened? Although we think that that one hour I spend in the class, I did not spend in the class actually. That one thought came from that particular stimulus, that thought of getting back to the person that consumes the full hour. So actually, if we think of our time as being consumed only by activities, we often don’t realise that there may be a particular activity externally, but we may not be able to focus on that activity.
And that’s why that time is not going in that activity, it is getting wasted. So if we could conserve our mental energy, and channel our mental energy, even in the same 24 hours, we’d be able to do much more. So when we invest our time in practising bhakti, we chant the holy names, when we come to the temple, when we hear classes, what is all this doing? This is actually giving us better control over our mental energy.
So once we start practising bhakti, we make Krishna our home, somebody snubs me, I feel irritated, I feel bad. But instead of just thinking about that person, I chant the holy names, I think about Krishna, I pray to Krishna. Okay, they snubbed me, I felt bad, but then it’s not the end of the world.
I don’t have to, they snubbed and went away, but they hurt me for a minute, but I don’t have to hurt myself for an hour because of that. I’ll see how to deal with that later. So if we have cultivated a shelter for our thoughts, then that shelter enables us to regroup, then whenever we get agitated, and it enables us to deal with the situation more positively.
So our thoughts, if we have a default, positive shelter for our thoughts, then that enables us to see whatever happens in our life positively. And that brings us to attitude. So TAB, we’re talking about opening a new tab in our life.
So thoughts is basically the default home for our thoughts, but attitudes refers to specific events that are happening, how we look at those events. So in the Mahabharata, when Abhimanyu is killed on the 13th day of the war, at that time, Yudhishthir is afflicted by a crippling attack of guilt, because Yudhishthir feels that it was I who sent Abhimanyu to fight into the Kaurava camp to break the Chakravyuha. And I had promised him that we will be following you.
And we will protect you. But I could not keep my word. Abhimanyu was trapped, Abhimanyu was killed.
And he is horrified. He becomes so agitated, he doesn’t know what to do. He says, how can I face Arjuna? How can I show my face to Subhadra? What will I tell Uttara? And he thinks like this.
He says, I will go and fight and I will take revenge. And if I can’t take revenge, I will lay down my life. And in the night itself, as the sun is about to set, at that time he charges into the Kaurava camp.
He charges into the Kaurava camp. At that time, Vyasadeva comes over there. And seeing that Yudhishthir is very disturbed, he gets off his chariot and offers his respect to Vyasadeva.
And he pulls out his heart to Vyasadeva. Abhimanyu has been killed and so brutally killed. And I feel responsible for this.
So Vyasadeva consoles him. And he says, no one in this world, no matter how powerful, how virtuous, how illustrious they may be, no one can violate the law of death. No one can violate the law of death.
Everyone has to die. And he goes on with his elaborate discourse to console him. But the concluding point he makes is, the inscrutable will of the Lord is surely for the well-being of all living beings.
The Lord’s will is inscrutable. We may not know specifically why something is happening. But we know that ultimately Krishna is our well-wisher.
Whatever he does, he has our good in his heart. And then he says, the law is going to be inscrutable, but it is for the well-being of all living beings. And he tells him, if you do his will, you will understand this in due course of time.
If you do his will. So do not give in to your impulses, do not give in to your lamentation, but act naturally. And he tells him that in five days, this war will be over, and you will be enthroned as the king.
Then Yudhishthira calms down over there. So when we look at situations in our life, now when we see that, okay, something is suddenly going, okay, I’m just going through my life and suddenly I get some disease or there’s some misunderstanding and some relationship gets spoiled and I lose my job or so many things can go wrong in our life, which is the thing happens at that time, how do I respond to it? If I just think it does, oh, there are basically for us, when we see life’s adversities, we have three courses of responses. One is to think that everything happens by chance.
My luck was rotten. So now if you look at it that way, then 16.8 in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna talks about how demoniac people think there’s no God in control. So everything that happens, it just happens by chance.
Now, if you think like this, okay, I was just unlucky and that’s why this happened, then it’s actually a worldview of hopelessness. It makes us very insecure. You know, this went wrong or tomorrow what will go wrong? I don’t know any of these things.
And we make ourselves hopeless. The other worldview is that, that whatever happens, it is by God’s will. Now, when you start thinking it is by God’s will, everything that happens, then it makes God appear very partial.
You know that how things are going on so nicely in that person’s life and there are so many problems in my life. So now the Abrahamic religions, the Abrahamic religions are Judaism, Christianity, Islam, they all accept Abraham as their primary one of their primary prophets. So they have the idea that we have only one lifetime.
And although there are pictures of reincarnation in their worldview also, but they don’t talk so much about it. Their mainstream expressions don’t accept reincarnation right now. They say that whatever happens to us, it’s a test from God.
Okay, whatever problem you get, it’s a test from God. Yes, we can say it’s a test from God. But the problem is not that there’s a test.
The problem is why there is differential testing. You know, if there is a class and after the class, the teacher gives a question paper, and one student gets a very easy paper and another student gets a very difficult paper. The student’s question will not be why I’m having an exam? Why are there different papers for everyone? So like that, when we go through our life, when we see this person has this kind of problem, but I have this problem.
Why do I have such big problems? Why do they have such less problems? When we see this difference, and we are told everything happens by God’s will, then it appears as if God himself is capricious. God is arbitrarily sending difficulty in one person’s life, and is giving an easy life for someone else. And then it becomes very difficult to devote oneself or to surrender oneself to such a God, such a conception of God.
But the Vedic understanding is that, to give another example for the situation, that how the Vedic understanding helps us to deal with the problem of evil, the problem of bad things happening to good people, that we can understand with the example of say cricket. Suppose, there are two teams to start a cricket match. And say one team, say now the IPL is going on.
And suppose that two teams are playing, one team the starting score is zero, another team the starting score itself is 150. You say hey, this is, something is wrong here. How can you start with a score of 150? So now if you see that the starting score is 150, one may say, one explanation could be, you know, this scoreboard itself is wrong.
The scoreboard doesn’t operate according to LA law, the scoreboard operates by chance. So by chance this team has got a score of zero, this by chance this team has got a score of 150. How do I play a match like that? So anybody gets any score at start, it appears very unfair.
It appears very unfair. And somebody else says, okay, you know, the person who is keeping the scoreboard, the organiser of the match, they are biassed. That’s why they have given one team a score of zero, they give another team a score of 150.
That also feels very unfair. The first idea is that, okay, we all get a start, we get a score in our life. Some people are wealthy, some people are poor, some people are good looking, some people are not so good looking.
Why is this difference there? Oh, it’s by chance. That’s like the scoreboard operates on its own. Some people say, no, it’s by God’s will.
That’s like the person who is organising the match, that organiser says, oh, they’ll start with this score, they’ll start with this score. That also seems very unfair. But if we consider that the starting score is this, but the third possibility is that suppose it’s not a one day match, say it’s a match, a test with multiple innings.
And a particular team has got a higher score and a lead from a previous match, previous innings. So if one team is starting with a score that seems to be 150, that means they scored more in their previous match. So similarly, if we look at our life, so different people have different sets of situations, different kinds of situations, different kinds of problems.
So we are all on a journey of spiritual growth to go ultimately towards Christianity. And we are all at different levels in that journey. And when we are at different levels, why are different people at different levels? It is based on how we have acted in the past.
So we have gone through many lifetimes, just like a cricket match may have multiple innings. So like that, the score that we have right now, it is a result of our previous innings. So when we understand this, it is the differences that are there in our situations, they are not because of a discrimination in the part of God.
They are because of what we have ourselves done in the past. Once we understand this, we see God not as the cause of our problems. We see God as the shelter from our problems.
If you think God is causing this, it’s not that God is somewhere up there and he’s inflicting all these problems on us. No, the problems come as a reaction to what we have done. But God is right here inside us.
He is right there within our hearts. And he’s there to help us deal with whatever situations come in our life. He’s not causing situations, situations are coming by our own past karma, but he is helping us deal with the situations.
And with respect to dealing with the situations, we need to know that God is not just omnipotent, he is also omniscient. Omnipotent means he has great power, he has supreme power. Omniscient means he has the supreme wisdom.
So sometimes when we want to deal with problems, we have some problem in our life and we go and pray to Krishna, please solve this problem. Please do this, please do that, please help me deal with this problem. And we may sincerely pray and the prayer is good.
But quite often when we pray, our attitude is Krishna, I know the solution to the problem, but you execute the solution. So you want a partnership with Krishna where the partnership is my intelligence and your power. So my intelligence and your power.
Now this itself, we have faith in Krishna, we at least have faith in Krishna’s power that he can do what I can’t do. But we need to have not half faith in Krishna, we have to have full faith in Krishna. Full faith in Krishna means that Krishna is not only more powerful than us, Krishna is also wiser than us.
When we understand he is wiser than us, that means he will solve our problems, but often he may not solve them on our terms. And we need to be open to his solutions. So Krishna, rather than saying Krishna, this is the problem and please solve it in this way.
Krishna, give me the intelligence, how I should act in this situation. Please give me the intelligence to serve you in this situation, whatever the situation is. When we go with that attitude, then rather than seeing the problem, rather than seeing the difficulty as a deprivation, we see it more as an opportunity to see how God Krishna is going to work, how Krishna is going to help us deal with the problems.
Most of us know the story of the Akshaya Patra. When Draupadi and the Pandavas were living in the forest, so because of the manipulation of Duryodhana, the Rasa Muni came to the forest. At a time after Draupadi had eaten, so the Akshaya Patra would not give any more food after that.
And Draupadi was in great anxiety at that time. And now then she did not know what to do. The Pandavas were panicky and she was a devotee, so when she did not know what to do, she knew what to do.
What was that? Pray to Krishna. So she really prayed to Krishna and actually her prayer seemed to have increased her problems. Because as soon as Krishna came, Krishna, eat Draupadi.
I am very hungry. Please give me some food. Draupadi was mortified.
It’s one thing to not be able to feed when a sage was coming. That’s bad enough. But the Lord is coming to her house and she is not able to feed him.
Krishna, you know that there is nothing in my house. That’s why I have called you. Please help me.
Please don’t have fun. No, no, no, don’t worry. I am hungry.
I will deal with whatever problem you have. Give me some food. No, there is nothing.
Go and see. Well, just go and see the Akshaya Patra. She went and saw the Akshaya Patra.
Saw there is one morsel of a grain over there. And Krishna said, give it to me. And Krishna took that and he ate that.
And just by that, not only was he satisfied, but all the sages also got satisfied. Now here, the stress of the story is often how Krishna, by satisfying Krishna, everyone else is satisfied. That’s an important lesson from the story.
But there are other lessons also from the story. Another lesson here is that, Draupadi, now, how is it that after she had eaten the food, now see this, normally, any housewife, if she is keeping her utensils, wash the utensils and keep them carefully. And if somebody has some golden plates or something like that, some very precious plates, now special plates which you use only for special occasions, that they will keep even more carefully.
So how was it that in this particular plate, after Draupadi had eaten, the one morsel of grain was still there? So now the point here is that even if Krishna is actually so expert that he can use, he can bring good even through our mistakes. So keeping that plate unclean might have also been a mistake, but doesn’t matter. Krishna used that to bring out good.
You know, it is said God can draw a straight line even through a crooked pen. So when we focus, oh this pen is crooked, this pen is crooked, this pen is crooked, and we focus on that, we get obsessed with that, then we close ourselves to the expertise of God for bringing good out even of that. That’s why if we have this attitude, yes, I am a servant, let me serve.
Krishna, give me the intelligence how I can serve. We will see that Krishna will work in wonderful ways. The nature of life is that sometimes we shake an apple tree and a mango may fall.
When we shake an apple tree and we expect an apple itself, and then we don’t get an apple, we think, oh, there’s no apples are falling, what should I do? But we may shake an apple tree because we are hungry. But if we let our perception be restricted by our expectation, if we let our perception be restricted by our expectation, that means, I’m looking, I’m thinking I should get a mango and I look only for the mango, I don’t look for anything. I’m sorry, I’m looking only for apple and I look only for apple.
If I let my perception be restricted by my expectation, then something which is my need that will be fulfilled, but in some way, apart from what my expectation is. So, my basic need is not for apple, my basic need is to satisfy my hunger. And a mango may satisfy it also.
So, if we have, if we are sheltered in Krishna, and we understand that Krishna is ultimately in control, then rather than seeing problems as restrictive, as something which deprive us, something which cause trouble to us, we can see them as opportunities where Krishna will demonstrate his omnipotence and his omnibenevolence. Omnibenevolence means he’s always are well-wisher. So, rather than looking at life from a mentality of the I have this problem, I have that problem, I have that problem, okay, I have many problems, but over and above these problems, Krishna is there.
And if I stay fixed in the service of Krishna, he will help me find the way out of problems. So, the inscrutable will of the Lord is for the good of all living beings. And if you just do that will, he will reveal to us in due course of time.
So, this is the attitude. Okay, usually whenever a problem comes in our life, our first reaction tends to be negative. We may think one more problem, or we may just get depressed, we may get dejected, we get irritable, whatever it is.
But rather than thinking of that, okay, let me think, how can I serve Krishna? Krishna is still in control. Krishna is still in control. And let me think how I can serve him in this situation.
And Krishna, please guide me as to how I can serve. So, when we chant Hare Krishna, when we do the japa, that is not just a ritual where we are uttering some sound. Actually, the chanting of Hare Krishna is in a mood of prayer.
Krishna, please engage me in your service. So, I was recently in Melbourne and one devotee told me that I am afraid of chanting Hare Krishna. So, why is that? So, this Mataji, she said that, actually, you know, I already have a lot of service.
So, I prayed to Krishna, Krishna, please engage me in your service and give me more service. I can’t do more service now. So, I explained that actually, when we say Krishna, please engage me in your service, it is not that we are asking Krishna for literally for more service.
We are asking primarily for a more of a service attitude. We want to become more situated in the attitude of service. Whatever we are doing, if we do it more and more with an attitude of service, the more we will become fixed and focused in what we are doing.
So, our chanting is a prayer to infuse us more and more with the service attitude. And when we are having that attitude of service, then whatever situation we are in, we can move forward steadily in that situation. And the last is behaviour.
Now, how we act is not determined by our circumstances. Shri Prabhupada, in one of the first initiation lectures, after the devotees got initiated, he told the devotees, now you should not lament. No matter what goes wrong in your life, whatever problems come in your life, don’t lament.
Because now you have entrusted the reins of your chariot to Krishna. You have entrusted the reins of your chariot. Just like for Arjuna, Krishna was his charioteer.
The Upanishads tell that our body is also like a chariot. And the soul is the occupant of this chariot of the body. So, in this chariot, the soul is the occupant.
And any idea who is the charioteer? Intelligence. So, the chariot body metaphor, the horses are the senses. The mind is the reins.
The intelligence is the charioteer. And the soul is the passenger or the warrior in that chariot. Now, when we say that, what is Prabhupada saying over here? When we start practising bhakti, when we become committed to the practise of bhakti, we are making, we are entrusting the reins of our chariot to Krishna.
That means, we align our intelligence with Krishna’s guidance. We align our intelligence with Krishna’s guidance. Bhagavad Gita ends with Krishna, Arjuna telling Krishna, in 18.73, he says, I will do your will.
So, our specific actions that we do, they may vary according to time, place, circumstance. We cannot always act in the same way. That means, whatever circumstances we face, all of us, we are unique individuals, our circumstances are unique.
And the particular our attitudes, our conditions, we all come from different backgrounds. And there is no one, in terms of specifics, there is no one standard way in which everyone can respond. In different situations, we may have to respond in different ways.
So, how we need to specifically respond, if we have that attitude of service, if we think with calmness, Krishna will give us the intelligence. And we have within us the stockpile of wisdom, we just need to access that. And the process of bhakti is, enables us to align with that inner reservoir of wisdom that is there within us.
The bhakti is not so much a practising bhakti. Sometimes people think, oh, Bhagavad Gita was spoken 5000 years ago. How is it relevant today? We live in the modern times.
Some people say we are not in modern times, they are postmodern times. So, whatever it is, we have something that was spoken 1000s of years ago, how is it relevant today? Practising bhakti is not about turning back the clock. Practising bhakti is about turning on the compass.
There is a compass within, which guides us about how we should act. Just like a person when they are on a ship in an ocean, the compass tells them this is the direction we should go. So, like that, within us, there is the compass, the compass of inner wisdom, the wisdom that comes from our connection with Krishna.
And bhakti is about turning on that compass. And once we start practising bhakti, once we start making Krishna our default form, once we start looking at life in terms of how Krishna, every situation is opportune to serve, then that inner compass will guide us. In this situation, we act like this.
And then we will be able to act in ways that are actually constructive, that enable us to grow rather than get choked. The Bhagavad Gita is a historical book. There was a war that happened 5000 years ago.
I have heard the Bhagavad Gita was spoken. The Bhagavad Gita, in addition to being historical, is also symbolic. Arjuna s Gandiva it represents our determination.
At the start of the Bhagavad Gita, in 1.46, the last verse of the first chapter, Arjuna puts aside his bow. So, he just puts aside his bow because he is afflicted by misery. But by the end of the Bhagavad Gita, in 18.78, the last verse is So, it is said that by the end of the Bhagavad Gita, what has happened? Partha Arjuna is Dhanur Dhara.
He is described as Dhanur Dhara because the same bow which he had put down, now he has pickled up and he is ready to fight. So, like that, that Arjuna s bow, it represents our determination. Sometimes, when we go through life and there are so many complexities, there are so many perplexities, there are so many adversities that we may face, just get disheartened.
I don t feel like doing anything. I just give up. But when we hear the message of the Bhagavad Gita, when we hear about God s enduring love for us, when we understand how our own nature essentially is spiritual and beyond whatever is happening at material level, ultimately every situation is an opportunity for our spiritual growth, then by understanding this wisdom, our determination gets restored.
And with that restored determination, we can act confidently in whatever situation we may face in our life. And by acting thus, by creating for ourselves a positive home for our thoughts, which we all have some home, but when we practise bhakti and purify ourselves, we make Krishna the home for our thoughts. Then much of the mental energy that gets wasted in negativity, in resentment, that mental energy gets conserved and it can be channelled.
So, by cultivating a positive home for our thoughts, a devotional home for our thoughts, by developing a devotional attitude towards the ups and downs of life, that means rather than seeing all this problem, that problem, we see that Krishna is always in control. And every situation, rather than thinking of it as a problem, we can see it as an opportunity to go deeper into our relationship with Krishna. Krishna, how can I serve you? So, Krishna is always our well-wisher.
The problems come not because Krishna has sent the problems to us. The problems are coming because of our past karma. But Krishna is there to help us deal with the problems.
And by putting faith, the attitude also means that rather than thinking of a demanding solution on our terms, we open up, we ask only for Krishna’s power to help us. We also ask for Krishna’s intelligence to help us to understand how to act. Instead of saying, why me? We ask, how now? And then we have this spiritual home for our thoughts.
We have this devotional, faithful attitude. Then our inner compass will become activated. And whatever situation we are in, we will learn, we will get guided from within to act in a way by which we can make a positive destiny for ourselves.
Yesterday I talked about how what we are is God’s gift to us. What we become is our gift to God. Means whatever talents we have been given, whatever abilities we have been given, they’re all meant to be used in a positive service.
The Bhagavad Gita gives the example in 11th chapter, 28 and 29 verses. It gives two examples. One is of how a moth moves into the fire and gets burned.
And how a river moves towards the ocean. And this is talking about the journey of life of those who are godless and those who are godly. So the point is, everybody has to go through life.
Ultimately, everybody will grow old, everybody will die. But the Acharya has explained that when a moth moves towards the fire, the moth’s destruction is self-impaired. The moth doesn’t have to move towards the fire.
And a moth going towards the fire, it doesn’t do any good to anyone. Simply the moth gets burned. But when the river moves towards the ocean, the river’s essential nature is not changed.
The river is water and it is going towards water. So like that, those who live spiritually, they are living spiritually now. And even when there is deterioration of the body for the whole day, there is disease, there is death, still they continue to live spiritually.
And when a river is moving towards the ocean, while moving towards the ocean, the river actually irrigates the land close by. And the river leads to the growth of lush vegetation all around it. So like that, devotees, when they go through the life journey, just by their moving in the life journey, they are making positive contributions.
Those who are around them, they are actually enabling them to become more positive, to grow, to develop. So we are all meant for the supreme destination ultimately, in the practise of bhakti. But we are also meant for positive contribution while we are living in this world.
And this way bhakti brings about auspiciousness in our life, in this life, as well as thereafter. Thank you very much. Are there any questions? Great.
Where is the mic? Okay, do we have a mic? Okay, yesterday I was asked a question, I would like to answer that too. The mic is going somewhere? Till then I will answer. The first lecture was titled that, Daiva is greater, Daiva is not just destiny.
So I did not go into that. What is the difference between Daiva and destiny? So yeah, I did not go into because it’s slightly technical. The word destiny in English basically refers to the idea that there are things just beyond our control, and they are just going to happen to us.
But when the bhakti tradition uses the word Daiva, it refers not so much to some unknown, unpredictable, arbitrary force, which is going to bring some suffering upon us, or bring something happening upon us. We understand that Daiva is something we ourselves create. Daiva is the aggregate of our own past karma’s reactions, which are coming upon us according to a particular plan.
So Daiva is a much more philosophically precise concept than the vagueness that is associated with the word of destiny. So in that sense, Daiva is more than destiny. It’s not just some, yes, there is some factors beyond our control, which do shape our life.
But those factors are not malevolent, those factors are not unknown, those factors are something which we only have contributed and created. Yes, who has a question? Okay, you can speak, I’ll repeat the question. Yeah.
So if we are conditioned in particular either by our upbringing or by our genes, then they prompt us to act in particular ways. So how they only shape our behaviour and not determine our behaviour. Our conditioning from whatever source it comes before us, it dangles certain courses of action, which seem to be like natural responses for us.
At the same time, what seems natural is not always essential or desirable. So for example, say, in the past, there have been a lot of discrimination. Say for example, people who were whites in America, they used to look at people who were African Americans, these are low class people.
Or say, because of the theory of social Darwinism, social Darwinism was the idea that the Darwinian survival of the fittest doctrine was applied to different races. And social Darwinism was the idea that some races are good and some races are bad. And Hitler took that idea, he said, the Aryans, whom we consider Germans, he said, they are the best race, and the Jews are the worst race.
So now, with this idea, he said that actually, because the Jews are the worst race, so the Jews are going to be annihilated by nature. Because only the fit are going to survive, the unfit are going to die. And he said, his idea was that when we are killing the Jews, we are in the gas chambers, we are helping nature accelerate its course of progress.
So that was his idea. Actually, he brainwashed practically speaking the whole nation at that time. So now can we say now during the Nuremberg trials, at that time, many of the Nuremberg trials were the trials when many of the generals of Nazi Germany, they were tried.
So many of the generals at that time said that we were simply following orders. That is what our bosses told us to do. And that is why we arrested and we killed the Jews.
So the point is that we all have a basic sense of conscience. We all have our interests. And just because in the name of following the order of some authority, we cannot act in barbaric or brutal ways.
So the point here is that certain circumstances, so for them at that time, it may well self-seem natural. Somebody is a Jew, tell about them, get them arrested and kill them. But then they have their conscience and they should have chosen not to act that way.
So just as we can easily understand that even if there is atmosphere of hatred against a particular community, we are not bound to hate that community. We have a choice to act more objectively. So just as there is a social environment, which may push us towards certain perceptions, but it does not force us to act according to those perceptions.
So just as what social environment does, similarly, our mental environment also. Now, we may have a perception of some people to be like this, or some problems to be like this or whatever. But we are different from our mind.
And our mind may push us to act in particular ways. But we can counter-push. So for example, say, if somebody is studying for an exam, and the exam is six months away, and they say, oh, today is a cricket match, maybe I just go and watch the cricket match.
And you say yes. If the exam is six months away, they say, okay, let me watch the cricket match. But if the exam is tomorrow, the same impulse is coming, let me watch the cricket match.
But if somebody, when the exam is tomorrow, and they watch the cricket match, you know, the other will chastise them. You could have watched the cricket match later, you should have studied now, and they themselves agree. So the point is that we ourselves see there are situations when impulses come, and we have the capacity to say no to the impulses.
So by the way we have acted, the extent to which we can say no or say yes, that may vary. So for example, say, if we are short-tempered, then when somebody irritates us, we tend to become angry. So now what may happen is that we may not, it will be, if somebody irritates us, it may be difficult for us to avoid the emotion of anger.
But we can avoid expressing that anger immediately. So, for example, what I do is when somebody acts in a way that really makes me wild. So I cannot just wish away the anger, the anger is there.
But if I express it, I know I will speak in ways that will hurt that person unnecessarily. And I will not be able to make the proper points which I want to make. Other than if I do not speak it also, then I am repressing myself.
And actually, I am not really improving the situation also, because they may keep repeating that situation. So sometimes what I do is I just write a mail expressing my full anger. But then I make a rule I will not send that mail.
So for at least 24 hours, I just keep it there as it is. And then after 24 hours, then I read the mail, this is too heavy. I should not have spoken like this.
And then I say yeah, this is a reasonable point. But maybe I can rephrase this a little bit. Sometimes I may not send the mail at all.
Sometimes I may edit the mail a lot and send some part of it and keep the other part as it is. Or sometimes, very few occasions, particularly never I would say I have sent the mail as it is. Because so that time, I am going to express myself.
But others do not need to hear my expression. So based on our conditioning, whichever the conditioning may be, we have to find out some way in we cannot choke the emotion that is there. But just because we cannot choke the emotion does not mean that we have to in an unregulated way express it.
So to find some way in which when a particular course of action seems to be the natural course of action for us, at that time, we may not be able to say no to it. And trying to say no to it may appear like repression. But instead of no, we can have a pause button.
Just pause. Okay, I feel like doing this, but not immediately. So journaling, writing a letter like this is basically journaling.
In a journal, we express our emotions and we give vent to them. And then once we get those thoughts and emotions outside us, then that creates a certain level of objectivity. Because as long as they are inside us, they are just creating congestion inside.
They are not allowing us to think in any new way. The mind is going along the same old tired tracks again and again and again. But once we get it out, there is a certain release that is created.
And afterwards, when we read it after some time, there is some objectivity. So how exactly when we are prompted to act in particular ways, how we can check that, that we have to use our own creativity to find out how to do that. But what our conditioning does is, it presents us certain options.
But just to give an example, just like there is a multiple choice paper. In a multiple choice exam, we do not think necessarily that the first choice is going to be the right choice. Is not it? Sometimes the first choice will be the right choice.
But the rightness of the choice, the rightness of the option is not determined by its position. It is determined by its content. So, if we are just in a too tearing hurry, just if A, A, A, A for all of them, we may get an F because of that.
So, like that, by our conditionings, the first option that comes, we tend to act on that first option itself. But by creating some kind of pause button for ourselves, we can make sure the first option has come, but the first option may not necessarily be the best option. So, our conditionings present the first option as a very natural or alluring option for us.
But by finding out how we can a pause button for ourselves, we can avoid acting on that option. And then eventually, we can choose how to act. So, the mind, which is the way through which most of our conditionings come upon us, the mind can impel, it cannot compel.
Impel means to push, whereas compel means to force. So, when the mind pushes, we can resist, we can counter push. So, it does not compel us, it does not take away our free will.
And the more we choose to counter push, the greater our free will becomes, more and more active, and then we can make healthier choices. Does it answer your question? Any other questions? Yes, okay. Can any food or any medicine change our destiny? See, here, again, what we mean by destiny is important to understand.
See, if we consider destiny as something which is absolutely fixed and unchangeable, destiny is not necessarily like that. There is a certain stockpile of karmic reaction that we are meant to get, and those are going to come upon us. But the food, the medicine that we take, and taking that is also a part of our duty.
We have been given a particular body, and taking care of the body is my responsibility. Suppose, it is a very cold night, and on a cold night, I take six ice creams. And then the next morning when I wake up, I scream.
And then I start feeling. And somebody says, what happened? It is my destiny. Well, it is not your destiny.
It is not your destiny. It is stupidity actually. It is my stupidity.
Why did I have to eat six ice creams? So, we have, if we do not eat properly, if we do not take proper medicines, then we are actually acting in irresponsible ways, and they will have consequences. So, it is not that everything that happens to us is only because of past karma. Our present choices also affect.
So, if I am overeating now, or if I am taking cold food on a cold night, the reaction will come immediately. So, our present choices will also bring consequences. And by making the present choices wisely, we can avoid unnecessary adverse consequences.
That is the first point. So, by eating and taking medicines properly, we can avoid aggravating our destiny. Beyond that, just as there is preparation.
So, when we talk about destiny, we could talk about destiny more in terms of like a weather forecast, as I mentioned in the first class. The destiny tells us basically what kind of environment we are going to get in our life. Now, how we prepare for that environment is up to us.
So, for example, if I understand that I have a sickly body, I need to regulate my diet. And then I act to regulate my diet properly. And that itself will also help me to avoid unnecessary complications.
But if we whatever food we have, if we offer Krishna and take Krishna prasad, that also helps us to minimise the reactions to karma. But with respect to our destiny, the important point is rather than thinking in terms of something, it is not like a not a matter of skill or trickery. If there is some magic formula which I do, then I will escape my destiny.
No, there is one culinary way of rephrasing the law of karma is, whatever action we do, that reaction we are going to get. So, if you want to phrase the kitchen terms, now what you cook, you will have to eat. So, what we have done, we will get the reactions for that.
So, we cannot be able to escape the reactions. But what happens by the practise of bhakti is that those reactions do not trouble us so much. So, for example, if I am going to get some sickness, if I am very much caught in bodily consciousness, then when the sickness comes, I feel it will be the end of the world for me.
But if I understand that actually I am a spiritual being and I can spiritually connect with Krishna, whatever my situation is, then even if I face difficulties, even if I face some head sickness, I can remember Krishna and I can minimise the misery that comes. So, there is an external troubling stimuli that is there. And there is an internal trouble that I experience.
So, the external troubling stimuli may come, whatever happens. But the internal trouble that we experience, that can be minimised if we take shelter of Krishna. So, seeing our body as a vehicle given by Krishna to us and taking food, taking medicines properly to take care of this body, not just in a mood of avoiding some future complications, but in the mood of service to Krishna, in the mood of taking care of the instrument that Krishna has given to us, that is the best way we can prepare ourselves for whatever destiny will give us in future.
Does that answer your question? Thank you very much. Yes, Babaji. Yeah, we will come to that.
Yeah. You can speak loudly. Hare Krishna, Babaji.
Nowadays, all the teenagers, they always ask for freedom. We want this freedom, that freedom. So, without a spiritual background, how can we advise these children? Okay.
So, when youngsters, they say, I want to be free to do this, free to do that. So, how can we explain to them if they don’t have a spiritual background? Yes, freedom is a natural desire of the heart. At the same time, we need to recognise that there are two kinds of freedom.
There is freedom for and there is freedom from. For example, so freedom for means, I want to eat this, I want to eat that, I want to eat that. I want to be free to eat whatever I want, whenever I want.
That is freedom for. But there is another kind of freedom that is freedom from. So, for example, if somebody, if I focus only as, if I define freedom only in terms of freedom for, I want to eat whatever I want, whenever I want, quite often the result of this is I get addicted to certain kinds of food.
And then if I am addicted to unhealthy foods, then every time, every few minutes, my mind goes back to food, my mind goes back to food. And then that is actually not freedom, that is bondage. So, when we get, Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita in 16.11, Asha, desire is like a bond.
Desire can become a bond which drags us in a particular direction, like a noose. So, when we focus on freedom only in terms of freedom for, I want to eat this, I want to do that, I want to enjoy this, I want to go there, whatever, then often those indulgences become like ropes. And then they drag us towards those indulgences again and again and again.
So, for example, say if this is the home, this is the hostel of a student and this is a school, and say in between there is a bar, where the student can go and say, maybe take some alcohol. Now, what happens if there are two students, one has never drunk alcohol and decided that, my parents have told, my elders have told, I have seen what all happens, I am not going to drink alcohol. That person just passes by there and does not even think about the alcohol.
But the other person, every time the second person passes by that alcohol bar, maybe I can go and drink, maybe I can take a drink. And then, initially when they see the alcohol bar, then the desire comes, I can drink. But after some time, if they keep drinking, then as soon as they come out of the house, at that time, immediately the desire is there, hey, maybe I can go and drink.
Sometimes, not only, there are some alcoholics, there is so much bond, that as soon as they wake up, the first thing that they think is, oh, I have to drink. So, I am currently writing a book on addiction and de-addiction and bhakti. So, I was reading about how people become addicted.
So, there was this one young man in America, and he, at one night, one early morning, I slept at around 12 o’clock, 1 o’clock, and 3 o’clock he woke up. And he felt a strong urge to drink. He went to his fridge and he found there was no alcohol over there.
He decided, I will go to the nearest bar. And he was going towards the bar, and while he was going in his car, his car broke down. It was cold night, North America, Detroit, that part in the winter is freezing.
So, he went there, he walked through the cold night and as soon as he came to the bar, he found a particular brand he wanted to drink, that was not there. He got exhausted. He had to walk almost like several blocks to another place where there was a bar.
Finally, he went there and finally, he got the bar. And the craving was so understandable. He opened the bottle and drank it.
He says, no, I drank a little bit, I am done. And he thought, no, I spent so much, I will drink this very peacefully, very joyfully. I will enjoy this.
So, he closed it and started walking along. As he was walking along, he slipped and fell. And he had not closed the lid.
So, there is an Abhishek of alcohol. And as he was lying on the ground, and suddenly he looked at all the buildings, all of the skyscraper buildings with all their houses, everybody was dark, everybody was asleep. And suddenly it struck him, what am I doing? I could have been peacefully sleeping in my bed.
Here am I at night in cold, you know, lying on this ground, injured with alcohol all over my body. That time he said, I am asleep. So, that time he realised, I am asleep.
So, when we start indulging, we may think that I am enjoying, but every time I enjoy, the desire becomes a stronger and stronger bond for me. And I cannot get rid of the desire. So, if we think of freedom only in terms of freedom for, then we become bound.
And if we can realise that we are bound, that also is a fortune. But our freedom is lost most when we have the illusion of freedom. Now, when I think I am free, but actually I have an illusion of freedom.
So, when I have an illusion of freedom, then, so today most of the things that we think in terms of freedom, you know, what are those things? Okay, I want to eat this, I want to go here, I want to watch this movie, I want to do this, I want to do that. But often if we think about these desires, these are not really the desires that come from our heart. They are desires that are induced within us by the corporate control media.
I know this is a topic which is quite insidious. In the 1920s, 1929 roughly, the cigarette industry, they found that their market had reached more or less saturation in America. Because they found that, you know, all the young people, all the young men who could smoke, who had money enough to buy cigarettes, they were already buying cigarettes.
And at that time, the harmful effects of smoking had not yet come out. So, they thought, how do we expand our markets? And their marketing team got a brainwave. They said, 50% of the population does not smoke.
Because at that time, women were not smoking. So, then in the American Independence Day parade, they had some of the leading female icons of America, Bollywood stars and other prominent female icons, they had custom-made cigarettes for them. And at the most visible points in that parade, they had all of them flip out a cigarette, a special customised, you know, female, thin, long cigarette, which females, and they all started smoking it.
The media just stood up, what are you doing? And they marketed that cigarette as, oh, we are lighting the torch of freedom. Now, because that was a time when the suffragette movement was gaining power, and the idea was that women had been exploited and restricted for long, said, oh, we all want to light the torch of freedom. And within just a few years, millions of women started smoking.
And it was only later that the harmful effects of smoking for women, especially for women in their pregnancy, all that started coming up. But by that time, it was too late. So, when the hysteria that was created, oh, torches of freedom, nobody asked at that time, how does lighting a cigarette lead to freedom? The perception is so strong, when the media wants to create a particular perception or to exploit us, they define freedom in particular ways.
So, we have to honestly and intelligently think, now is what I think that I want to do, this is what I want to do, and I am restricted. There is freedom, what we think of as freedom for, quite often, that is defined by the corporate control media for us. So, we should also think of freedom in terms of freedom from.
If I have freedom from certain desires, that itself is a great relief. So, I was telling the example of that person, the student who has never drunk alcohol, he has no intention of drinking alcohol, they just pass by the bar without any temptation at all. Their mind and mental energy is not agitated at all.
So, freedom from is actually a very empowering form of freedom. So, if every time I think, every time I pass by a hotel, I want to eat something, every time I go here, I want to eat something, then that is not freedom. That is actually a sickening form of bondage, where I just cannot think about higher things, because I am constantly thinking of eating, I am thinking of this, I am thinking of that.
So, we have to not let the world and the culture define what is freedom for us. When we look inwards, when we look upward, upward means towards the scripture, towards spirituality, and we realise, understand what our values are, what is truly important for us, and then focus on that. Then we will be acting in a, acting for, see freedom is itself not the ultimate goal.
Freedom is meant to be a tool for happiness. Freedom alone, we want freedom so that we can perceive happiness. But an alcoholic who has freedom, their freedom is hurting them.
Many times when people become addicts, they go into rehabilitation clinics. And one of the fundamental characters of a rehabilitation clinic is, if somebody is going for a rehabilitation from alcoholism, then they are put in an environment where they have no alcohol over there. They voluntarily put themselves over there because they recognise that the freedom to drink will mean destruction for you, will mean bondage for you.
So, just as they voluntarily put themselves in a situation of regulation. So, similarly, we need to recognise that freedom does not come simply by doing what we want to do, where we want to do, when we want to do. But freedom comes by understanding what is truly important for us, and then developing the focus to do those things.
So, the person who is thinking, I want to be free to drink whenever I want, that person will not be able to act in constructive ways for developing their higher talents, for pursuing their higher purposes. So, rather than letting the corporate control media define freedom and freedom in terms of only for, freedom to do this, freedom to do that, we can actually have an expanded definition of freedom, where freedom from certain drives and cravings is also empowering. So, that we have freedom for doing higher and noble things in our life.
So, the rules do not necessarily bind us. Rules often free us to do higher things. Rules, they free us from lower cravings so that we can do higher things in our life.
So, freedom is not simply uninhibited. No, freedom is not simply indiscriminate self-expression. Freedom, whatever I want to do, I will do it, that is not freedom.
Freedom is the facility to bring out the best within us. Suppose there is a music competition, and people say that I want to be free to play whatever I want to play, and somebody never does any practise and just goes on the stage and is free to play what they want to play. Well, they will be expressing themselves, but often that expression will be not the best of themselves, it will be the worst of themselves.
So, if we want to express ourselves, we want to express the best of ourselves, then that requires that the musicians practise. They practise systematically, those who are aspiring music artists, they practise and then they bring out the best. So, we should not define freedom in a simplistic way as doing whatever we want to do, whenever we want to do.
We need to see freedom as that facility, which brings out the best within us. And that freedom comes by practising spirituality, which involves certain rules, which frees us from our lower drives, so that our higher aspirations can be expressed. Does that answer your question? Yes.
Hare Krishna Prabhuji, in Bhagavad Gita, Karma, Persuasion, these yogas, are they constitutions of personalities, like the intellectual nature of Jnana Yoga, or Emotional Yoga, Pure Yoga, Intuitive Yoga, Karma Yoga, and all these are linked to Moksha, and I believe, can you throw some light on this? So, yes, in the Bhagavad Gita, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Bhakti, all are talked about. So, are these meant for people with different kinds of mentalities? Is it that more sentimental people take up Bhakti, and more intellectual people take up Jnana, and do all lead to Moksha? Yes, all the yogas are progressive paths towards liberation. So, the word yoga itself means connection, connection of the soul with the Supreme.
So, Karma Yoga means connection primarily through action, detached action. Jnana Yoga means connection primarily through intellect, primarily through intellection. Intellection is intellectual contemplation.
And Bhakti Yoga is connection through devotion. Now, if you look at the Bhagavad Gita, it does talk about different paths. But one conception in the Gita is that, the Bhagavad Gita says, okay, whichever path you want to follow, you can follow.
If you want to follow this, you can follow this. If you want to follow that, you can follow that. But if we see the Bhagavad Gita, it concludes a very categorical declaration.
18.66 says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam sharanam vraja aham tvam sarva-papindhyo mokshe shyami ma shuja aham sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam sharanam vraja. You have all varieties of religion, and just surrender to me. The surrender to me is clearly the path of Bhakti.
So, Krishna is not just telling over here, you follow whatever path you want. Krishna is recommending that you follow Bhakti. And Bhakti can also be followed at various levels.
So, for example, in from 12.8 to 12.12, Krishna talks about how Bhakti can be followed at various levels. First, he says, mayyeva manadhatso mayi buddhimni vahishayah yuvasishyasi mayyevata uddhamna samishayah. He says, fix your mind on me, devote your intelligence to me, and this way you will live in me even now.
So, it is interesting, Krishna is also saying, devote your intelligence to me. He is not saying that if you are intellectual, you practise Jnana Yoga. No, he is saying, even if you have intelligence, devote your intelligence to me.
Then he says, if you cannot constantly devote your mind and intelligence to me, that is 12.8. He says, one level lower is 12.9. Atacittam samabhatam nishaknosi maistiram abhyasayogena tato mam icchatam danyam. He says, you practise abhyasayoga. Abhyasayoga means practise, trying to fix the mind on me.
Do sadhana bhakti. So, for example, when we chant Hare Krishna and try to fix the mind on Krishna, that is what we are trying to do, sadhana bhakti. Then if we cannot even do that, then he says, one level lower is, you work for me.
Mat karmo parma bho mad-artham pri karmani purvan siddhim avapsisi. He says, you work for me, that means do various kinds of seva. Even if you cannot think about Krishna, we can do various kinds of seva for Krishna.
If you cannot do various kinds of seva, then Krishna says, you work, but you sacrifice the fruits of your action for some noble cause. And by that, gradually rise to a higher level of perfection. So, the point is, Krishna clearly recommends bhakti yoga as the universal path for liberation for everyone.
And if somebody cannot practise bhakti at the highest level, they can practise bhakti at various levels, where sometimes the intelligence is prominent, or where the action is prominent. So, rather than thinking of the Bhagavad Gita as recommending different paths in different sections, some people say that, say the first six chapters of the Bhagavad Gita talk about karma yoga, the last six chapters talk about jnana yoga, the middle six chapters talk about bhakti yoga. That’s what is often understood.
But more precisely, actually, the first six chapters of the Bhagavad Gita talk about how karma yoga leads to bhakti yoga. And the last six chapters talk about how jnana yoga leads to bhakti yoga. So, for example, Krishna, in the third chapter, 30th verse, he says that, mayi sarvani karmani sannyasya dhyatmachitah sandhya raashir nirbhamo bhutva yudhyasya mahyam dhajvayah.
The third chapter is called as karma yoga. But this chapter, this verse, like the climax in that, he says, don’t just be detached from the fruits of your work. He says, offer the fruits of your work to me.
So, karma yoga culminates in bhakti yoga. What Krishna is saying is, practise karma yoga, but just don’t focus on karma, don’t just focus on detachment from karma, focus on devoting your fruits to me. Similarly, when he talks about jnana yoga, in 7.19, he says, bahunam janmanamante jnanavan mam prapadyate vasudevah sarvamiti samatmasu durlabhaham.
So, this is bahunam janmanamante. After many lifetimes, those who become jnanavan, those who become true knowledge, what do they do? They mam prapadyate. They surrender to me.
So that means the perfection of jnana yoga is also to practise bhakti. So, the Bhagavad Gita talks about, yes, people who have primarily action orientation, they can practise karma. Those who have primarily intellectual orientation, they can practise jnana yoga.
But the Bhagavad Gita’s recommendation is the best course of action is to practise bhakti yoga. And within bhakti yoga, one may focus more on action or one may focus more on intellection, that may vary according to one’s own nature. But all paths lead to progressive elevation.
But the easiest and the fastest elevation comes by the practise of bhakti. And all other paths are to lead to the ultimate success, they have to culminate in bhakti. So, the Bhagavad Gita’s recommendation is, yes, different people with different mentalities can follow different paths.
But eventually, they have to come to bhakti. And they may practise bhakti, according to their individual natures, they may focus on different levels with different faculties being more stressed. And ultimately, through bhakti, they will attain perfection.
Does it answer your question? Thank you. You can speak, I will repeat. You can speak, I will repeat louder.
So, there are three things that come to my mind when I have to make a decision. One is the knowledge that I have gained to discriminate. And the second thing is the default comfort zone that I have to live in.
So, I have to justify what I concluded on previously. I have to conclude on seven things. And I want to justify every time that you know, my conclusions are right.
So, it gives me the comfort zone. So, one is the knowledge to discriminate. Second is the justifications to live in a comfort zone.
And the third thing is to depend freely on as a will of God, right, something when it happens in life. This makes it very complicated to, you know, face a situation. For example, you know, say, I am giving a seminar and a hippie enters the room and sits there, right.
Now, my discrimination of knowledge says, he is going to do something cranky. Because I am only looking into the externals, I do not know his internal, right. My justification of my philosophy says, he will definitely do something because, you know, there are so many examples and there is a conclusion, right.
But depending on the will of God says, maybe he has come here to teach me a lesson. How should we deal with this contradicting situation? So, the question is that sometimes, you know, we through our experience of life, we develop particular modes of perception, which enable us to deal with situations in a sort of some level of control and predictability in certain situations. So, we tend to perceive in a particular way.
But how do we depend on Krishna? Do we focus on maintaining our perceptions or do we focus on just depending on Krishna in everything and being completely open to whatever happens? Both are valid. See, the standard depiction of surrender to Krishna is Draupadi raising her hands and just calling out to Krishna. So, that is definitely one way of surrender.
But the Bhagavad Gita concludes by telling Arjuna, surrender to me. This is the Krishna s instructions end over here, but the Bhagavad Gita itself ends it, not with Arjuna raising his hand in surrender. The Bhagavad Gita ends with Arjuna raising his bow in readiness to fight and that is also surrender.
So, surrender does not necessarily mean passivity. Surrender can also mean activity, not just being proactive, being resourceful. So, the way we surrender in different situations may be different.
And a certain level of preparedness is important. And whatever resources we have, whether they be intellectual resources or they be in terms of experience, in terms of certain skills, we do need to use all those resources in our service of Krishna. So, for example, if we are going to a particular place where people are of a particular mindset, say, if you are going to a place where people, if you are going to science college or whether PhD science students who are coming, then we need to have some preparation, if possible, in the kind of scientific thinking which they have and some knowledge.
These are resources that we have, that is good. And we can use them. But sometimes, we may go to a particular situation, certain preparation, but things may come outside that box also.
So, that means that we have a tendency to analyse and analyse means we fit people into certain categories. And that analytical ability enables us to make sense of life to a large extent. And that analytical ability we should use.
But at the same time, as devotees, we want to take shelter of Krishna and our intelligence should be a tool for us to take shelter of Krishna. Our intelligence itself should not become our shelter. You are getting this point? Krishna is here and my intelligence, it helps me to act wisely.
So, what I should do is, I should use my intelligence to act wisely in Krishna s service. So, if I am an intellectual, naturally, I cannot stop being an intellectual. So, I may analyse and I should use my analytical skills.
But my intelligence should help me to take better shelter of Krishna and to take care, to help share the shelter of Krishna with others. But sometimes, whatever is our greatest strength can become our greatest weakness. Because that instead of becoming a tool to take shelter of Krishna, that becomes an alternative to Krishna.
So, when that happens, then I have a particular framework of thinking and that is helpful for me. But if my thinking and my perceiving stops only with that, then it is becoming a restriction. So, I should see my analytical framework as a gift from Krishna to be used in His service.
But sometimes, it is a tool. Sometimes, Krishna may bring a situation where it may not fit into my analytical framework. At that time, we need to be open.
Krishna, I cannot make sense of this. Please tell me how I can serve you. Prabhupada in the Markinaya Bhagavad Dharma says, Ache kichu karje tabhe nahi keno anibena yeh yuga sthane.
He says, Krishna, I guess, Hanuman, I guess you must have brought me here to America for some purpose. I do not know what purpose you brought me for, but you must have brought me for some purpose. So, even Prabhupada, it is not that when he went to America, everything was clear.
Okay, I will go here, I will meet this person and go here and that person will become my devotee. No, he was, it is more of a strategy. You try out one thing, if it works, you try it.
If it does not work, you try out something else. So, we do use the strategies that have worked for us. But at the same time, we have to recognise that they are strategies.
They are not ironclad, unchangeable principles. A particular frame of analysis helps me and I use it. But if things do not make sense according to that frame of analysis, I should be open.
So, openness to Krishna means using what resources we have in his service, but also keeping on serving Krishna even when those resources do not work. Does it answer your question? Thank you. How to control revengeful violent thoughts? So, how to control revengeful violent thoughts? There are multiple courses of action.
The first is that if somebody has hurt us, it is natural to, the feelings of hurt, we have to acknowledge that they are natural. So, to deny them, to repress them, that is not desirable. Because if somebody has hurt us, just think that I have not been hurt.
It is like I have been wounded and I say I am not wounded. It is not going to work. The wound is going to stay there and it is going to worsen.
So, if we have been hurt, we do need to acknowledge that we have been hurt. But then, how do I act? Now, if I am walking along the road and if a snake has bitten me, then what do I need to do? I need to go to a doctor. But how dare this snake bite me? I am going to go and beat it.
And I chase after the snake. Well, in chasing after the snake, the poison is going faster. I am accelerating my blood pressure, I am accelerating my heart beat and I will be poisoning myself more.
So, the snake bite is there, that hurt is there, we have to acknowledge the hurt, but we have to act in a proper way. Now, it is not if somebody has hurt us, what are the options for us? It is not that just because you are being spiritual, that means any and every wrong has to be always forgiven. There is forgiveness as an emotion and there is forgiveness as an action.
The two are different things. As devotees, not just as devotees, as intelligent human beings, forgiveness as an emotion is always desirable. That means that as if that person did like this and I will do like this to them.
When we have that hateful revengeful mentality, that hurts us more than it hurts others. Because it is like, I am holding a burning piece of coal in my hand, waiting for my enemy so that I will hurl at that enemy. But before that enemy comes, that coal is going to burn me so much.
So, if somebody has hurt us, first of all, we acknowledge the hurt. But after that, rather than letting that revengeful mentality eat us up, okay, I forgive you. When we say forgiving, it does not necessarily mean that we let them go scot-free.
It simply means that we do not let revenge be the driving motive for action. You hurt me, so I will hurt you. Rather than operating at that level, Prabhupada says, do not be angry at the instrument of your karma.
If somebody has hurt me, ultimately I must have done something wrong in my previous life. Because of the karmic reaction, they are hurting. So, then when we have that attitude, we can cultivate forgiveness as emotion.
Forgiveness as emotion means, it is not the same as forgiveness as action. It basically means we do not have the vindictive revengeful attitude while responding to that person. Now, what are the options for us? See, usually we tend to equate forgiveness with trust.
Actually, I have a whole seminar on forgiveness and trust or basically forgiving. I just mentioned this very briefly. Forgiveness and trust are not the same.
Forgiveness is for the past. Trust is for the future. Forgiveness can be given, but trust has to be earned.
If somebody has hurt us in the past, we may forgive them for that hurt. But that does not mean that we open them to hurt us again and again. We may have to create a safe distance between us and them so that they do not hurt us again.
And if they are to come in closer to us, then they have to earn that trust. That means if somebody has hurt us, then rather than acting based on the mentality of revenge, we forgive them as an emotion. It is because of my own karma, but that does not mean that I will let them hurt me again and again.
So, what are the options for us? Now, one option is that we forgive them as an emotion, but if we find that their mentality, they are not ready to change at all. They are just going on doing the same thing again and again. Today they did it with me.
If I give them the opportunity, they will do the same thing again with me. They will do it with somebody else. They are going to hurt others.
Then in such a situation, we may have to take action to correct them. So, whatever action that may be, that may vary according to the situation. Whether it is just that there is a distance in the relationship or there is some kind of judicial intervention or that will vary.
But if we find that the person has no intention or inclination to change, then they may have to take corrective action for it. Then other is in between, we communicate in a manner that is like one extreme solution where we have to counter that problem, but not with the motive of hurting them. The motive is more of making sure that they do not hurt others.
So, that is not a self-centred motive, that is more of a selfless motive. Because when they are going to hurt others, they are going to create bad karma for themselves and they are going to hurt others. It is going to create problems for everyone.
So, it may be part of our responsibility to correct that. But before that there is one extreme solution. The usual standard is we communicate in an appropriate way to them how much their actions have hurt us.
And this we should do in a non-judgemental way. Non-judgemental way means, you know, you are such a monster. Once I start saying like that, that just, if as soon as we make a judgement about a person, then their ego goes into a defensive.
And they just do not hear what we are saying. When you did like this, this, this, this, you know, I felt terribly hurt by that. Because since I expected, this was what I expected.
So, when we, rather than making a value judgement about their actions, we focus on their actions, then what happens, there are feelings and there are facts. Feelings arise from facts quite often. But, you know, the same fact, the same fact may create one kind of feeling within us, the same fact may create some other feeling within us.
So, the problem in communication is that there are facts, but when we communicate with people, we focus on the feelings, we do not tell the facts. And then, how can you think like this? I never had that in mind. So, we are telling our feelings, they are telling our feelings and we feel as if we are in two different universes.
There is no communication at all. So, we have to focus on facts. We can definitely tell our feelings because, okay, this feeling, this fact or this action created this feeling within me because of this, this, this, but start with facts, start with facts, then come to the feelings.
Then we say, actually, this was not my intention at all. Or, oh, I am sorry, I did like this, I did not know. So, they will clarify and things will be resolved that way.
So, that means, the one extreme is they have no intention of changing, then we just take corrective action. Second is, we express our emotions and then we observe. So, then sometimes we find that by that communication, they may change.
If they change towards the positive, they give up that kind of, they truly repent that kind of behaviour and they correct that behaviour, then we may start trusting them. And when we trust them, the relationship may become restored. Sometimes till that, so, the best solution is that through the clarification, there is rectification, there is apology, there is change, and the relationship gets restored.
Otherwise, that so, one extreme of the relationship comes back to normal or becomes stronger. The other extreme of the relationship has to be ended over there. And in between, there may be some functional mode at which we function, we keep some distance and we observe.
So, there is no need to choke ourselves, because we are feeling hurt. But at the same time, there is no need to alleviate others by unregulated expression of our emotions. So, by expressing ourselves maturely, with centred on facts rather than feelings, we can give that person an opportunity to clarify and rectify.
And during that period, we keep a safe distance and we have communication. And then after that, depending on how they respond, we can choose how to move forwards. Does that answer your question? Thank you very much.
Thank you. So, I said that what you cook, we must eat. But if you surrender to Krishna, does Krishna throw that recipe to the husband? Yeah, actually, whatever our past karma is, Krishna takes control of the past karma.
And he orchestrates in such a way that it brings us closer to him. It means that when a devotee is working, when a devotee is functioning in the world, there is the rule of law and there is the rule of law. So, for example, there is a young man who has committed a crime.
And then the person is caught by the police. And the police are chastising him, the police is maybe disciplining him. That is also meant for their good only.
But that is one kind of discipline. But if the person has committed some mistake, and that person’s father, young person, their father or mother are chastising them. How did you do that? Why did you not do that? In both cases, the action may be similar.
There is disciplining, there is chastising. But there is a world of difference. When the police are doing it, it is the rule of law.
When the parents are doing it, it is the rule of law. So, like that, for devotees, it is not that when you start practising bhakti, suddenly all problems will stop because you have surrendered to Krishna. Problems may still come.
And when those problems come, what Krishna does is, he takes our stockpile of karma that is there and he lets it come in a way that helps us come closer to him. Sometimes Krishna will just remove the karma entirely. But the problem with that is, the problem with a problem-free existence is that we feel there is no need for Krishna.
So, quite often for us, it is only when we are in trouble that we feel the need for Krishna. So, that’s why Krishna may not remove all our problems completely. It is when the problems come, we intensify our devotion with that thing.
So, it is not that every single action that we have done, we necessarily have to go through that reaction. But it is also not that we should think just because I have surrendered to Krishna, now I will have no problem, no reaction will come. Rather, we should recognise that actions have their reactions.
And based on this understanding that actions have reactions, we become cautious in choosing our actions wisely. At the same time, when certain problems come in, we should not think that, oh, all my karmic reactions are coming, I don’t know how much karma I have done, I don’t know how much suffering I am going to go through. Rather than worrying about that, we focus on Krishna.
Krishna is in control. And Krishna will make sure that through these problems, I will move closer to Him. So, let me stay devoted to Him.
So, the same karmic reaction, whereas, say for example, a materialistic person falls sick, they are in pain, they will just scream and cry. Devoting call out to Krishna, that calling out to Krishna, it itself is beautiful. That is taking them, intensifying remembrance of Krishna, taking them closer to Krishna.
So, that way, how Krishna will deal with the karmic stockpile of each person, that will vary according to what is best for that person’s spiritual growth. And we should focus not so much on what Krishna is going to do for us, we focus on what we can do. If we focus on making the right choices ourselves, we will keep going towards Krishna and we will grow through those situations.
Does that answer your question? Thank you. Any other questions? Yes, madam. So, if we are professionals, then how can we incorporate Krishna in our daily lives, especially in terms of helping others? Actually, there are different ways in which we all can serve Krishna.
There are the brahmachari sannyasis, there are the renounced order, there are the grahasthas who are the engaged order, and all of them are ultimately meant for the same purpose. It is like we are all in the same army fighting in different battalions, different divisions in the same army. So, for the purpose of teaching Krishna’s message, it is important that there are some people who devote themselves to focus time and share that message.
But most people are at any time, they are going to be living in the world, having their careers, having their jobs, and being an active part of the world. So, when we start practising bhakti, when we teach about bhakti, people need examples of how bhakti is to be practised while living in the world. So, if we do our social professional responsibilities, our family responsibilities, by practising bhakti, while practising bhakti, then that itself sets an example.
So, rather than seeing that connecting people with Krishna is only giving them knowledge about Krishna. Yes, that is one aspect of connecting people with Krishna. But knowledge is only the first step.
After that, the people, they become connected with Krishna not just through the knowledge, they also need inspiring examples. So, if they see that, okay, my colleague is there, my family member is there, my relative is there. By the practise of bhakti, they become better human beings.
They become more caring, more sensitive, more calm. I would like to become like that. So, we can also connect people with Krishna through our actions.
So, there is a segregated vision of bhakti where we think that these activities constitute bhakti, coming to the temple, chanting Hare Krishna, reading the Bhagavad Gita, that constitutes bhakti. And we think other activities are not bhakti. But it is not like that.
Bhakti is an integrated mode of living, where all our activities are part of bhakti. So, even when we are doing a family responsibility, we understand this is not just my family members. They are also parts of Krishna.
And by taking care of them, I am also serving Krishna. When I am doing my job, when I am doing my profession, I am using certain talents, certain abilities that are given to me by Krishna. And through this, through the way I act over here, I can share Krishna with others.
Now, specifically how we do that, we may invite people to temple, we may give them some prasad, we may give them some books, we may connect them with some spiritual websites, whatever. How we do that will vary according to their time, place, circumstance. But we have to have this integrated vision where we see, yes, there are some activities that are directly devotional and they are important.
They need to be done. But along with that, all our activities are also connected with Krishna. And sva-karma-nandam abhyarcha siddhim vindatimanam.
By your work, worship Him, and by that you will attain perfection. So, by associating with devotees, who are also in a similar situation like us, and seeing how they are practising bhakti, how they are sharing bhakti, we can learn it more and more. But overall, we should know that service of Krishna or connecting others with Krishna is not limited to a particular situation.
Everybody can play their part in connecting people with Krishna. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, na jaada dekho taave kaho Krishna updesh, aamaare aagya guru hoyi taare ek desh. So, where you meet, you tell them about Krishna.
And in this way, you become a guru for them. And you share Krishna with them. So, we all can connect people with Krishna by sharing His message, or by setting an example of living His message, or providing facilities for people to connect with Krishna.
Is it an answer to your question? Thank you. Prabhuji, many a times, we as youngsters, when the time comes to choose a profession, we get confused as to what to choose. Because some of us, we are trained as doctors, engineers, chartered accountants, and at the same time, we are good in some other fields, like sports, or your own music or something like that.
When you ask your elders, one school of thought says, oh, you are trained in such and such thing. So, you may practise your profession as a doctor. Side by side, as a hobby, you may choose it.
And another school of thought goes as to, whatever you like, it’s your passion, go follow it, do it, lest you repent in the future. So, how do you draw a nexus between, you are good in that, and you love to do that. So, if we are trained in a particular field, as an engineer, a doctor, or something like that, but we have a passion for something else, be it music, or sports, or whatever, so should we pursue our career according to what we are trained, or should we pursue that which we have a passion for? This is something which we all have to individually take stock.
See, there are our feelings which come and go. And there are certain feelings which stay steady. So, for example, right now, generally, the tendency of the mind is to think, okay, I want to act according to my nature.
What is natural for me, I’ll do that. And the mind says, whatever you are doing, that is not your nature. So, the mind’s nature is to be dissatisfied with whatever we have.
That’s the nature of the mind. Even if somebody is doing, say, if somebody wants to become a cricketer, and they become a cricketer also, it’s not that just because they become a cricketer, they are satisfied. They say, you know, I want to be opening batsmen, but they have made me a middle order batsman.
Actually, the nature of the mind is wherever we are, it will keep us dissatisfied. So, we can’t just let our actions, especially in terms of our career, be determined only by our mind’s feelings. Our feelings are important, but we should not make them all important.
So, it is good for us if we have certain strong feelings or if we have certain reservations about what we are doing. The changing one’s career is a very major decision and is going to affect our whole life. Rather than taking it based on impulse, we can give some time for ourselves.
So, for example, if we have trained ourselves in a particular career, then if we have some reservations about that, write it down. The journaling is a very good way of self-understanding. So, for example, if I write down my feelings, I don’t feel inspired to do this because of this business.
And I feel inspired to do this because of this business. So, when we write down, what happens is, writing down our thoughts and our emotions, that helps us to get a snapshot of our inner world. It’s like when we go to some beautiful places, we take snapshots as a memory of we have gone there.
So, writing down gives us a snapshot of our inner world. And then keep taking snapshots regularly. Maybe every once a month, write them.
Or once a week, write them. And then if you find that the same kind of thoughts are continuing regularly, not just once, not just for one week or two weeks, but they go on for three months, six months, one year. If the same kind of thoughts go on, then we understand this is actually a very strong calling within.
It’s not just a passing inclination. This is a very long lasting aspiration within. And then we may decide to pursue that.
So, by taking a snapshot of our mind through journaling, and the important thing is don’t just chew on it constantly. How should I do this? Should I do that? Should I do this? Should I do that? When we are just too caught up in indecision, that creates insecurity, that creates unproductivity. So, if we are in a particular situation, act wholeheartedly in that situation.
If you are trained in a particular way, act wholeheartedly what you are doing right now. And while doing that, if some thought comes in our mind, maybe this reason also is there. Okay, I have some diaries, just note it down at that time.
Don’t spend too much time thinking about those things constantly. Have some time on a regular basis where we can contemplate that. Maybe once a week, put down time and write down a journal for half an hour or 15 minutes or whatever.
These are the thoughts which I have about this. And by that, eventually even if we have to cancel our elders, we might cancel our spiritual guides, our parents, our friends, then if we have done our homework properly, just like if I go to a doctor, I go to a doctor, I need to tell what my symptoms are. If I go to a doctor and I tell, I am having fever.
But then after I come back, I had cough also, I forgot to tell I had cough. Then the doctor cannot give proper prescription without giving the diagnosis properly, unless we give the symptoms properly, they cannot diagnose and they cannot prescribe. So like that, when we want to consult others also, if we have diagnosed ourselves properly to some extent, at least in terms of recording what we feel, then we more clearly understand what our inspiration is, what our reservations are, what our talents are, and then we can take a more mature decision.
So, we should not think of our nature only in terms of that which, for which we have passion, because what we consider as our passion, that might also be largely determined by circumstances. So, because in a particular culture, this particular activity is glamorised. So, I think that I have a passion for that.
But I may or may not have that passion. So, if we consistently observe ourselves for some time and keep observing our mind, then we will be able to understand, okay, this is what I consistently feel like. Then we may choose that course of action.
The important thing is that such a decision comes from more from our inner, our inner strengths, our inner inspirations, not outer pressures. Normally, we think of outer pressures only in terms of say, okay, society tells me you have to become an engineer, you have to become a doctor, and I am becoming like that. We think that following certain standard career charts, that is what we are, we get a pressure towards.
But actually, apart from those career charts, there will be certain things which are glamorised, maybe sports career is glamorised, or say, movie career is glamorised. So, that may also just be called external pressure of a different kind. So, you know, they say that, that one extreme is to say that, you know, whatever my elders say, I just follow it.
And when that is always emphasised too much, the hippies, they had a culture, if my elders say it, it must be wrong. So, rather than saying that, you know, my elders always have to be right, or my elders always have to be wrong, we have to recognise that rather than making it absolute, we understand ourselves better, we understand our elders better, we can have proper discussion, and then we can arrive at a mature decision. There is no need for life changing decisions to be taken hastily.
They have to be taken patiently with due deliberation. And if we observe ourselves over a consistent period of time, then we will be able to understand our friends better. And then we will be able to get others guidance also in a more effective way.
And then we will be able to take the decision. Does this answer your question? Thank you. Any other questions? Yes, Prabhu.
Hare Krishna. Prabhuji, the feelings, intuitions which we get, the inner voice, basically is it something which is taking us to our destiny or is it the Lord s voice to us? The inner voice that comes to us, is it taking us towards our destiny? Is it the Lord s voice? Yes, it can be, but it is not necessary. Everything that is inside the inner voice is always always the positive voice for us.
One time, in the early days, one young hippie devotee said, Prabhupada, yesterday you came in my dream and you told me to take drugs. Prabhupada said, that was not me, that was maya coming in my car. So, it is not that always the inner voice is the voice of God.
So, we have, antar bahir ashubham vidhanvan, acharya chaitya vipusha swarthim ganakthi. The Bhagavad Gita 11th chapter in the Uddhav Gita it is said, that the Lord guides us from within and from without. Internally, He guides the Chaitya Guru as the Paramatma.
Acharya chaitya vipusha swarthim ganakthi. Externally, He guides us through the scriptures and the sages. So, when we study scripture regularly, when we associate with devotees, then we start understanding and the overall principles that Krishna wants us to live according to.
And the more, ultimately it is not that Krishna wants to keep the right path hidden from us. Krishna wants us to give the guidance, but He wants us to see how much, He wants to see how much we want that guidance. So, whenever the choices of right and wrong of the proper and improper course of action are cleared for us, and at that time we choose the right actions, and what are right and wrong we understand based on Guru sadhu shastra, the sages and scriptures.
Then when we choose the right course of action, when the right is clear to us, then at that time more and more, we are showing Krishna that I want to be guided. And then Krishna will guide us in other situations also. So, in general, the inner voice, if it is in harmony with the broad principles that we have learned from scripture, from the sages, from the devotees, then what we understand is this is Krishna’s voice.
If it is something which is not really connected with Krishna, but it is taking us away from Krishna, then we understand this is not Krishna’s voice. And if it is not really, neither directly pro-devotional or anti-devotional, then we may have to just, as they say, play by the finger, we may try it out. And we learn, okay, when I act on the impulse, it sometimes works well, sometimes it doesn’t work well.
So, we can’t always say that the inner voice is bad or the inner voice is good. We learn from scripture and we learn from experience. So, it is possible that sometimes we may get a hunch and we act on it and it works out good.
But sometimes we act on the hunch and then we later realise there is not a hunch, this was simply a rush of blood. I did act very impulsively and I should not have acted like that. So, there is a certain amount of self-observation that is required.
So, we may not always know right in the beginning, when a particular some prompting comes from within, whether I should do this or should not do this. But we shouldn’t make an assumption that this is the voice of Krishna or this is the voice of Maya. We use the intelligence that we have got based on Guru Sadhu Shastra to evaluate that.
And then we further evaluate that in the light of our experience in our life and by that we can act properly. So, there are many voices within and the voice of Krishna is also there within. So, everything that comes from within is not necessarily Krishna’s voice.
Does this answer your question? Also, Prabhu, just a further answer to this question. So, the inner voices, the intuitions we get when the mind is calm, can they be said to be more correct or compared to when the mind is agitated, the inner voices we get at that point of time? When the intuitions that we get when we are calm, are they always more likely to be correct than when we are agitated? Possibly, but not necessarily. Usually, when we are in goodness, at that time, there is Tamoguna, Rajoguna, Satoguna and there is Shuddha Sattva.
So, when we are in goodness, it is easier to connect with pure goodness. So, it is easier to connect with Krishna. So, in that sense, when we are calm, the illumination that comes may be coming from Krishna more likely, but it is not necessarily because Krishna’s intuition can come anywhere.
It can come in a dream, it can come, there is an example of one scientist, he was trying to solve some problem. And he was just working, working, not getting any idea. And once he was just in a crowded metropolis, he was trying to catch a bus.
And as he was catching the bus, as he was climbing and holding on to the bus, suddenly he got an idea. So, caught in the idea, he actually fell back from the bus. And then that is, it is a complex mathematical problem.
There is no way at that time he could have done the mathematics and he could have got a conscious solution. He was lying on the ground and people were around, what happened to you? And he was delighted, yeah, I got the solution. So, it may work out that Krishna’s guidance can come to us at any time.
But we should focus not so much on when we are getting the guidance, but whether that guidance makes sense in terms in the light of Guru Sadashastra. And yes, we all can evolve to a certain, if we observe ourselves, we will learn that, okay, in this situation, I think more clearly. In this situation, my thinking becomes fuzzy.
And we can try to put ourselves in situations where our thinking is more clear, and then take decisions or then seek guidance for taking decisions. So, that means, if something is favourable for clear thinking, we should use that. But we should know that the intuitions, they do not necessarily depend on that.
They can come anytime. And we should be open for that at all times. Does that answer your question? Just one more question.
Can you come to me later if you don’t mind? Hare Krishna Prakriti, in terms of forgiveness which you mentioned, does forgiveness justify the act done or the word caused by the other person? And does the credit of karma get cancelled there when you let go? Does it go on to the next life? Or is it just cancelled there? Okay. So, does forgiving someone mean that the karmic balance ends over there, still it is carried over to the next life? There are multiple aspects to this. See, forgiveness is a matter of, as I said, as an emotion, we should always forgive so that we are not driven by a vindictive mentality.
At the same time, actions have reactions. So, if somebody has hurt me and I forgive them, does that mean that from the law of karma point of view that now there is no more consequence of that wrongdoing? It is not like that. That action was a wrongdoing and there are consequences of that.
But the fact that other person forgave or the fact that this person sought forgiveness for that wrong action or tried to do some correction, that is taken into account. And that is taken into account, the consequence or the magnitude of the hurt that is there, the magnitude of the reaction that is there, that will be decreased. So, it is not that forgiveness erases the karma.
Forgiveness, what it does is, it can help in minimising the karma, especially when it is under devotional context, when the person is also trying to practise bhakti, to rectify not just that particular wrongdoing, but rectify overall the mentality for the wrongdoings, then forgiveness is very empowering in terms of minimising the karmic reactions. But we can, rather than thinking of karma as purely a mathematical thing, no, you hurt me like this, therefore, you have to get a reaction of 1000. And now I forgive you, your reaction overcomes you.
It is not like that. The law of karma is not exactly mathematical. In fact, the whole idea of wrongdoing and ethics, this cannot be mathematically quantified.
The principle here is, karma is a mechanism to reorient us in the right direction. And so, whatever punishment also comes, the purpose of the punishment is not to hurt, is not to injure, is not to cause pain. The purpose of the punishment is also to reorient and reform.
And the act of forgiving from our side means we are not holding on to a vindictive mentality. And the act of seeking forgiveness from their side, and actually acting in a reformed way from their side is also an indication that they are reorienting, that they are reforming. So, the Bhagavad Gita says, the intricacies of karma are very complex to understand.
And rather than worrying too much about whether all the karmic accountability will be erased or not, we can understand that if we are reforming our mentality, then it is not that the law of karma is meant to catch us. It is not that I have reformed but still, hey, you did that and you have to be punished for that. Krishna is not a fault-finding God.
It is not that he is waiting, you did that wrong, I am going to punish you for this. No. If we overall exhibit a mentality of reforming, then Krishna will take that into account and will help us to move closer to it.
Does fate and destiny refer to the same thing? Usually the word fate has a negative connotation. That means when we say on a fateful day, so that means on some day when some very bad thing happened. So, usually the word fate has a negative connotation.
So, when we say it was fated to happen, that means this particular bad thing was going to happen, something like that. Whereas destiny is used more in a non-judgemental sense. Destiny can be positive, destiny can be negative.
But in terms of philosophy, so in terms of usage, fate has a more negative connotation, destiny has a more positive connotation. But in terms of philosophical conception, fate and destiny broadly refer to the same thing. They refer to the stockpile or the aggregate of our past actions for which certain reactions are going to come.
One or two more questions. So, how do we manage the dualities in everything? Like for example, when we are following sadhana, we are doing sadhana and at the same time we are doing business, materially we are doing business. So, when we do sadhana, we kind of develop a mode of goodness and it’s like we tend to get satisfied with less.
We tend to see right in everything as a plan of Krishna. But this thing is very salient for doing a business in a material world because materially doing business means you should have profit, you should have the passion in it. So, sometimes it so happens that there is a duality in mind that the more you are inclining towards goodness, your passion is getting reduced.
At the other time, when we give more inclination towards passion, we tend to fear that the goodness is going down. So, how do we balance this? So, if you practise bhakti, we come to goodness and we tend to be satisfied with what we are doing. But when we are doing business, we went to competitive and we seek profit, we need passion over there.
See, it’s not that passion is necessarily bad, nor is it that goodness is universally a virtue. All these three modes are part of nature and passion has a function, goodness has a function, ignorance also has a function. So, it is when we are in the mode of ignorance basically become inactive, at the time when the body gets rejuvenated when we take rest, when we sleep.
So, all the modes have their function. The point is, the intention to serve Krishna is the most important. So, the brahmanas serve primarily through goodness, the kshatriyas, the vaisyas, they primarily serve, their functional mode is primarily passion.
But everybody can permeate whatever is the natural action with the mood of devotion. So, primarily what we should focus on is permeating all our activities with the mood of devotion. And for that, we do need a certain level of serious sadhana bhakti practise, because then that connects our heart with Krishna.
Once our heart is connected with Krishna, whatever else we do, that can be connected with Krishna. Along with doing that, depending on our individual natures, even a brahmana can go into passion. Because somebody may be doing intellectual work, but intellectual work they are thinking, okay, this work, I can get this much grant by doing this.
And this can lead to this much prestige, this can lead to this much honour. Academics can also become very money minded or very prestige minded. So, even intellectual work can be done in passion.
And even business, there is a whole genre of, within business, there are conscious entrepreneurship, conscious leadership, corporate social responsibility. So, all this is within business also, there can be elements of goodness, that people pursue business, not so much, profit is a natural motive for business, it is a necessary motive for business. But profit does not have to be only motive for business.
This can also be done for the purpose of value creation. Okay, I am working in this particular field. And I work to create value in this particular field in this way.
And if I do that, while I am creating value through what I do, along with that, profit will naturally come. So, it is not that as devotees, we have to give up the mode of passion. When Arjuna was fighting a war, in the middle of the war field, it was not that he was worrying or cultivating goodness.
At that time, his focus was on fighting. So, if certain modes of, certain modes of functioning are required for certain professions, we can have those modes. But our focus should be on ensuring that we have an attitude of serving Krishna.
And for that, we need to associate with devotees, we need to practise sadhana, bhakti directly. And eventually, each of us will find what kind of functioning is comfortable for us. We should not go towards an artificial renunciation, which we cannot sustain.
So, it is just like some people can lift 20 kg weight very easily. Others can lift 30 kg weight easily. Others can lift 10 kg weight easily.
Now, whatever weight you can lift, you take forward. So, some people, they can do one activity in a very focused way. Some people, they need to do 10 activities.
Now, they are doing this, also doing this, also doing this. Otherwise, they feel like getting bored and not doing much. So, we all have different natures.
So, rather than letting how others are functioning, determine how we should function, we should focus on, okay, I have this kind of drive, I have this kind of inspiration. So, if some devotees feel more inspired to do direct devotional activities, and others feel more inspired to focus on their business, grow their business and contribute to that business, we should always have an inclination, the intention to serve Krishna. But specifically, how we serve Krishna, at what level we serve Krishna, that can vary based on our nature.
There should not be any artificial repression of our essential nature, that will not be sustainable. And as we keep practising bhakti, we learn over a period of time, what is the best way we can function, just like when we eat, sometimes we may overeat. And nobody can tell us, you should do only this much, you eat only this much chapati or this much rice or this much this.
So, we learn by our own experience. So, like that, with respect to our profession, how much we can function of that, what is the balanced way of functioning, which does not cause too much agitation of the mind, and which does not cause too much dissatisfaction and down the bow, I am not doing much, I am not doing enough. So, that balance, we learn by our own intelligence and our experience.
And whatever mode our business requires, we cultivate that mode, but we permeate, we accept that mode, but we permeate that mode with the intention to serve Krishna. Does that answer your question? Thank you. Okay, one last question.
Prabhuji, in Mahabharata, Karna had kavach and kundal, and the day, in one time, in the night time, when he was sleeping, he got that dream that tomorrow morning a brahmana is going to come and ask for your kavach and kundala and you don’t give it. But still he goes and when he is asked for it, he gives it away. So, was it, this was his destiny? Okay.
So, when Karna got a dream that a brahmana is going to come and he should not give to that brahmana, the kavach and kundala, still he gives. So, was that his destiny? No, not necessarily. Actually, the Mahabharata describes that it was the brahmana who came was actually Indra.
And the voice that he heard in the dream was Surya. So, basically, there are the higher gods involved in all these activities, because they were their progeny over there. Karna is an example of what happens when a lower value is made into the highest value.
See, for Karna, he was a Kshatriya. And he had the mentality of being charitable, mentality of being bound to his words, honour bound, all this is very good. But the problem with him was that there are ethics and there are levels of ethics.
A moral crisis is when one choice is moral, the other choice is immoral. And then that requires strength of character to avoid the immoral choice and to make the moral choice. But an ethical crisis is when there are two choices, both are right.
But which is more right and which is less right? That requires not just strength of character, it also requires intelligence to perceive properly. So, for example, he had given his word that anybody who asks me for any charity, I will give that charity to them. This to be bound to be honour, to honour one s word, this is very good value.
But at the same time, there are other principles involved. He had told Duryodhana, I will fight on your side. And he felt he was bound by that word.
But when he gave that word to Duryodhana, right in the beginning, the first meeting in Drona s martial exhibition, at that time, he did not know about the extent of maliciousness that Duryodhana had towards the Pandavas. So, when he started understanding, he eventually understood. If you look at the Mahabharata, initially, whenever the Kauravas are making some evil schemes, Karna opposes.
When Shakuni says that let us send the Pandavas to the Varnavat and set their house on fire. So, Karna says, why do you want to do like this? Let us challenge them to a war and we will defeat them. So, Shakuni says, no, we are not going to defeat them.
So, basically, Karna has his and his conscience is still there. And he is recommending right choices. But eventually, as he keeps associating with the Kauravas, his sense of conscience becomes dull.
And because he gets his whole sense of self-worth from the Kauravas, they have given him the kingdom, they have given the honour of being a Kshatriya. So, his innate sense of right and wrong gets suppressed by that. And eventually, it goes to such an extent that it is he who proposes, suggests that Draupadi be dragged to the assembly and disrobed.
And he calls Draupadi a prostitute. So, all that is horrendous. Of course, to his credit, he regrets it later.
But the point is, in terms of ethical choices, that is, the choice of sticking to one’s world. So, I wrote an article on this, which is published in Back to World. Karna’s choice, world of honour or life of honour.
World of honour is important. But in the name of world of honour, if I have to live a life devoted to somebody who is dishonourable, so that is a wrong choice. So, it was not that Karna was destined to act in wrong ways.
He chose to act in wrong ways. So, it was his, we could say it was his destiny to be put in that situation where he had some Kshatriya qualities, but he was not known as a Kshatriya. He did not get the proper education as a Kshatriya.
That was his destiny. But within that destiny, he could have made choices and he got abundant counsel from various people to make right choices. But unfortunately, he chose wrong.
When Krishna came and invited him to come on Pandavas side, at that time he rejected. And that was a choice which sealed his fate. So, it is not our choices are never destined.
The circumstances that accompany the choices, they may be destined. But our choices are always up to us. But by our choices that we make, we may seal our destiny.
So, once Karna told that I am going to fight on the Pandavas side, then Krishna told him, then we meet on the battlefield. And that is where you will be meeting your end. And he also knew that that is going to happen.
So, it is not that our choices are controlled by destiny. It is our circumstances are controlled by destiny and our choices are what we do. And by that we seal our destiny.
Otherwise, our destiny is quite open for positive reshaping. So, if there are psychological disorders, do they need to be medically treated or can devotion be used as a substitute? There are, within when you talk about psychological disorders, there are various kinds, and we cannot make any generalisation. So, for example, there is this whole tendency within the mental health industry to try to find chemical solutions to human problems.
The human problems means there is anxiety, there is grief, there is loneliness. Now, all these are human problems. And these are problems which we all face just by our being, by our very being human, we have to face these problems.
And the whole commercialisation of mental health has led to a lot of exploitation. There are several, several of these, in 1956, the first antidepressant drug was introduced. And then within 5 years, the antidepressant drug became practically among the top 5 selling drugs in America.
And now, some of the companies which sell antidepressant drugs and things like that, some of those countries, their budgets are bigger than the budgets of entire countries in the European Union. And in those companies, actually, they spend far more on marketing than on research or production. So, what happens is, rather than solving existing problems, often these advertisements and this promotion, it pathologises normal problems.
So, we should not think that every time I have some anxiety, I have some fear, I have some irritation, or I have some disorder. There was a well-known experiment which was done in England, that they had one patient, he was like one person who was made a subject. And he was sent to 6 different mental health professionals with the same set of symptoms.
And all 6 give entirely different diagnosis. And they said, oh, you have this problem, you have this kind of disorder, you have this kind of disorder, you have this kind of disorder. And all 6 entirely different.
Why is that? Because when it comes to mental health, there is no physical specimen. If I say that I have malaria, I can have tangible testing to prove that there is a malaria infection in my body. But if I say that I have got, say, a post-traumatic stress disorder, or I have got the, what is that nowadays children, they say they have it hyper, attention, attention, attention deficiency, hyperactivity disorder.
Yeah, ADHD. So, when they say this, now actually, it might just simply be the normal restlessness of children. So, the point is, when it comes to mental health, it is, there is no very concrete, verifiable, tangible, measurable symptoms.
A lot depends on the, on the, what the patient tells and what the health professional stresses. And they can give very widely varying diagnosis at that time. That is why we need not pathologise every single problem.
So, if there are some anxiety, if there is some anxiety, there is some irritation, there is some frustration, there is some pessimism, there is some depression, there is some inferiority complex, whatever. It is not that for all these immediately we have to go to some doctors and check in. We should talk with, talk with our friends, talk with our relatives, talk with devotees, and we can try spiritual remedies.
That means, if we connect with Krishna more and more, if we fix the mind on Krishna, we remember Krishna s love for us, and that does not mean necessarily chanting. If we have to find out, the point is to connect ourselves with Krishna. Chanting is an important way to connect with Krishna.
But different devotees may be able to connect with Krishna differently. Some may find through music they are more connected. Some through the philosophy they may get more connected.
Some may get more connected through taking darshan of deities. So, basically, if we connect ourselves with Krishna, and by making Krishna the anchor of our inner world, we decrease the agitation in the inner world. That is a recommended solution.
And it does work on many occasions. At the same time, we should not think that if some devotees need medical attention, I mean, some devotees, some people need medical attention in terms of some people may have clinical depression, where it is not just a problem of just they are feeling let down, there are certain chemical imbalance in the brain. And that is what is required to be healed, that is what is required to be treated, then there should not be any stigmatisation of the need for medical attention, for therapeutic attention, for pharmaceutical attention.
If that is what is required, that is what should be given. So, when there is stigmatisation, then even when people need attention, they do not take attention. They do not take that and they unnecessarily have to suffer.
So, I know one devotee, he just could not sleep for seven, eight years. He was just not able to sleep. And then he thought, what is this? Finally, he went to some doctors to diagnose and found out there was some particular chemical that was deficient, not letting him sleep.
And then he took that immediately. Next day, from the next day, he was able to sleep well. So, of course, this is sleep is not necessarily mental alone.
But it is a whole thing, he thought maybe I am too anxious or too stressed because I am not able to sleep. So, the point is, especially something can be diagnosed in terms of some tangible, structural or biochemical disorder in the brain, intangible, it is not just conceptual, but tangible, then medical health, taking mental health treatment is fine. It should not be stigmatised, but it should not be the first course of action that is sought.
And as the devotee community expands, if we can have devotees who are in mental health profession, then that can be very helpful. Because sometimes, those who are in mental health profession, they often recommend things that may not be devotional, that may actually be anti devotional. So, which is also not very good.
Often mental health professionals, they work on particular kind of paradigms, which are very tentative and experimental. So, for example, because of Sigmund Freud’s ideas, they had the idea that whatever problems we have, that is because we are not expressing our emotions. So, these are actually, historically they have been done, they think that if you just give way to your expression, then you will actually solve your problem.
So, in the 1960s, there was a lot of racial tension between the whites and the blacks. So, they had an experiment, they thought, get the whites and the blacks in one room and let both of them vent out whatever they feel. And after they have vented out, then their emotions will get exhausted and then become pacified.
But actually, what happened was the entire opposite. Because if we start venting out everything that is in our heart, then you think like this about me, you think like this about me. It is practically, they started out venting out and by the end, they were in blows with each other.
That is one of the biggest, most disastrous experiments in mental health care. So, within mental health care, if there is something which can be biochemical, which requires biochemical or structural correction, that can be taken. And if we can have people who are devotional or professionals who are devotional, at least who are sympathetic of devotional principles, then their guidance is the best in such situations.
But we should not assume that by nature, devotion alone will be a substitute for mental health problems, because the mind is also material. The mind is not spiritual. Just as if I have a digestive problem, or if I have a fracture of a hand, it is not that I expect that chanting Hare Krishna will cure the fracture of the heart, fracture of the hand or chanting Hare Krishna will cure my digestion.
So, the spiritual is not necessarily a substitute for the material. The spiritual is the director of the material. The spiritual enables us to direct the material constructively.
So, Arjuna got the spiritual wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita, and he won the war of Kurukshetra not by the wisdom of the Gita. He won the war of Kurukshetra by using the skill of archery which he had learned throughout his life. But he would not have been able to use that skill of archery if he had not got the inspiration from the spiritual wisdom of the Gita.
So, the spiritual and the material in this case were complementary. The spiritual gave him the inspiration and motivation to act and the material gave him the practical skills to act. So, now, with respect to gross material things such as fighting or eating or fracture, we can easily understand that the spiritual and the material, the spiritual does not substitute for the material.
But with respect to the mind, the mind is subtle material. And when you talk about subtle material, that means there are certain emotions within it, which may be unregulated and wild and they can be controlled by spiritual practises. When we get spiritual satisfaction, they can be controlled.
But Krishna also talks, for example, that that our own basic nature cannot be changed. He says, sriyansva dharmoham guna para dharmat samsthita. He tells Arjuna, the Kshatriya cannot act like a Brahmin.
It is not that by practising bhakti, a Kshatriya is going to become a Brahmin. The mind of a Kshatriya is going to stay as the mind of a Kshatriya. So, the spiritual and the material, when it comes to the level of the mind, it has to be dealt with carefully.
Some aspects of can be healed by spirituality. Healed means changed or purified or reformed. But some aspects of the mind need to be channelled.
So, the lust, anger, greed, say, by practise of spirituality, they will be curbed. But the Kshatriya nature, the Brahmin nature, that cannot be curbed, that has to be channelled. So, when it comes to the level of the mind, whether the spiritual will completely heal whatever is the mental level, or the mental level needs to be channelled in a particular way, or the mental is connected with the brain and it needs to be biochemically treated, this has to be decided on a case to case basis.
So, there should not be, first, as soon as we have a problem, I jump to a psychologist or a mental health care, that should not be the situation. But if somebody needs it, there should not be any stigmatisation. We are fighting a war and whatever works, we can use it to make it work and continue our self-destruction.
Thank you very much. So, we would like to thank His Grace Chaitanya Saran Prabhu for presenting this three-day seminar and Make Your Destiny. And he also answered so many questions in a very shastric manner and also in a very practical manner and in a very comprehensive approach, in a very balanced manner.
We would like to express our gratitude to him by loudly chanting in our traditional style. So, if anybody would like to mention any feedback about the seminar or any other