NBS 20240828 “”Materially Peaceful Spiritually Joyful session 2” by HG Chaitanya Charan Prabhu

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
We will officially close the class. Literally, the word pratyama-krishta, means the pratyama is intelligence.
Pratishtha-sthita is situated. Pratishtha-sthita is strong, firm, situated. A person is very situated.
Like this person. The camera was not pratishtha-sthita. Pratishtha-sthita.
So, Kedar-sambar-desha-yog Kurma-anudha-atim-sarvasah So, in this way, I am like this. Kurma. Kurma is what? Kurma-anudha-atim-sarvasah.
Anudha-anudha-atim-sarvasah. This is the talk of withdrawn spirits. Similarly, Indriya.
Indriya means that the senses from the sense objects need to be withdrawn. So, in general, for the purpose of spiritual growth, we discussed the essential spiritual journey that we explained in terms of our conceptions changing. Initially, the world is big and God is small.
When we grow spiritually, then the world becomes big and Krishna becomes small. Is that right? What happens? The world becomes small and Krishna becomes big. So, for this to happen, we need to withdraw our senses.
Whatever we expose ourselves to, that will become bigger and bigger within our consciousness. So, this… Now, this particular series in a different ways. I will be analysing in one particular way.
That is, this sensory regulation, which is what we will talk about. Or sometimes, if some community is not defending, they will say, oh, we don’t know about this community. And that’s how the community education goes.
The idea is, there can be boundaries at the level of society. So, for example, if we said that, okay, in certain parts of the city, we won’t have certain kind of activities allowed. Say, the idea of boundaries is, okay, this is a school area, the speed limit for vehicles is much lower.
Because children can’t even do it. They just run in the street. So, the idea is, in general, when we talk about boundaries, there are boundaries at the social level and there are boundaries at the individual level.
So, at the social level, the boundaries are created by two things, law and culture. So, certain things are illegal. Say, for example, drinking is not illegal.
But driving and drinking is illegal. So, not everything that is wrong can be made legally law. It will just give too much power to the state to control the problems.
So, in the Mahabharata, the Shuddha Dama’s instructions in Vishnu Maharaja, in the Shanti Patra, and especially in the Anupasana, there’s a decision on how much power should the government have. Even the government is well-intentioned. So, how much of the boundaries be imposed by society and how much of the boundaries be cultivated by the individual.
So, for example, we can say alcohol is a big problem. So, let’s ban it now. Then, forced by society.
We are not going to discuss that at all because we are focussing at the individual level. And when later Krishna talks about dharma-samstha-panartha-yagya-sambhava-mriya, so dharma is law and order. And it is not primarily religion in the context of religion.
Krishna did not fight the war because Duryodhana was a non-demon and he had to pay for everything. That was not the point. Duryodhana was doing criminal activities.
He was doing malpractices. And that’s why he had to be punished. So, of course, Krishna wants us to practise bhakti.
But that is not only socially enforced. Bhakti cannot be made into a rule imposed by society at an individual level. Bhakti is a matter of individual choice.
It’s a matter of an individual offering their heart. So, if we consider the way the verses go, in the fourth chapter, 4.8 and 9, 4.7 and 8, yada yada yadavasya, and paritrana-sambhava, these are about dharma. And this is at the level of society.
This is mandated. Krishna says, don’t do. Don’t agree.
I have punished them. I penalised them. I disempowered them.
I can even kill them. But after that, then Krishna talks about 4.9 and 10, about bhakti. He says, He says, So, this is voluntary.
Krishna says, those who understand my activity, those who understand my attractiveness, will become attractive. They will come to me. So, bhakti is voluntary.
Krishna would definitely want us to practise bhakti. Krishna would want everyone to practise bhakti. But he doesn’t impose bhakti.
Because it cannot be imposed. Faith and devotion are individual choices. So, the point I am making is, society can enforce certain bhaktis.
But, in general, we cannot count on society to enforce the bhaktis. So, and we can’t expect society to enforce too many bhaktis. So, we will focus on individual bhaktis.
What we can have in our own lives so that we can be protected from temptation. So, the example of the tortoise withdrawing its senses. So, tortoise withdrawing its limbs.
The idea of creating a safe space or nature has provided that safe space and a person is withdrawing that safe space. So, the idea is that a boundary helps establish a safe space. So, in this case, a safe space refers to a temptation to be fooled.
Or, at least, observe that temptation is less. Say, is it enough? And, they are going through a social event where there is alcohol. That can’t even constitute an epidemic.
I can drink, I can drink, I should not drink, I won’t drink, I can drink. Now, we may say that we all move a little forward to say no. That is true.
But, we cannot over-reliantly move forward. It gets exhausting. Constantly saying no to a nagging temptation becomes exhausting.
So, boundaries create a safe space. And, every one of us, based on the particular kinds of temptations we face, need to establish certain boundaries for ourselves. So, of course, boundaries alone are not enough.
And, that will be indicated by Krishna in subsequent verses. Like, somebody is an alcoholic, and they move to a house five miles away from a bar. But, if they get caught by that desire, then they may travel five miles, because they have travelled five miles to get a drink also.
So, boundaries are not the final solution. But, they are necessary. Because, if you consider that the desire is free, then talk about the desires.
There are types of desires to be strong. And, there are types of boundaries that are weak. But, there are no boundaries that are easy.
So, broadly, if you establish boundaries, you will have limited opportunities. And, I can say that there are limited opportunities. So, we cannot go to the next stage.
With this, let me give an example from Nietzsche. Generally speaking, whenever Shastra gives an example, we want to learn how to apply scripture in our life. There is often some specific example, or specific detail in scripture.
And, from that specific detail, we need to be able to understand what is the universal principle. And then, this specific example or detail may apply at that time. That time means the time when Krishna spoke scripture.
Now, in our case, what would be the specific detail? That is something which we have to figure out. So, basically, start from the basic level. I turn to the direction now of polygamy.
And, that was a part of traditional society. Not just in India, practically all over the world, for various socio-cultural and socio-economic reasons. But, that particular example may not be seen in our society today.
Still, to some extent, we can understand that example. The idea is, one person being pulled in different directions. But, Prabhupada, when he is illustrating that example, he says, the eyes, sorry, the ears are attracted to radio songs.
Now, actually, Prabhupada puts this in the translation itself. Sometimes, Prabhupada’s translation itself is like the purport. Now, he says, there is no mention of radio in Prahlad Mara Sanskrit.
Isn’t it? So, actually, Prabhupada is going up and down this. He is doing this journey and giving us the some people here. But, now, so, when we were to apply scripture in our life in a specific way, and the universal principle, how it can be applied today.
The tortoise withdrawing its limbs. The universal principle. Now, we are talking about how we can create some specific ways in which we can apply that principle.
So, caste refers to four main things. Category, space, explain what it means. In terms of boundaries, category means, we may decide that this particular degree of things I am just not going to do.
So, for example, when we start practising bhakti, then we may decide, or we decide that we are not going to eat any food that is not offered to Krishna. So, a whole category of temptations is ruled out by that. Or, we follow the regulative principles.
So, no meat-eating. That means that whole category is ruled out. So, sometimes when a person wants to regulate themselves, they may just say, this entire category, no.
Some people may be too hooked to their phone. They may say that, I am just not going to have a phone. Now, sometimes when they say, I won’t have a phone, they don’t face trouble, while others face trouble in contacting them.
Then they need to have somebody else with a phone whom they can contact. And that particular way of functioning may or may not be practical. But the point is, sometimes we say no to an entire category.
This is what I am not going to do at all. So, somebody may be drinking and I am not going to drink anymore. The whole category of alcoholic drinks, no.
And in some ways just having a clear category that we are going to say no to helps us not be constantly undecided. Maybe I can do this to a little degree, a little less, maybe a little more. But just having a category, I am not going to do it.
So, that closes a lot of options that the mind keeps oscillating with. And the problem with the mind is that the more options it has, it gets upset. So, if certain options are just ruled out, this is not happening, then the mind’s agitation decreases.
Now, of course, this may not always be practical and we will talk about that. But certain categories, say for example, if somebody has the craving to eat a lot of food, but they’ve decided, I am only going to take prasad. Then what happens is, even if they say, I’ll cook it, I’ll eat it, but the positives and the negatives, the strengths and the weaknesses of each approach.
So, category, if we can do it, the positive is, there is freedom from agitation. Nothing doing this is not to be done at all. So, now the negative of it is, that it may be impractical.
Impractical means, like somebody says, I will not use any phone at all. Or, I’ll not use a smartphone at all. Well, in today’s day, if somebody says, I’ll use a landline.
Now, you may wonder, how are we going to reach you? So, it may not be practical. And we cannot rule out categories of objects. Society is changing, and the way society changes, affects us.
So, we may decide a particular category of things I am not going to interact with. But, those particular categories of things may still keep encountering them. Eyes get tempted by so many things.
We cannot move around with closed eyes. So, there is a, we cannot always avoid category. But, to some extent, it is definitely possible.
So, for example, that the male-female attraction is a universal principle. That just exists in material existence. And it has a purpose.
Its purpose is procreation. That’s how every species continues. And humanity is no exception.
Now, traditionally, the quantity of marriage, and one has society also reasonably has respect for that. Then what will happen is, that boundary will decrease the agitation in the mind. So, that boundary will keep things protected.
Now, in the West, around 1920s onwards it started, but it became very big around 1960s, was what was called the sexual revolution. There are various kinds of revolution. They call this a sexual revolution.
Where basically they, the argument was that past cultural norms have sexually repressed and inhibited humanity. And that’s why there should not be any regulation of sex. They say, love should be free.
Love should be free means lust should be free. That was very practical application. And they said that because of that, you know, there will be no loneliness.
There will be great proximity among people. But the result of that was, even in the West, see sometimes when we think about West, we have a very reductionistic idea of the West. Say, we think of America means Hollywood.
But actually, in the Western world, America is the most religious country. America is far more religious than UK or France or Australia or New Zealand. In fact, when I have gone to New Zealand, one person was asking me, where all do you travel? I said, I spend almost three months a year in America.
Oh, he said, America? That old-fashioned country filled with religious nuts that elected Trump. their idea is, actually, America, most of the Southern part, Southern and the Middle part, it’s quite evangelically religious. And there, in America also, there was respect for sexual bondage.
Christianity may not have the same kind of, same standard of sexual regulation that we have, but they do also respect the sanctity of marriage and premarital sex or extramarital sex. Prabhupada used the word illicit sex, broadly speaking. But both those premarital and extramarital sex was strongly disapproved.
But after the sexual revolution, the so-called claim for sexual freedom, the social boundaries started collapsing. Now, even now, still in the West, where it’s quite liberal, premarital sex has become almost like a norm. But still, extramarital sex is disapproved of.
They say that you don’t get married. If you’re going to get married, then don’t fool around. I was in New Zealand, I was talking with, I often speak in my talk about sociologically also things are degrading in the Western world.
I talk about how divorces are increasing, families are breaking apart, and children get especially affected by that. So, one of my hosts was telling me, for a Western Outreach Programme, he said, don’t speak about divorces increasing. I said, why? Is it that you know, people are scarred by their divorces and, see nowadays they don’t even use the word divorce, they use the word separation.
It’s a soft word. So, I said, is it that people are scarred and they don’t want to be reminded of that? He said, no, it’s not true. I said, oh really? So, people are not getting divorced? Are marriages becoming more stable? He said, no, people are not getting married.
So, people just live together and do whatever they want. The point is that, there have been traditionally boundaries in society. And if individually and culturally, there is some respect for boundaries, then the agitation of the mind, because of the constant encounter of tempting, of attractive looking people, that will substantially decrease.
But when those boundaries are not there or those boundaries are not respected, then the agitation of the mind becomes much much more. Nowadays people live in a state of constant artificial sexual stimulation. It’s like overstimulated constantly.
And that is just tormenting. But the point is, we need boundaries. And boundaries are helpful.
So, categorical boundaries means, like, if, as I said, a person has respect for dharma, and dharma is, like, in terms of at least marriage, I’m talking about bivaha is a dharma, so then the whole category of, say, extramarital sex or premarital sex, that is ruled out. And then the agitation of the mind decreases. So certain categories, this is not to be done.
And if that can be both socially enforced and individually accepted, this is not to be done. Then that helps quite a bit. But as I said, it may not always be practical in particular situations.
Say, in America, in many places now drugs are being legalised. And now, you may say, okay, just say no to drugs. But they are everywhere.
So then it becomes more difficult to say no to drugs. But, somebody says, okay, even among people who use intoxicants, they may say, okay, I may drink alcohol but I will never do drugs. So that category is no.
So each one of us may decide that a particular category I’m not going to get it. Somebody may say that, I like sweets a lot. But I say, I’m not going to take sugar.
So that doesn’t mean I’m not going to take sweets. I can take sweet fruits, I can take jaggery, I can take dates, I can take sweets made with jaggery. But one category, no.
Somebody says, I’m not going to take fried foods. So, saying no to a particular category in one sense gives the mind a certain black and white. If we can implement that, then that is actually very helpful.
That whole category gradually starts decreasing in its attraction. Now, it doesn’t happen immediately. Right now, we’re just talking about the boundaries.
Afterwards, we’ll move forward and when the boundaries don’t seem to work, what to do? Now, the second is, now the remaining three are all about, if we cannot impose a category on ourselves, then the next is accountability. Accountability can be to others or it can be to ourselves. So, for example, somebody likes to spend a lot of money.
Everybody likes to spend money. Everybody likes money, but there is alcoholism, there is something called shopaholism. Shopaholism is, people are addicted to shopping.
Shop, shop, shop, shop till you drop. People become exhausted. And nowadays, with Amazon and online shopping are possible, you just get a urge and everything is in a credit card, you don’t have to pay anything, just click some button and you buy it.
And then afterwards, you buy it and think, why did I buy it? So, we may not even think it, but if somebody else asks us, why did you buy this? Then we have to explain, okay, how am I going to explain this? I can’t explain. So, if somebody is accountable for how they spend their money, then that itself will create a boundary to how they spend the money. If I know I have to explain to someone else, then that helps.
Accountability is there. So, now, with respect to accountability, in some cases, it is helpful to have an accountability partner, an accountability authority who can help us, to whom we tell, okay, I am dealing with this issue and there are times when I get overwhelmed, I succumb to it. Now, that person shouldn’t be too judgemental, they shouldn’t be too hard, but at the same time, not too soft.
So, we’ll talk about the role of association here, that association can both help, give us inspiration to do the right thing and it can also bring about regulation in doing what is wrong. So, for example, now you are sitting and hearing the class, it’s been a, it’s the evening, all of you probably had a long day, some of you may be tired. Now, if you were sitting at home and listening to this class, then you might think, okay, you know, I’m just a little tired, I might sit on a relaxed chair and hear, or I’ll lie down and hear.
Now, when we lie down, we lie to go down, isn’t it? We lie to ourselves, I’ll lie down and hear. Most of the time, we lie down and then we go down, just fall asleep. Now, of course, sometimes we may just be very tired and the body needs what it needs, but if you are here right now, even if you feel sleepy, just being here means you are not going to lie down and sleep.
Isn’t it? So, sometimes the association around us itself creates certain boundaries. Because, you know, people are going to look at us, what are you doing over here? So there is, in one sense, like an unspoken accountability in association. Unspoken means it is not that we are consciously agreed, you know, I am accountable to you.
But just being around people creates a certain level of accountability that leads to a certain kind of boundaries. For example, people get angry, they may use swear words, they may use vulgar words, swear words or whatever, something like that, gullies. But if, say, they are in a more cultured society, even people who use swear words regularly know that maybe I shouldn’t be using these words in front of children.
So, if a child is there, then that itself, the presence of a child means I cannot use this language. Or a person may use a particular language at office, but they may not use that language at home. Whatever, if we come to a temple, we won’t use that kind of language.
So the surroundings also create some boundaries and it’s almost unspoken. That’s why I said, it’s not a law, but it’s culture. So the association creates a certain level of boundaries, naturally.
Beyond that, we are talking about specifically when we, this is the issue that I am facing and I, I need some accountability. So if we have a friend to whom we are accountable, maybe we are facing issues with respect to anger and especially, say, if we are in a position of authority where if we get angry, everybody is going to be afraid of us. Nobody is going to actually challenge us and retaliate against us because others don’t have that power.
Then, we may need to have somebody who is like equal to us. Tell them, okay, you know, during this day, maybe we meet that person once a week and we tell them this particular thing. You know, when this person really seems to bring the worst out of me, as soon as I see that person, I feel like yelling at them.
Now, just speaking like that, you know, that sounds stupid, isn’t it? You know, just see someone and want to yell at them. So, but, if you don’t speak it, they actually feel like it. But if we have to give an account of our actions, it’s like if there is no accounting, there is no accountability.
Like say, if we don’t even record how we spend money, then if somebody asks, how did you spend the money? Well, I don’t know. You know, if you don’t know, how can we give an account of? How can we have accounting without accountability? So, to some extent, as the accounting increases, the accountability also increases. So, having someone with whom we can talk.
Okay, this is a challenge I am facing. If, say, we tend to overeat and we need to deal with that. So, we may have a counsellor, a friend, sometimes it may be a nutritionist.
So, we have to tell every week, what did you eat during the week? Now, first of all, we have to remember what all we ate throughout the week. We have to write it down and then we have to show it to someone else. We have to do that, that itself creates a certain level of embarrassment, that creates a certain level of restraint.
So, if we can find an accountability partner to whom we can be accountable, that’s very helpful. But for such an accountability partner, there are two things over here. One is they should not be too hard because if they are too hard, we will end up becoming discouraged.
We will become so disheartened that every time we do something wrong, they just chastise us. They come upon us like a tonne of mountain. No, then we will just get crushed under.
So, if somebody is too hard, then that doesn’t work. If somebody is too soft, oh, you know, this thing happened, next time try better. And each time they say the same thing.
Then what will happen is, we will become complacent. We will have what is a chalta hai attitude. So, we need somebody who is the right blend.
They understand us and they know when to be soft and when to be hard. But this is not easy. And in general, people based on their nature, some people will tend to be more soft, some people will tend to be more hard.
And in terms of individual nature also, some people when they are trying to grow, they need a guide who is soft. And some people need a guide who is hard. So, it depends.
It’s not easy to find. But if we can have that, it’s a great fortune. So, but if that is not possible, we can be accountable to ourselves.
So, what does being accountable to ourselves mean? One way to do it is through journaling. So, as I said, if everyday I am going to write down what all I ate during the day. Then we are going to read it.
There is a lower self within us which is impulsive. I want to eat this. I want to get this.
I want to eat this. But afterwards, you don’t need to eat so much. Why do you eat so much? So, if for example, we want to regulate our use of social media or net surfing.
So, if we regulate everyday that everyday I am going to write down how much time I spent on social media. Then, just looking through that, writing it down, noting it, just looking through that, that itself will slowly create a deterrent for ourselves. I should not do this.
Nowadays, through technology itself, while technology can be a source of distraction, through technology itself, we can create some boundaries. So, for example, parents may say that for your children, this much is your screen time. Not zero screen, but for small children, they say okay, you can have one hour screen time, half an hour screen time, two hour screen time, whatever.
That’s all. We may have to do that for ourselves. Many phones, they ask you everyday, for how long is the phone on? You can also get for how long which app was used.
So, then we can look at it at the end of a week. So, okay, how long did I spend on this? How long did I spend on that? Just having that accountability helps. It creates a boundary.
Initially, we may just do what we want to do and after that it comes in the accounting. Maybe I should not do this so much. So, that feeling will come within us.
Sometimes we, when we are trying to restrain ourselves, when we are trying to regulate ourselves, when we are trying to discipline ourselves, it’s like we over depend on willpower. And when it doesn’t work, we just feel I have no willpower. No, it’s not that simple.
It’s like if an opposite army is going to attack, the soldiers need to have the spirit to fight. But just having the spirit to fight is not enough. They also need the skills to fight.
An army may rush to fight, but if the enemy has got machine guns and they shoot from far away and you can’t even get to them, then just having a lot of spirit is not going to be helpful. So, boundaries, like having boundaries is like a skill. So, for like fighting a war, you need the spirit and we need the skills.
Somebody may be very spirited, like right now the Ukraine-Russia war is going on and we had a large devotee community in Ukraine. And I was in UK, I was in Scotland, so I met many devotees who had left from there and now they are, they have got refuge in UK and other places. In fact, our, in UK we have a Food for Life department, which is specially serving food to Ukrainian immigrants.
And because of that, the government has given us a huge premises over there and that premises has become our de facto temple hall where we also have kirtan and we have a nice community going over there. But the point is that when, now currently in Ukraine, I was talking to one of the devotees over there, he says that the government is conscripting people. Conscripting means getting people to join by force.
All males of a particular age, they are being forced to join. Now, even if they have patriotic sentiment, they just don’t have the skills. And they are just becoming like fodder for the opposing army.
So, having the spirit alone is not enough. Spirit and skills are required. Similarly, for discipline, just willpower is not enough.
Willpower is certainly needed. But along with that, we need boundaries. Without boundaries, it’s going to be difficult for a person to sustain themselves on willpower alone.
So, with respect to accountability, the positive aspect of it is that it can act as a powerful deterrent. Deterrent means something which deters us from doing this, something which causes us to hesitate in doing something. That’s a deterrent.
So, before 1970, there were several wars between India, Pakistan, China. But after around 1970 onwards, 1980 onwards, all three countries got nuclear weapons. And now, there is hostility still, but there is no outright war.
Because each country understands that the other country can destroy us and will be mutually assured destruction. It’s MAD. Mutually Assured Destruction.
So, there is a deterrence. Deterrence means that this action has consequences and the consequences are bad. Therefore, I will not do this action.
So, accountability creates deterrence. But the problem is, if it is to others, finding the right person is difficult. If it is to ourselves, you know, we can be evasive.
Like the day when I overeat, I just don’t journal on that day. So, people can find ways. We can use technology and by technology, we can always find a loophole.
See, technology can give us boundaries. Technology can also give us ways to go beyond the boundaries. it is not always foolproof, but it helps.
Now, the last two, what are the third? What is the acronym we are discussing? Caste. Space. Space, I already indicated that to some extent, like a person is staying next to a, alcoholic is staying next to a bar.
Then, create some space. When we create space, what it does is, that our mind is lazy. Now, we may say it is lazy for Krishna consciousness, but even for sensual indulgence, also the mind is lazy.
Not always, but many times. So, for example, if we are sitting and studying, and we are reading Bhagavad Gita, and our phone is right next to us, and the phone beeps. Okay, some notification has come.
The phone is right next to us. Okay, we will want to pick up and see what is the notification. But if you just keep the phone in the next room, and I am reading right now.
Okay, to see the phone, I have to walk till there. Now, I will finish my reading, then I will go and watch it. So, small space can create a significant difference.
It is, some people, when they watch TV, like when people go and watch movies, they always have some popcorn or something to eat. It’s like, what happens is, they are watching, maybe a hero and heroine, they are enjoying together, and there is eating, sleeping, mating, depending, which is there. But, when you are watching movie and TV, it is like second-hand eating, sleeping, mating, depending.
Somebody else is doing that, and people are imagining, if I were there, it would be so nice. You know, if I had someone like that, it would be so nice. Now, they have to eat something, because everything is imaginary, something has to be real.
So, so the idea is that, if somebody can create certain boundaries, say for example, if somebody is sitting in front of me and watching, and they are sitting on a sofa, and their fridge is right next to the sofa. Then, when their hand goes to the fridge, when the fridge opens, and when one thing comes out of the fridge, second thing and next thing, the fridge is empty and their stomach is overfull. So, if the fridge is right next to it, then it becomes very easy.
But, say if the fridge is next to, or the fridge is downstairs somewhere in the basement or somewhere else. I saw one cartoon, that person says, I do a workout everyday. What is the workout? I walk 10 times to the fridge and back to the sofa.
That’s my workout. Now, if there is space, the space itself helps. Again, this is not the final solution, but creating a little space between us and the tempting object, can help us avoid succumbing to it as soon as the intelligence comes up.
As soon as the desire, the temptation, the urge comes up. So, that’s space. And, now with respect to space, again, the positive and the negative.
The positive is that, it is doable most of the time. That most of the time we can create some space between us. But, sometimes the negative is that, it may not always be workable for us.
That means, okay, sometimes somebody lives in a particular place, somebody has a job which requires them constantly be online. And, then that means certain things may not be possible. So, the same principle can be applied to time.
Now, time means, say for example, even when people drink, in the western world, drinking is just a normal part of human society. In fact, there was one thinker who, British thinker Ridley Wright, he said, the taste of wine is the proof that God loves us. The idea is, if God did not exist, how could something as delicious as wine exist? Now, there are so many delicious things, think of only of wine.
So, it’s a normal part of western society to drink. But, even in the west, people may say, isn’t it too early to drink right now? You drink as the day goes over. People drink the second half of the day, they drink in the evening, because they know that if you drink, you cannot function properly, you become a little inebriated.
Their logic is drink, but don’t get drunk. It’s like saying, go to the edge of a cliff, bend down as much as you want, look down as much as you want, but don’t fall down. Why take the risk? Isn’t it? But, the point is, I’m saying that they’re tight.
Even in that society where drinking is normal, drinking early in the morning, that is not appreciated. So, somebody may decide that, till I have completed my sadhana, I’m not going to look at my phone. That’s a boundary in terms of time.
Or, if I’m going to read, till I have done at least 15 minutes of reading, I’m not going to look for any phone message. So, we can set boundaries in terms of time. And, blocking time out for certain activities, or blocking certain activities out for some time, both ways, can be very helpful.
It is, again, very practical in many cases. It’s doable. Say, suppose somebody has an urge to eat constantly.
We say, okay, when I’m at my work, I’m not going to keep any food in my office. So, for this time, for these three hours I’m going to be here, there’s nothing over here. So, create some boundaries for some time.
And, in one sense, when we fast on Ekadashi, that is, from the culture itself, a boundary is given to us in terms of time. We all like to eat delicious food, but at least, it’s actually a combination of category and time. Category is what? Fasting from grains.
So, that is a category. And then time is, okay, from this time to this time. One devotee, he did his first fasting and he said, I felt so weak.
And he was telling that when the Parayan time was coming, I was feeling like each movement is like Yuga Itam Nimesh. One movement is like I was counting it down. But, that cultural valuation of that boundary is there.
Okay, I cannot eat this food during this time. So, time is there. So, we can use time as a boundary.
So, for example, somebody may decide that, okay, I cannot completely say not take sweets. But then, I’ll take sweet once a week. I’ll take sweet twice a week, whatever.
Like when people who follow a strict diet, they may have what they call as a cheat day, you know. So, okay, that means there is a boundary. I may indulge, but it is a boundary in terms of time.
So, like that, we can create boundaries for ourselves. And, rather than simply beating ourselves down, okay, if we are not able to restrain ourselves, think, okay, what boundaries are doable for you. And, in that way, we can help ourselves in regulation.
Okay. So, let’s move on to the next verses. Now, for time also, the same to apply.
Sometimes it may be doable, sometimes it may not be doable. But depending, somebody may say, okay, I won’t even look at food till this much time. But, okay, if you have to cook food, what are you going to do? You cannot cook without looking.
So, there is a certain amount of limitation in terms of what of space and time we can apply. But, just understanding that we have various ways in which we can implement boundaries, gives us a sense of empowerment. Yeah, maybe I can do this.
Maybe I can do this. Maybe I can do this for this much time. So, each one of us, in our trying to discipline ourselves, can establish some boundaries.
So, after this, Krishna talks about the problem with the approach of boundaries. Or rather, looking at boundaries as the final solution. It is the first step to the solution, not the final solution.
Vishayavini vartante niraharasya dehinah rasavarjam rasopyasya param drishtva nivartate So, vishayavini vartante When we stay away from the objects, vini vartante I am not going to do this. We have imposed a boundary. Vishayavini vartante It feels like niraharasya dehinah Ahar is food.
Nirahar is It feels as if I am starving. One day he told me that I am going to do a digital detox. I am not going to use any technology for one day.
And he said it’s like my fingers started itching to touch the food. I just felt it itch. It was like my fingers were hungry for touching the food.
So, he said, niraharasya So, ahar is not just with respect to the food that we take into our mouth. The sense objects can feel like ahar for the senses. And we feel if we are feeling hungry and we are starving we feel deprived.
And it’s very difficult to stay in that deprived condition. So, niraharasya dehinah So, why do we feel niraharasya? rasa varjam rasopyasya So, here Krishna is there is a poetic alliteration over there. The same word rasa is used.
So, rasa refers to rasa varjam refers to non indulgence. So, second rasa refers to desire for indulgence. So, sometimes words have, words can have many meanings.
So, the word rasa refers both to the activity of indulging and the desire for indulging. So, rasa varjam rasopyasya although one does not indulge still one has the desire to indulge, the desire to enjoy is there. And because of that one feels starving one feels as if I am hungry, I am unsatisfied, I am deprived.
And then Krishna also gives the solution param drishtva nivartate Now, this specific point about param drishtva, we’ll talk on our next section. I’ll skip this for the time being. So, the problem with boundaries boundaries what they do is they, their positive is that they remove the object or they remove or at least reduce the access to the object.
But the negative is that boundaries themselves don’t remove desires. Now, our this brings us to two different kinds of desires. There are many traditional sayings and sometimes they convey opposite points.
Like one saying is out of sight out of sight is out of mind. That’s one saying. The other saying is separation makes the heart grow fonder.
Isn’t it? So, if you don’t have something then we desire it more. So, which is true? Is it that out of sight will lead to out of mind? Sometimes when something is out of sight, it becomes more into our mind only. We remember it more and more and more.
So, it depends on the desire. If the desire is superficial or the desire is deep rooted. So, for superficial desires, boundaries are enough.
Say for example if we pass by a road and we see some jalebi and okay, I want a jalebi to eat. So, that is a desire. Now, if we had not passed by that, we would not have got the desire and we just pass by and we don’t have time to stop.
Okay, it is not there. Okay, it would be nice if I had got it but if I don’t get it, it doesn’t matter. So, superficial desires boundaries works for them.
And we all have many desires just that they just come up. So, those desires often come up from something external that we see and they, hey, that’s nice. I could have that.
If it’s not possible, okay. But deep rooted means that those desires are very strongly inside us. Say, for somebody, jalebi is one among maybe 50 nice sweets that are there, jalebi is one among them.
If I get it, well and good. But if not, no big deal. But suppose jalebi is their favourite sweet.
And then, if they pass by shop, they see jalebi, okay, today I don’t have time but tomorrow I’ll come here. And tomorrow I’ll take it. And then next day till tomorrow, they’ll counting the minutes.
When will I get there? So, for deep rooted desires, boundaries alone don’t work. So, it is not that boundaries are of no use. They are definitely useful.
But they don’t always work because certain desires are deep rooted. And that is what Krishna points to in the next verse. So, the desire inside remains.
So, basically you could put another way. Some desires, they are outside in. That means, we just saw something and the desire got triggered.
But some desires are inside out. That means, the memory of that desire and that indulgence is already there deeply impressed within us. When that is there, that desire is much more deep rooted.
Say, we are sitting idle. We have nothing to do. And we turn on TV.
Okay, let’s see what is there on TV. But if the TV were not there, maybe we would pick up Bhagavad Gita and read it. So, that is the outside in.
Because the TV is there, the outside in comes in. But if we know, okay, not this, 8 o’clock to 9 o’clock, this TV series is there. And maybe we have enjoyed that TV series.
Then, that impression is already there inside us. Then what happens? It’s inside out. You know, even if we have gone to some relative’s place.
Can we watch that? I want to watch that TV now. So, it’s like that. So, it’s inside out.
So, for inside, the desires which are deep rooted, they are coming from inside out. Boundaries alone don’t help at that time. That’s what Krishna points out in the next verse.
Yatato Yapi Kaunteya Purushasya Vipashchitaha Indriyani Pramathini Aranti Prasabhammanaha So, here Krishna is talking about will power. Yatato. Yatato means one is endeavouring.
One wants to give up. Krishna is not talking about a materialist over here. A person who is sincerely trying to discipline themselves.
Yatato Yapi Kaunteya And he is not just talking about a person’s endeavouring. That person also has intelligence. Yatato Yapi Kaunteya Purushasya Vipashchitaha Vipashchitaha means that a person is discerning.
Is discriminating. Some of the word discrimination has got a very negative connotation. Now, caste discrimination, race discrimination, gender discrimination.
So, unfortunately there is discrimination against the word discrimination now. So, we often use the word discernment to discern rather than discriminate. It’s a discerning person.
That means they can understand categories. This is good, this is bad. So, even if that person is discerning, Vipashchitaha still is saying Indriyani Pramathini The senses create such a storm.
Like sometimes a child starts crying, you know, I want this food. The mother says, no. And the mother says it in a particular sense, no.
The child becomes silent. But sometimes children just throw a tantrum. You know, maybe in a supermarket and the child starts, I want this food.
And the child is crying so much that the mother says, okay, let’s silence him, give him the food and let him become silent. So, Pramathini Sometimes the senses become so turbulent and wild that we feel, there’s nothing I can do. I just have to do this right now.
Haranti Prasamamana Just that agitating senses, they just carry away our mind. There’s nothing we can do about it. So, here, Krishna is talking about how, he’s primarily talking about which of these desires? Superficial or deep-rooted? Deep-rooted desires.
So, what happens over here is, we may have this desire, the force can become so strong that our endeavour is in the opposite direction. Even our intelligence is in the opposite direction. I don’t want to do it and I know that this is bad for me.
But still, at that time, it’s just like a stormy wave that overpowers. So, we’ll see, the Bhagavad Gita is not just giving idealistic principles. Do this, don’t do this.
It is actually reflecting our psychological realities which are lived. The challenges that we face in our lives. So, this is a case where the desire is present even if the object is not present.
So, even if you have created a boundary, the desire will be so turbulent that we will want to break the boundary down and just do it. So, at this point, Krishna says, what do we need to do? How do we deal with this? So, there are, we could say, with respect to boundaries, there can be outer boundaries and there can be inner boundaries. And outer boundaries means what? That, okay, we don’t keep certain objects available for us.
That’s the outer boundary. Outer boundaries with respect to things. But the inner boundary is with respect to thoughts.
That, I won’t think about this. So, that is what Krishna will explain in the next verse. That, he says, now when I said discipline is overrated or we cannot use discipline, we cannot rely on discipline too much.
That does not mean discipline is not important. It is, what do we do with the discipline? So, He says, yes, we do need to regulate our senses as much as we can. But while we are regulating our senses, if we let our mind dwell on the sense object, then that hunger will be felt way too much.
Say, if it’s Ekadashi, like today is Ekadashi and we say we are fasting. But if we are all alone and everyone, maybe in our office, we are in a place, maybe our family doesn’t practise Bhakti, so everybody is feasting and we are fasting. Then what happens is, it’s, the mind is constantly seeing.
Everybody is eating. Our eyes are seeing and mind is imagining further. So then, it will become very difficult.
But say, if we are doing this Pandanujali Ekadashi, if we decide, that day I am going to come to the temple, whole day I will spend in the temple. Then, what happens is, not only are we away from food, but we are also having many ways in which we can think about Krishna. We have some object to take our thought towards and then the craving is not felt so much.
We may be chanting, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, and our mind is chanting Prasad, Prasad, Prasad. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Prasad, Prasad. Krishna, Krishna, Hare, Hare, Prasad, Prasad.
So, if the mind is chanting like that, then what is happening is, eventually, our chanting will become pointless. And then we will just, okay, I need some food. But, if we are in the association of devotees, everybody is seriously chanting.
That inspires us. If we can, Yukta Asita Mat Paraha. So, basically, the hunger that we feel for sense objects, it is hunger.
But, it’s like there is hunger which is biological. Biological means that, say, when we are fasting, our stomach becomes empty. And, there is a sense where, you know, I am hungry right now.
That’s biological hunger. And, that’s an indication from the body that we need to take some food. But, there is also psychological hunger.
Psychological hunger means the mind feels, I want this. I want this. And, when the psychological hunger comes up, it primarily comes up as a thought.
Okay. That’s nice. Let’s eat this.
Let’s watch that. Let’s touch that. So, it comes as a thought.
And, after that, it grows. But, if there is no thought, if you are not thinking about it. So, the more we think about our object, the more the hunger for it increases.
But, if you are not thinking about it, then that hunger will decrease. So, that’s why Krishna says, Tani Sarvani Sanyami. Regulate the senses.
But, after that, they can say, this is the soul. so, these are the senses. This is the mind.
These are the sense objects. So, now, we have created some boundary. So, the senses are not really directly accessing the sense objects at that time.
So, Tani Sarvani Sanyami. So, here, if you consider 2.61, this verse. A verse has four lines.
So, A, the first line is Tani Sarvani Sanyami. Create a boundary by which the senses are regulated. But, then he is saying that the desire will still be there in the mind.
So, if this is the soul, and say this is Krishna, then what we need to do is redirect our mind toward Krishna. So, this is Yukta Asita Matparaha. Tani Sarvani Sanyami Yukta Asita Matparaha.
That Yukta Asita. Be situated like this. You remember, Kim Asita.
So, the answer is Yukta Asita. How to be regulated? Krishnai says be connected and regulated. The word Yukta can sometimes be used as regulated, but Yukta is a variant of the word Yoga.
So, Sanskrit both have the same root. So, Yukta means connected. So, when we are connected, then we can be peacefully situated.
Yukta Asita Matparaha. So, Matparaha can mean fix your mind on me. Paraha also means I become your most important desire.
Paraha, like Narayana Paraha. Vasudeva Parayanaha. That means given to, dedicated to.
So, this is the whole point of creating bonds. Boundaries alone are not enough. Bonds are required.
That boundaries and bonds together comprise the solution. Tomorrow we will be talking about establishing bonds in more detail, tomorrow morning. But the key point is Yukta Asita Matparaha.
When we do that, then Vashyehi Asendriyani. Vashyehi. That time so, we will be able to conquer our senses.
So, there are two words over here. In A the word used is Sanyamya. Sanyamya is more of control.
Vasha is conquest. See, when we are trying to control that means there is some opposition but there is a greater force we have by which we are controlling it. But conquest means the opposing force has been removed.
There is no more opposition. That’s conquest. So, India always had control of Pakistan.
Sorry, control of Kashmir. But now, as things have improved over there, now you could say that there is conquest. The insurgent elements have substantially decreased.
So, it is Yukta Asita Matparaha. So, there are boundaries that were imposed. Boundaries was, we created the very strong to prevent cross-border infiltration.
But then, after that we cannot just consider everybody in Kashmir to be enemy and kill everyone. Cannot put everyone in jail. There were elements who were completely against India.
I have a friend in Kashmir, he was telling me how actually India did it. So, he said that there were insurgents who were completely neutralised. But then, over the other citizens over there, not everybody is extremist or a fanatic or a terrorist.
Most people just want to go on with their normal life. And when they actually started feeling that India wants our welfare. You know, India will create jobs for our children.
There will be peace and there will be prosperity over there. Our tourism is flourishing. Not necessarily in Srinagar right now so much, but in Jammu definitely.
So, what happened is, as people saw that, then the opposition also decreased. This is a bond that was created. A boundary was created, but a bond in terms of a connection with India, appreciation that India is not our enemy.
India is our well-wisher. And you say, oh, it’s obvious. If you’re a part of India, why would we not be the well-wisher? Because of certain brainwashing, indoctrination.
That was not the case. So, bonds and boundaries. Such a person will be well-situated.
The same thing Krishna talked about in 258. Now he’s talking about it in 261. Now after that, this is the last verse.
So, this verse in isolation we studied quite a bit. But in this context, Krishna is telling that if you don’t create that inner bond, there is only a boundary enforced, but the mind is not engaged. Then the mind will find something to contemplate on and as soon as you contemplate, that downward journey will go on.
The thought will come inside and it will keep growing. It will grow downwards. It’s basically how temptation grows.
Initially it is just Now Krishna is not saying He’s saying Many thoughts will come up within us. But it is when we dwell on those thoughts We can use these two words Say, I just got a thought and I have given this a lot of thought. Can you give some thought to these two words? Do the two mean the same thing? What is the difference? Intention.
Can you explain? Sorry, wait a minute. So, when is it purposeful? First one, second one. I have given this a lot of thought.
It is conscious, intentional. This first is almost automatic. It just came up within me.
Any other differences? Time spent. I just got a thought, it came. I have given this a lot of thought, definitely.
I spent time and energy on it. So, when we say got a thought, that could be drushyato. So we see something and some thought comes in because of that.
Or sometimes even we don’t see something, from some past memory some thought comes in. But dhyayato. So drushyato itself is not a problem.
Of course, it can become a problem. There is a glance and the glance becomes a stare and the stare becomes a stare on which we fall. So, it can happen.
But, the thing is, Krishna is saying dhyayato. So, it is when we contemplate on something. So the first stage is contemplation.
Now, from contemplation what happens? Dhyayato vishayan kumsa sangas teshu pajayate. Sanga. Sanga is infatuation.
Attraction. Sanga is attraction. Hey, that’s nice.
We think about it. Hey, that’s nice. Now, as that moves forward, you can imagine this to be like a snowball.
Here, it is not a snowball, it is a snow pebble. You can just flick our toe on it and it will crack apart. But as it starts going downward, it starts becoming stronger.
Sangat sanjayate Kama Kama is infatuation. So, from that nice, I want it. I want it.
Now, what happens after kama? Kamat krodho vichayate So, there is infuriation, anger. So, who says I can’t have it? Hmm? So, here, basically, there is rage against the boundary. There might be a boundary.
I should not do this. Who says I can’t do it? So, kamat krodho vichayate. See, Krishna does not say kama itself is the enemy.
Because kama is just natural in the humans. In every living being and human being also. But Krishna says, in the third chapter when he will talk about it, kamesha krodhesha.
It is the desire that gets angry with boundaries. The desire that rages against boundaries, that is the problem. Everybody has desires and everybody can fulfil their desires.
It is not that the desire itself is always destructive. But when the desire rages against boundaries and it rejects boundaries, that’s when it becomes a big problem. when I come to sangat sanjayate kamat kamat krodho vichayate.
Krodhat sammoha. Sammoha is delusion. Delusion means forget what is right, what is wrong.
Actually, it is something lesser than this. But it is not so much forget about what is right or wrong. It is more of we get confused.
You know, what is so bad about it? Why do people make such a big hue and cry? It is only one time. At that time, we get confused about what is so bad about it. Even if I do it once, who will come to know about it? You know, we start getting confused about our own values over there.
So, that is delusion. And after that, what happens? Sammohat sati vibhrama. This is oblivion.
I am just using the word on as a rhyme, just to present this in a different way. Oblivion. That is, this is where we forget what is right and what is wrong.
We may ourselves, not just have been told by others this is bad. We may ourselves have experienced, you know, this is empty, this is frustrating. Like when people drink too much, they get a hangover.
Now, the problem is, next time when they get the opportunity to drink, they remember the pleasure, they forget the hangover. So, our memory is selective to the point of being deceptive. So, when we say smriti brahmashad, it is not that we forget the memory of the pleasure.
We forget the memory of the trouble after the pleasure. So, it’s like selective deceptive forgetfulness. So, smriti brahmashad.
So, we forget. So, this can be both. Forget the instruction why we should not do it, but can we forget also the experience of the result of what we did.
Then smriti brahmashad. Then after that is buddhi nasho. Buddhi nasho is stupefaction.
Stupefaction means we become stupid. Stupefy means to make stupid, to make paralysed. So, stupefaction means at this point our intelligence is also conquered.
Most people, when they do something wrong, nobody can actually do wrong while knowing that it is wrong. They somehow internally come up with some reason why it is not so wrong. Maybe actually it is right.
They come up with, so the intelligence is either sidelined or it is converted. Buddhi nasho. So, we become stupid.
Once two friends had gone to a party and one of them was drinking way too much. Other person said, you know, maybe drinking so much is not a good idea. No, it is a great idea.
And the next morning you could hear this second, the first friend was warned and could hear the second friend saying, you know, he is throwing up and he is muttering. I knew it was a terrible idea. So, immediately he went and told that friend.
He said, I told you, drinking so much is a terrible idea. He said, no. Drinking was a great idea.
Waking up was a terrible idea. So, where there is superfection, we use our intelligence to justify what we are doing. So, Buddhi Nashat.
And our intelligence is our last defence. When the intelligence falls, we fall. What happens after this? Buddhi Nashat.
Pranashyati. Self-destruction. It is not that somebody else destroys us.
We destroy ourselves. Superfection means we somehow convince ourselves. We convince ourselves that it is not bad or at least not so bad.
And that’s how we make that which was out of question, unacceptable, become gradually acceptable. So, all this will happen when we think about something. So, the point which Krishna is driving towards through this is that just external boundaries are not enough.
There has to be an inner redirection. There is outer regulation, but there is inner redirection. And how that inner redirection can be done? That we will discuss in tomorrow’s session.
I will summarise what we discussed today. We discussed the section of regulation. So, from 58 to 63.
And the first point we discussed was elaborately about boundaries. What Krishna is telling based on 68 is boundaries. And we discussed when we understand scripture.
To understand scripture what happens is, we start from the specific at that time. From there, we go to the universal. And then we come to the specific at our time.
So, the specific for example there is Tortoise. The principle is boundaries. Now, to get the specific at our time we discussed an acronym.
What is the acronym? CAST. What is C? Category. This whole thing I am not going to do at all.
A is accountability. Either accountability can be two ways. What is it? To others and to self.
Our self. S was face. Our mind is lazy and we can use its laziness.
Keep the sense object at some distance. T is time. During this time, for this day or till this time each day, I am not going to do these things.
This was the major part of the class. Then we discussed with respect to 58 and with respect to 59 we discussed that what happens is that this can work for which desires? Boundaries. There are desires that are superficial and there are desires that are deep rooted.
For superficial desires the boundaries they work. One way to understand the difference between superficial and these desires is these are outside in. These are inside out.
The memories, the impressions are already very deep rooted. Then with respect to that 60, I discussed our deep rooted desires. The force that they create will be so strong that even if our will power our will and our intelligence both will fall short.
So deep rooted desires, boundaries are not enough for them. Then 61 was what? Inner redirection. So outer regulation Tani sarvani Tani sanyami That is boundaries.
That has to be accompanied by inner redirection. That is our mind needs to be fixed somewhere else and that is the bonds. And then by that when these two together are done then there will be victory.
There will be conquest. And then Krishna cautions in 62-63 if we don’t do this if this inner direction is not there if it is not there, it’s absent then what will happen is we discussed contemplation will start that will start thinking and the thinking will trigger the desire and we discussed the various stage by which we will go down to self destruction. So in this way Krishna is giving us systematic guidelines by which we can actually help ourselves win this battle against this war against temptation.
Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. Do we have time for questions? No? Okay.
Yes, Mataji, behind. We have a mic. Not working.
Maybe you can speak loudly. I will repeat it. Thank you for a very insightful class.
My question was in spite of knowing everything about our endeavour and willpower if it goes in opposite direction deep rooted desires, what role karma has in this? Because sometimes the past karmas will be so strong that in spite of knowing all this the intelligence gets lost and it gets overpowered. Yes, it’s possible that see when you talk about past karma that past karma can be even from this life or from previous life. So, for example, say somebody has just dabbled in drugs that means, you know, okay, everybody is doing it.
Let me try it out once or twice. They had a bad experience. I don’t want to get into this.
Now that conditioning is not going to be very difficult to overcome. But somebody was addicted to drugs. It will be much more difficult to overcome.
So like that we all have certain impressions that we bring from the past and those impressions may make particular conditionings much more difficult than others to give up. So, for example, for different people for some people lust may be relatively easy but anger may be really tough for them. For somebody else maybe envy is not much of a problem but greed may be a big problem.
Generally, envy and greed go together. So, that’s not a good example. But, say somebody for envy might not be a big problem for them but maybe for them lust, anger, greed, envy, pride something like lust might be a big problem or pride might be a big problem whatever it is.
So, each of us has to recognise that we have to fight our own battles and that’s why we can’t really it’s not very helpful to compare with others. For example, some people fasting may be very difficult but they can function quite well without sleeping also. When they get 2 hours sleep, that’s enough.
They can function for many days like that. For some people, I can do the ritual but I need 6 hours sleep. It’s different for different people.
So, each of us have our particular kind of body and mind and we need to recognise I am at a particular place and from this place I want to move upwards. So, there are 6 opulences of Krishna. The 6 opulences, these opulences they come to people individuals by karma.
Like somebody has, say, beauty. Now, if somebody is very beautiful, somebody is very handsome, it’s not that in their mother’s womb, they were sculpting their face. They didn’t do anything.
That’s by past karma. So, if somebody has wealth, that’s by past karma. Similarly, renunciation is also a result of past karma.
So, some people may just naturally be more renounced than others and that’s because from the past karma, they have that. Some people may not have that. Now, with respect to renunciation, especially, and to some extent knowledge or intelligence, but especially with respect to renunciation, things become a little confusing because when you talk about renunciation, renunciation, it can come from past karma but it can also come from present bhakti.
Because what it said is Vasudeve Bhagwati Bhakti Yoga Pradevata janayaty ashu vairagyam jnanam chayat ahitukam So, vairagya can come from the practise of bhakti also. So, now, what happens when we are trying to practise bhakti is that we may have already a starting level of vairagya from a purujanma karma and then based on that we build on it and our bhakti helps us to develop further vairagya. But, when somebody is developing vairagya, is that because of their present bhakti practise or their past karma? That is difficult to say.
And, what happens in devotee circles, this is not just in devotee circles, this is actually religious psychology that generally people come to a religious organisation or a spiritual community because they want a sense of belonging. They want that, oh, the outside world is so lonely, here there are people with whom I share my values and I would like to have a sense of belonging over it. But then, if a religious group has very high moral standards, there are high standards of discipline expected, then, actually it has been found that people in such groups experience more loneliness than materialistic people.
Why? Because, there is so much feeling of guilt and shame that, you know, everybody seems to be following this standard and I am not following it. If I tell anyone else I am not following this, what will people think about? So, when we talk about getting a sense of belonging, it is not just having a physical place to go to. It is also a place where we can share our heart, where we can be accepted, where we can be understood.
So, when, if in a community the notion comes that anybody who is renounced, oh, they are such a spiritually advanced person, they are so spiritually serious and anybody who is not renounced, they are so spiritually loose. It may not be like that. Somebody may be very spiritually serious, but a particular kind of renunciation may not be possible for them.
So, it is like, in terms of category, it is not that necessarily every Brahmachari is more serious than every Granstha, spiritually. It may be, it may not be. Now, of course, culturally, those who are in the renounced order are to be respected in a particular way.
But, we can’t equate the level of renunciation with the level of advancement. Some devotees may be able to fast, Nirjul. Some devotees may just not be able to fast.
I have a friend, he says, you know, these two belong to the Nirjul club, I belong to the Nirlaj club. Nirlaj is basically shameless. So, the idea is, I don’t fast.
I can’t fast. But, you know, you don’t need to feel ashamed if you can’t fast, at a particular standard. But, when renunciation is equated with spiritual advancement, then, that can lead to unnecessary feelings of guilt, shame, insecurity, inferiority, and psychological complexity.
So, it is possible that, for some of us, some battles may be very difficult to win. Then, we need to shift our focus to other, more winnable battles. Focus on other, more winnable battles, and by that, we get a sense of, I’m moving forward in my life.
Maybe, for some people, they just need to sleep for a particular amount of time. They can’t function without that. If they think, Nidrahaar, Viharakaar, Goswami, they slept so less.
And, I will, when I sleep less, then I’ll be advancing spiritually. Well, not necessarily. That, your spiritual advancement may not be reflected in the decrease in the quantity of time you sleep.
Maybe, it’s reflected some other way. That, we may do some service. In the past, whenever we do a service, we want everyone to know that I did the service.
We want the credit for the service. Which is not a wrong thing, because we’ve done the service, we want the credit. But, maybe, as we grow spiritually, it may be that we just do the service, even if nobody credits us with the service.
It doesn’t matter. Some people, they give donation, they want everyone to know, my name has to be there. I give so much donation.
But, maybe, as we advance, Okay, I want to give donation, I don’t want my name anywhere. That is also renunciation. So, we don’t have to equate our spiritual seriousness or spiritual advancement with renunciation in a particular area.
There will be renunciation that will come, but it may not come in a particular area. If equated with renunciation in a particular area, that will lead to lot of unnecessary problems in our life. So, that way, this battle may be difficult, let me accept myself, let me fight some other more winnable battle for now.
So, we will continue tomorrow and tomorrow morning, I’ll try to finish a little earlier and I should be able to finish because this much of the cast that took time today. So, we will have time for questions tomorrow morning also. Thank you very much.
गवर भक्तवरिण्द थी निताई गवर प्रिमानन्ते निताई गवर प्रिमानन्ते Let’s put our bottles so that time will be more comfortable. Hare Krishna!