Philosophy makes sense intellectually but doesn’t sink emotionally – what to do?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, mindless accumulation makes sense intellectually.
But how do we get it to emotionally sync it? Yes, it’s a very important question. Because emotionally, often we are driven towards things where our rational side is just thrown off. It is like our, sometimes our rational side is like a elephant rider and our emotional side is like the elephant.
The rational, the intelligent side is meant to control the emotional side, just like the elephant rider is meant to control the elephant. But sometimes the elephant will just go out of control. Like that our emotions go out of control and they just pull us, drag us in certain directions.
That’s why among various spiritual paths, there are many different spiritual paths, but the process of bhakti is distinctive, even unique in that it channels our emotions for our spiritual growth. So most spiritual paths talk about meditation, peace, calmness, clarity. Basically, all these are about decreasing the emotions.
Don’t be so emotional, just calm down. Bhakti also involves calming our thoughts and desires, but bhakti also involves activating our spiritual emotions. When we connect with Krishna and when we cultivate a desire to serve Krishna, then that creates spiritual desires within us.
That gives us emotional fulfillment through a sense of connection and contribution in relationship with Krishna. Now, as soon as we say don’t do this, the word don’t immediately creates a sense of deprivation and rebellion. Don’t means no, I won’t get this if I don’t do it.
And why can’t I get it? So don’t creates deprivation and rebellion. So if we are focusing on don’t, it just doesn’t work. If I tell all of you for the next one minute, please don’t think of a pink monkey.
Now, for the last one year, you may not have thought of a pink monkey, but in the next one minute you will again and again think of a pink monkey. Pink monkey, pink monkey. Don’t think of a pink monkey.
So, you know, in respect to the mental realm, the don’ts are not very effective. Don’ts are required, but the way to do the don’ts is to do the do’s. That means to have something positive to do.
And bhakti in that sense is not so much about giving up desires as it is of taking up desires. No, we take up the desire to do something constructive for the service of Krishna. OK, I want to understand the Bhagavad Gita.
I want to practice meditation. I want to do this service. I want to.
So we take up devotional desires and that will give us a sense of emotional fulfillment, a sense of wellness that will help us counter the urge for accumulation. So even within bhakti, we may find there are certain things which connect with us emotionally. Now, there may be certain spiritual music, certain kirtans, which we really like this.
Or there may be certain darshan, certain pictures of the Lord, which we feel very beautiful. Or we may have certain activities which basically nourishes emotional. So we need not just intellectual conviction, we also need emotional connection, emotional satisfaction.
And we have to find how we can get that in positive activities. Then our focus is more on saying yes to the positive rather than saying no to the negative. In saying yes to the positive, the no to the negative automatically gets said without being emphasized.
So we focus not so much on emptying the mind of desires. We focus on crowding desires out of the mind.