QA on dealing with material desires, excessive workload, inattentiveness in chanting and other bhakti principles

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, nowadays not many Americans are coming to our temple, many Indians are coming and not very precisely. Indians are not very serious.
No, we have always seen the positive, that actually the Indians who are coming, many of them are very talented, very dedicated. So, the people who are becoming committed are also high calibre Indians. Like in our Indian temples, we had this calibre of educated, committed, dedicated Indians, talented, you will be very proud of that.
So, definitely you always should focus on seeing the positive. So, the movement is having a lot of resourceful members also. Now, there will be Krishna conscious outreach is at different levels.
It’s like a pyramid with expanding bottom and a narrow top. So, the people who have become very serious devotees will be few. But then you have concentric circles of expanding radii.
So, different people will practise Krishna Bhakti at different levels. And there will be people who will become serious also. But not everyone will become serious.
That is fine. We try to have favourable relationship with everyone. And those who are interested in becoming serious, we provide them the facility.
As far as Americans are concerned, the phase of the counterculture is over. So, they are very concerned about not being a part of any organised religion. And ISKCON appears to be a very organised religion to them.
So, that’s why there is a challenge in that. So, there are devotees who are working through non-institutional channels to attract people to Krishna. People, especially western people are not interested in religious organisations.
They are interested in spiritual individuals. So, a different approach will be required. And gradually we are also learning that there are devotees who are trying.
And you would say that vegetarianism has become mainstream. Actually, it was ISKCON which introduced vegetarianism. Many of the previous monks, previous spiritual teachers, they did not emphasise vegetarianism so much.
Similarly, kirtan has also become quite mainstream. And again it was ISKCON which brought kirtan to the world. So, there are many ways in which we can see that the effects are percolating far.
But we have to find out a way in which we can connect with people and help them connect with Krishna. That will happen. With every generation, we have to find out ways in which we can actually attract people.
So, the purpose will remain the same, but the strategies that are used, that will be different. So, especially anything that appears sectarian, that people are not attracted to. So, how to present Krishna Bhakti in a non-sectarian way, in a universal way, there are devotees who are working on that.
And gradually as they become more and more expert in that, then our movement will spread there that way also. So, how to overcome the obstacles in our bhakti, which happen in day-to-day life, like say overtime work, which leads to less practise of bhakti, how to avoid these diversions. We have to know that life is always dynamic.
Say, if we are travelling on a road, if the road is clear, we can go fast. Lot of traffic, we may go slow. The direction where we want to go remains the same, the speed may be.
So, similarly for us, sometimes when we are going towards Krishna, the traffic in our material life may become too much. So, at that time we may go slowly. And later when the traffic clears up, we go faster.
So, it doesn’t matter so much if at particular times we are not able to practise bhakti so seriously. What we try to do is, while we can practise bhakti, we should do it as wholeheartedly as possible. When we have the opportunity, we grab it wholeheartedly.
And when we don’t have, so that means when the traffic is clear, that time also we should not keep going slowly. That time we go fast. But the phases will be there in our life.
When Prabhupada was in Allahabad, he was working with a doctor. The doctor was giving the medicine and Prabhupada was prescribing and he was giving the medicine. So, the doctor says, it’s clear that Abhay Babu was a very religious person.
But at that time, his main question was, how can I earn more money? That was what he needed to do. Because that was his family responsibility. Now, an ordinary person might have said that he is just a mundane Indian householder chasing for money.
No. So, we don’t have to simply reduce our bhakti only to externals. But it’s important that we do practise bhakti while we can.
And so the idea is, separation can do to devotion what wind does to fire. Now, what does wind do to fire? If there is a forest fire, the wind makes the fire bigger. So, for us, if we become separated because of circumstances, we can’t come and practise bhakti.
We can’t come to temple. Then that separation can act like a wind. It can intensify our devotion.
Now, when will I get an opportunity? When will I get an opportunity to practise Krishna bhakti? We can long for that. We can cherish that opportunity. And then when we get it, we will really wholeheartedly take part.
And, of course, there is other possibility also. The fire is of a candle. When the wind comes, the candle gets extinguished.
So, for us, our devotion should not be like a candle. It has to be like a forest fire. So, we shouldn’t artificially put ourselves in separation and think that will increase my appreciation.
No, it won’t happen. As much as possible, we try to be in association. But circumstantially, we are put in situations where we just can’t do much about it.
Then, we try to change the situation as much as we can. If we can’t, we accept it. In our heart, we try to serve Krishna.
We try to have a longing to practise Krishna bhakti. And Krishna will arrange a new course. Krishna sees our intentions also.
And He appreciates those intentions. So, life will go through phases. We shouldn’t become discouraged too much.
We should just adapt and keep moving onwards. Like a Ganga flows towards the ocean. So, if it comes to an inclined surface, it will move faster.
If it comes to a plain surface, it will move slower. But it keeps moving onwards. Like that sometimes, we will move faster towards Krishna, sometimes slower.
But as long as we keep moving towards Krishna, with whatever facility we have, with whatever time we have, we will be advancing in our Krishna bhakti. So, is it better to chant 16 rounds of Maha Mantra at a stroke everyday, at a stretch everyday? Or is it good to slowly increase the number of rounds gradually to get perfection, not getting diverted? With respect to chanting, there is no rigid formula. The important thing is that we want to absorb our consciousness in Krishna.
So, generally in the morning, we are less distracted. In the daytime, if we are chanting, looking at our phone, looking at our emails, the whole, it’s like again the traffic metaphor. In the morning, the traffic in our mind is a little lesser.
In the middle of the day, the traffic is a lot. And by the end of the day, there is no traffic but there is no desire to move also. We got tired.
That’s why it’s best if you can chant in the morning. But if it’s not possible for whatever reason because of at a stretch, then the important thing is whenever we can, we try to chant as attentively as possible. The most important thing is try to fix the mind on Krishna.
And in general, it is good if we can try to organise our time. Some devotees may find that, okay, chant 8 rounds, maybe take a little break, not as if they can watch TV or do something mundane entirely, but just take a few deep breaths, maybe read a couple of verses, maybe recite a shikshashtakam. Basically, again I have a whole seminar on chanting.
See what happens is that sometimes, this is material reality, this is spiritual reality and this is imaginary world. So what happens is our mind is meant to go from material reality to spiritual reality. But in chanting, it goes off into the world of fantasy.
So sometimes we just keep chanting and each round that we are chanting, we are going deeper into the world of fantasy. I have to do this, I have to do that, I have to do that. And then we are not attentive at all.
Or sometimes, taking a break, after 4 rounds, I take a few deep breaths, I recite some verses, I do something Krishna conscious, but basically I at least come back to material reality. Where am I? What am I doing? I become, oh, I was supposed to be chanting. Then that may help us.
So sometimes, instead of going upwards to spiritual reality, we go into fantasy. And when fantasy distracts us from reality, then we can use reality to distract ourselves from fantasy. That we just come back to our external reality.
We want to absorb ourselves in spiritual reality, but it’s not so easy. So we have to see for ourselves what works. So total breaks when we get into other things is not good.
But just some breaks by which we just calm ourselves down, become more aware of what we are doing, and get some inspiration again to chant, that may be helpful. So this is, rather than making a rigid formula, we can see what works for us. And that way we can try to fix the Maya and Krishna as much as possible.
And is it good to slowly increase the number of rounds, and gradually cut to perfection? That again depends on individual. As I said that chanting, yena keena prakaarine mana krishna ne meche. Somehow or other fix the Maya and Krishna.
So for most of us, if we are not chanting 16 rounds, to come to that should be an organic process. We feel comfortable with whatever level we are chanting and we keep increasing it. So chanting slowly and increasing the round, or chanting a few rounds and gradually increasing, or spacing out our rounds without getting spaced out.
That is important. So the important thing is, we have to see what works for us. It’s good to chant in the morning, it’s good to chant at a stretch, it’s good to chant when the mind is clear.
But then, what is normally good, whether it is good for me, I have to check. Otherwise, if my mind is wildly distracted, if I have slept for only 3 hours at night, and then I am trying to chant, I am chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, my mind is chanting, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, then better take a nap and then come back and chant again. So if we keep the purpose in mind clear, I have to fix the mind in Krishna.
And how best to do that? That we can work out practically. Is there an easy way to know if the intelligence is controlling the mind? Or the mind is controlling the intelligence? There are two broad things. First is, through the consequence.
If after we do something we regret it, why did I speak like that? Why did I do that? Then we can understand at that time the mind was controlling the intelligence. That’s first. Second is of course, scripture.
There are certain activities which are given in scripture that are recommended for us. And if we feel inspired to do that, then that we can generally infer is our intelligence is in control. But if we feel impelled to do something which is opposite to what scripture is telling us, then we can say that the mind is in control.
And the important thing is that we become observant. Sometimes the mind may take control, but that’s okay. When the mind takes control, we as soon as we realise it, we come back and take control.
So it is said that when an aeroplane flies, say if the aeroplane is going from LA to New York, 90% of the time the aeroplane is off course. Because of the wind, the atmosphere conditions. But the pilot keeps getting it back on course.
Of course now there is autopilot. The mechanism is there. But the point is, by default it will go off course, we get it back on course.
So because there is an awareness that I have to get to this destination. Similarly for us, the mind will just take control periodically. But as soon as you become aware, oh, this is what is happening, bring it back on course.
So usually for us, the time of our sadhana, the time of our swadhyaya, of our scripture study, the time of our satsanga, that is the time when we reorient ourselves. And that is the time when our intelligence is nourished. That is the time when we take control.
Other times when the mind takes control, as soon as we realise it, we get it back. So broadly, seeing the consequence and checking whether it is in harmony with scripture. These two factors we can use to determine this.
And over a period of time, we understand ourselves. See when we say understand ourselves, we understand ourselves to be souls. But we also have to understand ourselves in terms of the mind and the body.
What kind of mind do I have? What kind of body do I have? And the way the mind and body function, I have to observe that and work accordingly. That means say, if I am going on a road, and I know that there is a pothole over here. Then in advance, as soon as I come there, I will try to move off course.
So that I can protect myself. I don’t get bombed. So like that, we can ourselves find out what are the circumstances when my mind starts taking control.
There are certain circumstances when we tend to become angry. There are certain circumstances when we tend to become depressed. So we ourselves observe our patterns.
And then when we know that this is a situation when I am likely to get triggered, then we take preventive measures. We try to avoid the situation. We go around the pothole.
So that way, we can plan. So when the mind takes control, we get the intelligence back in control. And by knowing when the mind takes control, we can plan in advance so that we don’t let the mind take control, so that the intelligence stays in control.
How to overcome lust or material desires? This is something which all of us are struggling. It’s not an overnight process. But broadly, I talk about this in three terms.
It’s three Rs. It’s restriction, redirection and reconstruction. What I mean by this is, say, if this floor is inclined like this, then as soon as water falls on this floor, the water is naturally going to go in this direction.
Even if I say, I don’t want the water to go there. If the floor is inclined, it is going to go there. So now we use the word inclination to refer to physical tilt.
But also, we use that inclination to talk about our mind. I have an inclination for sports. I have an inclination for music, like that.
So inclination means it’s a tilt of the mind. So our thoughts, when our consciousness falls, it naturally flows in that direction. So our attachments, they cause a tilt of our consciousness.
So whatever I’m attached to, my consciousness will naturally flow in that direction. And now, what do I do when the water is flowing in this direction? First thing is, if I don’t want the water to flow in this direction, create a sub-wall, sub-bandh, which blocks the water. So whichever desire we want to control, we try to create some distance between us and the particular sense object.
So how that will practically work out, that will vary from person to person. But the point is that there is some restriction. The water doesn’t flow so immediately.
So now, restriction alone is not enough. Eventually the water will accumulate, accumulate, and it will break the restrictions. So after that there is redirection.
If I don’t want the water to go this way, I want the water to go this way. And what I do is, I get some pipe, I get some brush, and I push it in the other direction. So similarly, we push our consciousness, which is going towards worldly objects, I push it towards Krishna.
I push it towards Krishna. So we have to find out what works as the best pushers for us. That means that within Krishna Bhakti also, we find out things with which we can immediately connect with Krishna.
For some of us it may be some kirtans. Not just kirtan in general, but maybe a particular devotee’s kirtans. Or for some of us it may be Vaishnav songs, a particular Vaishnav song.
For some of us it may be deities, maybe a particular darshan of a deity that just attracts our heart. And we look at how beautiful the deities are, how their desires just, they decrease. Or it may just be some of us may be more philosophically inclined.
So some hearing of a particular devotee’s classes, or reading about, reading a particular section from scripture, whatever it is. So we have to find out the pushers that work for us. And third thing is that if we don’t want the water to flow in this way, we reconstruct the floor.
Because if the floor is inclined this way, then water will naturally flow in this direction. So that reconstruction is purification. As we keep practising bhakti, as we keep pushing our consciousness towards Krishna, then gradually by this, our inner floor will get reconstructed.
That means our thoughts will naturally, smoothly start going towards Krishna. And that way, then we will become, just as our thoughts are going naturally towards worldly pleasures, they will start going naturally towards Krishna. So that may take some time, but that will happen.
And so at our level, we can’t expect the change overnight. We have to be realistic. There are some lapses, there are some faults.
You don’t have to become disheartened about it. You have to always be Krishna conscious. You don’t have to be renunciation conscious or sense control conscious.
The purpose is to remember Krishna. So the important thing is that if you consider the graph of our consciousness, so sometimes material desires shoot up. And when they shoot up, it’s almost impossible to resist it.
But after they decrease, after the shooting up, they come down, then we have normal facility. Our consciousness is normally reasonable. So when the desires shoot up, it may be almost impossible to resist it.
But the important thing is not what happens during those surges. What is important is what happens in between. Unfortunately what happens is, when the surge is there, we indulge, and after that we are beating ourselves up.
Why did I do that? Why did I do that? Why did I do that? So what are we doing? When the desire surged up, at that time the mind goes, come on, do it, do it, do it. And we say, okay, I’ll do it. And after that the same mind takes a double turn.
You fool, why did you do it? And the mind is beating us, beating us, beating us. Then what is happening? Again we are mind conscious. And after some time, again the surge comes up, again we forget.
So if you are always mind conscious, then how will things ever change? So okay, the surge happened, something happened at that time. But after that, okay, what’s over is over. Now let me focus on Krishna bhakti.
So in between the surges, if we are focussing on connecting with Krishna wholeheartedly, then what will happen? That connection with Krishna will purify us. And gradually by the purification, eventually we will come to a level when the surges come also, we will be able to resist it. And gradually the surges will also decrease.
So we don’t have to obsess too much over the surges. When the surges come, it will be difficult to resist at that time. We can try to resist.
And as I said, if you have some restriction, some obstacle, then that can help us to tolerate the phase of surges also. But the more important thing is not what happens during the surge of desires, more important is what happens in between. So in between if we are, in the normal time we are trying to be as Krishna conscious as possible, that will purify us.
We should not become frustrated devotees of renunciation. We want to always be hopeful devotees of Krishna. So we want to be hopeful devotees of Krishna.
Yes, even if I have these desires, even if they are overcome, it doesn’t matter. I keep practising Krishna bhakti. And by the practise of Krishna bhakti, gradually the surges will become more manageable and surges will decrease also.
So it’s a gradual process. And we don’t define our spiritual advancement in terms of our sense control. That is one parameter.
But we define our spiritual advancement primarily in terms of our commitment to connect with Krishna. So if you focus on the positive, let me keep connecting with Krishna as much as I can, then gradually the negative will decrease and we will be able to overcome it. So thank you very much.
So is it that our willpower, is it that our free will is infinite, but the facility to fulfil that free will is finite? Like even now we desire to fly in the sky, we desire to do many things. So is it we just physically can’t do it? So now when we talk about free will being infinite or free will being finite, we have to understand what it is that we are talking about. Is free will same as a desire? See our desire, desires can be infinite.
We can have so many desires, inexhaustible desires we can have. But free will and desires are two different things. They can be related.
We use the free will to fulfil our desires. So the soul is here. The soul has free will by which the soul can choose.
I want this, I want that. And now around the soul there is the mind and around the soul there is the world. So the desire that we get presently, they either come from the world through our perception or they can come from the mind through our recollection.
Oh I did that, I want to do that again. So the desires can come from either ways. So the free will of the soul is to choose the desire.
Now just having a wide variety of desires coming from our circumstances, that does not necessarily mean that the free will itself has expanded. Just like say, in the past there was one TV channel. Now there will be 500 TV channels.
Now the person who is watching the TV is one. The person has 24 hours in a day or whatever it is. So it is just the options have expanded.
So just like the TV may offer many channels which are like options for watching. So like that for the soul, there are many options that are present. So now our free will is simply our capacity to choose an option.
Just the increase in the number of options, even if that is increased up to infinity, that does not necessarily mean that our capacity to choose has become infinite. It is the options provided before us are infinite. If we consider, even in the pure liberated state, the soul is always finite.
So the soul may desire that I want to be at 10 places. If Krishna wants, Krishna can expand the soul. But normally the soul is at one place.
And the gopis, Krishna would think that they can expand and they can go with Krishna to the forest. But Krishna doesn’t do that. The gopis, when Krishna is in the forest, they experience separation from him.
And that is also, there is joy in that. So the soul by nature is limited. And therefore, we often say that the soul’s free will is also limited.
So the free will is a resource that we have. And we can choose it in whatever way we want. But because we are finite, so our free will also is finite.
But just as in the material world, there can be a large number of options that are presented, by which we can choose some option. And it may appear that there is so much freedom I have. But it is not always freedom.
It can become a burden also. Because if there is too many options to choose from, we spend so much time in choosing an option. So for us as souls, in the spiritual world also, we have free will.
But the devotees, they will practically use their free will to serve Krishna. So there are desire-fulfilling truths, there are Kalpata rules. But when Yashodamayi wants to cook something for Krishna, she doesn’t tell a Kalpata rule, no.
Just now I provide some Sandesh, I will give Sandesh to Krishna. She herself cooks for Krishna. Radharani herself cooks for Krishna.
Why? Because in the doing, there is the reciprocation of love. That’s why the free will of the soul to choose, the options can be increased in the material world by Maya, the options can be increased in the spiritual world by Krishna. Krishna can arrange for a devotee to have extraordinary powers also.
But the soul is finite and correspondingly, that’s why we say the soul’s free will is also finite. Answer your question? So one of the offences to the Holy Name is inattentiveness. Now I have faith in the chanting of the Holy Names, but still I am not chanting attentively, even if I try to.
So I am making an offence. What are the consequences? And how can I not make this offence? The first thing is that we don’t want to practise Bhakti at the level of fear. We want to practise Bhakti at the level of love.
So our goal in chanting is to try to remember Krishna so that we can develop a loving relationship with Krishna. If I am always paranoid, I don’t want to commit this offence, I don’t want to commit this offence, I don’t want to commit this offence, then we are offence conscious, not Krishna conscious. We don’t want that.
Now as far as inattention is concerned, yes we want to avoid it, but Krishna is an understanding God. Krishna, if you see in the Bhagavad Gita, it doesn’t tell Arjuna that you are a Kshatriya but you have to become a Brahmana. You serve me as a Kshatriya, that is your nature, you serve that way.
So Krishna also in the twelfth chapter gives us multiple levels at which we can practise Bhakti. Always fix your mind on me. I can’t do that.
Then try to fix your mind on me. I can’t do that. Then work for me.
I can’t work for you. Then you do whatever work you want, offer the fruits to me. I can’t do that.
Whatever work you do, offers the fruits in some sacrifice to someone. Try to develop some selflessness. So Krishna offers multiple levels at which you can connect.
So it is not that Krishna is like a fault finding God. Hey, you committed offence, now I’ll punish you. It’s not like that.
Krishna also understands at our level our minds are uncontrolled and it’s very difficult for us to be attentive. So sometimes we just not feel like being attentive. Sometimes we may try but may not be attentive.
So there is a very important difference to recognise between there is our intention, there is our emotion and there is our action. I may start my chanting with the intention, today I want to chant attentively. But my emotion is completely in the ground.
What is this everyday I have to chant? It takes so much time. I can do so many other things. Just get it over with.
So we may feel in a hundred different ways. And these emotions, they are simply the results of the moods. So we just like we have an environmental, you could say there is an environmental climate that is there.
Which is not in our control. Sometimes it will be warm, sometimes it will be cold, sometimes it will be windy. That’s just, we live with it.
So just as the environmental weather may change unpredictably, uncontrollably, similarly our emotional weather may also change. Today I feel very enthusiastic, tomorrow I just feel so bored. Now, just as we can’t control the external weather, often we can’t control our inner weather also.
I should not feel bored. But I am feeling bored, what do I do? We can’t wish away our feelings. Now that doesn’t mean that we simply succumb to our feelings.
But rather, if I am feeling a particular way, how do I accomplish that? Today I am feeling very tired. Today I am feeling very disturbed. Yes, that’s the way I am feeling.
But, if I identify with those feelings and get carried away, that’s a problem. I have my intention, I want to chant it. But today I am just not feeling like it.
So then Krishna sees not just our feelings, He sees our feelings about our feelings. That means, I am feeling very bored. So yes, that feeling of boredom has come within me.
But what is my response? Krishna, I don’t want to feel bored like this. Krishna, I want to chant it until then. Sorry, I am not able to chant it, but please help me.
So, the feeling of boredom is there within us, but we are trying to maintain our intention. So sometimes, when our mind goes into Rajoguna, Tamoguna, and it just wanders everywhere. Or in Tamoguna, it actually doesn’t go anywhere only.
We want to chant, but the mind is so lethargic. Sometimes our mind is like a horse. We just run so fast, we have to catch it.
And sometimes, it’s like a buffalo. Sometimes a motorcycle hits a buffalo, and the motorcycle falls down. So, the mind doesn’t move.
Now, at such times, if at that time we are trying, Krishna, I don’t want to feel like Krishna, I want to chant attentively. Please help me, Krishna. Our chanting may not be attentive at all.
But our intention will please Krishna. And we will make spiritual advancement only through that. Somebody else, they might be in a mode of goodness.
And their mind may be very calm. And they may chant very attentively. But they may not make much advancement.
Because they are in a mode of goodness. So, they sit erect, nice posture, clear pronunciation. The whole mantra goes on.
But the heart is not invested. I am not saying that people who are doing like that are necessarily like that. But the point is, it’s not just the externals.
So, sometimes I may be focussing on Krishna, in the sense that I am clearly pronouncing, my mind is not wandering. But am I taking shelter of Krishna? Some people are just stolid. They don’t get very easily excited or agitated.
But that doesn’t mean that they are absorbed. It is our intention that matters. So, bhakti is quite subtle.
Sometimes, we may chant with seeming attention, but we may not make much advancement. Because we are not really calling out to Krishna. The word is mama, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna.
The word is coming out and the word is going in. But no heart is being invested in it. Sometimes, our chanting may be very inattentive.
But our heart is Krishna, I want to chant. And despite that inattentive chanting, we may make advancement. So, we don’t have to become just too discouraged by anything.
Even if our chanting is inattentive, still we try to keep chanting. And then, especially on such days, we can take a few minutes out to look at what was inattentive. When I say it was inattentive, that means it was attentive about something else.
The mind is never inattentive. It is just attentive to something else than what we want it to be. So, we have to find out what was it attentive about.
Why was it attentive about? And then, what can I do about it? So, if I have some worry about my job, if I have some worry about some relationship, if I have worry about my health, I can’t wish these worries away. But I can use my intelligence. So, okay, I am a little worried.
What if I lose my job? What will I do? That worry is there. We use our intelligence to process that worry. I just have faith in Krishna.
Krishna will take care of everything. Yes, that’s fine. But in fact, there is dependence and there is also diligence.
So, okay, if I lose this job, I can do this. One, two, three. Anyway, I have enough savings for a few months.
I can work things out. Basically, use your intelligence to address that concern of the mind. And then, the next day when you are chanting, again that concern comes up.
Just maybe take a few minutes break. Just read through what you did. I am not saying this daily.
Just read something else while chanting. But I am talking about this as, or maybe before chanting itself, we try to go through it once. So, once we come to know what are our major distractions, we try to address those distractions.
And that way, the mind is basically, mind’s concern is taken care of to some extent. I will conclude with one metaphor for this. That the mind, sometimes you say it is like an enemy.
But, it’s not an enemy of the kind we can get rid of. Even if it’s an enemy, it’s an enemy we are stuck with. So, the enemy metaphor is helpful for just being aware of the dangerousness of the mind.
At the same time, for practical functioning, we can use other metaphors. So, one of the metaphors I find helpful is, the mind is like a child. So, when a child starts crying, the mother has to pacify the child.
Now, how the mother will pacify the child, that will vary from situation to situation. Sometimes you need expertise for that. Once when somebody sent me a YouTube video, the child is crying loudly.
As the child was crying, crying, and all the relatives were trying to pacify, and the child was not listening only. And finally, the mother, I talked about the inner world going on, it should have sounded like that. And the mother started screaming.
And loudly the child started screaming. What is this? Who is screaming? The child just became silent. So, the point I am making here is that, with respect to the mind, we have to be fixed in purpose, but we have to be flexible in practise.
Now, whatever works, we have to use it. So, if there are certain reasons, because of which it is becoming inattentive, we have to deal with that. Rather than just saying, oh my mind, I was inattentive.
Just try to find out, what was it that made it inattentive, and use the intelligence to address that. And once we do that, then gradually the mind will go off course, but we will be able to get it back on course faster. So, it’s like when we are chanting, so if the mother is there, the child is there.
Now, the mother wants the child to study. But the child wants to run here and there. Now, the mother can’t just literally repress the child.
Mother has to persuade the child, cajole the child, promise the child something, somehow get the child to study. Similarly for us, we are like the intelligence. We identify ourselves with the intelligence, and recognise the mind is like a child.
So, when it goes off, we have to get it back. Now, how I get it back? I’ll have to use my intelligence and find out ways. So, each person’s mind is individual.
All of us have our own concerns. And we have to find out the way which works best. Like say, if parents have two or three children, and the parents know that I cannot use the same formula for all children.
I have to talk in a particular way to a particular child, I have to talk in a different way to another child. So, like that, all of us have our own mind. So, there is something called Uddhipan.
Uddhipan means spiritual stimulus. So, we have to find out what is the Uddhipan that works for us. That is, as I said earlier, for some of us it may be Kirtan, for some of us it may be picture of deities, some of us it may be picture of our spiritual master.
When we are chanting, we keep picture of our initiation in front of us. I made a vow to chant. This is my service to my spiritual master.
So, we find out what is it that actually works as Uddhipan for us. And here we have to take individual responsibility for our spiritual advancement. Somebody else will say, you know, just sit at one place and chant 16 rounds.
Yes, it’s good if you can do it. But even sitting at one place, so chanting 16 rounds and sleeping 16 times. What is the use? Maybe I can stand up and chant.
It’s not that, the thing that, at the material level, chanting is spiritual, but we are doing it with a material body. So, at a material level, there is no one formula that works for everyone. The shoe that fits one leg, bites another leg.
So, we may hear in different classes, different things for controlling the mind. And some of them may work for us, some of them may not work. We just have to be pragmatic.
अनुकूल्देस्वानकल्वी पत्यकूल्देस्वानकल्वी पत्यकूल्देस्वानकल्वी Whatever works for me, I use it and move forwards. So, we have to, while practising bhakti, check what is the uddhipan that works for me. So, earlier I talked about processing our distractions.
When the mind is being inattentive, what is it that is causing the distraction, I process that. Now, I am talking about finding our attractions. Okay, the mind is going on, I don’t let it go there.
I use my intelligence to process that. Now, how to get it back? There is a point of concentration and there is a circle of concentration. That means, the ideal chanting is when I simply hear the holy name.
But that is very difficult for us. Because right now, for us, we don’t associate the name with the person. Now, if I call one of you, say, if I call Sanatana Priyaprabhu, as soon as I use his name, I remember him.
I remember his, the nama brings the remembrance of the guna roopa leela. I know about his personality, his qualities, his activities. So, that stimulation comes up.
But for us, when we chant Krishna’s name, we don’t associate it with Krishna, with Krishna’s activities, Krishna’s pastimes, Krishna’s qualities. And that is why it just becomes like a mechanical sound. So, what I need to do is, because I can’t focus on the point of concentration, I need a circle of concentration.
That means, let me have something related with the holy name. I can have a printout of the mahamantra. I can have, as I said earlier, a picture of a spiritual master, a picture of my favourite deities.
I can have some quote about the importance of the holy name. I can have some picture of my favourite pastime, where Krishna has given shelter to his devotee. And I have to find out some circle of concentration.
So, when the mind wants to wander, then, rather than letting it wander all over the universe, we let it wander within that circle. I just can’t focus on this holy name. Okay, just think about this.
How beautiful these deities are. Okay, these deities are Krishna. I am calling Krishna.
Let me call Krishna. So, we get the mind back to Krishna. So, we find out what can work as our circle of concentration.
And use that in our chanting. So, there is no need to be too much paranoid or guilty conscious because of inattentiveness. Inattentiveness is simply almost impossible to avoid.
But what we can do is even amidst inattention, we can try to maintain a firm intention. So, inattention is something that happens to us. But intention is something which we can choose.
So, if we can maintain our intention even amidst inattention, then we will get purification through that. Krishna will see that intention and Krishna will bless us. So, when we are chanting, it’s not just the sound that we are uttering.
It’s very important. But it’s the person whom we are calling. And that person is a loving person.
That person is an understanding person. That person is one who wants to help us. He is not there to judge us.
So, if we try to maintain a loving intention, Krishna will help us gradually to overcome the inattention. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
Jai Krishna Primapadi ki! Jai! Jai! Jai! Jai! Jai!