Shikshashtakam 7 – Go beyond sentimentality to spiritual sentiments

Talk at Bhaktivedanta Hospital

Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna. So, today morning we will continue the discussion on the Shikshashtakam that I have been taking for several weeks, actually several years, because I have been coming in preventingly. And on a separate note I would like to thank all of you, because speaking on the Shikshashtakam like this gave me some confidence and in September I am going to America, so there at the Krishna institute they have arranged a course on the Shikshashtakam for me, so we have 8 such in course.
So, I spoke here and many of you gave some constructive feedback and I try to use that over there. So, thank you for that. So, today I am taking the 6th text of the Shikshashtakam and I will speak on the topic of differentiating between sentiments and sentimentality.
The 6th text is So, here there is a transition. Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains that the first 5 texts were prominently talking about sadhanama. Now, it transits to bhava bhakti and prema bhakti.
So, this verse marks the transition point. Sadhana bhakti is the stage of bhakti when the primary motivation for practising bhakti is coming largely from instructions of the elders. Technically speaking, sadhana bhakti has two parts, vaidhi bhakti and raganuga bhakti.
Both of them are a part of sadhana bhakti. But broadly speaking, Shri Prabhupada equates sadhana bhakti with vaidhi bhakti and raganuga bhakti he puts at a higher level. So, essentially in the previous verses the focus is more on glorification and intention.
Glorification of the holy names, how they are so, how they are so purifying, how they are so potent being non-different from Krishna. How that’s glorification, the other’s intention, you know, I want to cultivate humility, I want to cultivate renunciation and begging to the lord to elevate us. From this verse onwards we enter deeper into the realm of spiritual emotions.
And nayanam galadashuradharaya, that is, when will there be a shower of tears from my eyes? Vadanam gadgadarudayagira, when will my throat choke up because of divine emotion? Pulakair nichitambapokada, when will the hair on my body stand on end? Tavanaam grahane bhavishyati, bhavishyati, when will this happen in the future? Tavanaam grahane, when I chant your holy names. So, emotion is expressed, experienced and reinforced through action. Sometimes there are people, modern people, post-modern people, they criticise rituals.
There have been Bollywood movies which criticise rituals. They say these are just simply empty. But actually, in every activity that we do, there is a structure for expressing emotions.
Now, when we meet a new person, we shake hands. Now, what is shaking hands? It’s simply a ritual. Now, ritual is basically a structured way of expressing emotion.
We want to express warmth, cordiality, friendliness and we express that through shaking hands. So, ritual basically helps us to express emotion when it is present. It helps us to experience emotion when it is not present.
Now, if we smile at someone, then if we are trying to smile at you, we feel a little better also. We feel some warmth, some friendliness. And when emotion is there, it is also reinforced.
Now, when a mother sees a child, the child runs towards her and she embraces her. That’s an action. What does the action do? The action reinforces the maternal affection that the mother has for her.
So, emotions are expressed, experienced and reinforced by actions. And the actions which are specifically designed to have this relationship with emotions, they are rituals in the spiritual realm. Rituals are not empty.
They are purposeful. So, here in this particular verse, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is seeking, is praying for the expression, expressions of ecstasy. So, three primary expressions of ecstasy are talked about over here.
There is the visual, the verbal and the physical. The visual, the eyes stream with tears. The verbal, the throat chokes up.
And physical, the bodily hair stand up. Now, in Srila Prabhupada’s introduction to the Bhagavad Gita, explains that Arjuna also had these symptoms. But those symptoms were because of great apprehension, great fear.
He did not want to countenance, he did not want to contemplate or he found it very scary to contemplate the prospect of a fratricidal war which was right in front of him. So, intense emotions can come from various sources. And emotions have, they are not just things in the head.
Emotions have physical effect on the body. In fact, sometimes if the emotions are very intense, then the body does not have the capacity itself to experience those emotions. And then people faint.
Now, fainting can be because of great shock. Say, if a person hears the news that a loved one has passed away or some very disastrous thing has happened, then people may just stand there and effervesce. So, basically, emotions have such a traumatic effect, not just at the level of the mind but at the level of the body that they can bring about serious physical transformation such as even shifting a person from a conscious state to an unconscious state.
It’s not just physical pain that can cause this. It’s even emotional. Emotions can cause this.
There is also the possibility of fainting in ecstasy. And it is said that normally when we take darshan of the Lord, we go to the deities and take darshan. Actually, what should happen is when we take darshan of the Lord, we should faint in ecstasy and fall down.
But usually, there is no fainting, at least falling down should be there. That’s why we offer pranam to the Lord. But the idea is that when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is here, praying for the external manifestations of those emotions.
He is actually praying for the inner emotion which will lead to the external manifestations. Recently, we were discussing Shikshashtakam with some devotees. So, one devotee asked this question, should we also pray for these ecstatic symptoms? Should we also pray that let my eyes, let me have tears when I chant, let me have the hair standing on end.
Should I pray for these symptoms? So, I explained, yes, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has prayed, we can also pray. But quite often for us, at our stage, the tendency is to get caught in externals. Because of which we may well just think of these symptoms alone as important.
And we think that those who have these symptoms, they are spiritually successful, they are spiritually exalted. And those who don’t have those symptoms, they are not very spiritually advanced. So, rather than praying for the symptoms, we can pray for the emotions themselves.
And if the emotions come, the symptoms will naturally come. So, every culture has certain things which are markers of respect. In a materialistic culture, if a person has a big car, a big house, a person is wearing an expensive dress, then that person, oh, you are wealthy, you are successful.
So, then people try to acquire those trappings. Now, when a boy wants to impress a girl, if he wants to propose to her or have a date with her, he might just take a friend’s car, which is a big car and go to her. And the girl will think, oh, this boy is a very rich boy, maybe let me go with him.
So, what happens is, in materialist society, there is a tendency to just acquire the trappings of success without actually being successful. One pretends to be wealthy even if they are not wealthy. Similarly, in spiritual life also, there is a possibility that one may try to just show off this external symptoms of spiritual success without actually becoming spiritually successful.
And this is essentially what the deviant school of thought called Sahajiyaism is. The Sahajiyas, Sahajiya means easy. Sahajiyas are those people who take spiritual emotions very cheaply.
And they often make an appearance of having advanced spiritual emotions without actually being spiritually advanced. Now, Bhaktira Samrat Sandhu is a guidebook for the advanced stages of bhakti. And there, these Ashta, Sattvika, Vikaar, these eight transformations of spiritual ecstasy.
Ashta is eight, Vikaar is transformation. Sattvika, normally we use the word Sattvika to refer to sattva guna. I seek your blessings, Mayavasi, that I can speak something.
We are discussing a series of Shikshashtakam over here. So, right now I am in the sixth verse. So, the Ashta, Sattvika, Vikaar are the eight transformations of ecstasy which Rupa Goswami talks about in the Bhaktira Samrat Sandhu.
At the same time, he doesn’t describe these to be the only characteristics of ecstasy or characteristics of spiritual advancement. Along with these, he also talks about non-limitable characteristics. He talks about avyarthakalatvam, that a spiritually advanced person doesn’t waste time.
He talks about utkantha, about great eagerness to hear about Krishna. He talks about virakti, about detachment from material things. So, there are a whole list of symptoms which are given which are not so dramatically visible.
You know, tears coming from the eyes or voice choking up or hair standing on end. All these are dramatically visible symptoms. Whereas a person is busy, doesn’t waste time.
That’s not so. It is important quality, but it is not so dramatically visible. And that is why, whether we talk about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu or his associates, whenever the characteristics of ecstasy are talked about, primarily these, the, primarily the dramatic transformations of ecstasy that are there, they are talked about.
But those dramatic transformations of ecstasy are the highlights of a life that is totally devoted to the Lord. Unfortunately, the Sahajiyas, their life is not so devoted to the Lord. But they try to have these characteristics of ecstasy in an artificially imitated way.
And because of this, when people at one level pretend to be very spiritually advanced, at another level, they often engage in less than exemplary activities, sometimes even immoral activities, then that leads to a lot of bad reputation and that causes a lot of problems. Especially by the time when Bhaktivinod Thakur appeared, at that time, Gaudiya Vaishnavism was often thought of as immoral, as using some show of devotion to perpetuate immorality. And that’s why Bhaktivinod Thakur, Bhaktisandh Thakur and thereafter Sri Prabhupada have spoken strongly against Sahajiyas.
See, technically, the Sahajiyas, they didn’t just imitate the advanced symptoms of ecstasy, but they also mixed Vaishnavism with some peculiar strands of Shaktism. In Shaktism, Shaktism is the worship of Shakti, that is the goddess. So, there they have the idea that Shakti pervades nature.
And Shakti can enter into people. And so, sometimes, especially in the temples of the goddess, there are sometimes people who seem to go mad. Or just go, not exactly, mad is a strong word for it.
But they just seem to act in very strange ways. They will start dancing, they will start crying, they will start shouting. And people say that the goddess has possessed them.
In Marathi, it is called Anga Tale. So, now, there are, within the Shakta literature also, there are characteristics by which they decide whether it is actually a genuine possession or it is just an imitation. And the genuine possessions are very, very few.
But the thing is, there they have the idea that the goddess can enter into a person’s body. And certainly, the devatas have the power to do that. But that is not a very common thing and that is also imitated.
But what happened with the Sahajiyas is that they took this Shakta idea that the goddess can enter into the person and they brought it into Vaishnavism. So, for example, they would perform Raas Leela. So, the Shaktas, men and women, they would perform Raas Leela.
And not only would they perform Raas Leela, rather than saying that this is actually imitating Krishna for mundane pleasure, they would actually claim that Radha and Krishna are entering into us. And when we are uniting, Radha and Krishna are enjoying through us. So, this was a horrendous distortion of the Bhakti understanding.
We are meant to assist the divine couple in their Leela. It is not that we can say that they are entering into us and we are imitating. So, we imitate them and then what happens is the immoral becomes conflated with the transcendent.
And that leads to not only deviations within Vaishnavism but a lot of loss of reputation outside Vaishnavism. And because of this, the Acharyas, the recent Acharyas especially, have strongly cautioned against Sahajiyaism. Bhaktisiddhanta Thakur would quote the biblical saying, fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
And he would use this to say that actually the advanced symptoms of Bhakti, foolish people, they pretend that they have them. And by this, they rush into advanced areas of devotion which actually even the exalted sages have been very careful in addressing. So, there is this caution which is very much required because of, as I said, two reasons.
One is the normal human tendency to try to show off the markers of success without acquiring success. So, people in spiritual circles want to be advanced, want to appear advanced without actually becoming advanced. And one way of dramatically appearing to be advanced is to show the symptoms of ecstasy.
The other problem is there is also a whole tradition which tries to give intellectual rationalisation for this by mixing Shaktism with Vaishnavism and coming up with an immoral deviation. So, these are some of the reasons why our acharyas have been very strong in cautioning premature exhibition of emotions, spiritual emotions. At the same time, these emotions are indeed the goal on the spiritual path.
And it is not that we have to be suspicious of emotions all the time. The transcendental is beyond the sentimental and beyond the judgemental. So, one extreme is sentimental means, you know, we just, sentimental has two basic characteristics.
One is that sentiments are considered to be the sole characteristic of spiritual advancement. If I have sentiments, I am spiritually advanced. My sentiments are just the effusive upflow of emotions.
That’s all. So, and the other characteristic is that the practise of bhakti is made dependent on sentiments. That means if I feel good, I will practise bhakti.
If I don’t feel good, I will give it up. So, when this happens, so, emotions alone are the fuel. Especially in Vaidhi Sadhana Bhakti, it is the instruction of the spiritual master.
It is our own intelligence which is equipped with the guidance of the spiritual master. That is meant to be the steady fuel. Because emotions will come, emotions will go.
Sometimes while chanting we feel good, sometimes we may not feel good. But bhakti has to be done consistently. So, sentimentality means emotions are the sole fuel for bhakti.
If I don’t feel good, I just give up the practise of bhakti. Another aspect of sentimentality is emotions alone are considered to be the goal of bhakti. And if somebody shows emotions, they are successful.
So, now this is sentimentality which is a pitfall. But the other extreme is judgmentality where any show of emotions or any manifestation of emotions is treated with extreme suspicion. And by treating with such extreme suspicion, it is as if anybody who exhibits any emotions is branded as a surgeon.
No, that is also not desirable. Because bhakti is a path of growing emotions. And growing emotions means even at our stage, we can and should experience some spiritual emotions.
Not necessarily we will experience them all the time. And not necessarily that their presence alone should be the fuel for our bhakti. But we do experience spiritual emotions.
So, here Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is aspiring for this exalted spiritual emotions. This visual, verbal and physical transformations. The essential point is that he is asking for that inner devotion to Krishna which will naturally manifest as these outer symptoms.
And that inner devotion to Krishna is what is developed gradually by the steady practise of bhakti. Emotions are an extremely powerful force in human life. People can completely change the course of their life if they experience certain emotions.
The two people may be very close friends and somehow some altercation happens, one person feel that I was insulted by the other person and to the extent they were close to each other, that extent they may just go to the opposite extreme. In the Mahabharata, there is an example of Drupada and Drona, when they were very close friends. But then eventually because of one unpleasant interaction where Drona was dishonoured, they became almost like mortal enemies.
So, these emotions are extremely powerful driving force. Now suppose say a car were moving in a very fast pace in a particular direction. And then suddenly we saw that the car is moving in the opposite direction in the same pace.
You would wonder what made it move like this. Now to stop a car from moving forward, that itself requires a lot of energy because the car has momentum. But if the car which is moving forward suddenly starts moving backwards, that means the force which brought about that transformation, that force must be extremely powerful.
So, emotions are that kind of force. Emotions can make us move forward very fast in a particular direction. But if something changes, then the same direction towards which we are moving, we may move away from that with the same force.
It’s a similar force in the opposite direction, similar velocity in the opposite direction. And what brings us change is emotions. So, sometimes, you know, people who are, say a man and woman who are attracted to each other, they may say, I can’t live without you.
And then they live together for a few months or a few years and afterwards they say, I can’t live with you. So, what has happened? The same force of emotion that brought them together is now ripping them apart. So, the problem here is in any field, if emotions are the sole determiner of our actions, then there is no sustainability.
There is no sustainability if emotions are the sole determiners of action. So, in many romantic novels or movies, it is shown a man and a woman see each other and then there is love at first sight. Now, yes, sometimes it may happen that people may feel some attraction to each other when they see each other for the first time.
But whether it is love or not, that will depend on what people feel after many sights. It is not only at the first sight. So, that consistency in a relationship, that is possible when there is not an exclusive reliance on emotions or even a over dependence on emotions.
Relationship requires not just emotions, it also requires commitment. Actually bhakti, there is this polarity or a duality. The path of karma is the path of attachment.
The path of jnana is the path of detachment. Bhakti takes us beyond both this. Bhakti is the path of neither attachment nor detachment.
It is the path of commitment. Path of commitment. We ultimately want to develop attachment to Krishna, but that attachment to Krishna doesn’t come automatically.
For developing that attachment, what we need is commitment. And if we are in the 11th canto, naati sattva naati nirvannam, in the Uddhava Gita, it is said that one should not be too attached or too detached. If one is too attached, one will be caught in just, okay, how will I get this object of attachment? How will I get this? How will I get this? And one will not be able to think of Krishna.
And one is too detached, then also one will be thinking of the same object. How can I avoid this? How can I avoid this? How can I avoid this? So, in either attachment or detachment, the focus of consciousness is on a particular object. Either getting it or avoiding it.
Whereas bhakti focusses on commitment. We connect ourselves with Krishna and in a disciplined way, we strive to practise the process of bhakti. And by such practise, we move steadily and gradually the spiritual emotions awaken.
So, I’ll conclude with two examples of spiritual emotions and whether they can be authentic on the path of bhakti in our stage as sadhakas. So, sometimes some devotees, they may say that, okay, Krishna came in my dream. Now, if Krishna comes in a particular devotee’s dream, is it possible? Who are we to say what Krishna can’t do? For Krishna, anything is possible.
So, Krishna can come in the dream of a sadhaka also. We cannot stop Krishna from coming and we cannot make a legislation. You are a sadhaka, you cannot have Krishna coming in your dream.
So, Krishna can come in the dream of sadhakas also. The important thing is that our consciousness goes through different stages. Right now, we are in the stage of jagruti.
Hopefully. Love at first may be the stage of sapna also. So, jagruti, basically, the soul is here.
Around the soul, there is a subtle body. Around the subtle body, there is a gross body. So, when the soul’s consciousness comes to the subtle body, through the subtle body, to the gross body and to the outer world, that is the state of jagruti.
When the soul’s consciousness comes only to the subtle body, but not to the gross body, that is the stage of sapna. When the soul’s consciousness stays within itself, not coming even to the subtle body, that is sushupti. Sushupti is the dream state.
And when the soul’s consciousness focusses on spiritual reality, that is the stage of samadhi. Samadhi means, it is also called as turya. When the soul’s consciousness is spiritually focused.
Now, in the path of yoga, ashtang yoga, this path of this samadhi is achieved through the disconnection of consciousness with the physical and the mental realms. So, yoga’s chitta vritti nirodha. That means the consciousness is withdrawn from matter and mind, from physical matter and mind.
And then it is focused within on spiritual reality. On the path of bhakti, the consciousness is directed through the mind and through the body. That is directed towards Krishna.
So, a devotee doesn’t have to be in a closed eyes to be in a spiritual trance, to be in samadhi. A devotee can be with open eyes beholding the form of Krishna and the devotee can be in samadhi. So, the point is samadhi is not just withdrawal of consciousness from the physical and the mental levels.
It is direction of consciousness to the spiritual level. So, the reason I am talking about all this is that in swapna stage, the consciousness comes to the level of the subtle body. It doesn’t come to the level of the gross body.
And Baldevidya Bhushan, in his Govinda Bhashya commentary on the Vedanta Sutra, he analyses the swapna stage elaborately. And normally, whenever we say, oh, this world is like a dream. Sometimes people compare like that.
Even spiritualists compare like that. The idea is, just as dreams are unreal, this world is also unreal. But Baldevidya Bhushan turns his argument around and he says, yes, this world is like a dream.
And just as this world is real, dreams are also real. What do you mean by dreams are real? Dreams are real means, not that everything that we see in a dream is happening somewhere in some realm of reality. But rather dreams are happening in the subtle level of consciousness.
And in subtle level of consciousness, we are either, when we see dreams, in some dreams we are observers, in some dreams we are participants. But in no dream are we the sole controllers. Even in a dream, everything doesn’t happen entirely according to our plan.
OK, this person does like that, that person does like that. So he says that even in the dream, Ishwara is in control. So, what happens in our dreams? Baldevidya Bhushan says, this is a whole elaborate subject of dreams.
I’ll focus on my point here. But the point he says is, dreams are the means by which Ishwara gives us reactions to our minor karmas. Like some people, as soon as they go to sleep, they get nightmares.
They are afraid of sleeping. Why like that? Other people can just sleep peacefully. So, they are getting those nightmares because those nightmares are a reaction to some minor karmas.
If the major karmas were there, then they would have nightmarish situations in their real life. But minor karmas, so there are nightmares in their dream state. But the point is, the dream world is also real, in the sense that there are reactions that come and it is also under the control of the Supreme.
But he says, the main difference between the Swapna state and the Jagruti state is the Sveksha of the Jiva. Now, we can consciously use our free will in the Jagruti state, in the awake state. We cannot consciously deliberate and choose in the dream state.
We may decide, okay, I am driving a car and I come to a fork. And I go here and I go there. And I choose that in a dream.
But it’s not that I am consciously contemplating and choosing. These are the dreams that happen. So, spiritual growth depends primarily on changing our choices.
Right now, we are choosing the world, we are choosing worldly objects for our enjoyment. And spiritual growth happens when we learn to choose Krishna. And that is why spiritual growth primarily happens in the Jagruti stage, not in the Swapna stage.
Because our Sveksha, our free will, we use consciously in our awakened state, not in the dream state. And all this, the point of this discussion is, in dreams Krishna may come. That is Krishna’s great mercy if he comes.
But just Krishna coming in our dream will not make us spiritually advanced. After Krishna comes in our dream, when we wake up, what do we do after waking up? That is what will make us spiritually advanced. Because we use our free will in the Jagruti stage, not in the Swapna stage.
Yes, it is Krishna’s great mercy if Krishna comes in the dream. But if I think that Krishna has come in my dream, so I become advanced devotee. And that’s why I don’t need to practise Bhakti.
Then we are unfortunately deluding ourselves. So, if a devotee says that Krishna has come in my dream, yes, it’s possible. We don’t have to say, don’t be a sahajiya.
Krishna has come in the dream, fine, Krishna has come in the dream. We don’t have to, from the devotee’s point, from the other’s point of view, others don’t have to be judgemental and say that you are sahajiya. But from that devotee’s point of view, that devotee doesn’t have to claim that, oh, I am so spiritually advanced, Krishna came in my dream.
No, actually, Krishna came in the dream, that’s wonderful. But what do we do after waking up? If Krishna has come in our dream, we see that as the great mercy of Krishna. And we see that as Krishna’s impetus, Krishna’s encouragement for us to practise Bhakti in a more committed way.
So, that’s one example of how dreams about Krishna can be appreciated without sentimentality. The other is, sometimes we may ourselves experience some spiritual emotions. And, you know, in kirtans you may feel very good, sometimes in darshan you may feel very good, sometimes, you know, some little tears may come out of the eyes or whatever.
Now, when these emotions come, again, we can be grateful to Krishna for those emotions. But we don’t have to see those emotions alone as a sign of spiritual advancement. So, Gaur Kishoras Babaji says that actually symptoms of ecstasy are meant to be the result of ecstasy.
They are not meant to be the substitutes of ecstasy. So, he used the example for that. That when a woman is pregnant and then she has labour pains, at that time she may cry out.
And that crying out due to the labour pains, actually that attracts relatives, friends to come and they all help. And then through those labour pains, through those cries, you know, a child is born. New life springs into this world.
But if a woman is not pregnant, she says, Oh, this woman when she cries, it’s with so much attention. Child also cries. She may cry, but if she is not pregnant, all her cries, there is going to be no delivery of a child happening to her.
So, he says the authentic devotees, they are like the pregnant woman. They have by sustained contact with Krishna, Sukhena Brahma Samsparsham, Atyantam Sukha Mashnute. By sustained contact with Krishna, you know, the spiritual emotion has grown within them and now it is manifesting.
And in such a case, when the advanced devotees express spiritual ecstasy, there is further development of emotion, further deepening of the devotion that happens to this. But when somebody doesn’t have that authentic devotion and then they start exhibiting these symptoms, then that is a show like a non-pregnant woman crying as if she has labour pains. So, there may appear to be, externally one can make a very good show of labour pains also.
But there is going to be no delivery. So, sahajiyas can do like that. But there will be no spiritual advancement through that.
So, that’s why sadhakas, if we have spiritual emotions, if sometimes we experience emotions in relationship with some devotional stimuli, we can be grateful for them. But we don’t have to make a show of them. We don’t have to tell the world about it.
You know, last time I had kirtan, I felt tears in my eyes or this or that. We can, to some close friends we may mention them, but we don’t have to parade that around. This is Krishna’s gift to us.
And more importantly, it is a gift that is meant to inspire us to practise bhakti in a more committed way. And then we will move onwards, steady towards Krishna, when we will come to the level of water. Bhakti Sambhut Sindhu calls this Thaibhav.
Thaibhav means steady spiritual emotion. And that steady spiritual emotion comes by purification. When the heart is not so much focused on the world, but is focused on the lord of the world, then that steady focus on the lord naturally brings spiritual emotions.
And that is the purpose towards which steady bhakti practise takes us. So, somebody came to Srila Prabhupada and he said, Swamiji, Krishna came in my dream yesterday night, yesterday. So, Prabhupada just said, OK, serve him today.
So, Prabhupada did not deny it. Prabhupada did not glamorise it. He said, serve him today.
Focus is on, not whether Krishna came in the dream or not. How much are we committed to the service of Krishna? And when we stay committed to the service of Krishna, by the mercy of Krishna, by the mercy of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Acharyas, gradually purification will happen, spiritual emotion will awaken. And eventually, by Krishnaveling, the spiritual symptoms of ecstasy may also manifest.
So, I’ll summarise. I talked about how this verse takes us from the level of sadhana bhakti to the level of higher levels of devotion, bhava bhakti and prema bhakti. This is transition.
And then we talked about how emotions are not just things in the head. Emotions bring about physical transformations. They may cause even a person to fade when the emotions are unbearable physically.
So, there can be intense emotions. These transformations of tears, choking up of the throat and hair rising, visual, verbal and physical transformations, they can happen because of fear as happened with Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita. Or they can happen because of ecstasy as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is aspiring for.
Now, intense spiritual emotions and spiritual advancement that can express itself in a dramatic way through the symptoms of ecstasy, but it can also express itself in a less dramatic, but in a more reliable, less immutable way in the form of dedication. Not wasting time, being detached from material things, being constantly enthusiastic to chant Krishna’s name, being eager for Krishna. And those are the symptoms of ecstasy that our acharyas have traditionally focused on.
And the reason for that, I explained twofold. One is that there is a normal human tendency to try to get the external markers of success without being successful. People pretend to be wealthy without being wealthy.
Similarly, sahajiyas pretend to be spiritually advanced by showing the symptoms of ecstasy without actually being spiritually advanced. And secondly, the sahajiyas mixed Vaishnavism with Shaktism. And when they were imitating Radha Krishna, they claimed that Radha Krishna are entering into them.
And in that way, they try to rationalise their immoral dalliances. That’s why our acharyas have always been very cautious about venturing prematurely into advanced emotions. So, that sort of advance, that sort of premature adventuring is sentimentality.
And that is to be avoided. But sentiments are the goal of bhakti. The primary difference between sentiment and sentimentality is that in sentimentality, sentiments are the sole fuel for bhakti.
If I feel good, I will practise, otherwise I will not practise. And sentiments are considered the sole marker of success of bhakti. People are not concerned about dedication, commitment.
They are simply concerned about whether emotions are there or not. Bhakti is not the path of either attachment or detachment, but commitment. Discussed in any relationship, if emotions are the sole definer of the relationship, then emotions may bring person to people very close to each other very fast and they may drag people far away also very fast.
So, sustainability comes not by emotions but by commitment. And then, at our stage, can we experience spiritual emotions? Yes, we can. And I discussed how we can see them in a non-judgemental way.
Don’t have any suspicious about anyone who claims to have spiritual emotions. But at the same time, we don’t have to become sentimental also. So, with respect to dreams, I took a little detour.
Can Krishna come in our dreams? Discussed, yes. Krishna can come in the dreams, but in the dreams, we can’t express our sveksha very effectively. And spiritual growth primarily is based on moulding our free will in a proper direction.
That happens in the jagoti stage. So, if Krishna comes in someone’s dream, that is Krishna’s mercy on them. But their spiritual advancement will depend primarily on what they do with their free will.
And that they can do when they wake up. So, if Krishna comes in someone’s dream, they don’t have to broadcast it. They can see it as a symptom for, as an encouragement by Krishna so that they can become more committed in the practise of bhakti.
And other times also, if we experience some spiritual emotions, we can be grateful for that. But we don’t make a show of that. Just as we shouldn’t be like a non-pregnant woman who pretends to have labour pain.
No delivery will take place. So, by staying committed to the process of bhakti, gradually as the heart becomes redirected towards Krishna, then the advance into the spiritual ecstasy will also manifest when the spiritual connectedness with Krishna is there. Thank you very much.
Hare Krishna. Any comments, corrections Maharaj? Thank you Maharaj. Any questions, comments? Ok.
Yes, answer. So, how can we increase our commitment to Krishna? Actually there are two broad aspects. One is the quantity and other is the quality.
Often when we think of commitment, we only think of the quantity. Maybe if I am chanting this many rounds, I will chant more rounds. I am reading this much shastra, I will read this much more shastra.
That is good to some extent to have some quantity so that there is some steadiness in the connection. But ultimately we have only 24 hours in a day. And we have many things to do.
So, in terms of quantity, we cannot always increase the quantity too much. So, it’s important to also look at quality. That means, if there is some aspect of bhakti which enables us to strongly connect with Krishna.
So, for example, some devotees may feel very strongly connected with Krishna through bhajans, singing bhajans, reciting bhajans. Some others may feel very strongly connected by reading a particular book, maybe Chetan Charitam or Bhagavatam or whatever. Other devotees may feel very connected with Krishna by hearing classes.
So, whatever it is that enables us to strongly connect with Krishna, to become deeply infused with Krishna consciousness, we can commit to doing that regularly. Actually that commitment is relatively easier because we like doing it and we feel strengthened by doing it. But by doing it regularly, we will get more spiritualised in our consciousness.
And the more spiritualised we become in our consciousness, then we will be able to carry that spiritual consciousness to other things also. So, certainly we would like to increase our commitment as much as possible. But our human limitations make it impossible to increase the quantity.
So, if we can have something where the quality of our connectedness with Krishna increases and then we make a commitment to quantity within that. Then that helps us to spiritualise our consciousness in a powerful way. Another thing is that when we talk about the quality of our commitment, it also means that we learn to see not just externally spiritual activities as spiritual, but we learn to see every situation as an opportunity to serve Krishna.
So, even our profession, even our family, we do need this differentiation between material and spiritual so that we give some due time for directly spiritual activities. But even what we call as material, that can also be spiritualised if we are doing with a spiritual intention. So, Hari Shaurya Prabhu gives the example in his Transcendental Diary that actually whether Prabhupada was speaking to a thousand people or just speaking to one or two people during a darshan in his room, Prabhupada would be equally enthusiastic.
So, because for him, he was speaking Krishna’s message. Now, how many people were there to receive Krishna’s message? That did not make so much difference. Of course, naturally if a large number of people would be there, Prabhupada would be happy because more people are hearing Krishna’s message.
But he would be enthusiastic. So, like that, if we see our life as an opportunity to serve, then we can be preached through our, if we are directly doing some preaching, giving some classes or telling people about Krishna, that is very good and we will attract people to Krishna through our preaching. But then through our actions also we attract people.
So, if we learn to see our family life, our professional life, they also have the opportunity to serve Krishna. Because Krishna is present everywhere. In the 7th chapter, Bhagavad Gita, Prabhupada writes that the jurisdiction of Krishna consciousness extends everywhere.
So, if we see that also as an opportunity to serve and then we are in one sense, because it’s a professional obligation, it’s a family obligation, we are naturally committed to it. But we may not have spiritual consciousness in it. So, if we can infuse spiritual consciousness in it, then that can also give us more realisations and increase our connection with Krishna.
Broadly speaking, for commitment, for long-term sustainability in commitment, we have to find out something which we feel inspired to do. See, there is a circle of bhakti and there is a circle of our interests, our inspirations. So, we have to find out some intersection point between the two.
And if we situate ourselves in that intersection point, then we can go on steadily. We can go on in a self-motivated way. Because otherwise we will always have some, will you do this, do this, do this and then that becomes difficult for other people also to keep doing that.
And we also don’t feel good when others are prodding us all the time. So, yes, if the community requires some service, we can do that. But for long-term sustainability, we have to find out something which inspires us and something which is also within the circle of bhakti.
And we situate ourselves in that. Occasionally, we may be required to do things which are not so much, which we don’t feel inspired to do. And that is a part of our duty, part of our surrender.
But that is not what we should be doing all the time. Varanashram essentially helps people get situated in that circle. Now, what a brahmana likes to do, brahminical activities.
And Varanashram gives a facility by which they can do brahminical activities, Daivi Varanashram basically, do brahminical activities in devotional service. So, that’s how if we find this circle, this intersection between the two circles, then we can become situated in a very committed way. Is that answer to your question? Thank you.
Last question. Mahaji, would you like to add something? Thank you very much. Yes, Kripa Singh.
Please speak out. I’ll debate. So, in the initial stages of bhakti, there is lot of enthusiasm and there are emotions also.
But over time those emotions don’t seem to stay. So, how are they related exactly? There are two aspects to this. First is that in the initial stages, there is, things are new even from the material perspective.
And in general, the human mind is always looking for something new. And is enthusiastic about new things. So, that’s one aspect.
Because of which you may feel enthusiasm, you may feel newness. And you may feel emotions at that time. Because we are exploring something new externally.
And as we keep practising bhakti, then the newness goes away. And that’s why those emotions and enthusiasms may wane. The other aspect is that in the initial stages, Krishna may also give some free samples, some characteristics, some experiences of the advancings of bhakti for us to be inspired to move onwards.
On my website I answer questions. Recently one devotee asked a question, when we go for yatra, you know, we experience such wonderful spiritual emotions. But then I come back and I feel I have come back to square one now.
So, what has happened? Is it that we advanced spiritually and then we fell back again? So, I explained it’s not like that that we fall back. Rather, in the yatra, the whole cumulative energy of the sangha of devotees that takes us much forward than what we are presently. So, the spiritual momentum of the association of devotees, it gives us temporary glimpses of what lies ahead on the path of bhakti.
And then after the yatra gets over, that momentum is not there. So, we come back where we are. It is not that we go back.
It is not that we have gone ahead and we have come back. Rather, we just got glimpses of what lies ahead. And those glimpses, we can see them as inspirations for moving onwards steadily and reaching there.
So, Krishna may give us the experience of advanced bhakti occasionally. In the initial stages or sometimes in the association of devotees. And also in the initial stages, if some of us may have practised bhakti in a previous life, practised spirituality in a previous life, then purvabhyasena tenaiva riyate yavasopisah.
Krishna says that because of the previous practise, one is helplessly attracted towards Krishna. Suppose somebody has practised bhakti till 30% in a previous life. And then they are born in a pious but non-demotional family so much.
And then they start practising bhakti. In the initial days, it is that uncovering from 0 to 30% is happening. The 30% was always there, but it was not manifested.
That uncovering from 0 to 30% happens. And because that spiritual advancement was already there, so there is not much effort required to do that. It’s just quickly uncovering.
But from 30 to 31%, there is all a steady purificatory of an effortful growth. So what happens? There are emotions, but when there is effort required for getting those emotions, and when you don’t put in the effort, then the emotions don’t come. Initially, the effort, if we have already done some spiritual advancement, then the effort is minimal and the result is dramatic.
We feel so much spiritual growth. It’s not actually spiritual growth. It’s more of spiritual recovery of what we had.
But then afterwards when we have to spiritually grow, at that time we have to put in the effort and it’s slow and steady growth. So that’s why because more efforts are required for actually growing rather than just uncovering. So that’s why later on we may not feel those spiritual emotions.
And that’s why we need the association of devotees, especially association of like-minded devotees who can inspire us to move onwards in the path of bhakti when we have our ups and downs. So when we have our downs, others lift us up. When others have their downs, we lift them up.
So we need good association. We need encouraging association, at the same time cautioning association, which helps us move onwards. And that association of devotees will help us to move onwards even when we do not feel the spiritual emotions.
And as I said earlier also, if we can find out something which we can be committed to in the service to Krishna, then that will also give us some, maybe not a very high level of emotion, but some steady emotional connection, steady connection of some level of emotional fulfilment will be there if we are doing some activity which is within the realm of bhakti and which also inspires us. And that way we can move onwards towards steady spiritual growth. Guruji, as you have said that we have a long time, we have a long service, we have a college, we have kids and we have children.
But I want to say one thing, that as we progress, we need to basically, I want to emphasise, we need to basically, we need to actually have emotions in ourselves. As we go further, other than, we don’t go back anywhere, that’s for sure. How do we invest emotions in whatever we do? Yes, in the Bhakti Sama Chandu, there is a word that is used, Uddipan.
Uddipan is spiritual stimulus. Bhakti Sama Chandu is quite a technical text. And Uddipan has a specific meaning within that text.
But I will simply say, Uddipan means that which evokes emotion. So, the example can be given. Now, mother naturally has affection for her child.
But say when the child comes back home and comes running towards the mother. Now, the mother sees the child, that sight of the child increases her maternal affection. So, when say Yashodamayi sees Krishna coming back, she already has affection in her heart.
But when she sees Krishna coming back and Krishna runs towards her into her embrace, the emotion increases further. So, there is already emotion but the Uddipan causes the heightening of the emotion. So, in this case, for mother Yashoda, the sight of Krishna coming towards her, that is the Uddipan.
So, for all of us, even at our sadhaka stage, we do have some Uddipans. So, when spiritual emotion is lacking within us, we can use those Uddipans to trigger some level of spiritual emotion. So, for example, if we are doing japa and japa, we are very distracted, we are feeling totally unconnected.
So, at that time if there is some, maybe one or two lines from some Vaishnava song which we like very much. You know, we have that, because at that time it’s difficult to remember. Maybe have that ready somewhere as a card or as some note or somewhere.
And just recite that a few times. That just, the mind is taking a, going on a ride everywhere and taking us. But when the mind finds something which it can connect with at an emotional level also, then that brings us back.
So, or it might be some philosophical point also, which we find very convincing. It might be the darshan of the deities, some deities darshan which we feel very attracted to. Or it might be the photo of our initiation when we committed to chanting our japa, whatever.
So, when there is not, when we feel there is a lack of emotion in our practise of bhakti, we have to find out what are our sources of spiritual emotion. What are our uddhipan? And we keep them accessible. And then through that we can invest emotion.
And then as we invest emotion, emotion grows. So, even small things make a difference. That means, if I am sitting and chanting, if I lean against the wall physically, then what is happening? Then I am letting my body relax a little bit.
And that may not be very positive. But that may cause the emotion of lethargy or sleep. So, like that a small reorientation, if I am sitting in a room, I look here and there and I look at a picture of Krishna.
So, a small adjustment may help in stimulating spiritual emotions. So, we have to find out, you know, what is it that stimulates spiritual emotions within us? And then try to invest that emotion. So, initially we may not feel any emotion when I decide to recite a particular verse or sing a particular song.
Or it may be a simple, during japa we stop and sing the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra in a sweet musical tune one or two times. That itself may orient the mind. So, we have to see that if the mind is going here and there, it is not just I am helpless.
So, bringing the mind back and investing it with some spiritual emotion is my responsibility. And how I can do that? If we take inventory of our spiritual life, we will find out our uddhipan. And then we can do that.
Thank you very much. Maharaj, you want to add something to this? Yes. Thank you very much, Prabhupada.
Wonderful. Thank you very much. Shikshaashtakam ki.
Tauranga Mahaprabhu ki. Shukla Prabhupada ki. So, I go to Prema.
So, let’s start with tolerance.