Should we stick to personal spiritual standards even when they imbalance our life?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
so when we make some standards in the practice of our bhakti, such as say, waking up early in the morning and doing aarti and if we feel that if we don’t do it something is missing, somewhere we are disconnected but then sometimes in trying to stick to that we don’t get enough rest and then we feel exhausted that also creates imbalance, so what should we do, see Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that we should avoid extremes one who eats too much or eats too little, sleeps too much or sleeps too little, such a person cannot become a yogi it’s interesting he also says sleeps too little such a person cannot be a yogi sleeps too much we can understand, you know, wasting time or getting in tamoguna, but sleeps too little also it’s a bodily need, so broadly speaking when we make any regulation or any standard the purpose of the standard is to move closer towards Krishna but what happens is the mind is, mind often gets attached to the external forms so instead of connection with Krishna being the purpose, the standard becomes the purpose and then, then what happens is inability to stick to the standard that creates conflict so if I keep my focus clear my purpose is to connect with Krishna, sometimes it becomes late night, ok then my purpose is not just to wake up in the morning and do that my purpose is to connect with Krishna so if I wake up at 5 o’clock or 4 o’clock after sleeping at 4, 12 o’clock then I may wake up and chant my own but I’ll be half asleep, I’ll be struggling throughout the day, then what is the purpose served by it, so it’s very important that we see the standards, whichever are there in connection with the purpose that’s why it was Sarvabhidhi Nishidasur etayor eva kinkaro all rules are subordinate to this one rule of always remember Krishna, never forget Krishna so keep that purpose always in mind, it’s like fasting fasting on Ekadasi is good but if in the fasting I’m feeling so much tortured by the fasting that I can’t think of anything, that I feel distress, I feel pain, I can’t do anything then better eat food come to a lower standard and keep connecting keep doing something constructive the standards are for the purpose of connecting with Krishna the standards are not the purpose that way you’ll be able to move onwards is that clear?