The key to always do the right thing – chose the emotions that carry us in the right direction

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Thank you.
Sometimes. I am here. I want to do this.
But. We fuse with our emotions. Fuse means.
We identify with our emotions. I don’t feel like doing it. Let me give it up.
So sometimes when students study for an exam. They feel like studying. But after some time.
They just don’t feel like studying. So. Now when the feelings come within us.
At that time. If there is a greater distance. Between us and them.
What does that greater distance mean? That simply means that. We are attentive. To observe the feelings.
Say. If I open my computer. And I type B. Now if I am not very attentive.
I type B. I think Bhagavad Gita will come. But actually Bollywood has come. And then I find that the browser has gone somewhere else.
Apart from where I intended it to. So. Now if I am not very attentive.
To where the browser is going. Actually I just type B. Bollywood.com.com. And then I may not notice. That I got misdirected.
So similarly. Our mind. Will bring some default.
Ideas, default emotions, default thoughts. Based on. Whatever we have done in the past.
If. We identify with them. Then.
We will get carried away by them. But if we understand. That these.
The emotions that I am feeling. They are not necessarily my emotions. That means.
Yes there are emotions coming inside me. But they are not the emotions I want. They are not the emotions.
I want to experience. Or cultivate. So if I understand that.
Then I can evaluate. In the Ramayana. When.
Ram. Is banished to the forest. At that time.
Lakshman goes with him. And sometimes in Hindi movies. You have this angry young man.
So Lakshman is like that. He is very angry. How dare Ram be.
Subjected to such injustice. And finally when Bharat. Comes.
To the Chitrakoot forest. Chitrakoot. So.
He comes to. Meet Ram. And he comes with a full army.
Because he feels I am a younger brother. He may not listen to me. But if I get the army.
If I get the courtiers. If I get the queens. If I get the priests.
Then all of us together. May have a chance of. Changing Ram’s mind.
But when Lakshman. Sees. That first they are in the forest.
Suddenly they hear a large sound. Now forest is a place of danger. So that’s why they are always very alert.
So they hear a large sound. What is this? Is it some beast of prey. Like a lion or a tiger.
But it is not just one sound. There are many sounds coming. So.
Many sounds were coming. Ram. Look at Lakshman.
Lakshman immediately climbed up a tall tree. And from that tree he started looking down. And he saw.
A huge army coming. He saw. This is the Ayodhya army.
And he saw the royal elephant. Of Ayodhya. And he saw Bharat at the head.
And. Now the army was coming with weapons. So now normally.
Sometimes. When say. Visiting head of state from say.
India goes to America or from America comes to India. Australia goes to India. Then there is a royal guard of honour.
So at that time. All the soldiers are equipped with their weapons. But nobody is going to shoot out.
But. For somebody. Who is simply observing from a distance.
They don’t know the intention. So somebody is coming with full weapons. It may appear.
They are coming to fight. Bharat had got. The whole army.
With weapons. As a guard of honour. The whole army is here for you.
Please come back. But. When Lakshman observed.
As he observed this. Suddenly anger burst within him. And he came down from the tree.
And he says that. Wicked son of the wicked mother. He said.
He is not satisfied. After conspiring with his mother. Who is the mother? Kaikeyi.
Kaikeyi has sent you to the forest. He is not satisfied with that. Now he has come with the whole army to kill you.
So. Here what happened. In Lakshman’s mind.
There is an auto complaint. He saw the army. And he saw the army.
It could be as a guard of honour. It could be for aggression. But because he already had that anger.
He already had that resentment. So what happened? Anger. They have come to attack.
And he started going off on a heavy rant. He said that Bharat. He has come to kill you.
But he doesn’t know. That I will stand by you. And whoever tries to kill you.
They will go to death support today. At the hands of my arrows. And Ram.
She is very cool. Ram is not at all disturbed. Ram has with great stoicism.
Accepted what has happened. So we could say. In Ram’s mind.
He knows Bharat loves me. So as soon as Bharat is coming. For him the auto complaint is.
Bharat must have come to persuade me to come back. So he says. Oh Lakshman.
Bharat’s love for me. Is no less. Than your love for me.
I am sure he has come here. Just to. Invite me to come back to the kingdom.
To request me to come back. Why are you so upset with him? Has he offended you in any way? If he has. He is after all your brother.
He will forgive you. Or is it that. In a rush of emotions.
You decided to come with me. To the forest. But now.
Seeing the austerity of forest life. You are finding it very unpalatable. And that has made you irritable.
If that is the case. When Bharat comes. I will tell him.
To stay in the forest in your place. And you can enjoy the kingdom. When Ram speaks like this.
Bharat feels so impressed. And finally. Bharat.
Comes. And he begs Ram. Please.
Take the kingdom. Normally. Normally if in a family.
A patriarch passes away. Then the successors. The children often fight with each other.
They fight. I want the kingdom. Here there is a succession battle.
But the succession battle was. You take the kingdom. And finally.
Bharat said. Please give your padukas. Please give your footwear.
And I will take it. Today if two brothers are fighting. And if one brother gives the footwear.
To another. The other brother will take the footwear. And beat the brother.
So. What happened was. Seeing Bharat’s selflessness.
Increased. Lakshman’s embarrassment even more. And then finally.
Lakshman. When they had departed. Lakshman approached Ram.
And he said to Ram. Why do I get angry so quickly? The younger brother. He feels so embarrassed by the way he is suspected.
And wanted to attack Bharat. Why do I get angry so quickly? And then. Ram pats him on the back.
And he says. Actually you are sentimental. So then.
Bharat asks. Are sentiments bad? Ram says. No sentiments are not bad.
Sentiments are the ornaments of life. But. We need to select those sentiments.
That. Take us towards Dharma. And avoid those sentiments.
That take us away from Dharma. So that means. Emotions.
Are something which come within us. And we have to select the right emotions. And for selecting.
There has to be a distance. If the emotion comes. And I accept the emotion.
Okay I am feeling angry. And I become angry. Then there is no selection over this.
So we have to increase the distance. The distance between us. And our emotions.
To the extent we can increase the distance. By understanding. That I am not my emotions.
My emotions. Whatever they come. It’s not that we have to reject the emotions.
It’s not that we have to suppress the emotions. But it is that we have to. Evaluate the emotions.
And Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita. In the 14th chapter. He says that.
These different emotions will come within us. And observe them. As if detached.
Observe the emotions. And how can you be detached? By situating yourself. At the level of the soul.
So to the extent I understand. That I am the soul. I am different from these emotions.
The emotions are coming. But I am different from them. I am going to evaluate these emotions.
And then act. So that is possible. When we have.
Some stronger foundation. Or a stronger purpose. Than the emotions.
Say for example. We just come and sit on our computer. And then we surf the net.
Wanting to find something entertaining. Then. Let me look at this website.
Let me look at that YouTube video. Let me look at the social media. I might just go anywhere.
But. If. I come to the computer.
Because I want to read a particular article about something. And when I am going there. At that time something pops up.
Ok. Right now. I want to do this.
Maybe I will look at this later. This is not important. This is a pop-up advertisement.
I am not interested in it. We can say no to something. Much more.
Easily. When we are saying yes to something else. So when we come to the computer.
With some purpose to do. Then even if some pop-ups come up. We can evaluate them more objectively.
So that is why. Spiritual knowledge. Helps us.
Because it gives us a spiritual purpose to life. The body, the mind. And the soul.
The Bhagavad Gita explains that each one of us is a soul. The soul is a part of God. And as a part of God.
All of us. Whatever we do in our life. We are meant to do it in the mood of service to Krishna.
So when we have that purpose of service. Ok. Whatever I am doing.
Whether it is my studies, my job. Taking care of my family. Whatever it is.
I am doing it in the mood of service. So then. When in the mood of service I am doing something.
Ok. This has happened. This person is behaving like this.
This has happened over here. That will trigger certain emotions within us. But the mood of service will ensure.
Ok. How can I serve in this situation? How can I serve? Ok. I can do this.
I can do this. That mood of service makes us sure. That we don’t get carried away by the emotions.
Otherwise whatever emotion comes. We get carried away by it.