What makes us complacent about applying the solution of bhakti to the problem of our known weaknesses?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Sometimes we know that we have some problem. We also know the process of bhakti is the solution to the problem.
But we are complacent and we keep postponing applying the solution. So, what makes us complacent and how can we overcome that? Firstly, it is not necessarily always complacency. It may just be a sense of priority.
All of us have many things which we have to improve. And some things may require a very urgent attention. And some things they can be worked out later.
If I look at, say, I have these 10 things which I need to work on. If I try to work on all 10 of them at the same time, I will get completely worked up. I will not be able to function.
So, I have to choose. In the war terminology, they say, they call it as choosing your battles. So, now, say, if India has hostile relation, India has some issues with China, China has some issues with India, Pakistan has some issues with India, some other terrorists are there.
So, we have limited forces. So, I will fight this battle, this battle I will fight later. If at all I have to fight it.
So, sometimes we may just decide that this Anartha is going to take some time to deal with. So, then we may just put it on the back burner and work on some other things. Because even fighting with our weaknesses requires some confidence that I can fight and I can win.
And sometimes there is some Anartha is so big that when we try to fight it, we just fall again and again and again. Then we may just decide, okay, this I will keep it in abeyance right now. I will fight other battles.
I will work on them. And then gradually, when we fight battles that we can win, that gives us confidence. You know that this Krishna Bhakti really works.
And not just really works, we may say, Krishna Bhakti works, but it doesn’t work for me. That’s what we think, you know. Yes, everybody can change their conditionings, but I can’t change my conditionings.
Somehow the mind may think like that. But when we see for ourselves, this works. So, then that gives us confidence.
And then that may help us to choose to eventually focus on some bigger battle. So, prioritization in terms of firstly, what is very urgent to deal with, and also what is manageable to deal with. That is also a sign of intelligence.
And when we work in that way, gradually we build from small successes towards big successes. We will win small battles to move towards winning big battles. That may be just one way we function.
Now, of course, different people have different psychologies. Some people, it’s only when they’re fighting a big battle, they get excited. So, some people, they may feel, okay, I can’t fast Nirjala Nikadashi.
So, you know, I will avoid, I’ll take just one meal and then I’ll take other times some fruits or something like that. So, that way we do and then gradually we raise our standard. I’m just giving fasting as an example.
And then gradually they raise the standard. Some other people feel, unless they’re fasting, you know, what is this? When they get Nirjala Nikadashi, you know, they feel excited, you know, abhi kuch karna hai. Now I’ll be able to achieve something.
So, although it’s difficult, but that sense of challenge stimulates them. So, different people respond differently to different levels of difficulties. So, for some people, small difficulties is what spur them on and they get over small difficulties and then they can face gradually big difficulty.
For some people, small difficulties are so small, what is the use of dealing with this? Even if I fast and take just one meal, what is so special about it? Better than let me just take three meals full, doesn’t matter. So, sometimes the sense of challenge comes when we really try something difficult. So, we have to look at our own psychology and we should always be on the path of self-improvement.
But which aspect of the self we focus on for improving, that is something which can be left to individual discretion. It’s not that we are rejecting or we are denying that we have that problem, it’s just that that’s not what we are in a position to deal with right now. Having said that, sometimes we may feel that some problem is not really so urgent, but it may actually be urgent.
So, I may be very short-tempered and I feel, you know, I’ll deal with this in future. But you know, we say I’ll deal with the future, but in present people are not able to deal with us because we create so much trouble. Then we may also need some association of some other devotees, some other spiritual guides who tell us, this is really important, you have to work on this.
And so, what we prioritize on and what we postpone for later dealing, this is something which you have to intelligently decide. And it may be good to consult others, if there are equals or seniors, whoever, about what we should work on. And see, you know, normally, we look at the world through our mind.
So, if somebody comes and starts speaking very sweetly with me, immediately my mind says, what does this person want? Why is he speaking so sweetly with me? That’s just the way we think. So, we look at everyone through the filter of our mind. But if we have even one devotee whom we trust enough, that instead of looking at them through the mind, we look at the mind through them.
That means, okay, my mind is saying it’s like this, this devotee is saying it’s like this. Then, okay, who is right? So, we need some devotee that close to us, whose, we don’t necessarily uncritically accept their opinion, but we don’t just summarily reject it also. We objectively evaluate it.
And based on that, we can decide. So, we need spiritual guides who understand our mind and who help us to understand our mind. Somebody who is simply only, let’s say, a person who studies Shastra and somebody else is a person who is actually down in the field preaching.
Their mind may be very different. They just don’t understand each other. So, we need somebody who can understand what we are saying.
And then they guide us. So, that guidance can also help us to prioritize what we deal with. And most important is some inspiring association.
If we have some Anartha which we wish to work on, then we have to find someone who is remarkably free from that Anartha. And that example will inspire us. So, for example, say, if I get angry very quickly, then I know two, three devotees, I have seen them, you know, in the situation where literally like smoke is coming from my head, and they are so calm.
It is not that they are apathetic, but they are dealing with the issue. So, I feel if I could be so calm, it is so nice. So, that we need to have some devotees who inspire us.
So, when we have that, that becomes the strongest trigger for change. So, by prioritizing what we need to change, by consulting with others to decide what to prioritize, and by seeking inspiring examples for changing what we need to change, we can actually apply the solution of bhakti to the problem of the weakness and change ourselves. Thank you.