​What to do if I don’t feel emotions for Krishna naturally, but only after contemplation?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, I feel as if, even to feel some emotions, say for my family members or anyone, I have to think, so emotions don’t come naturally.
Yes, see, for most people, thought follows emotion, they first feel and then they think about it, but for intellectuals, emotion follow thought. That means first I have to think, and after I think, then I can feel some emotions. Even for me also, even if I go in front of the deities, just stand in front of the deities, I see how beautiful they are, that doesn’t really evoke, awaken any emotion within me, but if I recite a verse and then if it’s a nice verse which absorbs me, connects me, this verse is describing the Lord and that very Lord is here, then that emotion awakens within the heart.
So, that is just the way intellectuals are. So, what we need to do is, wherever we know that there should be some appropriate emotions, we need to plan and have our thoughts organized. So, I find that, say, if the Janmashtami is coming up, if I just go for Janmashtami, I don’t feel very excited, but if I say, I have in my journal which I write down something, maybe some special prayer for that day or some contemplation, I do some conscious contemplation on the importance of that day, then the emotion awakens.
So, that is just the way intellectuals are. We don’t feel, we don’t think, we don’t need to think that this is a deficiency in our bhakti. It is just the way in which emotions awaken in intellectuals.
It’s not that they are incapable of feeling emotions, but because their nature is intellectual, so that intellectuality to some extent restrains the emotionality and that’s why it’s like within us, there is an inbuilt red signal for emotions. You know, emotions, no, no, no, I won’t become emotional, I won’t become sentimental. And then unless I consciously think, okay, you know, this is a place where emotions are good, that is desirable, then we intellectually change the red signal to green signal.
And then when we do that, then we move onwards. So, wherever we need to feel appropriate devotional emotions, we need to organize our thoughts appropriately and then we will feel the