When fear accelerates the imagination let faith be the brake

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Jai Jai Jai Jai Jai Jai Jai Jai Jai I’ll speak on Bhagavad Gita 18.35. Is there a shaking or it’s okay? So So Krishna is speaking here 18.35. He’s talking about behavioral characteristics of the mode of ignorance of Tamoguna. Swapna is dream, but it’s daydreaming.
Bhayam, it’s fearfulness. Shokam, lamentation. Vishadam is moroseness.
Madam is intoxication. Navimunchati durmedha. Navimunchati, one who does not give this up.
Durmedha. Medha is intelligence. Durmedha is misdirected intelligence.
So those whose intelligence is misdirected and they do not give up these mental dispositions. These thought patterns or behavioral patterns. They have dhruti saapartha tamasi.
They have dhruti, determination. But it is determination in the mode of ignorance. Normally we consider determination as something good.
There’s a lot of difficulty. Somebody perseveres in that path. Then they’re determined.
But determination can also become obstinacy. Obstinacy means when something is not good for someone, but that person still holds on to it. So Duryodhana’s and Dhritarashtra’s attachment to their kingdom or to the kingdom which actually was the Pandavas, that is not determination, that is obstinacy.
So here Krishna is talking about that kind of thing, but in a different sense. Normally when you talk about obstinacy, it is that person is advised don’t do this, but still with a misdirected attachment they keep doing those things. But with the case of mental patterns, it just happens.
So Krishna is saying some people just habitually live in the world of dreams. They just don’t do anything practical. Some people live in the world of dreams.
Is this okay? Let me keep it a little further away. Is it better now? Or you’re not able to hear? You can hear, okay, fine. So sapna is where one keeps dreaming fantastic things without doing anything practical to deal with it.
And bhaya is where one keeps conjuring dreadful things. But again without any connection with reality. So it is said that vision without action is a dream.
Action without vision is a nightmare. Somebody just keeps thinking I’ll do this, I’ll do that. That’s a dream.
But if somebody just rushes into things without thinking, that’s a nightmare. So this dream, fear, dream, this went wrong, that went wrong, that went wrong. That is lamentation.
And overall, when people have this kind of mentality, then they overall become pessimistic. Vishadam, just morose. Some people, they can find solution to all problems.
Some people can find problems with all solutions. So they are habitually morose. And then they just find life too morose.
How do you deal with such a morose disposition in life? They run away into an imaginary world through intoxication. Madam, drugs or alcohol or whatever. So we’ll focus here on bhaya.
Bhaya is fear. But however when Krishna is talking here about fear, he is talking about something more than a normal fear. Fear itself is not bad.
Fear is a natural and necessary human reaction to danger. So if we look down from a 50-storey building, and as we look down, we start feeling some dizzy sensation. Oh, we have to move away from there.
So that protects us from unnecessary danger. In fact, if such fear on the perception of danger is not felt, then that is a cause of fear. If a child is peering out from a big 50-storey window, the child is just having a daredevilish thrill.
The mother will become alarmed. He’ll become fearful. Come back, come back.
Don’t fear like that. So fear is positive when it protects us from danger. That it reminds us there is danger over here.
And be cautious. Don’t go here or at least go cautiously over here. And if we consider we human beings, our souls who have come into human bodies from different bodies in the past, most likely from non-human bodies, animal bodies.
So in those bodies, there is constant fear. Aahaar, Nidra, Bhai, Maithun, eating, sleeping, mating, defending. These are the four functions which are common to all human beings.
All living beings, in fact. Actually, Prabhupada writes, among them, the most common, the common denominator in everything is fear. And especially in the animal world.
In the Nishopanishad purport, Prabhupada says that the basic needs of the animals are fulfilled in very nasty and unpleasant conditions. You see, after this program, there is prasadam. There is no say, there is prasadam.
But when we are having prasadam, at that time, the prasadam is very delicious. We close our eyes and we savour it. And then we put our hand forward, and the plate has disappeared.
Hey, what happened? Where did the plate go? So, no, such a thing doesn’t happen to us. But, suppose there is a mosquito. And that mosquito is just, for him, our blood is his prasadam.
It’s just, it’s enjoying the food. And then suddenly, tak! Somebody flicks it off. Hey, what happened to my food? And actually… Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
So, the mosquito just loses its food in one moment. It’s in danger, it’s enjoying the food, and the food is gone next moment. And actually, the mosquito will lose its food if the person who is being bitten is kind.
If that person is not so kind, he’ll not flip away, he’ll crush. So, it’s like we are eating food and suddenly, something falls on our head and we die. So, the basic needs of the animals, of the lower species, are fulfilled in very nasty and unpleasant conditions.
There’s great danger over there. Even when a deer is eating some grass, it has to be always on the alert. Some predator, some lion, tiger coming.
So, there is great danger of even loss of life in the animal species. So, survival of the fittest is the principle in the animal world. When the soul comes from the animal species to the human species, it’s not just the soul that comes alone.
Along with the soul comes the mind, and the mind has impressions. So, when the soul comes from the animal body to the human body, the soul, even in the human body, brings the fearing tendency. Now, most of us in today’s world, we don’t live in mortal fear of being attacked and killed at any moment.
Yes, there may be terrorism, and there is some fear, but it is not a constant possibility as it is in the animal world. But because the soul, which has come from the animal species to the human species, has that particular mind, which is habituated to fearing, so, in the human form, the mind, which has a habit of fearing, conjures up various fears. So, that’s why if we see, when I said fear is a natural and necessary warner or protector of danger.
But, suppose there is no danger and still there is fear. Then that is not just fear, that is fearfulness. And that, Krishna says, is in Tamoguna.
Actually, fear, if it is protecting us from danger, that is not in Tamoguna. That is good. You have to be alert.
Okay, there is danger over there. Let me move that side. But suppose, say, I was peering down a 100-storey building.
I felt some dizzy sensation. I moved back. Now, I have come back to my home and I am sitting comfortably on my chair in an air-conditioned room and still my mind is rippling.
Oh, what a terrible fall that was. What if I fell down? What will happen to me? I will die. This, that, that.
So, when there is no danger immediately present, but still the mind is replaying the thought of the danger. Then that is where we are fearful. So, basically there is a stimulus and there is a response.
So, fear is a healthy response when there is a stimulus. But when the stimulus is no longer present and even then we keep dreading what if this happens? What if that happens? So, that is usually referred to not so much as fear as worry. Fear and worry are not the same thing.
Although, in a sense, in both situations, we are afraid of something out there, something bad happening. But in fear, there is a danger and it’s a response to that danger. But in the case of worry, actually there is no imminent danger.
But the mind is simply replaying various negative possibilities. Or it’s conjuring up various negative possibilities. What if this happens? What if that happens? What if that happens? So, that is worry.
Or we could say that is fearfulness. So, fear is not bad. Fearfulness is bad.
And this fearfulness comes because the mind is habituated to thinking of things in terms of danger. So, the soul which comes from the animal body to the human body has both the tendencies, desire and fear. Generally, these are the two forces which drive the mind mad.
Desire and fear. There is a third force also which is associated with anger. So, Krishna says, राग भय क्रोध वीत राग भय क्रोध मन्मया माम पाश्रितः बहवो घ्यान तपसा पूतामध भावमागता In 4.10, he says that when we take shelter of him, मन्मया माम पाश्रितः we fix our mind on him and take shelter of him.
Then, these three things, राग is desire or attachment, भय is fear or anger, we will become free from these. So, desire is, basically all these three are improper interactions with the outer world. When राग is there, I want this and I want this at all costs, no matter whatever happens.
So, when there is भय, I, the same राग, the desire is transformed. What if I lose this? How will I live? What will happen to me? And क्रोध is, I lost this, how dare some, how could I lose this? Because I have lost this, I will destroy whoever caused this loss to me or whatever caused this loss to me. So, basically, these three are emotional overreactions to the outer stimuli.
So, for us, let’s focus right now on भय. So, as a biological reaction to protect us from danger, fear is good. But when it becomes a psychological overreaction and even when the stimulus is not present, then there is a reaction that is coming, that is fearfulness.
The mind is developed in us, human beings. You could say, by mind I am referring to subtle body. The capacity for imagination is there in all living beings to some extent.
But in us humans, this capacity for imagination is much more developed. And this imagination is often used or misappropriated by fear. Imagination, again, is not a bad thing.
We can have creative imagination. That is, human beings, they come to a patch of land and say, I want to build a house here. And then build a magnificent palace over there.
Or, okay, I see a river here. And I envision a bridge over here. And then the bridge comes out eventually.
So, imagination means seeing something which is not there in reality right now. That can be creative. And when it is creative, it is very good.
And ultimately, this creative imagination has been given to us human beings so that we can visualize life eternally. That means, we as living beings in this world, everything here is temporary. But, we, none of us, we want to die.
All of us want to live forever and to love forever. So, is such a life possible? If it is, what kind of life would that be? And how could we attain that? In our immediate experience, we don’t see anyone living forever. In fact, this human longing to live forever is one of the strongest pointers to the existence of a non-material soul within us.
If there were nothing non-material within us, then why do we have a longing to live forever and to love forever? Nothing around us lasts forever. You huge mountains, which to us seem as if they are forever, are actually there for some time. As topographical changes occur, the mountains may rise up or they may go down.
When the twin towers fell, it was not just the fall of a structure, it was what that structure represented. It represented power, prosperity, security. And when they fell, it was a big scar on the American psyche.
It’s because when we see something secure, that gives us something big, large, formidable, that gives us a sense of security. But still, we know that nothing in this world is eternal. Nothing lasts forever.
If nothing lasts forever, why do we have a desire to live forever? Or where does our desire to live forever come from? Suppose a child is living in a tribal village in Africa and the child has never come out of one’s village community. There is no internet, no mobiles. He is living over there in the tribal village.
And suddenly, one day this child goes and tells his mother, Mommy, Mommy, I want a pizza. So, the first thing the mother will ask is, When did you hear about a pizza? There is nothing in the circumstance that will give that child the knowledge of a pizza. So, that’s why the mother will ask, Where did you get the knowledge of pizza? Where did your desire for pizza come from? So, similarly, nothing in our environment lasts forever.
And yet, we have a desire to live forever. So, where does this desire come from? This desire doesn’t come from our environment. It comes from our core.
The soul is eternal. And the soul is wanting eternal life at the material level. Because we are souls, but we don’t right now know that we are souls.
So, what is innate to us at the spiritual level, we are longing for it at the material level. But the very fact that we are longing for it indicates that there is something core within us, which is pointing to it. Which is originating it, rather.
So, I was talking about this point, to say that, actually, we have been given this imagination, so that we can visualize. Generally, we use the word imagination, sometimes I derogate this, and it’s all imagination. In a more constructive sense, we use the word visualization.
Something is not yet manifest, but it will become manifest. So, we are given this imagination, this faculty to imagine, so that we can visualize eternal life. And ultimately, inquire and attain eternal life.
अथातो ब्रह्मजिन्यासा What is it that lasts? What is it, is really going to stay forever? That is the inquiry. So, here what I’m going to talk about is that fear itself is not bad. Fearfulness is bad.
Imagination also is not bad. Imagination is given to us, by which we can do creative things in this world, and ultimately, by creative imagination, we can envision a world, eternal world beyond this world, and attain that world. So, both fear and imagination in themselves are good.
But both of them can be misdirected. So, when fear becomes excessive, that means when fear is present, even when the stimulus which is pointing to danger is not there, that becomes fearfulness. And when the imagination starts working, to think, to conjure up all dreadful scenarios, then, that imagination becomes harmful.
So, when fear and imagination come together, then, we can go crazy completely. Oh, this may go wrong, that may go wrong, that may go wrong, that may go wrong. And, nowadays, there are many people who suffer from paranoia, persecution complex.
Just feel it. Oh, somebody is out to destroy me. Somebody, something out there is there to just eliminate me.
So, people have many different kinds of anxiety disorders also. So, these anxiety disorders, they can have many specific causes. But broadly speaking, they indicate an excessive influence of Tamoguna, of the mode of ignorance.
See, all the three modes have their own characteristics. Generally, in the mode of goodness, there is contemplation first and action later. In 14.11, Krishna says, that when the doors of the body are illumined with knowledge, then, that characterizes the mode of goodness.
Now, what do we mean by doors of the body illumined by knowledge? The doors of the body are the senses. Is it that the person in the mode of goodness, from their eyes, some light comes out? From their ears, some light comes out? From their nose, light comes out? It is not like that. What light means over here is, say, if there is a door to a house and the area around the door is dark, then we won’t know who is coming in because some thief might come in.
And maybe there is a naughty child who is not meant to go out and the child slips out. We will not know if the door area is dark, who is coming in and who is going out. But if the door area is illumined, we will say, oh, this person is suspicious looking.
I don’t want him to come in. We close the door. Oh, this person is a friend.
Let him come in. So, basically, what to take in through the senses and what to give out through the senses, that discernment we have. So, in the mode of passion, we don’t have that.
Action is what is important. So, lobha pravrtti rarambha karma nama samas pruha raja setani jayante vivruddhe bharat arshabha In the mode of passion, there is this, I have to act, pravrtti, I have to do action. So, first there is action and after that there is contemplation.
Some people speak to express their thoughts and some people speak to discover their thoughts. They speak something. I am not fit to speak that.
I am sorry. So, there is first action, then contemplation. That is the characteristic of the mode of passion.
And the mode of ignorance is aprakasho apravrttischa pramadho moha evacha tamas setani jayante vivruddhe kurunandana says that there is neither prakash, there is neither proper contemplation nor proper action. Then moha, that is simply illusion. In our context, we can say imagination.
So, in the mode of goodness, we think and we act in a constructive way in the outer world. In the mode of passion, there is such craving that I have to get things done, I have to control things. We act without thinking.
But in the mode of ignorance, we neither think nor act. The mind just takes us on a fantasy drive. Here, there, this, that.
So, when there is a lot of fear, when there is fearfulness, that is a characteristic of the mind being in the mode of ignorance. So, the mind in ignorance feels that I can’t control anything. Generally, in any situation, there is something in our control and something not in our control.
In the mode of passion, we overestimate our capacity to control. We think I’ll control everything. So, if we get into a relationship, we think, yeah, this person has problems, but I’ll fix this person.
I’ll fix this person. Every relationship begins with the promise that we will be controllers. And every relationship gives us the realization we are not controllers.
So, what happens? In the mode of passion, we overestimate our capacity to control. Whereas, in the mode of ignorance, we underestimate our capacity to control. That means, if there is a problem in the relationships, in the mode of passion, people become aggressive towards others.
You are like this, you are like that. In the mode of ignorance, we just feel sorry for themselves. Oh, you know, destiny is rotten.
Everybody treats me like a doormat. And these people feel sorry for themselves that they don’t know anything about it at all. So, in the mode of ignorance, there is very little initiative to even change anything external.
So, one just lives only in the mind and in the negative imagination of the mind. So, people have victim mentality. They feel, oh, everybody is victimizing me.
That’s the characteristic of the mode of ignorance. So, in the mode of ignorance, the mind imagines in negative ways by which one hurts oneself. So, fearfulness or worry is a characteristic of the mind contaminated by the mode of ignorance.
Where one is not even perceiving material reality properly. One is just getting a, okay, I saw something somewhere. And based on that, this may go wrong, that may go wrong, that may go wrong and we become fearful.
So, this worry, which I said, is the typical human tendency where even when there is no danger, we imagine this may happen, that may happen and we become insecure. We become fearful. That is undesirable.
So, what do we do about this? So, as far as analysis is concerned, what is fearfulness? There is no danger, but the mind is imagining there is danger and the mind is creating within us the reaction as if there is danger. And so, when there is danger, that reaction is good because we will do something to protect ourselves. But when there is no danger, then we unnecessarily get stressed and we unnecessarily stay agitated.
So, this can be dealt with at various levels. The mind which is in the mode of ignorance has to be brought upwards from ignorance to passion to goodness ultimately to transcendence. And that is what bhakti is meant to do.
So, I will talk about this, how to deal with fear and worry at a practical level, at an intellectual level, at a devotional level. So, at a practical level, when the mind starts imagining this may go wrong, that may go wrong, that may go wrong. The mind, it is meant to be conscious in the human life.
It can be conscious of material reality and it can also become conscious of spiritual reality as we come to the mode of goodness. Sattva is what leads to knowledge. When in goodness, we can pursue material reality and we can pursue spiritual reality also.
When we come to pure goodness, when we come to transcendence, we can pursue Krishna, the supreme spiritual reality. So, I have actually a three-part seminar on dealing with fear. But I will just focus briefly on this.
So, acronym F.E.A.R. How do we deal with fear? So, first is focus. Focus means that the mind says this may go wrong, that may go wrong, that may go wrong, that may go wrong. First thing we have to do is okay, what exactly is wrong right now? If we just ask ourselves this question, what exactly is wrong right now? Focus on the present.
Okay, I may have the fear that the economy is going down, I may lose my job. If I lose my job, what will happen? How will I pay my mortgage? If I can’t pay my mortgage, then I will not have a home. If I don’t have a home, I live in the streets, it’s so cold, what will happen to me? Actually, I am feeling cold right now because of AC.
The mind starts imagining what if we are in the open air, you are cold and you will drive because of freezing. So, now we come back. What is the problem right now? So, if we just ask ourselves this question, that forces our consciousness to come back to the present.
Now, there is a possibility that there may be danger in the future. That’s fine. But, we can’t deal with tomorrow’s danger today.
We can prepare for it. But, we can’t deal with it. So, when the mind is going on an imagination hyper drive, one way to pull it back is what is the problem right now? And, okay, the problem right now is that my boss gave me a strange look.
Is my boss thinking of firing me? Why did he give a strange look like that? So, that might be just one stimulus that came and from that my mind started imagining a hundred things. So, okay, that is a problem. Strange look could be because of various reasons.
Now, maybe the boss had a quarrel with his spouse and that’s why they are angry or whatever. I don’t know. I’m just imagining things.
So, once we bring back, okay, that’s not a… I can find out why that happened. Is that a real problem? So, as soon as I bring myself back to the present, what is the problem right now? What is the exact problem right now? This relieves a lot of the burden. There is possibility that there is danger and we have to deal with it.
But right now, okay, I just, if I do my job right now properly, that’s all, I can do that right now. Life often presents us with a lot of problems. But life’s problems are manageable if we focus on the problems.
Today’s problems are always manageable today. But the mind piles up yesterday’s problems and tomorrow’s problems on top of today. And then we just feel crushed completely.
If a porter has to carry 10 kg, 20 kg, that’s possible. But if somebody puts 100 kg on the porter, we get crushed completely. So, like that, our mind piles up problems from yesterday and piles up problems from tomorrow on top of the problems of today.
So, focus, what exactly is the problem now? And then, if we just use this to get ourselves back to the present. That is F. Then E is Engage. Engage means, what can I do about the problem right now? Basically, we interact with the world through the Karma Indriyas and the Jnana Indriyas.
We observe with the knowledge acquiring senses. And we act through the working senses, the Karma Indriyas. So, what these two questions are doing is, we are bringing both the Jnana Indriyas and the Karma Indriyas back to the present.
So, with our knowledge acquiring sense, we focus. What exactly is the problem right now? The mind is going here, there, there. Bring it back to the present.
And the Karma Indriya, what can I do about it right now? I can make sure that I do my job well. I can make sure that I meet my deadlines. I can make sure that I don’t make any silly mistakes.
So, bring ourselves back to the present. Generally, if we see our worries, when do they occupy us? It is usually when the mind and the body are out of sync. That means that if we are doing some work which requires concentration, then if we are driving through a crowded road, okay, I have to look here, look there, look there and I am focused.
Then the mind doesn’t get distracted that much. But if we are driving through a road which is very clear and there is nobody over there. So, then our mind gets distracted.
What is this? What is that? What is that? So, usually if we are just focusing on what we are doing right now, we engage ourselves. Okay, this is what I am doing. Researchers try to find out, what is that we all worry, but when is the time people worry the most? So, they found that people worry the most in the time when they are meant to enjoy the most.
That means after all their work they have done, they have leisure time. Now I am going to sit and relax. But during our leisure time, our mind works overtime.
So, when we have nothing to do, at that time our mind, Hey, what if this goes wrong? So, basically the physical reality is here. The mind is here. The mind goes out of sync with the body.
And especially at the physical level, if there is nothing tangible to do, then there is nothing to engage the mind there. Then the mind goes off somewhere else. That’s why engage.
The second point is, what can I do about it right now? So, as soon as we focus our consciousness, first on what is the problem right now and then what can I do about it right now? Then once the mind gets engaged in the present, the worry decreases substantially. Because the mind is not allowed to imagine so much. When you leave the mind free without any engagement in the present, the mind will start imagining.
But if there is engagement in the present, then the mind doesn’t imagine so much. So, engage. Sometimes when we live too much in our head, then that can be counterproductive.
We want to be contemplative. We want to be thoughtful. But sometimes we need to get out of the world into our head to be thoughtful.
But sometimes we have to get out of our head into the world. Because when we are in our head, actually from the external perspective, the mode of goodness and the mode of ignorance look very similar. In both, in passion a person is running around, I have to do that, I have to do that, I have to do that.
In goodness and in ignorance, the person is relatively speaking inactive. But the difference is that the mind is constructively engaged. In goodness.
In goodness, the person is in control of the mind and thoughtfully thinking what to do. In ignorance, the mind is in control of the person. And the mind is saying here, there, everywhere.
So, in goodness, we are in control of our mind and then we plan, analyze, decide how to do. But in ignorance, the mind is in control and the mind starts showing us a free horror movie. And in the horror movie shown by the mind, we are not the spectators, we are the victims.
It’s all happening to us. So, sometimes if we are in passion, we are just running around, get out of the world into your head. That means rise from passion to goodness.
Think. Okay, I should. I am running around doing this, doing that, doing that.
How can I raise my consciousness up? How can I come to goodness? But sometimes, if we are too much caught in the head, that means our mind is working overtime, showing us a horror movie. Then get out of the head into the world. That means rise from ignorance to passion.
When the mind is running wild, just start doing something practical. Engage. What can I do about it right now? When you focus on that, that helps the mind come back to reality.
Now, the third thing is, we are discussing the acronym. Which is the acronym? Fear. F.E. Focus.
Engage. And A is Arise. Arise means we raise our awareness upwards.
Upwards to understanding ourselves as souls. And to understanding our relationship with Krishna. So, this is where the process of bhakti comes in.
I was talking about how, I will talk about it at a practical level, at an intellectual level and at a spiritual level. So, at a practical level, focus and engage. Then, at an intellectual level, arise.
Arise means we remind ourselves, that actually, I am a soul. I am indestructible. We remind ourselves that Krishna is in control.
That even if bad things happen, Krishna is still in control. So, these two truths, that the soul is indestructible and Krishna is omnipotent. These two truths, if we can meditate on, no matter what bad things happen, I as a soul cannot be destroyed.
And no matter how many bad things happen, Krishna is still in control. If these two things, we can even intellectually remember, intellectually analyze, that will bring our consciousness upwards. And scriptural study helps us to do this.
When we study scripture regularly, hear philosophy regularly, then this becomes assimilated into us as a part of our functional worldview. There is much that we know, which is a part of our informational knowledge. So, informational knowledge means, say, some of us may want to learn a new language.
Say, if we want to learn English. Now, we may read books. And after we read books, we may learn a lot of words.
Okay, this word means this, this word means this. But it’s good to read, but actually, that might just be a part of our informational vocabulary. Okay, this word means this, this word means this.
But we never use it in our literary language and we never hear anyone else use it in their literary language. But there is operational or functional vocabulary, where we practically use those words. Then we understand how those words are to be used and how those words are not to be used.
Sometimes some people who just don’t have a proper understanding of functional vocabulary, they read some words from here and there and they try to use it in their language. And they just make a mess of things sometimes. Because they don’t understand the connotation of words, they don’t understand how the word is to be used.
And sometimes there are slip of tongues also. Because if you are not habitually using the word, so then they don’t understand. So, once I gave a class and there was one Hindi speaking devotee who was just learning English.
And he came to me with a broad smile and he says, your class was terrible. I said, what? And he was so happy. So, I was puzzled what is going on.
So, he intended to say that, your class was terrific. So, if we don’t use those words regularly, then we may either misuse them or they just stay in our informational vocabulary. So, like that philosophy also, it can be just a part of our informational knowledge.
Not our functional knowledge. Informational knowledge, yes. I know I am not the body, I am the soul.
I know even the words which tell that. I may quote the words also. But that has not become a part of my functional knowledge.
So, when we hear regularly, then this knowledge doesn’t just stay at the background. It stays in the foreground of our consciousness. It’s in the forefront.
And we remember that. And then it comes to our use. So, the more we hear regularly, and the more we try to realize it, so when we feel fearful, at that time, if we remember, at the level of buddhi, we remember that I am the soul.
We remember Krishna is in control. Krishna is my well-wisher. Krishna will bring good out of the bad.
Also, if it happens. So, that arise, raise our consciousness upwards. In 3.43, the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says that, In this way, with your intelligence, knowing that you are transcendental, situate yourself on the spiritual platform.
This way, we can decrease the fear further. By remembering these two things. And the last part is R. R is Release.
Release means that, we understand that there is something in my control, and something not in my control. And quite often, when we become fearful, our mind is obsessed with various things that may happen in future. And most of the time, those things, we have very little control over.
If they happen, we will try to deal with them at that time. But we are trying to control things, over which we don’t have control. So, there is strength required for holding on to things.
But there is also strength required for letting go of things. So, Release. That, in this situation, what is in my control, and what is not in my control.
Whatever is not in my control, I just let go of it. Anyway, I don’t have control over it. But as long as I think that I have control, my mind stays attached to it.
Then, it agitates me. So, I am worried, what will happen to my job in future. Then, okay, the future, I entrust it to Krishna.
Whatever happens, Krishna will guide me to face it. Sometimes, letting go can seem to be a weakness, a loss, a defeat. Especially, if we live in the mode of passion, then we want to be in charge.
We want to be in control. And letting go can seem like a defeat. But actually, when we let go of things, then we can take hold of our thoughts.
When we let go of things, then we can take hold of our thoughts. Otherwise, as long as I am holding on to things, what if this happens, what if that happens, what if that happens. What is happening is, I am not taking hold of thoughts, those things are taking hold of thoughts, of my thoughts.
And then, I am simply getting agitated. So, we take hold of our thoughts, and we offer those thoughts to Krishna. Krishna, this is not in my control.
I surrender to you. Please, guide me. So, the Bhagavad Gita concludes with, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja Surrender to me.
But how does one surrender to Krishna? man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam niskuru So, when we let go of things and focus, and offer our thoughts, offer our consciousness to Krishna, then, by that release, we get relief. As long as I am trying to hold on to something, on which I don’t have capacity to hold on. Somebody is pulling something from me.
Draupadi, she was being dishonored, by being disrobed. And she was trying to hold on, hold on, hold on. And she was powerless.
She couldn’t hold on. Her strength was no match to that of the Shastra. But release.
She released her hands. And what happened? She took shelter of Krishna by that. And Krishna intervened.
Krishna protected her. So, letting go, as long as we see it as a weakness, as a defeat, we will not do it. But if we see release also as a way of empowering ourselves.
We let go of the things that are not in our control, so that we can focus our thoughts on the one who is in control. Krishna is always in control. And we focus on those thoughts, on the thought of Him.
Normally, we think of things only in two patterns, especially in material consciousness. Things are in control or things are out of control. And if we can shift our vision to Krishna and focus on Krishna, then we understand that things that are out of control, things that are not in my control, are not actually out of control.
They are still in Krishna’s control. And Krishna can bring good even out of the bad. It’s not that everything that happens is good.
Bad things do happen in life. But Krishna can bring good even out of the bad. So, when they release, at that time, we learn to focus back on the present.
And by focusing on the present, we can do what is in our power to do. So, with respect to release, I’ll speak one point and then I’ll conclude, then you can have question answers. There is a fundamental difference between how we look at things and how Krishna looks at things.
We look at the present and plan the future. Krishna looks at the future and plans the present. Because of this difference, sometimes something which may appear very wrong to us may actually be right for us from a future’s perspective.
This is where we need faith. And here I talked about an analytical way of developing faith. But if we practice bhakti, or rather I talked about analytical way of reposing faith in Krishna.
Because of this, this, this, I should put my faith in Krishna. But if we are practicing bhakti diligently, this faith will also become organic. It will just naturally come.
Till that faith comes, we can also in an analytical way try to develop and direct our faith. So, last year when I had come to America, I had been in Florida, I was doing a retreat in Fort Lauderdale and there we had, I spoke the same point, how Krishna looks at the future and plans the present. So after that one Ukrainian Mataji, she was there for the program, she came and told me an incident, which she said, I experienced this exactly.
You put it in words, I did not have this way, she said. She had gone to New Vrindavan. She works on a boat, on a ship, on a cruise ship.
She had gone to Vrindavan and while she was there, suddenly she got a phone call from her boss saying, our ship is going to leave, you have to come back. And New Vrindavan is way on top of mountains, it’s not so easy to leave from there. So she started exploring, how can I go from here? Is there some way to go? Then she came to know that one boy was going next morning.
She contacted that devotee, says, can you drop me to the airport? He says, I am also going to the airport, I will drop you. We come at 10 o’clock. So then she was there, they had decided where to meet, she came at 9.45 already.
She waited, 10, 10.15, 10.30, 10.45, she was trying to call, but that’s a remote place, the range was not there so much. Then finally at 11.30, the range went through. And she called the wife, I am waiting for you.
Oh, I am sorry, I forgot. And he said, you know, actually I also have to go urgently, so I can’t come back now. And then the phone range went off again.
She was furious. How dare you forget like this? I have been waiting for so long. Then somehow she just went back to her room.
That evening when she came to the temple for the aarti, another Mataji met her. You know that boy? She said, yes. She was still angry with him.
She said his car met with a terrible accident. She said it was a drunk driver hit the car. And she said that actually the drunk driver hit the car on the passenger side.
This boy was injured, but not very severely injured. But the car itself was totally smashed. And if anybody had been sitting on the passenger side, he would have been killed entirely.
So she saw the photos and it was a very devastating accident actually. The crash. So for her in this case, six hours later she came to know.
Why did this happen? I had my plan to go there. Why did this happen? But then, in this case, she came to know after six hours. But sometimes we may come to know after six years.
Sometimes it may take 60 years also. We don’t know. But when one bad thing happens, that bad thing this boy forgetting to pick her up, that was a bad thing.
But that bad thing saved for some bigger bad thing, which we may not come to know. So here, I started by talking about when faith, when fear accelerates our imagination. This will happen, that will happen, that will happen.
Let faith be the brake. Faith be the brake means, that’s what I said, that with our faith, we don’t let the mind wander here and there. We get the mind back to focus.
But here I am talking about, faith can also be not just a brake. Faith can also accelerate our imagination in another constructive direction. That okay, this is a bad thing, it has happened.
But Krishna is wise enough to bring good even out of the bad. So I am looking at from the present perspective and saying this is bad. But from a future perspective, this may be good also.
So that way, the imagination which works against us, that we can prevent that imagination from working against us. And of course, we may not be able to imagine how this is for my good in future. But that channel we can have, that openness we can have.
And when we have that, then even when there are situations in which fear is natural, that fear will not become fearfulness. Yes, this danger is there. This is what I do to deal with it.
And I focus on serving Krishna. And by that faithful redirection of our consciousness towards Krishna, our fear can go down substantially. I will summarize what I spoke today.
So I spoke about when fear accelerates our imagination, let faith be the brake. I started by talking about how fear is a natural necessary protector from danger. But when there is no danger and still the mind imagines, then that is fearfulness, which is undesirable.
And why do we humans tend to be fearful? Because the soul has come from animal species to human species. Animals live in constant fear. Because they may just be killed at any moment also.
We humans do not live in that fearful situation. But the mind carries the momentum from the animal species to human species. And this momentum of the mind is further aided by the faculty of the human mind for imagination.
Our imagination is a gift for us so that we can creatively do things. And ultimately we can creatively visualize immortal existence. The soul’s longing for, our longing for immortality, for lasting life, in a world where nothing is lasting.
Like an African child wanting pizza, never heard of pizza. That points to our core being eternal. So we have been given, both fear is good, imagination is good.
But when they both come together, they become bad. So in talking in terms of three modes, in the mode of goodness, we think and then act. In the mode of passion, we act then think.
In the mode of ignorance, we neither think nor act, we just keep imagining. Moha. And fear, and fearfulness especially, or worry, that is primarily because of the mode of ignorance.
And in the mode of, if we are affected like this, I discussed how do we deal with fear, the acronym F.E.A.R. F was what? Focus. Focus means, we use our gyanendriyas, what is the exact problem right now? When our mind is going on a hyper drive, imagining things, when the mind, at that time, when we have leisure time, the mind works overtime. So just get the mind back, what is the exact problem right now? That way, from the imagination we come to the current situation.
And E was? Engage. Engage means, what can I do about it right now? So that gives us some practical engagement, which again focuses the mind. And here, I discussed about how when we engage the mind, for engaging the mind sometimes, we need to get out of our head into the world.
Ignorance and goodness appear very similar. So the difference is, in ignorance, the mind is in control of us. Whereas in goodness, we are in control of the mind.
So if we are too much in passion, we need to get out of the world into our head and become more contemplative. But when we are in ignorance, we need to get out of our head into the world. Start thinking, what can I do practically? Engage.
Then, A was? Arise. It means understand, raise our consciousness upwards to understand two things. That I as a soul am indestructible and Krishna is always in control.
Krishna is my well-wisher. So this arising, so first two F and A’s, A at a practical level. We can just get ourselves to focus on practicality.
And then A was at an intellectual level. That if we study the philosophy regularly, then it won’t just be a part of our informational knowledge, it will be a part of our operational knowledge or functional knowledge. Like vocabulary, which will be informational or functional.
So then, these truths will help us to raise our consciousness upwards. And R was? Release. Release means we let go of things so that we can catch hold of our thoughts.
And we can offer our thoughts to the one who is always in control. And for doing this, if we are in the mode of passion, we think that I have to be in control. So letting go can seem to be like a weakness.
But if you understand that by letting go of things, which are anyway not in my control, I can actually catch hold of my thoughts. Then we can channel even that need for control constructively. And for doing this, I talked about how Krishna, if we see the present and plan the future, Krishna sees the future and plans the present.
And that’s why, even if things seem to be going wrong right now, Krishna can bring good out of the bad. By thinking this, we can let go and let Krishna take charge of the difficult situation. So, faith, when we analytically repose in Krishna, that can decrease our fear.
But as we become purified and faith becomes natural, then fear will also go down by that. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.
Yes, are there any questions or comments? Yes, sir. Hare Krishna. Thank you for such a wonderful lecture to deal practically with fear.
My question, Prabhuji, is that sometimes, let’s say some events like bungee jumping or skydiving, so we see some people are very daring, they are not afraid, although they may not have any knowledge of Bhagavad Gita or other things. And some of the work they do very fearlessly, apparently fearlessly. And sometimes many people, they claim that they don’t have any fear of death.
But sometimes we can see devotees may be afraid in certain activities, like let’s say skydiving, somebody may be afraid. Or even for fear of death, do you have any comments on that? Yes. Prabhuji, could you reiterate? Yes, of course.
Some people seem to be fearless. They may do skydiving, bungee diving, they may even say that I am not afraid of death. On the other hand, devotees may seem to have fear of that.
Yes. Fear, as I said, is a natural and necessary reaction to danger. But, in different people, this fear will be different in terms of its magnitude.
Just like some people, their capacity to tolerate heat is quite high. Some people are little hot, they start sweating, they start feeling miserable. Some people can tolerate heat quite a bit.
Some people can tolerate cold also quite a bit. That’s just the nature of their body-mind machine. So like that, some people have been, by their past karma, for them, they get a sense of thrill when they encounter danger.
They like to put themselves in a dangerous situation and that’s what makes them feel, I am alive, I am doing something special. So, we all, based on the kind of body-mind machine we have, we have particular needs. Some people have a need for security.
And some people have a need for adventure. That is just, different people’s mind is different. So that does not necessarily mean that the person who needs security is less spiritually advanced or the person who seeks adventure is more spiritually advanced.
This has got nothing to do with spirituality. This is just the nature of the body-mind. Just like somebody, somebody may be able to tolerate cold very much.
So that person can very easily wake up in the morning and go out somewhere. But that does not necessarily mean they will go to a temple for a spiritual program. They might just go somewhere else.
So, just the physical or the psychological reaction to particular stimuli, that does not necessarily connote with spiritual advancement. Correlate with spiritual advancement. It may, but it may not also.
So some people, just like Kshatriyas, or people of Kshatriya tendency, they have a tendency, by the nature of their body, they are martial, they like to fight, and they also have some fear, but they also want an adventure. And that’s how they are able to fight. Common people will not be able to fight like that.
So in general, some people do have that capacity to be, to be, to feel fear much less than others. It’s not that they don’t feel any fear, but they feel it so much less, that it’s almost not noticeable. And this is not necessarily a good thing.
It’s not necessarily a bad thing, it’s not necessarily a good thing. It’s just the way the body is. But even among people who are going to do skydiving, or jumping from with a parachute, or whatever, bungee diving, even among them, they have to be trained to be cautious.
They have to make sure that the equipment works properly, that they are taking the necessary precautions. If they don’t take that, then they can put themselves into unnecessary danger. So that activity requires a certain level of fearlessness.
But even it also requires a certain level of fear. If somebody is jumping from a parachute and they have not tested the parachute itself, jumping with a parachute, that is not fearlessness, that is foolishness. So I would say, rather than thinking of fear as digital, some people are fearless and some people are fearful.
We see fear as an analog measure. In some people, the level of fear that they feel is more, and in some people the level of fear they feel is less. But even those who feel less fear, they also need to, even those activities feel some fear.
A soldier is going to fight. Soldier has to have some level of fearlessness. But a soldier also has to be careful to make sure that they are taking their weapons properly, that their weapons are in good condition, that their swords are sharp, their arrows are sharp, that they are well functional, everything.
And they just fool around, I’ll just go and fight. Well, you will not fight, you will be slaughtered then, if you are not prepared. So the exact way in which a person’s fear or lack of fear is expressed will vary depending on one’s psychophysical nature and one’s particular situation, particular occupation also we could say.
But it is there in everyone and if it is less in some people, that’s just the reflection of the psychophysical nature. And what if some people say that they are not afraid of death also. Fearlessness can come because of transcendence and fearlessness can come also because of ignorance.
If somebody is on a 50-storey building and they don’t know what happens if you jump from the 50-storey building, then we just jump off. Of course, the human body itself is structured in a way that we feel fear at that time. But the point is if somebody doesn’t know about the dangers of a particular situation, then they may be fearless, but that is out of ignorance.
So, some people, when they drive, they are like speed demons. Just get a thrill in driving super fast. Now, generally, if they are provided some education about what kind of accidents can happen, what kind of, they may get injured, they may get paralyzed, they may kill someone.
When they are told about that, then they start regulating themselves. Oh, you know, I want some adventure of driving, but I don’t want it at this cost, at this risk. So, there can be fearlessness, which is because of ignorance.
It is not actually fearlessness, it is just foolhardiness. So, people who say that I have no fear of death, they basically don’t know what death is. They may think that death simply means end of my life and end of my existence.
But that is not what death is. Our existence is going to go on and the rupture of the soul from the body is a very painful experience for the soul because the soul is very attached to the body. Actually, that is only the beginning of the pain.
Because after that the soul also has to get karmic reactions, go to some other body. So, there was this American comedian Woody Allen. He said, it’s not that I am afraid of death, I just don’t want to be there when it happens.
No, it’s not that death is an event that is going to happen to someone else and you can avoid that. It’s like say a hurricane is going to hit this place, just go to some other place at that time. No, death is something which is going to happen to us because we are in this body, we are attached to this body.
So, to think that there is a Russian, there is a Greek philosopher, there is a materialist philosopher, he said, I am not afraid of death. Why? Because when I am here, death is not there. When death is here, I will not be there.
This sort of wordplay is not a way to actually help at the time of death. So, people who say that they are not afraid of death, they are simply ignorant of what comes after death. So, that is something which is unfortunate because death is meant to remind us of our mortality and is meant to prompt us to explore immortality.
Okay, thank you. Yes. Okay.
So, there are monkeys who are able, there is a monkey who, if a boy, small boy comes and tries to throw stone at them, the boy may be smaller than the monkey, but the boy is able to drive away the monkey because the monkeys don’t see any fear in this boy. And is it that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself? In general, through any incident or through any quote, we can draw some lessons, but none of these are absolute. Even scriptural statements, there is a statement over here, but there is a statement over there.
This is in that context. Now, there are so many quotes, which I had one devotee send me a compilation of opposite quotes. There are many many quotes, the same situation, but two things, actually things are exactly the opposite.
So, for example, somebody may say that, haste makes waste. That’s one quote. The other quote is, the early bird catches the fly.
So, what is here? It’s actually exactly the same. It’s opposite in there. So, somebody may say that, prevention is better than cure.
But, it is also that, those who never leave the land, cannot get to new lands. So, you have to take risks. So, one may say, don’t take risks.
Somebody may say, take risks. So, actually, any quote that we have, it is for a particular context. It is not absolute.
So, in a context where somebody is a bully, or somebody is threatening, you stand up to that person, and they just retreat. But, that does not necessarily mean, that that strategy is going to work with everyone. Somebody may not be a bully, somebody might be actually a terrorist or a murderer.
Then, at that time, standing up to them may not be a solution. Isn’t it? So, we say that, the only thing to fear is fear itself. That same boy, who could cause monkeys to run away, would that boy be able to also cause a tiger or a lion to run away? No.
If a cat is there, and we clap our hands, the cat will go away. If a tiger is there, we clap our hands, we will go away. So, yes, there are situations, where standing up can help us to get rid of the danger.
But, it is not always. Yes? Did you answer the question? Thank you. Yes, sir? Hello, Krishna.
Thanks for coming here and inviting us. So, my question is more about the mode of passion. Here in Silicon Valley, mode of passion is very prominent.
And sometimes what happens, friends and circle, they are starting a company, and they say, why don’t you join us? And we just say, okay, let me stay away from the mode of passion. Sometimes it can also be seen as weakness. I was just wondering, how to deal with the situation here? So, when the world which we live in is very much in the mode of passion, if we are not passionate, it will be seen as weakness.
So, what do we do? The mode of passion itself is not bad. It is being controlled by the mode of passion that is bad. Every mode has its need.
When we go to sleep, we go into the mode of ignorance. And that’s, in a sense, necessary for the body to be rested and rejuvenated. But the problem is, when we oversleep, when we become lethargic, by that time, the mode of ignorance comes in control.
If we don’t sleep enough, that is going to be a problem. So, nature is arranged in such a way that all three modes are a part of nature. It is not that any mode in itself is bad.
It is domination by that mode that is bad. So, if we live in a passionate world, we do have to be passionate. We can’t just be detached from that world.
But, we don’t have to let passion control us. That means, if we, in a determined, planned way, have times when we come to the mode of goodness. Say, for example, we have sadhana, we have satsang, we have svadhyaya, study scripture, associate with devotees, do our spiritual practices, then that will bring us, that is meant to bring us to transcendence, but at least it will bring us to goodness.
So, if we are doing this properly, then when we are in the material world, we will function the way we need to. Yes, if we have to be passionate, we have to be passionate. But, we won’t let passion take control of our lives.
Taking control of our lives means our values and our goals are driven by the modes. If I am passionate, then my value is I just want money at all costs. My goal is I want money at all costs.
And in values, I don’t care for anything else. If I have to give up this, I have to give up that, I am ready to give up everything. So, as long as our values and our goals are determined by our intelligence, which is coming from scripture, in the practical actions that we may do, that may vary according to time and circumstance.
And, even when we are, if we are having adequate balance of goodness, then even the passionate activities, we can do in a less passionate way. Even if we have to meet deadlines. Some people can prepare for deadlines and just regularly do some work and then they finish in deadlines.
Some people just fool around throughout the period of the project and then they have a marathon at the end. Well, that might be unnecessary passion. Of course, some people can’t function unless there is a deadline.
So, sometimes this passion becomes a, passion is not a conditioning, but passion becomes a necessary condition. Only when there is passion, we will work. So, we have to find out, we have a particular body and a particular mind and how does, how can I best work with the body and mind that I have.
If I understand that, then we will be able to regulate ourselves. In the churning of the milk ocean, when the mountain is being churned, at that time the devatas are on one side and the asuras on the other side and the asuras are animated by the mode of passion and the devatas, they are energized by the mode of goodness. It’s interesting that both of them are pulling from two opposite sides and for the churning to happen, the force from both sides has to be equal.
So, that means that the force from goodness coming from the devatas was equivalent to the force coming from passion from the asuras. That means that even work that requires to be done in a tangible way, through goodness also we can do it. It is not that for being effective, for being productive, we necessarily need passion.
So, we can in goodness also plan and work effectively. So, the way we need to work is something which we have to find according to our time, place, circumstances. We don’t have to have a stereotype that this is the mode of passion, I will not do it.
This is the mode of goodness, this is what I will do. Rather we have to see what works for our psychophysical nature and what works for our situation. Yes.
Any other matajis have questions? Yes. So, you were mentioning that the desire to live long, it can also be said that the fear of unknown can also cause the person to desire to live long or the fear of the change which is the effect of the change. Okay, I got it actually.
So, when we say we have fear of death, can it not be just because of fear of the unknown or the fear of change? Yes, it’s possible. What we are talking about is not just fear of death. We are talking about aspiration for eternal life.
What we long for is not just to avoid death. We want to be young, we want to be healthy, we want to be attractive, we want to be productive. In the Christian tradition, they have this idea that we will be resurrected.
That means we will go back, we will be in heaven eternally in the same bodies that we have. That’s why they buried the bodies. Now, in the resurrection, their idea is basically heaven is like a perpetual family reunion.
All your family members whom you have lost, you can meet all of them and be with them forever. Now, that might seem very pleasant, but, suppose, I had a grandfather. He was 85 years old.
Is he going to be a grandfather there? Is he going to be 85 for all of eternity? Is that a heavenly prospect? So, the point which I am making is that it’s not just we are afraid of death. We want to live and live healthy, live productive, live attractive. So, this longing for life eternal, where does that come from? It’s not just the avoidance of death.
And as far as avoidance of change is concerned, it’s again not just avoidance of change. Because we want to change for the better. See, we don’t resent all change.
In fact, if I am sick, I want to become healthy. If I am not so attractive, and I can do something by which I can become more attractive, then I want to do that. So, it’s not that we always have a fear for change.
We often have a desire for change. So, these two, just the desire, the fear of change or fear of unknown, or fear of death, that doesn’t necessarily explain our longing for life eternal, and youth eternal, energy eternal. That is something which stems from the nature of the soul.
Of course, this is an inference. This is not a necessarily inference. It will be persuasive to some people, it will not be persuasive to some people.
Some people will just come up with some other explanations. It is said that believers need no reasons, non-believers accept no reasons. So, sometimes some arguments, they just make sense to us.
And some people, for some arguments, they just find some way, this is a problem, this is a problem, this is a problem. So, we have to see logic, tarka is a tool. If logic can help us to gain conviction, that is good.
If some logic doesn’t help us, then okay, put it aside and we move onward and see in what other ways our conviction can be increased. Yes, yes madam. We can use every weakness in Krishna’s service, like anger, except envy and offense, we can use every weakness towards Krishna’s service.
How can we use fear? Like you mentioned that, it runs from that, when you were mentioning your dreams, like how to use our consciousness in Krishna. But how do we use fear in service of Krishna? Not all the times our mind can go through all this. Okay, yes.
So, how can we use fear in Krishna’s service? Basically, fear, when it is channeled properly, it becomes caution. There can be a danger over here, and let me prepare for it. Let me be cautious about it.
So, different people have different natures. As I said, some people like adventure. They throw caution to the winds and they take risks.
Some people are cautious. And in different situations, in some situations, caution may be a strength. In some situations, taking risks may be a strength.
It’s not always this or that. So, if we have a particular nature, then we use that. So, if say we are more prone to fear, then that means we will progress more cautiously, whatever the need.
And that is also an advantage. Negative thinking, there is a difference between negative thinking and negative thoughts. Negative thoughts are not bad.
It is negative thinking. And that itself becomes the major or the only pattern of thoughts that we have that is bad. So, positive thoughts, positive thinking is good, but positive thoughts are not always good.
We have to see what is helpful. Sometimes, positive thoughts are helpful. Sometimes, positive thoughts can be harmful.
If a pilot thinks, I am such a good pilot, that, I can drink and drive. That may be a positive thought, but it’s definitely not a helpful thought. It’s an extremely harmful thought.
Not just harmful for the pilot, but for all the passengers. Similarly, a negative thought may not always be a harmful thought. Say, if I am going out somewhere, and I think maybe there will be a storm over here.
So, let me prepare. Maybe it will be very cold. Let me take some warm clothes.
Let me take an umbrella or whatever. Somebody is there. There is no storm.
I don’t see any clouds. Yes, let me go. But somebody may be more cautious.
And that may be helpful. So, if we have a nature where we tend to be more fearful, that means that I will do things more cautiously. And we see that we may take up services where there is more predictability, more order, where that thing can be utilized.
So, there are some services which require more sense of adventure, more unpredictability, more taking risk. So, even when we are serving Krishna, it’s not that all services require the same kind of things. So, for example, when we are doing pujari services, there the focus is on order, punctuality, predictability.
There are also challenges that we have to be on time, we have to be clean, we have to be in good consciousness. But there is not so much risk. Of course, there is a risk that we may offend the Lord by our carelessness.
But it’s not that, suppose I am going out for book distribution, I am going to go and meet some unknown people. What is this person going to say? How will this person react? When I meet someone, what if I become tongue-tied? I don’t know. So, there are some services which may require a little more adventure.
Some services may require a little more caution. Even in book distribution, we can do it differently. We may go to a place where relatively people are pious and people are approachable.
Sometimes we may go to places where people are hostile. And then more adventure will be there. So, it’s not that one who is taking more risks is necessarily more advanced.
It could be, it could be that that is their need. So, we have to always be in a way that we always have to function in a way that we make our nature our partner in our service to Krishna. We don’t want our nature to be our opponent.
We don’t work for our nature. We don’t work against our nature. We work with our nature.
We work for our nature would mean that if I like security, if I like order, then I will not do anything which has any lack of order. That will not work. Sometimes we may have to.
Sometimes we go for a yatra and everything is not so orderly over there. But we just go. So, if we work for our nature, then we will be restricted.
If we work against our nature, we will feel choked. If I just go in front of new people, I just become paralyzed. I can’t speak anything.
Well, maybe in future I will be able to do it. But right now I don’t do that. So, we work with our nature.
This is my nature. This is how I will best function. And as we become purified, as our faith in Krishna increases, then we will be able to do more also.
Does that answer your question? Thank you. Jai Krishna. Yes.
Prabhuji, our intelligence doesn’t stay steady. It’s always influenced by the modes of nature. So, sometimes we feel that we are in the flow of bhakti.
We kind of feel like that. Sometimes we just don’t, we are just not interested. So, after 7 o’clock in the night, Prabhuji takes over.
Till like 3 or 4 in the morning. And this is a very dangerous time for consciousness to fall down. So, what is your recommendation so that our consciousness doesn’t fall down? So, sometimes our intelligence becomes weak and we just get dragged away by the modes.
Say, at night, the mode of ignorance is prominent. Slowly, slowly. Let the mother have it.
Let her go up. Let her go up. Go up.
Go up. Go up. Go up.
That is unhealthy fearlessness. You understand? Good. So, when we tend to get carried away by the modes, say, at night, by the mode of ignorance, and our intelligence doesn’t seem to work, what should we do at that time? Generally, we all have to observe our particular vulnerabilities and prepare for them.
So, if I understand that, okay, in this particular situation, I get agitated, I get provoked, then prepare for that. Okay, what are the ways I get agitated? Then, I can look at that. Maybe in the mode of ignorance, I become angry, I become violent.
I just make small issues very big. Whatever is it. Okay, this is what is happening.
If, say, I become angry or I become violent, then if there are any issues which have to be dealt with, I make a plan that I won’t deal with them at night. I deal with them in the morning. I deal with them in the daytime.
So, if I am going on a particular road and I know there is a pothole over there, first time when I go, I’ll be jolted. But second time when I go, I know there is a pothole over there, let me go slowly or let me go by some other path. So, similarly, when we have a particular tendency, then we prepare ourselves for it.
And that way we can minimize the chance of our succumbing. Actually, because this is talking about intelligence, we have that three-part seminar on Saturday, Sunday. I’ll elaborate more on it.
But broadly speaking, three things which I’ll talk more. Restriction, redirection and reconstruction. Restriction means when we tend to do a particular thing in a particular way, at that time, we create some restriction by which we don’t act in that way.
Say, to keep it simple, if we have particular conditioning, that means our mental floor is inclined in this way. So, water will naturally flow in this direction. So, if I don’t want the water to flow in this direction, then create some wall or some restriction.
When the water stops going there, then redirection. Create some mechanism by which the water can flow in the other direction. Push it mechanically.
And third is that I reconstruct the floor, when it becomes inclined in this way. So, similarly for us, first is restriction. I won’t expose myself to that provocative stimuli or I won’t go into that provocative situation.
That’s some kind of restriction I create. And then if my thoughts start going in that direction, I find some way by which I can get my thoughts towards Krishna. I may not be able to chant at that time, but maybe I like kirtans.
Maybe I like just hearing a particular devotee’s class or I just like some passages from scripture which I memorize. So, keep them accessible. So, when the consciousness starts going in this direction, have some facility by which you can get the consciousness in the other direction.
And gradually as we create sattvic impressions, as we create more goodness, devotional impressions, the floor itself will get inclined. And then, then conditionally we will be much less vulnerable to that. Okay.
Thank you. So, should we stop here or? No, thank you. So, we have more sessions and that time we can have question and answers later also.
Thank you very much. So, over to sessions of today.