When real problems such as recession threaten us how can we deal with the anxiety?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

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so when there are real issues which cause anxiety, the practical problems say because of the economic recession there is fear of losing jobs so how do we deal with this anxiety, yes see real problems need real solutions the spiritual is never the substitute for the material the spiritual is the complement for the material what I mean by this is the spiritual is the complement not the substitute for the material see when Arjuna fought the Kurukshetra war, before that he heard the Bhagavad Gita Arjuna won the Kurukshetra war not just by the knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita he won the Kurukshetra war by the knowledge of archery which he had learnt throughout his life so it was not that the Bhagavad Gita knowledge enabled him to fight the war, alone that guided him so for functioning in the material world, we need material skills we need to take care of the material responsibilities, not that Arjuna just was chanting Hare Krishna and the arrows were shooting he was consciously fighting he was consciously aiming and he was planning and he had practiced lifelong so it’s not that the spiritual is not the substitute for the material so material problems need to be dealt with material Krishna can miraculously intervene and Krishna can remove material problems in miraculous ways but that is not what a devotee expects all the time Arjuna, when he took the vow to kill Jaidrath all day he was trying to reach Jaidrath and eventually when he just couldn’t reach, at that time Krishna exhibited a miracle but Arjuna kept trying so we have to understand that at the material level there can be problems and we have to do the practical things to deal with the problems so if there is a if there is a some economic downturn because of which there is anxiety then we have to first of all be materially intelligent to do what it takes that means we are saving money or we are having a good career profile by which we can get another job materially we have to be vigilant for these things we cannot be materially neglectful in the name of spirituality so the material has to be dealt with at material terms if I have got a fracture chanting Hare Krishna may enable me to tolerate the pain of the fracture but chanting Hare Krishna is not going to join the bones for that I have to go to a doctor so material things, material problems need material solutions so the spiritual guides us so that we work in the material world in a purposeful way we work in the material world with the ultimate spiritual purpose having said that we need to be materially intelligent also to deal with such situations our spirituality can help us in separating the imaginary from the real that means that there are in any situation that I am in there are real problems and there are imaginary problems so there is a difference between preparing for the future and worrying about the future the primary difference is who is in control when I am preparing for the future I consciously control my mind and direct it towards the future if this happens I can do this 1,2,3 if this happens I can do this 1,2,3 like that we plan and when we are in control and we are directing our thoughts then that preparing for the future actually makes us feel more confident I can deal with this it’s not what I want, it’s not pleasant but I can deal with it but when we are worrying about the future we are not in control the mind is in control basically the mind shows us a free horror moon laughing laughing and in this free horror movie we are not the spectator we are the victims laughing hey you know the economy is going down you will lose your job what if you don’t get any other job what if you don’t get any other job then I will not be able to pay the mortgage of my house if I can’t pay the mortgage of my house then I will be evicted from my house all the neighbours will come and see I have been evicted and I will be on the streets oh no I will be on the streets homeless well I am sitting in an AC room right now laughing laughing laughing I am getting paranoid about being on the streets there is there is there is there are possibilities and there are probabilities possibility actually anything is possible and if we start worrying about possibilities we will be forever paralyzed like if I if I am going to worry about possibilities right now this roof may cave in on my head it is possible but is it probable no I mean if the house is well constructed it is recently new it is liable then it is not probable so what happens is when we are in tamoguna or rajoguna the mind takes control and the mind goes over to all the most frightening possibilities and it paralyzes us so we have to explore probabilities ok this can happen, this can happen I can do this, I can do this so generally if we find ourselves too overwhelmed by anxiety on one side we have to materially prepare for it but other side by practicing bhakti we come more to the mood of goodness and by coming to the mood of goodness we can actually observe we can we have the intelligence to differentiate between possibilities and probabilities and when we just let the mind take this possibility, that possibility that’s like watching a horror movie but looking at probabilities this happened, this happened, how do I deal with it so that way we can become more prepared I wrote an article recently, worry is the interest we pay on loans we haven’t yet taken the problem is not yet covered but I am worrying about the problem and I am getting paralyzed and I am actually disempowering myself from dealing with the practical right now so the disempowering that we are happening that is like paying the interest because the time, energy, it’s all going away now so if we look at most of our worries very few of them actually materialize so it’s possible that things can go wrong but we can by being in the mood of goodness we can plan and prepare realistically it’s not that being spiritual, so to summarize two parts is, it’s not that being spiritual means being apathetic about material things, material problems require material measures and we have to prepare materially for it but while preparing materially our spirituality can situate us in more goodness so that we don’t worry about unrealistic possibilities but calmly and intuitively prepare for realistic possibilities realistic probabilities does that answer your question? thank you very much so shall we stop here? thank you very much la prabhupada ki gaur bhakta dim laki Jai Jai Jai so just one minute of