When should one decide to become a full-time monk for serving Krishna?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

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then we can read Bhagavatam so how do if some of us choose to become fully devoted to spiritual life say as monks or as full time practitioners then should one take up such a practice or when should one decide to take up a practice how does one know that one is suitable for such a vocation the first thing is that we understand that we are meant to develop our relationship with Krishna and we want to practice Bhakti Yoga so that we can grow in our relationship with Krishna once that focus is clear like Krishna himself says in the Bhagavad Gita that that I will give you the intelligence by which you can come to me that means what Krishna says if we have the strong desire to come to him what is the best way to him he will reveal to us but sometimes we focus while practicing Bhakti too much on the externals should I be this or should I be that should I be a person in the world or should I renounce the world that dialectic is not as important as am I serving Krishna how can I best serve Krishna how can I best connect with Krishna how can I best nourish my devotion to Krishna if we have that intention then everything external gradually is seen in perspective it falls in place so first so as we say the first thing is to put first things first so in our spiritual life sometimes people get a little scared oh if I become spiritual then I will become a monk I will renounce everything no that is not the point of spirituality the point of spirituality is to grow in our relationship with Krishna how we grow that will vary from person to person once we are clear about what is the first thing then other things fall in place now specifically there are there are some people there are two three different kinds of people who may who may choose to fully pursue spirituality all of us are in the journey of spiritual evolution and this journey as I said as souls we are eternal so some of us may have started our spiritual journey in a previous life also and these are people who have in a sense their hearts have touched the sky but their feet are still on the ground so there are some people who are just different some people right from childhood they are just asking questions about things which even their parents have not thought about you know where did I come from what is the purpose of life and such questions so there are not many but there are few people like that Krishna says that purvabhyasena tenaiva riyate yavasopisa by their past practice they are helplessly attracted towards spiritual principles even if their parents say don’t be such a don’t think so much you just can’t do that you have to think it’s almost like helpless there are some people who are like that they right from the childhood itself they have a very deep spiritual creed they just find ordinary life so superficial and such people once they come to a spiritual path it just clicks this is what I am meant to do and for such people who are already evolved on the spiritual path then everything else actually seems superficial it seems insubstantial so such people if they are forced to be in material life if they are forced to pursue material responsibilities it will be torture for them and they need to be given the freedom to practice what they are naturally attracted to so that there are a category not many but there are a small but significant category of people who are naturally spiritual in terms of their upbringing in terms of the way they are apart from that there can be some people who actually feel very inspired to commit themselves to a higher cause they want to make some contribution and their focus is on how I can commit to some higher cause and then they come to bhakti and they understand how raising people’s consciousness on spiritual level that is the highest cause that we can contribute then their zeal for activism see one is they are just spiritually attracted second is people who are just activists they are activists and their zeal for activism when they get connected with spirituality they feel yes this is where I can really make a big impact make a significant impact not just a big in terms of what creates news but big in terms of what actually makes a change what actually brings about transformation in the UNESCO charter it is said that war begins in the minds of people and therefore peace to be established also has to begin in the minds of people so if people will become peaceful then we can have a more peaceful world spirituality helps us to become peaceful internally so it is not going to make any sensation in the world but actually it is going to bring a transformation in the world the more people become spiritual so there are people who are activists and they feel inspired to direct their activism towards spirituality and there is another category of people who are just swept by the power of spiritual association these are such nice people I just want to be with them all the time I just don’t want to associate with other kind of people they are swept by the power of spiritual association and then they move onwards now if they can themselves develop that inspiration also it’s one thing is to be inspired by someone else this is such a nice person, I want to be like them but then we have to check whether that is my sustainable inspiration, is this what I can do sustainably, so basically for those who are not so much made for being monks or being full time spiritualists, a lot of mental energy is dissipated in what I should give up or what I should not give up maybe I should give this up but for those who become full time spiritualists and can sustain full time practice of spirituality, their focus is not on what I give up it is what I take up and they are so taken up themselves by the spiritual practices, by the spiritual cause, that is giving up certain things, it is a challenge but that is not what obsesses the mind that is not what consumes the mind so if we find that our mind is too consumed by what we are giving up, should I give this up, should I not give this up then we may actually become more spiritual by not focusing so much on giving it up so we adjust our life in such a way that we have whatever material material needs, we personally feel we need and then practice our spirituality, so to summarize the answer I talk about these three categories, those who are already spiritually inclined, those who are activists and those who are swept by the power of spiritual association they all can become full time practitioners but individually the important thing is that if our focus can be on what we are taking up and we don’t get too much caught in what we are giving up then we can sustain that but if we find that we are just too caught up in how can I give this up, no I want to give it up I can’t, I must if that dialectic is what is consuming us too much then better settle for a spiritual practice which is less disturbing for us and which will actually be more fulfilling in the long run does that answer your question?