Why do senses go wild in worldly atmosphere after they have been peaceful in devotional atmosphere?

From: Devdatt

After controlling senses for some time, what happens is that they get wild like ferocious tiger and then gone all the efforts put are wasted to avoid sense gratification. e.g. During Yatra senses are so peaceful because of tranquil atmosphere of Dham and assosiation of devotees, however after one returns to Mumbai, the senses are really wild. Seems like rubber you press and then with same vigor  it is released.

1. Why this happens?

2.How can we tackle this situation?

To hear the answer

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Question from Devadatta Prabhu After controlling senses For some time What happens is that they get wild like ferocious Tigers And then gone Are all the efforts put To avoid sense gratification Example Yatra senses are so peaceful Because of tranquil atmosphere of dham And associative devotees However after one returns to Mumbai The senses are really wild Seems like rubber You press And then with same vigor it is released Why this happens? How can we tackle this situation? Answer It doesn’t actually Imply that All the efforts have gone waste All that it implies Is that We have a lot of work to do The senses Need to be purified And till they are purified They need to be controlled The two are different things Control means There is opposition But we Use higher intelligence We use determination And force the senses to behave In moral, spiritual ways Purification means That the senses lose Their tendency for doing Immoral, anti-devotional activities Sometimes We mistake control To be purification And that is what Makes us feel frustrated When we find that Again the senses have gone back to their old ways Actually it is not The senses have gone back to their old ways They had not actually returned to the new way It is only because of the Helpful environment That we had That the senses old ways Were not being exhibited So certainly Even for Orderly, civilized conduct In material society Some basic level of sense control is required And all the more so When we are in a devotional society So That is facilitated by the Proper culture and etiquette That is observed in devotee community And it is also helped further by The spiritual atmosphere Which makes the higher taste Very readily accessible to us In the Devotional Setting that is there either in the temple Or in Yatras But when we return back we don’t have the higher Taste and we neither have the culture Which encourages sense control And That’s why naturally the senses Start expressing their Tendencies So when we go for Yatras these Should be treated as Glimpses of what lies ahead For us in the spiritual world Or even in the spiritual path for that matter But going to the Yatras and experiencing the higher taste Over there Shouldn’t put us under the illusion That we have already got there That we have already made spiritual advancement We have already controlled our senses And that Things are all right now Actually we have a lot of work To do So If we become discouraged By thinking of the fact that we have A lot of work to do then we need to recognize that Actually we have been In the material world for a very long time And we have been Indulging in sense gratification for a long time But in spite of all The conditioning, the impressions That are there in our mind In spite of all that still The power of Krishna Consciousness is so great that It could penetrate through it all And give us a glimpse of higher taste And a peaceful mind And a joyful heart Even in our present Conditioned stage So It’s just like Krishna is like the sun And all our conditionings are like the cloud So the sun is so Powerful that in certain situations Despite the clouds being thick The sun’s rays can penetrate through But then the clouds again cover the sun So that’s what has happened But what These experiences should reassure us Is that the sun is actually there And we can also experience the sun But now we have to do The hard work of removing the clouds That’s why we have the daily process Of sadhana and purification So Certainly Everything that we have done is not gone waste What we We What has gone wrong is that We have misunderstood Control of senses for purification of senses But once we are free from that misunderstanding Then we can work Towards purification of the senses While maintaining Control of the senses at a basic level So we can Try to find out The carry home that we can take from yatra is The discovery that the higher Taste is real, the higher taste is accessible And a peaceful, joyful Mind and heart are Real and possible even in this world Then we try to think of Activities which we can do Incorporate in our daily lives Which can give us Regular glimpses of that higher taste So if you found kirtans very Very Very uplifting Then we can make time in our schedule for Hearing kirtans On a regular basis or If you found studying scriptures, hearing classes Very nourishing then we can Incorporate that also in our schedule So basically find out the activities Which give us that sense of serenity and Strength and do those Activities regularly And the Devotional service will Over a period of time Purify us And when we become purified the Attraction to material things itself will go away That means That now The senses are Hungry for material sense objects But over a period of time The hunger will decrease The hunger will go away Our hunger for happiness will not go away But our hunger for happiness will get redirected Towards Krishna and Krishna’s Devotional service So that will take some time But till that time We should try to create as much as possible A devotional culture Where we stay And try to avoid The provocations which will make our senses go wild And Try to regularly do activities Which at least gives a reminder Of the higher taste that we had If We forget the experiences Of the higher taste that we have had Then naturally by default the mind Will propose lower tastes And our hunger For happiness will make us go towards The lower taste So now why does it seem as if The senses are hungry for happiness Like ferocious tigers as we have put Because Our mind Thinks that I found Such extraordinary happiness In Krishna’s service In Krishna’s remembrance But because the mind is habituated to searching For happiness in sense gratification So the mind carries over Those memories of happiness in Krishna consciousness Superimposes this In sense gratification and makes us Imagine that I will get those Pleasures over here I will get that taste over here And that’s why we engage in sense gratification With a severe intensity But You can read the article on this website called Haunted by happiness So Our conscious mind is We are always haunted by happiness By the desire for happiness Our conscious mind is looking for Happiness in sense gratification But by the practice of devotional service Our subconscious mind has experienced The higher taste in Krishna Consciousness So by subconscious mind I am referring to the deeper impressions That are there within us of what we have Actually relished So Because Most of the time our conscious mind is dominant So The higher happiness that we have experienced In kirtans Now the mind says let me find it out in movie songs But it is not there The higher happiness that I have found in remembrance And relishing the beautiful form of Krishna The mind says let me Have similar fantasies of the beautiful forms Of this world and let me get the happiness Over there. We won’t get it there So when the increased Frenzy for Sense objects comes up We need to understand that The mind is looking for something Which is just not there So at our stage of sadhaka When we try to engage in sense gratification Deep down we will realize This is not Hollow, this is substanceless This is not really making me happy And that is how in our material life We will be haunted by the Hope for spiritual happiness We will be haunted by the subconscious Reminders of our spiritual happiness That we have experienced On the other hand when we engage in devotional activities The conscious mind will trouble us You are missing so much Go out and watch the TV Go out and go for parties Go do this, do that And it will trouble us But we need to remember that actually I have experienced Something much higher now And this is not going to satisfy me The happiness that the mind is looking for That is not there in those worldly activities That is here in Krishna’s service So we need to sharpen our intelligence And strengthen our determination By which we can redirect The hunger for the sense objects From matter Towards Krishna So there is no need to be discouraged When everything seems to be lost Actually It is just a normal process of Moving towards Krishna That is happening And we need to move along in that process So to summarize We have got glimpses of higher happiness But unfortunately our mind is looking for Higher happiness and lower pleasures So if we use our intelligence To understand what is happening Then we can redirect Our efforts for happiness in the higher direction And over a period of time The sense control Will become Natural to us Because the senses will become purified And we shouldn’t imagine that we are already purified Then we will be in for frustration But if we are humble and honest And recognize that I have to work to become purified But if I do become purified There is so much happiness waiting for me So let me be determined In the process of Krishna Consciousness That will bring about the necessary purification And that will give me the Higher taste