Why we need spirituaity in the age of technology

[Talk to NIT students, Juhu]

Video:

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Thank you. Hare Krishna.
Hare Krishna. So grateful to be here amongst all of you and all of you are fortunate to have Sundar Chaitanya Prabhu and his whole team sharing Krishna Bhakti with you. So I will speak today on the topic of why we need spirituality in the age of technology and as Sundar Chaitanya Prabhu mentioned, I was just in America, Canada, Europe for about three months.
I came back about one week ago and somehow it has worked out in the last one year or last one and a half years most my eight, nine months I have spent in America. So I have been observing going to colleges, going to companies, going to congregation programmes. So one of my most strongest insights or realisation, if I may use the word, is that people everywhere are in enormous distress.
We all often speak that we are not the body and somehow people don’t seem to connect with it. Okay, I am not the body. Okay.
I remember once I gave a class at one place and I said, we are not the body. We are not our bodies. One person asked, if I am not my body, then whose body am I? So, I am my body.
If I am not my body, then is it that some other person is there and that person’s body? What is going on? So that people find it difficult to understand. But what everyone needs to understand today is that they are not their mind. The mind is causing enormous distress to people in every part of the world.
In fact, I was at a mental health care centre in New Jersey. So, mental health care centre is a polite way. I was speaking to a devotee in India.
I said, mental health care centre means madhouse, right? It’s not exactly a madhouse. There are people who are too distressed, traumatised by things that have gone wrong in their life. So anyway, so the devotee who works over there was in, he is in the suicide intervention centre over there.
And he is in the suicide helpline. That means when a person is about to commit suicide, they make a phone call. And they say, I am about to commit suicide.
And if this person can speak some consolatory words, some encouraging words, then they can stop them from committing suicide. So, this dude was telling me that he got a call from a girl after she had committed suicide. Not that she had died, but she had taken the poison pills.
And then somehow they, an ambulance was nearby, and they rushed and they saved her. And then they asked her, now why did she commit suicide? So apparently she had been in a relationship with a boy and she had called that boy. That boy had not picked up her call.
I would say, so many times we don’t pick up each other’s calls. But we, when we function in the world, we don’t respond to the world. We respond to the mind’s interpretation of the world.
That means, when she just, when he did not respond to her call, her mind told her a story. Oh, you know, he didn’t respond to the call because he has left you. He no longer loves you.
Maybe he is with someone else. And he has left you. In the future also, you form a relationship, people will leave you.
You will always be alone. All your friends will be in happy, healthy relationships. And you will be alone.
And everyone will have pity on you. And in such a pitiable life, what is the use? Better end your life. So the train of thought that starts off within us, it can go off to extremely dangerous direction.
And at one level, in the western world, the physical comforts that are there are far, far more than what we have or most Indians can even imagine. The way some people who are mad after mobiles, every time a new mobile comes, they keep changing it. Every six months, every one year.
So like that, in America, people keep changing their cars. So every new car comes. So one, I was being driven by one person.
He said he is on his 37th car right now. And he is 37 years old. So he took his first car when he was 20.
And every six months, he is changing his car. So comforts are extraordinary. But paradoxically, people are comfortable and comfortably miserable.
They are comfortably miserable. At the level of the mind, there is so much distress. The single biggest medicine that is consumed by people in the western world, both America and Europe, is mental health care medicines.
Antidepressants and tranquillizers. Depression and anxiety. These two are major health related problems, mental health related problems.
And this is the amount of money that is spent is astronomical. This indicates, now if you consider before 1960s, there were no tranquillizers. The genre of mental health care medicine didn’t exist at all.
Now was it that before 1960 people didn’t have anxieties? Was it that before 1960 people didn’t have depression? What do you think? Yeah, this world is always a challenging place. There are distresses that we get in life. They can cause us depression.
There are worries that we have about the future. They can cause us anxiety. But the extent of the affliction that people are facing is far far more than before.
And the desperation with which people are taking measures to deal with it, that is also unparalleled. And unfortunately, although mental health care medicines, the expenditure is going on and on and on, people are not feeling much better. The distress is still there.
According to statistics, one out of every four persons in the western world will go through serious mental health care issues which will require clinical treatment. One out of every six persons will seriously contemplate suicide during the course of their lives. And one out of every ten persons will actually attempt suicide.
So, one million people commit suicide every year. The figure of one million is one suicide every four seconds. Since I started this talk, twelve people have committed suicide.
This figure that the number of people who are killing themselves is far more than the number of people who are being killed by others. The number of suicide victims is more than the number of school shooting victims, the number of crime victims, the number of war victims, terrorism victims, all combined together. Of course, if a mass war breaks out, that’s a different issue.
But normal violence victims. More than the number of people killed by others are the people killing themselves. When people are killing themselves, that means that their mind is killing them.
Their mind is killing them. So, what is this mind? And why does it work in such a dangerous way? There are many different theories. I was in Tobacco and I gave a series of classes on Bhagavad Gita and modern psychology.
So, modern psychology is grappling to understand what the mind is and how to deal with it. And different theories have come up and different theories help to some extent. But, not much.
So, the Bhagavad Gita explains that the mind exists at an intermediate level between the body and the soul. The mind is the link between the physical level of reality and the spiritual level of reality. If you want to consider a simple example, if I was actually at a devotee’s house and a nice bungalow they had and they had a big window and outside there was greenery.
And I was watching the greenery and suddenly I saw a huge gorilla just outside the window about to smash the window. I was alarmed. I looked at the devotee and he was laughing.
I looked at him again and he was laughing and then I found he had a remote in his hands. And he pressed the remote and the gorilla disappeared. So, what he had done was that there was this window and that window was designed in such a way that by pressing a remote that window will turn into a TV screen.
And just to have fun he had created a virtual video of a gorilla coming to attack in the same background as was visible through the window. So, at one moment the window that glass acts like a window and the next moment it starts acting like a TV screen. Our mind is exactly like that.
Our mind is normally meant to function like a window. A window from which outer stimuli come to us. In 15.9 the Gita Krishna says that the five senses, the inputs from all of them come together and are integrated and presented on the mind.
And the soul responds to the mind. So, I was at another place and actually I was at Soho street temple in London. So, there at the entrance they have the security cabin and then they have the reception cabin.
And there in the security cabin they have, here also you may have seen this it might be there, like a big monitor in which there are many small, small windows open. So, at each of the gates, each of the entry points or each of the important points, what is happening, there are closed circuit TV cameras are there. And from all of them the input comes in on one big screen.
And if the person in charge sees something suspicious, click on one. And then that zooms up. And they can see carefully what is happening.
So, like that we can say on the screen of our mind many windows are open. And they are small, small windows. So, right now say one window is the sound window.
And you are hearing what I am speaking. The other window is this sight window. Then another window is the touch window.
Now some of you may feel, oh this AC is too cold. Or it is not cold enough. Or say in the background say if prasadam is to be served.
And as you are hearing this class you get the fragrance of gulab jamun. Then immediately the smell window zooms out. And then immediately the TV starts over there.
Oh! When will I get this gulab jamun? Will there be one or two? The last feast. When will I get to eat it? When will this class end? I will just forget everything and start thinking about the gulab jamun. So, what happens? On the screen of the mind any window that may just zoom out, the mind doesn’t just keep it as a window.
From there, it suddenly becomes a TV. It starts imagining. And the imagination, there are five windows associated with the five senses.
But each of these windows can also have sub-windows. So, right now you are looking at me. But while you are looking at me, at the periphery of your awareness you can see some other things also around you.
And something unusual starts appearing over there. That window zooms out. So, the mind is very, very dynamic.
And along with that, you can see there is another window which has infinite windows which can be opened over there. That is the memory window. The recollection window.
So, there is a perception window which shows the outside world. The recollection window which shows what has been impressed already. And sometimes these two can combine together and start off a movie.
And that movie can just completely hypnotise us. So, our emotional state as well as our capacity to perform will depend on what appears on our inner screen and how we respond to it. So, what is happening? The whole technology today is working to make the outer world more and more comfortable.
And when the outer world is more and more comfortable, then the imagery on the inner screen will also become nice. But, things are not so simple. The more the outer world becomes more and more comfortable, what also happens is that the imagery on the inner screen, the imagery that comes on the mind, that gets more fuelled and more agitated.
Consider, for example, greed. Everybody has greed. That’s just a natural human emotion.
Now, in the past, if somebody had been living in a village, then they might see, oh, this landlord has so much wealth, I want to become like them one day. But now, through the media, through the technology, we can see prosperous people all over the world. And seeing that triggers the greed enormously.
Same with respect to lust. Lust has always been there in the world. But today, through technology, the lusty imagination and the product of the lusty imagination of people from all over the world are simply accessible to us through one click.
Similarly, with respect to, now, when this inner screen, whatever appears, that is what we respond to. Going back to the story of the girl, all that happened was, there was a missed call. We did not pick up the call.
But that boy did not pick up the call, that caused a certain perception to appear on the inner screen, and that started a movie. So, the things that will cause unwanted impressions to appear on the inner screen, those things are actually being triggered in the world today. So, depression, what causes depression? What causes anxiety? Actually speaking, we all live in an age of uncertainty, a world of uncertainty.
So, anxiety to some extent is unavoidable. If I want to catch a flight, and I am not sure whether I will reach in time for the flight or not. Today, I just came from Kharagpur to Kolkata to here.
About five minutes from the airport, I was caught in a traffic jam for 45 minutes. And, I reached just five minutes after my flight, boarding was closed. Then I had to catch another flight.
So, sometimes things are just beyond our control. So, then, naturally when things are beyond our control, that causes anxiety. Will I be able to do it? Will I not be able to do it? But, there is anxiety and there is anxiety disorder.
What is anxiety disorder? That means, there is some uncertainty in our life, and that uncertainty is going to cause some insecurity. But, imagine there are many windows open, and one window is, oh, will I be able to do it or not? Will I be able to do it or not? Will I be able to reach there on time or not? But, when that is the only window that fills the screen, and we just can’t think of anything else, that’s what keeps getting replayed. Oh, what if I miss this? What if I miss this? That will happen.
What if I miss that? That will happen. And, when the negative possibilities start getting replayed more and more and more on the inner screen, then that causes enormous anxiety. So, actually, in today’s world, because we have breaking news from all over the world, available very easily, and most of the news is about three things.
Disaster, death, and deceit. Destruction, oh, this volcano exploded over here. This happened over there.
That happened over there. Oh, so many people died over here. Oh, this person did this scam.
So, what happens? Our mind’s capacity to imagine all kinds of distressing scenarios, that is fuelled. That is fuelled. And that’s why one small negativity can cause a catastrophic imagination of the mind.
And thus, if the mind’s movie not only gets more and more powered by all the horrible things that we see, and on top of that, we also have horror movies which people watch. So, the paradox with the same technology that is making the mind, the world comfortable at the physical level, at the mental level, it is increasing our fears. It is causing the fearful images to appear more and more on our inner screen, and the problems are there.
The problems have always been there. But, when our inner screen starts displaying nothing except the problem, we have to, sometimes we just have to live with pain. Live with pain means that, suppose you are going to some picnic, and just before you went to the picnic, you are about to go to the picnic, the previous night you get flu, and then you are lying in bed.
And, now flu is not a very painful condition. It is tiring, we have to take some rest, but at that time, what happens? The mind starts its resentment movie. Resentment.
Why did this have to happen? All my friends must be enjoying out there. I am lying in this bed. And, as the mind starts resenting, resentment of reality often hurts much more than reality.
Why is this happening? Why is this happening? So, when this one thing goes wrong, and the mind keeps replaying it, replaying it, replaying it. Why did this happen? And, this replays become all the more prominent because most of us are fuelled by the most of our imagination is fuelled by all the happy images that we see in the media also. Oh, this person is so happy, this person is so happy, this person is so happy.
Oh, I am so unhappy, I am so miserable. So, in this way, we start resenting. Why did this happen? Actually, problems are there in everyone’s life.
But, the resentment of reality hurts more than reality. So, when the screen of the mind starts displaying unwanted images and unwanted movies, that hurts us much more. Similar, so, when this movie, I said the inner screen, it becomes like a TV.
And, it goes off into the future and starts giving all kinds of dreary, deadly scenarios about the future. That’s when we get anxiety. And, when it goes off into the past and starts showing all the things that have gone wrong in our life in the past.
This person did like this to me. Oh, this happened like that. This happened like that.
All the things that have happened wrong for us in the past, when the mind starts displaying that, we get depression. The two major mental health problems are simply caused because the mind’s inner screen is displaying unwanted imagery repeatedly. So, what do we do about it? So, Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that actually, this kind of mentality where those thoughts which keep causing us distress, they keep being replayed in our mind.
When we are holding on to that kind of thoughts, that is characteristic of the mode of ignorance. The mind is like a software. And, the software has certain settings.
Suppose, somebody has visited on their phone or on their computer, they repeatedly visit a particular site. Say, they have visited Bollywood.com. Again and again and again, they visit Bollywood.com. Then, one day, they come to a spiritual programme. And, in the spiritual programme, they hear about the Bhagavad Gita.
They go home. And, they want to know about the Bhagavad Gita. They open their browser and they type B. And, what happens? Bollywood.com comes.
Although, now they want to visit Bhagavad Gita, but what has happened? The software’s autocomplete is giving Bollywood because that’s what they have visited earlier. Similarly, for our mind, we may decide, I’m not going to worry. I’m not going to be depressed.
I’m not going to be greedy. I’m not going to be lusty. I’m not going to be angry.
But, those are the preferences, those are the settings that are already set over there. So, even if you want to think about something else, the mind goes in those directions. And, when we identify with the mind, then we get carried away by the mind.
So, basically, the mind starts showing a movie and it starts passively watching the movie. Say, suppose somebody is watching a TV and a thief comes in. And, a thief comes in, looks around and the thief says, hey, the most valuable thing here is the TV.
A thief comes and picks the TV and starts stealing it. And, the person, instead of stopping the thief, they’re so caught in watching the TV that they just keep following the thief also. Can’t keep watching the TV.
And, in the end, what happens? Not only this TV is stolen, but this person also gets kidnapped. So, like that, for us, we are doing one particular work and suddenly some image comes up in the mind. What about this? What about that? We are watching that and then we keep following that, following that, following that.
And, we are doing one thing and suddenly we are lost in something else. There is one student in America. He committed suicide just before his exam.
And, what had happened? He had been studying the previous evening. It was a very important exam for him. And, he was reasonably well prepared.
He was a good student also. The previous night, he had sat down to study and, as he was studying, he just got a little bored. He sat on his computer.
YouTube was open. He said, let me watch some videos. He started watching one video, second video, third video.
He was studying in his room alone. And, he just lost track of time. And, he was watching at 10 o’clock.
And, actually next morning till 7 o’clock, he was watching. And, 7.30 was his exam. And, then a friend came to him.
Come on, we have to go for the exam now. At that time, he came back to what have I done? He said, I will come a little later. And, he got into such a panic at that time.
What have I done? And, I just blown up my chances for this exam. And, he got into such a panic. And, he committed suicide.
So, actually, this is a physical representation and it’s quite tragic. But, just as, watch this clip, watch this clip, watch this clip. Like that, the mind says, think about this, think about that, think about that, think about that.
We just get completely carried away. So, our mind’s negativity, mind’s destructiveness is being fuelled in today’s world. Because, there are so many images that can come up and so much provocation is given to us in various ways.
So, therefore, we need to learn to distance ourselves from the mind. How do we distance ourselves from the mind? There are two things. Intelligence and transcendence.
Intelligence means that we have to study the philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita, train our intelligence. And then, we learn to observe our emotions. So, whenever I am feeling angry, whenever we start feeling like that, just add four words before it.
The mind is saying, I am feeling angry. Oh! The mind is saying. Is there a reason to get angry? There is no reason to get angry.
Whatever emotion comes in your life, I am feeling depressed. The mind is saying, I am feeling depressed. Oh! Is there a reason to be depressed? There may be, there may not be.
We can evaluate it. As soon as you can develop this habit, whatever emotion comes, just preface, the mind is saying. Krishna talks about this in the Bhagavad Gita when he says, recognise that your emotions are not your emotions.
They are the products of the mind and the modes present within it. In 14.22 and 23, he says, प्रकाशं च प्रवृत्तिम्च मोहमेव च पाण्डव नद्वेश्टीसं प्रवृत्तानी ननिवृत्तानी कांच्यती उदासीन वदासीनम् गुणैर्योन विच्याल्यते गुणावर्तं तित्येव योवतिष्टतिने एंगते उदासीन वदासीनम् be situated as if detached this as if detached is a very interesting word in English there are two words disinterested and uninterested disinterested means one who has no vested interests one who is impartial uninterested means one who has no interest at all one who doesn’t care for it at all so Krishna is telling us to be disinterested observers of our mind not uninterested, it’s our own mind and what is happening, we are concerned about it but we don’t have to identify with it so to understand the difference between disinterested and uninterested let’s take the example of a cricket umpire a cricket umpire has to be disinterested not that they favour one particular team appeal out, out, out whenever the player appeals the umpire has to evaluate is the appeal valid or not but the umpire cannot be uninterested the players appeal, how’s that and the umpire says, I was not watching the match this is what what are you doing over there you were meant to watch the match similarly for us in our mind, various emotions will come so the emotions that come in our mind like the players appealing, how’s that, how’s that think about this, watch this, do this what about this problem deal with it like players were appealing and we become disinterested observers, sometimes the thoughts that come in our mind are important and they require attention but many times they are simply distractions this is an example of a distraction so on an average psychologists have found that depending on how agile a person’s mind is it is between 1 out of 50 to 1 out of 5000 of the thoughts that come in our mind deserve our attention 50 thoughts come in our mind out of that 1 thought deserves our attention what do I mean, suppose I am driving a car, then there are so many things, there may be some some movie theatre going over here, there might be somebody shouting over there, there might be something happening in the back seat and we are also feeling comfortable uncomfortable, so many thoughts just keep coming inside us now at that time most of them, the driver doesn’t have to do anything about it, but suppose the front vehicle has suddenly slowed down that is one thought which requires rigid attention other thoughts, they don’t require much attention so basically when we have our intelligence well trained, we are like an umpire who is disinterested not uninterested then we can observe and we can evaluate so Krishna says, become an observer of your own emotions and when we do this then whatever comes in the mind we will not reject it immediately but we will not accept also immediately we will evaluate it, just like I said earlier, oh I am feeling frustrated the mind is saying, I am feeling frustrated now as soon as you put, the mind is saying what happens, the immediacy decreases the immediacy which is affecting us it decreases suppose you had a friend, and that friend is saying I am feeling frustrated because that person is your friend, you will be concerned ok, how can I help this person you may explain, this is not really worth getting frustrated about middle, ok, you are frustrated let’s do this, something so just as we would help a person who is feeling frustrated, then we can address our mind also so this intelligence is very important without this intelligence we just get carried away so with intelligence we identify the mind without intelligence we identify with the mind what is the difference between identify the mind and identify with the mind identify the mind means hey, it is the mind speaking identify with the mind means the mind says, I am feeling frustrated oh, I am feeling frustrated the mind says I am feeling sleepy We accept it and we start acting accordingly. That means, going back to the earlier inner screen metaphor, a particular pop-up comes up, a particular image opens and we click on it and it starts displaying a video and we start watching it and we forget whatever we were doing.
So intelligence equips us to become observers and then intelligence alone is not enough. This is the sakshi bhav, the mood of the observer, which Krishna talks about in 14.22 and 14.23. And then in 14.26, he talks about the sevabhav. He said that one who becomes fixed in my devotional service, whatever agitations happen in their mind because of the moods, they will be able to tolerate and transcend them.
So what does this mean? This means that once, imagine if you have an exam after six months and you are studying on your computer and suddenly something pops up, looks interesting, let me have a look at it. But if you have an exam after six hours, something pops up later. Why? Because at this point, you have a strong sense of purpose.
This is important for me. This is urgent for me. I have to do it.
So bhakti is not just about chanting Hare Krishna or coming to a temple or coming to a camp. Bhakti is about infusing ourselves with the understanding of the importance and the urgency of serving Krishna. So to the extent, I am a soul, I am a servant of Krishna and I am meant to serve him.
No matter what happens, no matter what has happened in the past, no matter what will happen in the future, one thing is never going to change. That is, Krishna is my lord and I am his servant. No matter how many bad things we have done in the past, no matter how many bad things have happened to us in the past, no matter how many terrible things we may do in the future, no matter how many terrible things may happen to us in the future, through it all, one thing is unchanging.
Krishna will always be with us. Krishna’s love for us doesn’t depend on how the world sees us or even how we see ourselves. Krishna’s love for us is not based on who we are.
Krishna’s love for us is based on who he is. He is the all-loving, all-merciful father. The world may praise us, the world may criticise us.
We ourselves may do terrible things, we ourselves may do wonderful things, but Krishna’s love is there because he is our all-loving father. Acharyas give the example just like the sun gives light to everyone. The person may be a sinner or the person may be a pious person.
So similarly, Krishna always loves us and we may have this conditioning, I may have lust, I may have anger, I may have greed, I may have depression, I may have fearfulness. All these weaknesses we may have, but our greatest weakness is not any of these. Our greatest weakness is our unwillingness to believe that Krishna loves us.
Our greatest weakness is our unwillingness to believe that Krishna loves us and he loves us even now, right now. So if by the association of devotees, if by hearing scripture, we can just get this faith that Krishna loves me even now, Krishna is with me right now, Krishna is there to guide me, that faith will give us a sense of security and a sense of purpose. Security means no matter what, the mind starts, things go wrong in the outside world and the mind starts imagining many many wrongs, but Krishna is there with me, Krishna is there with me, everything will be taken care of.
That will calm us and that will help us to respond properly. And sometimes the mind screen may just become completely, horror movies may start going on over there. And that time it may be so troubling, even to identify, to use our intelligence may also be very difficult.
But that time, if we have developed some spiritual habit, if we have made it a habit to say chant Hare Krishna, to study scripture, to hear some class, so if we make that as a habit, then like earlier I said, somebody has gone repeatedly to Bollywood.com, as soon as the type B, now for Bhagavad Gita, when it goes to Bollywood, but if they habitually keep visiting Bhagavad Gita.com, then over a period of time, what will happen? As soon as the type B, Bhagavad Gita will come. Even if they want to go to Bollywood, Bhagavad Gita will come. So this is the power of Sadhana Bhakti.
So if we just keep doing Bhakti daily, diligently, what will happen? Our mind’s default settings will change. And we will develop the habit, as even no matter whatever appears on the inner screen. So I am saying two things, one thing is what appears on the inner screen itself will change, but even if what appears on the inner screen doesn’t change, we will be able to connect with Krishna, because we have developed that habit.
And that can give a shelter even among the most stormy situations in our life. So I will conclude with one story. The first time when I went to America a few years ago, I had gone to a university, and there I spoke on the topic of regulating our mental diet, it was a vegetarian society.
And then after that one American boy came and told me, just before this class, I was contemplating suicide. He said, I had been in a relationship with a girl, and she had just suddenly broken up with me. And he was just devastated, walking gloomily through the campus, and then he saw a notice of my programme.
He said, something was in me, he said, just go for this programme. He said, now I have attended your class, and he said, now I understand, it is not that I who wanted to commit suicide, it is my mind which is prompting me, commit suicide, commit suicide, commit suicide. I told him, this is a life-saving insight that you have got, and it can save your life not just in this particular situation, but in many, many troublesome situations in the future.
I encourage him to read the Bhagavad Gita regularly, they had a Bhakti Hour Club over there, so I encourage him to come for that Bhagavad Gita Club regularly. I also write on the Gita every day, it is a practical application, at www.gitadevi.com, so I encourage him to read that, and subscribe for that. Then, every year when I go once or twice to America, and I go to that university, I meet him.
And last year when I had gone, again he met me, and he told me, this was several years now, after that, he said again he had gone through a similar incident, he had been in a steady relationship with a girl for quite some time, and she had just unilaterally broken up with him. Just send one message, say I am breaking up, I am blocking your number, don’t contact me at all. And he was just shocked, he just, he got a message when he was in his class, just walked out of his class, came to his room, he closed the door, locked the door, closed the windows, pulled down the curtains, turned off the lights.
And he had a taste for music, so he had his own violin, so he picked up his violin and started singing Hare Krishna. And he told me for six hours continuously, I was just singing Hare Krishna, calling out to Krishna. And he said during that time, although the whole room was dark, I felt as if I was being bathed in a sublime spiritual light.
I felt I was being comforted by a most loving, healing presence. He said, I felt Krishna’s love at that time for me. That time, which could have been one of the most depressing periods of my life, it became one of the most enriching experiences of my life.
And the same situation where he had earlier been suicidal, now he became spiritual. So the mind screen just went blank, it started giving dark scenarios. But what happened? Transcendence.
Because he had developed a habit of chanting, because he had developed a habit of connecting with Krishna, that’s the thought that came, let me do this. And he did that, and the darkness disappeared. In fact, when he went from darkness, a far greater brightness came up in his life.
Machitta Sarva Durgaani, Mat Prasada Tareesha Sri Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, if you become conscious of me, you will pass over all obstacles by my grace. So bhakti is the process of becoming conscious of Krishna and thereby overcoming all obstacles. So in America, there are students who are living in much more comfort, but the spiritual comfort of the facility for practising bhakti is practically not there anywhere.
So in India, we may sometimes have a little less material comforts, but the spiritual comforts are much much more valuably available. And many devotees who studied in colleges in India, and then they go into America, and they were connected with bhakti over here, and they go to America, they start valuing bhakti much more. He said, here we had so much association in India, we didn’t take it much seriously.
Now in America, we long for association, long for a conducive environment, but it’s just not there. So all of us have our material dreams, material desires, I want to achieve this, I want to achieve that, I want to achieve that. One common desire many Indians have is to go to America.
When I first, when I went to 1996-97, I had given my GRE, I had topped in GRE, I was supposed to go to America at that time. Somehow Krishna arranged me to come to his feet. So 2015 when I went to America and came back, at that time all my relatives from various places called me.
They said, your life has become successful now. You have gone to the dream land of America. But the dream is there, and yes there are material comforts there, but the greatest comfort is the comfort of our connection with Krishna.
And wherever we go in life, if we have this comfort, whatever life sends our way, we’ll be able to deal with it, we’ll be able to grow through it, but if we don’t have this, whatever we get in our life, still we will be dissatisfied. So all of you are extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to take shelter of Krishna now. And just grab this opportunity, and by Krishna’s grace, everything else that needs to be done in life, that will fall in place.
Krishna Bhakti is so wonderful, we don’t have to give up other things. We just have to take up Krishna Bhakti, and when we take up Krishna Bhakti, all other things will fall in place, because the mind will fall in place, and when the mind falls in place, everything else we’ll be able to do much, much better. So I’ll summarise.
I spoke about why we need spirituality in the age of technology. I started by talking about how people are immensely distressed mentally. One unanswered phone call can make someone suicidal.
Why? Because the mind is filled with all kinds of horrendous ideas. So physically, technology has provided more and more comfort, but psychologically, we are comfortably miserable. That’s because the mind, whatever forces cause it, agitation, those forces are being impressed more and more on the mind.
I talked about the mind is meant to be like a window which shows us the outer world, but the mind can also act like a TV, which can just go off and start showing a horror movie. And on this window, there are multiple, there are five smaller tabs open, which are the five senses, and then there’s a tab of the recollection that is open. And normal functioning requires that the tab which is important for us, that is what open up and zoom.
But when the mind becomes uncontrolled, an unwanted window zooms up. And not only zooms up and occupies the screen, it starts a movie also. So if there’s a problem in life, yes, it has to be dealt with.
But that starts zooming up, and either it causes resentment, and resentment of reality hurts us more than reality, or it causes us fear, anxiety, worry. And that makes us get an anxiety disorder, panic attack we might get. So when the inner screen starts showing movie about a horror story of the future, that causes fear and anxiety.
When the inner screen starts showing a tragedy story of the past, all that has gone wrong in our life, that causes depression. So for us, we need to make sure that what comes in the mind, we don’t get carried away by it. And for that, I talk about two things, intelligence and transcendence.
Intelligence means we learn to identify what appears on the screen of the mind, not identify with it. Whenever I’m feeling angry, say to yourself, the mind is saying I’m feeling angry. And we become disinterested, not uninterested, observers of the emotions in our mind.
Just like a cricket umpire observes the players and the action over there. And then we respond intelligently. And this intelligence is nourished by the regular study of the Bhagavad Gita.
And transcendence means that we cultivate a strong habit of practising Bhakti. Bhakti is not just about chanting Hare Krishna, it is about developing the faith that Krishna loves us even now. No matter what is happening in the world, no matter what is happening in the mind, Krishna still loves us.
And our greatest weakness is our unwillingness to believe that Krishna loves us even now. Krishna’s love for us is not based on who we are, it is based on who he is. So if by the practise of Bhakti, we develop the habit of connecting with Krishna, then Krishna, that habit of connecting with Krishna will save us when the mind starts showing some negative imagery.
At that time, instead of just getting carried away by it, we’ll remember Krishna. So this boy who had been suicidal became spiritual. And that way, the terrible things may happen, but we won’t make the things worse.
By becoming conscious of Krishna, whatever problems may come in our life, Krishna will guide us to overcome those problems. And we may all have dreams for material comfort and material success, and that’s okay. But without the spiritual comfort of a connection with Krishna, nothing will actually give us happiness.
So we make sure that we grab the facility that we have to connect with Krishna. And once we are connected with Krishna, everything else will fall in place, because the mind will stay in place.