Will tempting desires ever go away or will they stay lifelong?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
so by the practice of bhakti if we can overcome desire focus on pure intention if after many years this is not happening then what can we do first of all as a devotee a devotee desires but a devotee does not demand so by that different kind of purport in the karta mudhi pastime the devotee desires darshan of the lord but the devotee does not demand darshan of the lord similarly as devotees we desire purity we want to be pure hearted but we don’t demand the desire definitely has to be there for purity but not demanding now what can happen for us by the practice of bhakti is that the intention becomes stronger and stronger the circumstantial propositions will keep coming but they will become recurrent they will not be so incoherent in the purport of 2.17 Krishna is saying that just as rivers enter into the ocean but the ocean is not disturbed similarly desire enters into the consciousness of the advanced spiritualists but they are not activated there prabhupada writes that the desires may come but the inclination to fulfill the desire is no longer there this is a very interesting verse because normally we consider desires as flowing outwards so i see an object and i desire to eat i desire to eat, i desire to watch, i desire to touch so desires flow outwards from us to the object but here Krishna is talking about desires going outwards inwards from the object to us so the river is going to the ocean so he is talking about the desires flowing from outside to inside and he uses the word na kama kama na kama kama means one who is not the desirer of desire not the desirer of desire what that means is from outside the desire flows in that means the temptation comes in, you see some object but there is no desire that is generated in you i want this, i see it, it’s good but i am not interested so that as we keep practicing bhakti the circumstantial desires will become lesser and lesser and the core intention becomes stronger and stronger but krishna does say that for most of us we should be ready to resist the temptation so you can assume that krishna does not say that tolerate the force of desire till what point till the time you have this body as long as the body is there certain desire will be generated from the body but if you can tolerate that well connected so over a period of time as long as we identify with the circumstantial proposition that is coming i have enjoyed this you have enjoyed this as long as you identify with the circumstantial proposition saying no to it feels like deprivation and it becomes more difficult but the more we become seasoned in the practice of bhakti the more we identify with the core intention rather than saying oh i have to give up this for this i will give up this and you are not practicing bhakti gradually as you start practicing bhakti you start realizing oh please actually for this enjoyment i have to give up this and bhakti itself becomes its not that in devotion we are always dancing in ecstasy but when you are practicing bhakti there is a sublime peace there is a deep sense of purposeful fulfilment that you get i am doing something beautiful i am doing something special in life so with that understanding then we start seeing worldly indulgence as deprivation initially we see giving up worldly indulgence we see worldly abstinence as deprivation of sensual pleasure but later on we start seeing indulgence as deprivation of spiritual pleasure that much time i am really missing out on the conquestion i am missing out on the joy of connecting with Krishna so when that happens then even if the desires come we wont be so content so rather than thinking about oh is it that life long i have to tolerate this we can just see it as this moment i have to consent and if we just keep saying no life will go on what happens is if i have to carry this for maybe one minute but if i think i have to carry this life long it will never happen so like that if you think i have to keep fighting this desire lifelong then that will dishearten us so yes at an intellectual level we understand but at a practical level we have to think that the battle is simple at this moment if i choose Krishna that is all that i need to do throughout my life its only when we think oh i have to renounce life long how can i keep battling life lets focus on this moment at this moment can i choose Krishna next moment so that way the choosing of Krishna if we keep doing then saying no becomes much easier we will still have to say no but saying no becomes much easier thank you very much