Monumental triviality is still a triviality by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13

Some sports fans become so maniac that when their favorite team loses, they feel as if it is the end of the world. A few extremist fans even end their life.

While a match result may be important in its context, that context itself is not very important. It’s after all just a game – a game that doesn’t matter; that doesn’t solve any real problems; that doesn’t provide any real necessities. It’s a triviality. Even if people make the trivial monumental, it still remains a triviality, at the most a monumental triviality.

Yet association can drastically distort our perspective. So if we associate with people who are mad for cricket, we may find ourselves maniacally pounding our fist in frustration at a defeat, a defeat that we wouldn’t have normally affected us much. To protect us from such mania, theBhagavad-gita (13.11) urges us to stay detached from the general mass of people.

Being thus detached doesn’t mean leading an emotionally barren life – it simply means judiciously investing our emotions in the consequential, indeed the vital.

What is truly vital?

That which lasts, lasts forever.

We are eternal souls who have gone through many lifetimes, wherein depending on our physical, social and cultural contexts, we have been maniac about many things – things that we now don’t even remember.

What always stays with us is our consciousness. What determines our happiness is the state of our consciousness. What is truly vital, therefore, is the attraction of our consciousness to Krishna, for he alone is the source of everlasting happiness. When we invest our emotions in Krishna by practicing bhakti yoga, the resulting emotional enrichment will be so fulfilling that we won’t feel avoiding mundane mania to be a deprivation; rather, we will see such mania as a depriver of the sublime satisfaction of devotion

Revealing our feeling is the beginning of healing by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita

At the start of the Bhagavad-gita (01.29), Arjuna reveals to Krishna the feelings of anxiety and misery that are overwhelming him. Seeking relief, he surrenders to Krishna (02.07). And the Gita concludes with Arjuna’sdeclaration (18.73) that his negative feelings have been removed – he has been healed

Bhakti-yoga, which is the Gita’s central recommendation, is essentially a process for healing our feelings. We are presently in an emotionally diseased state because our feelings are misdirected towards material things. As material things are changing and fleeting, attachment to them ends always in misery.  Psychosis, neurosis, complexes and all such emotional problems originate in our misguided desire to enjoy matter.

Revealing our feeling is only the beginning of healing – it is not itself healing.

Bhakti-yoga purifies our emotions, redirecting them from matter to Krishna. When we practice bhakti, we need to, like Arjuna, reveal to our spiritual mentors our feelings, especially those feelings that strongly affect us. However, we need to remember that revealing our feeling is only the beginning of healing – it is not itself healing. We shouldn’t stay stuck in the beginning, endlessly recycling old hurts and hang-ups, dumping our emotional load on others, and overall indulging in a pity party.

To actually be healed, we need to practice bhaktideterminedly. So, just as patients inform their physicians about their symptoms to learn about the treatment, we inform our mentors about our feelings to learn how we can best practice bhakti.

Analyzing our feelings under guidance can help us better understand our disease and our cure. The worldly things that trigger wild feelings within us are symptoms of our disease – they show us our attachments and weaknesses, the things we need to guard against. The devotional things that trigger sublime feelings within us comprise our customized spiritual therapy – by doing those activities more, we can get a higher taste that makes austerities tolerable and bhakti-yoga relishable.

Article by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 09, Text 33

Devotee-seekers sometimes ask, “I am devoting myself to Krishna – why then am I still getting miseries in my life?”

Because misery is an intrinsic characteristic of material existence. Let’s understand with a light-shadow metaphor.

Krishna being the reservoir of all happiness is like the supreme sun, whereas miseries are like the shadow. When we attain Krishna’s abode, we become free from all miseries forever.

We can’t absorb ourselves in him as long as we expect a misery-free existence.

Matter being the separated energy of Krishna is always under the shadow. As long as we are in the material world, the shadow of miseries will fall on us, even when we devote ourselves to him. Bhakti-yoga provides us access to the light of Krishna by training us to fix our consciousness on him. Thus, bhakti provides us higher happiness and paves our way out of material existence.

The Bhagavad-gita (09.33) exhorts us to practice bhakti for getting out of this temporary miserable world. The verse accepts as a de facto reality the world’s miserable nature. The special blessing that bhakti offers is not the absence of the shadow of misery but the presence of the light, that is, access to Krishna and the higher happiness thereof. The more we absorb ourselves in him by practicing bhakti, the more we can tolerate and even transcend worldly miseries. But we can’t absorb ourselves in him as long as we expect a misery-free existence.  Why? Because that expectation makes us doubt Krishna whenever misery occurs. And such doubts disrupt our absorption.

We need to instead accept misery as an inescapable fact of the world and further see it as an impetus to embrace bhakti for going beyond the world. Then we can absorb ourselves in Krishna, thus finding spiritual happiness even amidst material misery and ultimately going beyond this miserable world to the blissful spiritual world.

See misery as confirmation of scripture – and as impetus to further confirm scripture

Devotee-seekers sometimes ask, “I am living according to scripture, yet I am getting misery. Why?”

The occurrence of misery in our life doesn’t falsify scripture – rather, it verifies scripture.

The Bhagavad-gita (08.15) declares the material world to be a place of misery. This statement is not pessimistic; it is just an unsentimental report of objective reality. While living in this world, we are regularly tormented by psychophysical misery, social misery and environmental misery, and are eventually devastated by disease, old age and death. Worldly propaganda that promises happiness here is simply misleading. The Gita by speaking the unvarnished truth triggers us to start coming  out of self-defeating illusion. So when we encounter misery, we can see it as a confirmation of the scriptural verdict about this world and as a demonstration of the falsity of worldly propaganda.

“The initial message of scripture has turned out to be true. Let me investigate if its essential message is also true.”

We may understandably protest, “But when I am suffering, I need relief.”

Yes, scripture definitely offers relief. Its pronouncement about this world is a prelude to its essential message: devotional absorption in Krishna provides the supreme fulfillment that relieves us of all misery. Keeping this message in mind, we can see misery as impetus for deepening our devotion: “The initial message of scripture has turned out to be true. Let me investigate if its essential message is also true.”

With this bold, devotionally adventurous spirit, when amidst misery we intensify our remembrance of Krishna, we will experience how devotion raises our consciousness above misery – the misery may exist, but it doesn’t make us so miserable. Being thus elevated above misery, we can calmly find the best way to practically deal with it. The Gita (18.58) assures us that Krishna by his mercy will guide us to go beyond problems and to ultimately go beyond the problem-filled material existence.

Perceive the way before you pursue the way by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita

Losing our way is often unnerving. Much more unnerving is feeling so hopelessly lost as to think that there’s no way ahead. This happens when we are faced with a devastatingly discouraging lose-lose predicament, as did Arjuna (Bhagavad-gita01.30).

Even more dangerous, however, is being so lost as to not even realize that we are lost. This happens with mumbling and stumbling drunkards who fancy that they are kings in their imaginary world. Something similar happens to us when we become intoxicated by materialism and pursue worldly success. By our unconsidered materialistic actions, we bungle karmically and entangle ourselves in misery, while dreaming that we will soon achieve stupendous things.

Worldly success fuels an addictive craving to find another peak to scale for getting another burst of short-lived exhilaration.

However, such dreams hardly ever materialize. Even the few who do succeed soon discover that the exhilaration of getting to the top is heartbreakingly fleeting.  Those who recognize the futility of such success sometimes end up feeling hopelessly lost, not knowing what to live for.

Gita wisdom protects us from all such misery. Before we pursue a way, it educates us to perceive the way to real happiness. We are souls who can find lasting fulfillment only in spiritual love for Krishna. By living in the Gita’s light, we can use our God-given dispositions and positions to serve and glorify Krishna, as did Arjuna. Then, if we succeed materially, by offering that success to Krishna, we relish a profound fulfillment that far surpasses the brief thrill of egoistic success. And if a material dead-end stymies us, the Gita’s spiritual vision reassures us that a far more glorious spiritual destiny awaits us if we just persevere in devotion.

Thus, no matter what happens materially, we never feel lost, being on course spiritually towards destination Krishna.

Krishna is the ultimate knight in shining armor by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita

The knight in shining armor is a staple theme in fiction. Usually appearing as the savior of a damsel in distress, the knight fights to overpower the villain and rescue the damsel. Some fiction narratives expand the theme beyond romance to protection of the world. When humanity faces an imminent catastrophe, Superman saves the world and gets the girl. This theme is so universal that even feminist fiction thrives on it, merely replacing the knight with a knightess.

The enduring appeal of this theme stems from the deepest recesses of the human heart – to its longing for undying love and the undying soul that is the seat of this longing. As souls, we are meant to delight in spiritual love for the supreme hero Krishna. He is supremely strong, supremely intelligent and supremely loving – he is the ultimate knight in shining armor.

The enduring appeal of this theme of the knight in shining armor stems from the deepest recesses of the human heart

Gita wisdom expands our understanding of distress beyond the misfortunes that occasionally threaten us. The foundation of all our distresses is the distressful incompatibility at the heart of our present existence – we are indestructible souls trapped in destructible bodies. Irrespective of our physical gender, we are all akin to damsels in distress needing to be rescued from material existence.

The ultimate hero strives therefore not just to set things right in a place where they will inevitably go wrong again, but to set us right on the path to go beyond this world. The Bhagavad-gita (04.08) delineates this purpose of the divine descent – to establish dharma by empowering the proponents of dharma and disempowering its opponents. The next verse (04.09) stresses the ultimate purpose of the descent – to perform spellbinding pastimes involving stupendous feats that attract our hearts to him. Such redirection of love catapults us to an eternal ecstatic reunion with him in his indestructible abode.

Devotion passes and surpasses the intellect by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita

The path of devotion passes the intellect meaning that its explanation of life’s purpose can survive the scrutiny of the intellect. In fact, the Bhagavad-gita, which is conclusively a bhakti-text, invites (18.63) such intellectual scrutiny. The intellectual vibrancy of bhakti-yoga is evident not only in the conclusion of the Gita but also in its content.

The Gita is a serious philosophical conversation that consistently urges us to use our intellect for going beyond mundane sentimentality while choosing our principles and actions. Further, Gita wisdom explains that our assets are ultimately gifts from Krishna and are meant to be used in his service. Since intelligence is our greatest human asset, we naturally use it as an expression of our devotion, because love after all means offering our best to our beloved.

Since intelligence is our greatest human asset, we naturally use it as an expression of our devotion, because love after all means offering our best to our beloved.

And yet devotion surpasses the intellect in the sense that it offers a higher spiritual experience, something that the intelligence alone can’t do. Bhakti raises our consciousness to a spiritual level, thereby enabling us to not just conceptualize the connection of everything with Krishna as a hermeneutical tool but to also actually perceive that connectedness as an innate feature of reality.

The Gita (09.02) underscores this experience-delivering potency of bhakti. In fact, the same verse begins with declaring the knowledge about bhakti to be the king of knowledge as well as the king of secrets. It is the king of knowledge because knowledge about bhakti is not merely theoretical – it is practical and transformational. And it is the king of secrets because its transformational potency remains hidden for those who don’t go beyond the head to the heart by redirecting their love from the world to Krishna. But for those enterprising enough to do so, it becomes the pathway to relish forever the sweetness of spiritual love for the all-attractive supreme – life’s supreme perfection.

Our connection with Krishna is reinforced, not restricted, by the guru by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita

Some people find the idea of a guru difficult to digest, “Can’t I have a relationship with God? Why do I need to restrict my approach to God through a guru?”

The guru doesn’t restrict our relationship with God – he reinforces it.

We all have an innate and inviolable relationship with Krishna. That relationship can, however, be obscured or covered when we turn away from him. Turning to him is not just a matter of intention – it is also a matter of redirection.

A lost person doesn’t just need to desire to go home, but also needs to know the way to go home. Similarly, all of us are lost souls being disconnected from Krishna due to our desires to enjoy material things.

These desires have created an inner darkness within us that prevents us from both seeing Krishna within our heart and seeing the contours of our inner territory in our journey back to him.

The spiritual master provides us guidance that illumines the inner territory. By pointing out based on scripture the pitfalls and the pathways, the guru helps us perceive spiritual truths culminating in Krishna, as the Bhagavad-gita (04.34) exhorts.

Being told to choose a particular path may seem restrictive for those who don’t want to go where that path leads – and even for those who don’t have any particular destination to go to. But once a destination is finalized, sticking to a path is not restrictive – it is productive.

Similarly, once we understand that Krishna is our ultimate destination, then the guidance of the guru, far from restricting our connection with Krishna, reinforces it. By the expert mentoring of our spiritual guides, we learn how to overcome the obstacles that keep us away from Krishna and how to make decisions that take us to him.

Personality is neither a pointer to nor a portion of the Absolute Truth – it is the pinnacle by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita

Many Gita commentators treat Krishna as a pointer to an amorphous non-personal Absolute Truth. They consider that the less intelligent need a form to stabilize their meditation till it becomes strong enough to focus on the impersonal light that the form is meant to point to. That the Gita(07.24) speaks exactly the opposite, deeming as unintelligent those who consider the personal a temporary manifestation of the impersonal absolute, doesn’t seem to matter to them.

Some such commentators think of themselves as being especially charitably disposed towards the devout when they grant personality more than provisional existence – they deem that personality is also a feature of the Absolute Truth, which essentially is an infinity of idealized, universalized perfection. That their conception of perfection is stripped of personality, reciprocity and vitality doesn’t seem to matter to them. That theGita (07.07) speaks the opposite, declaring that there’s no higher truth than the personal manifestation of Krishna, doesn’t seem to matter to them.

It should if what matters to us is the import of the Gita and not the impressiveness of the intellectual gymnastics of its commentators.

Significantly, the Gita doesn’t need such gymnastics from self-appointed arbiters of its meaning. It declares that personality is not just a pointer to some higher impersonal Absolute Truth. Rather, everything else, including the impersonal manifestation, is a pointer to the personal Absolute Truth, as the Gita (10.41) emphasizes. This subordination of the impersonal to the personal is evident also in the Gita’s declaration (18.54) that those who attain impersonal realization thereafter graduate to personal devotion.

The personal manifestation is thus the pinnacle of the Absolute Truth – and that pinnacle sustains all the other manifestations of the Absolute Truth, including the impersonal, as the Gita (14.29) indicates.

Enlightenment is not a static state; it is a perennial process by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10

Some people conceive enlightenment as sitting motionless in a yogic posture, lost internally, and eventually merging forever into a formless light.

The Bhagavad-gita, however, gives a much more dynamic vision of enlightenment. The Gita (10.08) calls those who realize Krishna’s supreme position as budha, which means enlightened, being cognate with Buddha, the well-known epithet for the enlightened.

What such enlightened souls do is revealed in the next verse (10.09): They fix their minds on Krishna, dedicate their lives to him and delight in discussing his glories – all characteristics of those who being enlightened have lost interest in illusory worldly pleasures. Significantly, the verse states that they enlighten each other (bodhayantah) about Krishna.

How can the enlightened be further enlightened?

Because Krishna is infinite, appreciating his glories is a never-exhaustible, ever-relishable process.

The answer lies in Krishna’s infinitude and individuality. Because he is infinite, appreciating his glories is a never-exhaustible, ever-relishable process. Moreover, he is an individual who reciprocates individually with us, who are all irreducible individuals. So, the way each of us realizes his glories is distinctive, even unique – it reflects the flavor of our personal relationship with him.

So when the enlightened hear how other enlightened seers are relishing Krishna’s glories, their attraction for him increases and their divine ecstasy intensifies. Thus, the enlightened become more enlightened ad infinitum.

When we understand how eternally ecstatic devotional enlightenment is, conceptions of static enlightenment can no longer distract us from devoting ourselves to Krishna. The more we practice bhakti-yoga, the more our head becomes clear and our heart becomes pure, thereby enabling us to increasingly relish his glories. By hearing from those who relish his glories, we further relish those glories from fresh perspectives. As we go closer to Krishna, we experientially confirm for ourselves that enlightenment is never a static state; it is a perennial process that provides perpetual pleasure.

Those who mistake the route to be the root stay uprooted by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita

Many people confuse the mind with the soul because both are inside. However, the soul and the mind differ cognitively, constitutionally and functionally. Cognitively, the soul is the root of consciousness, whereas the mind is the route of consciousness. The consciousness coming from the soul is passed through the mind to the outer world. So wherever our mind goes, that’s what we become conscious of.

Constitutionally, the soul is spiritual, whereas the mind is material, albeit subtle material. Functionally, the soul is the reservoir of purity, being a part of Krishna. But the mind is the reservoir of impressions, most of which are mundane and impure. Why? Because these impressions have come from our past actions most of which have been material and sensual, even immoral.

Presently, our inner feelings come largely from the mind, whose materialistic impressions usually give rise to mundane feelings.

As long as we don’t realize our spiritual identity, we stay uprooted, being disconnected from our spiritual essence. And even when we want to be spiritual such disconnection continues if we mistake the mind to be the soul and assume whatever we feel internally is spiritual. Presently, our inner feelings come largely from the mind, whose materialistic impressions usually give rise to mundane feelings. So if we let our feelings determine our actions, then we will practice spiritualty only occasionally, whenever the fickle mind temporary likes spiritual activities. Practicing spirituality erratically won’t make us self-realized, just as taking medicines erratically won’t make a patient healthy.The Bhagavad-gita (06.07) indicates that we can attain the spiritual platform only when we conquer the mind. Conquering the mind includes of course overcoming the illusion induced by the mind that it is the same as the soul. When we let scripture guide our inner quest, we go undistractedly beyond the route to the root – we progressively realize the self and relish its eternal ecstatic nature.

Seeking God’s will in his word shows us our way in this world by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita

Different people approach the Bhagavad-gita differently, seeing it, for example, as a historical, cultural or poetic book. Though the Gita has all these aspects, they are peripheral to its central purpose: to reveal divinity’s will to humanity.

This purpose is evident from the Gita’s context. Its original student Arjuna was initially bewildered about what to do, but after hearing the Gita, his way became clear and he resolved to carry out Krishna’s will.

Seeking Krishna’s will infuses into our study and by extension our life a sense of personal reciprocation with him.

Studying the Gita with this purpose means to see it as the word of our omniscient, benevolent guide who wants to show us our way in this world. If we have the inclination and the capacity to study the Gita’s historical, cultural, poetic aspects, we certainly should. But even if we don’t and most certainly if we do, we need to ensure that our main purpose is knowing Krishna’s will for us, just as a patient’s main purpose in hearing the doctor’s words is learning how to take the prescription.

The foremost benefit of seeking Krishna’s will is that we stay conscious of him. And that – being conscious of him – is his fundamental guideline, as is stressed consistently throughout the Gita. Moreover, seeking his will for us makes our Gita study self-transformational, for we see where we fall short of his instructions and what we need to do to improve ourselves.

Most importantly, seeking Krishna’s will infuses into our study and by extension our life a sense of personal reciprocation with him. We see all our activities as opportunities to love and serve him. The Gita (10.10)assures us that when we serve him with a devotional disposition, he guides us from within so that, even amidst perplexities, we can step-by-step act according to his will and ultimately attain him.

When the mind becomes peaceful, we become joyful by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita

Seekers sometimes ask, “Bhakti is supposed to be joyful. But I don’t get much joy in it. Why is that?”

Because the mind interrupts our practice of bhakti. Suppose we are drinking a glass of delicious juice and someone suddenly turns our face away from the glass. Naturally, we won’t taste the juice.

The mind does something similar with us. The joyfulness of bhakti centers on remembering and relishing the sweetness of Krishna in a mood of selfless devotion. The receptacle for receiving the nectarean remembrance of Krishna is our consciousness. The more our consciousness is receptive and attentive to Krishna, the more we relish his beauty. Unfortunately however, the mind being filled with dreams and schemes for mundane pleasures distracts us away from Krishna towards worldly objects.

Even when we don’t relish devotional fulfillment consciously, the endeavor to connect with him works subconsciously, attracting his mercy and purifying the mind of its worldly obsessions.

When we give in to the mind’s distractions and indulge in worldly pleasures, we naturally miss the nectar-flow of devotion. Even if we don’t indulge physically, the inner battle to resist the distraction drains us. And this battle often becomes more intense when we try to focus on Krishna through directly devotional activities such as mantra meditation. That’s why such activities sometimes seem exhausting, not energizing.

Nonetheless, if we keep striving to connect with Krishna, some drops of his nectarean remembrance do occasionally trickle into our consciousness, giving us extraordinary devotional fulfillment. Even when we don’t relish such fulfillment consciously, the endeavor to connect with him works subconsciously, attracting his mercy and purifying the mind of its worldly obsessions. It then realizes that remembering Krishna is far more fulfilling than any of the worldly indulgences it had imagined to be pleasurable. Consequently, it gives up pursuing those pleasures and joins us in relishing the sweetness of Krishna. When the mind thus becomes peaceful, theBhagavad-gita (06.27) indicates that we become joyful, supremely joyful.

Krishna is not just a solace from the world – he is the substance of the world

Many people come to God to gain relief from the wounds incurred while battling for the things of this world. What they find too difficult to attain by their own efforts, they hope to attain by petitioning the divine.

The Bhagavad-gita (07.16) acknowledges such world-centered solace-seekers as pious because they seek the divine, whatever the purpose. But it also traces the trajectory of their further spiritual evolution till they see Krishna not as a solace, but as the substance of everything (07.19: vaasudevah sarvam iti). Does this statement, literally translatable as Krishna is everything, imply a simplistic pantheism that equates everything with God? No, because the same verse states that such enlightened seekers surrender to Krishna, not to everything.

Approaching Krishna merely for solace is colossal under-utilization, akin to using a gold slab as an umbrella to avoid sunburn.

Studying the Gita’s worldview reveals the statement’s subtle import – the sophisticated relationship between Krishna and everything can be understood at various levels. Firstly, everything is a manifestation of his energy and because he is in a sense non-different from his energy, in that sense he manifests as everything. Secondly, he through his pervasive immanent manifestation as the Supersoul underlies and upholds everything, thus he is the substance, the integrating principle, of everything. Thirdly, everything that attracts our heart does so because it manifests a spark of his supreme all-attractiveness, so he is the substance, the attractive principle, of everything.

When we thus understand Krishna as the all-attractive Lord of our heart, we realize that approaching him merely for solace is colossal under-utilization, akin to using a gold slab as an umbrella to avoid sunburn. This realization inspires us to make Krishna our supreme goal, not a means to some worldly goal. Making him our life’s goal gradually enriches us with spiritual love that brings fulfillment far greater than that from the greatest worldly achievement.

Our past explains our inclinations, but it doesn’t excuse our actions by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita

Imagine a computer used by a child primarily for playing games. From the moment it is turned on, it repeatedly gives prompts for playing. Such prompts continue even when the child grows up and wants to use the computer for studying. The past usage of the computer explains why those prompts come, but that prompting doesn’t justify the student’s playing now, for he has the power to say no.

Our body is akin to a machine for us souls – a machine that we have in our past used largely for worldly indulgences. When we fortunately come in contact with Gita wisdom, we recognize that life has the higher purpose of spiritual realization that brings everlasting happiness. Understanding this is akin to growing up spiritually.

Understanding that life has the higher purpose of spiritual realization is akin to growing up spiritually.

However, even when we strive to focus on life’s spiritual purpose, our body keeps prompting us towards worldly indulgences. Our past explains our inclinations, which are the prompts coming from the body. But we have the power to say no to them. If we still indulge, then pointing to our inclinations won’t excuse us of the consequences – at the very least we will fail to realize our spiritual potential and will perpetuate our miserable material existence.

Just as saying no to the game becomes easier for students if they develop interest in studies, similarly saying no to the bodily prompts becomes easier for us if we develop interest in devotional activities. And bhakti-yoga accommodatingly enables us to serve Krishna according to our psychophysical nature, which refers to the things that naturally interest us. In bhakti, rather than rejecting all bodily prompts, we reject those that are anti-devotional and dovetail those that are devotionally harmonizable. TheBhagavad-gita (18.56) assures us that even while working according to our nature, we can still take shelter of Krishna and thereby attain life’s supreme perfection.

When the mind accepts the impure to be impure, we become pure by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita

Impurity is essentially a perception-distorter. The impurity of addiction to alcohol makes alcoholics think that the alcohol which is the cause of their suffering is the source of irresistible pleasure.

Similarly, when we have the impurity of, say, greed, it makes getting money by any means, ethical or unethical, seem attractive. For the soul capable of relishing pure eternal love for Krishna, obsession with temporary worldly things is an impurity. All such impurities deprive us of the unlimited joy of absorption in Krishna and sentence us to the misery of pursuing petty things – a pursuit that brings a lot of karmic entanglement and misery with at best only a little enjoyment.

As long as the mind is under the spell of greed, it keeps propositioning us to possess and enjoy material things.

Studying scripture helps us understand intellectually why impurities are impurities. But still the mind doesn’t accept it. As long as it is under the spell of greed, it continues to see worldly things as enjoyable and keeps propositioning us to possess and enjoy them. Of course, we can and should use our intelligence to say no to the mind’s schemes. But as long as the mind keeps making such proposals, we can understand that we are still impure.

Nonetheless, if we keep practicing bhakti-yoga steadily and sincerely, the repeated exposure to Krishna and the deep spiritual fulfillment thereof will gradually persuade the mind that real happiness lies in him alone – and that impure indulgences bring not enjoyment but entanglement and misery.

When the mind thus accepts the impure to be impure and gives up the desire to enjoy, it becomes peaceful. And we become joyful in our practice of devotion, for we no longer have to undergo the inner struggle with temptation that interferes with the joy of devotion. The Bhagavad-gita (06.27)declares that those with such a peaceful and pure mind relish the supreme bliss.

Infatuation with form is not the problem – infatuation with temporary form is by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita

We are often attracted to good-looking worldly forms. Such attraction keeps our consciousness at the material level and thus ties us to material existence. Understanding that infatuation with material forms causes bondage is a vital insight for spiritual seekers. But some spiritualists go overboard with this insight and misinfer that all forms are illusion and that the Absolute Truth is formless.

Such wholesale rejection of form is philosophically and practically problematic.

Some spiritualists go overboard with insights about worldly forms and misinfer that all forms are illusion and that the Absolute Truth is formless.

Philosophically, deeming all form as illusion begs the question – where does form come from? If the Absolute Truth is the source of everything, as scripture declares, then shouldn’t form be present in it? And as the Absolute Truth transcends worldly limitations, shouldn’t its form also transcend worldly limitations? So the Absolute Truth should have a form that is imperishable, being free from the limitation of temporariness that mars all worldly forms. Confirming such philosophical reasoning, the Bhagavad-gita(07.07) declares that the highest manifestation of the Absolute Truth is Krishna.  And when Arjuna asks (12.01) whether to fix the mind on the form or the formless, Krishna recommends unequivocally (12.02) meditation on the personal form.

Practically, the Gita (12.05) underscores that concentrating on anything formless is difficult and distressing. In contrast, redirecting our attraction for forms from the temporary to the eternal, from worldly forms to Krishna’s form is much easier. Why? Because Krishna’s form is supremely attractive.

And because he is supremely pure and purifying, meditating on him counters the impurities in our heart that make us addicted to worldly forms. The more we become attracted to his form, the less worldly forms can infatuate us. And because Krishna’s form is eternal and eternally attractive, when we fall in love with him, we can by meditating on him relish the supremely fulfilling love that can continue eternally.