Krishna is not just our destination – he is also our companion

Suppose we flew to a distant land to meet a VIP whom we hadn’t met before. We landed, drove to his residence and knocked – and found, to our astonishment, looking at us the same person who had sat next to us throughout our journey. Having been hyper-excited about the upcoming meeting, we had paid little attention to our flight neighbor.

A similar lack of recognition often characterizes our devotional journey. When we practice bhakti and feel attracted towards Krishna, we start longing to see him. Such a longing is normally good, but the illusory energy can sinisterly use it against us. How? By making us depressed that we are so far away from Krishna. Such depression can make our practice of bhakti half-hearted and inattentive. With distracted bhakti practices, we can’t access his presence as manifest in our heart, and in his holy names, deities, scriptures and similar manifestations.

Why can’t we readily perceive Krishna’s presence? Because he is quintessentially spiritual, whereas our consciousness is presently material, being consumed by various worldly attachments. Earnest bhakti practice raises our consciousness to the spiritual level, enabling us to increasingly realize his presence. Over time, as we come closer and closer to Krishna, one day we realize that he was always close to us, being present in our heart throughout our worldly existence, as the Bhagavad-gita (18.61) states. And we also realize that his empowering presence was constantly accessible through his many merciful manifestations.

We will realize this divine non-difference eventually, but we can tap its benefit immediately. By using our intelligence to at least hypothetically accept the non-difference between him and his manifestations, we can serve those manifestations with greater reverence. Such intensified devotional practice will make our spiritual life more relishable and will accelerate our realization of Krishna’s eternal proximity.

Our willingness is more important than our willpower

When we strive to lead a principle-centered life, but falter and fall, we may lament, “I don’t have willpower.”

Such feelings are understandable, but they can be self-defeating if they make us believe that lack of willpower is something like a genetic defect – some people have willpower and some people don’t. Actually, willpower is not unchangeable like skin pigment color but is something changeable like muscles.

No doubt, some people have more willpower; some, less. Still, despite such differences caused by past karma, we all have some willpower, just as everyone has some muscles. And more importantly, we all can have willingness. Willpower is the capacity to do a thing, whereas willingness is the desire to do it. If we are unwilling, then even Krishna can’t help us. Though he has the power to do everything, he respects our free will and doesn’t impose himself on us if we don’t want him to. In contrast, if we are willing and strive to connect with him through prayerful remembrance, he empowers us by his omnipotence to overcome obstacles, as the Bhagavad-gita (18.58) assures.

Unfortunately, we often let our fear about our willpower deficiency steal our willingness – akin to a person who on thinking of huge weights refuses to enter a gym. By such misdirected contemplation, we end up disempowering ourselves.

Instead of sweating over principles that we fear we can’t follow, we can focus on ways in which we can joyfully absorb ourselves in remembrance of Krishna, for such remembrance is the most important principle. And from that remembrance will emerge, by his mercy, the inner satisfaction and strength to resist temptations and boost our willpower.

By focusing on maintaining our willingness instead of fretting over our willpower deficiency, we can let Krishna’s magical mercy raise us above our limitations.

Being correct is not enough; we need to be correctly understood

Sometimes when we speak something important or insightful, we may think that we have done our part. But if others haven’t understood what we said, then we haven’t yet done our part fully. And if we try to justify such partial communication by claiming that their incomprehension is their problem, then we have failed to understand the purpose of communication, especially spiritual communication on Krishna’s behalf.

Krishna himself demonstrates how to take responsibility for effective communication. After speaking the stupendous wisdom of the Bhagavad-gita, he doesn’t rest on his laurels, expecting Arjuna to be impressed and to shower praises. Instead, he concludes his talk with a concerned, compassionate enquiry: Has Arjuna heard attentively and has his illusion been dispelled? (18.72) Erudite Gita commentators such as Sri Vishvanath explain that Krishna’s enquiry reflects his willingness to re-explain any portion of the Gita that Arjuna hasn’t understood – or to even repeat the full Gita if necessary.

Following Krishna’s example, resourceful Gita teachers have for millennia explained the Gita’s message in a way intelligible and appealing to their contemporary audiences, thus ensuring that the Gita remains a living book that speaks to people, generation after generation.

By taking responsibility to communicate intelligibly, we too can play our part in continuing the Gita’s living tradition. Of course, we can’t make people accept, but we can do our best to remove the cognitive obstacles on their path to acceptance. Irrespective of their acceptance, we will become spiritually fulfilled by contemplating the Gita’s message, as happened to Sanjaya, the Gita’s meta-narrator. Though his sharing the Gita didn’t transform Dhritarashtra’s heart, still it enriched his own heart with ecstasy (18.76-77).

Our mood in sharing the Gita can be: if people don’t accept, that is their problem; but if they don’t understand, that is our problem.

Meditation shrinks our problems by increasing our awareness of Krishna’s greatness

Suppose in a cartoon when two characters are fighting, one character keeps growing bigger and the other, smaller. For the dwarfed fighter, the fight would become increasingly difficult.

A similar shifting of the odds happens in our inner world when we grapple with problems. To tackle troubling situations, we need to think about them. But, if we are not careful, such thinking often becomes obsessive-compulsive, wherein we keep worrying, lamenting, resenting. And the more we dwell on a vexing issue, the bigger it seems to become. Worse still, we too seem to become smaller; we become disheartened by the problem’s magnitude and feel ourselves increasingly running out of options to address the issue.

Worst of all, some problems often seem to come with a mental adhesive. Even if we know that worrying doesn’t help, even if others counsel us to stop obsessing over the problem, even if we resolve to think of other things that are in our power to influence, still problems seem to adhere to our consciousness.

To end our disempowering problem-consciousness, we need not just an alternative object of thought; we need the supreme object of thought: God. That supreme object in his most attractive manifestation is Krishna. When we think about him – and think not just cursorily, but steadily and devotionally – we feel enriched and empowered by realizing his omnipotent presence manifested in our heart. Contemplating the supreme spiritual reality is the essence of meditation.

Meditation makes us aware of Krishna’s greatness, of his benevolent connection with us and of our indestructible spiritual essence as his parts. Such calming awareness enables us to think clearly and devise intelligent ways to deal with the problem. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (18.58) assures that when we become conscious of Krishna, we cross over our problems by his grace.

Don’t let the mind put your thoughts out of sync with your actions

We may have seen some crudely made videos wherein the sound and the action are out of sync. Suppose a fight between a hero and a villain is being depicted. Even before the hero’s fist hits the villain’s jaw, we hear the sound of the blow and of the bone cracking. An out-of-sync recording can make a serious scene seem humorous or even ridiculous.

What is frivolous in reel-life can be disastrous in real life. Important things can go dangerously wrong when our thoughts are out of sync with our actions. When our mind is uncontrolled, being buffeted by various desires and worries, then we end up thinking of things other than what we are doing. Indeed, the mind tends to think of everything except the thing that we are doing now. Aggravatingly, the mind thinks a lot about that thing after we have done it – and done it wrong due to the mind’s fickleness. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (06.34) cautions that the mind is restless, infatuated, forceful and obstinate – akin to a stormy wind. Due to the mind’s restlessness, we are often active without being productive. Worse still, we may be active and be destructive instead of productive.

Spiritual wisdom brings our thoughts and actions in sync by revealing to us an inner center of stability and strength. When we understand that we are at our core indestructible soul, we calm down. When we further understand that God is ultimately in control and that we are his parts whoa are meant to do our best in his service, we can restrain the restless mind and focus on the task at hand, leaving the past and future in his competent hands.

By thus syncing our thoughts with our actions, spirituality helps us transform our activity into productivity.

God’s existence is based on not mathematical probability, but on definitional necessity

Sometimes God’s existence is inferred from empirical observation. From the complexity of material objects and their inter-relationships, and the sheer improbability of such complexity emerging by unguided chance, the mathematical probability of a designing intelligence is posited.

Such arguments for God’s existence can be persuasive, but it’s important to know that his existence is not based on mathematical probability. Suppose some future observations suggest that some material mechanisms could have produced complexity without any guiding intelligence. Of course, the capacity of such mechanisms to produce everything about organized living systems is questionable – these mechanisms are frequently neither verifiable, nor repeatable. Such mechanisms hardly ever comprise coherent, complete explanations; typically, they are atheistic “magic wands” to exile God from the cosmos. They resemble science fiction more than science.

But even if for argument’s sake, we grant that some tenable mechanisms were proposed – all they would change is the validity of inferring his existence from our finite observations; they wouldn’t change the validity of his existence. The Bhagavad-gita (10.39) draws our attention to the fundamental definition of God when it declares that nothing would exist without Krishna. Why? Because he is the source of everything, the cause of all causes, the first thing that is the foundation for all things.

Inference from observation can be a natural starting point for our faith. But the engine for our faith needs to eventually shift from such inference to appreciation of the philosophical coherence of a devotional worldview and the personal experience coming from bhakti-yoga practice.

Then we will understand that God’s existence is not dependent on the probability inferred from the existence of other things – it is the necessity for the existence of anything else. Without his existence, the probability, even the possibility, of the existence of anything else would be zero.

Don’t crave the feast in others’ plates – savor the feast in yours

Suppose we were invited to a feast in which everyone had slightly different delicacies on their plates. Suppose further that we got so caught in looking at what delicacies are there on whose plate as to not even notice the delicacies on our plate.

Such a pathetic misdirection frequently characterizes our present mindset. We all have some talents – these are akin to the delicacies in our plate. But our culture often glamorizes certain talents, thereby making us crave for those talents and overlook our own talents.

Aggravating our misdirection, the delicacies on our plate are visible, whereas the talents in us are often concealed. Some of our talents, we know about; some, others know about, but we don’t; and some, neither others nor we know. That’s why, to discover and develop our talents, we need to introspect and explore. But introspection and exploration becomes difficult, if not impossible, when craving and lamenting consumes us emotionally.

Gita wisdom counters such emotional misdirection by reminding us that we are all parts of Krishna and that he loves us for who we are, not for what we have. We can realize his love by elevating our consciousness – an elevation that requires performance of purificatory austerities. The Bhagavad-gita (17.16) recommends satisfaction as an austerity of the mind. Rather than treating satisfaction as an uncontrollable feeling that we hardly ever feel, we need to cultivate it as a discipline by consciously focusing on things that stimulate satisfaction and avoid things that trigger dissatisfaction. Instead of dwelling inordinately on the gifts that others have and we don’t, we can focus on discovering and developing the gifts we have.

By thus meditating on Krishna’s love and his gifts, we can gain inner satisfaction; and by tapping those gifts, we can make significant outer contribution.

To save time, we need spiritual elevation more than technological innovation

We are frequently over-scheduled, over-worked, over-stressed. So, we naturally feel eager for things that promise to save time. Catering to our needs, scores of apps offer time-efficient ways of doing things.

Many such apps do save time. But we often need to choose among several competing apps, each with its own pluses and minuses. And finding the one app that works best for us takes time. By the time we settle for an app, learn to use it and get habituated to it, our technologically innovative times provide some new, better-looking apps. And again we go through the time-consuming process of evaluating and choosing. If we aren’t careful, we may end up spending more time in selecting time-saving apps than the time saved by those apps.

To invest our time carefully, we need to train ourselves to see things in proper perspective without getting carried away by the lure of new things. The Bhagavad-gita indicates that clarity of perception characterizes the mode of goodness (14.11), whereas insatiable desire and hyper-activity characterize the mode of passion (14.12). So, we can gain proper perspective by elevating our consciousness from the mode of passion to the mode of goodness.

For raising our consciousness, we need to purify ourselves through spiritual practices such as meditation and scriptural study. These practices empower us to bring order in our inner world, thereby making us alert and adept. We become alert to catch and curb stray thought-patterns, thus saving the time lost in daydreaming, absent-mindedness and moodiness. And we become adept at cultivating and facilitating productive thought-patterns, thus using all our resources, including apps, more effectively.

If we can get our priorities right and focus more on spiritual elevation than on technological innovation, our endeavors for saving time will be far more successful.

The two endings of the Gita point to the same end

The Bhagavad-gita has two endings based on the two nested conversations that comprise its narrative. The outer, framing conversation is at Hastinapura between Sanjaya and Dhritarashtra – Sanjaya narrates to the blind king the events happening on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. The inner, central conversation is at battlefield between Krishna and Arjuna – the Lord playing the role of a charioteer answers the questions of his friend who has been overwhelmed by the prospect of fighting a fratricidal war.

The inner conversation ends with Arjuna’s declaration (18.73) that his illusion has been dispelled and his memory, restored – and being free from doubts he is now ready to carry out Krishna’s will. The outer conversation ends with Sanjaya’s declaration (18.78) that where the bow-wielding Arjuna is united with the supremely mystical Lord, there will manifest morality, victory and prosperity.

These two endings focus respectively on inner enlightenment and outer attainment. Arjuna is freed from the confusion that had overwhelmed him, and Sanjaya declares that such an enlightened and determined Arjuna is sure to attain victory in the upcoming war. While the focus of attention for both these speakers is different, internal and external respectively, a common theme links their statements. That common theme is the harmonization of the human will with the divine will. Arjuna’s statement conveys that the removal of illusions and doubts, as brought about by the Gita’s message, inspires us to become resolute instruments of the divine, irrespective of external obstacles. And Sanjaya’s statement conveys that such harmonization, as conveyed by Arjuna’s uplifted bow, which represents the soul’s readiness to do God’s will, results in outer success too.

Thus, the Gita’s two endings demonstrate the universally desirable end for all human beings – striving for inner harmony with Krishna and thereby contributing successfully in the outer world.

Our impressions go with us, but they don’t have to grow with us

Suppose we change from an old computer to a new computer. Once we log in using our id, our browsing information – such as bookmarks, preferences and search history – gets associated with the new computer.

Gita wisdom explains that we are eternal souls. When our body is destroyed at death, we transmigrate to a new body. And along with us are transferred to the new body our inner impressions that were formed during our previous lives. Whereas our browsing information is stored outside us in some server, our impressions are stored inside. The inner storage space is our subtle body that accompanies us during our multi-life journey.

Our impressions prompt us towards certain choices, just as Google supplies certain auto-completes for our searches. Yet we don’t have to search only according to those auto-complete options; we can search according to our present interests. Similarly, we don’t have to act according to the promptings coming from our impressions. We can instead choose to act according to our present values. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (03.34) urges us to not succumb to our default attachments and aversions. If we have lived materialistically and self-centeredly in the past, our impressions will prompt us towards similar behavior, thereby reinforcing those materialistic values.

Thankfully, we can elevate our values by educating ourselves with Gita wisdom. It explains that our core is pure and transcendental, and it enables us to relish spiritual fulfillment by practicing yoga, especially bhakti-yoga. This fulfillment enables us to regulate our likes and dislikes, and make principled choices. Just as our present browsing choices will gradually change Google’s prompts, so too will our present behavioral choices change our inner promptings. By consistently making principled choices, we can transform our impressions, rendering them favorable, instead of inimical, for bringing out our spiritual potential.

Freedom to do what we like is not necessarily freedom

Consider alcoholics who want to break free from their addiction. They often place themselves voluntarily in rehabilitation clinics whose monitored environment takes away their freedom to do as they like: drink alcohol. Why do they give up their freedom? Because they understand that what they are giving up is pseudo-freedom. By drinking as they like, they will become more addicted. By doing as they should – by staying sober as per the clinic’s regulations – they will gradually gain freedom from the addiction.

The Bhagavad-gita underscores this counter-intuitive nature of pleasure. It states that sensual pleasures taste like nectar initially but like poison eventually (18.38), whereas refined pleasures taste like poison initially but like nectar eventually (18.37). Our “likes” are often determined by our infatuation with the initial nectar, while being blinded to the eventual poison. By acting on those likes, we sentence ourselves to that poison. When our intelligence is guided by scripture, our “shoulds” are determined by the resolution to reach the eventual nectar, even if it requires tolerating the initial poison. By doing what we should, we attain the freedom to relish that nectar.

Gita wisdom explains that we are at our core souls meant to relish eternal happiness in loving devotion to Krishna. But we can’t access this spiritual happiness as long as our consciousness is consumed by fantasies about worldly pleasures. And such pleasures, no matter how glamorized, are actually fleeting, unsatisfying and entangling.

By doing as we like and indulging in worldly pleasures, we lose the freedom to relish spiritual happiness and instead get entrapped in the vain pursuit of worldly pleasures. But by doing what we should and choosing to purify ourselves with actions determined by our scripturally-guided intelligence, we gradually become free to relish everlasting spiritual happiness.

Those who don’t hang together, hang separately

When we practice spiritual life, we engage in a war against illusion, which attacks us primarily by triggering our lower desires. Our fellow-devotees and we are comrades in the war against illusion.

In a war, comrades watch each other’s backs. In the spiritual war, our lower desires often ambush us by masquerading as our desires. Our spiritual comrades can protect us from such ambushes by reminding us of our higher values and aspirations.

Unfortunately, we sometimes let differences over relatively unimportant issues define our relationships with devotees. Overlooking the defining spiritual commonality that we are fighting the same enemy and serving the same Lord, we let minor differences distance us from devotees. Being thus isolated, we are left with no one to caution us when our lower desires sneak in. Beguiled by those desires, we unwittingly indulge in anti-devotional, immoral activities, thereby wrecking our spiritual prospects. Thus, by failing to hang together, we end up hanging separately.

On a positive note, association offers not just protection from our lower desires but also inspiration for our higher desires. And nourishing our desires to love and serve Krishna is the most effective way to immunize ourselves from self-centered desires. We can best nourish our devotional desires by associating with like-minded devotees whose definitions of spiritual success resonate with ours.

The Bhagavad-gita (10.09) states that devotees delight in discussing Krishna and enlightening each other about his glories. Such association helps us relish Krishna’s glories from various perspectives, thus strengthening our desires to serve him. Further, association helps us appreciate how other devotees are pressing on, despite obstacles and reversals, in their war for spiritual integrity. This appreciation inspires us to persevere resolutely in our war too.

When we subordinate our differences with devotees to our defining spiritual commonality, our devotional practices become safe, strong and fulfilling.

Don’t blame ignorantly – blame ignorance

Suppose a person suddenly falls sick and starts looking to assign blame – blaming others for transmitting that infection, blaming the doctor for not prescribing a protective health regimen, or blaming oneself for neglecting health. While seeking the disease’s origin can help, much more important is taking the treatment. Patients who get so obsessed with blaming an indeterminate cause as to neglect a reliable treatment sabotage themselves.

A similar self-sabotaging obsession can afflict our response to sudden tribulations. We may blame others, God or ourselves. All such blaming mentalities reflect ignorance. Others are ultimately instruments of our own karma. And God is like a judge who adjudicates based on our deeds.

Blaming ourselves for our past misdeeds can be psychologically damaging if the blaming triggers unhealthy guilt depression, self-flagellation and similar thought-patterns. We damage ourselves thus when we agonize over karma while remaining ignorant of our essential spiritual identity. We are souls, eternal parts of the all-pure supreme. So, whatever our misdeeds, we are essentially pure. Our purity is covered at present by ignorance, which makes us act imprudently. Ignorance misdirects not just our actions, but also our reactions – it makes us react to problems by agonizing over causes instead of seeking relief in spiritual wisdom. The Gita (05.15) stresses that ignorance is what deludes the living being. Blaming ignorance doesn’t mean washing off responsibility for our misdeeds; it means distancing ourselves intellectually and emotionally from the alien contamination that makes us violate our natural spiritual purity and integrity.

Bhakti-yoga counters ignorance most efficaciously by invoking the presence of the all-pure, all-enlightened supreme. His inner presence comprises a protective shield against ignorance and kindles our latent inner awareness. The more we act in spiritual light, in a mood of service to Krishna, the more we become free from ignorance and its pernicious effects – illusion and tribulation.

Be not sentimental or judgmental – be transcendental

Sentimentality and judgmentality are two obstacles on the spiritual path. When we are sentimental, we become puppets of our feelings. While practicing bhakti, if we feel good, we become maudlin, thinking that we have attained pure devotion and will see Krishna in a day or two. And if we don’t feel good, we become disheartened, and start wondering whether we are wasting our time in worshiping Krishna, whether he even exists. Such sentimentality strips us of the consistent commitment necessary for purifying ourselves of worldly infatuations and preparing our heart for sustainable transcendental sentience. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (12.13) commends devotees who stay steady amidst joys and sorrows. If we get past sentimentality, judgmentality catches us. When we practice bhakti strictly, we become proud of our strictness and look down at those who practice bhakti differently. And we condemn materialists who don’t practice bhakti at all. Little do we realize that by entertaining such disdain, we ourselves are not practicing bhakti – we are meditating on our greatness instead of Krishna’s greatness. The same Gita verse (12.13) reminds us that devotees are meant to be everyone’s benevolent friends. But benevolence can find no lasting residence in a judgmental heart. No doubt, to help others, we need to discern their level of spiritual evolution. But such discerning is characterized by compassion, whereas judgmentality is characterized by condescension. And that judgmentality alienates the very people whom we are meant to draw towards Krishna. And it hardens our heart towards them and towards the Lord who is compassionately present in their hearts. Bhakti is transcendental, so it can bless anyone, irrespective of one’s conditions and conditionings. By meditating on the transcendental potency of bhakti and putting aside our judgmental attitude, we can become channels for bhakti to enrich our hearts and the hearts of those around us.

 

Rejection of all faith as blind faith is blind faith

Skeptics often deride all faith as blind faith. They hold that only by skepticism can one avoid being misled by false belief systems.

Yes, skepticism has its utility in protecting us from blind faith. But skeptics often overlook that they themselves are vulnerable to blind faith in skepticism. Blind faith means accepting something without considering its flaws. When skeptics champion skepticism, they repose their faith, knowingly or unknowingly, in skepticism’s capacity to show the truth. But they become blind to its fundamental flaw: Skepticism can show what is wrong, but can never show what is right. Even if skeptics encounter the truth in full daylight, their skepticism will make them doubt and deny that encounter. When skeptics neglect this flaw of skepticism and still subscribe to it, they end up becoming blind worshipers on the altar of skepticism.

The Bhagavad-gita (04.40) cautions that doubters find happiness neither in this world nor the next. Skeptics are the quintessential doubters. By their inveterate skepticism, they doubt any and every source of meaning. Thus, they sentence themselves to a life of meaninglessness, bereft of any fulfilling satisfaction. Further, their skepticism compels them to live nihilistically, devoid of any higher spiritual values. Consequently, they sentence themselves to unfortunate destinations in their next life.

Gita wisdom takes us beyond blind faith and blind skepticism by outlining a reasonable faith. Reasonable faith is sensible and verifiable. The Gita (18.63) doesn’t demand unthinking adherence, but calls for thoughtful deliberation on its message. Thus, it opens itself to intellectual scrutiny. And it (09.02) asserts that its revelation can be experientially realized by yoga practice. Thus, it opens itself to the verifiability test. By analyzing and applying the Gita’s teachings, we gain increasing realization of our spiritual identity; the highest spiritual reality, Krishna; and the supreme fulfillment of devotion.

Terrorism arises from ignorance, materialism and ego

To make sense of the world and of the senseless violence unleashed by terrorists, the Gita offers an analytical framework centered on the three modes of material nature. The modes reflect people’s psychological predilections. A mode-centered analysis goes beyond nominal ideological affiliation to essential operational motivation. Terrorist violence is in the darkest mode of ignorance.

People’s mode can be inferred from their action and their intention. Terrorists attack civilians who are unarmed and unalert – the very antithesis of honorable war codes. The most reprehensible violence in the Mahabharata war was Ashvatthama’s nocturnal massacre of the sleeping Pandava forces. Yet even he didn’t target civilians, as do terrorists.

While jihadi terrorists may claim to be motivated by religion and God, their intention is entirely materialistic – to gain power, property and pleasure, in this world or the next or both; and to establish their egoistic supremacy over everyone else. Jihadis are thus similar to the Nazis who too were avowedly materialistic and ego-driven. Nominally, jihadis are religious; and Nazis, anti-religious. But essentially, both are in the mode of ignorance, abusing their intelligence to rationalize perverted thought-processes (Gita 18.32).

Using the three-mode framework, Gita wisdom recognizes that all forms of violence are not equal. It acknowledges with hard-eyed realism that violence is sometimes necessary to curb those in the mode of ignorance, just as today we recognize that military action is sometimes necessary to check jihadis. Significantly, the Bhagavad-gita (03.30) prefaces its call for war with an unambiguous exhortation for elevation of consciousness: cultivate spiritual consciousness, become unselfish and non-possessive. Possessiveness, self-centeredness and materialistic ego – these are the core causes of violence.

Essentially, the Gita inspires the elevation of human consciousness from ignorance to transcendence. Thus it helps humanity rise beyond the self-centered, ego-driven worldview that engenders violence, which sinks to its nadir in terrorist brutality.

The verdict comes from the judge but is not caused by the judge

Suppose a person robs a bank, and is arrested by the police and convicted by a judge. In that robber’s getting incarcerated, all three play a role – the judge, the police and the robber himself. The judge gave the verdict based on which the police took the robber to the jail. Still, the judge is not the cause of the verdict – the robber’s misdeed is the cause.

Similarly, in the operation of cosmic justice, three factors are involved: material nature, Krishna and we ourselves. Suppose we do a misdeed and get some misfortune as a reaction. In this case, we are like the robber; material nature is like the police; and Krishna in his manifestation as the indwelling Supersoul is like the judge. The Gita points to these three factors in various verses. It initially focuses on material nature – things are done by nature through its modes (03.27). Then it highlights the magisterial role of the Supreme – material nature works under his supervision (09.10), while he is situated as if detached from its actions (09.09). Eventually, it spotlights the incriminating role of the soul in its entanglement – due to its desire to enjoy matter, the soul undergoes good and bad in material existence (13.22). Lest people ignorantly blame God for the reactions that come upon them as just karmic dues of their actions, the Gita (05.15) categorically stresses that he is not responsible for anyone’s right or wrong actions.

By accepting responsibility for our actions and their concomitant reactions, we can take the initiative to act auspiciously. The most auspicious form of action is devotional action meant for serving Krishna. Just as a law-abiding citizen is not penalized but is protected by the judge, so too are devotees protected by Krishna as they progress towards supreme liberation

Krishna is the master before whom we stand truly erect

“Krishna is our master and we are his servants.” This scriptural tenet can evoke resentment within us: “Why should I bow down to God?”

The reality is that we can’t avoid bowing down. If we don’t subordinate ourselves to Krishna, then we end up submitting to our senses that drag us here, there and everywhere in the vain hope of pleasure. In pandering to the demands of the senses, we bow down to those who provide sensual gratification. And often even after bowing down, we don’t get much pleasure. Whatever pleasure we get doesn’t last for long.

Gita wisdom explains that the cravings of the senses are distortions of our innate need for happiness. This need comes from our innermost core – our soul – and can be fulfilled by comprehending the constitutional nature of that core. The Bhagavad-gita (15.07) indicates that we as souls are eternal parts of Krishna. Just as the part needs to harmonize with the whole, so too do we need to harmonize with the supreme whole, Krishna.

We can harmonize ourselves thus by practicing bhakti-yoga. Bowing before Krishna physically is a limb of bhakti and bowing before him internally by cultivating a mood of submission is the essence of bhakti. Significantly however, such submission enables us to relish a deep inner fulfillment – a fulfillment that gradually and increasingly frees us from the cravings for lower pleasures. We no longer need to demean ourselves pandering to the petty and degrading demands of our senses. Thus, we can stand truly erect – not in pride, but in integrity as we act true to our deepest, most cherished values. And we don’t just stand spiritually erect, but also march towards the supreme spiritual perfection of pure eternal love for Krishna, wherein no temptations can ever drag us down.

http://www.gitadaily.com/krishna-is-the-master-before-whom-we-stand-truly-erect/

Detachment is foundational for emotional intelligence

Some people think that detachment sentences us to emotion-less living.

Actually, the cause of an emotionally barren existence is not detachment, but the worldview underlying that detachment. Some worldviews such as impersonalist or nihilistic consider all emotions as unhealthy and undesirable. Those adhering to such worldviews build walls around their hearts to prevent themselves from feeling anything, thereby seeking an existence devoid of emotions.

However, the bhakti worldview that the Bhagavad-gita espouses doesn’t reject emotions per se – it rejects misdirected emotions, emotions that mislead, degrade and entangle. Bhakti urges us to cultivate detachment from such emotions.

Detachment within the bhakti worldview is the foundation for emotional intelligence. We all are subject to emotions arising from our past conditionings. But if we learn to cultivate higher spiritual emotions, then we won’t be sabotaged by lower selfish emotions.

Emotional intelligence means knowing where to invest our emotions so that we can experience happiness and growth. For such emotional intelligence, detachment is foundational – it enables us to step away from relations, situations and even emotions that are harmful for us. Without detachment, we stay stuck in self-defeating behavioral patterns.

The Bhagavad-gita urges detachment from family members and yet the Mahabharata, of which the Gita is a part, reflects family relationships at multiple levels. Its student Arjuna does grieve when he loses his son – and the Mahabharata doesn’t depict that grief and the underlying relationship negatively. But it does reflect the negativity, indeed, atrocity and the calamity resulting from the attachment of the blind king Dhritarashtra for his evil son Duryodhana. If that king had detachment, he would have been able to take dharmic decisions.

Living as we do in a culture that entraps us with a variety of attachments, we can empower ourselves with detachment and act with emotional intelligence.

Bhakti theology goes beyond polytheism and monotheism to polymorphic bi-monotheism

Conventional Western thought divided the world’s religions into polytheistic and monotheistic. The monotheistic religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam viewed derisively the polytheistic religions that preceded them in the Greco-Roman civilization. And when these monotheisms encounter the Vedic tradition of ancient India, they often labeled the tradition as primitive polytheisms, akin to their Greco-Roman counterparts.

But a careful study of the bhakti tradition, which is the ripened fruit of Vedic wisdom, reveals a far more subtle and sophisticated understanding of God. Firstly, the bhakti tradition is monotheistic – the honorifics it uses to describe the object of devotion are strikingly similar to those used to describe God in the Abrahamic monotheisms. Ontologically, the many gods are not his competitors but his assistants. Indeed, the one supreme is so sublime and transcendental that the other gods can’t even know him, as the Bhagavad-gita (10.02) asserts.

Secondly, this one supreme manifests in multiple ways in multiple form for reciprocating love with his devotees and for establishing dharma. This multiplicity of divine manifestations is best conveyed by the term ‘polymorphic monotheism.’

Thirdly, the bhakti tradition rejects any male monopoly over the conceptions of the divine. Such a monopoly defines the Abrahamic monotheisms – they singularly characterize God as male. The bhakti tradition reveals God to be a divine couple, both of whom simultaneously partake of the same divine nature. Additionally, they demonstrate pure spiritual intimacy within the divine, thereby demonstrating the pure original of which the male-female polarity of this world is a reflection. Aptly, the tradition worships divine couples: Sita-Rama, Lakshmi-Narayana and Radha-Krishna. The theology underlying the worship of these transcendental duos can be represented by the term ‘bi-monotheism.’

Thus, the bhakti theology reveals a profound vision of the divine that goes far beyond the stereotypes of polytheism and monotheism to polymorphic bi-monotheism.

The Gita is a dharmic book that asks us to give up dharma – or does it?

The Bhagavad-gita (18.66) concludes with an intriguing call: Give up all religions (sarva-dharman parityajya).

This begs the question – why would a religious book ask its readers to give up all religions? After all, the Gita (04.08) has earlier stated its intent: to re-establish dharma (dharma samsthapanarthaya).

The answer lies in recognizing the many meanings of the word ‘dharma’. It can refer to both outer socio-religious obligations and inner spiritual nature. Based on our social roles, we have various obligations. But based on our essential identity as souls, eternal parts of Krishna, our nature is to love him purely and perennially. All religious obligations are meant to help us attain that love.

This verse stresses that love (mam ekam sharanam vraja) by enjoining the shedding of those socio-religious duties that impede surrender. Implied is the call to accept those socio-religious duties that promote surrender. This dynamism is evident in how Arjuna surrendered – by doing Krishna’s will (Gita 18.73). For him, surrender meant fighting the impending war against irreligion. Arjuna faced a conflict between his kshatriya-dharma (professional duty) that required him to fight against wrongdoers and his kula-dharma (family duty) that required him to protect his relatives. His conflict was: What to do when the wrongdoers were relatives? Do what is best for one’s and others’ devotional evolution, answers Gita wisdom. For Arjuna, that meant persevering in his kshatriya-dharma and fighting the war.

Thus, surrender is not an abstract conception or an amorphous emotion – it is expressed through tangible and practical action. What surrender would mean for us today will depend on our time-place-circumstance. The Gita places the onus on each one of us to become intellectually responsible, seek sage advice and embrace those socio-religious duties that help us surrender, thereby stimulating our spiritual growth.

http://www.gitadaily.com/the-gita-is-a-dharmic-book-that-asks-us-to-give-up-dharma-or-does-it/

In spiritual life, speed is not as defining as stamina

In a sprint, speed determines success, whereas in a marathon, stamina determines success.

Spiritual growth is a marathon, not a sprint. To purify our consciousness and develop love of God, we need to practice throughout our life or maybe even several lives.

However, we live in a society infatuated with quick results. It deems fast achievers as successes and downplays others as also-rans. We tend to carry this mentality into our spiritual life too. Consequently, we may become proud of our strict practices and condescending towards those not practicing similarly. Worse still, if we ourselves are unable to practice those standards for some reason, we may become inordinately dejected, not realizing that falling back or even falling down in one lap doesn’t mean losing the marathon.

Thankfully, such a shortsighted, judgmental attitude doesn’t reflect the Bhagavad-gita’s inclusive, appreciative attitude. It (03.26) urges us to not agitate the minds of the less-informed, but to encourage them to stay spiritually progressive according to their level.

Different people are at different stages in their spiritual evolution, having gone through different things in this and previous lives. So, they have different spiritual stamina levels and need to pace themelves accordingly. As long as they have a favorable disposition towards Krishna and strive to connect with them at a level they find sustainable, they will stay on in the marathon, even if running slowly. And as they get connected with Krishna and relish higher taste, they will naturally pick up pace in due course. But if due to our judgmental attitude, they become unfavorably disposed towards Krishna’s devotees and by extension towards Krishna, then they will drop out of the marathon entirely.

Knowing that different runners have different stamina levels, we can encourage them to stay on in the spiritual marathon, whatever their pace.

Don’t let the stray lead you astray

Suppose we are walking on a road, and someone approaches and asks us to come with them somewhere. We wouldn’t just go along – we would first evaluate whether the detour would be worthwhile.

While that is common sense, that sense is not so common when we deal with our inner world. From within stray thoughts frequently emerge and proposition us to go on detours. As these propositions are subtle and swift, we often fall under their spell. And we end up wasting our time, craving for trivial things, lamenting about unchangeable things or worrying about improbable things. Actually, time wastage may well be the least of the detour’s costs. During some detours, we may be misled into actions that are karmically incriminating, emotionally entangling or spiritually degrading.

Such misleading thoughts frequently emerge from the mind, which, the Bhagavad-gita (06.34) declares, is restless – akin to a stray wanderer. We can’t eliminate the mind’s wanderlust immediately, but we can train ourselves to resist it. The best resistance strategy is purposefulness.

Returning to the starting example, we wouldn’t let anyone sidetrack us if we were going on an important assignment. Similarly, if we keep ourselves purposefully engaged in important things, and if while doing those things we remind ourselves of their importance, we won’t let stray thoughts lead us astray.

We can best cultivate purposefulness by practicing spiritual meditation that connects us with our deepest values and highest purposes. Such meditation fosters inner alertness. If by that alertness we can put off the mind’s idea for even a few minutes, that idea’s spell will wear off, and we will regain the perspective to evaluate it objectively. Then we can go along with it on the few occasions when the idea is serendipitous, and continue on our way on most other occasions when the idea is gratuitous.

Our role in doing things is contributive, not decisive

We do things all the time, yet we don’t often think about the various factors that go into things working out well. The Bhagavad-gita (18.14) lists five components: the field of action, the doer, the instruments of action, endeavor and destiny.

Gita commentators have explained these factors variously. To make the abstruse concepts accessible, let’s consider how these factors apply to a contemporary example of action, say, a cricketer batting.

The field of action can refer to both the cricket pitch and the batsman’s body. If the pitch is waterlogged or the body is injured, the batsman can’t perform. The doer refers here to the player’s soul that animates his body and initiates the action of batting. The instruments of action refer to the specific senses required for that particular action. So, for example, if the batsman’s hand is sprained, he can’t bat, even if the rest of his body is ok. The endeavor refers to the difference made by determined, diligent practice. Practice can enable average batsmen to perform decently, and talented batsman to perform superlatively. The fifth and final factor is destiny – the divine will that, based on our past karma, determines results.

Among these factors, we are the initiators of action. So, our role is important, but it is not all-important, for we alone don’t determine the result.

Despite listing these five factors, the Gita doesn’t go into their technicalities. Instead, it uses the point that we are not the sole doers to underscore its central message: Work for pleasing Krishna instead of for enjoying the results. Such a devotional mood protects us from both the hubris that often accompanies success and the inferiority complex that often accompanies failure. Further, we can make our best contribution and, more importantly, progress towards satisfaction, purification and ultimately liberation.

http://www.gitadaily.com/our-role-in-doing-things-is-contributive-not-decisive/

The notion of doership is not an illusion – the notion of sole doership is

An oft-quoted Bhagavad-gita verse (03.27) asserts that those who think of themselves as doers are deluded. But we all intuitively perceive of ourselves as doers – we do so many things in the course of our life. The Gita (18.63) confirms our intuition when it concludingly places the onus of doership on Arjuna: Deliberate and do as you desire. And Arjuna too takes up the mantle of doership when he responds (18.73): I will do your will. Moreover, the Gita is essentially a guidebook, which presumes that its hearer is a doer who can act as guided. So our intuition that we are doers is not an illusion.

What is an illusion, the Gita (18.16) clarifies, is the notion that we are the sole doers. Everyday experience confirms that doing things is not entirely in our power. Even a consummate doer such as a virtuoso singer can’t sing when afflicted with a sore throat. Gita wisdom explains that we are spiritual beings. We can’t do anything in this material world without the cooperation of nature. Thus, nature is a co-doer in all actions. And nature works under Krishna’s supervision. So, we can’t do anything unless he sanctions it. Since he is the ultimate decider in all actions, we are definitely not the sole doers. By imagining that we alone are the doers of our actions, we aggravate our ignorance and arrogance.

Countering such illusion, Gita wisdom reveals the best use of our doership: loving Krishna. Love requires both lovers to be doers, capable of choosing to love. Bhakti-yoga helps us use our doership for striving to engage ourselves and our material resources in Krishna’s service – not for struggling to dominate material nature for gaining worldly pleasure. By thus spiritualizing our doership, we can relish everlasting spiritual happiness.

Asking who made God is like trying to draw a square circle

“Who made God?” This question betrays a fundamental lack of understanding about the very definition of God.

Every subject begins with certain foundational definitions; if we don’t accept those definitions, we can’t progress in that subject. Suppose a geometry student learns about squares and circles, learns to draw them and then asks, “How can I draw a square circle?” The question betrays a dearth of basic understanding – a circle by its very definition can’t be a square. To address the question, a wise teacher will clarify the underlying misdefinitions.

Similarly, to address the question about God’s source, we need to examine the underlying misdefinition. Bhakti philosophy defines God as the cause of all causes. The Bhagavad-gita (10.08) stresses through a double assertion that God, Krishna, is the source of everything – everything emanates from him.

So if “God” came from something, then “God” would not be God – the thing from which he came would be God. And if that thing came from something, then that something would be God. Wherever the causal chain of origination stops, that originating source would be God. Does the chain have to stop somewhere? Yes, just as a multi-story skyscraper needs to rest on the ground, so too does everything need to have an ultimate source. That source of all sources is by definition God. Asking why that ultimate source can’t be something other than God is like asking why a circle can’t be square – it’s an illogical question stemming from ignorance of basic definitions. Geometry students who open-mindedly accept such definitions grow in their education. Similarly, if we open-mindedly accept the definition of God, we can grow in our life-education as we increasingly appreciate how bhakti philosophy answers life’s deepest questions cogently. Then we realize that the question about God’s source is illogical.

Don’t let the small picture blind you to the big picture

In the spiritual context, the small picture refers to the daily struggles that characterize our inner and outer lives as seekers. And the big picture refers to the subtle but sure elevation of our consciousness brought about by our spiritual practices.

Life’s routine realities may trap us in the small picture. Therein we may become disheartened, thinking, “How is my life different from that of materialists? Like them, I have to undergo life’s many miseries. And I also have to battle with the many worldly desires that continue to tempt and torment me.”

Gita wisdom shifts our focus to the big picture, helping us see our life and our consciousness from a long-term perspective. Whereas materialists are like foolhardy alcoholics who are delighting in their indulgence, we are like recovering alcoholics who have recognized the danger of the indulgence and found a way to break free from its spell. Though both may be allured by alcohol and though both may be afflicted by its consequences, there’s a world of difference.

While materialists look forward to worldly desires as sources of enjoyment – as we ourselves may have earlier – we are now viewing those desires warily as sources of entanglement. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (05.23) indicates that the wise tolerate worldly desires and gradually become happy. The next verse (5.24) indicates that such happiness comes from a redirection of focus from without to within, thereby connecting us with the indwelling supreme spiritual reality, Krishna. This connection can act as a reliable inner buffer when we are afflicted by worldly miseries. By seeking shelter in the remembrance of Krishna, we can gracefully endure whatever miseries come our way. Further, as we renounce karmically entangling worldly indulgences, our miseries progressively decrease till we ultimately transcend miserable material existence and attain Krishna’s eternal ecstatic abode.

Focus on the mind before focusing on its focus

Suppose we were studying in a library and our neighbor repeatedly pointed our attention here and there, mostly towards unimportant things and only occasionally towards something worthwhile.

In due course of time, we would train ourselves to respond discerningly to that distracter. Instead of immediately focusing on whatever they wanted us to focus on, we would first focus on them, assess their mood and then decide whether to pay attention to whatever they were pointing to.

We need to adopt a similar strategy for dealing with our mind. The mind often wanders to various things, many of which are not important or valuable. If we naively let our attention go wherever the mind wants to go, we will find ourselves underusing our time, talent and energy. And such underuse is far from the sole result of the mind’s distractedness. In worse cases, it can even make us abuse our energy for self-defeating and self-destructive purposes.

Can the mind come up with some good ideas? It’s possible, occasionally. But that usually happens when the mind is situated in the mode of goodness, at least partially, and is capable of the sustained reflection necessary for assimilating, verbalizing and actualizing a worthwhile insight.

That’s why we need to evaluate the mind before deciding our course of action. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (06.26) urges us to restrain the mind whenever it wanders. Gita wisdom explains that we are at our core souls and we can realize our fullest potential for happiness in loving and serving Krishna. While we are engaged in purposeful service to Krishna, if the mind starts distracting us, we needn’t shift our attention to its object of interest. Instead, we can focus on the mind first, evaluate the mode influencing it and then decide whether it’s worthwhile to make its focus our focus.

To make our mind grow up, we need to realize that we are grown-up

Suppose an adult were playing in the dirt with a child, whimsically running here and there, and doing whatever the child wanted to do. We would consider such behavior odd and wasteful – an adult needs to act like a grown-up and do more constructive things.

Our mind is like a child. And we unfortunately are like the childish adult who simply dances to the child’s tune. Whereas our physical growth is automatic, our inner growth isn’t – we need to strive for it. Actually, what we need to strive for is something more precise: not growing up internally, but realizing that we are already grown up. What does this mean?

Here, grown-up refers to not a state of age, but a state of maturity. Children engaged in frivolous activities, whereas adults pursue more purposeful activities. Our inner growth refers to our embracing life’s higher spiritual purpose. We are at our innermost core souls. And the soul is ageless, existing outside the scope of time, as the Bhagavad-gita (02.20) indicates. The soul, by its very nature, is meant for loving and serving Krishna – the most purposeful and joyful activity in all of existence.

However, at present, we don’t understand our spiritual identity. And our consciousness is presently misdirected by our mind to pursuing temporary worldly things – pursuits that are frivolous and childish from the perspective of the eternal glory of immortal love that beckons us in our present human lives. Thus, our mind is presently like a child. And acting according to its tunes keeps us locked in a childish state of existence – lifetime after lifetime.

By studying the Gita and striving to live according to its illuminating wisdom, we realize our spiritual identity, thereby making our mind grow up and rejoice in Krishna’s endless sweetness.

Learning is driven by purposefulness, lamenting by pointlessness

We all can and should learn from the past. By reviewing what we did, we can learn what we did right and what we could have done better – and thus grow in our wisdom.

But not all thinking about the past leads to learning. Quite often, our thinking of the past can be centered on lamenting about things that went wrong, things that others did wrong or even things that we ourselves did wrong. Such thinking only makes us feel negative and despondent and helpless.

What determines the difference between learning and lamenting? Primarily, it is a matter of who is in control – Are we in control of our mind, guiding it purposefully to review and learn? Or is the mind in control of us, goading us to pointlessly wallow in self-pity or self-flagellation without letting our thoughts move in any constructive direction.

The Bhagavad-gita (18.35) indicates that such self-defeating contemplation characterizes the mode of ignorance, wherein we obstinately hold on to thought patterns that harm us rather than doing us any good.

By cultivating the mode of goodness before we let ourselves dwell on the past, we can avoid succumbing to bouts of lamenting. When we practice bhakti-yoga diligently and experience our own spiritual essence and further the transcendental shelter of Krishna, we cultivate not just the mode of goodness – but also go beyond it towards transcendence. By such connecting with transcendence, we become rooted in a reality beyond the ups and downs characterize the material level of reality. By such spiritual rooting, we don’t feel threatened by things going wrong and even less by things that have gone wrong in the past. With this self-security, when we think about the past, our thinking can be purposeful and productive, being driven by the aspiration to learn how we can serve Krishna better.

Don’t analyze the trash – just trash it

Suppose we inherit an old uninhabited house containing much trash. We might wonder where all that trash came from. But we wouldn’t spend too much time finding out the source of the trash – we would just trash it and focus our energy on making the house livable.

We need to adopt a similar pragmatic approach while dealing with the mind. The mind is the inner house in which we souls have to live throughout our material existence. Of course, we don’t inherit the mind at any particular time, but we become aware of it and its contents when guided by Gita wisdom.

Unlike the physical body, which is made of gross matter and is visible, the mind is made of subtle matter and is invisible. So we often don’t even realize that the mind is different from us – we think its desires are our desires. But Gita wisdom illumines our inner territory, helping us understand that the mind is our inner covering – a none-too-congenial covering at that.

Akin to a trash-filled house, the mind is filled with many trash-worthy cravings. So when some unworthy desire pops up in our consciousness, we don’t need to analyze too much where it came from. We can quickly review to check if we had subjected ourselves, intentionally or unintentionally, to some agitating stimuli. And if we find something, we can plan to prevent or minimize similar exposure in future. But if we can’t find the cause – and even if we can – the important thing is not the source of the trash, but its destination. We need to sweep out the unworthy desires by fixing our consciousness on Krishna and service to him. The Bhagavad-gita (06.28) assures that by practicing yoga determinedly we can become fully purified and situated in everlasting spiritual happiness.

Performance matters, but performance is not all that matters

Sports players often have their pet superstitions. An Australian batsman would insist that all the pavilion commodes be covered whenever he went out to bat. An American tennis champion would wear an earring in just one ear as a good luck charm.

We might feel amused by such superstitions. Yet beyond their idiosyncratic specifics, such good luck charms reflect an underlying acknowledgment that human performance is not all that matters. No doubt, sports is performance-driven; players know that their performance is vital, even indispensable. Yet their real world experience of competitive sports frequently convinces them that in determining results, something other than performance contributes significantly, even decisively. That unknown, they try to appease through their pet rituals.

Gita wisdom explains that this unknown is ultimately God’s will. He usually bestows results according to not just our present actions but also our past karma. We can’t change our past karma, but we can change our present actions.

The Bhagavad-gita (02.47) guides us towards such pragmatic focus by urging us to work without considering ourselves the cause of the result. To the extent we consider ourselves the determiner of the results, to that extent we subject ourselves to feelings of inferiority and inadequacy when the results don’t come, and to feelings of superiority and supremacy when the results do come. And both will keep us distracted from comprehending the reality that we are not the sole performers.

Instead, if we understand our role in the overall scheme of things, we can do the best we can with the abilities and resources at our command in the mood of devotion to Krishna, the giver of those abilities and resources. Thus, we can not only maximize our chances of success at the material level but also relish our growth in spiritual wisdom and everlasting devotion.