A standard war strategy for defeating a
strong enemy is divide and rule. The Bhagavad-gita (06.06) states that the mind
can often act as our enemy. Acting inimically, it targets us with this strategy
when we practice bhakti-yoga.
The Gita (18.78) indicates that the
combination of the omnipotent Lord and the determined devotee, as represented
by Arjuna, is a guarantor of victory. Recognizing the formidable nature of this
combination, the mind tries to break it with the divide and rule strategy. Of
course, it can’t delude Krishna, and it certainly can’t rule him. So the sole
target of its divine and rule strategy is us. That is, it strives to disconnect
us from Krishna by creating dissension and distance between us and him. A
common way it disconnects us is by giving a misleading spin to the phases of
tastelessness we sometimes undergo during our bhakti practice as seekers. Such
phases come primarily due to the influence of the modes – influence that comes
and goes like everything material.
But the mind makes us believe that such
tastelessness will be our lifelong fate if we continue practicing bhakti. Being
overwhelmed at such a burdensome prospect, we slacken our connection with
Krishna, thus depriving ourselves of our vital access to the higher taste of
spiritual love. And then we soon fall prey to the lures of lower pleasures that
the wily mind promptly dangles before us.
To protect ourselves, we need to recognize
that the “tastelessness will be endless” notion is the mind’s smokescreen to
undermine our devotional practice. By discerning this strategy, we can
strengthen our resolve to not let anything disconnect us from Krishna. When we
stay firmly devoted, taste soon returns, often reinforced by the purification
resulting from our determined practice, thus making our further march towards
him sweeter and easier.
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