God acts through us and beyond us – and always for us –

When we need to do something difficult, we may pray for help. Skeptics mock such praying: “What is its use? If you have an exam, is God going to answer the questions for you?” Such skeptics misunderstand the nature of the human-divine relationship. Prayer is meant to not replace human endeavor, but to guide and complement it. When we pray, God can of course respond by changing things outside our control. But he can also respond by empowering and guiding us. Thus, God acts both beyond us and through us. Krishna’s multiple modes of action are demonstrated in the Mahabharata. During the climactic war, Arjuna fought tirelessly and fearlessly. Especially on the fourteenth day, when he had vowed to fell Jayadratha before sunset, he singlehandedly penetrated deep into the Kaurava army. He achieved such a stupendous feat not by his archery skill alone but primarily by Krishna’s empowerment. This became evident when that empowerment was withdrawn after Krishna’s departure from the world – whereas the world’s foremost warriors couldn’t stop Arjuna earlier, now he couldn’t stop some petty thieves. The Bhagavad-gita (11.33) conveys that Arjuna was divinely empowered. In that same vein, it (10.37) indicates that Arjuna’s opulence manifested Krishna’s splendor. Yet on that momentous fourteenth day, though Arjuna exercised his power fully, he still fell short of Jayadratha. Krishna compensated for the shortfall by using his mystic power to cover the sun, thereby lulling the Kauravas into complacency and giving Arjuna the precious moments necessary for accomplishing his mission. Through all the mysterious ways in which Krishna acts, he always acts for us. Being everyone’s well-wisher (Gita 05.29), he orchestrates things for our ultimate welfare. By meditating on his benevolence, we can stay fixed in our service prayerfully and determinedly, letting divine grace guide and complement our human endeavor – 

Distraction is draining; concentration is energizing

When we practice meditation and strive to focus our mind on higher spiritual reality, the struggle to concentrate can be disheartening. But we don’t have to become disheartened; we can see the struggle more positively – as initially demanding, but eventually fulfilling. The Bhagavad-gita (06.26) reflects such optimism: It acknowledges the mind’s distractibility, but still encourages us to focus on spiritual reality. And the next verse (06.27) assures that such diligent practice will cleanse the mind, thereby making it peaceful and joyful. If we practice meditation determinedly, it will gradually become enlivening, especially when we meditate on the supreme spiritual reality, Krishna. Such devotional meditation comprises an inexhaustible inner energy source that will energize us throughout the day. Even if we don’t succeed in concentrating during meditation, the sincere attempt to concentrate will foster within us the healthy habit of becoming self-aware. The resulting enhanced alertness will help us in other aspects of our life too – whenever we become distracted, we will recognize faster that we have become distracted and will more quickly reorient ourselves. Of course, as compared to the effort needed to concentrate, we may feel that going along with the mind is so easy. But that ease will soon end in exasperation. If we go through the motions of meditation without striving to concentrate internally, we will feel irritated that our time has been wasted. And as we will have let the run wild during meditation, the mind’s wild momentum won’t let us later focus on other things that need to be done. Thus, even without having done anything substantial, we will end up feeling drained by the mind’s relentless running around. Instead, if we strive diligently to concentrate during meditation, our mind will gradually become calmer and clearer, thereby helping us make our whole life more purposeful, productive and fulfilling. –

Love is not just feeling – it is giving

Love is commonly used to refer to the strong emotion that one person may feel for another. Yet love is not just a feeling; it is giving – a giving of oneself for another’s sake. Consider a mother’s love for her newborn. She certainly has strong feelings for her baby, but what defines her relationship with the infant is giving. If the baby starts crying at midnight, the mother doesn’t bother about whether she herself feels good or not. Instead, she strives to calm her baby by giving herself – her milk, her soothing words, her comforting caresses, her reassuring presence. In any relationship, the more we focus on giving instead of feeling, the more we stabilize and strengthen that relationship. This same principle applies to our devotional relationship with Krishna too. This giving aspect of devotion is conveyed in a three-verse sequence in the Bhagavad-gita (09.26-28) that describes the performance of bhakti-yoga at advanced and not-so-advanced levels. Advanced devotees offer Krishna their heart and their entire being. Even if constrained circumstances compel them to make their practical offering very simple – a leaf, a flower, a fruit or just a glass of water – their mood of giving still pleases Krishna (09.26). Not-so-advanced devotees can cultivate that giving mood by offering to Krishna whatever work they do (09.27). If they steadily offer him the things dear to them at their level of consciousness, they gradually rise to life’s supreme perfection: eternal love for Krishna (09.28). When we cultivate this giving aspect of devotion, we can transcend the unsteadiness that characterizes our spiritual practice when it is driven primarily by feelings. Rather than bothering about how we feel while practicing bhakti, we focus on giving ourselves in committed service to Krishna. The resulting connection with him gradually makes us feel spiritually fulfilled – deeply, transformationally, perennially fulfilled.

Material progress centers on having what we want; spiritual progress, on wanting what we have

Some people feel that taking to spiritual life means abandoning all efforts to progress in life. But their feeling stems from an unexamined assumption: progress means material progress alone. Spiritual life involves progress too, but of a different kind. In material life, progress frequently means procuring, possessing and parading what we want – gadgets, dresses, cars and so forth. But such a conception of progress keeps us perpetually dissatisfied. Why? Because firstly, the world constantly keeps coming up with new-looking things; and secondly, today’s aggressive advertising keeps bringing these things on our sensory pathways. Such glamorization makes the pursuit of material progress an ever-moving, never-reachable target – a mirage. Does being progressive necessitate sentencing ourselves to perpetual dissatisfaction? No, provided we choose an alternative conception of progress. Spiritual progress centers on appreciating the value of what we have: Krishna, the Lord of the Goddess of Fortune – the all-attractive supreme being who is already present in our heart. Krishna is eternally the source of the supreme satisfaction. And we can relish that satisfaction if we absorb our consciousness in his remembrance and service. But just as a child infatuated with a toy may turn its mouth away from a delicacy, we unintelligently turn our consciousness away from Krishna because of our desires for worldly things. We can counter such desires by practicing bhakti-yoga, which redirects our heart towards Krishna. The more we start wanting what we have – the presence of Krishna, and the opportunity to remember and serve him – the more we relish sublime spiritual happiness. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (06.22) states that the most progressive spiritualists who have perceived the highest spiritual reality feel that nothing higher remains to be gained. That is, the zenith of spiritual progress makes them perfectly and perennially satisfied in Krishna. 

When your mental expressway gets overcrowded, direct your thought traffic with your intelligence

Suppose we are caught in a traffic jam on an expressway. We honk and maneuver, but make little progress. But instead of staying vexed, we intelligently call the traffic police. They come promptly and take control. They direct vehicles here to stop, vehicles there to move aside, vehicles there to move forward – and soon the road becomes clear. Similarly, sometimes we may find ourselves caught in an inner traffic jam – our thought traffic may congest our mental expressway. As various possibilities, cravings and worries all try to surge forward inside us, we find ourselves unable to think clearly or act confidently. We consider one course of action, but it seems to lead nowhere. So, we give it up to consider another, but it too seems unviable. And so it goes on – our thoughts keep us agitated and immobilized. At such times, we need to urgently call a competent thought traffic controller. Thankfully, we have such a controller readily available within: our own intelligence. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (06.26) recommends focusing the mind using the intelligence sustained by conviction. Intelligence that is not spiritually convinced can get overwhelmed by the thought traffic’s volume. But we can boost our intelligence by regular study of scripture. And we can complement it by invoking the supreme intelligence Krishna, whose presence manifests through sincere prayer and meditation. When the intelligence is thus spiritually strengthened, it can put first things first. Amidst all the thoughts honking inside us, it can focus on the eternal truth that we are indestructible souls; that Krishna is always in control; and that our infallible purpose is to serve him. When contemplation on these unchanging truths calms us, we get the inner security and clarity to determine the best way to serve Krishna, thus clearing the inner traffic jam. 

Caring means sharing

Suppose one person tells another, “I care for you.” But if the first person is having food and the second person is hungry, the claim of caring rings hollow if the first person doesn’t share any food with the second. Caring naturally means sharing. The same principle applies to spiritual life. The topmost spiritualists don’t turn away from the world to pursue their own liberation but instead strive to share with everyone the spiritual happiness they are relishing. The Bhagavad-gita (06.32) states that the topmost yogis are those who see the essential equality of all living beings in their happiness and distress. Their equal vision points to an underlying insight: just as they themselves were dissatisfied earlier when they neglected their spiritual side but have found satisfaction in spiritual nourishment, they realize that everyone else too would experience dissatisfaction and satisfaction similarly. And just as a caring person shares food with a hungry person, the topmost yogis share the spiritual nourishment they are relishing with others who are spiritually undernourished. Significantly, this realization of equal vision comes most efficaciously bhakti-yoga, which the same Gita chapter indicates is the highest yoga (06.47). In this yoga of devotion, spiritual seekers bypass the laborious process of renouncing the world for pursuing enlightenment. Instead, bhakti wisdom enables them to look above the world to its source, Krishna, and see that all living beings are connected with him. Thus, they recognize that they can progress towards Krishna by serving him in this world itself – by relishing the joy of devotional fulfillment in loving and serving him and sharing that joy with others. Of course, the bhakti tradition is so inclusive that it even incorporates renunciation – devotee monks adopt renunciation not to turn away from the world but to free themselves from worldly distractions so that they can better share spiritual wisdom with the world. 

Materialism reduces life to a disrelation of unrelated events

Suppose we watch a movie in which events are utterly unconnected, characters pop in and out with no logic and the story moves without any theme or direction, leave alone conclusion. We would soon get exasperated: “What’s the point of all this? Why should I watch such a movie?” Unfortunately, materialism forces us to not just watch such a pointless movie – it makes us live such a movie. A materialistic worldview reduces our life to a disrelation of unrelated events. It makes us believe that we are nothing but chemicals that have somehow come alive. And that delicate chemical balance that comprises us can be destroyed forever at any moment, by just one bug or one bag. Thus, our present existence is reduced to a wobbly, chancy chaos within two infinities of non-existence. Outlining such a materialistic worldview, the Bhagavad-gita (16.08) states that the ungodly proponents of such a belief system hold that there exists no God and no ultimate reality – selfish desire is existence’s only motivating force. And even that desire is doomed to frustration with inexorable death. Rescuing us from such a morass of meaninglessness, Gita wisdom debunks materialism by spotlighting life’s spiritual side. It explains that our search for meaning comes from something beyond matter – our spiritual essence. And only at that same trans-material level of reality is meaning truly found. The ephemerality and misery of life in this world is meant ultimately to impel us to raise our consciousness to the spiritual level. At that level, we as eternal souls can relish love eternal with the all-attractive Absolute Truth, Krishna. By learning to love him through the practice of bhakti-yoga, we can persevere and grow even through life’s greatest reversals, knowing that his immortal love will endure and elevate us beyond the vagaries of this mortal world –