Training Our Perspectives Right: Part 1
This is part one of a two-part series. In this article we explore how to train our perspectives when we are working in an association of devotees. We learn how to transform our destructive fault-finding attitude into a constructive mentality of learning and progressing in our devotional life by taking the seeming faults as opportunities for service.
In part two, we will learn how to see apparent reversals in life as great impetuses to make tremendous progress in spiritual life. Ordinary motivational speakers touch upon topics like these but they encourage people on a false platform of sense gratification by inspiring them to chase materialistic dreams which are sure to frustrated by the inevitable march of time. In these articles, we attempt to direct the reader’s attention only to spiritual advancement because every other endeavor is futile in this material world.
PROLOGUE
Perspectives matter because our reactions to situations depend on our perspectives. First comes perception of the situation with our senses and the mind, then formulating a perspective, then taking a decision on how to respond and finally comes action. That is the flow from perception to action. Since every action is judged by the law of karma, it is prudent to mold our action at the very root, the seat of perception — the mind.
WATCH THE MIND
Training our mind right is all what yoga is about. Yoga indriya saṁyama. What is meant by that training? At the present moment, our mind is always desiring sense gratification, kāma, or lust; and when we allow our mind to serve that kāma, we are asking for trouble. The sequence of our downfall starts at lust. This is stated clearly in the Bhagavad-gītā (2.62-63) as follows: “While contemplating objects of sense gratification, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops. Lust is not satisfied even by repeated sensuous enjoyment. Thus, when one faces frustration in fulfilling one’s desires, anger arises. From anger, delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. One thus forgets his position and acts in ways in which he would not have acted otherwise. Thus he loses his intelligence and performs sinful acts for which he greatly suffers in the future by having to take repeated birth in demoniac species such as the animal kingdom and undergoing terrible suffering. In this way one suffers material existence without cessation.” This is the result of allowing the mind to lead the way.
Therefore, we are warned in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (5.6.2-3) that those who are advanced in spiritual life do not put faith in the mind. Indeed, they always remain vigilant and watch the mind’s action because the mind is by nature very restless. One should not make friends with it. If we place full confidence in the mind, it may cheat us at any moment.
SERVING KṚṢṆA FAVORABLY
The mind can be brought under control by intelligence sharpened by spiritual knowledge. Therefore, to awaken this spiritual knowledge is the sum and substance of the entire yoga system. Of all types of yoga systems, the bhakti-yoga is the most direct, and the best (Bhagavad-gītā 9.2 and 6.47), as declared by the Lord of all yogic power, Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is known as Yogeśvara. This bhakti-yoga begins with hearing the message of transcendental knowledge as delineated in the Bhagavad-gītā and the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.
The entire purpose of Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā, as well as in the entire corpus of Vedic literature as a whole, is to convince us that we are eternal servants of Kṛṣṇa and should therefore engage our mind in serving the desires of Lord Kṛṣṇa favorably. That is the way of liberation from material bondage. Ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ. Our thoughts should always be favorably disposed towards Kṛṣṇa.
Actually, everyone is obeying Kṛṣṇa. He confirms that in the Bhagavad-gītā (4.11): mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ. Some voluntarily obey Him, or favorably obey Him; whereas most of the conditioned souls in this material world obey Him unfavorably. For example, in a country, a citizen has to follow the civil law of the state. If he voluntarily follows the law, he can live in freedom. He can do whatever he likes. But if he chooses to flout the civil law, he will be brought under a more stringent department of law — the criminal law. In either case, either favorably or unfavorably, one has to obey the law of the state.
Similarly, those who are devotees of Kṛṣṇa and thus serve Him favorably are considered liberated. Those who do not want to cooperate with Him but want to engage in external sense gratification are placed under His criminal department — Māyā. Thus they perform greatly sinful acts and come under the stringent grip of the law of karma.
THE SUPERIOR TASTE
In all cases, the mind is the enabler. By the mind, we can choose to either degrade ourselves or elevate ourselves. Therefore Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā (6.5-6): “A man must elevate himself by his own mind, not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well. For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his very mind will be the greatest enemy.”
The mind, which is highly restless and obstinate, can be controlled only by engaging it in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, in the service of Kṛṣṇa. There are other processes recommended in the Vedas to control the mind like the aṣṭāṅga-yoga method but in this turbulent age of kali-yuga, it is impractical. And even if it is practical, it is an artificial or mechanical way of restraining the mind, and therefore not very effective. But Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet are the perfect shelter for the mind.
Controlling the base tendencies of the mind can be easily done by the practice of bhakti-yoga because bhakti-yoga does not work on the principle of artificial restraint. It works on the principle of superior taste of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Once a person tastes the superior quality of life in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he will never revert to the inferior materialistic way of life even if he is offered the temptations. Great devotees like Dhruva Mahārāja, Yāmunācārya and Haridāsa Ṭhākura practically demonstrated their steadfastness in Kṛṣṇa consciousness despite being offered great materialistic temptations.
Therefore, one has to constantly engage his mind in thinking of Kṛṣṇa. If the mind is thus engaged, automatically all the senses can be engaged too. Therefore Lord Kṛṣṇa stresses in the Bhagavad-gītā (12.14) mayy arpita-mano-buddhir — “invest your mind and intelligence in Me.”
GUARDING ONE’S DEVOTION
When a person takes to devotional service in all earnestness, he associates with devotees and gets trained under their guidance. As he engages in a variety of different services for the pleasure of the Lord, he purges all the impurities within his heart such as lust, anger, greed, illusion, envy and madness. This cleansing is termed by Lord Caitanya as ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam. This cleansing can either be achieved within a second or cannot be achieved even in millions of years. The sincerity of purpose is the pivotal factor that regulates this speed. Usually, it is a gradual process of elevation for the common practitioner. The great devotee Dhruva Mahārāja’s case was exceptional in that he attained complete perfection in just six months. His history is explained in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.
One has to be careful in protecting his spiritual advancement. Māyā, or the illusory potency of the Lord, shall offer many stumbling blocks in one’s path. Especially, one has to be careful not to commit offences. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has listed in his book Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu sixty-four offences that are to be avoided. The chief of all such offences is to offend the devotees of Kṛṣṇa. It is the most dangerous offence. A great Vaiṣṇava poet, Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, informs us in one of his songs that Lord Kṛṣṇa tolerates offences to Himself but He does not tolerate offences to His devotees. This was personally exhibited in the episode of Ambarīṣa Mahārāja and Durvāsā Muni as mentioned in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.
SEEING DEFICIENCIES AS OPPORTUNITIES
If one is not careful about protecting his devotional advancement, one begins to commit offences. How offences can creep in can be understood by the following example. While engaged in Kṛṣṇa’s service, especially in the association of devotees, like in a temple, a neophyte may consider certain aspects of devotional life to be faulty. For example, the temple’s floor maybe a little dirty or someone seemingly may not have done his service properly and something was missed out; or something could have been done in a better way or in a more effective way.
In situations like these, it is easy to criticise the apparent ineffectiveness of the devotees. But the devotees might be trying their best while performing other services as well. So instead of criticising, one can come forward to offer his help and take it as an opportunity to perform devotional service and do the needful. This is essentially a change in perspective. This is Vaikuṇṭha thinking. In the spiritual world, there is no envy or vicious criticism.
Of course, a spiritual master has to find faults in the disciple in order to correct him and make him a perfect devotee but if one who is on the level of a neophyte imitates this behavior, he will fall down. Devotees in general should be introspective and should work on their own faults rather than prying on the faults of others.
Even when one has rendered the needful service, one should not be proud of such devotional service rendered. In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam [11.11.40] Lord Kṛṣṇa advises kṛtasya-aparikīrtanam — “a devotee should never advertise his devotional activities lest his service becomes the cause of false pride.” Rather, it has to be taken as the devotees’ mercy or the Lord’s mercy that he has been afforded an opportunity to perform devotional service considering it a rare gift by the Lord. That is a fact. In Śrīmad Bhāgavatam [5.6.18], it is stated, muktiṁ dadāti karhicit sma na bhakti-yogam — “even to His staunch enemies, by killing them, the Lord very easily awards them liberation, which is sought after by austere mystics after severe, prolonged penance; but only in extremely rare cases does He award devotional service upon someone.”
AN ILLUSTRATIVE CONVERSATION
There is an interesting conversation of Śrīla Prabhupāda with his principal disciples on the 20th of June 1975 in Los Angeles, California, USA, that illustrates this point best. It goes as follows:
Viṣṇujana (a disciple): Śrīla Prabhupāda, what did Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura (a great acarya of the 19th century) mean when he said, “I am going (leaving this world with) my work unfinished”?
Prabhupāda: Then let us finish. We are descendant(s) of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. So he kept unfinished so that we shall get the chance to finish it. That is his mercy. He could have finished immediately. He is Vaiṣṇava; he is all-powerful. But he gave us chance that “You foolish people, you all also work.” That is his mercy. So we should pray to Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura that “We are your grandchildren, great-grandchildren, so we have got some right to beg some mercy from you. The grandchildren get some indulgence from the grandfather. So I pray like that.” It is Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s mercy. Kṛṣṇa doesn’t require anyone’s help. Still, He is asking, “Surrender to Me.” He doesn’t require anyone’s surrender. But it is good for the one who surrenders. Not that Kṛṣṇa is in need of anyone’s service. He is complete. But He comes as if He is in a helpless condition and asking for us to surrender. So that is for our good. One who is surrendered, he’ll get the result. Kṛṣṇa is self-sufficient. Similarly, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura is self-sufficient. But if he said that “I (am) keeping unfinished,” that means he gave us the chance, the opportunity. So we should always pray to Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura to be merciful upon us so that we can execute his unfinished task. That should be our (thinking). And never we should think (proudly) that “What Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura could not finish, I have finished.” Don’t think like that.
— Śrīla Prabhupāda’s conversation on 20th June 1975 in Los Angeles, California, USA
HUMILITY IS THE KEY
Śrīla Prabhupāda is training his disciples in the Vaikuṇṭha mode of thinking. As the saying goes, the glass can be seen either as half-empty or as half-full. We have to train our perspectives right to see everything as an opportunity for advancement in devotional service. We should always remember that by harboring ill feelings about somebody, we are unable to harm them; but we most definitely harm ourselves. This is especially magnified in the case of devotees as we specifically invite the personal wrath of Kṛṣṇa Himself.
Therefore, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu taught us to view ourselves as only a servant of the servant of the servant of the devotees of Kṛṣṇa. Humility is the key to remain steadfast in the path of devotional service. If one is humble, there is no power in the universe that can check his progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is definitely true that even if one is not fixed up in devotional service and consequently falls away from the path, he still gets a chance to continue in his next life. But one should be determined to finish the entire course in this life. One should constantly beg for the mercy of the bona fide spiritual master to give one the strength to be humble enough to advance in spiritual life without hindrance. [End]
