Evolve and Elevate: Life goes on, Krishna consciousness is misunderstood and why is life all about struggling and suffering?

Idea of the Week

Life goes on

Lesson of the Week

Krishna consciousness is misunderstood

Bhagavad Gita says:

Lord Krishna described to his closest friend Arjuna in the previous chapter about the soul Swaroop (constitution of soul) and that the path of self-realization is Buddhi Yoga or Krishna consciousness.

But sometimes Krishna Consciousness is misunderstood as Jadta (inertia i.e. to do nothing) and one with such misunderstanding often goes to a quiet secluded place to become Krishna conscious by chanting the holy name of Lord Krishna. But without being trained in the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness, it is not advisable to chant the holy name of Krishna in a secluded place. By doing this the person will only attract cheap attention and adoration from the innocent public.

Arjuna also thought of Krishna Consciousness or buddhi yoga or intelligence in spiritual advancement of knowledge as something like retirement from active life and the practice of penance and austerity at a secluded place.

In other words, he wanted to skillfully avoid the fighting by using Krishna consciousness as an excuse.

But as a sincere student he placed the matter before his master and questioned Krishna as to his best course of action. In answer, Lord Krishna elaborately explained Karma-Yoga as the real path to Krishna consciousness.

Inspiration of the Week: 

Why is life all about struggling and suffering?

If Chemistry is your favorite subject, it’s not because it’s easy but because you have understood it well.

If Maths is your least favorite, it’s not because it’s difficult but because you haven’t got a better understanding of it.

Life is one such subject which if you have a good understanding of will look like your Chemistry and if you fail to understand it, it will haunt you like Maths.

Struggles and sufferings are like those Maths problems you haven’t found the right way to solve. Once you dig deep and practice understanding them, you can solve them like those Chemistry equations.

Struggle comes when you are foreign to any situation and build fear of being unable to solve it. The same struggle ends when you raise your determination above your fear and start zooming into it to understand and solve it.

The closer you move into your problem, the more you gain clarity of the details. And the more details you collect, the more informative you become about the problem. Once you have all the information about your problem, the problem surrenders, and your struggle becomes non-existent.

And while you strive to make “Life” like your Chemistry subject, the beauty that comes with it is that you no longer remain a student in this classroom of Life but become a teacher in itself.