THIRTY-ONE DAYS TO SALVATION ON THE VEDIC PATH DAY TWENTY-TWO: WHAT IF I CANNOT DO IT RIGHT? “Just fix your mind upon Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and engage all your intelligence in Me. Thus you will live in Me always, without a doubt. My dear Arjuna, if you cannot fix your mind upon Me without deviation, then follow the regulated principles of bhakti-yoga. In this way you will develop a desire to attain to Me. If you cannot practice the regulations of bhakti-yoga, then just try to work for Me, because by working for Me you will come to the perfect stage. If, however, you are unable to work in this consciousness, then try to act giving up all results of your work and try to be self-situated. If you cannot take to this practice, then engage yourself in the cultivation of knowledge. Better than knowledge, however, is meditation, and better than meditation is renunciation of the fruits of action, for by such renunciation one can attain peace of mind.” (Bg.12.8-12) * * * At times we may have doubts that we will be successful on the spiritual path, or we may feel that we may not be able to continue because of various reasons or obstacles. Or maybe we think our mind simply gives us too much trouble. Do not be troubled. Here in these verses Lord Krishna gives the solutions. The best way is to fix the mind and intelligence on Him by any means available. But if that cannot be done at times, then there are other recommended things you can do to help control the mind, or stay focused and work toward the essential goal. So simply take up whatever level is best for you, as described above. Then work up the ladder of spiritual success of always remembering God. There is no pressure, and, as previously explained, whatever progress you make is eternal and helps to keep you moving forward. Here Lord Krishna simply explains that the best position is to fix the mind and intelligence in various ways on Him. If you cannot do that so easily, then observe the principles of bhakti-yoga since the process will help you increase your thoughts and affection towards God. If that cannot be done, then dedicating one’s work and activities to God will also help. If you cannot adopt that attitude, then you can also offer the results of your work to God and remain free from greed. Or you can learn spiritual knowledge about the position of God, His activities and personality, along with the nature of your own spiritual identity. Or you can simply meditate on the Deity form of the Lord and the descriptions of His pastimes, or even give up the fruits or results of your actions. This can be done by doing service in the temple or to your Deity of God, and so on. Of course, a person can do all of these at different times, since they all assist in our spiritual development and the attainment of God consciousness. Thus, the Vedic path of spiritual progress is most flexible and broad in scope, and allows someone to approach God from any position in life. There may also be some people who may not have any inclination for spiritual practice. For them, it just does not grab their interest. Nonetheless, they may simply hear about the Lord from others and still worship the Supreme Being as best they can. Because they merely accept advice and instructions from spiritual authorities and observe the worship of the Lord, either at home or in the temples, they can also reach success on this path of devotional service. As Lord Krishna explains: “There are those who, although not conversant in spiritual knowledge, begin to worship the Supreme Person upon hearing about Him from others. Because of their tendency to hear from authorities, they also transcend the path of birth and death.” (Bg.13.26)
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 05:02:13 +0000
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