Suppose a public speaker while giving a talk is troubled by a persistent cough. Can the speaker deal with it merely by a resolute intention, “I won’t cough anymore”?
Not really. That intention needs to be channelized towards medication.
A similar dynamic applies to our spiritual life. When we try to serve Krishna, we find ourselves frequently distracted by persistent worldly desires induced by lust, anger and greed, for example. We often make a resolute intention to no longer succumb to them, yet they keep tormenting and toppling us again and again.
Why is that?
Lower desires are akin to a disease that needs to be cured not by intention alone but by purification through spiritual medication.
Because such lower desires are akin to a disease of the heart – a disease that needs to be cured not by intention alone but by purification through spiritual medication.
What is the purifying spiritual medication?
Bhakti-yoga that connects us with Krishna, who is all-pure and all-purifying.
Even if our bhakti practice is distracted by our present impurities, still whatever connection we establish with Krishna by practicing bhakti according to our capacity will stand us in good stead. It will give us an enchanting glimpse of the sweetness of remembering him and equip us with sobering insight into the futility of worldly pleasures. The more we become purified thus, the less we will be affected by the dualities of pleasure and pain that distract us from him. The Bhagavad-gita (07.28) assures that after such purification we will practice devotion with determination.
Significantly, the strength of bhakti-yoga is that its purificatory potency rests not just on our endeavors to connect with transcendence, but primarily on the grace of Krishna, who being pleased with our sincere efforts rewards us with philosophical insight and spiritual taste. When our intention is thus complemented by purification, our solidified determination enables us to march towards supreme liberation.
Explanation of article:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0QrHIoFcCk
Thank you for this article. It indeed fills the gap in my understanding.