Overcoming our numbness and dumbness toward spiritual things, including ultimately God, involves addressing two ways in which we become spiritually deadened.

As indicated in the Bhagavad-gita (16.9), the term naṣṭātmāno is used, and in verse (16.21), nāśanam ātmanaḥ. The soul, of course, is indestructible and can never die. However, our spiritual sensibility—the faculty by which we become aware of and attune to spiritual realities, including the supreme spiritual reality, God, Krishna—can become so weakened as to be almost dead. This weakening occurs through dumbness and numbness.

When we are spiritually dumb, our intellect becomes too diminished to perceive spiritual realities. The idea of a reality beyond the physical world becomes impossible to comprehend. We become spiritually numb when encountering Krishna’s form or name fails to awaken devotional emotions. This lack of response indicates a disconnection from the spiritual essence that should stir our hearts. Dumbness and numbness are the initial poison we must push through.

As mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita (18.37), before we reach the eventual nectar of joyful remembrance of Krishna, we can address our spiritual dumbness to some extent by studying wisdom texts. These texts provide sound arguments for the reality of the spiritual domain. We can address our spiritual numbness by immersing ourselves in the presence of saintly devotees, whose entire being is alive and abuzz with spiritual emotions. Ultimately, it is we who need to push through the poison that we will inevitably encounter. Countering such poison means focusing on the devotional dimension of reality as much as we can, even if we don’t have any immediate experience or sense of it.

Thankfully, the more frequently we transition from poison to nectar, the easier it becomes to overcome obstacles. The layer of poison becomes thinner each time, allowing us to access the nectar more readily and consistently. This experience is akin to diving into an ocean of happiness that is ever-expanding, ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ.

Summary:

  • Our capacity to experience the spiritual is deadened by spiritual dumbness and numbness.
  • Spiritual dumbness is the intellectual inability to comprehend an invisible reality beyond the physical, while spiritual numbness is the emotional inability to feel higher emotions in the presence of divine manifestations.
  • Striving to connect to the divine despite spiritual numbness and dumbness is the poison we need to push through to get to the nectar of joyous remembrance of Krishna.

Think It Over:

  • What is spiritual numbness, and how can it be countered?
  • What is spiritual dumbness, and how can it be countered?
  • Why do we need to push through challenges before reaching the nectar of joyful remembrance of Krishna?

***

18.37- That which in the beginning may be just like poison but at the end is just like nectar and which awakens one to self-realization is said to be happiness in the mode of goodness.