For us as aspiring devotees, worldly temptations pose formidable challenges to our spiritual integrity. The Bhagavad-gita (02.67) indicates that these temptations are like stormy winds that blow our boat-like heart towards alluring sense objects.
We may have noble intentions to preserve our spiritual integrity, but such intentions alone are not enough to weather the storms of temptations. By their sheer force, the storms can first blow away our noble intentions, and then blow us towards the sense objects. To resist these storms, we need to firmly moor our heart to Krishna. For this, we require a daily regimen of philosophical education and devotional experience.
Let’s take a closer look at these two spiritual disciplines:
- Philosophical education: When we immerse ourselves in scriptural wisdom, we get empowered by the conviction that a higher, better happiness awaits us in the near-future provided we don’t let ourselves be blown away by petty material temptations.
- Devotional experience: When we absorb ourselves in the remembrance of Krishna through mantra meditation, we experience the higher spiritual happiness that makes lower material pleasures unnecessary and unappealing.
Thus, these twin spiritual disciplines moor our heart to Krishna. The best time for such mooring is the morning because at that time distractions, both external and internal, are minimal.
When we thus moor our heart to Krishna, the resulting resolve and taste will enable us to fight off temptations more easily and efficaciously. This in turn will leave us with far greater mental energy for fulfilling our worldly obligations as well as achieving our devotional aspirations.
Bhagavad Gita Chapter 02 Text 67
“As a strong wind sweeps away a boat on the water, even one of the roaming senses on which the mind focuses can carry away a man’s intelligence.”
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