Life sometimes puts us in situations where we don’t get what we want or even need. If we are deprived of material resources while practicing spiritual life, we may see that deprivation as an impetus to develop detachment and to intensify our devotion. But if we are deprived of spiritual resources required for practicing bhakti-yoga, how can we see that deprivation positively? 

By understanding that our devotional access to Krishna depends not on the suitability of our situation, but on the strength of our intention.

Suppose we are circumstantially distanced from Krishna because, say, our professional or familial obligations take us to a place where there are no temples or devotees. Understandably, we may feel deprived of those powerful spiritual resources. 

Still, intention matters more than the situation. For example, we may be living in a temple, but if we aren’t strongly aspiring to grow spiritually, all the devotional richness of our situation won’t enrich us. In contrast, even if we are living far away from a temple, but if we have a strong intention to move toward Krishna, then we can feel his presence wherever we are. After all, he is present in our own hearts, and is the giver of knowledge, remembrance and forgetfulness (Bhagavad-gita 15.15). 

He can enrich us with his remembrance from within or enable us to relish other resources such as books, podcasts and videos. Not only that, he can even empower us to find spiritually inclined souls in our particular situation and inspire them to move forward in their journey toward Krishna, thereby making us instruments in creating spiritual association where none existed earlier. 

By thus understanding that we are never devotionally deprived of Krishna, we can stay positive and purposeful in our bhakti practices in all situations.  

 

Think it over: 

  • In spiritual life, how does intention matter more than situation?
  • When we are circumstantially distanced from Krishna, how may he help us?
  • Do you have any experience of inner enrichment amidst outer impoverishment?

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15.15 I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas, I am to be known. Indeed, I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.

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