Sense Disturbances while following Devotion. What to do?
Qn. In detail from a boy (Name hidden): Namaste……………, I’m ………………, everyday I’m doing praying lord Krishna, everyday I’m chanting hare Krishna manthra regularly, regularly I’m reading bagavath geetha. My age is 25, not married yet, even after doing all this spiritual practice, I couldn’t able to overcome from desires on girls, I couldn’t able to control myself more than a week, but once when i do that, I feel very ashamed about myself, I feel guilty to Stand in front of my lord. But I can’t stop loving and serving my lord Krishna feet for single day. Please show me ur mercy and help me to overcome from this desires. I hold ur feet.
REPLY:
Attraction towards opposite gender is natural and because of it only, the population of this planet is maintained. However, it should be regulated and diverted as per the recommendations of scriptures.
Unless we involve our senses in the higher taste, we will have Sense Disturbances while following Devotion. Because of not tasting the eternal higher taste sufficiently, the senses look for lower tastes that are temporary in nature.
(How to involve our mind and senses in Krishna’s Service? READ HERE!)
You may perform all the sadhanas (devotional practices), but, you may be doing in a ritualistic manner. Any devotional practice should be done seriously involving your mind in Krishna’s thoughts. Otherwise, all sadhanas will remain just rituals and they will not be able to avoid sense Disturbances while following Devotion and purify your consciousness.
Feelings on opposite gender and sense disturbances are the natural that come to all the normal people from their teen age. However, it must be regulated. Let me highlight some points to highlight the reality of giving importance for BODILY FEELINGS:
Who has more feelings and Sense Disturbances as per astrology?
In Vedic Horoscope Astrology, a boy/ girl has more sense disturbances and is interested more in physical relations, if he/ she has the star Venus and/ or Mars very powerful, or, has Rahu or Ketu or Venus & Mars in the 7th or 8th or second or first house! He/ she will have more bodily feelings!
If these persons have strong lagna and aspects of Jupiter to Lagna/ Rasi, or to Venus, mars, Rahu, Ketu, etc, they will be able to control their desires though they have sense disturbances. In case these planets and lagna do not support him, such persons who has extra sense desires by birth, fall into Illicit Violations if they get an opportunity!
(HOW GIRLS AND BOYS FALL VICTIMS OF SENSES AND VIOLATE?- A CASE STUDY! READ HERE!)
Now-a-days, the world has become a place in which there are more and more sense disturbances for today’s youth! The uncontrolled freedom for both men & women gives some of them courage to deviate from normal life! After coming a round of uncontrolled life, they learn later that there is nothing in this body oriented life. Though a person is involving in such acts throughout his life, he never gets satisfied!
Not all girls/ boys are going like that! But the percentage is increasing because the world has become the place of opportunities for anything and everything! No secrets! No ethics are fallowed by the media and they expose everything openly in detail and induce the people. Everything is business for the media.
Only a small number of media educate the adverse effects of excessive desires! Many wise boys & girls escape from this cultural disaster! But, a portion of them start enjoying uncontrolled interactions with each other! This is the pathetic situation of this society! This is the growing trend of Kali Yuga that is the yuga of sense oriented activities!
(Eight forms of Subtle Sense Gratification to be avoided by brahmacharis! READ HERE!)
How to prevent these Sense disturbances?
First, we should see the girls and boys as athma, not as bodies. See Krishna in every living being & love that person as the part and parcel of Krishna! We should consider that the Athma is the real living being & the body is only the flesh!
They should realize that these are just a five to ten minutes pleasures & they lead to bondage with the opponent!
All the men & women in this world are ‘anatomically’ similar & nothing is special to a particular person! Everyone is made up of flesh that smells bad if you don’t take bath for 2 days!
The same flesh (body) will be totally contaminated once a person (Athma) leaves his/ her body! Then, that person is called “It”, not “he” or “She”. Ants & small species come readily & start eating our body! Even our wife/ husband will not prefer to keep that “body” for long, as it starts badly smelling!
(SPIRITUAL TIPS TO AVOID WATCHING SENSE INDUCING CONTENTS! READ HERE!)
So, why should a person give importance for these fleshy bodies that are going to contaminate after death? Why don’t they realize that such a desire can never be satisfied till he/ she dies?
Though you are doing the following practices even now, hereafter do them seriously keeping Krishna in mind in a proper manner:
(i) seriously involve in chanting Lord’s Names
(ii) spend more time with devotees that will engage your mind in Krishna.
(iii) take only the food offered to Krishna
(iv) avoid Rajo/ thamo guna foods like onion, garlic, meat, etc,
(v) As said by Srila Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON, by hearing the lilas of Krishna, one can easily regulate his urge to involve in such activities. Therefore, read the literature of Krishna written by the acharyas like Srila Prabhupada.
This will gradually bring your body under your control and your bodily desires will come down remarkably.
(Some Blissful Lilas Between Krishna and Radharani – READ HERE!)
A person should love his family without attachments, as it is the gift given by Krishna exclusively to him/ her! Instead of spending more time with the devotees, if you spend more time with your family members like eating together, discussing together, sleeping together, doing household duties, performing worships, etc, you will have more engagement with the family and your time and concentration towards sense related thoughts will come down and hence their sense disturbances will also be less.
Deviations may be colourful and thrilling, but, after realizing that there is no chance for satisfaction in these matters, he/ she will definitely realize one day (after losing his time and fame) that he/ she could have lived still a decent life!
You need not take too much of efforts to control such feelings. Just take a clear decision and start to SINCERELY follow the devotional practices like, Chanting, Reading about Krishna, Offering worship to Krishna, avoiding onion, garlic, meat, etc that induce senses more, honouring (Taking) only the Prasadam after offering food to Krishna and associate with the devotees of Krishna more.
If you do so, your interest in such feelings will gradually get regulated and you will start to love Krishna sincerely. If you truly love Krishna sincerely, you should follow what he said. He advised in Bhagavad Gita to avoid Thamo and Rajo guna foods, surrender to Him, always thinking of Him, etc.
(HOW TO DEAL IF THE “DEVOTEE HUSBAND OR WIFE” IS INTERESTED IN SENSE GRATIFICATION? READ HERE!)
When you start to love Krishna sincerely, all your mind oscillations will stop. No girl or boy can attract you except your legal wife or husband.
If anyone is unmarried and crossed the age of 21 and has more sense disturbances, I advise them to marry as early as possible and control your body within the arrangement of marriage life. The husband & wife together should lead a Krishna Conscious family & be an example to the world!
Srila Prabhupada has said that a person who is living a perfect grahastha life with a single wife as per the regulations suggested by the scriptures is also a brahmachari. Krishna too says that the regulated Kama is Himself if Kama is used as recommended by the scriptures. Therefore, unless you have no marriage in life as per your horocope, marry a girl and then involve seriously in Krishna Consciousness ALONG WITH YOUR WIFE together.
As you seem to be a student, in this age, all girls will be beautiful and you will like to love all. Therefore, if you do not control yourself, your mind will always be oscillating and hence you can not concentrate in studies and hence you will lag behind in this society. Therefore, if you like to learn well and earn well, regulate and divert your attention in productive activities while studying. First earn well and then think of a girl in marriage, not in illicit way.
(How to serve Krishna while studying? READ HERE!)
ENJOY THE HIGHER TASTE TO AVOID LOWER TASTE
IF YOU CULTIVATE YOUR ATHMA THROUGH KRISHNA CONSCIOUS PRACTICES, YOUR BODY WILL COME UNDER YOUR CONTROL.
If you offer a biscuit to a dog, it will eat. At the same time, if any other person shows meat to that dog, it will go away from you and go to that person to eat that meat.
Because, for that dog, the meat is the higher taste than biscuits.
For us, who know that we are not bodies, but, athma, the higher taste is the food to the athma. To the athma, giving its master Krishna is the right food. The real happiness to the athma is giving Krishna to him.
These sense related pleasures are the foods to the body and hence lower tastes. Unless these desires is involved within marriage life as per recommendations, it is the lower and illicit taste.
Therefore, if you feed the athma with the higher taste of Krishna’s thoughts and consciousness, then, that higher taste will make your mind uninterested in excessive involvement in the lower taste given to the body through senses.
THIS IS THE SECRET BEHIND CONTROLLING SENSE DISTURBANCES!
(If Krishna is our intelligence, why should Senses, Mind and False Ego dominate us? READ HERE!)