Feeling Not Connected to Krishna while performing sadhanas! Solutions!
A male devotee (Name hidden) asked like this:
“Hare Krishna prabhuji i have one question. In one of your posts regarding missing something in initial stages of bhakti. I got that post very relatable to me but just the difference is that i dont feel something missing but I don’t feel connected to krishna.
Prabhuji i do 16+ rounds, attend Mangal aarti, try do seva in temple, observe fasts recommend by iskcon, eat only prasadam, follow four regulative principle and i do everything possible for me in devotional life and even i felt that something missing in my self in initial days of my bhakti but at that time at every moment i used to feel connected to krishna like (he is always listening to me,he is always looking after me….etc) but now a days I don’t feel connected to krishna (what can be worse than this ) though i know that krishna always is in our heart and is with us every moment if our life and also hears and cares and loves us every moment but still why i feel disconnected from krishna.
Is it Krishna’s will or something missing in my devotional services?
Prabhuji please please help me I feel very very very sad that what can be worse that not able to connect with the seed giving father of ours and one who is always listening to us always thinking about us always loving us and always caring about us like our mother
Please help prabhuji hare krishna”
REPLY:
After understanding your problem of not feeling to be connected to Krishna, I read your message again.
I understood why.
(Feeling Krishna from His creations! 27 Best tips you too can follow! READ HERE!)
Why?
You seem to have more ritualistic approach.
You have mentioned as “I eat only prasadam”.
This is slight carelessness.
Prasadam should be honoured, not just eaten.
Why?
Prasadam is not a material or just material food.
Prasadam is Krishna Himself.
So, we can’t eat Krishna. Instead, we honour the Prasadam, ie, Krishna Himself.
Thus, if a devotee is very dedicated to Krishna, he will naturally avoid such usage of words.
So, if you honour Krishna Prasadam considering it Krishna Himself, that means, you are honouring Krishna and hence you get purified.
If you just chant a few lines of manthras in a ritualistic way keeping the food in front of Krishna, it is a mechanical offering.
(Feeling useless with no success in Career, Personal & Spiritual lives? Tips! READ HERE!)
You have also written that you DO 16 ROUNDS CHANTING.
Chanting is not just moving the beads. It is calling Krishna and interacting with Him.
When you start chanting, you should feel that you have been connected to Krishna because Krishna and His Names are not different.
This is called chanting with taste.
Taste means feeling the real greatness.
When you offer food to Krishna, you should FEEL that Krishna accepts and purifies your offering.
When you chant Krishna’s Holy Names, you should FEEL that you are connecting to Krishna.
When you observe fasting, you should feel that you are sacrificing your attachment to food to develop your attachment to Krishna. You should not see the watch with nervousness to know when the fasting time ends.
When you perform some seva in the temple, you should FEEL as if you have been mercifully allowed by Krishna to serve Himself and His devotees. You should not serve thinking that you are doing this much of service to Krishna.
When you offer arati to Krishna, you should have the darshan of Krishna with Love and you should offer arati surrendering your ego to Krishna. Offering arati means, offering yourself. That means, surrendering your ego.
Thus, you should FEEL as if you are connected to Krishna.
If you worship and serve Krishna with this FEELING of getting connected with Him, you can FEEL the presence of Krishna.
The cause for your not FEELING connected to Krishna is performing the Vaidhi Bhakti with a ritualistic approach to mechanically finish them as if that day’s quota.
(Feeling lonely by being a devotee in the family of material people! Tips! READ HERE!)
When we sometimes develop more attached to anyone else or to any other goal, feeling attached to Krishna will get diluted.
So, when we develop more attachment to the people and materials, our attachment to Krishna will naturally come down.
So, the following two are the solutions for your problem of not feeling connected to Krishna:
(i) Don’t develop more attachment to people and materials;
(ii) Perform all the recommended sadhanas in a mood of getting connected to Krishna.
Hope you are now clear about what to do for feeling not connected to Krishna.
(Feeling something missing during initial stage of devotion! Tips! READ HERE!)