When I face difficulties, I lose my trust in Krishna. What to do?
A devotee (name hidden) asked like this:
Hare Krishna prabhu Ji i just want to know that how we can have full faith on Krishna I always say i have trust in Krishna he always with me but once when I face some bad situation or somebody hurt me my trust level toward Krishna come down I joined iskcon and chant also I accepting that he is my father and he cannot do anything wrong with me but practically somewhere I don’t have full trust on him or I think I m not accepting that he is my father I trust on stupid things but not in Krishna who had made me by grace of him I m enjoying in this material world I knw I m selfish I want to change myself please clear me that how to build trust on Krishna else how to feel his presence in routine life…..
REPLY:
There are three types of devotees as said by Krishna. One expects something from Krishna; Another likes to know about Him; Another one worships Krishna without any expectations, of course, except His mercy. The third one is Nishkam bhakti.
Most of the devotees are in the first stage of having some expectations. Such devotees should come to the stage of three, ie, Nishkam bakthi. This is what I am advising since the beginning of this page. Though coming to the stage of Nishkam bhakti is difficult, it is definitely achievable.
How to come to that stage?
Only requirement is FULL FAITH in the existence and support of Krishna. If we truly believe that Krishna will not let us down as said by Him in Bhagavad Gita, we will accept whatever happenings in our life as the ones for our goodness. Though we face some negatives in life, in fact, it must be for doing good to us.
For example, if a devotee does not get his aimed job, he need not feel for that because, Krishna should have still better offer for him. Krishna knows all our activities in all our births. So, He can decide which is good for us. So, it is always good to go with the directions shown by Krishna. In other words, it is better to accept whatever happens to us in life from time to time. We can just try our best, but, the decision should be left to Krishna.
When we follow expectation based devotion, we always expect positive incidents in our life. No one likes to face negatives in life. Only some staunch devotees like Kunti devi prays to Krishna for getting more and more pains.
So, stop expecting only positives in life. It is possible only in heavenly planets. A birth on earth means to face both positives and negatives. When we face negatives, we clear our negative karma. When we face positives, we are enjoying the fruits of our past good karma. It is also a test whether we commit more and more negative karma while facing the fruits of good karma.
If I tell you all the negatives faced in my life, you will wonder how this guy is preaching Krishna bhakti vigorously even after this much of disappointments. Many others would have become an atheist when they face this much of negatives. But, I saw them as the clearance of my severe past karma and felt happy.
For a really advancing devotee, the desertion of material things should give happiness. I can say this thousand times in any forum. If not, we are not advancing, but, just managing with devotion.
So, follow my sincere advice in this matter. Feel happy when you face negatives. You are cleansed by Krishna. This is 100% true. believe this.
At the same time, when you face positives, be careful in not developing pride. If that positive is not required by you, desert it.
This will give you double happiness. Try and tell me.
(Can one Get relief from Diseases & Problems following devotion? READ HERE!)