Fearing for full Spiritual life or Material life! Solutions!
A male devotee (Name hidden) asked like this:
“Hare Krishna prabhuji. Except for a few small acts, I find life very meaningless. I am lost most of the times on where I am headed to both materially and spiritually. I am pushing myself to do my routine activities and as well as in work front, it is not flowing as naturally as it should be.
On one hand I want to advance spiritually, but pure devotional stage is little frightening and scary, yet the same time fully material life is more scary and I seem to be stuck between these two and have been travelling in mixed devotion path. So, unable to go in either direction.
Moreover, I have been trying to make some personal decisions regarding marriage, relocation etc. and as and when i take steps in these direction to do something, I become anxious and worried, if I am taking the right step as Lord would want. So going through lot of anxiety.”
REPLY:
Fearing for full Spiritual life or Material life is natural for every devotee in their young age.
Everyone may have both material and spiritual goals and responsibilities that require proper planning and implementation.
They should be. Then only, one can survive in this world.
You need not confuse the responsibilities of material life with the responsibilities of spiritual life.
(I like to become an Industrialist, but I fear for losing Krishna. What to do? READ HERE!)
If you just understand what the essentials and non essentials are and follow them, the life will be nice.
Just avoid unwanted material and spiritual acts. It is enough.
Let us see what are the essentials and non essentials:
ESSENTIAL MATERIAL & SPIRITUAL DUTIES
(i) Planning for studies and higher studies is essential activity. Choose which is the course that suits best with your natural interest and also favourable for following devotional practices, choose that course.
(ii) Perform your material career as sincerely as possible because it gives you the means to live in this world. Don’t lose interest in it thinking that these are all temporary in life. Without having proper earning, following devotion is difficult unless you settle in the temples as full time devotee.
(I fear for fall down from devotion and waste of life. What to do? READ HERE!)
(iii) Since you already have a career to perform, you need not think of full time brahmachari life. Just follow devotion at home as sincerely as possible by taking the sathsangha as much as possible. If you live a grahastha life, getting regular sathsangha is very important. Visit the temples atleast every Sunday, take part in the programs there and do any service possible for you there. This will keep you recharged for the next 6 days to remain in the spiritual consciousness.
(iv) You need not feel scary about the material and spiritual lives. Just do the essential material duties and follow the recommended vaidhi bhakti, ie, devotional sadhanas such as chanting as much as possible, offering food and honouring prasadam and offering regular worship to the Lord at home.
(v) Reading the literatures on Krishna should be done atleast a few pages daily.
These devotional sadhanas can be done atleast an hour or two every day in the gaps you get while performing your material duties. This will keep you strict in following a principled performance of material duties.
(vi) As said above, give good performance in the studies and career with full involvement.
(Why some devotees fear to attend ISKCON and follow strict rules? READ HERE!)
(vii) Check your horoscope. If the horoscope says that you have no marriage at all, focus in following the devotion and keeping devotional services as important service in your life. Work, earn, preach, conduct sathsanghas on week ends and give more and more devotees to the Lord.
(viii) If your horoscope shows severe problems after marriage, then too you can skip the marriage, but, you should seriously follow devotional life and develop detachment that will burn your karma. If not, you will get rebirth to face the skipped marriage in the next birth as that karma will be pending. Alternatively, you may marry and face the issues if you are not confident of following highest stage of devotion. However, anyone who is not married can advance fast in the devotion and attain material detachment and attachment to Krishna. This is an advantage.
(ix) In case your horoscope shows that you have good married life, marry a good devotee girl known to you or finding through the temple managers. If you have the karma of marriage, you will definitely get a girl.
Interestingly, I have seen so many visually challenged males and females have got good spouse and lead a life with mutual cooperation. At the same time, many rich family guys do not get married and some of them fae separation after marriage. Thus, if one has the karma of marriage, he will get a spouse when the right destined time comes. So, keep trying and get married. After marriage, love her and help her advance in devotion.
(Fearing for marriage after initiation unwilling to part parents – Solutions! READ HERE!)
(x) Don’t think that married devotees can’t get Krishna. See, King janaka was a king as well as married. He got the full mercy of the Lord and got the Lord as his son in law. The Pandavas who had the fortune of having Krishna with them were also kings and married – even more than one wife as per the kshatriya life style. Most of the devotees in the Puranas and ithikas were married. Only a few were brahmacharis and sanyasis in safron. So, no need for confusion in getting married. Go with the events coming as per the karma. Follow vaishi bhakti sincerely and also develop material detachment and attachment to Krishna.
(xi) I am leading a fully satisfied life though I too have some usual problems of material life such as health issues, dealing with the unwanted people carefully, escaping from the glares of maya, time management, etc. The cause for my satisfaction is that Krishna has given this oportunity for me to preach and guide the devotees in tackling their problems in following devotion while following regular material life. Krishna has also given good patronage for my astro services that I use to make the devotees understand their problems and to tackle with them spiritually. I just finish my material duties/ routines and start to follow my spiritual duties including preaching and devotee counselling services. Since these activities have made me extremely busy, my age is rising, but, I don’t feel that as I am fully engaged in both essential material duties and spiritual duties.
(xii) And shifting the location, house, company, etc., are local issues that can be finished in a day or two. After that, you can continue your sadhanas from your new place. Simple. Devotional sadhanas are the same in both California and Kolkotta. Same worldwide. So, change of environment do not affect the devotional practices.
So, without thinking too much of anything, just perform the essential duties sincerely by planning well.
If you follow the above tips, you need not lead a fully material life or full time devotee life.
You can also avoid Fearing for full Spiritual life or Material life!
Hope you are clear now.
(If devotee friends discourage your Career ambitions, how to take that? READ HERE!)