There is no use of going to the forest for one who has failed to control his mind, because he only takes his uncontrolled mind with him. The best course of action is to remain situated in that environment where one finds himself due to the arrangement of Krishna and practice chanting the Holy Name of Krishna, expecting the mercy of the Lord in due course of time.
Everything depends on practice, and through practice of chanting the Holy Name, a taste develops for hearing the transcendental vibration of Krishna’s Holy Name. Thus one naturally becomes indifferent to his former attachments, although he may be in the midst of such attachments (wife, children, house, car, etc.).
This method of practicing Krishna consciousness should be encouraged—not the misleading method of premature renunciation which misleads on to mistake the abandoning of one’s material circumstances with renunciation. True renunciation is a side product of true attachment or taste for chanting the Holy Name of Krishna.
Simply making an external show of abandoning the troublesome objects of the senses (wealth, woman, prestige) will not help one to taste Krishna consciousness. It only creates pride and envy.
Some points to consider:
- One cannot abandon his mundane responsibilities.
- One cannot enjoy his mundane responsibilities.
- One should FOCUS on the VIBRATION of the HOLY NAME.
We are in the midst of the ocean of material action and reaction. One wastes his valuable time and energy combating the waves of the ocean. Similarly, he wastes time and energy thinking to enjoy the waves of the ocean. The aim is to come out of the ocean. Chant Hare Krishna, speak of Krishna, think of Krishna, serve Krishna. Everything connected to Krishna—the flow of material activities is INCIDENTAL. It will go on.
Devotees keep asking themselves, “How will the Krishna consciousness movement spread under the present circumstances?” They observe the lame leadership in their GBC Guru godbrothers, and feel personally helpless to make any change or contribution toward rectifying the situation or themselves.
The obvious answer to this debilitating state of thought is to see one’s self in the correct spiritual perspective. The same devotees who helped Prabhupada spread his movement ISKCON are the same ones who can and will spread Krishna consciousness now and in the future. All that is required is that each individual devotee see himself as the servant of Prabhupada—now exactly as he was then (when Prabhupada was present).
