Suppose the weather suddenly turns chilly. We could blame the weather and feel sorry for ourselves. Or we could don warm clothes and get on with our life. 

We would naturally choose the second option whenever the weather turns unfavorable. But we don’t choose so prudently when our emotional weather turns unfavorable, that is when we start feeling resentful and fretful amid difficulties. We start blaming people or things or the world at large. However, such blaming simply disempowers us – by making us feel we have been helplessly victimized by a cruel world, it submerges us in a swamp of self-pity. 

We have a far more empowering alternative: build our inner world and gain the strength to endure. How can we build our inner world? A time-honored way is to increase our spiritual awareness, which can become the inner equivalent of warm clothes amid cold weather. 

What is spiritual awareness? The awareness that we are indestructible spiritual beings, who are parts of the supreme spiritual being, Krishna. He is all-powerful and all-merciful, being the well-wisher of everyone (Bhagavad-gita 05.29). He is expert enough to bring good even out of bad. If we stay devotionally disposed towards him, our heart opens to his voice. And he gives us the grace and guidance to overcome all obstacles (18.58). 

Such spiritual awareness benefits us far more than warm clothes. Warm clothes can protect us from the cold at present, but they get worn out with time. In contrast, spiritual awareness protects us from our present difficulty – and also increases our overall devotional absorption in Krishna, thereby buffering us from future difficulties. 

And with time and practice, our absorption in Krishna deepens, filling us with unflappable inner security and ultimately taking us to the arena of eternal security. 

 

Think it over:

  • How does blaming the world disempower us?
  • What is spiritual awareness?
  • When life turns chilly, how does spiritual awareness benefit us more than warm clothes?

 

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18.58  If you become conscious of Me, you will pass over all the obstacles of conditioned life by My grace. If, however, you do not work in such consciousness but act through false ego, not hearing Me, you will be lost.


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