02.44: When spiritual life seems dry and tasteless….

The Bhagavad-gita (2.44) states that when sensual indulgence and financial opulence infatuate our consciousness, they render us impotent to experience devotional happiness.

As spiritual seekers, we sometimes go through dry phases when our devotional practices seem to give us no rasa, no juice or taste. More often than not, the cause of this tastelessness is misdirection of our consciousness. A person who has no aesthetic sensibility finds nothing to relish in a work of art, even when it is an artistic masterpiece. Similarly, those of us who have no spiritual sensibility find nothing to relish in the remembrance of Krishna, even though it is the sweetest and most satisfying experience in all of creation. Of course, all of us as spiritual beings do have an innate spiritual sensibility, but it is presently dormant. All our spiritual practices are meant to arouse and activate this dormant sensibility and thereby enable us to relish the remembrance of Krishna. However, when we let ourselves get carried away by prospects of indulgence and opulence, they sedate our spiritual sensibility and stimulate our material sensitivity. Consequently we become desensitized and even deadened to spiritual experiences, and obsessed with materialistic fantasies.

Nonetheless, if use our discrimination to recognize the futility of these material allurements and our determination to dislodge these distractions from our consciousness, then we can redirect our consciousness to Krishna, regain our lost spiritual sensibility and witness the lost joy of remembering him entering and animating our heart – soon.