How can we avoid forgetting in real-life what we learn in classes?

Anwser Podcast

Time: 4 minutes 16 seconds

Transcribed by: Nikhil Fernandes

Question:
How can we avoid forgetting in real-life what we learn in classes?

Answer:
We are fighting an inner war. Fighting a war means we need to have our weapons with us. Not just any weapons but the specific weapons which can help us fight a specific enemy. If we examine our mind, we will find that the broad ways in which the mind tricks us are not unlimited. The mind may sometimes make us angry, sometimes depressed, sometimes envious and so on. Whatever it may be, each of us will find out that there are certain standard ways by which the mind tricks or troubles us.

What we can do is, in advance find sections from scriptures or points we have heard in classes and make those accessible for ourselves. If we just read scripture, it contains so many things, we may not find the right thing at the right time. If we know the anartha that troubles us and the points which help us cope with that anartha, then we should keep those points accessible. For example, on our computer we can keep an anti-anger folder, an anti-greed folder or an anti-depression folder. If we hear a lecture that helps us cope with any of these, we place it in pertinent folder. It need not be the full lecture but even a small section of the lecture. It could even be one point from the lecture. Whatever anartha is troubling us, we need to make the resources for fighting it readily accessible. However, despite our advance preparation, it is possible that when danger arrives, the mind tricks us by making us forget things. There are times when we may have the anti-anger folder on our computer but we still write an angry email. Ultimately, we have to continuously endeavour to learn to use our free will properly.

The more the right thing is easily accessible to us, the more is the likelihood that we will use it. It is our responsibility to make the devotional resources as easily accessible as possible. In general, the mind is lazy – it always chooses the path of least resistance. If we decrease the resistance to the right path, the mind will automatically choose the right path. Continuing the example above, sometimes we are angry but writing an angry email also takes up energy. If there is a nice extract, nice verse or a nice quote at hand then reading that and dealing with the anger is easier than writing a long mail.

To summarize, we must have customised resources for dealing with the specific anarthas that trouble us and we must keep such resources as easily accessible as possible. Ultimately, we will need Krishna’s mercy for remembering those resources at the right time so that we can act on those. It is Krishna only who will provide us the intelligence when trouble arrives, dadami buddhi-yogam tam yena mam upayanti te. We can attract Krishna’s mercy through our sincere and consistent endeavours to overcome our anarthas.