​When our material obligations make us too busy to practice sadhana strictly, what can we do?

Answer Podcast

Transcribed by: Bhaktin Raji Nachiappan

Question: ​When our material obligations make us too busy to practice sadhana strictly, what can we do?

Answer (Short):

• The important thing is even if we are not able to be consistent, we are able to be resilient.
• When we are not directly able to connect with Krishna, we should know that Krishna is in our heart and He is pleased with our intention to serve, pray, and worship.
• Another thing is that we can look at the overall patterns of our life and find out what are the sources of chaos and plan proactively to deal with that chaos.

Answer (Long): The important thing is to recognise that Krishna is always with us in our hearts and He never forsakes us. Sometimes we will be able to connect with Him directly and sometimes we may not. For example, sometimes we may be able to get up early in the morning and perform our devotional activities and sometimes we may not be able to. The important thing is even if we are not able to be consistent, we are able to be resilient. Consistent means we are able to practice the same standards all the time. Resilient means, sometimes we may go down but we rise again. Consistency may not always be possible but resiliency is definitely possible.

We need to understand that life is dynamic. Sometimes, life brings other things as priorities and as a result we may not be able to focus on Krishna or give Krishna the highest priority. Our purpose, however, should be clear. Just like if we are travelling on a road and there is heavy traffic, we may have to go slowly. And when the traffic clears, we may be able to go faster. In the same way, when we are on the road towards Krishna, the traffic in our material life may sometimes become a little high. And when that happens, the primary thing is that we recognise that this is a tough period and go a little slowly. But in due course, when the traffic clears, we can start moving faster. Thus over a period of time, we can have an overall momentum. That is why even if we can’t be consistent, we can be resilient.

Life may sometimes just push us down and therefore we cannot maintain the same standards all the time. But when that force that is pushing us has subsided, we rise again and bounce back. And even when we are not directly able to connect with Krishna, we should know that Krishna is in our heart and He is pleased with our intention to serve, pray, and worship. If we are able to stay focused on Krishna, that itself is a laudable connection because Krishna is bhava-grahi. He sees our intention and He appreciates our intention.

Another thing is that chaos is to some extent unavoidable in life, but not always. If we can look at the overall patterns of our life and find out what are the sources of chaos, we plan proactively to deal with that chaos. Then we find that they do not trouble us so much. We will be better prepared and consequently deal with them better. So with better organisation, the chaos will also decrease in our life. Thus we will able to move forwards. And even if the disorderliness comes, and we cannot be consistent, we can be resilient and bounce back when things come back more in control.