We have to tolerate the extremes in the world, and toleration is one of the ways that Krishna recommends throughout the Bhagavad Gītā to be steady in spiritual consciousness. Don't give in to the extremes and the changes of the external world. Also, notice that if you pursue the pleasure of the senses in this world, then the result of it will be—although it may feel like pleasure in the beginning—there'll be misery at the end, because you'll have to contend with the reaction to it. So, we remain neutral while we're in the body, and we go on with our spiritual duty. And as one does that, there's a sense of satisfaction, which is invaluable in this world, because nobody has it. It's very rare because you can only get it from the spiritual platform. You can't get it from having money. You can't get it from having a beautiful property somewhere. You can't get it from having freedom to fly all over the world. Any of these things don't bring lasting happiness; only if one has developed Krishna consciousness can one become happy, and it doesn't matter what the situation is externally. So, although this seems to be a very simple principle in a simple verse, it's one of the essential aspects of practicing spiritual life: learning how to tolerate the dualities and to go on with one's practice in spiritual life.
And the final point I'll make is that consistency is king in spiritual practice. If you're able to be consistent, even if you start with a minimal practice, but you keep it up every day and do your quota that you've decided to do, then it will have its effect. And there's an example that someone once gave about how, when you make yogurt, does anybody here know how to make yogurt? You take a big pot of milk—let's just say it is a big pot, and call your life a big pot of milk. If you take a little yogurt that's already there and you put it in the milk, even if it's a little bit, you put it into the big pot of milk, and then you set the pot in a place with an even temperature, not too cold, not too hot, and you leave it overnight, a miracle happens. You come back and the whole pot turns to yogurt. So we have a lot of things going on in our lives, but if you can add that spiritual practice to the big pot of your life, then eventually the whole pot transforms, and everything about your life gets connected to Krishna consciousness. It doesn't mean you have to give up what you're doing.
As an example here is Arjuna. He's a warrior, and therefore he has to fight. It's his duty. If you call somebody when you're getting attacked, who's supposed to be a police officer, and say, "Please help me," and they say, "Oh, no, sorry, I'm non-violent, I can't help you," a non-violent policeman or a violent priest are not wanted. Everyone has their duty to do; they have to do it. So we go on with whatever our duties are in life, but if we add this spiritual practice and do it consistently, then gradually, everything transforms.
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https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/
https://thefourquestionsbook.com/
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