Sharanagati

Enjoyment and renunciation is the same. It is attachment. If you show love or hatred – it is the plus or minus side of the same thing – attachment. Many times we can see that people either love their problems, or hate their problems. When you are attached to something or somebody, either you praise or kill. This is attachment – positive and negative attachment. But you are not aloof, you are not over, above.

We are just carrying our attachments. By enjoying mentality you become a woman-hunter. But by false renunciation you become a woman-hater. Same! You are not over and above. If you are disturbed too much by the presence of ladies, that is you are disturbed by yourself. But if you pretend: “O, I’m not disturbed,” yet you enjoy very much the harem around you – again this is false. False things will come to the surface.

And dry renunciation will make your heart like stone or ice. As you grow spiritually more feelings should be there in your heart. More compassion should be there, ability to share the feelings of others. Therefore if you face the same problems in life – how to maintain myself, how to maintain my family, how to take care of a dying father or a sick child – if you meet different problems, then when other people meet the same problems, you will have feelings towards them. Your answer will not be: “This is your karma”. This is not so nice. If I come with my greatest difficulties to someone and he says: “Well, bad karma, bad luck,” this is not consoling me! It does not give me some relief.

“In many cases one falls down due to dry speculations and dry practices, for the soul is by nature full of bliss and he can never appreciate dryness. The soul is always in love or attached, therefore the conditioned soul who falls down from his proper position, develops love or attachment for another, inferior object.”[1]

Originally the soul is connected. If he drops from that original connection, then his feelings, his attachments, he wants to express towards something. And if you do not have some higher object, you will try to find some lower object, naturally. You try the same method, but the target is missed. The rockets are burning, but the focus has to be adjusted. This is the material life. We are very busy, but we miss the target.

“But when the soul, who is the lord of the senses, realizes his eternal rasa, his natural spontaneous attraction awakens and his material affection diminishes. The path of devotional service is the discussion of love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”

So, if you want to have a definition what is this process, what is the path of devotional service, here it is given: it is the discussions about the divine love for the Supreme Lord.  

“In this path as one’s attachment thickens, the endeavor to gratify the senses naturally diminishes.

 

“It is necessary for the practicing devotee to relish bhakti-rasa in the association with devotees. Even though a devotee enjoys all types of material sense gratification, that enjoyment does not produce hankering for more enjoyment. Sense enjoyment is the main cause of a devotee renouncing the desire for material enjoyment.”

Why? Because to make the soul super-satisfied, we have to love and serve Krishna. That is the best religion for humans, by which they can achieve full satisfaction. And this depends on selfless and uninterrupted service – both. Materially you cannot satisfy the spirit. Spiritual satisfaction must be provided for the spirit soul.

[1] From “Prema-pradipa” by Bhaktivinoda Thakura