Overcoming obstacles in spiritual life

Theme Wisdom means to understand the ideal accept the practical  chart a way from the

practical to the ideal

Part 1

Managing the mind:Focus more on selecting desire than rejecting desire

Mind

Lethal but essentialEg wild horse, needs to be broken

Svabhava

Gita 18.59-60: refers to nature of the mind, not the soul

Attitudes towards temporality & death

Ignorance: Everything is worthlessPassion: Enjoy right away Goodness: Use the temporary to focus on the eternal

Identities – Fundamental & functional

Gita 2.13: “You are the soul.”2.14: Kaunteya, Bharata

Srila Prabhupada’s expertise To Americans: “What is the use of you being American if you don’t do anything wonderful.”To Indians: “The Gita is from India. Yet to teach the Gita in India, I need to get people from America.”

Not replace, but re-place

We can’t replace the mind, but we can re-place it

The spiritual & the material

The spiritual is the purpose of the material, not the substitute for the material eg Arjuna: Gita & archery

Varnashrama

Not rejection of the material, but its selection

Varnashrama

Allocate people the kind of problems they like to face

Rejection Intention alone is inadequate protection from temptation

ConditioningWhat we do before we realize what we are doing Gita 3.36Eg. Survey about no of daily food-related decisions

DecisionFocus more on wise-unwise than on right-wrong eg. Recovering alcoholic socializing in bar

Propinquity in bhakti

Use the mind’s laziness for spiritual growthEg Haridas Thakura – prostitute