Ask the Monk, a session with Nityanand Charan Das, spiritual counsellor and a practicing monk at Iskcon Chowpatty. In conversation with Rtn. Priyasri Patodia

Ask the Monk, a session with Nityanand Charan Das, spiritual counsellor and a practicing monk at Iskcon Chowpatty. In conversation with Rtn. Priyasri Patodia

I’ve been wanting to ask you this for a while. I’ve noticed during our talks, some people rudely use their phones, ignoring the importance of the moment. I really get angry. But you, you stay calm and keep guiding everyone. How do you do it? Do you ever get angry, and if you do, how do you deal with it?

Hare Krishna. I feel privileged to be here amongst all of you. When I see people on their phone while I’m speaking or a phone rings, I do tell them strictly. Even if just a few people are doing that, others also get distracted. When people are giving their valuable time, it’s my sacred service to them to be strict, so that they are able to take full advantage of the time that they are giving. So yes, sometimes I do tell people to switch off their phones before I begin. But I have  mostly stopped telling them because of something that happened to me long ago. At one event, I
repeatedly told people to switch the phones off, and right in the middle of the lecture, my own
phone rang. at was Krishna’s way of humbling.

That was the only time my phone rang; never before that, never after. But then I stopped telling
others.

It’s not that I don’t get upset; it’s not that I don’t react; but it’s something that needs to be communicated. Because we are living in the age of Kalyug and there are so many distractions anyway.

So, at least when we come together for a sacred purpose, we try to instruct people to minimise it,
because as soon as they step out, they will anyway do it. So, it needs to be communicated.
Prabhuji, how to we handle insults or hurt from others? Shouldn’t we prioritise self-protection?
In your book, you’ve advised both standing up against mistreatment and praying for those who
cause pain. How do we manage toxic individuals, and our own emotions of anger and sadness?
So, you are mentioning two solutions, each based on the level we are on. If we are on that level where we are very evolved, such people pray for others, they don’t get hurt, they don’t feel insulted. If you are not on that platform, you must draw a line and let the other person know that this is a line they can’t cross. “Look, I respect you, I love you, I’ll be there for you, but just this is the line that you can’t cross.” We need to let them know, and this is not something which is not mentioned in these scriptures.

Once, the great sage Naradmuni visited a village and noticed children playing, yet also getting
scared and running away every now and then. He found out that there was a snake that was bothering them. He went to the snake and asked it to stop troubling them. When he returned sometime later, he saw the children throwing stones at the snake which just lay in a corner bruised and hurt.

When Naradmuni asked him what had happened, the snake said, “You told me not to bother them
but see what they are doing to me now.” So Naradmuni teaches him the lesson of tolerance, “I
told you not to bite them, but you can always hiss and at least scare them.”

So, we have to be practical because of the age we are living in, which the Bhagavatam describes as
an ocean of faults, ocean of sins, and mountains of sins. This is the worst of the ages where value
systems have totally disappeared, and people are becoming more and more selfish. So, if you don’t
remain practical, people will keep taking advantage.

But if you are on that saintly platform where we can tolerate and still be happy, then exercise that.
If you’re not on that platform, be practical and do whatever is needed.

We practise that even as monks and sometimes, if we do not want to practise even these two
solutions, we just have to maintain distance. Then you might question what happens to your
relationship with that person? Then that’s the price you have to pay, or you have to learn; you have to choose the price tag you want to address. So, either it could be a relationship, or it could be your peace. Either you maintain distance, or you draw a line, or you tolerate. That’s all.

Prabhuji everyone, including those who may have perfect circumstances, are suffering in
some way or the other. Are we here to experience suffering? But there are times when one actually enjoys one’s circumstances. So, is this life a present or a reward? Why are we here? What is
the purpose of our life and our existence?

I’ll speak on the basis of the scriptures because that’s our subject and scriptures are known as the
manuals for life. Whenever you buy a gadget, it comes with a manual that shows how to operate
it, which buttons to press, which buttons to avoid, and which numbers to dial when something goes wrong. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna has used two words to describe this world:

Dukkhalayam and Ashashvatam. Dukkhalayam means a place of misery. Misery is more prominent. Not that there is no happiness, but misery is more prominent. For example, you are sitting at this event, and you are wearing your favourite dress. 99 out of 100 people praise you. And one person comes and says, “What a useless dress.” Who will you think about for the
next 6 -7 days till you settle the score? Only that one person; he will occupy your mind.
Even if there is happiness, he says it’s temporary. So just because this world is miserable doesn’t mean we also have to be miserable. The Isha Upanishad also explains that the Lord is complete and so is this creation. There is no loophole. So, if there is a problem, there is also a solution. That solution is not in learning simple techniques, breathing in, breathing out or doing some spiritual practice. In the name of spiritual practice, doing something, we have to rise above. We have to become immune because the nature of the world will not change.

Whether it’s Gita, Bhagavad, Ramayana, or Mahabharata, the lesson is only two-fold. All the scriptures are teaching just two lessons. The first is that no matter who you are, anything
can happen any moment. Even if you are the most pious person, sinless, innocent, still you will have to face trials and tribulations in life because that is the world we are living in.

Like, in the middle of the ocean, the ocean doesn’t discriminate. The waves don’t discriminate, they hit everyone. Similarly, it’s the nature of the world, no matter who we are. So, it’s not always karma. 3-4 years ago, there was a Thre at Kamala Mills, 27 people or so many people died. I lost 2 very dear people in that Thre; one was a 36-year-old girl, very enthusiastic, a very intense devotee, and another, a 43-year-old. Both were attending classes. It took me at least a month to overcome this, I was devastated. So, I spoke to my mentor at the temple; I said, I am facing diculty, I am not able to focus on anything. He showed me a purport in the Shrimad Bhagavatam and this is the episode where Pandavas have won the battle at Kurukshetra, Mahabharata War and now Krishna takes them to Bhishma Pitamah, who is lying on the bed of arrows. And then Bhishma, as soon as he sees the Pandavas, he looks at their faces and he has tears of affection. And he says, oh, what terrible injustices you innocent Pandavas had to face since the time you were born. And in that purport, Srila Prabhupada, the founder Acharya of ISKCON, He writes that, this world is such a place that even if you are the most pious person, still you will have to go through challenges. at’s when I realised it’s not always karma, it’s the nature of the world. Most of the time, in our case at least, it is karma. But in the case of the saintly people, the great souls, it’s the Lord’s arrangement to teach us also, but it is the nature of the world also.

The first lesson the scriptures teach is that no matter who you are, anything can happen any moment, we are living in a world where there is danger at every step. However, when that upheaval takes place, what do we do? That is the second lesson that the manuals, the scriptures teach us. And that is, turn to Him, which not many people do these days. And that’s why misery is increasing more and more; the more people become disconnected from their roots, from the spiritual culture, the more people become atheist. So naturally, misery will increase, chaos will increase. For example, one of the words used for the world we are living in is karagar. Karagar means a prison.

A prison cell, a prison house. So what do you expect in a prison house? A comfortable life? Even if you have all the facilities, it is within the prison cell, your movement is still restricted, you are still miserable. So, how can we get out of the prison? How can we escape the prison or the misery inside the prison? If we start cooperating with the law, the President may release us five years earlier. So, the same thing works with the laws of karma. If we begin to lead a sattvik life, a God conscious life, begin to follow or live by the laws made by God which can be found in the scriptures, then even if the whole world is going upside down, you will not be aected. You will still be blissful. Because the law of karma only hits that person who is supposed to be hit. It’s not unjust.

Before the tsunami, five people dived into the ocean. They did it regularly, and they were there inside the ocean for two hours. Every now and then they felt some force pushing them upwards which they thought was normal; waves do that. So, when they came out after two hours, they wanted to reach the shore, only to find it was not there anymore. During those two hours, a tsunami had struck, and everybody outside died, but those people who were inside the ocean, they survived, because their time had not come. So, only the person who is supposed to be suffering at that moment will suffer. But if we begin to behave nicely, if we begin to abide by the laws, if we begin to lead a sattvic life, then we will not be subjected to the misery of the world, the nature of this world. We will be protected.

You mentioned causation in your book, where we reap from past lives, yet we don’t recall them. Wouldn’t life be simpler if we did? When facing diffculties, we often question, “Why me?” only then seeking solace in spirituality. Good you told me, now I’ll be after you. Just tell me the essence of the question in one sentence. I have two questions. Firstly, about the law of cause and eect, where you reap what you sow. And secondly, we’re unsure if what we receive is a result of past lives. Is there life after death? Are our current experiences linked to previous actions? I wish I had clarity on this.

The law of cause and effect; so, if you have indigestion, it means you’ve eaten something wrong. It doesn’t take a great personality or a seer to understand that something wrong is happening. I might have done something wrong in the past. So, as you sow, so shall you reap is the law. And this also justifies the different starting points people have in life. Somebody is born poor, somebody is born rich, somebody is born with good health, somebody is not so healthy, somebody is beautiful, somebody is not so beautiful. Otherwise, how will you explain this? As far as not remembering our past life, that’s not so important. It is nice to say that if I remembered my past life, I would be more careful. But in this lifetime, we make so many mistakes and we keep repeating them. How many times do we actually learn the lesson?

We do not. It’s human tendency to take things for granted. And we don’t learn our lesson. You have to have faith in the creation of the Lord. If He makes you forget your past deeds, there must be a reason. And the reason is, number one, we come to this world to enjoy. Right? We all want to enjoy it. Nobody is praying to the Lord for suffering. Nobody is praying to God that He has given them too much happiness and now, please give sorrow. Nobody prays like that. For enjoyment, forgetfulness is necessary. If you keep remembering some bad incident that has taken place in your life, would you be able to enjoy your life at present? So, why to remember all the past lives? You might have done so many things wrong. So, the Lord makes you forget for a reason so that you can start afresh.

And therefore, you have to have faith. And without that faith, now I am not talking about blind faith, I am talking about reasonable faith. Reasonable faith means you can look around and with your comments and intelligence, you can try and understand. Secondly, it’s not important to remember what we have done in the past because the reaction to our karma does not come in a specific way. Like if I slap someone, the reaction may not come in the form of a slap, it may come in the form of another type of pain. Sometimes, many actions combine together to give us one solid reaction. How many actions do you remember? How many actions would we like to remember? Therefore, Krishna says in the Gita that the law of karma is very intricate; we can’t understand it. The only thing within our control is our action; how and when the reaction will come is not in our hand.

For instance, if I commit a crime and go to court and tell the Judge, “Your honour, I am in a hurry, please give me this sentence,” he will say, “You did what you did – commit this crime, but how you will be punished is up to me.” Similarly, there are higher authorities. So, when it comes and how it comes – it will come at its own time. That’s why the law of karma is compared to a seed. Different seeds fructify at different times. If you sow mustard seeds, two-three days. If you sow mango seeds, a few years, depending on the type of seeds. Therefore, for some actions, the reaction comes instantly. There is instant karma and there is delayed karma also. For some, the reaction may come a little later in this lifetime or maybe after a few lifetimes. In the case of Dhritarashtra, he was devastated after the battle was over, and he asked Krishna, “What did I do to deserve to see the death of all my 100 children?” So, Krishna, because he knows everything, tells him that 50 lifetimes ago, “You had blinded a male and female bird and killed all their 100 children because you were a hunter; 100 children, 100 baby birds. So, therefore, the reaction comes this way now.”

So, he’s like, “I did something 50 lifetimes ago and I’m getting the reaction now.” Krishna says “Yes, because you had to experience the proportionate pain. And for that, you also had to have 100 children because you killed as a human. But in order to be qualified to have 100 children, you had to perform pious activities, punya, for 50 lifetimes and now you are ready, so the reaction came.” So, sometimes if you see a person is doing wrong things; and sometimes he is flourishing and sometimes he is not flourishing; but the reaction has to come and it’s like you want to push somebody from a particular floor. So, if you are pushed from the ground or first floor, perhaps the impact would not be that much. So, somebody puts his hand around your shoulder, talks to you nicely and takes you to the 10th floor. Then, he pushes you. So, the law of karma acts like that. It will just take you to a particular position, and now the reaction must come. You mentioned we have free will and can improve our circumstances, which is true.

However, how can we make a difference in a world where so much is beyond our control? There’s immense pain and suffering, wars, poverty, and inequality. Genuine connections seem undervalued, and the digital age often isolates us, portraying unrealistic images on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Also, in your book, you mention how people quarrel over trivial matters in today’s world. How do we foster empathy and maintain harmony, especially considering the current state of affairs in our era?

Your questions are longer than what I have written in my book, my whole book. at’s why you are the monk and I’m here. If you combine all the questions, you will have one book. So, I read a nice article and came across a nice meme on Instagram. The person in the meme shared that when their phone is off, they only worry about their home, job, and family. But when they open Instagram, they start worrying about the entire country. It’s impractical to be anxious about events thousands of miles away. Instead, focussing on what’s within our control brings happiness. Worrying about things beyond our influence, like others’ behaviour or reactions, leads to misery. And that’s beyond your control. But if you focus on your own growth, you’ll find that peace is not something that is to be found outside. Scientific research has shown that even if there are thousand causes of distress around you, but if your mind is in good shape, focussed on better things in life, you will still be happy. And if your mind is in a bad condition, uncontrolled, then even if you are surrounded by a thousand reasons to be happy, you will still be miserable. So, as I mentioned in the beginning, the nature of the world is not going to change. This is Kalyug; what you are seeing right now is not even a trailer. The Mahabharata, the Bhagwat, predicts much worse. This is not even the beginning of Kalyug.

So, if you keep focussing on what’s happening in the world, so much misery, people are becoming sefish, forget that. You can only give to others what you have. So, the change should begin with yourself. Like, the leader who said, “Be the change you want to see.” You fill yourself with love, you become a selfless person, and let that be the inspiration for others. One person can certainly make a lot of changes. At least the greatest service we can do is to inspire others by our own example. Do not try to change others, do not try to change the world. Just focus on your own growth. The nature of the mind is whatever you focus upon that will expand in your life. So, Fill your mind with positivity; amidst the bad, there is also good happening in the world— focus on that and let it grow in your mind and in your life as well. Your life is individual; others have their own destinies, and as I mentioned, there is no effect without cause.

We can’t stop these wars. They will happen, they will continue to happen, but your own peace is within your control. Whether you get affected by that is a choice. There is a saying: pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. So, just as we exercise to shape our bodies, perhaps it’s time to start exercising our minds. As you’ve mentioned, our happiness is determined by our mind, not just our experiences or reactions. Regarding the Rotary Club of Bombay (RCB), they provide us with an opportunity to serve selflessly. My question about this is quite lengthy. So, I’m not responsible if I’m not answering all the questions or all the points, it’s not easy to remember the entire book; I left my college long ago.

My question is about the intention and spirit behind philanthropy. Should it be transactional, with the expectation of rewards in the next birth, or should it be driven by intrinsic motivation? Since joining ISKCON, I’ve been mindful of my actions and words, though I do make mistakes. Sometimes, I find myself engaging in philanthropic work as a shortcut to avoid karmic retribution. Yes, actually, the Gita explains there are three types of karmas. One is, of course, karma, then there is vikarma, and then there is akarma. Karma means good deeds, punya, philanthropic work. Then there is vikarma, which means sinful activities. And then akarma means activities performed in divine consciousness in relation to the Lord. So, good karma does not nullify bad karma. This should be clearly understood. Nobody can say that, oh, this week I have done maybe five wrong activities. So, let me do some seven pious activities. The seven minus Thve, I still have plus two. It doesn’t work that way. It will be plus seven and minus five. The only thing that nullifies the bad is the Akarmic activities, activities performed in divine consciousness, activities in relation to God, direct and indirect both. Direct means taking time out every day, chanting his names, studying the scriptures, worshipping him.

These are direct activities or assisting his mission of sharing the message which is the primary activity which the Lord wants us to do. So, when it comes to philanthropic work, the Mahabharata explains it should be done without any publicity. I mean publicity is required to inspire others as long as that is the goal. But as soon as we let others know of our good work, the benefits of that good work diminish much faster. Like there was a king and he was going around with Naradmuni on a chariot. They were four brothers. So, they asked Naradmuni, now because of the punya that we have accumulated by making wells, by creating facilities for people to stay, by distributing food. We all know we are going to the heavens, we are going to attain a higher destination and a resultant good life, next birth. But tell us who will fall from the heavens first.

So, the sage tells him, this brother of yours, why? Because he did all these things but then he was telling people, I did this, I did that. So therefore, his punya will diminish quickly. And then the second one, he spoke little. So therefore, when I was growing up in Himachal Pradesh, sometimes I would see people used to do guptadaan secretly. When things are done that way, then it just would be you and him directly. There is no contamination, there is no dirt in the middle. The dirt of fruitive desire. I am doing this so that I get something in return. So, ideally, we should do it with no expectation in return, not even recognition. That is the best. And yes, philanthropic work must be done. those who have must share. In the Mahabharata, again, there is a conversation between Lord Shiva and Mother Parvati.

There is almost a hundred-page conversation only on the law of karma. And Mother Parvati asked a question because it is related to the conversation. She says, sometimes we see that a person has led a poverty-stricken life and suddenly towards the end of his life, when he is old, he gets wealth from somewhere and he suddenly becomes rich. How does this happen? So Lord Shiva says, because in his past life, this person, when he had everything, when he had resources to share, he didn’t do that. He kept everything for himself. But towards the end of his life, some good sense prevailed and then he started sharing, helping. So for the amount of time he kept things for himself, he was deprived of those things in his next life. And when he started sharing, that’s when he got everything back. So we only get back what we share. But of course, we don’t do it with that intention. I am giving him 10 rupees so that in the next life, I receive 10,000, not with that intention. It should be done as a duty. I have been given by the Lord all this that I have. It’s my duty to help those who do not have it. And that’s how society runs. And when it comes to philanthropic activities, help can be rendered at two levels.

One is at the level of the body and then the level of the soul. Bhagavad Gita explains, the first teaching of the Gita is that we are not these materials. We are spiritual bodies, we are spirit souls, we are spiritual beings, so spirit is we, the soul, are spiritual. It’s not matter, we are not material. Body is different, we are different. So what does that atma mean? As we heard in childhood, we are not the body but the soul. Atma doesn’t refer to bhoot or ghost. Atma means the soul, that means our identity. So we are the soul, not the material body. Body is always dead. As long as we are in the body or the person is inside the body, the body is active. As soon as the soul leaves, the body is untouchable. If we touch it, we have to take a bath. That’s how dirty it is.

But only the soul’s presence makes it attractive. Our presence. So, there is one help rendered at the level of the body, you provide food, clothing, shelter, medicine to the needy, but there should also be an attempt to raise that person’s consciousness, to God consciousness, because that is the help at the level of the soul, which truly the person is. The body is the soul, the soul is the soul, and ultimately the person is the soul. Therefore, I always say that as much as the hospitals are important, schools are important, the temples, it’s not just where people come, like Shila Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON, he used to say our temples should not be some places where people come, ring the bell, go back. They should be educational institutions where people come, get trained up in the spiritual culture, go back home and practise it. So like, school, college is important, hospitals are important, temples are also important to preserve that spiritual culture. So, Mann Mandir – why has that name been given? Mann, in Hindi, mind is known as mann. And, mandir, that place where the mann gets cleansed is called mandir.

That which liberates the mann is called Mantra. We already have all solutions in the Shastras. So, we have to do both. Therefore, Gita says there are two types of Dharma. Dharma means not faith, not Hinduism, Christianity, Islam. These are different types of faith. We refer to duty. Two duties we all have as humans. One is called sadharma and the other one is sanatana dharma. Sadharma means duties towards friends, family, society and sanatana dharma means duty towards him and duty towards all these people also in relation to him. Then the help becomes complete. We are of course helping the body and we are also helping to raise the person’s consciousness, to divine consciousness. That way we help the person in the future so he will not have to suffer because that connection with the Lord intervenes in his destiny and destroys his karma because of which he’s suffering right now. So that is a long term help we provide. I’ve noticed that sometimes those who follow one philosophy may harbour resentment towards other spiritual practices. How can we foster harmony in a world with such diversity, especially in India, where various spiritualities are practiced? I prefer not to call them religions. It’s, I think, a lack of awareness, one. And more than anything else, it’s a false ego. It’s the same God everyone is worshipping just by different names. Like, there’s only one sun lighting up the whole universe. In Japan, the sun would be addressed by a different name.

In China, it would be addressed by a different name. In India, we are addressing it by a different name. The same God being addressed by different names. So when people do not recognise that, then there are wars in the name of religion. To create universal brotherhood, we have to recognize that we have a common father. And because there is a lack of understanding of this one principle, it has led to wars in the name of religion. In the past, it is going to continue. Therefore, it is said, any religion without philosophical understanding is nothing but fanaticism or sentimentalism.

There is no proper understanding. It’s a false ego. I’ll explain how. When people say, my God is the best and my God is the only God. It’s not as much about God as about himself. Why is my God the best? They may not say it, but underline that statement, because I worship him, therefore he must be the best. Are you all understanding the point? The subtle point? He is the best because I follow this, I worship him, so he has to be the best. It’s not about God himself. So therefore, unless we recognize, unless there is education, now I’ll just, without mentioning names, how this sentiment has been exploited badly. In a particular city, there is one leader. It’s a true episode. He was admitted. And the doctor is also from the same community who was a friend of one of our devotees’ brothers. And he said, you know, these people give you such high regard. Now, they have remained uneducated.

There’s not many facilities for them. Why don’t you give them some culture, some education? Now, this person is literally worshipped by them. And when he speaks, it’s like, what does he say? He said, “Am I crazy? If I give them cultural education, who will ask me?” I’m not mentioning the name, but this is somebody, the community holds in high regard, the highest regard. Then he added, “I throw them scraps like this, and they come running to me like a dog.” Exact words. So, it has been exploited. Now I always tell this story in the 80s and 90s. In the movies there was a common theme.

Just to sum it all up, this entire point, answer to this question, there was a common theme in the movies, 80s, 90s, there is a big kumbh mela. And one family goes to attend that kumbh mela and they have to have at least two children. And one of them had to get lost. So this family goes and one of them gets lost and amazingly ends up in a train and the train comes to Mumbai and he comes out of the train and then he sees some people eating vada pav and he feels hungry. So he doesn’t have any money. He goes and he steals and people say, “Thief, thief !” he starts running. And as he’s running, they start showing the director, producer, actor’s name, the cast of the movie and they only show his shoes. And by the time this ends, the casting and whatever they are showing is ending, he has become a big don. And the other one, who stayed with the family well taken care of, given all the values, he becomes a police offcer. And somehow he gets posted in Mumbai, and this don is also in Mumbai. And the world is round, one day they come face to face, they are fighting, lighting, fighting, and suddenly, they are like “Brother!” Because he sees some sign, and they start embracing each other. Why? Because suddenly he realises, suddenly they start hugging each other. Why? Because now they suddenly recognise that they have a common father. The people are not understanding this one principle, therefore they are fighting. Any religion which teaches hatred towards others is not a true religion, because religion means love. Religion means recognising everybody belongs to the same family. Externally, they may be having different designations of Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Jain.

It’s all external designations which can change any moment. This wastes our lives. So, people need to be educated about this. Why does everyone look up while thinking of God? He is not above. There are planetary systems. There are heavenly planets above. There are lower planets. And then the spiritual world is also above. So that’s why, subconsciously, we all know that.

 

ROTARIANS ASK

Being a householder, I am aware of the challenges and benefits of it. What are the benefits and challenges of being a monk, like you are in that space? Challenges, as a monk, we can’t have any private life. Like at the end of the day, even if we are working until two in the night, we don’t have a house where you can go and chill in your own room. There’s hardly any privacy. And the main challenge that we have to face is the only battle that we have is with our mind. By becoming a monk, a lot of struggle just subsides. A lot of other obligations. But then there is the other struggle is the challenge that we face when we reach out to people and try to share the message that we have. That’s the biggest challenge because with the passage of time, things are actually deteriorating. So as far as I know, my biggest challenge is this only. But it is very blissful. Just like you all are serving the society so nicely, there are challenges. But these challenges are very blissful because it’s for a higher cause.

So I would say there’s only one challenge that we have to deal with, that’s the mind. Everything else is, I think, already minimized, social responsibilities and others. How to make others God-conscious, that is our goal. And that’s why we are bearing this. So that’s the challenge, especially in today’s day and age when there is so much emphasis on modern education, logic, science, now to try to convince people that to understand him who is beyond logic, somebody who is beyond logic cannot be understood with logic. It’s a challenge, especially the younger generation.

But as I said, it’s very blissful. It keeps us occupied. In today’s world, where there is so much toxic positivity, everybody is talking about manifestations, this technique, that technique, all these things. To people like us, what is that one thing you would suggest on a day-to-day level that we can easily practise, and which will help us feel a bit centred?

Associate with those people who have that positivity. Association is the key. Even if you are the most positive person, but in society, if you keep associating with those who carry a lot of negativities, you become like them.

That’s why that’s Satsang. Sat means eternal, truth, pure. Therefore, associating with people who are carrying that, sharing that divine message, creates a lot of positivity. So, unless we have that little spiritual foundation connection, it will be very difficult to remain positive. So at least once a week, there should be a little connection. It will be easier. Nityanandji: Focussing on our own greatness gives rise to false pride and focussing on God’s greatness gives rise to humility.