Bhakti Wednesday | What To Do When You Feel Stuck or Uninspired

Hari Krishna, everyone. This is Acyuta-bhava from Nightlight Astrology, and today it is Bhakti Wednesday. I'm really excited because I am joined today by two of my teachers, friends, and mentors in the bhakti tradition. Loka and Vidarbha, who also have a couple of times a year, come on to help me field questions that you guys send in every week through the Q&A series. And we also bring them on once in a while because they teach an introduction to the Bhagavad Gita course that's coming up again. And so I'm here to also tell you about that. And we're going to talk to them about that course and a little bit about the Bhagavad Gita today after we take some of your Q&A.

So with that being said, Hello, Loka and Vidarbha. Good to see you again. Thanks for coming back. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

So I'm really excited to dive into our Q&A. We've got some really good Q&A from the viewers. And if you ever have a question that you want us to address on Bhakti Wednesday, myself or Ashley and Rukmini, they come on and do things now and then, Loka and Vidarbha. Join me now. And then so any questions ever, you can just email info@nightlightastrology.com and put bhakti Q&A in the subject line. And then we'll be glad to get to your question one way or another. So today, I'm going through some questions. And I picked out I couldn't do all of them because you guys send in so many, and I try to get to just put them in the queue. But there were a few good ones. And one of them was put like this; I'm going to pitch these up to Loka and Vidarbha this week and just sit back and listen. And maybe if I have something to add, I will. But it's really nice for me to listen to two of my favorite people and teachers talk about Bhakti.

So the first question came in from someone saying that they've been trying mantra meditation for a little while. I did a video some time ago with, you know, daily practices of surrender. And it was called the subtitle was Mantra Meditation was a little bit about the Maha Mantra. And this person asked the question that they've been doing mantra meditation for a while. And they've been listening to Bhakti Wednesday for a while. And they said, how do you know? Or how can you tell if a spiritual practice is working? And I thought that's a really good question. And so that's our first one. How can you tell whether it's mantra meditation, or let's just say, any of the things that people are doing to draw closer toward God, or the divine, whatever word people may give it? How do you know that it's working? How do you know that? This is, you know, this is actually there's something that that's actually taking place inside?

Loka
Go ahead on this.

Vidarbha
So yeah, I think one of the most exciting things that I've experienced on this path of Bhakti is sort of having kind of a map that I can follow. So there are great teachers of Bhakti. And they've kind of laid it out that this is what to expect when you first start. And then you know, once you start to practice, then these are the things that you could, you know, expect in your, in your journey. And I was when I first read that it's actually a book by a great bhakti teacher when I first read it, I was like, Oh, my goodness, how does he know all this? And so it's very validating to know that so in brief, one would know, just like, when you eat a good meal, you know that you're full, that you are, you're feeling nourished and strong and that your hunger is going away. So, in the same way, when one starts the practice of Bhakti, then one's hankering and limitation and fears and anxiety, and all the stuff that acts as a block in our heart, they start to disappear just like the fog or just like the darkness is just dissipated. And one starts to experience this sort of awakening. And one doesn't need a certificate from someone else. You know, you just know that because you can see how all those things that troubled you in the past, they're all sort of going away, and one is feeling happier and lighter, and one is feeling more nourished. And most importantly, one will start to show symptoms of deep attachment for topics. One will start to develop a taste and relish in discussions about spiritual subject matter.

Loka
Yeah, that's very beautifully said, and I was the only we were talking about this verse from the Bhagavad Gita, where Krishna gives two beautiful symptoms of somebody who's making progress in spiritual life is that we will start feeling happiness and seeing the happiness of others and will experience sadness or will experience the suffering of others. So when we, when we kind of made that connection with others in that deep way, that means we are making spiritual progress that is a symptom of a yogi who sees others' happiness as one's own happiness; others suffering as one's own suffering.

Vidarbha
Actually, I just wanted to add another thing that, for me, what's so exciting about any spiritual path is the potential for inner transformation. And you know, a lot of times when can see, you know, a lot of stuff that we may be, you know, symbols and other things or even practices. But if it does not lead to the transformation of one's heart, then actually, one of another bhakti texts, it says that one can, one can assume that it's a heart made of steel. So we want to expect and work towards inner transformation.

Acyuta-bhava
Yeah, I was just thinking about. There was a couple of follow-up questions that this person wrote. And we won't be able to get to all of them because it's quite a long email. But there was so heartfelt that I thought we should try to feature this one. And one of the follow-up questions that they asked was also Is it normal? The first, I guess, the first couple of times that this person experienced mantra meditation, they even had some tears. And it was, they said, it was very powerful. And they said it's kind of tapered off. Like, they do not have the same emotional high. And so, you know, the question was, like, Am I doing something wrong? And I just thought that was really interesting, because, you know, Mantra meditation has been a part of your lives for a long time for my life for at least a period of years now, every day, and the way that I would reflect upon it at this point for myself, but I'd like to hear you guys speak to this too, is that, you know, sometimes it's like raining, and sometimes the soil is a little dry. And if you stick with it, you'll notice that the rain always comes back, eventually, you know, whether that's tears or just a feeling of being really connected while you're chanting. And I think that's, you know, I remember when I was in Calcutta, we went, I was at a conference, an astrology conference, and we went during the day and visited, we visited the Convent of Mother Teresa. And in her diaries, where she talked openly to God and her diaries and some of those diaries, she felt really a deep state of despair that she felt like God wasn't hearing her or that there wasn't reciprocation. And it was this very deep, emotional state. But it was funny because the tour guide said, you know, there are people who criticized her for this, like she was losing her faith. But actually, these experiences of dryness, so to speak. Were for those people who belong to the monastic lifestyle are deeply instructive because she kept pouring her heart out to God on the pages, even though she felt dry. And I think there's something very similar in Bhakti. You know, it's the same thing, when we go through these, it's like, it's pretty normal to go through separation and to feel far away from Krishna and to, in the beginning, I feel like it's it, it's like, you know, Welcome home, you know, it's, you're feeling really, really good. But then it's pretty normal to go through periods like that. What do you guys say?

Loka
Yeah, that's quite normal. I think I compare it to when a store opens; then they have this big sale, or freedom as the store opening, right? And then after that, you have to pay. So it's like that it's the initial, and it's the hardest, suddenly getting exposed to this beautiful sun. And then after that, I guess it's, it's just like in any relationship that's putting in the work. Going through those dry periods is actually very good for the heart because it allows us to see where we stand and where we need to do the work.

Vidarbha
I was just when you were speaking; I was just laughing because there is this beautiful poem by Rumi where it's called love dogs. I don't know if you've heard of this. And, you know, and this man, you know, he's crying all night. ?Hola. Hola. And so is it. Alright, can I just quickly read a part? Please do. Yeah. So man was crying, Allah. Allah. His lips grew sweet with the praising until a cynic said, so I've heard you calling out but have you ever gotten any response? The man had no answer to that. He quit praying and fell into confused sleep. He dreamed he saw a kid there, the guide of souls in a thick green foliage. Why did you stop praising because I never heard anything back. So this longing you express is the return message; the grief you cry out from draws you toward union. Listen, and I'm just going to skip this; listen to the moan of a dog for its master; that whining is the connection. There are loved dogs; no one knows the names of; give your life to be one of them.

Adam Elenbaas
Oh, yeah. So beautiful.

Vidarbha
So I think there is, you know, like you're saying that you know, we come in from this world where everything we do we expect a return or a fruit, you know, and that's called fruit of mindset. And you know, to enter into a space where it's love for the sake of love, unconditional, uninterrupted, not expecting anything in return, but wanting to give once all, it's a form of unconditional love that, you know, the power of themselves is the only thing that can satisfy the self. So, you know, we see that in, in the lives of these great lovers of God, that they don't even want ecstasy in return for their love.

Adam Elenbaas
Right? I think it's tricky because, you know, I'm imagining what this person might be going through feeling so connected, and then suddenly starting to feel like this dryness, or, you know, it's a duty, or it's a discipline. And I think my experience of having daily prayer in my life, through mantra meditation, and before too growing up in the Christian church, you know, prayer as a part of life is that there are these periods where if you stick with it, the word discipline softens, and it becomes devotion. You know, but there is there are periods where we have to recognize not because we're bad, or because we're, we're, there's something wrong with us. But just because it's a, it's a work in progress to soften the heart, you know, so like, the steel harder, we have harder hearts than we think we do, sometimes, you know, and sticking with something, and allowing ourselves to feel sometimes frustrated, or dry. But keeping with practices, they become devotion, and then you start to, in my experience anyway, you start to notice that it's you don't go through dry spells forever, you know, nothing lasts forever. And, and so you get spaces where you come back again, and, and then when they do come back, you don't feel entitled to them, you feel really lucky, almost like, wow, this is it's a byproduct of just sticking with it. And, and I think in that sense, you know, discipline, in our culture comes from a merit-based mindset; if you're disciplined, and you work hard, you get a result. That's really not what, you know, Bhakti is about. Also, it's like that whole mindset has to change, and the spiritual practice is changing that, but it's deeply set in us, you know.

Vidarbha
It has in so many ways, I over a period of time, I have come to appreciate this non-reciprocation because it allows me, first of all, to understand that love is not a formula that I cannot put two and two and get it for because that will again, create the sort of like an achiever mindset, that I can just do this and got it, No? And so and that also feeds into this quality of just humility, which is the ground on which Bhakti grows. So, you know, knowing that I'm just waiting for you know, and I was thinking actually even about like, as a mother, sometimes you go through periods where you're just nursing, and you're taking care of the baby, and the baby, sometimes even crying. And then, all of a sudden, one fine moment, like the baby suddenly looks at you and gives you this beautiful smile. And it's all worth it. You know?

Adam Elenbaas
I remember that when both of our daughters were young after, well, specifically, when summer, our second daughter was born. And Ashley sometimes would say something like that, she would say, I know, it's not going to be too long before there's a person in there that I'm interacting with more, you know, and it doesn't feel just so much like I'm just fulfilling a need that you know, over and then you know, you get those smiles coming through. Yeah.

Loka
Another way I look at the dryness is actually the dryness is the response. And many times when God or Krishna is not responding, by not responding, he's responding actually because he's allowing us to get over our plateau and move on to the next level. So every time I experience the dryness, that means it's not that we are going backward, but actually, we are moving forward, and There's another plateau to get over and then move on. So it's kind of holding our hand and taking us over or taking us along, and it's just we keep walking along. The dryness will end soon.

Vidarbha
Yeah, yeah. And you know, and also, I think here's the other thing, that in the bhakti tradition, and this is a bit of an esoteric point, but separation feelings of separation is actually not the means to an end. But it's in some ways, what we are striving for is, you know, this cultivation of longing. So when there is separation, then hopefully, that absence, it's not out of sight, out of mind, but rather, absence makes the heart grow fonder, right, and you know, that we start longing for more, and we take deeper shelter during those times.

Adam Elenbaas
One thing that also helps tremendously is having spiritual community. Because sometimes when you're feeling really dry, if you are around people who are like-minded, if you, we say, you know, associate, right, if you associate with people who are seeking the same connection in their lives, and then they're going through some of the same dry spells too, and it's amazing how, you know, when I see you guys, or when I connect with some other people in my life, or even thankfully, my wife and I share this path. And, you know, they'll just be moments where you're so glad to see these people because you don't feel like you're alone in it either. And I think that's a huge reason that we do Bhakti Wednesday, every week, to just help people feel like there's some community, that they're not alone.

And, on that note, I want to shift gears a little bit to talk about your upcoming class because, to me, going through the things that this individual was going through, and hopefully, Thank you, by the way, to this person for sending us that question. A couple of questions there. And I hope that this was able to answer just give you some encouragement and positive feedback that these emotions are normal, maybe even helpful, and some other thoughts. But the thing that I would honestly recommend more than anything is to find like-minded, spiritual seekers, and I always bring Loka Vidarbha on when they are about ready to start one of their new 12-week classes, they twice a year, they teach a class on a 12-week introduction to the Bhagavad Gita, which is a seminal text of Bhakti Yoga it is, sometimes you'll hear people, you know, lovingly referred to it as the Hindu Bible, you know, and whether you like the Bible or not, is not the point. It's a beautiful, beautiful spiritual text. And it has so much wisdom in it. And learning this text in community, with other spiritual seekers in a warm environment where you can talk and hang out with people. Learn mantra, meditation mantra, do mantra, meditation in a group, and develop bonds with people. You know, that's what this program is all about. So I want to promote that. And I'm going to take you over to show you the website in a minute and how you can sign up and check out this upcoming class, which is starting on October 9. A 12-Week Intro to the Bhagavad Gita. But before we get into showing them the website and everything, just for someone who's maybe never heard of it before, what is the Bhagavad Gita? Why is it an interesting text? What is this class about?

Loka
Thank you, Bhagavad Gita is actually a conversation. It's a story. As a conversation, it's a conversation about facing, how to face some of the biggest challenges of our life and how to use those challenges to seek out the spiritual essence in ourselves and in others, and in the whole situation. And through that, connect with God. And that's why I'm, in so many ways, to look at the Bhagavad Gita. But that's one way to look at it. It's not just like a text that you read. It's filled with deeper and deeper questions, something that we encounter in everyday life, how to balance our work with our spirituality, our family life with spirituality, so many things are there. That's one way we look at the Bhagavad Gita.

Vidarbha
Yeah. It's always, you know when you are so close to a text to step back and really like say, Oh, what is it about? And I was thinking that it's really to me it's like Arjuna's journey. It's his life. It's his journey. You know, from being one of the greatest warriors to facing some of his deepest attachments on the battlefield, who are, you know, standing in front of him as opponents, and the emotional breakdown that comes from it, the grief, the lamentation that comes from having to face such a difficult choice in life. And, and his response to that, in the form of, instead of trying to find answers in different, you know, with his mind, he connects with the supreme divine, Krishna, who's seated on his chariot as his chariot driver. And then there is this very intimate conversation that happens between the soul, the living entity, and God, and his compassion and his, you know, ultimately, the word hardware Gita means song of God. So it's a song that that, you know, that stems from the heart of God to heal Arjuna, to pacify Arjuna. But beyond that, really invite all souls back into this eternal union.

Adam Elenbaas
I love the idea that this is our Arjunas journey it, for those who have learned know nothing about it. He's the main character. And he finds himself in this completely overwhelming situation where he may have to go to war against some of his own family members. He's a he's a warrior. And he's, it's, you know, it's that might sound right away, like, I don't want to hear about a warrior. But actually, he comes to this place where he's like he doesn't like violence. And he doesn't like this terrible ethical situation that he's in. And the whole story is really him talking to his chariot driver, Krishna. And basically, having a conversation with God and being like, what is why am I here? But that one, that little question about the nature of the battle that he's in, opens up into? Who am I? Why is anything here? What you know, what are we doing? What is life about? Is there a goal to life? I've heard about yoga; what is it? Are there different types of yoga? What are the different results that you get from doing them?

And, you know, one of my favorite things is that, in a nutshell, Krishna tells Arjuna, you can't run off to a cave to meditate to do this. That's not really what yoga is. And I think when a lot of people think about yoga, they either think about Western studio Yoga, you know, which is cool, we might go and get some good relaxation, something like that. Or they think about someone in a cave somewhere in the Himalayas, you know, and Bhakti is really a yoga that's about a way of life. It's about a way of living devotionally and every day, and it's like, it's amazing how this conversation that is the Bhagavad Gita ends, it starts on a battlefield, but it unpacks like every possible thing, that the same questions that I have in my heart that I know that people who watch my channel have, you know, it's like, really everyday stuff.

Loka
Yeah, totally agree. It's a book about making connections, deeper connections with ourselves, deeper connections with others, meaningful way, going beyond our ego, finding opportunities or transformation in our life, something that we can apply every minute in our life. How to deal with crisis, how to deal with changes in our life, sudden changes, things like that. I find it very practical; the Bhagavad Gita that can be used at work that can be used in our family situations that can be used in our social situations, and how to deal with practically every situation in our life in a positive way.

Adam Elenbaas
Yeah, well, I'd like to show the website so that we can, I can just show people, you know, where they can learn more and more about what the class includes. So that's a little bit about the Gita. I mean, it's it is truly difficult to summarize, but it's not a difficult text. It's a text that is, to me, it's amazing how accessible it is in 10 years of owning a yoga studio. We had hundreds of students come through our yoga teacher training programs. And we featured this as a text that students read. And everyone's like, unanimously, everyone always loved reading the Bhagavad Gita. It's just a really relevant text for spiritual seekers; it transforms your heart. I couldn't recommend it more highly, even if you're coming from a faith background that's already established in something else. Just exposing yourself to the Gita and being familiar with it is, you know, no different than being familiar with the Tao Te Ching or any of the other great spiritual literature if you're just a student of religion in general and you're curious, or maybe you're coming from an established path of one kind or another already, but I still would highly recommend it. And especially if you're a seeker who's just looking for a path or looking for community, this is we've had hundreds of people from my channel from my student class, my classes, my students, my friends, including myself, spend time studying with Loka and Vidarbha. So I think you'll really like it. But what is the class consists of? Tell us what classes are like and what you guys do in the classes.

Loka
So the class is broken down into 12 sessions. We take out the most essential topics from the Bhagavad Gita that are relevant to a person like me and you. And we kind of presented from a point of view of personal living in this modern world. So like topics like, we start with the yoga of lamentation, essentially yoga crisis, how the protagonist Arjuna is facing the biggest crisis of his life, and how he uses that to start a journey of spiritual growth. And then we talk about what is the nature of the self because, in order to solve our challenges in life, we have to kind of understand who we really are. And so we get into the metaphysics of the self. Who are we really? Then, thereby you can continue?

Vidarbha
Yeah, I guess there are all these different topics, which you know, which the Bhagavad Gita can be kind of you can, you know, divide thematically so you know, why, what about karma? Or about yoga? You know, why do we suffer the way we suffer bad things happening to good people, the mind topic, and we talked, we go quite deep into the mind and the nature of the mind. And finally, how to overcome the mind, faith, and doubt, you know, and also the forces that act upon us. It's a question that Arjuna inquires somewhere in the Bhagavad Gita where he says, so what's the reason like, even if I know what I should be doing or not doing? Why is it that so many people still helplessly do that? And that's a whole other topic why are there any forces acting upon us. So we kind of like go into all these different topics, and as Loka was saying, we kind of presented and then have a lot of discussions. And our main thing is we want to create a safe space where we can discuss these very essential questions that we may all have at some point or the other.

Adam Elenbaas
Yes, yoga philosophy, when you get into it in the Bhagavad Gita, is so refreshing, and it's so nice to be in a community with people who are looking to transform or who might be going through periods of, you know, a lot of people going through a lot of intense changes. And so, you know, these, these sessions are there to be a place of support and to help us look inward when everything else in our life is busy. And often. You know, we're just, we're kind of in the grind of the day-to-day life. So to take 12 weeks, and to try to step outside of that even for just a couple hours, once a week, and to try to get some insight to have community to ask questions. The other thing that comes along with this program, and you guys could mention this to tell us more about it, is you also get together outside of class for some different kinds of sessions, too, right?

Loka
Yeah, yeah, they do. I guess one other thing about our sessions is that we read from the original text, but then we spent a lot of time correlating the text to modern happenings and sharing videos from prominent people in different fields, that kind of how we can connect this ancient knowledge to our present-day life and making it relevant. How to see the Gita as a living text. And there's plenty of opportunity. We use this text to basically dig out questions. So as Vidarbha was mentioning, it's very discussion based. And all questions are welcome. No, no question is considered inappropriate or offensive. It's about creating discussion. It's about creating communication. And this is what this course is about, and ultimately creating a community.

Vidarbha
I guess one other additional thing that we offer, as you mentioned, is this opportunity to engage in mantra meditation. So every day, you know, we come together and we, you know, for those that are interested, that's an optional. Practice. If they want to learn and go deeper, then we facilitate that. And in fact, we have one that's ongoing from the last session, and then it just becomes like this really sweet tightly knit, as you know, friendship and relationship where every day they come together, and you know, and engage in mantra meditation, so, so the two actually go really well together, for those that would like that extra support.

Loka
And then we also have an online community on mighty networks for people who are taking the course or who just want to join the meditation; that's a very active online community where people can come and share their experiences, share their thoughts, ask questions, and interact with each other on a more personal level. So once you sign up, then you'll get an invitation to join that online community. And as I was saying, We also offer daily meditation, and there also will be a weekly Q&A Following the each session. So there will be 12 sessions for the course. I mean, sessions, and then after each session, we have weekly Q&A, as well.

Adam Elenbaas
So there's a lot of opportunities, people could take advantage of those or just come to the, you know, to the regular 12-week program. So it's set up to really be very accommodating in this sense. And I believe you guys also record the sessions for people if they can't make them live.

Loka
Yes. So all the sessions are recorded, and you will be an email will be sent out with all the links. And yeah, and it's something that you can; you can also take the course offline if the timing doesn't suit you, or you can always take it at your own pace. Accessing that in the past, actually, they've taken it offline. And yeah, all the course content, all the slides, all the lectures, they will be made available to you. Through enlightened one mighty network, right? Yes.

Adam Elenbaas
Yeah, that's fantastic. The nice thing about this program, too, is that there is a Pay What You Can enrollment. So when you enroll, you can set up a payment that works for you. So this is not meant to this is, you know, really intentionally made for everyone, so that no one is priced out of studying spiritual texts like the Gita, it's the same exact philosophy that I take with my courses, I don't want anyone being priced out of studying a sacred topic like astrology, if your heart leads you to it, then we should be able to work something out. And then people who can pay more do, and you just kind of trust in faith that it all works out. And it does. It's an amazing thing. But it happens that way. So if you're in India and listening to this, and we do have a good amount of people in India who watch my channel, which is pretty cool, then you can use the Enroll now for students in India. Otherwise, you can just use the normal registration path.

So I'd want to just say again we'll be promoting this somewhat regularly through my newsletter, my social media, and on YouTube. You'll hear me referencing this, you know, encouraging you to sign up to listen back to this video for more details and things like that. It starts on October 29. And the program, So the program runs on Saturdays from 10 to 11:30am. Eastern time. And that weekly Q&A sessions are Wednesdays from * to 9pm. Eastern Time and daily mantra meditation sessions are from nine to 9:30am. Eastern time. So it runs from October 29 to January 14. So you've got about 12 weeks of programming. They're really excited for this coming up. Is there anything else you guys want to say about it? I guess

Loka
The URL for the website is Bhakti wise.com. That you can go there and register. And look at the description and see if you'd be interested.

Adam Elenbaas
Thank you, guys, for being here again.

Vidarbha and Loka
Thank you. Always a pleasure. Yeah. Your audience sends you.
Yeah, this is wonderful.

Adam Elenbaas
Yeah, this is wonderful. Yeah, absolutely. And thank you to everybody watching for sending in your questions. If you have more questions, I can tell you right now that you if this is the kind of stuff that you like, if you like Bhakti Wednesday videos, and there's a growing audience of people who do like I liked the astrology, I also really love Bhakti Wednesdays if you enjoy bhakti Wednesdays, you will love hanging out with Loka and Vidarbha they're wonderful, wonderful souls who I trust 100% You know, to guide people in a very good direction with this beautiful practice of yoga.

And so I would encourage you to check it out. Go to Bhaktiwise.com. In the meantime, any more questions you have for our queue In second, you can email them to info@nightlightastrology.com, and I will be more than happy to. I will be more than happy to put them in the queue so that we get to them in a future episode. In the meantime, don't forget to like and subscribe, share a few comments, and tell us your thoughts today. Click the notification bell for updates once you subscribe if you want a transcript of this talk to read back over it. You can always find the transcripts of my daily talks on the website as well. Usually within 24 hours. All right. Well, that's what I've got for today. Hari Krishna