“I’m on the Hiiiiiiiighway to Krishna!”

Imagine that the practice of Krishna Consciousness is like driving on a highway where we gradually get closer and closer to our destination – pure love of Krishna. 

Can you see Krishna? He’s at the very end of this road. He’s waving at you!

On each side of the highway there is a ditch. We want to avoid driving into the ditches for an easy ride back to Krishna. But to avoid driving into these ditches we must be able to spot them, so how do they look?

The First Ditch

“…nor should one accept the rulings of devotional service which are more than what he can easily perform. ” [Nectar of Devotion, chapter 7]

Prabhupada explains that if we try to follow more rules than we can easily perform then we are sure to be negligent which is offensive and thus our progress towards pure devotional service is hindered. There is also another danger, namely that we will get frustrated because we are not able to live up to our ideals. Such frustration can make us give up Krishna Consciousness.

So don’t try to do more than you can!

The Second Ditch

“…to maintain material attachments, even after understanding so many instructions on this matter. ” [Nectar of Devotion, chapter 8]

As you have probably already recognized this is the last part of the tenth offense against the Holy Names. It basically says that we should not accept less rules and regulations than we can follow. If we are able to follow a specific standard of devotional service it is an offense to decide to follow a lower standard. 

So don’t follow less than you can!

Use Lights

If we are driving in the middle of the night and our lights breaks then we are more likely to drive into one of the ditches even though we know how they look. This breaking of lights might be compared to our distracted mind that, among other things, tries to convince our weak intelligence that we are so spiritually advanced that we can easily follow the highest standard of devotional service or that we are so fallen that we  need to follow a lower standard than we actually can. In this situation we need some lights that works. The best lights comes from the bona fide spiritual master:

om ajñāna timirāndhasya
jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena
tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ

“I was born in the darkest ignorance, and my spiritual master opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto him.“

The lights of the spiritual master will keep us on the road so that we can gradually make progress towards our goal.

The idea of neither doing too much nor too little is universal. If we are training for a marathon and start our training by running too long and too fast we can’t train for the next couple of days due to pain. And if we do too little we will not reach the level of strength required to run the marathon. But we we do neither too much nor too little our strength will gradually increase to the desired level. In the same way, if we stay between neither too much nor too little in Krishna Consciousness our spiritual strength and love for Krishna will gradually increase.

I wish you a happy and safe ride back to Krishna!

Understanding the Concept of “Dovetailing”

Prabhupada:

“This world is not permanent. So even though it is not permanent, it can be utilized for the service of the Lord. Nirbandhe kṛṣṇa-sambandhe yukta-vairāgyam ucyate. That is our philosophy. We don’t take the jagat as mithyā; we take it as fact, because it is emanation from the supreme fact. So just like gold earring is also gold—that is not iron—similarly, the, this material world is made of the external energy of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore we do not find anything here wrong. We try to dovetail everything in the service of Kṛṣṇa, because it is Kṛṣṇa’s. Just like one’s property must be enjoyed by the proprietor. Kṛṣṇa says that bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram [Bg.5.29]. He’s the proprietor of this world. Therefore everything dovetailed in His service for His satisfaction, that is devotional service.”

“The devotees think of Kṛṣṇa, act for Kṛṣṇa, eat for Kṛṣṇa, sleep for Kṛṣṇa and work for Kṛṣṇa. Thus everything is engaged in the service of Kṛṣṇa. A total life in Kṛṣṇa consciousness saves one from material contamination. As stated by Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja:

kṛṣṇa-bhajane yāhā haya anukūla
viṣaya baliyā tyāge tāhā haya bhūla

If one is so expert that he can engage everything or dovetail everything in the service of the Lord, to give up the material world would be a great blunder. One should learn how to dovetail everything in the service of the Lord, for everything is connected to Kṛṣṇa.”

“…material qualification, that is not bad, provided they are engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Otherwise it has no value. Material qualification, if they are engaged… Nirbandhe kṛṣṇa-sambandhe yukta-vairāgyam ucyate. If one is able to dovetail his material qualities in the service of the Lord, then that becomes a great qualification.” 

“Dovetail” Defined

From the Marriam Webster Dictionary:

¹dove·tail 
Pronunciation:
\ˈdəv-ˌtāl\
Function:
noun
Date: 
1573
: something resembling a dove’s tail ; especially : a flaring tenon and a mortise into which it fits tightly making an interlocking joint between two pieces (as of wood)

²dovetail
Function:
verb
Date:
circa 1656
transitive verb
1 a: to join by means of dovetails b: to cut to a dovetail
2 a: to fit skillfully to form a whole b: to fit together with
intransitive verb
: to fit together into a whole

A few other ways of saying the same thing:

American Heritage Dictionary:

To connect or combine precisely or harmoniously. 

To combine or interlock into a unified whole.

Dovetail Illustrations

Dovetail: 1) Mortises, 2) tenons and 3) joint. 

Sometimes a “dovetail bar” is used to dovetail:

Here is a variety of “dovetail pictures”:

Summing up

Instead of  renouncing this world we ought to “dovetail” the material energy, our material qualifications and desires in Krishna’s service. This means that we must “skillfully” “connect” them with Krishna’s desire so that they “fit” “tightly“, “precisely” and “harmoniously” to form a “unified whole“. Hence they will also become spiritual.

Beautiful, right?

When the good becomes the enemy of the best!

When the good becomes the enemy of the best!

- Authored by Ajita Krishna Dasa

I have been asked to share some of the realizations I’m having while doing my Nectar of Instruction and Sri Isopanisad marathon (I have a goal of reading/listening to each of them 100 times. It’s mostly listening). 

Prabhupada is our savior and that everything we need, and even more, is in his books. Prabhupada’s books are our primary source of information and inspiration. They should be! 

But sometimes we get carried away and start to read all kinds of other devotional books by this devotee or that devotee or this swami or that swami. These books are usually very good and there’s no harm in reading them so long as–and this is very important–it’s not at the expense of reading Prabhupada’s books. 

Recently I read the following by a Christian philosopher and theologian:

“Having acquired a clear grasp of your priorities, it’s very important to cultivate the personal character trait of single-mindedness. By that I mean the ability to discern the difference between the good and the best and not to let the good become the enemy of the best. There are so many distractions in life, and many of them are genuinely good things. But if our desire is be as productive as we can, then we must learn to shun the good for the sake of the goal on which we’re focused.” [Dr. William Lane Craig]

So even though all these other devotional books are very good, they are not the best. Prabhupada’s books are the best, and we should be very careful of not letting what is good become the enemy of what is best. In other words, we should not read other devotional books at the expense of reading Prabhupada’s books. 

We have a problem if we loose contact with Prabhupada because we read other devotional things. So please, please please stay in close contact with Prabhupada by reading, listening and studying his books at least one hour everyday and please pray that a fallen devotee like me will also be able to continue this vow. 

And now stop reading this text and get back to Prabhupada’s books!!!

Your aspiring servant,

Ajita Krishna Dasa