I’ve been thinking a lot about something that Karnamrita said to me when I commented to his recent blog. I was thanking him, and saying that I thought what he wrote was wonderful, and that I hoped others would read it also, because I found it to be so meaningful (in an essential way) and thought it would be helpful to everyone.
He was mentioning his efforts to write for the particular audience here, and not being certain if what he wrote would be meaningful to them.
I’ve been thinking a lot about something that Karnamrita said to me when I commented to his recent blog. I was thanking him, and saying that I thought what he wrote was wonderful, and that I hoped others would read it also, because I found it to be so meaningful (in an essential way) and thought it would be helpful to everyone.
He was mentioning his efforts to write for the particular audience here, and not being certain if what he wrote would be meaningful to them.
I think a lot about who our audience is when I write things here on connect also. Like he said, it’s very important to know who your audience is, and keep that in mind when you are writing things, so that you are saying the things that will be relevant and helpful to your readers.
That comment got me thinking a lot about how hard it really is to know exactly who your audience is, and further, know what things would or would not be relevant or helpful to them. I have found that to be very difficult myself.
We have so many different kinds of people reading this website, from all sorts of backgrounds, and stages of spiritual development. Even though I have a general idea of the readership, it’s still hard to know what will or won’t be relevant and helpful.
What I believe will be relevant and helpful, often times appears not to be. Other times, things that I think won’t really be all that meaningful, but I post them anyway, just in case, seem to “hit a nerve” with everyone.
So I was contemplating what it is that makes something very inspiring to one person, and not to another. There are a so many factors that go into this.
So many of them, we don’t have any real control over. If someone writes something that is too technical (or advanced detailed information) then of course it’s not going to benefit us or inspire us much. If someone writes something that we already understand completely and really don’t need to know more about, then it’s not all that helpful or relevant. Those are just two examples of things we really don’t have much control over as a reader.
What we do have control over, always, is our own approach to anything we read. If we are “looking” to be inspired, most of the time we will be. If we are “looking” to see what is “wrong” with something, or in what way it has “failed us” then we will see that.
So much of what we get out of the things we read depends on our own attitude. This applies to so many things in spiritual life. For example, if we approach chanting japa with the attitude that “oh, I have to chant my rounds now…. this is so hard, why do we have to do this”…. it’s easy to see that it will be difficult to get much inspiration from doing it. You’ve made it a chore, decided it’s tedious, and you will be struggling while doing it.
When we come to Krishna.com, to “connect”, if we enter in the mood of “I have this wonderful opportunity now to go and associate with all the devotees and read the various things everyone is discussing, let me see what wonderful inspiring things will be posted there today”…. we are much more likely to find inspiration (at least of some kind) from so many things.
When you approach something that is written from the view of “assuming” that there is some great information contained therein, and you are being given an opportunity to associate with the devotee who has written it, through their words, and learn something from them, you will be more likely to find something of value.
If you start reading with a critical eye, looking to find the flaw, point out the discrepancy, show someone what things they’ve said that you don’t agree with, then usually, you will be able to find that too.
We are all capable of finding flaws, faults and “issues” with everything and anything.
So, if you want to be inspired, then it’s a good idea to start with the idea that you are going to be. Have the desire to be inspired, rather than the desire to “see what’s wrong”.
When you cultivate that consciousness it grows, and you’ll be more and more inspired by everything. Whatever type of consciousness we focus on and put energy into expands and increases. Whether it’s positive of negative is up to us.
It’s a really easy thing to cultivate just by practice, and practice turns into habit. Just look at whatever it is you are reading to “see what things are good” about it.
Of course that doesn’t mean that you will be inspired by everything you read, but you will increase the chances of it a great deal.
* Navasi’s blog
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Comments
Mon, 08/11/2008 – 17:55 — dru
dru’s picture
Beautifully said
Hare Krishna,
Dear Navasi,
Whatever you’ve just said is so true and really this is INSPIRING. You made this understood very easily with good examples, now that’s what i call inspiring to be inspired.
Thank you so much.
Hari Bol.
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Mon, 08/11/2008 – 22:43 — Navasi
Navasi’s picture
Inspiration
Hare Krishna,
Dear Dru,
I’m so happy to know you felt inspired by this.
🙂
We all work together here, and learn so many things from each other. We try to find better ways to communicate, better ways to inspire, better ways to understand and better ways to explain.
: )
It’s inspiring to know you were inspired.
I feel like I’m chanting “inspired” 😉
lol
Navasi
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Mon, 08/11/2008 – 08:13 — Karnamrita.das
Karnamrita.das’s picture
Necessity
Thanks Navasi for bringing your points up. Let us have the desire for inspiration and taste for Krishna, rather then matter!
I was thinking that in addition to having an orientation of looking for the good instead of finding faults as you mentioned, another factor which will determine what is relevant to us is how much spiritual necessity we have or how much we want and value Krishna consciousness. The reason the logic of Krishna consciousness appeals to us or not is our level urgency, or it’s absence. We are advised in the scriptures that the price for becoming Krishna conscious and loving him is our intense desire to have it. It is called in sanskrit, “laulyam”. It is found in a verse by Rupa Goswami:
“‘Pure devotional service in Krsna consciousness cannot be had even by pious activity in hundreds and thousands of lives. It can be attained only by paying one price — that is, intense greed to obtain it. If it is available somewhere, one must purchase it without delay.'” Chaitanya Charitamrita Madhya 8.70
Remembering when I first became a devotee my necessity was very intense due to my level of suffering and feeling disconnected from the world. I was on a quest and was willing to sacrifice my material life if necessary.
We may not have that initially or it may fade in time, (but be encouraged as it will come if you want it) and we should pray for that eagerness for obtaining Krishna. That comes about by studying what Krishna conscious is, chanting the holy name with feeling and associating with those how have such eagerness. That is really what the process of Krishna consciousness is—-understanding the wonder, beauty, and desirability of Krishna, and having the faith that this is a worthwhile goal that is possible to obtain.
The question for all of us is how much do we desire Krishna, and how much do we hanker for the things and relationships of the world?
Your friend in Krishna,
Karnamrita
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Mon, 08/11/2008 – 09:00 — Navasi
Navasi’s picture
The Desire For Krishna
Thank you Karnamrita,
That is an excellent point.
Desiring Krishna is most certainly an important factor in what inspires us! (and the intensity of that desire, the necessity of it).
Oh yes, so true! We have to really NEED Krishna.
I love what you’ve said too about how we have to get an understanding of the wonder, beauty and desirability of Krishna, and have faith that Krishna is a worthwhile and attainable goal. (in order to desire it).
Like fanning the spark of a flame into a fire, associating with devotees and hearing about Krishna increases that desire.
I guess that’s a good thing to think of when it comes to writing also…. what will fan the spark?
: )
Krishna, Krishna, Krishna 🙂
Thank you for your comment.
Navasi