The modes!
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 11 September 2016, Durban, South Africa, Sunday Feast Lecture)
Spiritual life can be received in any state of mind. If the seed of bhakti is received when we are in ignorance, when there are unwanted activities, actions, etc. then these other “creepers” choke the “devotional creeper”. Even in the mode of passion, there are disturbances. We will become insensitive because of our selfishness; we exploit the world, other living beings and so on…
That is what is going on in the world today!
Madness is a result of uncontrolled senses and we get entangled in things that do not bring us happiness because we look at short-term happiness. Sometimes famous people destroy their whole life because of one foolish act which only gave short-term happiness. We have to be careful of what we desire – maybe it is best to not go after too much wealth; what we require for living is actually enough. So often we thoughtlessly do things and then regret… regret… regret…
Bhagavad-gita is the book that organizes our life. Chapter 17 of Bhagavad-gita speaks about the three modes of material nature. These modes manifest in so many things. The mode of goodness makes it easier to maintain our spiritual life. Most of us here are not hearing this for the first time and most of us can make the change but MAINTAINING it is the difficult part.