{"id":62510,"date":"2018-05-21T14:26:37","date_gmt":"2018-05-21T12:26:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dandavats.tumblr.com\/post\/174111861191"},"modified":"2018-05-21T14:27:41","modified_gmt":"2018-05-21T12:27:41","slug":"the-power-of-habit-is-terrible-and-terrific-based-on-gita","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=62510","title":{"rendered":"The power of habit is terrible \u2013 and terrific"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

The power of habit is terrible \u2013 and terrific (Based on Gita 02.62)
\nHabit can be terribly powerful. When people get caught in some bad habits such as smoking or drinking, they find quitting those habits almost impossible \u2013 it appears that habits have a power bigger than theirs.
\nThe key in dealing with habits is understanding that even if habits can\u2019t be rejected, they can be replaced. Whatever habits we have, they serve some need. To the extent we cultivate a positive habit that fulfills the need fulfilled by a negative habit, to that extent freeing ourselves from the negative habit becomes easier.
\nThe power of habit is value-neutral. That is, if we do something repeatedly, that creates impressions within our mind, and those impressions then propel us to do that thing again and again. The particular action being done doesn\u2019t matter to the mind \u2013 repetition creates an impression that leads to the proposition for further repetition. Therefore, rather than being alarmed by the power of our negative habits, we can use habit\u2019s value-neutrality to power our positive habits.<\/p>\n

The Bhagavad-gita (02.60) acknowledges that giving up our lower habits of sensual indulgence is extremely difficult. But then it (02.62) recommends that we replace those habits with the habit of devotional contemplation. When we learn to fix our mind on Krishna, we get a higher pleasure that enables us to resist lower pleasures.<\/p>\n

Habits of sensual indulgence serve our need for pleasure, though, of course, they give a lot of trouble eventually. When we see that our need for pleasure can be fulfilled in a healthier and more enduring way by connecting ourselves with Krishna, then we start habituating ourselves to positive devotional things. And the power of that devotional habit will work for us. By steady cultivation of such a habit, its power can become a terrific power that frees us from our sensual habits.<\/p>\n

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\nVerse 02.62 – \u201cWhile contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\nGitaDaily articles are written by Chaitanya Charan Das<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

The power of habit is terrible – and terrific (Based on Gita 02.62)
\nHabit can be terribly powerful. When people get caught in some bad habits such as smoking or drinking, they find quitting those habits almost impossible – it appears that habits have a power bigger than theirs.
\nThe key in dealing with habits is understanding that even if habits can’t be rejected, they can be replaced. Whatever habits we have, they serve some need. To the extent we cultivate a positive habit that fulfills the need fulfilled by a negative habit, to that extent freeing ourselves from the negative habit becomes easier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10650,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[152],"class_list":["post-62510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recent-media","tag-nectar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10650"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=62510"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62512,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62510\/revisions\/62512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=62510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=62510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}