“The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.59)

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विषया विनिवर्तन्ते
निराहारस्य देहिनः
रस-वर्जं रसो ऽप्य् अस्य
परं दृष्ट्वा निवर्तते

viṣayā vinivartante
nirāhārasya dehinaḥ
rasa-varjaṁ raso ‘py asya
paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate

1. Working so hard

“It is the first thing I think about in the morning. I was up late working on it yesterday, as well. I know that if I can solve this one issue, it will be smooth sailing moving forward. Sure, there are other tasks assigned to me. It is not like the company will give me a vacation for completing the project.

“Since this one issue has been nagging at me for a while, it is all I think about. If I can move it out of the way, with a proper resolution, then I will be so happy.”

2. Trying to forget

“This weekend I plan on doing nothing. I am putting the phone away. I will not be checking email. I want to completely forget about the past week. That was tiring and depressing. I cannot believe I have to put in so much effort just to be able to feed my family.

“Is this what we are reduced to? Should not society be advancing? They call this progress? I think farmers have it easier. At least they get to spend time outside. At least they don’t have to deal with buzzing phones and incompetent colleagues messing everything up.”

…

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada describes this as bhoga-tyaga, or alternating between sense gratification and renunciation. This is but one of the dualities of the material world. One moment a person is happy and the next they are sad.

Today, there is bright sunshine outside. The humidity is low, and so the climate is ideal for taking a walk, playing sports, or simply sitting in the shade. In a few months, the bitter cold will return. It will be a hellish existence, wherein a person can barely spend a few moments outside.

In the beginning, there is the joy from the event known as birth. Great freedom to do as you please, to take advantage of the care and protection from the guardians. In adulthood, the same individual is strapped down to a chair firmly grounded by responsibilities and concerns.

There is the option of bhakti-yoga, which is not part of the dualities. It is not something you take up for a few minutes and then desperately hope to forget about. Rather, one of the cornerstone activities can be so enjoyable that the momentum continues even after the activity has temporarily halted.

We have been swinging on the pendulum of dualities within a material existence for so long that even after finding and confirming something superior, we have a difficult time giving up that which is familiar. Therefore, rules and regulations are necessary in the beginning stages. There has to be some effort and sacrifice. This might be uncomfortable at the start, but the potential for advancement is great.

If I spend two hours chanting the holy names, I am in contact with the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the energy which serves Him. I am in a different world, though I have not physically moved. My consciousness is in a transcendental place, though bhoga and tyaga are nearby.

The chanting was so wonderful that it continues in my mind, even after I have moved on to something else. While driving home, I still hear the mantra: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

Though yesterday I prepared a prasadam offering of baked goods, I am ready to enter the kitchen again. The experience was tiring, but there was amazing fulfillment at the end. I want to experience that over and over.

Shri Krishna describes this as param drishtva. A person has experienced something superior. Therefore, they have the power to give up what was previously debilitating, tiring, and draining. They no longer have to toggle between bhoga and tyaga because their bhakti life brings transcendental pleasure, which continues into the infinite future.

In Closing:

Like with priorities askew,
Daily miseries to renew.

Between bhoga and tyaga swinging,
Never any happiness bringing.

But since following a different way,
Where holy names to say.

And to routine bound,
A higher taste found.

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