– Do you have some stressful situations in your life? How do you relieve stress? What would you advise people who think that vodka is the best remedy?
– (Laughing) You know, the world is full of stress. Everybody has stressful situations in their life, no matter who they are and what they do. But it depends on the internal environment: are we stressful inside? The external stress is not necessarily the internal stress. And if I am stressed inside, then, even though I am in a peaceful situation externally, I am still stressed.
So, again, the same idea: work on your spiritual life, become peaceful inside in your relationship with God, live a lifestyle according to God’s instructions, to God’s plan, cooperate, harmonize with God’s system. The yoga teachings are like this. The bhakti yoga system teaches how to live in every way, how to live every our day, how to eat, how to sleep, all these different things, how to see the world.
When we become more and more purified from such a lifestyle, then we become more calm, peaceful inside. We see the stress in a different way; it is not so alarming, it is not so important to us. The things the most people see so important are not that important. We see the important things in life as spiritual things, not material things. Spiritual things, spiritual situations do not cause stress.
So if there is stress, what can you do? You can turn to the source of relief and that is the Supreme Lord Himself. You can chant more, you can read scripture, you can relax, you can reflect on the higher truth, the reality of life, see the big picture, not being focused on the little immediate picture which is causing you so much pain and suffering. In this way you will be able to live a very easy life, truly easy life.
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