In this episode of the Pilgrim Heart Podcast, Krishna Das sits down with fellow spiritual seekers over a cup of chai to talk about transforming fear and doubt through spiritual practice.
Check out more great Chai ‘n’ Chat sessions with Krishna Das over at on the Krishna Das Channel on Youtube.
Show Notes
Starting Where You Are At (Opening) – How does the practice of chanting transform fear and what role does fear play in our doubting mind? Krishna Das examines how important it is to start our practice from where we are at, rather than become attached to where we think we should be at in the process.
“A lot of times people get involved with spiritual life and they think there is something to achieve – that you are going to find a button and everything is going to change.”
Confronting our Fear and Doubt (5:00) Krishna Das talks about the fear of the unexpected and its roots in our own self-destructive thought patterns. He addresses the pain and sadness that comes with loss and shares his inspiration to begin healing after the death of Maharaj-ji.
“Probably behind the doubt there is a lot of fear. One of the things that we are afraid of is finding out that life is real. We go through every day as though we are living in dreamland – bouncing off of people, doing this and doing that, and we are never here. We are kind of afraid of what is going to happen if I actually look at my stuff and examine why it is pushing me around.”
Bringing Love Back Into It (14:00) – For as much as love is in our nature, it sure is not in our cultural programming. Krishna Das talks about how chanting allows us to let go of our afflictive emotions and bring love back into our lives.
“You practice when it is not happening, because when it is happening there is nothing you can do, at least in the beginning. So, we take the time when we are not in crisis to sit and quiet our minds – that pays off the next time something happens.”
Check out this dialogue on fear and love between Jack Kornfield and Catherine Ingram: Sitting in Love Rather Than Fear
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