There is great potential and rich fertile space for transformation, empowerment and rapid growth in Krishna consciousness for us all if we can admit our anarthas in a way that is genuine, recognised as our conditioning rather than our real self and such that we can receive loving support to work on those issues. This can be done with trustworthy spiritual friends. It’s not a sentiment-the devotees have to be trustworthy well wishers.
The framework for spiritual disclosure has been given by Rupa Goswami as a loving exchange such that we express our necessary inner issues knowing that the expression will lighten the content of the mind, weaken the karma related to the conditioning, invoke blessings and guidance to overcome the weakness and promote genuine humility. Therefore it is imperative that a devotee find qualified sincere devotees that they can trust, be accepted by and reveal their mind to.
We have a choice as to whether to act on our anarthas or not. When we deny the anartha is there, we are more likely to act on it without even realizing. Once we acknowledge the anartha, we give ourselves the greater choice or freedom to decide if we will act on the anartha or not. Denial increases the chances of displaying or expressing the anartha, especially in ways that maybe harmful for ourselves and others. Revealing the mind to trustworthy devotees in this way develops greater self awareness, confidence and integration. It makes us stronger by making us more interdependent in a healthy way. Ultimately we have to decide if we simply want to look good or become genuinely good devotees.
If we are open ( not gullible, not blindly trusting untrustworthy persons, but open) the process of Krishna consciousness can enter our hearts more deeply. It’s like hearing kirtan playing far away from our hearts (still there is benefit), or hearing kirtan with the door of the heart wide open-the full sound now enters the room! This greater receptivity means we are able to more deeply imbibe the teachings within the heart. This creates a refreshing reinforcement. By deeply imbibing the teachings, we see the results of spiritual life manifested more and more in our own self transformation. We literally become different, purified people. Seeing this transformation deeply enthuses us and others with greater genuine faith to engage even more deeply in Krishna Consciousness ensuring growth rooted in the very core of our being.
Krishna has a way of eventually forcing us to work on things we know we should work on, but that we continually avoid dealing with because those things may be more subtle, require more work or they are unpleasant to face. Take the hint….keep it real. Work on the issue before the issue works on you. An example is envy. Ultimately if we are envious of anyone, we have a problem with Krishna because He has those same qualities unlimitedly. Envy is overcome by serving or glorifying the person we envy. Recognising this is humbling.
Humility is itself a type of spiritual courage, the courage to see ourselves as we are, to see the conditioning we have subjected our own soul to over many lifetimes and to still lovingly enthusiastically encourage ourselves to grow. This is important. If we just feel bad and disenthused, it is not humility. Humility is essentially the ability to see and use everything as a catalyst to deeply feel the need for and to take shelter of our Supremely Loving Krishna. Someone who lacks humility therefore, actually lacks true confidence because they lack true shelter. If we are like this, we are the most fearful, fearful of facing our own conditioning or flaws, holding back from the very Person who can remove them.
