How to Feel Inspiration?

Finding inspiration for creative projects, work and countless other pursuits can be very difficult, especially in this age of Kali. The current yuga is characterized by quarrel and hypocrisy, and the people of this age are described as mostly atheistic, full of vice and lazy. When Kaliyuga is fully advanced, one hand will steal from the other. Now, it seems impossible to find the will to pursue anything in this terrible era, but as Shrila Prabhupada once said, 'Impossible is a word in a fool's dictionary,' so here is how you can feel inspired to do work nicely.

Kali Yuga, the age of quarrel and hypocrisy

Step 1: Know Yourself.

Ask yourself, who am I? Sometimes we find that we do not have an answer to this question, which is okay. The age we are living in is rife with voidism, so most people do not understand that they are in fact people. Shrila Prabhupada says: 'The voidists say that consciousness is a product of a combination of matter and that as soon as the consciousness is gone, the material combination dissolves, and therefore there is ultimately nothing but voidness. This absence of consciousness is called nirvāṇa in Māyāvāda philosophy.'-S.B 3.27.17 Purport 'Body minus consciousness is dead body. Everyone knows it. A child can understand it, that I am speaking, you are hearing because your consciousness is present, my consciousness is present. As soon as my consciousness is deducted from this body, then this same mouth will not speak, the same hand will not move, the same your ear will not hear. The whole thing will be stopped. So it is very common sense affair, that consciousness, that is the main thing in this body. So any intelligent man with common sense can understand this. Now, what is this consciousness? This consciousness is the symptom of the soul.' - Lecture on B.G,March 25 1966 'So, as we are also persons, individual living beings, we are persons, we have got our individuality, we are all individual, similarly the Supreme Truth, the Supreme Absolute, He is also, at the ultimate issue He is a person.' Lecture on B.G February 19-20 1966

Step 2: Know your duty

Congratulations! You now have the understanding that you are not this body, but an eternal spirit soul, part and parcel of the supreme whole, Krishna. But as an eternal individual personality, you must have some activity to perform. Ever heard of the word Dharma? 'Real dharma is given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna, and that real dharma is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). "Just surrender unto me." This is real dharma. Surrender to Krishna and follow His instruction; your life will be perfect. Because you follow the perfect instruction, therefore you are also perfect. Simple process. To become perfect, we have to follow the perfect instruction.' - Lecture on B.G July 14 1973 And what is the instruction of Shri Krishna? 'Our business is to present Kṛṣṇa's message as it is. Then you become spiritual master. Spiritual master does not become grown just like tree. No. It is carrying the message from higher authorities as it is stated.' - Lecture on B.G May 9 1969 'This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission. He says, "You become a spiritual master." "How? I have no qualification." "No. You just accept my order?" "So what is your order, sir?" Yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa: [Cc. Madhya 7.128] "You simply speak the instruction of Kṛṣṇa whoever you meet. Then you become a spiritual master."' - Lecture on B.G April 4 1974

Step 3: Pray for mercy

Shrila Prabhupada says if you want to be successful then you need two things, in any activity in Krsna consciousness two things are required, prayer and endeavor. You pray for the mercy, guidance, and intelligence and then you make an effort. It is also important to recieve the mercy of a bonafide spiritual master. 'There must be mercy both of them, guru and Kṛṣṇa. Without guru's kṛpā, one cannot reach Kṛṣṇa, and without Kṛṣṇa's kṛpā, one cannot get a bona fide spiritual master. This is correlative terms. So we should follow the disciplinary methods sincerely under the guidance of spiritual master.' - Lecture on S.B August 5 1975 Our bonafide spiritual master is Shrila Prabhupada. Luckily it is not so difficult to recieve their mercy, as Krishna and his associates are the most merciful. All we need is sincerity. As the spiritual master is the perfect representative of Krishna, following his instruction is equal to following the instruction of Krishna. Here are some instructions of Shrila Prabhupada, with the explanation of how following them can cultivate inspiration.

Our spiritual master, Shrila Prabhupada

1. Constantly chanting Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

   This purifies our mind from past sinful activites, and glorifies Krishna, the root of all existence. As, when you pour water on the root of a tree, all the branches and leaves are nourished, so when you glorify Krishna, you, as his eternal part and parcel, are also glorified.

2. Following the 4 regulative principles.

   There are 4 regulative principles we must follow in order to accept Shrila Prabhupada as a spiritual master. No meat eating, no illicit sex, no intoxicants -and no gambling. These principles help you to keep a clean consciousness, which makes it easier to think of cool ways to serve Krishna.

3. Read Shrila Prabupada's books.

   Shrila Prabhupada has written over 80 volumes of spiritual literature, glorifying Krishna and teaching us everything about how to live healthily and happily in Kali Yuga. Reading these books reminds us about how wonderful Krishna and his associates are and why we live to serve them.

   
   

Krishna, also known as Syamasundara, the beautiful dark one.