Endurance by Mantra Yoga

Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krishna! You may be wondering, "How is it possible that with disturbances all around me, I should remain undisturbed?" It is possible when we depend on the power of God by taking His shelter whenever such inconveniences come. When we surrender to Him, He will give us the necessary will power, inner strength and patience to endure such trying circumstances.

This is the reason why godly people are able to stay undisturbed in the face of trials and tribulations, whereas those who are not sur­rendered to God, when faced with a crisis, usually seek refuge in some illusory escape-route such as  drinking or taking drugs. And sometimes, they may even go to the extent of committing suicide like a coward. At this juncture, you may ask, "Taking shel­ter of God is a very vague and abstract con­cept. Is there any practical way of actually doing this?" Certainly! We can very easily take shelter of God by  chanting His Holy Names.

The chanting of the Nityaananda and Gauraanga Mantrarajas and the Hare Krishna Mahamantra i.e. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Raama Hare Raama Raama Raama Hare Hare, when done  everyday, can give us tremen­dous inner strength and iron-like determina­tion to tolerate any situation in any walk of life. So by inner spiritual strength derived from regular chanting, we can learn to endure all the suffering of the world.

And of course it is not that we just have to go on enduring the blows of the world for the rest of eternity and that there will be no respite ever. Though we may be suffering at the present moment, we should know that, as we are performing devotional service to God, we are gradually becoming purified and we will eventually be taken out of this world of misery and be situated in the kingdom of God, an abode of eternity, bliss and knowl­edge, which is our original home. So as long as we are connected to God and are on our way back to God, we can be assured that in the future there will be no suffering for us and, even in the present, as we develop more and more tolerance, our suffering will keep decreasing. On the other hand, if someone has no connection to God, he is, at present, being helplessly tossed about in an ocean of suffering and, due to his present sinful activi­ties, he is going to be cast deeper into that ocean in the future. So as long as he does not connect himself with God, there will be no respite whatsoever in his sufferings. (Adapted from an article compiled by Radheshyam Dasa, Jaigopala Dasa, Chaitanya Charana Dasa, Sundara Vara Dasa, etc.)