Feeling distant from Krishna

[shauchadamasatya]

Is it just me or does anyone ever feel distant or even begin to question certain beliefs? I mean I always love Krishna and have faith but sometimes I feel distant and then because I'm surrounded by people who don't believe what I do I'm being discouraged instead of encouraged so it becomes hard.
I don't know.. I guess I'd just like to know I'm not the only one.
I know sometimes Krishna distances Himself to test the love of His devotees and I feel like if that's the case I'm not doing that good of a job but yeah, and I'm also not really doing much to draw towards Him, which I should..
I don't know, any feedback?

[smaranam]

Hare KRshNa

I remember your other post under ISKCON, quite the opposite of this one, a while ago :)

The answer to your concern above is "Adau shraddhA..."

First comes shraddhA - faith
Even before shraddhA (faith) comes nishThA (determination, strength).
This foundation has to be very firm and stable, and that can happen quickly with sAdhu-sanga (association of devotees).
Only then will the next step of ruchi (taste and appetite) for bhajan (devotional service) be permanent. This is Chaitanya shikshA - teachings of GaurAnga.

So, KRshNa does test your faith, but it is also helpful to take on the responsibility of not wavering in an atheistic surrounding, or when you live among people who
at best politely patronize, call your ideas of pUjA as 'concepts in the mind' and
at worst sneer, taunt and ridicule your bhajan.

Hindus experience this in their own Hindu communities/families as well. What to speak of people from other cultures, nations and religions.

*Do not worry.
*Get association of like-minded devotees (sAdhu-sanga). Temple, home-satsanga, here on HDF, wherever. (Personal contact is best, followed by phone, followed by internet correspondence one-on-one, followed by internet forums like this one.)
*Maintain nishThA (determination and trust) that people in the world cannot take your faith away.
*Boost your faith by
---staying one-pointed (nishTha with small a),
---feeding the shradhhA with knowledge by reading shAstra (scriptures) regularly - in your case Bhagavad Gita and Shrimad Bhagavatam, but also Upanishads - the main ones.
Warning: Goswamis adviced against collecting too many books and details and gain half-cooked knowledge from each. Instead, study the main scriptures in depth.

Hope that helps. Pray to KRshNa, pray to RAdhArANi. If you are a GauDIya VaishNav, pray to Lord Chaitanya and Nityanand the most merciful, the 6 Goswamis, the Gaura-bhakta-vRndA (Gurus, saints in Gaura's tradition-tree).

All the best. Shri KRshNa says in the Bhagavad Gita - you are your own friend and your own foe. So it is upto us whether to be our friend or foe.

He KRshNA, karuNA-sindho, dIna-bandho, jagat-pate,
gopesha, gopikA-kAnta, rAdhA-kAnta, namostute _/\_
(He KRshNa, an ocean (sindhu) or mercy and kindness, compassion (karuNA), friend/brother (bandhu) of the meek/weak/fallen/entangled (dIna), Lord (pate) of the Universe (jagat),
Lord (Isha) or the Gopis and Gopas, beloved husband (kAnta) of the GopikAs, Beloved of RAdhA, please accept my respectful obeissances to You (namostute).

[hinduism♥krishna]

Namaste , hari om

When you will see your true self as krishna , you wouldn't feel any seperation from Krishna . I always remember that verse where lord Vishnu says in gita " He , who sees his atma in all beings and all beings in his atmaa , is not different from me ". He is totally fearless. He is beyond happiness and sorrow. He becomes bramh . In the state of bhakti , there is a 0% seperation between Krishna and devotee. Then tell me, after understanding your self, will you feel any seperation from Krishna ?

I can't imagine Krishna different from my self. I feel very alone when i see him different from me. I know from other thing only fear ( seperation) arises.

Hare ram

[smaranam]

Namaste , hari om

When you will see your true self as krishna , you wouldn't feel any seperation from Krishna . I always remember that verse where lord Vishnu says in gita " He , who sees his atma in all beings and all beings in his atmaa , is not different from me ". He is totally fearless. He is beyond happiness and sorrow. He becomes bramh . In the state of bhakti , there is a 0% seperation between Krishna and devotee. Then tell me, after understanding your self, will you feel any seperation from Krishna ?

Haribol! Nicely explained. This gets points. However, there can be two, but there need not be any distance. I always said - "there is not a nanometer of distance between me and KRshNa" this was intuitive, I wasn't pointing at advaita or any philosophy.

[hinduism♥krishna]

Haribol! Nicely explained. This gets points. However, there can be two, but there need not be any distance. I always said - "there is not a nanometer of distance between me and KRshNa" this was intuitive, I wasn't pointing at advaita or any philosophy.
धन्यवाद स्मरणं
I think, in any philosophy there is not any difference between bhakta and krishna. In dvaita too, they both are ever perfectly united by love .

Hare Krishna