Q. Because of job, I am not able to go for councillee meeting nor able to go for yatra, then how should I take it? I am able to complete all 16 rounds before leaving home and I am going for Sunday feast regularly. Should I leave job and find some other? Please give some tips so that I can improve my sadhana bhakti.

A. Chanting sixteen rounds and following the four regulative principles are certainly the basic minimum sadhana one needs to follow. However, in order to maintain this consistently, we have the counsellor system where everyone can come together, discuss and share each others’ concerns, and take proper guidance from a senior experienced devotee. If we miss that, the quality of our sadhana is likely to reduce and eventually we may give up the process altogether.

Attending the annual yatras is also an important activity in a devotee’s life. It’s one of the five items Rupa Gosvami recommends for a sadhaka.

If you have a night shift job due to which you miss out on the weekly meetings, then you may try to change your shift timings. If that is not possible, you may personally meet your counselor on Sundays. Also most companies do allow their employees to go on vacation annually. We just need to adjust our official duties to some extent and take out that extra time once a year.

If you find this too difficult to implement, then you may need to take up a job that gives you enough spare time to pursue spiritual life uncompromisingly.