Gaur Gopal Das used to be an engineer but now has transitioned into a MONK. His story has a lot of incidences of being a Monk in modern-day India. There are a lot of deep life lessons that he learned from the world of Monks that he practices himself and preaches to all his clients.

Gaur Gopal Das Ji is also a massive personal brand in the country now and an amazing corporate coach and motivational speaker.

The first time I recorded with Gaur Gopal Das was three years ago.

Many of the current listeners discovered the show because of that episode. In this, we discussed Monkhood, suffering, and Bhagwat Gita.

Being back on TRS

“It feels like coming back home. Back then, the space was raw, and now it is more sophisticated. The spirit is still the same. The most beautiful thing is things externally can change, but the spirit should remain the same.”

Do Monks Feel Upset?

“The question should be, do human beings feel low? Monks are humans too. Every human being is emotional. I don’t think monks are any exception. We also have ups and downs. It would be a lie to say that monks don’t feel low. The only difference is how quickly and happily we bounce back to high.”

“It\’s in the moment of grief that you search for life. It is those low moments of life that make us.”

Why is there Suffering?

“My take on suffering is the world is like a university, and you go to a university to learn, educate and deepen your knowledge about a subject. Now imagine a life where everything is perfect. What will you learn? How would you work on yourself? Pain means growth. When you go through the pain just for the sake of it, there won’t be any growth. When people realize there are problems and challenges, only then there will be growth. But, I also don’t like looking at the world as there is pain.”

Reading Bhagwat Gita

“Bhagwat Gita has been a guiding force in my life. Spirituality is a subjective journey. Everyone reads the shlokas based on their context and will decode it in ways that will empower them. The older I grow, it is like the tree growing. It is a dangerous position if you don’t work on yourself and have strong roots. Learning for me is less about learning new things and more about focusing on refining knowledge on things that are crucial for me.”

$\"\"$ People Moving Towards Spiritually In Their 30s

“People in their 30s have seen life and have known that there is suffering. They start looking for something deeper. At this stage of life, you realize that money, fame, and sex is important, but you start finding a deeper sense of fulfillment. People start going back to their faith.”

“The sanskara is developed in you since childhood, and when you start aging, you will look at those sides of your life. It could be early on or maybe later.”

Getting Deeper In Meditation

“I feel nothing just happens with time. You will have to work on it. You have to make it happen, and the same goes for meditation. Depth in meditation doesn’t mean that your mind doesn\’t deviate. Depth for me is how quickly you can get it back. And it is also about a sacred space away from the outside world.”

Hitting Rock Bottom

“There are times when you hit rock bottom. You can be deep into spirituality yet have mental health issues. When you are spiritual, it doesn’t means you can’t have a mental health issue. Medications or therapy will help you. We all need means by which we can deal with issues.”

Patience

“The generation we live in doesn’t give us the tools to practice patience. We can get anything with just one click. There is no patience. Even the older generation is losing it because they have adjusted to this situation. It has made our life convenient, but we need to consciously wait and learn patience.”

Insecurities

“Life is easier when you have wealth, but everyone has insecurities. There is always going to be someone better than you. But we need to learn to deal with these insecurities. Everyone goes through everything.”

Death

“I do think about my death. Death is painful, and I want to go seamlessly. I don’t want to have regrets when I die. I want to drop dead in a state of spiritual consciousness. I speak more about life because I think that a life lived well is dying well. I am more concerned with how I spend my life now. I focus on living well.”

“Don’t worry about death live well.”

Thank You!

Gaur Gopal Das on Life, Monkhood & Spirituality