Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.11.
“We want to re-establish our relationship with Krishna. The way you show an interest in establishing a relationship with anyone is by spending time with the person. So when you spend time chanting japa, even if you are struggling, Krishna sees, ‘Oh, this person is trying to revive his relationship with Me.’ He is pleased that you are making that effort, and He will help you in appropriate ways and at appropriate times. We just have to be patient, persevere, and be confident of success in the end. But the false ego, the false sense of self, wants to take the place of Krishna and be the center, and the mind, by habit, acts as the agent of the false ego. So when we try to focus the mind on Krishna, the false ego and the mind react: ‘Why Krishna? Why not me?’ But the whole thing is a false construction; it doesn’t have any reality. The false ego can seem so huge and powerful, like there is no way to get free from it, but if you just stick to chanting—and reading—you will see it is like a joke. It is a big show, but there is really no substance to it.”
