How to Feed the Good Dog?

We have often given the example of the good dog and the bad dog. Krishna tells in Bhagavad Gita that there is a divine nature and there is a demonic nature in all of us. The good dog is humility, charity, knowledge of the self, compassion, morality, generosity, etc. And the bad dog is greed, lust, envy, anger, arrogance, selfishness, etc. We have both dogs within us and they are both howling for food. What is the food? The decision we make of which voice within the mind we are going to accommodate. And every choice that we make, makes one stronger and the other weaker. Every time we make an immoral choice, we become more addicted to immorality because the bad dog becomes stronger and good dog becomes weaker. Every time we make a right choice, we come close to liberation.

But how is it possible to make the right choice when all around us there is so much propaganda to be selfish, to be egoistic, and to be greedy? But if we can find the association of people who have common spiritual interest, that association is like the spiritual world.

By Radhanath Swami