How to give up bad habits.
Question: I have heard that Bhakti Yoga helps us to give up bad habits. But how exactly does it work?
Radhanath Swami: My dear godbrother, Shyamsundar, he is an example of how bhakti can transform a heart, to help us give up very difficult habits.
In 1967, Srila Prabhupada asked Shyamsundar to carve the deities of Lord Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadra from the little model that they had. He was in his room working, very, very hard. One day, Srila Prabhupada came into the room to examine how the deities were, and he saw on Baldev’s head a pack of cigarettes. He was smoking cigarettes as he was carving the deity of Jagannath! He didn’t want to, he knew it was wrong, but he just couldn’t give it up. So, Prabhupada looked at the pack of cigarettes and he smiled. He said, “What is this!” Prabhupada just hit the pack of cigarettes with his cane. And he said, “Do you want one little stick of tobacco to stand between you and Krishna, God?” Prabhupada had such compassion.