Protection From Falldown (part3)

HH KKS: We must first of all guard ourselves from the onset and Bharata Maharaja could have let the deer go and drown in the Ghandaki river and would not have been at fault either…right..he would have also been acting on a wise spiritual platform. If it would have been an ordinary river it would have been less auspicious but maybe if he would have prayed for that predicament of that deer maybe that would have also been sufficient… how much can we be involved in material relief work? that is a big question and we must be careful, we must be very careful in being involved in these things and Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Thakur stresses the point that we have no time for flood relief, for earthquake relief or this relief or that relief, drought relief and simply we are too much preoccupied with Harinama Sankirtana which is the ultimate relief. Still Bhaktivinoda Thakura points out that if a person is suffering from starvation or acute poverty then a Vaishnava may also give in charity and that is not to be given up even by saintly persons, Bhagavad gita is stating; however that charity can not be only for the material body …it must subsequently also be for the spiritual advancement. Bharata Maharaja could have certainly given prasadam to the deer. We can certainly distribute prasadam…in my previous visit as I was on my way to Africa and I also came through Chowpatti, I remember that on that occasion the topic came on prasadam distribution and food for life and whether food for life was in itself an adequate facility and we pointed out that without the chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra , food for life was not adequate because ultimately in this age the process is Harer Nama Harer Nama Harer Namaiva Kevalam: that all devotional service must be followed and proceeded by chanting of the Holy Name, Jiva Goswami points out in his Bhakti Sandarba , because that is the Yuga Dharama and that is the only means of attaining the spiritual world. Therefore we must in this age always preach Hari Nama Sankirtan. But then in the course of Harinama Sankirtana we can ecstatically pull little deers out of the river ….and if a deer would be in difficulty in front of us, generally speaking a Vaishnava would make arrangements for that deer to save it’s life ..but could not get too much entangled in maintaining the deer..a little maybe …but not that much.
So Bharata’s position remains complex, it remains complex ..he fell down and he became especially entangled in the material energy so therefore entanglement in the material energy must be avoided as much as possible (More in part4)

Protection from falldown(part2)

HH KKS: Maharaja Bharata made a mistake it said…..Alright..but…. What was the mistake? So let us begin with the beginning …where did it start the mistake? In pulling the deer out of the water or not?...That is my question?...

Devotee speaks: Ghandhaki river is one of the holy rivers so maybe the dear would have got liberation leaving his body in that river….or maybe later he should not have got that much attached , maybe that mistake was on the later part.

HH KKS: Hah..Ok…Yah..that’s a good answer….yes I tend to agree with this point that …………Leaving aside it was the Ghandaki and it was a holy river..leaving that aside for a moment …because we are looking at Maharaja Bharata as an example ….and I can paint another scenario ..what if you are going for a japa walk along the beach right?.....and there is a little child lying there…it’s early morning, no one is in sight and there is this little baby lying there on the beach …it’s not a deer..it’s a human being , what are you going to do?..Are you saying Jaya.. a new brahmacari for the ashrama! Or are you saying this is just some soul who is destined to drown ? ..So..i am amplyifying this situation a bit to something that could happen to us ..then the question becomes more relevant..right..and I think we should take this chapter as something that applies to us …something that could happen …whether it is a deer , a child…an external situation where a living entity who is helpless, dependent on, to be saved from a materially dangerous situation…should we act or not?Certainly it was not a mistake for Bharata Maharaja to save the deer..even to afterwards save the deer by supplying some food stuff and taking some time ..was not a mistake …although that began to diminish his spiritual activities and therefore that had to be minimised as much as possible…but even some entanglement in caring for other entities in itself is not an impediment for spiritual progress….We know even householders who are terribly entangled compared to Bharata Maharaja..that they also can attain perfection in spiritual life ..although there is a risk… there certainly is a risk to be distracted in the same way as Bharata Mahraja became distracted ……………so the essential fault ..or the essential mistake was that Bharata Maharaja began to neglect his spiritual practices …That was the Fundamental Mistake………for which he ultimately had to become entangled in the material energy and then the cause of his neglect was the deer and he went beyond taking care of the deer………he became deeply emotionally involved with the deer and that lead to him deriving so much pleasure from the relationship with that deer that …that pleasure went to take over from otherwise the pleasure of worshipping the Supreme Lord.
The most amazing feature of this chapter maybe that Maharaja Bharata was described to be in Bhava..or in a state of most exalted devotional service …in a state of deep emotional involvement in his devotional service ..in a state where he had great taste ..great taste from moment to moment in his spiritual practices and great eagerness to always see the Lord …………………..So one can see from such an advanced stage of devotional service ..a living entity again can become bewildered …this is the constitutional nature of the living being ..for being the…marginal energy…that potentially the living entity can always fall prone to the material energy.
Prabhupada says due to the littleness of his existence or Prabhupada also says Lord Krishna is Acutya, He is infallible …Acutya being infallible will never fall down ..but the living entity potentially because he is merely a spark …Krishna is like the fire and the living being is like a spark …so a spark due to his insignificance, where it is in contact with the fire …will also burn like fire ……………But when it is not in contact with the fire ..will no longer burn like fire and will become extinguished.So potentially the living being can extinguish it’s natural Krishna consciousness and leave it’s natural condition to an artificial state of consciousness….Just as water has various forms in which it can exist …for example in it’s ordinary liquid form or in the form of ice and when it exists in the form of ice it can again return to it’s natural state of water …fluid state of water ….but as ice it is not acting like water ..it has a whole different nature and effect.
So in the same way in the conditioned state the living being has totally different features than in it’s original state and in it’s conditioned state the living entity is fundamentally in a state of never being fulfilled ..of always being searching and seeking for happiness. Where as in the spiritual world there is constant ecstasy and fulfilment and of course also seeking for further ecstasy, eternally increasing and eternally continuing. (More in part 3)

Increase and Increase Your Krishna Consciousness

HH KKS:Complete samadhi means 24 hours absorption in Krishna, all the time. So this is a very exalted platform. So there are many different natured people….many are there in this movement who are deeply absorbed in always serving and remembering Krishna. We should not underestimate the advancement that the Vaisnavas have made. There are some extraordinary personalities throughout this movement. And therefore not a single Vaisnava is an ordinary person; every Vaisnava has Krishna to some extent. And every Vaisnava can give us Krishna. But we must increase this and increase and increase ……like here in Amsterdam we have developed a culture of Bhajan evenings – that is good …that is a culture of increasing the focus on Krishna, it increases Krishna Consciousness. Now all we have to do is come together every night …we have to somewhere find a place elsewhere not a night can go by without hearing about Krishna. How is it possible what will you do – all those nights there is no bhajan evening! - Oh My God! you know -you sit there with a depressed face looking out of the window waiting for the next bhajan evening…. No it should be every night, every night should be a great…. a great Krishna conscious gathering …should be a festival, a festival of remembering Krishna and glorifying Krishna and hearing about Krishna. Dancing for Krishna…. should be plays…. let’s make a puppet show for Krishna, let’s get creative do something wild instead of boring.

24hr Absorbtion In Krishna

HH KKS: As devotees we are getting more senior as we have been in this movement longer, we are realizing again and again, we start to lament not about the material sense gratification that we missed but we start to lament that we did not take full advantage. I had all these opportunities but I did not take full advantage. This is what every devotee begins to experience with time. I had so many opportunities and I did not take advantage. And all these years went by and why didn’t me. And we have heard in their last moments were saying so. Intimate disciples of Srila Prabhupada have said that their lasts words - Hayagriva Maharaj before he left his body, before he left: “I have only one sorrow, I only regret that I did not take more advantage of Prabhupada’s association and his instructions” Those were his last words.
Hayagriva was after all the first person Prabhupada met …. Prabhupad was walking there in the street and there was Hayagriva and Hayagriva had a beard and long hair and a deep and resonant voice and big and tall body and he was walking in the street and he saw Prabhupada …and Hayagriva had been in India. And Hayagriva asked him oh excuse me are you from India and Prabhupad said “Oh yes” and “You too are you from India?” “No no but I’ve been to India”, “Oh you’ve been to India” and it was very interesting that Hayagriva had been to India because what happened was when Prabhupad reached America with the Jaladutta and got off the ship a few hours later or a little later when that ship got ready to go back to India then Hayagriva boarded that ship to go to India to look for a Guru!… went to India never found a Guru but anyway brought some souvenirs back some posters etc ,and later came and met Prabhupada……. came back to America after not so long because he didn’t find anything then met Prabhupad in New York one day ,and in due course of time Prahupada started the temple, and later on they brought out the souvenirs from India: and there was one poster of one creature, and they said “What is it Prahupada?… Is it a cat ?”

Prabhupad said “No, its not a cat .. it’s a monkey …Hanuman, it’s Hanuman.”
He had a poster of Hanuman, he had a poster of Satbuj – the six armed form. And he had brought all these things from India, so see how Hayagriva was just completely under the divine energy all along even in his search. When he was looking for a Guru he got on the Jaladutta so all along he got mercy just by being on the Jaladutta, he got some purification. Then he was the first devotee that was sent to India on a shopping mission for the temple and he came back and brought all the things for the temple, all by divine arrangement. Already he was the instrument of Prabhupad even before he had joined Prabhupada. Very interesting! He was already accepted,…. he was looking for a Guru and Krishna had already arranged it… Ok you can start serving you’re Guru now even before you’ve found him! And this is how it was! it’s a really amazing story! How Krishna interfered in the life of one who had not even joined or had not even surrendered or had not even yet fully committed himself to the lotus feet of a spiritual master. And yet Krishna had already accepted him – and was already making arrangements for him – and Krishna sends us Guru and Guru gives us Krishna. So this story is very nice. We see that we should, like him, like Hayagriva…we should …..why wait till the end of our life to ask this question to feel this remorse that I have wasted the opportunities. It is not already different for a new person as it is for a person who is very experienced. It starts immediately…. we are already not taking advantage of the opportunities and those who have been around are still not fully taking advantage. So this is the contemplation that we should make a renewed advantage of what we have. We are so worried about life … what about my life, my life…. But what about death, it’s coming nearer all the time it never goes further away , every moment it comes a little closer……….then it becomes serious no more time for joke,s no more time and suddenly we regret everything. We see how serious Prabhupada was about not wasting time he even wanted to conquer sleep. And somehow or other due to some physical problem there was a ringing in his ears so he couldn’t sleep , everyone in that stage would have panicked – I have a ringing in my ears and I can’t sleep – doctor do something give me a pill. But Prahupada… No… did not go for medicine and Prabhupada was like now my desire is being fulfilled now I am conquering sleep. See I don’t have to waste time with that anymore. …………………..We are going ha-ha at last here is the big bed ho-ho!!! I’m coming – there we are… dive on the mattress and the blankets with great happiness! Jaya my bed! Oh dear bed I love you so! Right. Is not this part of our lives – the bed is an important aspect. Prabhupad did not want to waste that time. So samadhi means that – to not waste time – to try and conquer sleep. Of course it is said bali ragam and durbali ragum which means perspiration for the strong and sleep for the weak. So one cannot just artificially give up sleep. It depends on ones condition and ones health and so on. So a person whose health is less may have to rest. That is also part of life. But then we see that to really conquer sleep does not really mean to stay awake all the time because it is stated how Balaram conquered sleep and that Balaram in his sleep was always dreaming of Krishna so one can even sleep and be Krishna Conscious. So Prabhupada recommended this that before sleep we would read Krishna book and that we would remember Krishna and dream of Krishna. So one who is constantly absorbed, constantly in hearing about Krishna and chanting can actually come to this point, where one even dreams about Krishna. Such things will come in time. But where there is real samadhi – complete samadhi means 24 hours absorption in Krishna, all the time.

Don't Waste A Moment

HH KKS: We have to go back to Godhead this lifetime. I mean you know, if we’re not doing it for that ….it’s like very funny, like the other day we had a discussion in Mayapur in a Bhagavatam class and the point that was being discussed by various senior devotees was that ….well if you’re doing it anyway you may as well do it all the way – why do it reluctantly, when you’re doing it anyway …why resisting all the way, why keep some resistance, why hold back, why do half, why do half work? If we’re doing …we may as well do it, we may as well do it all the way. Otherwise the result is not there. So many of us do it for 20 or 30 years or more only partially that’s really funny a whole life spent dragging our feet thinking…God you know its so difficult, boy can I surrender to this oh will I and so on…a whole lifetime dragging our feet. One may as well just really get in to it. We had a discussion about that with many various senior devotees, it was very nice. It was a nice discussion because this is in fact we’re in it and we may as well joyfully perform it, relish it… we may as well see how nice it is rather that think well its nice but there’s also a shadow side and just…its not always easy. But then if you say no forget it and just get into – enthusiasm – really do it…. if we do that then naturally Samadhi will take place much quicker – that’s what it means – not to waste a moment! The popular name of Sri Chaitanya when he was young was Nimai because He was born under a neem tree and his mother affectionately called him Nimai thinking that neem trees are considered auspicious… they have antiseptic qualities and they also drive out evil influences. So she thought if I call him Nimai then He will be protected from negative influences so this is nice… His mother was blessing Him with that name. Really a lot of love in giving Him that name, not just any name, it was a name given out of love. Then He was given an official name and the official name was Vishvambar – the maintainer of the entire universe. So then He said if my name is Vishvambar the maintainer of the entire universe, then it is My duty to come down into this material world and to give every one Love of God otherwise how can I truly be called the maintainer of the entire universe. This is a very interesting statement because it is not just maintaining ….we might not have thought of it that way. Maintainer of the entire universe brings thoughts to the mind of please give us our daily bread and you know and all that. That sounds like maintenance – so thinking of Krishna as the maintainer as the provider, ok the daily bread, the shelter, the clothes, the needs. But Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took it to another totally different level and said no real maintaining means : Love of God – means total ecstasy, that is maintaining and unless I am bringing people to the point of total ecstasy I am not really maintaining them in other words -that is actually the normal level and anything below Love of God and below ecstasy is the subnormal level. So I’m afraid that many of us are subnormal, subnormal creatures. We have not yet reached the common normal platform somewhere not full blossoming human beings, we are like shadow creatures from the shadow regions. We actually have not come to the full colour to our natural full potential – this is the case. So Samadhi means that – full potential, that we are taking full advantage of each moment.

"Ring! Ring! This is your senses on the line...!"

Tongue: "Ring, Ring! This is your tongue! We haven’t eaten for 15 minutes! We want to taste something; at least a sweet! Something light okay!"
“Yes Mr. Tongue, just a moment please. I don’t have anything in my pocket but I’ll bring something…”
Tongue: “Okay and hurry up!”
Eyes: “Ring, Ring! Here are your eyes; we are bored stiff! We are looking all the time and it’s the same boring things! Is there anything exciting to see?”
“Well, what do you think of a movie?”
Eyes: “Hmmm, isn’t there anything more exciting than that? Something real life too?”
“I’ll…I’ll do my best; I’ll get back to you…”
Eyes: “Okay.”
Tongue: “Ring, ring, ring! This is your tongue again! Are you doing something for me or what!”
Genital: “Ring, Ring, Ring, Ring Ring!!! The genital on the line!"
“Ay, yaya…hooo…yessss, I know you‘re there…”
Genital: “We want action!”
“Oh, I see!”
Genital: “Right away!”
“Yes sir! I’ll try and do something about it. But lately I haven’t been very lucky you know. No one was interested in me-what to do! Anyway, I’ll try…”

We go into the streets and like- “wink, wink!”- you know! What can you do when you have to satisfy the demand of your senses! And again as we’re busy satisfying one, the other one’s ringing- “Hey! What about me? What about me?”
So like this, at the end of the day we’re exhausted! We worked sooo much all day; we broke our backs to satisfy the senses- yes. And you know what we get? What we get is when we’ve done everything for them, all we get is, “Is this all you could do? Is this all? Couldn’t you bring something better? Is this all? Go back and try again you useless bum!”
…and then we go again…

(HH KKS)

Be Fully Krishna Conscious NOW!

HH KKS: Sometimes we get so caught up in the external practises yet we are still not remembering Krishna…. Tilak, for years hearing and chanting , for years serving in a temple and yet we are not really …are not thinking as Krishna as the first priority and we hear everyday in a lecture how Krishna is the goal the ultimate goal and how he is the priority actually we have so many other considerations: - our position in the temple, how people are dealing with us, life in temple, just how it works, the community of the devotees and how they interact and where do I fit and how I’m gonna be part of it all and so on rather than just really remembering that our priority is Krishna….

The material world is a unreliable…,unreliable place! You never know just when everything seems to be nicely sort of arranged then suddenly something happens, whole thing upside down, everything …the unexpected comes, whole life whole thing – everything. What can we say?! ….So this is the nature of the material world. Other times we are just in a predictable routine and Prabhupada says …he was explaining one verse – which describes how a person is serving the senses, how a person is dedicating his life to his master – the senses. But neither the senses are satisfied nor are we satisfied, this is the nature in the material world we are serving but neither are we satisfied nor are they satisfied…. We work so hard and they are not satisfied this is the nature of material life…. So one must…it will always be like that they will not be satisfied and we will not be satisfied until we serve Krishna until we become absorbed until …Krishna is first, then are the rest you know, you never know you just never know what’s going to happen, there is no perfect material situation…there is no..So even in spiritual life we are in this whole arrangement …nice arrangement of a temple but if we don’t put Krishna first then we can cheat ourselves of a whole lifetime of what we think is Krishna consciousness but actually we are still not really Krishna consciousness - we are kind of sniffing at Krishna consciousness.

We are smelling at Krishna consciousness but we are not really getting into it, not really getting absorbed, it’s like very nice…very attractive Krishna consciousness but we not fully just diving into Krishna consciousness.
It’s really not enough to join a club or to be part of a temple it really means that everything sooner or later it comes to that point - you can take 30 years, 50 years and wait till you’re really old and then you’re very old aged then you think well maybe finally I’ll put Krishna first but then again not everyone gets very old – so this is the risk you take you know you say I’ll wait till I’m 80 but then what if you don’t make it. So there is not much time, there is not much time at all and it must be this lifetime ..we’re not gonna come back and do it again, that’s not possible , we have to go back to Godhead this lifetime.

Taste comes from a person

Faith develops by association and taste- someone who will connect us with transcendental sound vibration and someone who experiences taste can transmit this taste.

One human exchange with a devotee can open up a universe- that's all it takes!
(HH KKS)

Anything Can Be Done For Krishna If It's Favourable

HH KKS: ..Anything can be done in the service of Krishna if its favourable for Krishna consciousness.…..there are no stereotype limitations….So we are seeing the Acharyas sometimes understand these things , and are going beyond what has been commonly accepted standards because the Acharayas understand what is favourable in a particular situation… just do things that shock everyone.. its comes to my mind that Ramanuja was being trained when he was younger by various teachers and one teacher one day one guru taught him a mantra and said that this mantra is a Vedic mantra and is a secret mantra you must keep this mantra to yourself and never speak it in public because there is an injunction like this, this mantra is very powerful anyone who chants this mantra will surely attain liberation ,immediately after receiving the mantra Ramanuja went to the market place and he called out people of the city of… and whatever the town was called... “Assemble, assemble on the market place - I will give you a wonderful gift, I have something extraordinary to offer today, a wealth of riches ,unmatched in this world, so we want to invite every one to assemble at the market square” Well people thought, we are a little curious what has he got right , when all the people were there, he explained that he had received that very day that was so powerful that one who would chant it would attain liberation, then he said the mantra out loud for all the people to hear “Om Narayana Namaha , Om Narayana Namaha!”
So that mantra was then widely distributed and many people happily took it and they all chanted it so they all attained liberation. When the guru heard that Ramanuja had done this he practically had a heart attack and the only reason that he didn’t die was because he was so angry that he wanted to chastise this Ramanuja, so he went before him and gave him the full blast, his lips were quivering his hands were shaking, and he just let him have it:
“You rascal do you realise that for giving this mantra to the people like that , and for breaking the injunction you will go to hell that you will suffer there for a very very very long time !! Do you realise that you wretch you sinful offender”
“Yes I realise that and that in itself what can I do I may go to hell but at least all these people will be liberated”
So then the Acharya understood that Ramanuja had a higher understanding than I have , all along I was simply from my own benefit and he’s thinking of the benefit of all, he’s a greater person than me, I’m not the guru he’s the guru, and he bowed down to him and said you are the guru and I am simply the disciple and Ramanuja of course please don’t do that get up…. you know these kind of situations right where devotees start bowing down to each other and try and touch each others feet and all that one of those situations.
Anyhow so this illustrates sometimes an Acharya may act unconventional if it’s favourable for Krishna Consciousness and he may break the standards of convention but actually it is favourable for spreading Krishna Consciousness. So Srila Prabhupada was in many ways trying to encourage devotees and Prabhupada himself was ready for all kinds of things. There is still the famous rock dance poster with different waves those were the waves of music and smoke and that’s what it was. The dance hall with some other bands of that time….Prabhupada on stage everyone stoned out his head etc…. There was a request not to smoke while Prabhupad was there; I remember these festivals because you didn’t have to buy any dope there was enough smoke in the air to do the job! The place was saturated that’s how it was… So they were smoky festivals. And Prabhupada went there and simply went on stage and chanted Hare Krishna. Which sadhu would have done so, such a thing?
I remember that before I was a devotee there was one day in the centre I worked in some kind of alternative centre with yoga and tea houses and one day there was also a sannyasi from India he came and somehow or another he needed a place to stay and he stayed with me. But he never tried to preach one word to me ….all he told me that how horrible it was that he couldn’t stay in a holy place with holy people and the next day he was going to stay in a Christian monastery and that would be better and that was it. But he forgot one of his saffron cloths which I kept ofcourse as one of you may know I was very excited about that, this strange colour saffron colour. If he had only preached to me I might have shown some interest probably more than the Christian monks where he stayed but who had that spirit, most did not have that spirit. But Prabhupad had that extraordinary spirit!

Uninterrupted And Unmotivated Service

HH KKS: The elder brother of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu named Vishvarupa… when they were young…now he was quite a bit older than Nimai… so Nimai was still a small boy… and Vishvarupa was already like a young man at that time. Vishvarupa used to just spend his whole day in the deity room doing puja and studying Bhagavatam, the only time he would come out was to come to Bhagvatam lectures of Advaita Acarya and then straight back into to the puja room , little Prasad, going in and out sometimes, and that was it. So he was not wasting a second, this principle of not wasting time is one of the symptoms of being absorbed in devotional service. Not that ha-ha that was a lot of surrender to Krishna now I can , I feel really good about that, now I can take a break, take a few hours break , little sense gratification, and then a little surrender to Krishna. NO this is actually interrupted devotional service, but we must come to uninterrupted, unmotivated … so constant from one moment to the next, not wasting a second ..always engaged in Krishna consciousness, and anything that’s not to do with Krishna Consciousness.. no meaning at all. Like a Vaisnava can do anything to spread Krishna Consciousness , we may consider football a very boring game but if somehow or other we can play football for Krishna then suddenly it becomes very exciting , of course that maybe an exceptional situation but such a situation might just come about who knows, so what can we say …. anything can be done in the service of Krishna if its favourable for Krishna consciousness

Follow The Process

HH KKS: So to come to the point where one is always engaged in devotional service to Krishna where one is always remembering Krishna , never forgetting Krishna - to come to that point requires to follow a steady process in devotional service , first before one attains that state of being absorbed and the state of Samadhi of being totally absorbed in the service of the lord , one must become fixed in regulation and serve Krishna in a regulated way therefore we are required to chant a certain a certain quota of rounds and not only are we chanting in a regular fashion but we are also accepting responsibly for the deities according to the pancha ritiki worship - within deity worship many things are prescribed one cannot just do what he likes ,so our lives centres around very much around deity worship like now we are in the temple and in the temple room there are so many things - one must bow down when he enters the temple room, one must take his shoes off , there are many things that one can and cannot do in front of the deity and its all prescribed behaviour in the temple one should not have arguments in front of the deity , one should not be angry in front of the deity, one should not cry in front of deity about his sadness in this world one should simply focus on the deity , so there all these directives for being fixed on Krishna. So through a regulated process we are becoming fixed on Krishna, and within that regulated process actually, absorption in Krishna is happening , so it is certainly not so that we are independent rather we realise more and more how much we depend on a process, it is not that we independently on the strength of realisation manage to make that connection with Krishna that we always remember him and never forget him, but rather it means to become absorbed in the process of regulated activity and to make it our second nature.

Protection From FallDown (part1)

HH KKS:Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya

SB5.8.1 śrī-śuka uvāca
ekadā tu mahā-nadyāḿ kṛtābhiṣeka-naiyamikāvaśyako brahmākṣaram abhigṛṇāno muhūrta-trayam udakānta upaviveśa
Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King, one day, after finishing his morning duties — evacuating, urinating and bathing — Mahārāja Bharata sat down on the bank of the River Gaṇḍakī for a few minutes and began chanting his mantra, beginning with oḿkāra.

5.8.2 tatra tadā rājan hariṇī pipāsayā jalāśayābhyāśam ekaivopajagāma
O King, while Bharata Mahārāja was sitting on the bank of that river, a doe, being very thirsty, came there to drink.

5.8.3 tayā pepīyamāna udake tāvad evāvidūreṇa nadato mṛga-pater unnādo loka-bhayańkara udapatat
While the doe was drinking with great satisfaction, a lion, which was very close, roared very loudly. This was frightful to every living entity, and it was heard by the doe.

5.8.4 tam upaśrutya sā mṛga-vadhūḥ prakṛti-viklavā cakita-nirīkṣaṇā sutarām api hari-bhayābhiniveśa-vyagra-hṛdayā pāriplava-dṛṣṭir agata-tṛṣā bhayāt sahasaivoccakrāma
By nature the doe was always afraid of being killed by others, and it was always looking about suspiciously. When it heard the lion's tumultuous roar, it became very agitated. Looking here and there with disturbed eyes, the doe, although it had not fully satisfied itself by drinking water, suddenly leaped across the river.

5.8.5 tasyā utpatantyā antarvatnyā uru-bhayāvagalito yoni-nirgato garbhaḥ srotasi nipapāta
The doe was pregnant, and when it jumped out of fear, the baby deer fell from its womb into the flowing waters of the river.
PURPORT:There is every chance of a woman's having a miscarriage if she experiences some ecstatic emotion or is frightened. Pregnant women should therefore be spared all these external influences.

5.8.6 tat-prasavotsarpaṇa-bhaya-khedāturā sva-gaṇena viyujyamānā kasyāñcid daryāḿ kṛṣṇa-sārasatī nipapātātha ca mamāra
Being separated from its flock and distressed by its miscarriage, the black doe, having crossed the river, was very much distressed. Indeed, it fell down in a cave and died immediately.

5.8.7 taḿ tv eṇa-kuṇakaḿ kṛpaṇaḿ srotasānūhyamānam abhivīkṣyāpaviddhaḿ bandhur ivānukampayā rājarṣir bharata ādāya mṛta-mātaram ity āśrama-padam anayat
The great King Bharata, while sitting on the bank of the river, saw the small deer, bereft of its mother, floating down the river. Seeing this, he felt great compassion. Like a sincere friend, he lifted the infant deer from the waves, and, knowing it to be motherless, brought it to his āśrama.
PURPORT: The laws of nature work in subtle ways unknown to us. Mahārāja Bharata was a great king very advanced in devotional service. He had almost reached the point of loving service to the Supreme Lord, but even from that platform he could fall down onto the material platform. In Bhagavad-gītā we are therefore warned:
yaḿ hi na vyathayanty ete
puruṣaḿ puruṣarṣabha
sama-duḥkha-sukhaḿ dhīraḿ
so 'mṛtatvāya kalpate
"O best among men [Arjuna], the person who is not disturbed by happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation." (Bg. 2.15)
Spiritual salvation and liberation from material bondage must be worked out with great caution, otherwise a little discrepancy will cause one to fall down again into material existence. By studying the activities of Mahārāja Bharata, we can learn the art of becoming completely freed from all material attachment. As it will be revealed in later verses, Bharata Mahārāja had to accept the body of a deer due to being overly compassionate for this infant deer. We should be compassionate by raising one from the material platform to the spiritual platform; otherwise at any moment our spiritual advancement may be spoiled, and we may fall down onto the material platform. Mahārāja Bharata's compassion for the deer was the beginning of his falldown into the material world.

HH KKS: So Maharaja Bharata somehow or other became caught in the circumstances which were brought about by the three modes of material nature and in the course of the current of events this whole episode came about where in the little deer somehow or other fell into the river practically right in front of him. So what was he meant to do? Should he have simply let the deer drown and say this is destiny, this is the karma of the living entity? It is said that this living being is so much caught up in suffering here in the material realm but now it is caught up in the body of the deer, which means in the mode of ignorance, it is not able to understand transcendental knowledge, what can I do? Should he have mercifully called out Hare Krishna and let the little deer float along on the waves?…He pulled out the deer out of the water which is a natural thing to do, an act of compassion. Who is so stonehearted to let a tiny helpless creature like a deer, basically an innocent animal, right, not harming anyone but rather an innocent animal. So he pulled out the innocent animal of the water naturally so, subsequently what to do? Now, it had to be fed ….it had no mother, right.. so what to do? From one thing came another..once he had taken the deer out of the water, he was obliged to arrange for the sustenance and the maintenance of that deer and that became somewhat of a task….and in due course of time he became very much absorbed in taking care of this deer …and so again I shall ask the question to all of you: Should he have just left that deer float in the water and just chant the Holy Name? Should he have somehow or other prayed for the deer but not become involved with the deer?... This is the dilemma …and what would we do in that case? And therefore I would like to hear from all of you …What you would think you’re going to do with the deer?….any volunteers?...........pause…….We have to resolve this issue or otherwise how are we going to continue with this chapter…we’ll never get the right conclusion ….Maharaja Bharata made a mistake it said…..Alright..but…. What was the mistake? So let us begin with the beginning …where did it start the mistake? In pulling the deer out of the water or not?...That is my question?...(More in part 2)

Dirty Heart

Devotee’s question: How to install a beautiful, suitable and worthy throne for His Beautiful Lordships Sri Sri Radha Syama Sundara, Sri Sri Radha Madhava in my heart which is the residence of the most unspeakable offences plus other pieces of dirt similar to that which is found in the open sewer system of central Calcutta road sides? (Crowd laughs)

HH KKS: Hare Krishna! Yes one can be in Calcutta and see open sewers, but if one looks at the other side of the road one sees that there is some water coming out of some wells in every street everywhere and one should know that this is pure Ganges water…. Pure Ganges water because the British had made a system in Calcutta which was their city….to wash the streets and everywhere in Calcutta in every street this Ganges water is coming through a pipe system out on the street. So Calcutta is not what we think it is. It is something else.
I have a lot of experience in Calcutta ….. I was walking in Calcutta and there you have these coolies who were carrying big packs of goods on their heads and they have on their hand they have a hook …so there is this hook coming out of the sleeve of the kurta, you have to be very careful because everyone on the street are having these hooks ..wuttt wushh,,Have to be careful! Quite dangerous! So in this way walking in Calcutta one can be very lost. I was in a very dark street, pitch black, so black there was a black sewage, a sewage you were talking about and now it is called the east canal…. It is pitch black and on the banks of that canal there is black mud and there are huts where people live and the huts are also black…the people wear black clothes and they look very dark, and the whole thing is very dark ……so I was there in that very dark place in Calcutta and it was also getting dark and I was a little bit wondering what was the quickest way to get back home …so in Calcutta you have in the walls you have some sort of hole, there’s a little hole, there is man sitting inside, he has a shop in the hole and underneath this basement there is another shop so there are all these level of shops, holes in the walls…
So I went to one shop in the hole (Crowd laughs) and I asked this man directions in Bengali and I asked him.
And he said ‘Oh are you from ISKCON?’
I said, “Yes”
He said, “Oh… I met …..Prabhupada !”
And this is really Calcutta…. this is Calcutta …that everywhere there are devotees, you would be surprised you would never think so, it’s a city of devotees and when it is the Ratha Yatra millions of people come out, “Our Iskcon Ratha Yatra” and people ask you “What time is it..What time is it .. What time is it at?”SO……………………..therefore I think that our heart although we may look at it like Calcutta , and we may see our heart as black as Calcutta, we should see look at the other side and we should see the wonderful things that are also in our heart……….You may say well not in my heart…but No No…Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur has this wonderful prayer in Kalayana Kalpataru or the auspicious desire tree and he explains he says my spiritual master gave me this most auspicious desire tree , however because of my harsh mind I have covered the potency of this desire tree and therefore now it is not in it’s full glories …..but by taking the association of the Vaishnavas that desire tree will again be restored in it’s full glories ………………..So this is such a wonderful prayer because it is truly depicting the meaning of humility …of like how a Vaishnava can see himself as the most fallen and at the same time can be a Vaishnava …..Because he is seeing that I have no qualification but I got the mercy of my Spiritual master …..just like Krsnadas Kaviraja is describing that he is lower than a worm in stool and anybody who sees him loses all his pious activities…in two verse he says like that.. but then in third verse which is not often quoted in the same sequence he says that “Well how amazing it is that a person like me got the mercy of Lord Nityananda” So how amazing it is that we have been touched by Srila Prabhupada and that we got the mercy of this movement ……and therefore Yes… we may have got these kind of hearts ..that maybe a fact..but having such a heart or not, Calcutta type of heart, let us just go forwards with our Calcutta hearts and somehow or other take shelter of Prabhupada’s movement of the great gift he gave us and …….the miracle will take place, the miracle will take place ………and actually after all when all that dirt is taken off you could see that once Calcutta was a beautiful city , it was the crown jewel of the British empire …the houses have beautiful terracotta decorations if you very carefully look… now covered in blacksoot, but once cleansed that terrible, ugly horrible Calcutta heart will transform into a beautiful heart without any doubt , simply by taking shelter …..So we have already got the.mercy..all we have to do now is take advantage of it…. mercy we have already got, we got blessings, we got knowledge, we got association , we got prasadam , we got temples , we got deities, we got festivals, we got shelters in the holy Dhama, we got books, we got everything , we got so many lectures recoreded now on mp3, you can listen to all day and night practically , how much do we really have , we have so much ….so the mercy we have got…all we have to do is now take advantage…

Can't Find A Spiritual Master on The Level of Prabhupada

A Devotee's Question: What happens to an aspiring devotee who may have read Srila Prabhupada’s books, read his lectures and loves serving and associating with the devotees but can not find a spiritual master on the level of Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada has said that the disciple should accept the spiritual master as good as God and be ready to sacrifice their life to him, if such an aspiring devotee feels this way towards Srila Prabhupada but can’t find anyone who satisfies.. as good as God , is he then forced to take initiation of someone who does not have full respect?

HH KKS: I can say that I can appreciate the search for a spiritual master and who is like Srila Prabhupada. At the same time I think that Srila Prabhupada was not the ordinary spiritual master…of course there are no ordinary spiritual masters….but Srila Prabhupada certainly was more than a spiritual master… Srila Prabhupada was more than a sanyassi. Srila Prabhupada was such a wonderful pure devotee of the Lord that such a spiritual master may not always be there and we must take it then Krishna has a plan….So we are in this predicament that we find ourselves in spiritual life and we need to make advancement, so we can wait and wait and wait we can weigh and weigh and weigh , this one too light, this one not too heavy enough..I have heard that guru means heavy , so you’re weighing and weighing and each one is not heavy enough….. because Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasavati Thakur he says that a guru is heavy…… not heavy in the sense that he speaks heavy, he may or he might not, he may speak very sweet but he is heavy because he never changes his position . so every time you may find ..yes..that no one compares to Srila Prabhupada ..that maybe… but meanwhile we are always looking at the qualification of the spiritual master and we may think that well is he powerful enough . but are we looking at our own qualification as a disciple , we should also look at our own situation and we are probably worse off than all these spiritual masters that we are looking at. We may look at the spiritual master and say I found something that may not be up to the level….but where are we? We are in a position where we need all the help we can get and for us we can find only Srila Prabhupada suitable to give us guidance …the only problem is that now we can not directly ask him a question , or now he will not directly turn to us and correct us as we need it…so…if we find a spiritual master, if we find a vaishnava who is truly a dedicated servant of Srila Prabhupada and mature in that service to Srila Prabhupada then we will find that that Vaishnava can help us very much to increase our relationship with Srila Prabhupada , as Srila Prabhupada had a relationship with his spiritual master , and his spiritual master had a relationship with his and like this the whole sampradaya works …in our movement Srila Prabhupada is the founder Acharya and that way, always, the guru of all the members of this movement …but some may have that relation with Srila Prabhupada by serving the servant of Srila Prabhupada , not to the exclusion of Srila Prabhupada but rather to enhance their relationship with Srila Prabhupada.
So one can spend a whole lifetime saying I can’t find anyone as qualified as Srila Prabhupada …and meanwhile you don’t accept any guru and in that way we actually become our own guru and once I heard a statement that one who is his own guru accepts a fool for a disciple.(crowd laughs)

Satyabhama devi dasi

Dear Kamala Manjari and all other devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I just received the news about my disciple Satyabhama's sudden departure from this world. It is a shock to all of us, but we find comfort in transcendental knowledge. We know that Satyabhama was a sincere devotee. She was steady in her devotional service, she would come to the temple regularly and she also practiced Krsna consciousness at home. She had a warm and motherly nature she would like to give me prasadam that she had baked from time to time. We don't know where she is at present, but we know that she has undoubtedly pleased Krsna during her life and thus she has attained an auspicious destination.I am sad that we lost her association so early and I am looking forward to meet her again in the spiritual world,

Her Ever Well wisher,

Kadamba Kanana Swami (Jan 14th, 2009)

http://www.kkswami.com/texts/Satyabhama_devi_dasi.php

Krishna Krishna Krishna

Very Nice Video of HH KKS

Writing on Caitanya Caritamrta

One of the duties of the sannyasis that was established by Srila Prabhupada was to write on the conclusions of Krsna consciousness. So I felt inspired some time ago and I wanted to write. And for so long I’ve been wanting to write on Caitanya Caritamrta and I thought deeply and I thought, Yes, what will I write? What will I write that is of significance? What can I add now? It’s already been done- Prabhupada did it. He gave really the essence, although he didn’t complete Bhagavatam fully, still he gave it; the main thing he gave and whatever was not done was finished by his disciples. But basically Prabhupada brought it- Bhagavad-Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, Nectar of Devotion, Caitanya Caritamrta- that basically he gave. So anything I would write beyond- whether I would translate some work, or whether I would write some further commentaries- is only supportive, is only there to help us more easily enter these scriptures. If I would write anything, it would be only that; if I would write on the Cc it could only be to make the knowledge that is there in unchanged form more available. That could be the only benefit of anything I could do. So we are just the little, little fire flares who just light a little for a moment, compared to Prabhupada, who’s the representative of the sun- really giving the full transcendental knowledge which can enlighten the age of Kali…

(HH KKS, 2003)

Upholding these vows...

When we live with these vows in Krsna consciousness, these vows are in the centre of our spiritual life. They are like a central pole which is fixed there and we walk around around these vows and we sort of always lean on these vows; it's sort of home base that we return to. And we have to do something to uphold these vows; this is our system. For that we have a relationship with a spiritual master who gives us enthusiasm, who gives us example, who gives us advice, he protects us...for that we have devotees, temples, prasadam...we have soooo many things! We have a vision, we have a goal- devotees have to go back to Godhead. We must keep in mind; whatever we have in mind, all right, have a nice time- but let's go back to Godhead...

(HH KKS, Phoenix, SA, '07)

Ha, forget what happened!

Sometimes we get so disturbed by the past that the clock stops- "on 12 Dec 1937 I..."- and we still remeber what happened! Ha, forget what happened! Who cares what happened! First of all accept that whatever happened maybe due to our past karma, that it was due to us. Now we are finished...no, we start again, start fresh, start positive and build up something good. Then the future is bright, the future is what you make it; the past is not making the future- the past is gone- dead and gone! What are you making of the future? You can make something of it. It's up to us...

Krsna consciousness takes more than just determination; determination means that, "Okay, I will do!" Okay we will do it but it takes more than that; you also have to do something. You have to spend time with devotees and you have to do things in devotional service. You have to make an endevour...Yes, you have to chant 16 rounds- 16 good rounds-not 16 normal rounds! That's an endeavour. So like that we make an endeavour in spiritual life then we can become very successful...

(HH KKS, Phoenix RY '07, SA )

Failure is the pillar of success

Failure is the pillar of success. You learn alot from failure. Each time that you fail you also realise what you did wrong. You realise alot from your failure and therefore failure gives us an opportunity to try better and then you fail again and then you learn again...

(Phoenix RY '07, HH KKS)

Seven Lessons from HH JAS (part1)

HH JAS:
1“How one becomes expert: By reading Srila prabhupada’s books, by assimilating these books, if you read them and assimilate them, discuss them with devotees, apply them: then you will be full of topics to talk about and you will be wanting to talk about them and you will see the need to talk to devotees and non devotees for your benefit and their benefit”

2“When we have a principle that we are determined to follow because it is our duty we shouldn’t compromise, we shouldn’t budge from the order of the spiritual master”

3“Everyone is compromising with everyone to be popular, to be liked or accepted, you will be respected more if you stick to your guns if you are actually sticking on Krishna’s side”

4“As much as possible one should avoid an argumentative attitude, it is unattractive, it is obnoxious”

5“As we come to the mode of goodness, then we become very soft and very pleasing , that is the symptom of a person whose speech is in the mode of goodness, his speech is pleasing to others. If you look in the discussion of the modes of material nature, you will find one of the characteristics of a person in the modes of passion and ignorance is that they are expert in insulting others, they have made this art…. in modern materialistic society what is called the artful putdown, you find a real sharp way to criticise the other person …and the audience appreciates how you got them.. how you insulted them in a very swarve or sohphisticated way, or a very clever way, And if he can insult you back then tooshay: everyone is pleased with that. But this is animal society, this is animal society, as soon as we meet I insult you and you insult me”

6“Don’t budge even a fraction of an inch from the determination of devotional service”

7“Develop loving relationships with devotees”

Quotes from HH JAS at a Seminar in 2000

University Programme (part6/lastpart)

HH KKS: …Ok with that I am ending my talk this evening, I’m thanking you for attending our programme, I hope you found it of interest, our programme will continue with a vegetarian meal which will be served at the end outside in the foyer because in this area it is not permitted to serve any foodstuffs…but before we go onto that part of the programme I would like to ask you if there is any questions or responses that you have about what we have presented and any thoughts that you would like to express.
(Some one speaks)
HH KKS: From the east there, many philosophies have reached us of course since the sixties so much has come from India to the west. There are in India different kinds of philosophies: One philosophy coming from India describes how there is an impersonal force which is spiritual and all pervading and that is what you are referring to …shivi or it…this is known in Sanskrit as Brahman , it is said this all pervading energy is the source from which everything rests …………….so in philosophical terms you would call that monism, you would say the idea that everything is one and the idea that all variety ultimately is the manifestation of the one same spiritual energy. In western tradition there is another understanding theism , that there is God and He has a distinct identity and there is the living being and he has a distinct identity. So in India there are also schools that are theistic. So we are in the theistic approach of God. So we have the idea that there is a God, one God and many innumerable living entities who are eternally connected with him but who are always in the position of dependence and that one person is the supplier of all. In the idea of monism the idea is that we should give up our identity and then we can merge with that one spiritual energy and in the end we come into some sort of pool and everything is all one and we are become part of that ….so that is another philosophy that exists in India and has reached the west many times …But we are closer to the western idea in the sense that we say there is one God and that God certainly has a form ….. See the idea is that God is the origin of everything that exists and so the form must also be included in him, also the formless energy must also be included within Him …so there is this energy and there is this form and in our understanding we accept both that He has form and energy ….so not just an all pervading energy or an all pervading intelligence but also form. After all we have energy, we have intelligence and we have form but it is all limited. We have limited energy, limited intelligence , limited form . He has unlimited energy, unlimited intelligence and unlimited form ..how, what should we imagine..unlimited form , maybe that is beyond our conception , maybe the human brain does not have the full capacity to figure out God , maybe He is greater than what we could conceive of , but something we can conceive and therefore it is said that if we try to figure it out by dint of our own intellect we may find that at one point we get stuck and therefore it is said best is if the knowledge comes down from self realised persons and there comes in the concept of guru. That’s where in the east the whole idea of guru comes, from a self realised person, a teacher, he is supposed to reveal the other dimension , he has a connection with that other dimension and therefore he can reveal it and we see of course that in the western tradition Jesus in one sense acted like that, like a person who had a connection with the other dimension and was then sending that and transmitting that into our world …so this is the idea…. on our own we can not understand the nature of God. But we accept His energy, His allpervading intelligence and also yet He is also a person and is always unlimited…there is a lot more but then again I would have to start another lecture so we have to save that for another evening I am afraid , because too much of something good is not good anymore …it’s like if you have a nice cake and if you eat too much of the nice cake it then becomes misery …so we are not going to spoil it by dishing out too much .
(someone speaks)
If you try to conceive of God all at once then yes…it becomes too much of a good thing. One must take it just like food , whatever we take in we must digest …so you can not just, you know, just like you can not just read a whole bible….nobody can sit down and just read the bible from cover to cover non stop…somewhere in the middle, you know, it’s just… ‘Phewwww, oh boy, I need a break, I need some fresh air , let’s turn on the tv, let’s do something else’ …. No one can just assimilate all that information and process it…the idea is not just to read it, but to assimilate, think about it , realise it, understand how it is logical and how it makes sense….that takes time therefore I think for tonight we have had our dose, if you ask me, maybe even more…so I don’t want to prolong it.
I thank you once again for being with us this evening and we have some time for some informal discussion while we are serving the meals and I think we should take a little break…Is everything ready over there for serving out…everything is ready? So I hope you are all also ready. Thank you very very much and I hope you have an appetite because they have cooked all kind of things …and we do have some reputation as kitchen religion. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna! Hope to see you again in the future.

University Programme (part5)

HH KKS: …It says if you follow that system of yoga then in due course of time there will be a change of consciousness ,a change of perception and then one will able to directly perceive God face to face ….not as a philosophical idea …but directly, directly experience. Now you might like say yeah well ok interesting ..interesting but, you know, there are ermmm…there are homes for people who are seeing all kinds of things…right?! ….. and, you know, when they start seeing too many things then you usually call that number ( crowd laughs)… and there is a vehicle coming to …take them away! Like that, so….It’s all good and well, surely there are many people who have realised they are Napoleon and there are many that have realised that they are Jesus Christ ….whenever you go into some insane asylum there’s always a few Jesus Christs there at any time ( crowd laughs)…right, Simon says may the real Jesus stand up , it gets confusing it is like a TV programme …who is the real one?…None of them …we are afraid. It is all imaginary , it is a side of madness… so if through a process followed in the Bhagavad Gita, a process of Yoga, one can directly perceive God …ok then how do we know it is not a halluctionation? How do we know it is not just an artificial state of mind? How do we know it is not just some sort of madness ?…It is a good question to ask …well….. Let us compare the state of consciousness that is described of the person who has followed the yoga system and then get the direct experience of God and his symptoms and let us compare those with the symptoms of one who is in a psychosis and see if it resembles a psychosis. Any psychosis is subjected to both manic and depressive periods, right, there is a moment when the psychotic person, he is all powerful….. He has now just realised that he is the one who has been sent and empowered to save the world from an invasion of the martians and the martians are here and he is the only one who knows and he will now save the earth and the martians have just landed in a space ship which is very sinister and disguised like this piece of furniture …you may think, right, it is an ordinary piece of furniture but I am telling you it is a space ship from mars …bring the matches, act casual..bring the matches….we have to burn it, ….quickly…act normal act normal …. bring some matches, a little carousine and we will fix up these fellows with antennas …So generally speaking we see in the manic period the person is very powerful in his psychosis but then he goes into another state , into a stage of depression , stage of paranoia , a stage of fear , he is getting totally overwhelmed now the martians are still not gone although the thing is burnt they appear through the walls and the martians are now manifesting on his hands and he is very tense and he smokes cigarettes and he burns that martian face..stsshhh…and he does it again…stshhhh…. …..I actually saw someone like that who was burning the devil out of his body and then on the burns on his hand he then said “That’s the face of the devil” and then he burned it again..Oh my God …………….So psychosis is not a funny thing ….psychosis is a very sad state of consciousness where there is intense suffering ..oh yes sometimes they laugh like anything, the crazies, but other times it is not just fun but there are times when it is just deep deep suffering: so up and down ..very extreme in pychosis..very extreme …So what is the consciousness of one who is perfecting the yoga………..( inaudible recording for a minute)………………..look at them,some people burn candles in a church or saintly personalities…and what is the descriptions of these saintly personalities ? That they are always peaceful and always inspired and so on………..same here…we see some similarities with different traditions in the world , describing a certain type of consciousness in those that are self realised ……….. So if it an artificial state of consciousness it doesn’t resemble the symptoms of pychosis at all …so that makes it a little difficult , if it was artificial, fellowships should snap out of it every once in a while and just lose it…but that is not the case ….so in this way we are seeing circumstantial evidence which is supportive of the knowledge of Bhagavada Gita and which may not be sufficient to completely convince the toughest agnostic that we may encounter but for a person who is open minded may say “ Well, well an indication , that might be worth an experiment “…………After all is that not modern science…you have an idea , you have a theory and then well I’ll take it to the laboratory and start mixing things, then start…get some cultures there and see what grows in the laboratory and then do a few tests and see what happens and when the tests seem to indicate that the theory is correct .Ah Ha!...Then we can present a paper or even possibly get a grant for the further research …Ooh hoo hoo! And..the whole academic world functions on that …Grants, big grants…Grants grants!s Give me a couple of grants! Like that…………..so isn’t that the way we operate…therefore Bhagavad Gita is a very interesting scripture, it is indeed worth an investigation and we became impressed by it …obviously or otherwise why would we sit here today…in oriental robes right, or in Vedic robes rather, traditional Vedic robes…………..We became at one point so impressed by it that we decided “Yes we will stand for this”…..of course nowadays , the Hare Krishna movement …not everyone walks around like me …Sometimes people say …we never see you guys anymore ….No no wonder, because once there was a time when every Hare Krishna was twenty years old and walking around in the pink dress because everyone was unmarried and pink robes for celibates …but then most got married and sometimes on a friday programme they dress up in a costume but most of the time they really don’t and most of them have jobs and kids as we are having here and a family father here….how many kids do you have ? Three kids and how old are they? Fifteen, twelve and nine hey …and what do you do for a living?... Works in a bank.
(The devotee speaks and explains to the university crowd about his Krishna conscious life)
So he has followed the Bhagavad gita in his life for many years and finds that yeah following the process gives the change of consciousness, he may not have gone to the highest levels of perfection but who gets great inspiration following knowledge of spiritual depth ….so what do we want actually? Why are we here? Let me just end with that.The thing that we really want is to …two things…one is we want to get out of the image of being extra terrestrials…… oddballs , we like to be accepted as people who are genuine who are following a certain culture with values , who have their convictions, their beliefs..etc who are ready to accept that others have other beliefs but at the same time that feel that they have a positive contribution to make to the world, and this is what we want to offer…a positive contribution to the world …we think that if everyone would find a little more satisfaction internally instead of looking so much for satisfaction outside himself by getting the latest of the latest state of the art at a high price ….instead of looking outside ourselves…if we look within and find some satisfaction there, that will improve life a lot ….for the rest life goes on……..
He told me that a couple of days ago in the bank he pushed by mistake the alarm button and the metal shutters within just seconds …Whooosh …flew up….I wish I could have seen it because I always wanted to, it’s interesting to hear about that….I always wondered what happens in a bank when they push the alarm button….now I know there are metal shutters that …Whoosh…. fly up in front of the counters ….So it is not that life becomes very dry but one no longer needs to get zonked, as they say in Australia I think …because one finds another type of satisfaction ….so spirituality has a place in life and without there is emptiness …we has to be filled with something else …If there is no spirituality in our life then we must fill it with material things and if there is spirituality we can easily without so much materialism …..So that way I think that…sometimes it is said that the east is the lame and the west is the blind and when the lame and the blind combine then we get the perfect situation . so lame in the sense the east materially speaking is just not happening and in the west there is just no time to think in life, we are too busy , too caught up from morning to night and then when you come home, no more energy left …just push on that button and look at that thing ….because there is no energy after a whole days work so in this way we are seeing that if we want to actually conquer stress and anxiety…the secret of how to conquer stress and anxiety and the true secret is by following a process of yoga and reconnecting with our spiritual origin, the Supreme Lord and understanding our eternal nature…..then we get peace within ….and when there is peace within then one has a natural strength to deal with all the anxieties of the world….. ….. the more one becomes elevated spiritually the less one becomes effected …(More in part6(last part))