(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Govinda Valley, Australia, 2011) Lecture – S.B.3.25.27
As the years go by in this movement we are sometimes surprised at how devotees can again become entangled in material things and sometimes it is an excessive type of behaviour that we thought:
"No, I could never have imagined that this could happen to a devotee".
Especially if you are in management, it's like being with the cops….you are always there with the dead body, or something like that. That is the job of the police. So being in management is the same thing – the post mortem:
"All right here we are again looking at all the horrible details of what went wrong".
So yes, that is also part of the Hare Krishna Movement – let's face reality…it is not just all a beautiful story:
"We joined the Hare Krishna Movement and we all became saints! Sometimes we struggled a little, since we didn't have so much desire to chant all our rounds….and sometimes someone made a little offense by speaking harshly to another vaisnava, and later asked for forgiveness".
It goes a little more raw then that! The lower nature really comes out. What can we say? Psychologist speak about the 'inner child'. I'm often in Germany these days and there on the shelf I saw a book in the bookstore, speaking about the 'inner swine mode', or the best way you could translate that is the 'inner out dog' or something like that. Although, it is not as good as 'swine mode', there is nothing better than to describe a particular creature that lives inside the 'inner swine mode'. 'Hog dog' if you translate it, literally the 'inner hog dog'. Well we know him, and he is there pushing and ready for the action anytime. We are not bothered. The moment we think that:
"Now, I'm beyond".
Danger zone…..danger zone! One must remain on guard and think:
"I have this inside of me, but it doesn't make sense – it will not benefit me in anyway if I go for that!"
Our handle….our control on that particular weak side of us (that very weak side of us) is first of all a regulation – a regulated program. Second of all, a philosophical understanding which means that we can look beyond the here and now and see what the consequences are in the long term. We must see if we learn to think about the consequences of the actions in the long term, then we are more protected.
Therefore we do not want a movement where everyone is on automatic pilot:
"Well, you know I just joined the Hare Krishna Movement and it's okay. We just sort of do what we are told….and there is a program which is sacred. Just book onto the morning program, and if you just do that then everything is ok".
So although, I just glorified discipline and regulation, which I guess includes the morning program. Now, I'm moving along and I am going to show the shortcoming of the faithful follower of the morning program, which is not good enough at all and still in the high risk zone.
If we don't think then we are an endangered species. We have to think of the consequences of our actions, that is what the Bhagavatam is calling for. The Bhagavatam is not at all a sweet book, it has sweet sides to it……very sweet…..describing the sweetness of Krishna's glories and pastimes and that is there, but if we think that the Bhagavatam is just the sweet inspirational book, then we are certainly missing the point because it is a heavy book as well. The Bhagavatam is showing us the heaviness of the material nature, and how it holds us in our grips. The Bhagavatam is asking us to actually think of the consequences of things. Therefore the Bhagavatam is there, to wake us up and kick start a process. A process of where we begin to practise questioning:
"What is going to be the result of my actions of what I am doing now?"