Movie metaphor to understand how we are entangled and how bhakti liberates us

[Bhagavatam class on 11.11.06 at ISKCON, Chowpatty, Mumbai, India]

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Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna! So, today morning, a classic Upanishadic metaphor is being reiterated in the Shri Madbhagavatam to illustrate the predicament of the conditioned soul.
Similes, metaphors, analogies, these are all different kind of comparative tools. And comparisons using these kind of tools is helpful for us to understand that which is unfamiliar. So, metaphors are implicit comparisons.
And, by metaphors, what happens is, our knowledge normally progresses from the familiar to the unfamiliar. So, if we want to, if somebody suddenly comes and tells us, say, I say today, I’ll give a class on the demographic trends of polar bears in the North Pole. What has this got to do with anything? It will not make any sense.
It will not connect. But if I say, that how the population of polar bears in the North Pole is decreasing, that indicates the climate is changing. And because the climate is changing, that’s why we are having such torrential rains in Mumbai.
Then, it becomes connected. So, something which is remote, it becomes accessible by connecting something which is, connecting it with something which is near. So, metaphors are comparisons to explain something which is far away by comparing with something near.
So, here, one comparison is used, that there is a tree. And on that tree, two birds are situated. The tree is compared to the body.
And, the two birds are the Atma and the Paramatma, the soul and the super soul. So, every metaphor is like a rubber band. If there is some big bulky object, it is difficult to tie it up or if it is, it is difficult to hold it.
But, if there is a rubber band, we get a glimpse, grasp of it. We can tie it and if there is a, if there is a strong enough rubber band, we can grasp it. Now, a rubber band, the rubber band is not the object.
If there is a big object to be, difficult object, difficultly shaped object to be carried, the rubber band uses a grip on it. But, the rubber band is not the object. And, if the rubber band is pulled too much, it will break.
Similarly, every metaphor is like a rubber band. And, the metaphor gives us a, a grasp of the concept that is being told. So, the concept itself is different from the metaphor just as the object is different from the rubber band.
And, every metaphor has to be used for its particular purpose. If we stretch the metaphor, if we stretch the analogy, just as when a rubber band is stretched too much, it breaks. Similarly, every comparison is done for a particular purpose.
And, we keep that purpose in mind, then we get what is the point being conveyed over. But, if we try to extrapolate beyond what is being compared, then, the analogy may break down. So, here, what is the nature of the analogy? If we compare a tree, in a tree, a tree is relatively speaking, the trees are also conscious, but the trees are not movable, sthavar or jangam.
So, there are moving and non-moving trees. So, the trees are non-moving, whereas, the birds in it are much more visibly active and mobile. So, the tree is compared here to the Jada, Prakriti, to material nature.
And, the birds are compared to the Chetan, the conscious beings. So, the mobility and immobility is compared to consciousness and lack of consciousness. And, now, birds, they stay on trees.
So, a tree is like a natural home for a bird. They make their nests over there. At the same time, sometimes, some trees grow old, sometimes some trees are cut down, and then the birds have to leave that nest and go away.
So, for the birds, if they have lived in a particular nest for a long time, then, if they’re forced to leave that nest, it’s a traumatic experience for them. The nest and the tree becomes not just a home for them. On that same tree, they may be getting fruits, they may be getting leaves, they may be getting worms, whatever they eat.
So, the tree becomes not only a residence, source of shelter, but also becomes a source of sustenance, source of food. And then, to be forced to leave the tree is quite traumatic. Similarly, for the soul, which is conscious, the body becomes not just the place of residence, the body becomes also the source of pleasure.
We try to enjoy life through the body. And then, when we have to leave the body, it is a traumatic experience. So, the soul is in the body.
In 13.22 in the Gita, Krishna says, the soul is in the situated in the material nature. And how does the transcendental soul become situated in the material nature? That is because of the desire to enjoy. Because of the desire to enjoy, the soul becomes, the soul’s consciousness becomes caught in the material nature.
And then, because it desires to enjoy the various parts of the material nature, it gets good and bad. Not just good and bad in that life, but in many lifetimes also. In the next verse, Krishna says, in 31.23, about this other word.
He says, Upadrashta Anumantacha Bharta Bhokta Maheshwara Paramatmetich Apyokta Dehesmin Purusha Para So, Dehesmin, in the same tree of the body, there is another, another living being, another being, and that is Paraha, that is the transcendental being. And that being is the overseer and the permitter. So, here it is said that for the second bird, the super soul, the first bird is eating the fruits of the tree.
Because it is not getting anything from the tree, it is simply observing. So, therefore, the second bird does not go through any emotions associated with whatever happens on the tree. If the fruit is there, delicious fruit, the first bird gets delighted.
If a fruit is cut away and taken away by someone, the bird gets devastated. But, the second bird is not affected. So, to understand this, let’s consider another contemporary metaphor.
We consider a child, say, he was at home and watching a horror movie. Now, the child is at home, comfortable, maybe in an icy room, sitting on an icy chair or sofa. But, the child’s eyes, child’s vision, is glued to the TV screen.
And, the consciousness of the child gets projected into that TV screen. And, in that horror movie, all the horrible things that are happening, the child starts trembling, the child starts screaming, the starts shrieking, brain child starts crying, the child is experiencing all these emotions, although, in one sense, nothing is happening to the child. So, the child is experiencing based on where the consciousness is projected, where the consciousness is located.
Now, we experience some emotions in relationship with our body. But, we experience emotions much more in relationship with our mind. Where our consciousness is located, that is where we experience emotions about most.
Somebody may be situated in one part of the world. I think a few months ago, there was this India-Pakistan cricket match, in which, India was expected to win the champions trophy, but India lost very badly. So, after that, one boy came and told me that, three nights I could not sleep.
So, I told him, the cricketers probably went to sleep, why could you not sleep? Because, what happened, that cricket match happened somewhere in England, but he was in India, but the consciousness was so caught over there, that what is happening is day, it’s night, it’s time to sleep, it’s time to wake up. No, emotions are experienced not in relationship with where we are, but where our consciousness is. And, our consciousness is very easily directed by the mind, it gets captivated by the mind.
So, to understand this, we can compare the mind to a screen, a screen where images from the outer world come in. So, images from the five senses, they come in and they’re integrated on the screen of the mind. Suppose, you have a high security building, in which there are five doors, and there’s a security centre, the control centre.
So, there they have CCTV cameras coming from all the five doors, placed in one big screen. And, on that five windows that are there on that screen, they can see who is coming in, who is going out, and the security in charge sees, oh, there’s some suspicious person over there, and they click on it, that zooms out. And, when that zooms out, then they can notice.
So, what is happening? So, right now, say, this class is going on. the ear screen, the sound screen, and the visual screen, these two are what are prominent. And, we’ll see what is happening over there.
But, suppose, say, from behind the room, some delicious fragrance of some gulab jamun comes up. Then, immediately, what happens? The smell window zooms out. Hey, where is this? Is it for breakfast? Is it for lunch? Will we get it? When will we get it? The thoughts go off in that direction.
Now, the security in charge has to make sure that the window that needs attention, that is where the focus is. But, suppose, the security in charge gets bored. So, there are these five windows, where the inputs from the five doors are coming in.
What is happening? But, on that screen, there is also six windows. And, that six window is connected to a TV. And, on that TV, there will be hundred channels.
So, then, if that security in charge starts watching the TV, the thief may come in and plunder. And, then, all that is coming on the inner screen is that TV is zoomed out. So, for our mind, on the screen of the mind, there are these five inputs coming in from the five senses.
But, along with that, we could say there is a sixth window. And, that sixth window is like a recollection. What thoughts come in our mind, they come either from outer perception or they also come from inner recollection.
And, from inner recollection, almost unlimited variety of thoughts can come in. So, we’re sitting peacefully at one place and then suddenly we remember, oh, that person borrowed money from me but they didn’t pay me. Oh, such a cheater, such a scoundrel, when are they going to pay me? Next time I meet them, I’m going to give them peace of my mind.
And, one moment we’re sitting peacefully and next moment we find that our heart is palpitating, our fists are clenched, our teeth are grinding. What happened? What happened? Movie started on our inner screen through the recollection and that consumed the whole screen and we lost track of everything else. I was at a devotee’s house in America and it was a bungalow and he had nice greenery in the background.
So, just sitting and talking and then I was looking at the greenery, nice, beautiful green trees and suddenly I saw a huge gorilla coming in, marching in through the window and about to smash the window and break and come in. This Planet of the Apes or something like that, these movies, they show these dangerous gorillas. So, I looked at the devotee and he was laughing.
I asked him what happened? And then I noticed in his hand he had something and peered down, he had a remote in his hand and he pressed the remote and that gorilla disappeared. So, he had arranged that window in such a way that that ape by pressing certain buttons the window will change into a TV. So, at one moment you are seeing what is outside and at another moment with the same background he had created a video which had the same background but had that dangerous gorilla coming in.
So, if we are not if we are not observing carefully we may not know when that window is acting as a when that screen is acting as a window and when it is acting as a TV. So, similarly for us, when our mind is acting as a window showing us the things in the outer world which we need to respond to and when it becomes a TV taking our conscious to somewhere else entirely. If we are not conscious, if we are not aware we will not even realise it.
And for those, many people all of us go through various moods and some people are more moody than others. Now, why do we go through these moods? Sometimes externally the situation may be very similar. But one moment may be cheerful, next moment we may be fretful, we may be furious, we may be dejected.
Because what has happened, our inner screen, it is not displaying what is in the outer world. Our inner screen has started showing something which is in the something, some a mother movie entirely. And our anger, our depression, our dejection, all these are caused because we are simply watching that screen.
So now, going back to the starting metaphor, I said about how if a child is watching a horror movie. When the child is watching the horror movie, the child may be crying, screaming, going through a whole panorama of terrible emotions. The mother may be sitting in the same room, but the mother is not disturbed.
Because the mother is not watching that horror movie. The mother will say, this child, why does he have to watch such movies? Why does he have to get so disturbed? He knows he is going to get fearful, why is he watching those movies? The mother will say. So this Paramatma is like that.
The Paramatma is sitting with us in the same tree of the body, in the same room, but the super soul is not watching the movie. Because the super soul is not watching the movie, the whole set of emotions that we are going through, the super soul doesn’t go through that. The super soul is situated as if detached.
The detached here does not mean unconcerned. It does not mean uncaring. Detached means not unconcerned, but unaffected.
The super soul is definitely concerned about us. But the super soul is not affected by the things that affect us. Because the super soul is transcendental.
So the super soul is not unconcerned, but the super soul is unaffected. So the word is udasin vad. It’s not udasin entirely.
It’s not uncaring. But it’s not affected by whatever is affecting us. Now the mother who sees that the child is going through this.
The child is getting horrified with the horror movie. The mother is not fearful of the horror movie, but the mother is concerned about what the child is going through. And the mother naturally wants to help that child.
Now sometimes the child may be so caught in the horror movie that if the mother comes and puts a loving hand on the child’s shoulder, the child may think that the monster from that movie is touching. That may cause the child to scream even more. Because the child is so caught in the illusion that rather than the reality helping the child come out of the illusion, the reality also gets incorporated in the illusion.
So this is how illusion can cover everything, even the path out of illusion. Illusion can cover everything, even the path out of illusion. And there are two energies of maya, that is avarnatmika shakti and prakshipatmika shakti.
So we can understand this by continuing this horror movie metaphor. Say if instead of many times some people in their homes, they create a studio so that they can enjoy the movie fully. Like we create a home theatre.
In a home theatre what happens? You create the atmosphere of a theatre. Now when we go to a movie theatre, at the start of the movie two things happen. First is, one set of lights goes off.
All lights around us go off. So that we can’t see anything around us. And then another set of lights goes on.
That is on the screen. And then when everything around us is dark and only that screen is lit, our consciousness just gets dragged towards it. This is similar to avaranatmika shakti and prakshepatmika shakti.
Avaranatmika shakti is the covering potency. That is like turning off all the lights around us. So that energy blinds us to the spiritual reality.
And prakshepatmika shakti is the throwing potency. It is like the light on the screen turning on. And our consciousness, if everything around us is dark and one thing is lit, our consciousness naturally goes towards that.
So similarly for us, the spiritual world is, spiritual level of reality is dark. So actually the spiritual level of reality is real. Similarly, what is happening in the movie theatre is real.
What is happening on the movie is not real. But when the movie theatre goes dark and the movie starts playing, what is happening in the movie appears real and the movie theatre goes into the background. So similarly for us, purushaha prakratisthohi, when the soul gets caught in material nature, then the screen, whatever is happening in the material world, it appears real.
And the spiritual reality, all that appears very remote, it appears very distant, it appears quite irrelevant. That’s why that which is night for all living beings is day for the self-realised. Self-realised are like the mother.
Nothing is wrong. Why is the child getting so horrified by the horror movie? But that which is day for the self-realised is night for all living beings. And the people who want to enjoy the horror movie, they want to enjoy the movie, real life appears very boring.
Nothing is happening over here. Just want to watch some movies. And nowadays, the technology people say that it is progressing so much and we can do so many things.
But nowadays, actually, the more and more technology is advancing, people are getting more and more bored. And sometimes people say in the past there were no TV, there were no phones, people must have lived such boring lives. But now, in spite of having multiple TV, multiple channels, multiple devices, people are still extremely bored.
Nowadays, there are people who have at their homes multi-screen TVs. In the past, we have multi-channels. So, one channel doesn’t work, watch another channel, watch another channel, find something interesting.
Now, they have multi-screen TVs so that you can have multiple channels being watched at the same time. So, if this is not interesting, watch that, that is not interesting, watch that. And there are remotes which serve all four channels simultaneously.
So, there are four TVs going on and you have four remote buttons. So, people are watching, changing screens on all the four. And still they are bored.
So, actually, what happens is the material reality is for the soul, it is superficial, it is external. And it can ultimately never satisfy the soul. It gives some stimulation but that stimulation dies out after some time.
No matter how high tech the stimulation may be, it dies out. So, we can make the illusion more and more attractive but the illusion can never give us the fulfilment that the reality can give. The child may watch horror movies, the child may watch cartoons, the child is a teenager, the child may watch romantic movies but none of that will give the same fulfilment as, reciprocating lovingly with the mother, reciprocating lovingly with the real person.
Similarly, for us as souls, we are caught in eating the fruits, enjoying various objects in this world but none of this can fulfil the heart because we are qualitatively, categorically different. We are souls and we need to relate with Krishna. To the extent we connect with Krishna, to that extent our real life begins.
So the super soul doesn’t abandon us, the super soul is always with us, no matter where we go and what we do and he, we are watching the show and the super soul doesn’t watch the show, the super soul watches us, waiting for us to turn towards him. Of course, he is not just waiting, he is also working to get us to turn towards him. That’s why he descends to the world.
So the descent of the law to the world is like say this mother, she sees the child is watching the horror movie and the child is so horrified by it and the mother wants to get the child out of the horror movie but the mother can’t because she touches the child, the child thinks this is some monster, either doesn’t want to get distracted or gets only horrified. So what does the mother do at that time? Mother wants to help the child, so the mother may have another remote for the TV. And then she uses the remote and slowly changes the programme over there.
And instead of the horror movie, suddenly another film starts over there. That film is what? That film is about that same child and mother, they went for a picnic together, they went to a park together, they went for a tour together, they are enjoying, they are loving each other, the child is safe and happy with the mother. Who is this person? He looks so nice, loves me so much, I want to know more about him.
And then in the TV itself, the child starts seeing the mother. So the avatar of Krishna is like that. We can’t perceive spiritual reality, we are perceiving only material reality.
So Krishna enters into the material reality. And Krishna displays his pastimes in this material world. And when they see those pastimes, hey what is this? This is so nice, I want to know about this.
What is this going on? So somehow our curiosity gets aroused. So Krishna descends to this world. Many people quote 4.7 and 4.8 very frequently.
Krishna descends in this world to establish dharma. It’s interesting, Prabhupada quotes 4.9 much more. 4.9 is Krishna descends to this world to maintain order in this world.
That is true, but what is the purpose of maintaining order in this world? Ultimately, this world is a place of disorder. In physics there is a law of entropy, which says that the level of order in any system will go down over a period of And that is the nature of the whole world itself. So Krishna will establish dharma and again adharma will start coming.
That is what happens. The purpose of Krishna’s descent is not just to establish dharma in this world, to establish order in this world. The purpose of establishing order in this world is to have an orderly way out of the world.
The divine descent is meant to inspire the human ascent. The divine descent from the spiritual level of reality to the material level of reality is not meant to just establish order at that level, at the material level. Yes, it is meant, but primarily it is meant to inspire the human ascent, to inspire the elevation of human consciousness to the spiritual level.
So 4.7 and 4.8 talk about establishing order at the material level, but 4.9 talks about raising consciousness to the spiritual level. Krishna says that those who understand the transcendental nature of my appearance and activities, they become attracted to me and they attain me. So how do they attain me? What is required for that? Krishna tells in the next verse.
4.10 is Vita, Raga, Bhaya, Krodha, Manmaya, Mam, Pashuta, Bhagavo, Jnana, Tapasa, Kuta, Madh, Bhava, Magata, Vita, Raga, Bhaya, Krodha. If you want to fix our mind on Krishna, Manmaya, Mam, Pashuta, if you want to fix our mind on Krishna, if you want to take shelter of Krishna, these three are obstacles. Attachment, fear and anger.
In the Purport, Prabhupada explains, attachment means that we are too caught up with this world. We just want to enjoy this world. So going back to the example of the metaphor of the TV, if somebody is too caught in watching the particular movie that is going on, some other channel starts up, no, they turn off the channel and go back to the original channel.
So if we are too attached to our own dreams and schemes for enjoyment, then even if Krishna comes right in front of us, we will not pay attention to Krishna. We just neglect Krishna and we will move on with our own life. Prabhupada writes in Krishna book that even when Krishna manifested his pastime in this world, even when Krishna was there, many people did not understand Krishna to be God.
Okay, he is just another powerful king. Duryodhana thought that even when Krishna showed him the kingdom, thought in his own scheme, I want to get the kingdom, I want to become the Kuru king. So there is Raga, if we are too attached to watching our own movie, then we cannot see Krishna’s pastime at all.
And there is Bhaya, with Raga, Bhaya and Krodha. So Bhaya refers to fear. So fear is not just ordinary fear, this will happen, that will happen, there are circumstantial fears and there is an existential fear.
Circumstantial fear means, what if I lose my job, what if my partner abandons me, what if I get, this goes wrong, that goes wrong, these are all circumstantial fears. Existential fear is about the very nature of our existence. So if somebody keeps watching one horror movie, another horror movie, another horror movie, and that person starts watching one movie, it turns out to be a horror movie, starts watching another movie, it turns out to be a horror movie.
Sometimes people watch a movie, they think this is a nice, enjoyable, romantic movie, they think they will happily live ever after, and at the end of the movie everybody dies. It is not a romantic movie, it is a tragedy. People feel frustrated.
So, life turns out to be like that. It seems to be like an enjoyable movie, but it turns out to be a horror movie. So, when people keep doing this, one thing goes wrong, second thing goes wrong, one relationship goes on, one plan goes wrong, everything is just illusion, there is no real happiness, there is nothing at all.
So, this bhaya, Prabhupada says, fear of personal existence, fear of relationships. So, even when Krishna’s past time starts coming in front of us, the loving reciprocation with Krishna and devotees come, this is also personal existence, relational existence, this is going to be distressful. Any kind of relationship is miserable.
There was an atheistic philosopher, he was asked, do you believe in hell? He said, yes. He said, what is your conception of hell? He said, hell means other people. That was his idea that, probably, if you look back in life, his mother had abandoned him, his father was an abuser, and he grew up in very difficult situations.
So, his experience of relationship was very distressing. So, he thought, hell means other people, just people, get out of my life. So, people, they have so many negative experiences, that their negative experiences, relationships, just don’t want any relationship with anyone at all.
So, that bhaya, in Krishna’s pastimes, are filled with relationships. That also completely frustrates them. And then, also, one cannot take shelter of Krishna.
If one thinks, oh, all these movies are going to be tragedies only. So, this Krishna movie is going on, I’m seeing this, Krishna is also the same part, I’m not going to see it. Then again, one cannot fix the mind on Krishna.
Then there is krodha. Krodha, here, when Krishna is talking about it, is not just circumstantial anger. It is existential anger.
Existential anger means that one is unable to decide what is real and what is false. And therefore, one just stops exploring. In the first case, in the second case, bhaya, one is fearful of everything.
Everything is miserable. But in krodha, one is frustrated by one’s inability to discern reality and therefore, one stops exploring. Is this true? Is this true? Is this true? What is true? Oh, nothing is real.
Nothing is real. So, one of the most prominent schools of thought in today’s world is scepticism. Now, people are sceptical.
Oh, this is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong. Especially people who study philosophy. I was in, I was just in New York upstate.
So, I met Ravindra Swaroop Prabhu. He was telling me how when he was doing academic studies, he was studying philosophy. So, he said, first day I heard a philosophy of one philosopher, I was quite impressed, very good.
And next day, the next class was about the next philosopher who came and he pointed out the faults of all the previous philosophers. And so, each philosophy lasted for one class. That was our philosophy class as well.
And he said, after some time, it became a game for us that whatever philosophy you present, we can find holes with it. This is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong, this this is wrong, this is wrong, this is is wrong, this And then, as he was doing this, so they all became champions of scepticism. But then, at one time, he just , he was going through this and one person made a very articulate, so they would all present different philosophies and they would all refute those philosophies.
So one day somebody made a very articulate presentation and he said that actually we are being sceptical, we are being sceptical of everything except scepticism. So we are not taking our scepticism far enough, we are champions of scepticism, yes but if you are sceptical of everything, but why not be sceptical of scepticism? What does it mean to be sceptical of scepticism? It means that scepticism can only tell us what is wrong, it can never tell us what is right. So now if you consider the characteristics of intelligence described in the Bhagavatam 3rd Canto, the first characteristic is samshaya, samshaya is the first characteristic of intelligence.
So only an intelligent person can doubt, a foolish person will believe whatever they say. So doubt is a function of intelligence, but doubt is not the only function of intelligence. We have to doubt so that we evaluate, but after evaluating we have to put faith.
So when this krodha is there, one just keeps doubting, doubting, doubting and one does not get anywhere, one does not learn anything. Then one cannot take shelter of fiction. So doubting in the context of the movie would mean, okay if we have a TV, on some TV shows there are movies which are fictional, that are being depicted.
There are some which are documentaries, which describe realities. And nowadays there is a whole genre which is, which is partially real, partially unreal. So some people tell stories, some people describe incidents in their life, nowadays memoirs are becoming very common.
People want to hear about people and so people write their life stories and others want to read it. Now memoirs are very popular, but nowadays there is a special, special kind of editor who has come up. These editors are actually, whenever somebody submits a memoir to a publisher, now how do the publisher know whether what the person has told in the memoir is true or not? So there are these, normally editors are supposed to check the editorial content, now this is written properly.
But these editors are basically investigators. And there are many cases where some memoir of a person became immensely popular. Over a million copies sold and after those million copies were sold, then some people started investigating and they found most of the incidents that were described in the memoir were false.
And then it became a big embarrassment for the publisher and the author apologised and then it became a big mess for people. So what happens is, sometimes some stories are told in such a way that what is real and what is false is difficult to read. So similarly for us, there are so many movies going on in our mind, which is real, which is false? If we feel I just can’t know this and we reject everything as false, then that will not lead to reality.
Mayavar is actually this idea, everything is ultimately false. That everything is maya. But there is, beyond maya there is reality.
Some people say that this world is an illusion and consciousness is also an illusion. Well, okay, we can say consciousness is an illusion, but whose illusion is it? Consciousness is an illusion, but whose illusion is it? If something is an illusion, if a mirage, if you are seeing water, so there is land over there, but we are seeing water, but we can say that seeing the mirage is an illusion. But to perceive something to be an illusion, there has to be a perceiver who is real.
So illusion cannot exist in isolation. The very existence of illusion necessitates the existence of a real observer who is an illusion. So the consciousness, what the consciousness perceives can be illusion, but consciousness itself can’t be illusion.
So there is a reality and what that reality is, is revealed by scripture. So to the extent we understand this reality by studying scripture, by associating with devotees, by philosophically discerning, and to that extent we can perceive the reality. So for us, I’ll conclude with this point, there is a three-step process for spiritual realisation.
The first is that in the physical reality around us, we try to bring devotional stimuli. Like we come to the temple, we make our home into a temple, we have spiritual pictures all around us. By that, so the soul’s consciousness is spiritual, and then there is a screen of the mind, and beyond the screen of the mind is the physical reality.
So if you want to revive our spiritual consciousness, because our consciousness presently is caught a lot in physical reality. So it is at the physical reality that we have to bring spiritual stimuli. Prabhupada said that the temple should be decorated, the deity should be decorated in such a beautiful way that people whose minds are agitated, they feel peaceful.
The Lord’s sight gives pleasure to the eyes. And it’s interesting, even atheistic people, there is a survey done which said that actually even atheistic people, when they come to a temple or a holy place, they feel peaceful over there. Now why they feel peaceful, they don’t know, they’ve got some vibes of this place.
But what are those vibes? They don’t know. So actually when the Lord is glorified, when the Lord is manifest, that creates, even at a physical level, certain effect, we feel soothing. So we need those physical stimuli first.
But just the physical alone is not enough. Ultimately from the physical, we have to come to the mental. That we have to think of Krishna.
See for somebody who occasionally visits the temple, for them, that’s why they come to the temple, it feels so special. But for those who regularly stay in the temple, the temple may not feel that special. Because that’s the normal physical situation.
So what happens is, whatever the normal physical situation, we get habituated to it. So it’s there, it is at the level of the mind, the consciousness has to be there. I gave a seminar on japa and tobacco in America.
So after that one devotee asked a question, you know, why are we so inattentive in chanting? He says, I said, it’s not your problem, it’s my problem also. But my understanding is, it’s because we are not chanting. I said, what do you mean? He said, actually, I gave the same example of this triple screen, you know, triple level of reality, the outer scene, the inner screen and the inner seer.
So, he said, what happens is, the tongue is chanting, and the mind is the screen on which a movie is going on. The mind is wandering. The tongue is chanting, the mind is wandering, and the soul is wondering which to do.
And for the soul, as compared to the chanting of the tongue, the movie of the mind appears much more interesting. So therefore, we don’t get involved itself in the process of chanting. Similarly, with bhakti, whatever is, we have abundant stimuli at the physical level, devotional stimuli, but those stimuli have to come at the mental level.
Our mind has to become imprinted with Krishna. It’s a machittaha, machitta madgata prana. We can dedicate our life to Krishna when our chitta is dedicated to Krishna.
And, in this way, when the mind gets impressed with Krishna, then even when there are no physical stimuli around us, that time we can remember Krishna. There is a third canto of the Shrimad Bhagavatam in Kapila’s pastimes, Kapila’s teachings, it is said that the first level, the lowest devotee, the Kanisha devotee, needs to worship the deities. The advanced devotees, they don’t need to worship the deities.
Some people extrapolate from this and say, deity worship is for the less intelligent people. It is not that deity worship is for the less intelligent people. Deity worship is for everyone.
But, for those who are advanced, they can think of the deities even when they are not in the presence of the deities. That means, the deities, Krishna has become imprinted on their inner screen. And, beyond that is the spiritual level.
So, even Krishna being imprinted on the inner screen is not enough. Beyond that is, we become aware of Krishna through the pure faculty of the soul. Just like, going back to the horror movie, there is a horror movie going on sometimes and sometimes the movie about the child, the film with the child and the mother is going on.
Sometimes the child sees this, sometimes the child sees that. But, when the mind becomes impressed with Krishna, that means the child is so attached, okay, watching the movie about the mother only. But, then beyond that is, the child looks and says, oh, my mother is right next to me.
So, getting Krishna impressed on our mind, that is not the perfection of spiritual realisation. That is very important. But, beyond that is the soul’s awakening of the spiritual faculty.
And, when the soul’s spiritual faculty is awakened, that is when the soul becomes liberated. यत्र उपरमते चित्तम् निरुद्धम् योग सेवया उपरमते चित्तम् That means all material movement of the mind on the inner screen stops. And then, यत्र चैवा आत्मनात्मानं पश्चन् आत्मनितुष्यति In the inner world, one sees spiritual reality and relishes that.
सुखं आत्यंतिकं यत्त बुद्धी ग्रायं अतींद्रियं अतींद्रियं This reality is perceived beyond the senses, beyond the mind, in the spiritual realm. So, when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, when the Ratha Yatra festival was coming, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was in exercising Ratha Yatra. So, for him, Lord Jagannath was in the physical reality.
He was perceiving all eyes fixed on Jagannath. Sometimes he would go unconscious, and sometimes when he was unconscious, he was partially conscious of outer reality, sometimes not conscious of outer reality at all. So, he was experiencing reality on an entirely different level.
And then, not only was he experiencing spiritual reality, he was relishing the pastimes of Radha and Krishna, but actually, he was reciprocating love on the spiritual level, and that was affecting at the physical level. When he would feel Krishna is very far away from him, then all his limbs would get elongated, so that Krishna is disappearing. I would stretch out my hands, stretch out my legs, somehow reach out to Krishna.
And then Krishna would be close to him, and he wouldn’t want any other distraction. So, all the senses would withdraw in, so that he could just focus completely on Krishna. And Jagannath is that manifestation.
Sometimes when we are very attracted to something, when some very important class is going on, an important point is going on, somebody touches us, we don’t want to pay any attention to that. So, if we are talking on phone, and something very important is going on, then we may be looking at things, looking at people, we turn around and look at the wall, so that we don’t want any other distraction, we just want to hear what is being spoken. So, like that, for Lord Jagannath, what happens is, normally, we want distracting sensory stimuli to go off.
But when there is an intense desire for absorption, not only distracting sensory stimuli go off, but even the distracting senses itself get shrunk. And that’s how Lord Jagannath’s limbs have shrunk into his body, because he is completely absorbed in hearing about Krishna. So, the spiritual level manifests in the physical level.
So here, for us, all these are very exalted states, but just hearing about these states of consciousness, gives us the conviction that this is for real. And we also can move towards it. So, we all can try to spiritualise our physical reality as much as possible, and try to get the spiritual reality, the spiritual impressions, impressed on our mind as much as possible.
And by doing those two things at this level, gradually, by Krishna’s mercy, by Prabhupada’s mercy, our spiritual faculty will be awakened. And when that is awakened, then we become liberated. Even if we are in this body, we are Jeevan Mukta.
We are liberated from this body and eventually we attain Krishna’s abode. So, I’ll summarise. I spoke today about how the soul is entangled and how Krishna helps the soul come out of the entanglement.
I started by talking about how metaphors are like rubber bands. The rubber band is not the object. Similarly, metaphor is not the actual concept, but it gives us a grasp of the concept, provided we don’t stretch the metaphor too much.
And here, the metaphor is used of a tree, which is compared to the unconscious body, and the birds are compared to the conscious living beings. So, for us to get a better understanding, I used a more contemporary metaphor of a screen. So, a child watching a horror movie and the mother sitting next to her.
That’s like the soul and the super soul. And this screen is the mind. The mind is meant to act like a window to the outer world, showing us what the senses are seeing.
But the mind can also act like a TV, showing us something entirely different. And when the mind changes from a screen to a TV, from a window to a TV, we may not understand. And that’s how we may have unpredictable mood swings.
So, we need to become more self-aware to understand what is happening, to evaluate what is being depicted on the screen. And I talked about Krishna as a super soul. He is not unconcerned, he is unaffected.
He is saying the mother is unaffected. And because we are so caught in material reality, we go to the avarnatmika and the prakshepatmika shakti. So, avarnatmika shakti is like the lights around us turning off in a movie theatre.
And prakshepatmika shakti is the lights on the screen turning on, the images turning on. So, we are so consumed by illusion that even if the mother touches the child, the child gets horrified. Like that, Krishna cannot connect with us right now.
So, the mother on that screen starts a movie about herself and her child. So, similarly, Krishna descends to this world and starts manifesting his transcendental pastimes at the material level. Krishna descends not primarily to establish order in this world, but primarily to establish an orderly way out of this world.
The divine descent is meant to inspire the human ascent. And for getting attracted towards Krishna and for getting shelter of Krishna, there are three obstacles. If we are too attached to worldly enjoyment, to dreams and schemes of worldly enjoyment, just watching the movie, then we won’t turn towards Krishna’s pastimes.
If because of too many bad experiences, we just become afraid of relationships, afraid of personality, then again, we will stay away from Krishna because of that existential fear. Or, if we have been deceived many times and we have now lost faith about what is real and what is not real and we just become frustrated sceptics, then also, we will not explore reality. If we are sceptical, then we need to become more sceptical and become sceptical about scepticism.
Scepticism can only tell us what is wrong, it can never tell us what is right. To say everything is an illusion begs the question, who is saying that everything is an illusion? So, the very existence of illusion requires a reality whose illusion it is. So, there is a reality and by practising bhakti, we can all rise to that reality.
So, bhakti involves three stages. First is the physical stimuli. There is the inner seer of the soul, the inner screen is the mind, the outer scene is the world around us.
So, first step is, the outer scene gets spiritualised. We bring as many spiritual stimuli as possible in outer environment so that we can start connecting with Krishna. And after that, by this, the inner screen needs to be fixed with spiritual impressions.
Then wherever we go in the outer scenes, outer world, we will be able to remember Krishna. And ultimately, beyond the body and beyond the mind, the soul’s spiritual faculty becomes awakened and the soul directly, independent of the body and mind, reciprocates eternal love with Krishna. And that is the stage of supreme liberation and supreme perfection.
Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. Is there any one question? Thank you very much.