Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Thank you, Roo.
Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. I’m humbled and honoured to be here with all of you today.
And I’ll speak about the glories of His Holiness Sadhanand Swami Maharaj from three broad perspectives. So over the years, whatever I observed, I’ll talk about how He appreciates others so much, how He is ready to accept challenges for Shila Prabhupada’s service, and how He adapts His focus according to the needs of the the situation, of time, place, circumstance. So appreciation, acceptance, and adaptation.
So generally, at the time of festivals, occasions like Vyasa Puja, we would like to know more about our spiritual master. And generally, we would like to hear more incidents, more personal interactions that helps us to see the spiritual master as not just a tattva. There’s a tattva, there’s a truth.
Spiritual master represents a principle, but spiritual master is also a person. So if we see the spiritual master only as a tattva, like a pendulum, only that extreme, then it becomes very impersonal. On the other hand, if you see only as a person and not as a principle, then we start humanising the spiritual master disproportionately.
So I will speak some of my interactions with Shila Radhanath Swami Maharaj. At the same time, I won’t be focussing on incidents alone for two reasons. First is that we would like to learn some principles that he lives by and he wants us to live by.
So just telling many stories does not necessarily explain the principles. And more importantly, when there are some senior disciples, I’m not a particular senior disciple, I have many more senior God brothers and God sisters, but when there are senior devotees who have had a lot of interaction with the spiritual master, and then younger devotees, they may hear it, and then that creates, instead of an appreciation for the spiritual master, it creates instead a hankering for similar association. And when we feel, okay, that hankering is not going to be fulfilled, then that leads to a scarcity mentality in our spirituality.
Oh, I was not so fortunate, I’ll never be so fortunate. Krishna doesn’t want us to live with a scarcity mentality. He wants us to live with an abundance mentality.
So yes, I will talk about incidents, but the focus will be on the principles. And by that, we will see the legacy that Srila Prabhupada and our Guru Maharaj has given us. So for me, this aspect of how Maharaj is appreciative of everyone, is something which is, I have repeatedly been reminded of that.
Is there any problem? Okay. So, as was mentioned in my introduction, I came from a scientific background. I was introduced to spirituality because of science, because I found it a very rational approach.
But then there were some areas where there is some tension and some conflict. And sometimes some devotees adopt a very confrontational approach, dismissing science. Now, Prabhupada had two words, starting with F and starting with R. And devotees become, sometimes some preachers become very liberal in using words which are very illiberal.
So anyway, so I was a little disturbed because of some such statements about science and scientists. And then Radha Mahajan had come to Pune at that time. And then I asked him, so Maharaj, what is the relationship between science and spirituality? So for the first time, I heard, at least at that time, an answer that was from an appreciative perspective.
He said, basically, science and spirituality, through both, we are searching for an understanding, an understanding of life, understanding of the universe. He said, probably the greatest scientist was Einstein. And he spent his whole life trying to understand through science and toward the end, he said, that there has to be some organising principle, some reality.
That is bigger. And that is pointed to by science. I’m paraphrasing his words here.
But essentially, what he said is that science, at its summit, points us towards spirituality. So that same theme I’ve seen repeatedly coming up when Maharaj wrote the Journey Home book. I’ll talk about that book again later.
But before the book was published, Maharaj gave a copy to me to read. Because I had published a few books and I had given those books to Maharaj. So Maharaj knew I was an author.
So he said, you read and tell me what you think about it. So then I read the book. It’s amazing reading.
So then Maharaj asked, I was at Radha Gopinath Temple. He asked, so, did you finish reading? I said, yes, Maharaj. So, what do you think? I said, Maharaj, the stories were extraordinary.
Some of them I’ve heard, but many were amazing. But what struck me the most was the tone of the book. He said that, Maharaj, I, I don’t, when you are writing in this book, you don’t sound like a spiritual master giving a class to disciples.
It’s almost like a friend sharing experiences with friends. So Maharaj smiled at me and he said, I appreciate your appreciation. And he said that this book is meant primarily for Western audiences.
And this is the tone you require, that is required for reaching out to Western audiences. And he said, if you can also learn this tone, India is also becoming Westernised. You can also reach to a broader audience.
So, I’ll come back to this particular principle a little later when I talk about accepting challenges in Prabhupada’s service, Western outreach. But, probably the most defining appreciation that Maharaj gave, that I have seen, Maharaj is, after I started doing some, started travelling abroad, and especially over the years, many, many leaders in America and Australia, they found that I was able to connect with the Western mind to some extent. So they gave some reports to Maharaj, Maharaj says, I appreciate you.
Then I, especially from 2014 onwards, I have been getting a good amount of association regularly with Maharaj, because from that time I have been travelling abroad. before that I was in Pune from 1996 to 2007. Then 2007 to 2011 I was in Belga with Vakimakthi Samudra Maharaj.
Then 2011 I was in Mumbai, till 2014. And from 2014 I have been travelling mostly across the world. I spend about, although I have a room in the Govardhaniko village, I spend about 10 days a year there.
So, but essentially, from 2014 I have been getting some regular associations. So just before the pandemic started, I met Maharaj and gave him a report of what all, where all I had gone and what all was the response. And then I said, Maharaj, some devotees tell me that my classes are very intellectual.
And I said, Maharaj, but it’s not that I am intentionally intellectual. It’s just the way I think. It’s difficult for me to change myself.
So, Maharaj became grave. And he said, there is no need for you to change yourself. He said that if Gaur Gopal Prabhu tried to become intellectual like you, it wouldn’t work.
He said, if you try to become humorous like Gaur Gopal Prabhu, that won’t work. He said, Maharaj, you are such a sweet and disarming human humility. He said, as far as I am concerned, I am neither intellectual like you, nor humorous like Gaur Gopal Prabhu.
So, I said to Maharaj, Maharaj, whatever abilities we have, it is by your mercy. And Maharaj became grave. He said, Krishna has blessed me with deep concern for others.
And with that concern in my heart, whatever I speak, it seems to inspire others. He says, you don’t have to change yourself. Just try to increase your concern for your audience.
So, I found this a very profound and powerful little guideline. Then I started thinking, okay, what does it mean to try to increase my concern for others? I started interacting with devotees, asking them. One devotee told me that, I have to hear your class.
I know that I’ll have to do a one and a half hour intellectual workout. I get exhausted. Another devotee told me that, Prabhuji, when you listen to my class, smoke comes out of my brain.
So, I started wondering. I heard something like this vaguely, but I never solicited feedback like that. So, specifically, I would generally ask, you know, what did you like in the class? But beyond that, I would not specifically ask questions.
So, I started asking more specific questions. Then, you know, when I had started travelling in 2014, my 20 years of brahmachari life and study before that, I consolidated and what I thought I had, those were my best classes. I had given those classes.
Then, just to try to understand what was happening, I tried to hear some of my own old classes. And then, what struck me was, although they were my classes, I had to pay full attention to understand what I was saying. Then, it struck me that I was making too much demand from my audience.
Some of the examples were familiar, the points were familiar, but how does this point flow into that point? What is this particular point being said for? There is a point in a class, and there is a point of the point in the class. So, from that time, I started experimenting with different ways. I tried to make PowerPoints for various classes.
And then, I found that PowerPoints are not really very, they were helpful, but then, I am also a bit creative. I am not a very, while my class is very structured, I don’t structure the class that rigidly before speaking. I have a broad structure, and I want to be spontaneous in what I speak.
So, the PowerPoint would limit me. Then, finally, after experimenting with different things, I stumbled upon this approach of using a whiteboard. Some of you may have seen my classes.
I write and draw things in the classes. I’ll see if I need something, I’ll write and draw today. But it may not be.
Varajakrishna Prabhu told me that writing today would be a rasabhas. So, but anyway, then I told Maharaj that Maharaj, so, after I started writing and explaining, many devotees started saying that, that, you know, we now understand your classes much better. So, I told Maharaj, I thanked him.
So, for his guideline. And Maharaj told me that, you know, don’t stop with this. He said, no technique can replace actual concern for people.
So, it is Krishna’s mercy that you got this way of working by which you could connect with people. But even a technique that comes from our concern for people should not become a replacement for our concern for people. The concern is the most important thing.
And based on that, we can, different things we may try at different times. And I’ll come back to this point when I talk about adapt. But this is appreciating others.
So, what I found is that Maharaj not only appreciated me. OK, I’m intellectual. I appreciate that.
But appreciate and then elevate. OK, this is what you can do. Then you feel, oh, I can’t change myself.
I have to change myself completely. Appreciate what we are. Now, what we are is by Krishna’s arrangement.
And there is value in what we are. But it’s also an opportunity for us to elevate ourselves. So, I was talking about when I travel abroad.
Generally, all of us come to know the success stories of our preaching. OK, this person became a devotee, this person became a devotee, this person became a devotee. Most of us don’t keep track of the casualties of our preaching.
You know, how many people came to Krishna because of us? We can often proudly, with our humble pride, we could be an instrument of Krishna for that. We are quite, we keep a track of that. But how many people didn’t come to Krishna because of our particular style of preaching? Maybe we’re too confrontational, maybe we’re too judgemental, maybe we’re too alienating.
That we don’t keep track of that. So, somehow, for whatever reason, when I travel across the world, I often attract those who have been casualties of others’ preaching. So, anyway, sometimes I tell the experiences, you know, especially in the Western world, where devotees get burned out for some preaching.
So, you know, one of my Godbrothers is going through, all of you know him. So, he says, when devotees come new, we feed them fried pakodas. When they become devotees, we fry them like pakodas.
So, I talk with Maharaj about this. That, you know, some devotees get burned out because of various reasons. New people get burned out.
And then I seek his insights. What can we do? How far can we? What can we change or adjust? How can we accommodate people? So, I was in America in one city, prominent city, and there were some devotees who were doing a lot of vigorous Western outreach. But somehow, some of the local leaders over there were not very happy with these devotees.
So, I told those leaders to express their concerns to me. And now, of course, these devotees were also close to me. So, I went to Maharaj.
I told them, Maharaj, this is what I’ve heard. And Maharaj said, he said, I appreciate the leaders and their concerns. And when I meet them, I will talk with them.
So, at the same time, he said, these devotees are very empowered devotees. What they are doing, very few people are able to do that. So, he said that I will talk with them also so that they can learn to be more in harmony with the temple leadership.
But then he made a very important point. He said that we have many empowered devotees in our movement. But we don’t have enough empowered leaders to engage empowered devotees.
That we need empowered leaders who can actually give space and enable devotees to flourish. One of the points which was made in the Vyasa Puja offerings earlier was that how Maharaj has created many leaders. And one of the ways he has been able to create leaders is that he has given space to different devotees, according to their particular nature and their particular needs.
So, of course, giving space does not mean creating a conflict with others in the name of fighting for space. So, I was once trying to do some mediation between two devotees. And then finally, those devotees had to go to Maharaj.
And then I also went with them. So, Maharaj told me that afterwards, sometimes he said that some devotees can get along with some devotees. Some devotees just can’t get along with other devotees.
He said, even if we can’t get along with someone, we should not spoil our relationship. He said, we can have a distance, but don’t spoil your relationship with anyone. So, this is, Maharaj is not very rigid.
One person is right, another person is wrong. And one person has to submit to the other person. Sometimes it may just not work.
But that does not mean that one devotee has to be suffocated in the name of harmony and cooperation. The other is that Prabhupada said we want devotees to be independent and thoughtful. So, the other extreme is everybody wants their space and everybody starts fighting with the other.
Maharaj said, we need to learn to function in a way that if we can’t get along, we need to respect each other, keep a distance, but don’t spoil the relationship. So, this is not easy to do. But overall, I find this Maharaj’s emphasis in Trunada, P Sunisena, Tarora, P Sahishnuna, that is very significant because that focusses on service attitude.
That often there is a focus on spiritual standards and spiritual standards means to give up sense gratification. And Maharaj in the lecture says that Maharaj speaks Trunada, P Sunisena, before Dhanam, Nijanam, Sundari. Says that if renunciation comes without humility, then renunciation becomes the cause of the greatest pride.
So, the renunciation, that’s why we need to cultivate humility before we cultivate detachment, before we cultivate renunciation. So, when we have that humility, humility doesn’t mean that we have to let others walk over us, but Amanina, Manadena. So, that I found, I found that Maharaj is able to do this, give space to different devotees.
So, now, in the recent few years, Rana Dharma has also done a lot of projects. Govardhaniko village is a huge project. So, one of my Godbrothers asked Maharaj, Maharaj, we have always said that our focus is on people over projects.
But now, we seem to be focussing so much on projects. So, Maharaj said, no, our focus is always on people and people need projects. So, then I talked with several of my senior Godbrothers and I talked with Govind Prabhu, Radha Gopinath Prabhu, Shyaman Prabhu, Gaurang Prabhu and when I talked with them about Maharaj, I see that all of them have deep appreciation, devotion for Maharaj, but each of them has a different view of Maharaj.
So, Radha Gopinath Prabhu, Shyaman Prabhu told me that, you know, Maharaj never asks us about any projects. And Gaurang Prabhu told me, Maharaj never asks me anything about except projects. So, Gaurang Prabhu is a mover and shaker, as they say in corporate language.
He needs challenges and Maharaj has given him. So, he says sometimes humorously, you know, most disciples are very happy when the spiritual master calls them. They said, if Maharaj calls me, I become anxious.
Because if Maharaj has called, something urgent is there, Maharaj wants something important to be done. So, what he has asked. So, for those who need projects, Maharaj gives them big projects.
He gives them huge, huge projects. But for those who do not have that nature. So, for those who are more community builders than project builders.
So, they will spend more time with people, they will be more of counsellors, they will be more of guides. They are two very different profiles, a project builder and a community builder. So, those who are community builders, Maharaj never asks them anything, any tangible statistics, anything about funds, anything about number of devotees.
Because community building is quite an intangible activity. When we spend hours with someone and their faith is enhanced, but at the end of it, what do we have to show? We don’t really have anything tangible to show. So, the point is, Maharaj appreciates different devotees’ needs and natures and engages them accordingly.
So, Radheshyam Prabhu had once told me that, you know, he said, Maharaj soon recognised that he, like Radheshyam Prabhu is an extremely vigorous person. When I go to America, many American leaders tell me, Radheshyam Prabhu started going to America and preaching. He says that, you know, he is shaking America up.
So, one devotee asked, Radheshyam Prabhu is known to be a little conservative. So, he said, America is a bit liberal. So, he says, will Radheshyam Prabhu be able to take America? So, I said, the question is, will America be able to take Radheshyam Prabhu? So, Radheshyam Prabhu told me that, you know, when he was in Radha Gopinath temple, in the very early years, Radheshyam Prabhu was introduced in 92, 93, something like that, and within two years, within one or two years, he was told to go to Pune, and then soon he was told to just stay in Pune and take over the Pune temple.
So, it was among all the godbrothers that I know, nobody was actually given in charge of a project so early. Just after, of course, he was introduced much earlier, he was doing a lot of preaching, and he is a very exalted soul. But the point is that Radheshyam Prabhu is a visionary person.
And he has built on his vision. So, both Radheshyam Prabhu and Gaurang Prabhu are very similar in the sense that both of them are movers and shakers. But Radheshyam Prabhu has his own huge vision.
Gaurang Prabhu focusses more on implementing Maharaj’s vision. And both of them are an extraordinary service. So, this is Maharaj’s genius that he is empowered in the sense that he is able to engage many empowered devotees.
And everybody, they have such appreciation and devotion for Maharaj, but each of them has blossomed into a different individual person who they are. So, this capacity to appreciate. So, I was once asking Maharaj that some devotees have done something wrong and then they are corrected.
So, at that time, they sometimes feel very discouraged. So, should we not correct them or how much to correct them, how to correct them? And especially if somebody has done something terribly wrong. And so, Maharaj said that, he has spoken this in a class also separately, but he said that if somebody has done something so sinful and then there’s going to be some bad karma because of that, bad karma for them, bad karma for us because they are our guide, we are their guides because we have recommended them for initiation or whatever.
So, Maharaj said that when we are guiding others, we should not be worrying about our karma. We should be focussing on helping them. The two principles he said, when we have to give some negative feedback, our focus should not be on our own welfare.
Focus should be, how can I help this person? He said, no matter what mistake they have done, at the end of it, at the end of their interaction with us, they should feel encouraged, not discouraged. If they have done something seriously wrong, we have to point it out to them. But at the end of it, we should make sure that they feel encouraged.
After all, everybody is voluntarily practising bhakti and they feel too discouraged because of our chastisement, they will go away. So again, this appreciating that devotees, even if somebody has taken initiation, well, ultimately everybody is practising voluntarily and we need to encourage them. So this whole dimension of appreciation is something which I constantly learn.
Recently, after I came back from America, I met Maharaj and there was a huge conflict between two devotees about how to handle a particular situation. And I know both the devotees and both of them are senior leaders, Prabhupada disciples, sanyasi gurus. So I talk with both of them.
And then I asked Maharaj, Maharaj, what is your take on this? And Maharaj said that, you know, I’ve heard about the issue. Maharaj asked me what I know about it. And then he told me certain things.
Maharaj said that, you know, first thing he said is, I, he says, I would not have acted in this way if I had been in this situation. But then he made a very important point. He said, but I am not in that situation.
He said, I am here in Radha Gopinath temple giving Radha Ashtami class. And this Vaishnava is in New York and has to address, has to deal with the New York law and the New York media. And when that devotee makes a particular decision, I may not agree with their action, but I trust their intention.
So I trust their intention. So I found this a very important difference that generally relationships break down, not just because of disagreement. We all can have different opinions.
Relationships break down not because of disagreement, but because of distrust. When we start questioning others’ intentions, that’s when it’s very difficult to have a relationship. So Maharaj said, I don’t agree with their opinion, their action, but I trust their intentions.
So I found that a very important principle after I talked about this with my several other Godbrothers, and they said that Maharaj had not spoken exact those words, but they gave me many other incidents where Maharaj acts this out. So community building is something which takes a long effort and trusting people’s intentions. Now, we cannot be naive and somebody keeps doing wrong things repeatedly.
It’s a different thing. But somebody who is a dedicated devotee, who has been serving for a long time, and then they take a particular decision, which to us feels wrong. We need to trust their intentions at least to a reasonable degree.
So one last point about this appreciation and then I’ll move to the next point. With respect to appreciating others, what I have specifically noticed is that Maharaj starts by trying to put himself in the other person’s place. So Maharaj, when I got the Journey Home book, I had come from a very conservative kind of upbringing.
And then I had a lot of questions about the Journey Home. Maharaj has said that many of the spiritual leaders that are described in the book, they are Mayavadis. And Maharaj, you have spoken so appreciatively about the Mayavadis.
And you have also spoken, you know, later on, when the book came out, there are pictures of all these Mayavadis also. So I was a bit concerned by that. So I asked Maharaj to do that.
I didn’t even know how to ask. But before I could ask, you know, basically I wanted to ask you, Prabhupada is so strongly critical of Mayavadis. And how are we glorifying Mayavadis? Maharaj understood my question.
Maharaj is very sharp at it. Sometimes if we have a difficult question, he doesn’t even, if we are having difficulty articulating the question, Maharaj will himself articulate for us. So especially if he knows the person and he understands that person.
So then Maharaj said, when I started thinking about Western outreach, he said that, now I’m paraphrasing some of the points, but he said basically, if I’m going to give a book about Shila Prabhupada to my brother or my brother’s wife or my nephews, anyone, he says, which book about Shila Prabhupada can I give? He says, Leela Amrit. He says, it is, first of all, a big book, even a small book. He said, it is written for those who are already, to some extent, appreciative of Prabhupada.
So he said, those who are on a spiritual search, but they’re not necessarily, specifically interested in Prabhupada. So he said, there are many books which are written, which are by insiders for insiders. Maharaj didn’t use the word insiders.
But which are written by devotees for devotees. Those who have accepted Shila Prabhupada, they can, they can appreciate those books. But for those who are still searching, now for them, Shila Prabhupada is one among many spiritual teachers.
He said, I wanted to write a book for them, whereby, actually, even if they don’t want to become committed to Prabhupada, they can still become appreciative of Prabhupada. So he said, three things he told me. First is that, no, I have not glorified the Mayavadis.
I have only focused on the teachings that I learned from them and the way they dealt with me. And I have carefully selected those teachings which are compatible with bhakti. We may talk about the importance of satsang, importance of sadhana, like that, those principles.
Second thing he said is that after all that searching, many of these other gurus that are featured in the book, from the secular world’s perspective, many of them are more well known and celebrated in the world than Prabhupada also. He said, after meeting all these gurus, the fact that I surrendered to Prabhupada, that indicates that Prabhupada must be having something special. Somebody who has gone through all these famous gurus and somebody who is not that famous, which is surrendering to Prabhupada, then that must be so much more special.
So there must be something about Prabhupada. So it is not like a confrontational glorification. That Prabhupada is the greatest and everybody else is worthless.
It’s more like an incremental glorification, not confrontational, these are my words, but incremental glorification. And then he said that one entire section of the book is about Vrindavan and ultimately about Prabhupada. So he says that way I am describing, I am writing a book which those who may not want to become devotees can also still read the book and they can appreciate the book even if they don’t appreciate Prabhupada and Krishna, even if they don’t still become devotees of Krishna.
So in one sense, we can consider there are insiders and there are outsiders. So there are books written by insiders for insiders. Then there are insiders for outsiders to make them insiders.
So insider to insider is like Shastric education, Bhakti Shastri kind of thing. Insider to outsider is preaching. But there is outsider to outsider communication.
Say somebody wants to come to Iskcon temple and they ask their neighbours, they ask their relatives, Hey, have you been to the Iskcon temple? How is it? They will give certain credence to that. So if somebody is an outsider and they can appreciate, Oh, what has happened? This is a good place to go. They will have credibility.
So insider to insider is education. Insider to outsider is preaching. Outsider to outsider is reputation.
So that outsider to outsider mode of communication, we are not focused on much as a movement. How are we working on building our reputation? So Maharaj told me that the tone of writing like a friend, not as a teacher, it’s almost like Maharaj is taking the position of outsider, a seeker who eventually became a seer. So he’s taking the tone, the language, the mood of an outsider and speaking to outsiders.
So this appreciation of everyone, whatever be their philosophical conviction, appreciating them for what they have given him and then seeing how that can be used to bring people to Krishna. That is, I found a master stroke, a genius, a work of a genius from inside. So that brings me to the second part, that is accept, accepting challenges for Shila Prabhupada’s service.
Whenever I interact with Maharaj, I ask him, see many of my other godbrothers, when they interact, they ask for projects and give reports and ask practical things. For me, I’m too irresponsible to have any project. So my questions are only about philosophy.
You know, how to answer this question or how to present this. How to address this issue. So with respect to that, especially when I started Western Outreach.
So then I asked Maharaj that, you know, what inspired you to start focussing on that from 2004? So many incidents were there. One is, of course, Bhakti Teth Maharaj asked him to write the journey home. And Maharaj wrote that book as a service to Bhakti Teth Maharaj.
But he saw that through this book, outreach in the West can happen. Now, what has happened for India, for our movement abroad is that there was a time in the 1960s and 70s when Western people were very receptive. And at that time, Prabhupada had lot of Westerners becoming devotees.
But since the 1980s and especially 1990s, we are having mostly Indians coming to our temples. And Western people are not coming much. So one devotee, one Western leader, he told, we expressed concern that the way the movement is going, we will soon have Indian Society for Krishna Consciousness with international branches.
So, now, what do we do? So, now, Western outreach is quite difficult for various reasons. But the main reason is that India and Indian Eastern culture is very hierarchical, very vertical. This is the authority, this is the subordinate.
Western culture is very egalitarian, very horizontal. And our conventional presentation of bhakti has been very vertical. That, that, surrender to the spiritual master, follow the instructions of the authority and things like that.
And that is very difficult for Western people to follow. Because by default, whenever there is authority, the Eastern attitude, because there is certain hierarchy, if somebody is a person of authority, by default, the attitude is respect. If this person is a person of authority, they must have some merit, some competence, respect.
Now, if they act in wrong ways, then there will be doubts. But in the West, the attitude is, the default attitude towards authority figures is doubt. No, you must have done something wrong to grab this power.
So, the default attitude, especially it is all the more true for religious authorities. See, America was built by Protestants and Protestants were the group of Christians who rebelled against the authority of the Catholic Church. So that rugged individualism, it’s not disrespectful.
It’s a very different thing over here. There is respect, but the respect cannot be assumed. It has to be earned.
Just because you are in authority position doesn’t mean I respect you. If you have the ability, if you have the qualities, if you have the wisdom, then the respect can be earned. So, it’s a very gradual process.
So, if Maharaj gives a class in India, any class he gives, 1000, 2000, 3000, 5000, 10,000 people will come. But when he goes to the West, he goes to New York, he goes to various places, maybe 10, 15, 20, 30 people will come. And still Maharaj gives classes.
So, Maharaj said that Prabhupada wanted that this should be an international society. And we need to have people from all over the world. So, based on his upbringing in America, based on his enormous spiritual journey, he has a great amount of cultural and social awareness of how people think.
And he is able to connect with people. So, it’s like Maharaj has spent years from 1985 and 1986 coming to India. From 1989, he based himself in India, more or less.
So, he built a community, spending years and decades, extremely hard work. Now, as he has grown older, he could sit in India and let his disciples do all the preaching and give classes and be respected. But Maharaj is like a military general who is like a king who is not ready to simply sit on the throne in the conquered territory.
He is like a military general who is going out into difficult territory to reclaim or to gain that territory and offer it to Sri Prabhupada. So, it’s extremely demanding endeavour. So, when I started going to America, there were some spiritual leaders, they said, you can do Western outreach nicely.
So, you come and settle over here and you can help us in the Western outreach. So, then I asked Maharaj. So, that particular day, he said, yes, they are doing very good Western outreach and he is a very good friend of mine.
And if you want to go there, you have my full blessings. And there, Maharaj is so sweet and so gentle. So, Maharaj said, you know, Prabhupada visited that place.
And when he was in that place, from there he wrote a letter. And he said, I am writing from this remote corner of the world. This is America only, but I am writing from this remote corner of the world.
And so, Maharaj is focussing in his American outreach in New York. There is the Bhakti Centre over there. So, Maharaj said that, you know what Prabhupada said about New York? He said, New York is the most important city in the world.
So, now, akalman ko ishara kaafi hota hai. So, Maharaj said, if you want me to focus on New York, I will do that. He says, it’s not what I want, it’s what will please Shila Prabhupada the most.
What was Shila Prabhupada’s priority? So, Maharaj, even in America, there are certain parts of America which are really quite conservative. And some are much more liberal there. So, New York, Los Angeles, they are very difficult to preach to.
Because people are super liberal over there. But those are the areas which are probably most influential in America. So, Maharaj is spending time in those areas.
So, that accepting challenges for Shila Prabhupada’s service, that is something which is extraordinary. And the way he keeps doing that is remarkable. So, especially when he wrote the second book, Journey Home.
Journey Home was his first book, Journey Within was his second book. So, it took a long time to get published. Initially, the name of that book was supposed to be Yoga of Love.
So, we, I was involved in editing and editing that book. So, at that time, Maharaj, I got a, that’s the time probably I got the most association of Maharaj. Maharaj emailed me the book and he said, let me know your comments.
So, then I, I gave a lot of, lot of suggestions. I was a little afraid, but I gave a lot of suggestions. Then I went to Mumbai for a class.
And after the class, I met Maharaj. And I was a little afraid, you know, that Maharaj will be unhappy. Maharaj said, your suggestions were very good.
And now it is your karma to implement them. So, Maharaj, Maharaj is so humble. Maharaj says, can you stay here for a few days and help me finish the book? So, I said, Maharaj, of course, whatever you want.
I’ll just talk with Radheshyam too. I was in Pune at that time more or less. So, Radheshyam said, yes, certainly.
So, then I stayed with Maharaj at that time. I mean, I stayed in Mumbai and then I worked on the book. And that time I had very sweet experiences.
Maharaj works extremely hard. When he’s writing, he becomes very, very grave. So, there were some sections where he had written certain things.
And I suggested to Maharaj, Maharaj, you know, this story can illustrate this point nicely. So, in the Ramayana, that was one thing Maharaj suggested. You share some stories.
So, I said, OK, you write this story and give it to me. So, I wrote the story and I copy pasted it. I showed it to Maharaj.
And Maharaj said, OK, let me look at it. And then Maharaj rewrote the whole story. And then, Maharaj, what do you think about this? Then I read it.
I said, Maharaj, you know, what I had written was like a documentary. What you have written is like a movie. So, basically, it’s that I had written in a very analytical mood.
Maharaj was in a very descriptive mood with the emotion coming out from the story. And Maharaj said, Maharaj just laughed. He said that sometimes when you analyse too much, you forget to experience.
Such a beautiful and profound point. When you analyse too much something, you forget to experience that thing. So, I try to keep that in mind, although I keep forgetting.
I start analysing that statement rather than… So, then, Maharaj, there was another point where, two, three different incidents over there. There was another place where Maharaj, I suggested, Maharaj, you have written over here that people can seek spiritual teachers, but I was saying that people should become spiritually committed. They need to become spiritual seekers, not just a spiritual shoppers.
Just looking here, looking there, looking there. In the West, there is this mood of spiritual shopping. They call it SBNR, spiritual but not religious.
So, the example of that mentality is that there was a Christian pastor who asked, who was on a podcast, and somebody asked a question. He says, I don’t go to any church, but I’m a Christian. So, the pastor asks very politely, can I know why don’t you go to any church? He says, because I haven’t found any church that agrees with my philosophy.
So, these are people who are spiritual shoppers. So, I said, Maharaj, maybe we can write something about how people have to become committed. And Maharaj said, Chaitanya Charan, he said, the only reason people are going to be reading my book is because they are spiritual shoppers.
Most of those people who are really going to read a book like this, they are already connected with some spiritual path, but they want to explore something more. So, he said that, yes, what your point is true, but that point does not belong to this book. So, now this whole dimension of Western outreach, it requires so much subtlety and nuance.
And now Maharaj is so aware of things. Then one evening around 10 o’clock, Maharaj told me that tomorrow we are going to send this book to the publisher. So, can you do one final proofreading of the book? And tomorrow after the Bhagavatam class at 10 o’clock, you give me the changes and then we will send the book.
So, I said, OK, Maharaj. And the book was over 300 pages and it was already around 3010. So, then I stayed awake the whole night.
I was just reading the whole book. And then somehow it was very intense working with Maharaj. So, I just fell asleep and my head crashed on the laptop and the laptop screen cracker.
Then I had to get a new laptop from some other devotee borrow and I completed it. And then around 10, 10.30 Maharaj called me to his room and then I was in a very cheerful mood. I was a bit groggy because I had not slept much.
And then Maharaj said, this is the final draft. You don’t want to touch it at all. I don’t know.
So, you tell me and I will enter it in my computer. So, then the various small typos were there. Maharaj, the spelling is like this, the spelling is like this.
So, then there was a process of Bhakti Siddhanta. The spelling was, you know, S-I-D-D-H-A-N-T-T. So, the single D instead of double D. Maharaj, there needs to be a double D over here.
And Maharaj said, congratulations, you got it. I said, what do you mean, Maharaj? I had deliberately made that mistake to see if you catch it. So, I looked at Maharaj, I was completely confused.
I was already a little tired. I didn’t know what to think. Then Maharaj started laughing.
Don’t worry, I am joking. So, that was that meticulousness in writing and very acute awareness of what is required for outreach. I found that Maharaj has taken up that responsibility.
Maharaj was already a deep thinker. But writing with this level of awareness, it is a huge effort. And he doesn’t have to do it.
But he put in that effort. He is doing it. So, I could go into this further field of western outreach much more.
And how it is challenging and how Maharaj accepted the responsibility for that. But that, doing for Srila Prabhupada what needs to be done, you see, that is very, very prominent in his consciousness. Accepting challenges for Srila Prabhupada’s service.
So, when devotees were supposed to be sent from Pune to various places. So, first some devotees went to Vrindavan and then after that some devotees went to Kolkata. So, at that time, when Radhanath Maharaj asked Radhe Shyam Prabhu, we want some devotees for Kolkata.
And Radhe Shyam Prabhu was initially a little reluctant. He said, of course, Maharaj, but we are also, our preaching is expanding. And Pune, we are coming up with a new temple.
Maharaj responded, Radhe Shyam Prabhu, if we ask Srila Prabhupada, which place is more important, Pune or Kolkata? What will Maharaj, what will Prabhupada say? Radhe Shyam Prabhu said, I became quiet after that. So, Radhe Shyam Prabhu got quiet. So, after this whole incident, when I had to do this intense proofreading for Maharaj, I told Gaurang Prabhu, this 15 days was very intense.
So, this is very intense for 15 days. So, Gaurang Prabhu said, my intensity has been going on for 15 years. So, he said, you know, if you are just relating with Maharaj from a distance, he is very sweet and very encouraging and very loving.
But you start working with him. He is very, very specific in how he wants to serve Srila Prabhupada, how he wants to serve Krishna. So, he said that it’s not easy if you are in Maharaj’s inner circle to get the privilege, but there is a price to pay for that privilege.
So, I’ll move to the last point now. So, that was adapting. Adapting is focused according to the need of the service.
So, we know that Maharaj was introduced in India and then he went to New Vrindavan. And he is in New Vrindavan. And in 1979, he was told to go and start doing college preaching.
And he said that I was given nothing. I asked, can I have a vehicle? He has given like almost a broken kind of vehicle. Can I have assistance? No.
Can I have some funds? No. Just go and preach. So, Maharaj said, I just started from scratch.
Actually, I asked Maharaj once that Maharaj, you have written about your life till you went to New Vrindavan. Are you planning to write a book about your subsequent life? Maharaj said that those who come by reading the first book will go away by reading the second book. Because the level of austerity is at the complexity that was in New Vrindavan.
Quite severe. But from 1979 to 1987-88, when Maharaj was in America, Maharaj built a whole circuit of college preaching. It is only recently, when I have been talking with college preachers there, I am realising it.
So, there was a devotee scientist, Sadaput Prabhu, very prominent, one of the best scientists in our movement, Richard L. Thomson. So, one of his close followers told me that Sadaput Prabhu and Radhanath Maharaj would many times go together to colleges. And Sadaput Prabhu will give a scientific talk and Maharaj will give a devotional talk together.
And so, many of the centres in America that have been started, especially in the university towns, Maharaj laid this foundation for that. For example, in Columbus, Ohio, we have a small, beautiful temple. So, Maharaj told me that, when I had visited Columbus, Maharaj told me that, you know, I had looked at that property and I had brought the details in a van.
In the West, Maharaj himself drives his vehicles. So, Maharaj would travel in a, when he was doing college preaching, he would drive a van. So, the last van he had in 1985, 1986, 1987, that is still there in one devotee’s house in Dallas.
So, it’s like a memorial for us to see that. But Maharaj said that, so, he had, we did a lot of college preaching and laid the foundation for many of the centres. So, in Columbus, Ohio is now going to have a very big temple and those deities are going to move.
So, Maharaj has promised that, I will come there and I will drive these deities from their old temple to the new temple. So, that is his personal relationship and that is also, I mean, that he had developed over there. He had built a whole circuit of outreach over there.
But then, he was just told to go and stay in India, focus on India. Everything that he had built for years, he was told to leave it all. Maharaj asked, who will take care of this? And he was told, Krishna will take care, which basically meant nobody took care.
And the whole college preaching went down. Maharaj did that, he came to India. And then, he is telling that, when I came to India, the first thing I did was that, I tried to get my hands on every single lecture, every official Prabhupada given in India.
Every single talk that Prabhupada had given in India. Every single letter that Prabhupada, sorry, every single conversation that Prabhupada had in India. Every single letter that Prabhupada had written in India, to Indians rather.
And he said, I noticed a significant difference. Whereas, when Prabhupada was giving, writing or talking with his disciples, he would be giving instructions. He would be instructing them.
But in India, mostly they were life members. And his tone was not at all instructive. It was more encouragement and engagement.
It was a very different tone. So, that point I talked about the vertical and the horizontal. So, Prabhupada himself, with his disciples, he was quite vertical.
But with the life members, he was fairly horizontal. And he said that for community building, our movement was at one time mostly temple based. Now, it’s mostly congregation based.
So, we cannot expect from the congregation the standards that are there for temple residents. So, he said, how do we build a community? That is by engagement and encouragement, not so much through instruction. So, that adapting to the needs, that is very significant.
Some devotees mentioned about, there are so many brahmachari preachers now from Radha Gopinath temple. So, that is also actually Maharaj’s vision. See, what happens in the first generation, there are many people, many, many people became devotees, but many, many of them left bhakti or many of them, many of them were brahmacharis.
Almost everybody was a full time devotee, but many of them left the Brahmachari ashram. And then they went on and became grahasthas and they carried on to varying degrees. So, Maharaj, when he came to Mumbai and he built Radha Gopinath temple, he said that generally what happens, Ravindra Swaroop Prabhu is telling me that in the past, in the 1960s and 1970s, if any devotee would fall down, they would leave bhakti.
The ISKCON term was bloop. So, he said, what would happen in a typical ISKCON centre would, was that, because everybody is living in a temple, so anybody who leaves, everybody comes to know about it. So, the whole community would come together and there would be a collective fault finding session about the devotee.
Oh, you know, we saw him sleeping in japa. You know, I saw him stealing Mahaprasad. You know, I saw him gossiping.
And in that way, everybody would blame that devotee for falling down and indirectly reassure themselves that nothing is wrong with us, everything is wrong with that devotee. So, like that, if some Brahmachari would leave the ashram, says, you know, that Brahmachari is not sincere enough, that Brahmachari is not determined enough. So, overall, generally in political orientation, there is right wing and left wing.
So, if there is too much right wing, the whole blame is put on the individual. The system is perfect, the individual is all messed up. And the left wing is, the individual is good, the whole system is messed up.
So, what happened initially, it was that ISKCON, the first generation was quite right wing. And of course, we are conservative, so there is right wing is there. But the idea is, blame the individual.
If devotees fall away, they are not sincere, they are sentimental. Like that. But Maharaj said that, if we want to have Brahmacharis, we need to provide facilities for the Brahmacharis to flourish in their Brahmachari.
And he said that we will not have any pressure for Brahmacharis to do any fundraising. He says, Brahmacharis should not be mixed with money. And that was a radical idea at that time.
Because the life membership programme was very big at that time and everybody in the temple would go out to raise funds. So, then Maharaj said, no, we will focus on. In those days, Maharaj would every day give Bhagavatam class.
And mostly it was the Brahmacharis who would come. And every afternoon, he would have a Chetan Chirta Amrit class for the Brahmacharis. And every evening he would go for a congregation programme.
It was very busy schedule. So, anyway, so he said, let’s focus on educating and training the Brahmacharis. And that focus, which he started, you know, when he started focussing on educating and training, that also started sending out those who were not interested in education and training.
Those who were interested in just living comfortably or getting some money or getting some prestige of being sadhus, they started going away. And that has led to a whole generation of devotees now. And gradually that, of course, movement also goes to different stages.
And now that the space for Brahmacharis to be Brahmacharis, that is being provided for more and more everywhere. Now, of course, those who are leaders maybe have to be concerned about funds that may be required. But overall, I could go into that elaborate thing, but adapting the focus according to the needs.
Rather than saying Brahmacharis are insincere, but rather provide them facilities to be Brahmacharis. And then also give them, if somebody wants to change the ashram, help them to change respectfully. Maharaj says there are two success of the Brahmachari ashram.
Even become grahastha is a success. The second is about grahasthas. So what would happen soon after the first generation, our movement had like a generational jet lag.
That means what happened is the first generation, everybody was living in the temple and temple standards could be expected from everyone. But those who were in the second generation, most of them are congregation devotees, temple standards cannot be expected. But often the whole focus was, oh, you are not up to the temple standards.
The idea was to guilt people into trying to rise to higher standards. But then Maharaj said that what do devotees need for practising bhakti from where they are? So where they are, that’s how the whole devotee care system in the form of council assistant came up. That’s how various marriage board came up.
So devotees have needs. That’s how the hospital came up. So what are the needs of devotees and how can we address them? Rather than simply expecting devotees to surrender, we need to provide for the needs of devotees, adapting according to the needs of devotees.
That is, he’s been very resourceful in that. The idea is that rather than saying, demanding devotees be sincere and do this, that’s there. But for doing this, what do they need? And how can we provide that? And I’ll make two last points.
They are related. Many devotees feel that, you know, we don’t get Maharaj’s personal association. Maharaj is not available.
Maharaj doesn’t answer emails. So we feel a little desolate. Now Maharaj observed that after Shri Prabhupada departed, you know, almost between 1977 to 1987, 90 percent of Prabhupada’s disciples left ISKCON.
Many of them left practising bhakti itself. Many of them are slowly coming back. Many came back also.
But what happened was Maharaj observed that that over dependence on the physical association of the spiritual master creates an unsustainable system. So that’s why what Maharaj’s vision is that he will give time and attention and training to his senior disciples. And they become counsellors.
They become shiksha gurus. And they give time to the younger devotees. So the point is that he wants all devotees to be cared for.
Now, whenever if he is, if he doesn’t go to a particular place too often, then if he is going to give initiation to someone, he wants to know who is going to take care of that person. He wants the devotees to be cared for. But by creating the system of the counsellor system, basically he’s created a sustainable system of care where he is not so much required everywhere.
And secondly, Maharaj said that if he said that if I start answering e-mails, he said, whenever I go to a particular place, I want to give myself to the people at that place. He said, if I’m answering e-mails, then what will happen is I’m at a particular place, but I’m busy in e-mails. And then I leave that place and the people from that place will write e-mails to me.
So Maharaj, in one sense, he expects devotees to hear the classes, learn the principles and Guru, apply themselves to it. So but the key point is he may not be personally accessible. However, he has created a legacy through his classes, through senior devotees, through the culture of having shiksha gurus or counsellors or whatever word you use, that we can learn and we can keep growing.
So later with that is the last point. When once I asked Maharaj that Maharaj, how much should we seek your personal association? So Maharaj said that, you know, I want to be there for everyone who wants. But at the same time, he said, you know, I just cannot be there for everyone.
So he said, use your intelligence to decide which questions you want to bring to me and which questions you can ask others. So whenever and now I ask a question to Maharaj, I also ask him, Maharaj, should I have brought this to you or should I not have brought this to you? So generally this adapting according to needs. So what happened was once I was talking with.
So after I get to meet Maharaj, whenever I don’t meet Maharaj very frequently, but whenever we meet Maharaj, he’s very kind. Maharaj gives a lot of time because we discuss philosophy. It takes time.
I miss two hours, three hours, four hours. He’s very kind. But then after I meet, then I talk with some of my God brothers.
So I talk with them, says that when I ask a particular question to Maharaj. And he said, OK, how would Maharaj answer that question? They want to hear. And I tell no one says, you know, I’ve never Maharaj has never answered any question like this to us.
So then I was wondering. So another one senior God brother of Maharaj is very close to Maharaj. He told me that that, you know, he likes Maharaj very much.
He said, whenever you meet Maharaj, tell me about your interactions with Maharaj. So when I tell, he says, Chetan, I observed one thing. Maharaj does not give you any instructions.
He only gives suggestions. So I did not struck me. So then I said, yeah.
Then I asked my different God brothers, senior God brothers. So Maharaj doesn’t give instructions. And then the response I got probably told me more about them than Maharaj.
So one God brother told me, you are not surrendered enough. So Maharaj doesn’t give any instructions to you. Another devotee told me that Maharaj doesn’t want disciples to feel bound by particular instructions.
Because life changes, things change. And if somebody takes a particular instruction. And then they feel, oh, I have said I’ll do this to Maharaj.
That’s why Maharaj, if he’s not working closely with devotees, he doesn’t give specific instructions. You know, once a couple came to Maharaj and they said, Maharaj, we have decided not to have any children. Please bless us for that.
And Maharaj said, whenever you want to have children, you have my blessings. So Maharaj doesn’t want devotees to be bound by instructions. So anyway, the point of adapting.
So Maharaj gives very analytical answers. So another God brother told me that, you know, that you are an analytical person. That’s why Maharaj will give you thoughts and suggestions.
He will not give instructions. Let you analyse and you decide based on that. So anyway, so what he told me is that when I told some of the answers Maharaj gave, he says, Maharaj, he says it’s so brilliant that when he’s answering your questions, he is far more analytical than I have ever seen him with anyone else.
So at one time I had given some answers to some questions and some of those answers had become a little, they had caused some controversy. So I told Maharaj about it. Maharaj said, you know, you have to be sensitive.
So then Maharaj said, these are difficult questions. I tried to answer them. So then Maharaj said, OK, let’s have a mock question answer session.
He says, you ask the questions and I will give the answers. That was amazing. My first thought was, can I record? Absolutely no recording.
So then I asked, you know, very difficult, delicate, controversial questions. And I was amazed how sharp Maharaj is in his logical analysis, how precise he is in the wording of his answers. It is, it is not a feature of Maharaj that he shows publicly.
But it was, it was, it’s one thing to appreciate Maharaj for his spiritual ability, but to appreciate him for his intellectual, analytical ability, that was amazing. So, as we say, ye tha maam prapadyante, you know, so I approach Maharaj with analytical mood, Maharaj responds with analytical mood. So I feel very blessed to have had his association, whatever we have had.
But overall, it’s our all fortune that we have had His Holiness Anand Mahaj as our spiritual master and our guide. And quickly summarise. I talked about three main points.
I said I talk about appreciation. Maharaj starts with a positive view of everyone, whether it is devotees or new people, everyone, to see the good in people and then build on that. And appreciate and then elevate.
We only try to elevate without appreciate. Then we end up discouraging or alienating people. And then second point I talk about how he, he accepts challenges in Krishna’s service, in Prabhupada’s service, especially western outreach.
Now, we in India may feel neglected that he is not there so much, but he is actually, we can be, we can be spiritually proud that even at this age when he could be living in comfort, he’s actually conquering new territories for the Prabhupada. And then last was adapt. So from Nivrindavan, where he was just a pujari, he built a whole circuit of college outreach to learn the whole thing.
When he came to India and building a community was something which he had never done before. That’s doing that and then finding out the needs of the community and providing for the needs of the community for the brahmacharis, for the grahasthas, for various devotees and reciprocating with devotees according to their needs. For those who need projects, Maharaj reciprocates the projects.
Those who focus more on intangibles, Maharaj encourages them the intangibles. For those who need analysis, Maharaj gives analysis. So in this way, he is providing an umbrella in which many, many devotees are being sheltered.
And let us pray to His Holiness Radhanath Maharaj that not only can we stay sheltered under his umbrella, which he is holding in Prabhupada’s service, but that we can also in his service build our own umbrellas in which we can be sheltered and we can shelter others. And this way we can carry on this glorious legacy of the Gaudiya Vaishnava Sampradaya that we have got through His Holiness Radhanath Swami Maharaj. His Holiness Radhanath Swami Maharaj ki? Jai! Shri Prabhupada ki? Jai! His Holiness Radhanath Swami Maharaj Vyasa Puja Mahamahotsav ki? Jai! Jai Daur, Prema Anandai!