Are natural calamities acts of God? – OMG Series 1 Mumbai

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.

In this class on this topic of Oh My God, were any of you present for that talk? So I will take some of the points because of this talk actually is in one sense further development of the topic that I had preliminary raised in that talk, but since many of you were not there, so I will recap some of the points as we go along the course. So in the Oh My God movie, basically four issues are talked about. Now to deal with this, to understand the seminar, it is not that you have to see the Oh My God movie.

That is not a part of the syllabus. The questions that we are going to discuss are more or less universal. They extend beyond the scope of what the specific issues the movie deals with.

So there basically one of the most strong critiques that is there is of deity worship, the idea that God is present as stone. Other critique is of religious rituals. Often they are based on blind faith and they are just a wastage of money.

A third issue is that there are many factory godmen who actually just use faith to please people. And the fourth issue is, which actually is the seminal part of the whole storyline of the movie, that is, does God cause natural disaster? Does God cause earthquakes? So we will discuss this fourth issue primarily and we will address the other issues also. And the way we will go in the seminar is that I would like it to be interactive.

So I will speak for around 20 minutes. Then we can have question answers on whatever I have spoken. If you have some general question answers, I can take those question answers also.

And then I'll keep taking topics this way. So if in between the class also you have some question answers directly related to whatever I'm speaking, you can raise your hand. So primarily I'll use this PowerPoint also as an improvised blackboard in the sense that I'll be typing and explain the points also through the PowerPoint.

So it's not that I have a ready PowerPoint. I would like this to be a more of a question answer session rather than a class. That is the way we can make it more interactive.

And so throughout the class, anytime you feel free to, if you have any questions, feel free to raise your hand. And if I am in the middle of a point, I may not address the question immediately. I will complete that thought and then we can address the question.

But entirely feel free to ask whatever questions you have. So let's start with the first point about natural disasters. Now, currently we have the disaster happening in Uttarachal, where Kedarnath, Badrinath, all that area is being inundated by floods.

And many pilgrims have been stranded for a long time. Some have even perished. So this sort of situations, they raise the question, when we see nature acting in ways that are hostile, that are devastating, then that raises the question, is God behind this? And if God is behind this, then why is God letting such things happen? So there are two extreme responses to this.

One is that some people believe that science has all the answers. Now, we know why earthquakes occur. Because there is some imbalance in the seismic plates.

And that is all that there is. So the idea that there is any God involved in it, that this is unscientific. And the other extreme is that God is causing everything and we neglect the intermediate causes immediately, entirely.

So, to understand how things work in the world, we have to understand a triple level causation. This is the primary point of this class. You know, in this world, there are three factors primarily.

They are called as an alliteration, Jagat, Jeev and Jagdish. Jagat is material nature. Jeev is all of us.

We are souls. And Jagdish is the supreme lord. So, even in philosophy, these three factors are talked about.

They talk about nature, consciousness and the absolute truth. Science may not talk essentially in terms of absolute truth as God, but they also have some conception of some ultimate reality. So, these are universal factors, Jagat.

Now, the terminology alone is Vedic, but the thought conception is universal. So, these three factors, Jagat, Jeev and Jagdish, all three are involved in every single action that takes place. So, let's start with some very familiar examples and then we will go to earthquakes.

Now, if somebody gets malaria. Now, science will tell us that the cause is, there is a material cause, there is an infection that has happened because some germs have come in, some disease elements have spread and the cause was the bite of the mosquito leading to subsequent infection. So, that is true.

However, what is true or what is correct is not necessarily complete explanation. The difference between the correct explanation and the complete explanation. So, to say that a person, suppose there is a road accident and then the wheel of a car ran over somebody and then that person's leg got fractured.

So, why did the person's leg get fractured? Oh, because the wheel of a car ran over somebody. That's the correct explanation. But if you want a complete explanation, maybe there was a drunken driver.

A drunken driver lost control of what he was, lost awareness of what he was doing and lost control of the car. And that's why the vehicle wheel went over a person, a passerby or a person lying on the footpath or whatever. So, there is a correct explanation, there is a complete explanation.

So, now correct explanation may take only one of the factors involved into consideration. As a complete explanation takes into consideration all the factors involved. So, there is an immediate cause for whatever happens.

The immediate cause in terms of malaria is the bacteria, is the mosquito bite, which causes that particular thing. So, beyond that, are there other causes? Yes. Because, you know, just, so the material science and generally most of our material measures try to address the immediate cause.

And addressing the immediate cause is also important. But that is not the complete solution. So, beyond that, scientists may say that in a house there will be six people and one person may get malaria, others do not get malaria.

Now, scientists may say, okay, that person was more susceptible because that person had less immunity. Possible. But sometimes we see that people who have less immunity, still they don't get some infection.

Others who are said to have high immunity, they get infections. So, medical researchers themselves know that actually we cannot just trace specifically this, this, this factor caused this, this, this thing. Sometimes many of the factors are present and still the disease doesn't happen.

In other cases, none of the factors are present and still some disease happens. So, the point is, the immediate cause is one of the factors, it is not the complete factor. So, why does a particular person get malaria? That is not just because the mosquito bit.

That is because ultimately that person had done some karma and as a reaction to that karma, that person was supposed to get malaria. So, that means, that reaction, karmic reaction is manifesting through some instrument. And that instrument through which the karmic reaction manifests is the mosquito bite.

And then the development of the malaria, the infection that happens thereof. So, that means, if we go backwards, the first cause is the mosquito bite. That's the immediate cause.

Beyond that, there is a remote cause. The remote cause is the bad karma. And not recognizing the remote cause makes the immediate cause often seem arbitrary.

Not recognizing the remote cause makes the immediate cause seem arbitrary. Because many times, now there was a devastating tsunami that had happened in South India. It flooded in Sri Lanka and other parts.

Now, according to scientists, when the tectonic plates shook and that set off the tsunami, the earthquake thereof, that set off the tsunami, if the shaking of the tectonic plates had been slightly in a different direction, the tsunami, instead of coming westwards towards India, would have gone eastwards towards Australia. So, now, if we examine it at a purely material level alone, what caused this difference? There is no answer. Just the tectonic plates shook this way, they could have shaken that way, they could have shaken that way, they just shook this way.

So, the immediate, if we look only at the immediate cause, the whole system of action-reaction seems arbitrary. Actually, some people are lucky, some people are unlucky. Now, beyond that, there is an ultimate cause.

The ultimate cause is the will of God. Now, more specifically, if you look at the Bhagavad Gita, the Bhagavad Gita doesn't often use the word will of God. Bhagavad Gita uses a more specific word.

It is a sanction of God, not the will of God. In 13.23, in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, Upadrishta anumanta cha, bharata bhokta maheshwara. So, upadrishta anumanta cha, overseer and permitter or sanctioner.

Anumanta, anumati dena, as we say in Hindi. So, it is not that God does everything, when bad things happen, it is not that God is specifically causing those bad things to happen. Some people want to do bad things, or some people are meant to get reactions to certain bad things that they have done, and God sanctions that.

Just like when a judge gives a sentence to a particular criminal, the judge has nothing personal against that criminal. So, what the criminal is getting is just a reaction for what the criminal has himself or herself done earlier. So, here this triple level causation, it means the first causation is what can be seen by material vision.

That is, or can be inferred by material vision. That is the material cause. Then the second level causation is the causation of our own misdeeds.

And third level causation, causation means the cause actually, the science of cause and effect connection. That is the will of God. Now, all these three play a role in whatever happens.

Now, somebody may say, I don't believe in all this philosophy. I don't believe in all this, that there is God's will and there is past karma. I only see, I know that malaria happens because of infection, earthquakes happen because of seismic disturbances.

What do you bring God into the picture at all? Fine. Somebody can have a sceptical attitude like that, but then every attitude brings consequences of it. And the consequences of a Godless worldview can be quite devastating.

Now, why is that? Now, nowadays the cricket season is going on. So, suppose the cricket match starts. And at the starting of a cricket match, people look at the scoreboard.

And there are two teams playing. One of them has a score of zero. Another team has a starting score of 200.

What's this? How is this? One team has zero, another team has 200. So, when we see such a thing, there are two natural thoughts that may come in our mind. One is that the scoreboard is working by chance.

So, somehow the scoreboard came 200 for one team and zero for another team. Now, that's how we see some people in this world. What am I comparing zero and 200 to? To the way things happen in our life.

Some people get good things, some people get bad things. If you look at it right from the start of our life, as well as the journey during our life. Start of our life, some people are born wealthy, some people are born poor.

Now, if earning wealth is considered to be a goal of life, then some people start with a score of zero, others start with a score of 200. Why the difference? Everybody wants to look good. Some people are good looking, some people are mediocre looking.

Why the difference? So, we could say the starting point difference is just arbitrary. However, the idea that everything is just by chance, that means there is nothing controlling it, just by chance the scoreboard for some people it comes out to be 200, some people zero. So, the whole universe is like a cosmic lottery.

And some people are winners and some people are losers. If you are losers, bad luck. What can you do? Now, this is a doctrine of helplessness.

Why helplessness? Imagine a cricketer is playing and the cricketer hits a six and the score becomes minus six. You know, it will be chaotic. We don't operate in life like that, that everything is happening by chance.

In our day to day life, we implicitly accept the principle of causation. Causation, if somebody comes to this room and we see the face is burnt, what happens? We ask because we understand that whenever there is an effect, there is a cause. Now, the cause-effect connection may be delayed.

There will be a time lag between the cause and the effect. So, if I put my hand in fire, I feel a burn. That cause-effect is immediate.

On a cold night, I eat a dozen ice creams and then next morning when I wake up, I scream. You know what happens is, I feel miserable. So, there the time lag may be more.

Somebody may start smoking in their teens and maybe 20 years later get lung cancer. So, we operate in this world based on an implicit understanding that effects are produced by causes and causes produce effects, both ways. So, the idea that anything happens just by chance, some people are lucky, some people are unlucky, that is a doctrine of helplessness.

It's like what we do doesn't count. We do something and some arbitrary chance will disrupt everything. So, that's one alternative.

So, when I see a starting score of 0 to 100, one alternative is that everything happens just by chance. The scoreboard is operating nonsensically. The other alternative is actually even more disturbing.

That is, the organizer of the match has fixed the match in favor of a particular team. That means the organizer has made the score 200 for one team and 0 for the other team. This is the idea that God, by his own arbitrary will, make some people wealthy and some people poor.

Make some people good looking, some people mediocre looking. Actually, if God were doing this just by his arbitrary will, by his arbitrary decision making, it is actually even more indigestible because if somebody is going to be so arbitrary, how can we love such a person? How can we trust such a person? How can we even relate with such a person who is so arbitrary? So, actually, these two are the primary options that most people conceive of in the world. There is the atheistic option and the theistic option.

And if you look at these two options, often the atheistic option seems much more preferable emotionally. Why? Because emotionally the idea that there is a God and that God is supposed to be good and that good God does such things arbitrarily. It's far more difficult to accept emotionally than the idea that okay, things are happening by chance.

If things are happening by chance, I don't have any shelter, I don't have any hope. But at least I will get along. Let us accept it.

So, these two are the only two options in the conventional theistic and conventional atheistic positions. By conventional theistic, I don't refer to the Indian wisdom tradition. And the world has largely been influenced by the western wisdom traditions, western religions primarily.

So, in that idea, in that religious tradition, there is no third alternative. But the Vedic wisdom tradition provides the third alternative. If one team is starting with a score of zero and another team is starting with a score of 200, one possibility is that it is the second innings of the match.

That means the same team has scored earlier. And that's why their score is better. Another team has scored poorly.

That's why the score is mediocre. So, actually we all have had previous lives. Previous lives are like our previous innings.

And we all have scored differently in our previous innings. And depending on how we have scored in our previous innings, we get certain starting points. So, actually if we want to reconcile the goodness of God with the evil that is present in the world, the only way to do it is by expanding our worldview, expanding our vision of life.

If we consider life just to be a journey from point A to point B, where point A is birth and point B is death, then life seems extremely unfair. But when we extend the worldview, life doesn't begin with birth, life doesn't end with death. The causal chain continues from previous lives onwards into this life and from this life into future lives.

Then we can actually make sense. In fact, not only can we make sense, it also, we can not only make sense at an intellectual level, actually it is also satisfying in many ways at an emotional level. Why? Because God is not unfit.

God is giving us ultimately what we deserve. And more importantly, our progress is in our hands. Okay, I may be having a poor score right now, but I can play well and improve my score.

So, if somebody is ahead of me, that is not just by arbitrary fiat, that is by God's will. Is it by God's will alone? These are two options. It is not God's will alone.

God does not decide arbitrarily. In the Christian, in the Judaic, in the other religious traditions, this has been a major problem. And that's why people, if you see in the western world, religious faith has become eroded far more than in India.

Although India is also seeing an erosion of faith, but in the west it has eroded much more because in those religious traditions, the philosophical depth, in terms of explaining causes is not very good, not very deep. And the reason for that is that those religions, their revelations came in particular socio-historical context, where the audience was not really receptive enough to understand elevated spiritual truths. So, I will just take the standard examples from Judaism, Christianity, Islam and then we will move forward with this discussion to understand more in depth about the Vedic perspective.

So, in Judaism, this is universally, this is what we are discussing is called as the problem of evil. The problem of evil means, when the God is good, why is there evil? And this is a problem that everybody has had to discuss. All thinkers, all philosophers have had to discuss and struggle with this problem.

So, in Judaism, it has been an unresolved issue and there was a famous rabbi who came up with what he felt was a very good solution, innovative solution. He said that actually there is God and there is Satan. That is the conception in these Abrahamic religions.

And he said, actually God wants to protect us. But sometimes Satan is more powerful than God. And although God wants to protect us, still God can't protect us.

Because he is not powerful enough. So, therefore, when God fails to protect us, we should learn to forgive him. What should we do? So, forgive God.

This is the antithesis of the normal understanding of God. It is to err is human, to forgive is divine. But according to this understanding, to err is divine, to forgive is human.

So, now, this is not just some fringe theory. Actually, it became this, rabbi, when he wrote the book, it became a bestseller. And it's quite a popular idea that God is not strong enough to protect us, although he wants to protect us.

The question is, if God is not strong enough to protect us, what is the point in worshipping such a God? So, now, Christianity, the idea is that all, they have this symbolic story of Adam and Eve. And actually the theory is metaphorical. It represents how we rebelled against the will of God.

That's how we came. So, Adam ate a forbidden apple. And because they don't, in Christianity, they don't accept the principle of karma in terms of multiple lifetimes.

Because although reincarnation and soul are talked about in their religions, that has been, those references have been sidelined. Because of various theopolitical issues, mixing of religion and politics has caused that. But anyway, their idea is that actually the problem of suffering, the problem of evil, all the evil in this world is because it's not what we have done evil, this doesn't matter so much.

Yeah, there are certain good things which we should do, bad things which we should avoid. But ultimately, all of humanity is tainted by evil because Adam ate that forbidden apple. There is a story that Adam and Eve were in paradise, in the garden of Eden.

And there the snake who represented Satan came and tempted Eve. And then Eve coercivated Adam and then they ate the forbidden apple. So, now, the idea becomes, Adam committed a sin and from that time, generation after generation, sin has passed down to humanity like a genetic defect.

Like a genetic defect is passed down generation to generation. And all the earthquakes, all the tsunamis, all the landslides, all the epidemics, they are caused because someone thousands of years ago ate an apple. It seems an insult to the intelligence.

I don't want to make a caricature of any religion over here. But unfortunately, the problem of evil, when it doesn't have satisfactory answers, then it becomes an insult to the intelligence to believe in such things. Now, in Islam, the idea is that whatever sufferings are there in this world, they are the tests of Allah.

Now, the point of tests of Allah is fine. This world is actually a test of Allah. And why are some people poor, some people wealthy? That's a test.

It's a test for the poor to maintain their faith and for the rich to share their wealth. Now, the principle of tests is fine. But the issue here in the problem of evil is not the principle of testing.

It is the principle of differential testing. You know, after a class, after a course, there is an exam and every student gets a different question paper. Some students get easy question papers, some students get difficult question papers.

The question will not be why is there an exam? The question is why are there different question papers? So, the problem of evil in this world is not why there is evil. Yes, there is evil, no doubt. Why there is suffering? But why there is differential suffering? Some people are wealthy, some people are poor.

Some people are healthy, some people are sickly. Why is there a difference? So, actually speaking, when we see the world from a multi-lifetime perspective, see our own life journey as a multi-life journey, then and then alone can we reconcile God's goodness with the evil's goodness. So, moving forward, there are many variations within this and there are many Abrahamic thinkers, famous Christian thinkers also, who have pointed out that actually the understanding of multi-lifetime reincarnation's perspective is actually far more intellectually satisfying than the perspective of only one arbitrary lifetime.

So, the problem of evil, is God the cause of earthquakes? God is not the cause of the earthquakes in the sense that God does not desire anything. So, Vedanta Uttara gives the example that when there are clouds in the sky, are the clouds the cause of vegetation? Yes. If the clouds did not give rains, then no vegetation would grow.

But at the same time, so we could say in a generic sense, clouds are the cause of vegetation. But if in one field grains grow, in another area weeds grow, is this difference caused by the rains? No. Difference is caused by the seed that gets it.

So, you could say that the rains, the clouds and the rains are the ultimate cause of everything. But they are not the immediate cause. They are not even the remote cause.

They are the ultimate cause. So, in that sense, nothing happens without the sanction of God. And so, in that sense, we could say that God is the cause of everything.

But God is not responsible for everything. It is our own misdeeds that are responsible for what happens to us. So, God is responsive, we are responsible.

God is responsive, that means according to what we do, then God responds. But what happens to us, we are responsible for that. So, I will repeat this triple level causation once again.

And then we can have some question answers, I will move over to the next point. So, whenever anything happens in this world, we can look at its cause at multiple levels. So, with respect to earthquake, does God cause earthquakes? The immediate cause, that is the seismic field.

So, that is the level of causation at the level of material nature, you. That is a valid cause. But it is not a complete cause.

It is correct but not complete. Beyond that, there is because that people suffer certain things because of their own past karma. And that karmic reaction is something which expresses itself through certain material situations.

So, the earthquakes are the reactions or the way through which the reactions are coming. And then beyond that, God is the ultimate cause in the sense that everything happens by His function. And this triple level causation, so, the first level is actually, so, the idea that God, that everything happens by chance.

There is no governing principle. Some people are wealthy, some people are poor, because it's arbitrary. That considers only the first level.

The first level is, things are the way they are in material nature and there is no reality behind it. Asatyamapatishtham te jagadahur anishvaram aparasparasambhutam kimanyat kama haithukam. So, Krishna paraphrases this philosophy, this atheistic philosophy in the 16th chapter, saying this is the demoniac nature.

There is no God in control at all. So, that I said is the doctrine of hopelessness. The idea that nothing is in our chance.

Anything can happen and everything is happening without any causal links. The other extreme is to say that everything happens by God's will and you should not question it. You don't know why it happened.

God is arbitrary. So, one is arbitrary chance, the other is arbitrary God. So, now what happens is, that means, in the first case only first cause is considered, arbitrary chance.

But in arbitrary God, only third cause is considered. The first and second causes are neglected. Or they are not given due importance.

Which is the second cause is neglected. Then what happens? Then there is again a very great difficulty in accepting why God would do such a thing. Arbitrary.

So, the understanding is the triple level cause. So, when I talked about the second innings, the second innings is for the, or multiple innings, that is for the intermediate cause. So, we will not see immediately the causes that are there, but they all bring about the reactions.

In different timelines, depending on the specific cause and its effect. And then we discussed about how this problem of evil has various religious traditions in their perplexity, trying to work out some explanation, which is not actually satisfying. But reconciling God's goodness with the evil of this world is possible when we understand this triple level causation.

So, are there any questions at this point? Do we have a mic? Yes, fire is extinguished by extinguisher. There will be bad things. Why cannot this thing be extinguished by extinguisher? Okay.

This is fire can be extinguished by extinguisher. So, why can't bad things be cancelled by good things? See, now when we say about this triple level causation, this doesn't mean that we should not work at the first or second level. When we are in this world and we want to deal with the problem for this world, we have to deal with them at all three levels.

So, that means, if say, a fire starts over here, where I am sitting right now, I could say that the starting of the fire is because of my past bad karma. There will be some immediate cause also. Maybe somebody kept some inflammable material over here, somebody was an arsonist who wanted to do something.

So, there is an immediate cause. And beyond that, there is a remote cause and ultimate cause. So, when we are living in this world and when we face problems, we can deal with these problems at all three levels.

It is not that I neglect the other levels. So, if there is a fire over here, first thing is I move aside from here so that I don't get burnt. But then I will find out.

I will go deeper and look behind. Isn't it? And then further I ultimately understand that it is a sanction of God. So, it's not that at an immediate level we should not work.

In the Bhagavatam, in the fourth canto, when the citizens go to Maharaj Pruthu and they are saying that we are starving. In fact, the fire of digestion is burning within us as if a forest fire is burning and scorching us to ashes. So, at that time, Pruthu Maharaj doesn't say, oh, it's your karma, suffer now.

No, he acts at an immediate level. So, acting at an immediate level, he arranges for Mother Earth to produce and provide the necessities of living. So, we do need to work at an immediate level.

But we should not let the immediate level monopolize all our efforts. To think that acting at the immediate level alone will solve our problems is a mistaken logic. When I act only at the immediate level, then I don't get a complete vision of things.

So, as I said, I may say that, that this, okay, my leg got fractured because this car ran over. But car ran over the leg, why? Because it was a drunk driver. So, we should look backwards.

So, the Vedic scriptures do not reject the point that, that there is immediate level causation also. So, the idea that our past karma is responsible and the idea that there are certain specific material causes for things, they are not contradictory. They are complementary.

They are complementary. And we have to work at both levels of causation to deal with them. Is this clear? So, now if you are asking, what was your question? Your question was something else.

Yeah? So, if fire is there, then it can be extinguished by fire. Okay, correct, correct. Yeah.

Because things get cancelled out. Correct. Similarly, bad things are unleashed because of bad karma.

So, there are good people also, they are totally good karmas. Correct. So, why this good karma cannot be cancelled? Okay, it's a more generic question.

So, why does the good karma of people not cancel the bad karma of other people? Because in general, karma is not transferable. You know, everybody has to deal with their own karma. But when we are coming to total karma, now we are talking about total karma.

So, at this point we are not talking about individual karma. Okay, fine. So, there is individual karma and there is mass karma.

So, now in the case of mass karma, the way material nature works, Krishna explains 4.17 in the Gita, that the progression of karma is often incomprehensible to the finite human mind. But how it works essentially is that at that particular point of time, all the people, who for whatever karma they might have done in their past, they are all meant to die at a particular time. And they are all brought together at that particular point and then they suffer the reaction.

So, now, we can envision karma as say karmic units. So, different people may do different karma and then they get a particular level of karmic units. And that level of karmic units are exhausted when they meet death in a particular natural disaster.

So, in the case of mass karma, also we will see that often there are what people call as miraculous escapes. Now, people don't know how this happens. There are many incidents.

For example, there was an earthquake in Gujjan few years ago and there was this mother who was nursing her baby. The baby was actually with the mouth on the breast of the mother. And some brick fell because of the earthquake, some beam fell and the mother died on the spot.

And then almost 18-20 hours later, when the rescue workers removed the debris, the baby was still there slapping her hands and legs. Now, the baby is so tender, one blow, one occasional blow can sell it, kill it also. But here, the baby lived and the mother died.

Is this just chance? No, it's not chance. Actually, there are higher factors involved. So, some people, those people who are not meant to die, they will be right in that situation and they will not die.

Those who are meant to die, they may not be in that situation but they just come at that time to that situation and then they undergo the tragedy over there. So, individual karma has individual effects. Mass karma has mass effects.

Now, can good karma cancel bad karma? No. In general, beyond the bad karma and good karma, there is akarma. Akarma is bhakti.

So, that karmani nirdahati kintu cha bhakti bhaja. We describe in the Brahma Samhita that just as good seeds will produce good results, bad seeds will produce bad results. But if the seeds are fried, roasted, then they will not produce any results.

They will not fructify. So, like that bhakti burns up the karma. And that's how we are protected.

So, if we practice bhakti more and more and we radiate a spiritual atmosphere, that can substantially decrease the amount of bad karmic reactions that are coming. So, at the same time, it's not just that the one individual or two individuals, they will change the whole karmic situation of the country or the world. So, there is a substantial change.

Then there will be a change in the overall atmosphere. Yes. Any other questions? Yes, behind the mask.

Please ask him. Guruji, you said that these are all karmic reactions. So, suppose I have to speak that of my previous birth, I have to suffer 10 points.

10 points I have to suffer. And I am suffering something right now. So, if I have, by my past karma, I have to suffer say 10 units.

And I have suffered 5, then I try to find a solution to that. Then will the remaining 5 I have to suffer later on? See, in general, in our life, we should focus on what is the best course of action right now. We shouldn't worry about what karma is there and what reaction is coming.

I'll give a simple example to explain this point. As I said, you know, if this chair sets on fire, if I think that actually the burns are supposed to come because of my past karmic reaction. So, I should sit on this chair only.

Well, if then I get burned, that is not because of my past karma, it is my present karma. So, actually we have to understand that karma is our, ok, now before I answer this question, the word karma often we use in different meanings. So, there are four meanings of the word karma.

So, unless we understand this, things can become very confusing. The first meaning of karma is action. You know, we do certain karma, that means we do certain kinds of action.

The second meaning is reaction. You know, I am suffering because of my karma. What does that mean? That means I have done some karma and now I am getting the karmic reactions.

So, this is the second meaning. The third meaning is the whole system of action-reaction, as we use the law of karma. The law of karma, this also refers to, this is also you say karma.

So, the idea is, the last meaning is, actually there are three kinds of karma. There is su-karma, vi-karma and akarma. Three categories of action are there.

Su-karma is good activity, good action. Vi-karma is bad action. And akarma is transcendental action.

Action that produces no material reaction. So, now among these three categories, su-karma, vi-karma and akarma. Su-karma is often referred to in shorthand as karma.

Like people do karmakand. There we use the word karma in the sense of, it is a one category of action among these three categories of action. So, I will repeat these meanings.

If you don't understand this in technicality, don't bother about it too much. I will clarify what I mean, when I am using this word. But karma can mean the actions that we do.

It can mean the reactions that we get. It can refer to the system of action and reaction. Or it can refer to one specific category of action among the various kinds of action that we do.

Three kinds of action that we can do. So, now when I say that, I am sitting on this chair and the chair catches fire. Now, it's because of my karma.

That means I am referring to the karmic reaction over here. What karma had done in the past because of which I was here and this place caught fire. So, in general, when we face challenges in this life, because of whatever complications, if you start thinking that everything is because of the past karma, then, you know, when a mother has a baby and the baby is crying, baby needs milk.

No, actually the baby is suffering because of past karma. He cries, the past karma will get exhausted. No, the past karma will not get exhausted, the mother will get fresh karma.

The mother is neglecting the duty towards the child. So, there is the whole, on one side is the aspect of karmic reactions coming to us. And the other aspect is our duty.

And it is nobody's duty that they have to suffer without doing anything. You know, it is in the Vedic scriptures also described that whenever there is, for example, a disease, you know, it is actually our duty to take medicine and try to get cured. Now, if I have a disease and I don't take medicine, then it is not that my disease gets worsened.

Is it because of my past karma or my present karma? It's quite likely that it is because of my present karma. See, we have to act in this life to deal with situations. If we don't do it, so, when we look for past karma, it is, when we look for explanations in terms of past karma, it is primarily when our, it is primarily after our efforts to solve the situation that this life ever have failed.

After our duty has been done, or we tried to do our duty and it didn't work. I'll give you a simple example to illustrate this. In the 10th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, in the first chapter, it is described how first, second, third, fourth chapter of the past time goes on.

Basically, it is described how when Devaki is going on after her marriage, so Vasudev and Devaki are in the chariot and Kamsa is the charioteer. And suddenly Kamsa hears the Akashvani and catches the hair of Draupadi and is about to rip off her head with her sword. And at that time Vasudev is trying to philosophically dissuade Kamsa from his devious actions.

And what does Vasudev say? Oh Kamsa, if it is the destiny, if we were destined to die, then nobody can stop destiny. If you just think about this, he could just turn the logic around and think, if Devaki is destined to die, nobody can stop. What am I doing here? He doesn't do that.

Why? Why? Is it that his philosophy is meant only for Kamsa and not for himself? If something is the will of destiny, it is the will of destiny. The point is that destiny is always complemented by duty. And in the case of Kamsa, Kamsa is giving up his duty.

It is his duty to protect his sister and he is giving up the duty. So, when a person is ready to give up duty to gain something or to avoid something, at that time the person is reminded, destiny is supreme. Why are you doing such a thing, which you will not be able to avoid, but you will get further bad karma.

But in the case of Vasudev, it is his duty to protect his wife. So, we should never use the concept of destiny to abandon our duty. We should never use the concept of destiny to abandon our duty.

This was precisely what Dhritarashtra did. Time and time again, Vidura was telling Dhritarashtra, stop your evil son from becoming inimical towards the virtuous Pandavas. Because the resulting conflagration will burn the whole Kuru dynasty to ashes.

So, at that time, Dhritarashtra, seeing the seething critique of his younger brother, tries to use the shelter of a pseudo-philosophy. And he says, if it is the will of almighty destiny to destroy the Kuru dynasty, who am I, a tiny mortal, to stop the will of almighty destiny? So, Vidura just smashes through his false logic and Vidura tells, ok, destiny determines the consequences of our actions, not our actions themselves. Destiny determines the consequences of our actions, not our actions themselves.

It means, destiny is not stopping you from stopping Dhritarashtra, from stopping Duryodhana. No, it is your own weakness that is stopping you. It is your duty to stop Duryodhana.

Now, it may happen that Duryodhana is so evil-minded, so conspiratorial, that he may not listen to you and still go against you and may become enemical towards the Pandavas. That is different. So, you cannot, so we cannot abandon our duty and say that destiny is responsible.

Actually, we have to do our duty. So, when, for example, when we get suffering in our life. So, now if we can deal with the suffering at a immediate cause level, we should deal with it.

But in some cases, when the immediate cause level dealing doesn't work, then rather than just being resentful and frustrated, we can accept it and then move forward in life. But in general, we should work at an immediate cause level to deal with the problem, whatever way we can. And only when it doesn't work at an immediate cause level, for example, I am sick, I go to a doctor.

Somehow the doctor's medicine doesn't work. Then I have to endure the suffering. I will endure the suffering.

But it is not that we don't work at the immediate cause level. So, it's not that we, if, now when I say that, when, now this is an elaborate answer I am giving because the question was quite relevant beyond the specific context. So, now when I get some suffering, I don't know in advance that because of this situation I have to suffer ten units or one unit or hundred units.

I don't know that. So, when the suffering comes, it is my duty to try to counter that suffering in whatever way I can. Of course, whatever way doesn't mean anything immoral, anything anti-scriptural.

It means whatever is required in the jurisdiction of rightness. Now, even after my efforts if things don't work, then I understand it is because of past karma and I will be patient. And I will wait for the karma to get exhausted.

Does that answer your question? Any other questions? Hare Krishna Prabhu. Swamiji, actually I want to ask that what the decision has made in past that I am suffering or enjoying now. So, that the decision was my free will.

So, I want to basically ask two questions about the free will. First is that, that free will is the authorization of the Lord. He gives us free will.

And second is, we make level of the different working places. So, to which level does the free will work? The question is that right now we are undergoing the results of our past actions and reactions. So, how does our free will reconcile with God? Is it that God will be the same as our free will? And secondly, do the, which all levels of consciousness have free will? Yes.

See, ideally our free will, we should voluntarily choose to harmonize our free will with God's will. But it is not that by default whatever we do is the will of God. Actually speaking, some people say that Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, whatever you do, you will come to me.

This is not said anywhere in the Bhagavad Gita at all. But the more important point is, apart from the lack of scripture, Srila Prabhupada pointed a simple lack of logic in it. Prabhupada says, if whatever we do, we are going to go to Krishna, then what is the need for Krishna to speak the Bhagavad Gita? Whatever we do, we are going to come to him.

What is the need to speak? So, it is not that whatever we do is the will of God. But whatever we do, we are able to do it because of the sanction of God. There is a difference between the will and sanction.

Will means, say, what God wants us to do with God's will. Sanction means what we want to do and God allows it. Understand in other ways, doctor gives a prescription and doctor gives a concession.

For example, when a person, patient has diabetes, at that time the doctor gives a prescription, take this medicine morning, afternoon, evening, three times a day. And then he says, stop taking any sugar. So, no, I can't live without sugar.

Then the doctor says, OK, you can take one sweet once a week. Now, taking one sweet once a week is not the instruction of the doctor. That is the concession.

The patient wants to do it, so the doctor allows it. So, similarly, actually many of the things that we do in the world, it's not that God wants us to do them. It is that we want to do them and God allows us.

Now, why does God allow us? Because he has given us free will and based on our past karma, we have lesser or greater capacity for free will. That means somebody has become an alcoholic. That person, because of using the free will wrongly again and again, to drink alcohol, to drink alcohol, to drink alcohol, now the knot of attachment, of addiction between that person and alcohol has become so strong that it's almost as if the person doesn't have any free will.

He still has, but a groove has been created in the mind by which the thoughts go in a particular direction constantly. So, in this person's case, the free will has become lesser. So, it's like there is an invisible rope between the bottle of alcohol and this person's mind.

And the more the person indulges, the rope becomes shorter and tighter. The person wants it again and again and can resist it less and less. So, but some people by their good karma, they have more free will.

So, our capacity for free will also is determined by our past karma. And that's why some people are able to do something, some people are not able to do something. I may want to become a very good singer.

But I may have a very poor musical sense and no matter how much I try, I am not able to do it. That means there is certain limitation that has been created by my karma. But some other people, they just want to learn to sing and start singing and a very melodious voice comes out and very easily they have a high musical sense.

It's by their karma, their free will is much more. So, now, in the case of actually the free will among the 8.4 million species, it is only for the 4 lakh human species. The animals, do they have free will? Their free will is largely covered.

It is there, but it is much, much lesser than human beings. So, in 3.38 in the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna describes three levels of covering on the soul. It is just as fire is covered by smoke.

That refers to the human beings. Or a mirror is covered by dust. That refers to the animals.

Or as an embryo is covered by a womb. That refers to the plants. Similarly, our consciousness is covered.

Consciousness of all living beings is covered. So, in the lower species, actually they have, their free will is only to choose how to do eating, sleeping, waiting, sleeping. Now, when a cow is eating grass, then after it eats the grass in front of it, whether it should eat the grass on the left side or the right side.

That free will it has. You know, if a cat comes out of a hole and sees two rats. One is running on the left, one is running on the right.

So, it can only choose, it has the free will to choose. Should I go to this rat or should I go to that rat? The cat can't think, today is Pandam Navamikadashi. So, the cat doesn't have the free will to recognize that actually we all have, the cat doesn't have the free will to recognize that it can go beyond eating, sleeping, waiting differently.

That there is some higher life beyond that. Only human beings have that. So, in that case, the free will to choose between materialism and spirituality, that is there only in human beings.

But for the animals, there is very less free will. It is just to choose between different brands of materialism. That's all that the animals have.

Should I eat this or should I eat that? Should I sleep here or sleep there? Should I accept this mate or should I accept that mate? That's all that they have. Any other questions? We have to become one with the will of the Lord. So, like there are different difficulties that comes in one's life and we understand that we may not be doing good according to the will of the Lord or what is not happening.

So, what is the process that one can join our will, our consciousness, our actions, our feelings with the will of the Lord? Is it just by attending spiritual programs and taking darshan of the deities or reading the scriptures? How in that particular point of life, when we are in a difficult situation, we can join ourselves with the will of the Lord and come out of our lower consciousness. So, how can we harmonize our will with the will of God? Is it just by doing devotional activities like studying scriptures and darshan? Or what can we do in our practical situations in our life also? Actually, harmonizing our will with God's will is a progressive thing. It's not like digital logic, one or zero.

It may be from event to event. But moreover, it's like a gradual harmonization. It's like say, if you have a magnet.

Magnet normally points north-south. But if now, if I place a magnet in this room, it will point north-south. But if this room has some other magnetic force in it and that creates its own pulse, then the magnet, instead of pointing north-south, may get slightly disoriented.

So like that, for the soul, originally there is a natural attraction to God. And that's why the soul naturally harmonizes with God's will. But the soul right now is placed in different coverings, different settings, which create their own influences.

You know, we are basically placed in three coverings. We are placed in the covering of the body and the mind. We are placed in the covering of society.

And we are placed in the covering of nature. So, accordingly, according to these three, each of these three coverings, they cause a suffering. The suffering that the soul is here.

So, you can visualize three concentric circles. So, first circle is the circle of the body and the mind. And this circle of body and mind gives the kind of suffering.

That is the Adi-Bhautik Klesh. The Klesh that comes from, sorry, the Adi-Atmik Klesh. Klesh from the body and the mind.

And beyond that, there is a second circle. That is the circle of the society around us. People around us.

That gives a second kind of Klesh, that is the Adi-Bhautik Klesh. The third covering, that is the nature around us. So, as I said, earthquakes, natural calamities of various kinds, or even extremities of heat or cold.

These are, they also give a Klesh that is called as Adi-Daivik Klesh. That's why you see in many traditional programs, they start or begin with Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti. So, there is three times Shanti.

Why three times Shanti? Because it is for each of these Kleshas. Om Adi-Atmik Klesh Shanti. Om Adi-Bhautik Klesh Shanti.

Om Adi-Daivik Klesh Shanti. That is the idea. So, now why am I giving this example of these three circles? Each of these influence us by disconnecting us from the will of God.

Just like, as I said, let you put a magnet in a room which has its own magnetic force and the magnet gets disaligned. So, like that depending on our own body and mind, our body and mind has its own inclination, its own tendencies and that creates a force which disaligns us from the will of God. So, for example, if I am a young male, then the young male is because of the body and mind attracted to young females.

Same way for young females. Now, this is something which happens because of the body and the mind. Similarly, in a particular society, meat eating is a norm.

Everybody eats meat. So, naturally the person, as soon as the person sees some meat, then the tongue starts salivating. So, in this way, our will gets disconnected or disharmonized from the will of God because of the coverings that we are in right now.

So, what do we do? First of all, we begin by following the general principles that are given in scriptures. So, the broad instructions of God are given in the scriptures. For example, devotional activities, following the regulatory principles.

So, the regulatory principles, meat eating, yamling, intoxication, they are like major breaks of the will of God. So, we avoid those. And then we do the positive activities, chanting, studying scriptures, coming to temple, taking darshan, understanding the philosophy.

So, these are broad do's and don'ts. By these, the, what is happening is, we are letting ourselves come ultimately and we are exposing ourselves to God's supreme magnetic field. And then it attracts us.

And then over a period of time, you know, as we become purified, then we will become naturally attuned with the will of God. It's a progression. Sri Prabhupada writes in the Nectar of Instruction, in his introduction, he says that once we come to the mode of goodness, by following the regulatory principles, then how to advance further will be revealed from within.

Revealed from within means that when we start the big decisions of life, when we start doing them according to the will of God, basically we show God that I want to act according to His will. And we show Him that, then He wants to give us guidance. So, in the 11th canto it is described, Mr. Bhagavatam, that the Lord wants to bring auspiciousness in our life, internally and externally.

So, externally He manifests as guru, sadhu and shastra. The spiritual master, the saintly teachers and the scriptures. These three reveal to us the will of God externally.

And to the extent we show God that we want to follow His will, then to that extent He makes Himself accessible to us internally. And then internally we come to know, this I should not do, this I should do. And then uninterval, so internally also Krishna will guide you.

So, generally it's not that just by doing these activities, doing devotional activities, we will automatically harmonize with the will of God. No, we do the devotional activities with the intention of harmonizing with the will of God. And these devotional activities, they are expressions of Krishna.

That they are expressions of us to Krishna, that I want to do your will, Krishna. And when Krishna sees our intention, then He reciprocates by giving direction. So, in 10.10 in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says that when we serve Him devotedly, He gives us the intelligence that we can come back to Him.

So, in specific situations, we will get that guidance more and more. Then we first start following generic instructions. We don't have to do hair splitting about in every specific situation, what is the will of God.

No, we can't change ourselves so radically. At least in broad situations when we start doing it, then we start getting understanding. So, when we have to make major decisions in our life, we can consult senior devotees, look at scriptures and then make those decisions.

And over a period of time, our will become more and more attuned with God's will. Is it clear? Any other questions? The question is right. You can ask loudly.

We are not in a hurry. We don't worry about what the cause is. We just do the things what we feel at that time.

So, after knowing this, I am in this city, there are these seminars, we can do more of our religious cultivation, we can do more of our cultivation and then immediate Kali. So, how do you understand what is happening in our life? Should we think always about the cause and should we answer that cause and not answer that cause? Or should we just deal with it? So, should we use this whole analysis of multiple levels of causation in everything in our life? Or should we just deal with it at a practical level? So, I can apply this. When you are asking this question, should I think that it is you who have asked the question? Or is it Krishna's will that Krishna wants me to face such a tough question? So, what should I do? Actually speaking, first of all, it is not that we should go into paralysis by analysis.

It did not happen. Paralysis by analysis, this or this or this or this. No.

At a practical level, we have to deal with situations. So, we should definitely deal with it at a practical level. But at the same time, your life is not just meant for acting.

Life is also meant for learning. It is not that we just have to act, do this, do this, do that. You want to learn from life and grow by that learning.

So, we look at situations at a deeper level also to try to understand the fundamental truths of life. So, yes, we deal with the situation at a practical level. But along with that, we will see that many times dealing with the situation at a practical level does not solve the problem.

Many times, we will react at a practical level. OK, somebody else has got a misunderstanding. So, I spoke something and that person understood something.

That person thought that I have some inimical attitude towards that person. So, now was that misunderstanding created by past life karma or this life karma? Generally speaking, in our day to day dealings, we should focus on tackling events at the key level. At this level.

This is the problem, this is the solution. But beyond that, we also realize that sometimes tackling events at this life level does not work. And when it does not work, we understand that there are other factors involved also.

And we acknowledge those factors. So, it is not that we give up action at this level. But it is not that we give up vision at higher levels also.

We balance the two. There is action at this level, whatever is required. Along with that, there is a vision to understand what has happened.

For example, in the Bhagavatam, when Dhritarashtra and Gandhari leave home because of the strong instructions of Vidura, at that time Dhrishti is overcome with guilt and fear. Thinking that where have they gone, how will they live their lives? So, what will happen? Because I neglected them, they left. So, what does Narad Muni do at that point? Narad Muni, first of all tells him, don't go there.

Because they are being guided by Vidura and they are going to leave the world. They are going to attain auspicious destination. But along with that, he also gives a philosophical view.

He says that don't think that you are in control. Don't think that you were their protector. Ultimately, the Supreme Lord is the protector and actually we are just puppets.

So, he gives an understanding at that level also. So, in general, we should do action at this level of causation. At the same time, we should also have the vision or develop the vision by which we can understand the deeper factors that are on action.

Is this clear? Any other questions? Yes. So, like God is not responsible. He is responsible.

We are responsible. Sometimes, we see that we are failing and actually it exists beyond our control. And we are failing again and again.

So, we come to the conclusion that God doesn't want me to pass it. Maybe God is the ultimate cause. So, doesn't it limit my endeavor for furthering my fight? Doesn't it become like, okay, I should stop doing this because ultimately maybe God is not sanctioning my business.

Yes. So, the question is that if I am trying to do something, repeatedly I do it, then should I see it that it is God's will that I should not do this. It is God who is causing this obstacle or reversal.

And therefore, I should not do this. Or that may be for some improvement of mine. Or should it be that I should keep endeavoring, endeavoring till I succeed.

So, actually speaking, when we say that God is causing, again we understand that God is not directly having some personal vendetta against someone. That God wants somebody to fail in something, that's why God is giving them. Ultimately, whatever happens, it's by God's sanction, but also our own karma that is coming.

You know, by our own karmic reactions we are not able to get rid of it. But there is also God's hand. And God works expertly so that even through our karmic reactions, he can help us grow.

He can help us grow even through our karmic reactions. What does that mean? It means that whatever way, whatever problems we go through in life, those problems come to us not because God is causing those problems. Those problems come to us because they are reactions to our own past mistakes.

But through them, God gives us the wisdom, God gives us the situation by which we can learn and grow through those situations. So, it works both ways. That is, there is our karmic reaction involved, but there is God's education also going on.

By which we grow. So now, what exactly is the lesson that God wants to teach us? We have to use our own intelligence and superior guidance from the Supreme. So, in some cases, when we are trying one thing again and again and again it's not working, it may just be that we are not suited for it.

So, it's not that, for example, if somebody wants to become a painter and that person is trying and trying and trying and now he is not able to paint. Maybe that person is meant to become a painter. Now, it may be there is another possibility that person is painting, but he is not finding the right kind of agents, right kind of buyers and that's why he is not getting success.

But it also may be that the person doesn't have talent. The person has talent somewhere else. So, that means, when you are in a situation, one has to come out of this.

So, should I continue in this endeavour or should I change? So, now if we see Shrila Prabhupada's life, Shrila Prabhupada was swimming in those waves. And Shrila Prabhupada continued the principle of serving Krishna. But the way he served Krishna was changing.

When he was doing his business, the idea was that through his business he could fund his spiritual master's mission. But then when his business collapsed, he tried again to start a business and again that failed. He did not just go on and on and on with that.

Then he tried running a magazine afterwards. He was doing that but it was not having much effect. So, he stopped it.

And afterwards he started the League of Devotees and that didn't work out. He tried to work with God. Then he ran away.

Then he went to India. So, now Shrila Prabhupada did not give up the principle that whatever happens, one should serve Krishna. But the practice of how he would serve Krishna, he did not give up.

So, in general, we should not become discouraged in our service to Krishna. Prabhupada writes in the Purport that a devotee may be perplexed but a devotee is never discouraged. What is the difference between perplexed and discouraged? Perplexed means not knowing what to do.

Discouraged means not wanting to do anything. There is a difference between the two. Perplexed, should I do this or do this or do this? Then we have to pause, have to think, we pray to Krishna, see guidance from within, see guidance from without from our senior devotees and then move on.

So, a devotee may be perplexed. As discouraged means a devotee feels I don't want to do anything. It's like if I come to, I am going along a road and I come, there are three roads ahead, three forks.

I don't know and there is nobody to ask. I don't know which way is the way to my destination. I will be perplexed.

But discouraged means I don't want to go on this road. So, a devotee may be perplexed because sometimes situations may come in such a way that it may not be clear how should I serve Krishna. At such times, we have to wait.

Sometimes God gives us answers clearly and immediately and sometimes God may give us answers after some time. So, sometimes we seek God's guidance and we just not get any guidance at all. So, actually it happens sometimes, the teacher's silence is also an instruction.

The same teacher who spoke throughout the course in the classroom, when the exam is going on, the same teacher is present but same teacher will be silent. Isn't it? Because at the time of the test. So, it may happen in our life, the same teacher is there, same classroom is there, throughout the course the teacher was speaking but when the exam comes, same teacher will not speak.

Because that's the time of testing. So, sometimes it may happen that we may not get the guidance of God immediately. Then we have to go deep within and look at what we have learned and then bring that out and apply it also.

So, we may be perplexed but we should never be discouraged. We should find out how best we can serve Krishna through inner and outer guidance. Any other questions? Yes, right behind.

Okay, free will is something which we have and destiny is governed by karma. Then what exactly is causeless mercy? Is it governed by any of these factors? No, causeless mercy indicates that there is no material cause to it. The only cause is Krishna's will.

It's only Krishna's will. Now, again Krishna's will is arbitrary? No. Krishna's will actually generally works through his devotee's will.

So, actually Prabhupada explains that how do we say get, we are all trying to become Krishna conscious. So, how does a soul who knows nothing about Krishna get to know about Krishna? That is, for that the soul has to be fortunate and intelligent. Both are there.

What does fortunate mean? To get the opportunity for Krishna consciousness is fortune. To accept the opportunity for Krishna consciousness is intelligence. So, we need to be fortunate, we need to be intelligent.

Another point to explain this is, there is free will, destiny and causeless mercy. So, some person may be born wealthy. That means that by destiny that person has got wealth.

Some person may work very diligently and earn wealth. That is by free will the person is used to earn wealth. But some person might be a beggar and that beggar happens to be in an area where there is a very wealthy person who is also very charitable.

And then that person just gives charity. So, if the beggar consciously goes to that donor and begs, please give me, please give me, please give me, still just that asking does not necessarily qualify the person for getting it. So, mercy means essentially there is no qualification.

The beggar has no qualification for getting the charity. So, the beggar just goes there and asks and then when the donor gives some alms, that is mercy. But causeless mercy means the beggar doesn't even go to the donor.

When the beggar goes and gets alms from the donor, that is mercy. But when the beggar doesn't even go and the donor himself somehow approaches and gives some charity, that is causeless mercy. See, you know, for most of us, we did not go out in search of God.

Radhanath Maharaj's journey home shows how you search all over the world to find out a way to God. You know, we didn't go out searching for God. Devotees came out searching for us.

Probably somebody came to give us books, somebody came to invite us for a program. So, that is an example of causeless mercy. So, to get the opportunity for Krishna Consciousness is causeless mercy.

Even that causeless mercy, to accept it requires some intelligence. Then when we use that intelligence and accept the mercy, then we make spiritual advancement. Does it answer your question? The other question? Yeah.

The way we say that every knowledge has a reference, that every knowledge comes with a reference. So, I mean, it's like, why can't we call a person, since Bhagavad Gita, as per Srila Prabhupada, he says it's the essence of all Vedic knowledge. So, why can't we call a person who reads, lives and follows at least the Gita as a Hindu? I mean, you have specified in one of your previous Perna festival lectures, where you have specified this, that once upon a time the Supreme Court had some, I mean, termed the word Hindu as the person who lives in India and who is not following any other religion.

So, why can't we specify? It's like every person who gets a degree or a qualification has to qualify a set of books. But why not the same definition can be applied to a Hindu or a Muslim or a Christian? The question is that why can't we qualify somebody who is studying certain books, certain religious books, why can't we give them that person the name of a particular religion, say, Hindu, Muslim or Christian? See, there is a significant, not very big, but still significant body of people who call themselves as the Hindu atheists. Now, this is a contradiction in terms, isn't it? There are people who say that we are Jew atheists.

Now, Judaism, the first principle of Judaism is that to follow God, to love God with all thy heart, all thy soul and all thy mind. The first commandment, most important commandment. So, then how can we have somebody who claims to be a Jew and claims to be an atheist? So, we have to understand that these terms, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, often they are more of cultural designations or social designations than spiritual designations.

Cultural or social means that somebody is born in a particular society. Somebody is part of a particular race. Somebody is born in a particular family.

And based on that, the person gets a particular designation. So, if that is happening, then the whole purpose of the education that God is providing to us through the various religious traditions is actually self-realization. To help us to come to our true identity that we are not temporary destructible bodies, we are eternal indestructible souls who have an eternal relationship with God.

So, whatever bodily designations that we have, they often block us from understanding our true identity as souls. And the purpose of spirituality is to go beyond all these designations. But often, religion which is meant to take us beyond all these designations, itself becomes a designation.

If religion itself becomes another bodily misidentification, another label. So, Srila Prabhupada generally says, there is this famous verse, he describes bhakti, sarvopadhi vinirmuktam tatparatvena nirmalam. So, sarvopadhi vinirmuktam.

That you become free from all designations. So, when he describes, Srila Prabhupada writes, we should become free from all designations that I am Indian, I am American, I am young, I am old, I am tall, I am short, I am male, I am female. And all these designations he also includes, I am Hindu, I am Muslim.

There are also designations. And these designations can obstruct spiritual realization if we don't understand the purpose. So, if somebody understands Bhagavad Gita properly, what label should we give to that person? That person is a soul.

And a soul is not Hindu or Muslim or Christian. So, now it is true that Bhagavad Gita is followed in a country where most of the people today are known by the religious label, Hindus. So, in that sense, when somebody asks us, you know, are we Hindus? Well, answering that question is, if somebody, now we understand Vrindavan, the abode of the Lord is in the spiritual world.

It is not in the material world. But if you have to put it somewhere on the world map, we can't put Vrindavan in Pakistan or China. Vrindavan is in India.

This is geographical contours. This is Vrindavan only put in India, but still Vrindavan remains transcendental. Similarly, the devotees, those who understand the philosophy of Bhagavad Gita and are trying to live the philosophy of Bhagavad Gita, are they Hindus? If we want to put it in the, put them in the religious categories of the world, we can't put them as Muslims or Christians, isn't it? So, we will put them as Hindus.

But at the same time, we also recognize that Hinduism is a material designation. And ultimately we have to go beyond all material designations. So, certain material designations may be necessary or useful for certain functional purposes.

And for that purposes, we accept those designations. But it is really not, it is really not true today that, you know, everybody who studies Bhagavad, every Hindu has studied Bhagavad Gita. No.

Actually, the Bhagavad Gita is the most popular unread book of Hindus. Most popular unread book. Every Hindu wants to have Bhagavad Gita.

And actually, even for many Hindus, the Bhagavad Gita is more a proof of their official piety. You know, mujhe bhi Bhagavad Gita pata hai. Mujhe shloka pata hai.

Karmanye vadhika raste ma palaisu kadachana. So, it is just a proof of their official piety. It's not an evidence of their spiritual understanding.

That's why, if people truly understand the Bhagavad Gita, then they will recognize their spiritual identity. And for functional purposes in this world, they may accept certain designations. That is fine.

If required, we will use those designations. But we also understand that our real identity is beyond all these designations. Is that clear? Does that answer your question? Any other questions? Yes, ma'am.

Hit the mic. Acting and learning. Yeah.

So, should we take that as the answer to this, like we should improvise on our nature by learning. Also, earlier like I had a question about this mosquito net will avoid malaria. So, like your answer said that immediate cause at certain level influence the remote cause, remote karma.

Immediate cause at certain extent influence the remote cause. Like that's what you made. I'll explain one thing at a time.

So, first question is about mosquito net. I didn't say exactly that if a mosquito net can prevent malaria, does that mean that the remote, immediate cause affects the remote cause? No, not exactly. Actually speaking, if some person has got some bad karma, then the reaction will come.

It will come in some other way. Some people, they have mosquito net, but sometimes the mosquito gets inside the net faster than them. And then they still get bitten by the mosquito.

So, that means when we are doing our, for example, if I am living in an infected area or an area that is filled with mosquitoes, then it is also part of my duty to protect my body. So, I take that. So, it's not that my immediate action necessarily prevents some remote cause from happening.

What it does is also, what happens to us now is not just determined by our past karma. It is also determined by our present karma. By our present actions also we can worsen situations or we can ease them.

So, when we use a mosquito net, it is to prevent any further aggravation caused by this life karma. But the remote karma, remote cause that is there, the past life karma, that will manifest in some way or the other. So, we can't change destiny by our actions in this life.

But our actions in this life can change the manifestation of destiny. Instead of destiny coming in this way, destiny may come in that way. But we can't resign ourselves to inactivity, saying that, OK, the destiny is there.

Because inactivity can also be a form of irresponsibility. And that can create further bad karma. So, this is the answer to the second question about remote karma.

We don't counter the remote karma, but we prevent any further bad karma. And what was the first question? OK. Yeah.

So, our nature is also created by our past karma. So, then I said that life is for also learning. So, should we try to act in such a way that we learn and go beyond our nature? We act according to our nature.

Actually speaking, we have, when we talk about nature, there is spiritual nature and there is material nature. Spiritual nature for the soul is to serve Krishna. That is our natural propensity.

The soul has a natural propensity to serve Krishna. But beyond that, we are covered by a material nature. And based on the material nature, we have certain inclinations, certain likes, certain talents.

Now, the whole principle of varanashram dharma that is given in the Bhagavad Gita and in the Vedic literature at large, it is for engaging us according to our nature in dharmic activity. In dharmic activity that culminates in devotional service, in developing pure love for God. So, if somebody has a brahminical intelligence, then that person is encouraged to study scripture, And that's the way the person grows.

So, now, when a person has a particular inclination, doing that activity is pleasant for that person and that person is also competent in doing that activity. Generally, that means, what is our nature, how do we know? Basically, we feel internally comfortable in doing that and externally we are competent in doing that. Both these things are there, internal comfort, external competence.

When both these are there, we can understand this is more or less my nature. And in general, the varanashram dharma is that everybody serves according to their nature. So, the idea is that this world is a place of problems.

It is a place of problems for everyone. Now, the expertise of varanashram dharma is, varanashram dharma allocates to people the kind of problems that they will like to face. That means, an intellectual would like to face intellectual problems.

When intellectual is told, you know, now please go and raise funds so that we can build a big temple. Raise 50 crores. Just study books.

Why do you want to build a temple at all? Why take the botheration? On the other hand, if a person is of a mercantile nature, vaisya nature, he is told, can you please find this verse in the scripture? There are thousands of verses in the scripture. How will I find this verse? We feel it a bit positive. The vaisya person is told, you have to build a temple.

Be happy, yes. Something to do. The intellectual is told, please find this verse.

So the idea is, we generally serve according to our natures. And should we change our nature? Actually speaking, we should find out what is the best way we can serve Krishna. What is the best way we can contribute directly in devotional service and overall in life.

And we shouldn't assume that this is my nature or this is not my nature. It may also take some time for discovery. And occasionally situations may require us to do things which are not according to our nature.

And that is also an expression of surrender. Sometimes, whenever it's emergency, whenever there is absolute necessity, urgent necessity, we can do things which are not according to our nature also, as a service. But in general, we act according to our nature.

That way, we are happy and we are also competent. So we are productive. We are doing things well for Krishna's service.

About nature, also what I mean is our behavioral pattern, which we should improve. Like we get angry at cute things, impulsive. That also comes from past life.

Behavioral pattern, when you talk about it. See, in Sanskrit there are two words. There is vritti and there is vasana.

In Sanskrit there are two words, there is vritti and vasana. So generally the vasanas are related with lust, anger, greed, pride, envy and illusion. So now the vasanas have to be disciplined and purified.

Disciplined means as long as I have them, I control them and eventually I get rid of them. But the vritti are the psychophysical inclinations. Like Brahminical vritti, Kshatriya vritti, Vaishya vritti.

So that we can't so easily give up. We will normally serve according to that. So certainly yes, if I have a short temper, I should try my best to give it up.

And generally through philosophical analysis, I understand that I am not the controller, God is the controller. And secondly, by devotional practice, we will be able to deal with it. But certainly we should try to, as far as our behavioral patterns are concerned, bring them in harmony with what are the expected devotional standards.

And that is definitely possible by the practice of devotional service. So thank you very much. We will continue tomorrow.

And tomorrow we'll discuss about another aspect of this whole discussion. Tomorrow we'll discuss about miracles. And does God manifest in dreams or paranormal visions? And if he does, what are the ways in which we actually judge the authenticity of this? And how much important are such things in our life? Thank you very much.