Cultivating non-judgmental attitude 3
Hare Krishna. Today morning we are discussing from the Uddhava Gita, Chapter 28, entitled Gyan Yoga, where Krishna is urging Uddhava to not be caught by dualities. The previous two verses stated that one should not praise that which is materially good or criticize that which is materially bad.
And if one does that, the second verse in this chapter stated, that one will fall down. One will fall from the spiritual position to the position of material ignorance. And this verse illustrates the same point, how one will fall into illusion with an example, that just as when right now we are awake and we are aware of our circumstances, but if we fall asleep, then we are no longer aware of our circumstances and we perceive a dream world, which does not exist around us anywhere.
So similarly, when we start seeing things in terms of material dualities only, then this is good, this is bad. And then our whole consciousness gets consumed by the attempt to avoid the bad and to get the good. And as long as we are consumed by that, we cannot look at that which is eternally good.
So, say for example, there is a beggar who is walking along a road and in front of him is a very wealthy and very charitable person who wants to give this beggar a million dollars. But while the beggar is walking along, the beggar sees some other people who are walking along and says, please give me something. And the beggar asks this person, give me one dollar, give me half a dollar, give me two dollars.
And he is so caught in trying to get that, beseeching that, that he doesn't even notice that there is someone in front of me who wants to give me something much greater. Or, say there is another beggar, there are other beggars on the other side, they are trying to steal what is in his pocket. And what is there in his pocket? Maybe there is half a dollar, one dollar, ten cents, whatever.
And he is so caught in anxiety, no, you cannot steal this. That either way, in the hope of gaining something little or in the fear of losing something little, he misses out on the opportunity of gaining something great. Similarly, in human life, material pleasures, they are like a small gain.
Material losses, they are like small losses. They may appear very big for us when we are caught in material consciousness. But from the point of view of the eternal happiness that is available for us, if we become devoted to Krishna, if we become fixed in Krishna and attain Krishna, compared to that, material pleasures and material pains are insignificant.
But when our consciousness gets consumed by these, then we just can't think of anything beyond these. Just like sometimes small children are there, the parents want to give them something but the children are bad, they are crying and they are so upset that whatever the parents are saying, they are not paying any attention. The child wants some small toy, the parents want to give something much greater to the child.
But the child just doesn't understand. So like that, when our consciousness is consumed by dualities, then some gain that is far greater than duality, we are not even able to perceive that. And that's why Krishna repeatedly urges those who are transcendentalists to not be too elated or dejected by duality, by good or bad at the material level.
So in 5.20 he says, that when the Priya, when we get something which is dear, one doesn't delight. One doesn't delight in that. And then, if you get something which is a Priya, which is undesirable still, one doesn't become dejected.
Interestingly, Krishna is not asking us to give up the whole conception of Priya and Apriya. That is impossible. That is, say, suppose we are sick and we are on a diet because of that.
Now, the doctor cannot tell us, you know, you have to like this diet. If there are certain things which you don't like, we don't like. But we don't let our likes govern our behavior.
So Krishna acknowledges that there are certain things which we like, certain things we don't like. But Krishna says, don't let your emotional life be governed by your likes and dislikes. Something which we like, naturally, we will be happy when we get it.
But if you become too happy, then we may forget some higher purpose that we could have achieved. So our individuality involves certain likes and dislikes. But often at present, our likes and dislikes are shaped by our conditionings and they may not be conducive for our ultimate good.
So yes, if we are eating food and something which we like and we get that, it is not that we should deliberately not take it because it is sans gratification. No, we can take it. But we can be grateful to Krishna that something which we like, Krishna has given us.
But we don't have to get so excited about that and think that every time I should get this only. There is no need to get hyper excited about it. Or if we get something which we don't like, then, you know, just go into a bad mood and just curl our, twist our face in distaste.
No need to go into too much hyper reactions. Sometimes in a tennis match, you know, at the end of a match, one player wins, the winner starts jumping up and down like a monkey and the opponent sinks into gloom and down on his knees. So that is the example of excessive reaction amidst dualities.
So when we are consumed, when we let the dualities of this world consume us emotionally, then our emotions, our consciousness is no longer available for Krishna. It's no longer available to be focused on Krishna and Krishna may have a higher plan beyond our present conceptions of good and bad. So children's conception of good and bad may be, you know, if I play a game and if I win the game, that is good.
If I lose the game, that is bad. But from the whole life's perspective, that game, how important is it? There are much more important things in life. So like that, the material gains and losses that we have, they are not very important.
It is not that they are unimportant. It is not that they are to be neglected entirely. But we needn't obsess over them.
So if one gets obsessed by them, then the result of that is with our consciousness consumed by those, we cannot perceive spiritual reality. We cannot advance towards spiritual reality. You see that nowadays there is a rat race in society.
The problem with the rat race is that even if we win the rat race, we still remain rats. That means that we are still caught in the same competitive cycle. We may rise one rung higher.
But even there, the competition is there. So we needn't let ourselves be consumed by that rat-like consciousness of just being, of having nothing more in life to consider than just the next material goal. So now this specifically we were discussing in the last two sessions on cultivating a non-judgmental mentality.
So I will continue that theme. And with respect to dualities, how do we apply that? So we discussed earlier about how we needn't, we have our own conceptions of good or bad based on our culture, our nature. If I come from India, I think Indian things are good and other things may be not good, whatever.
So we needn't let our whole behavior be governed by our own conceptions of good or bad. We needn't be judgmental like that. That was the debate we discussed yesterday.
We discussed about how judgmental, although we should not be judgmental, we need to discern. But discerning is done with a humble attitude. I am sick, I am patient, I need to check what is healthy for me, what is unhealthy for me.
I don't think that I am in a superior position. So taking that theme forward, when we are practicing bhakti, we need to evaluate, we need to discern what is favorable for my bhakti, what is unfavorable for my body, what is anukulyasya sankalpa, what is pratikulyasya varjanam, what is unfavorable. While we are doing this, at the same time we, if we become judgmental, then we become enslaved by our ego.
And once we are caught by our ego, we cannot go closer towards Krishna. Srila Prabhupada was very strong in condemning those which were, things that were misconceptions. And he, some of his soundbites, fools, rascals, you may read that, and some of his lyrics, I should also speak, I should be uncompromising, you know, I should also speak, fools, rascals, criticize everyone who is not teaching pure devotional service.
Now we have to understand, here are some very important points. That, first of all, why is Prabhupada so strong? We'll understand that. And what is the best way we can follow in his footsteps and fulfill his purpose.
Sometimes in spirituality, the attitude is that, you know, whatever you feel is right, is right for you. And feelings are made the decisive barometer of what is good. But, yes, our feelings are, they are one indicator, but they are not the sole barometer of what is right.
Even in material life we see that our feelings, they may sometimes lead us towards the right thing. Sometimes, when, say, if I, you know, there's a delicious ice cream, and I eat that, this feels so good, this feels so good, and I keep eating one ice cream, two ice creams, three ice creams, and then after that, my throat gets all clogged with mucus, and I start having a sore throat, and then, and then the same, I was eating ice cream, and then now ice cream. I start screaming in pain, I start screaming in agony.
So, our feelings, even in material life, are not a reliable barometer of what is good or wrong. Feelings are one indicator, but they are not the sole barometer. And the same applies to spiritual life.
So some people say that, you know, everybody is, they are spiritual teachers, they must be teaching something good, why do you have to criticize them? So this we have to understand, what is the reason, this is not that, when Shrila Prabhupada criticizes someone, it is not his, it is not that he is arrogant or he is judgmental. He is enlightened and he is compassionate. So to give an example, suppose there is a doctor who is trained, certified, and who is treating and curing people.
And there is another person who has no medical degree, that they are just quacks, and they are fake medical practitioners, and they are claiming to cure people. And, now, people in general, common people may be uninformed. They may not be able to understand who is the right doctor and who is not the right doctor.
And somebody may just juggle some medical-sounding terms, oh, she looks like a good doctor. And these quacks may be giving some medicines which may actually be harmful. They are not medicines at all.
So the patient may be thinking that I am getting treated, but they may be getting hurt more and more. And then at such a time, it is the moral and professional responsibility of the doctor to inform the patient that so-and-so is not a proper doctor. This is not done because this doctor hates that quack.
It is just that the doctor has a duty to people. And that duty involves telling them what is good for their health and what is not good for their health. Similarly, in the spiritual circle, practically anything and everything goes.
And Srila Prabhupada was strong that we cannot just do spiritual as a shorthand for anything that makes me feel good. Yes, Prabhupada's point was that if you are writing a book on the Bhagavad Gita, just like a person is claiming to be a doctor, then the person should be a doctor, should be capable of doing the work of a doctor. If somebody is claiming to write a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, then they should be giving the message of the Gita.
Somebody may say that the message of Gita is complex, it can be interpreted in many different ways. Yes, that is true. But still, there is interpretation and there is contradiction.
Suppose, say, I am giving a class. Right now I am speaking in English. And say the audience is audience says, say I am in India and I am in Gujarat.
So audience is Gujarati. So there is somebody who is translating. And that translator is translating in Gujarati.
So I say Krishna is God. And the translator says Krishna is not God. That is not a translation.
That is a contradiction. So yes, we can interpret, but if somebody is writing a commentary on the Gita, basic message of the Gita has to be kept as it is. So Prabhupada would quote that in 9.34, in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, manmana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru mam eva isyasi yugdvayivam atmana mad-parayanaha So in this verse, Krishna uses mam, mam and variants of mam, six times.
Krishna says, think of me, become my devotee. So six times Krishna is using the reference to I. And there is a commentator who says, actually it is not to Krishna we have to surrender. We have to surrender to the unborn within Krishna.
Now where is Krishna saying this? Now the point is, if that's what you believe, that's fine. Then you can write your own book claiming that. But if you are claiming to write a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, you have to tell what is there in the Gita.
So this is misrepresentation to the extent of contradiction. And this Prabhupada would strongly condemn. Prabhupada would say, this is not Bhagavad Gita as it is.
This is Bhagavad Gita as you are. As you are, the way you are imagining it to be, the way you are, you are imagining the Gita to be like that. So this is, so Prabhupada has a clear understanding of spiritual truth.
He has a clear understanding of the Bhagavad Gita's import. And then out of his compassion that people not be misled, he speaks strongly. Now, compare the same situation.
Say if we are just one patient in the clinic. And we as a patient, so somebody is going to some other doctor. And we start criticizing that doctor.
What is going to happen? What do you know? Who are you? So Prabhupada himself also said that actually I am an old man. I can do this. But you have to be careful.
You have to be sensitive. So there are two different things. One is that as a doctor we have to, we are not doctors, we are assistants of the great doctors, great spiritual doctors.
We want to heal people. But there is a major difference between a physical disease and a spiritual disease. In a physical disease, people are aware that they are sick.
They are in pain, there is some discomfort. And they need help from a doctor. In the case of spiritual disease, most people are not even aware that they are sick.
They think I am happy in material life. Even people who believe in God, they often say yes, God is happy there. I am happy here.
They say, what is the need for God? So if we start speaking strongly, this person is like this, this person is like this, this person is like this, you are so judgmental. I don't need you, they will say. So we have to be faithful to Prabhupada.
But faithful to Prabhupada means faithful to the purpose that Srila Prabhupada sought to achieve. So what was the purpose of Prabhupada? That people be attracted to Krishna, that people become devotees of Krishna. And that purpose we have to fulfill.
And whatever is required for doing that, we need to do that. So there is compromise and there is sensitivity. Compromise means we don't tell the truth, we waffle and tell something that is untrue.
Just because we don't have the courage to speak the truth. But sensitivity means we have the consideration so that we don't hurt people unnecessarily. So going back to the medicine example, people are sick but they don't know they are sick.
And often the example that is given, sadhus strong words, saying strong words are like a knife or a sword that cuts off the attachments and illusions of the conditioned soul. Now this is true, they could say they are like a surgeon. But whenever surgery is to be done, there are many preconditions that apply.
First of all, surgery is never, practically never, the first line of treatment. It is not that as soon as the patient comes to the hospital, the surgeon starts cutting him off. Sometimes people come first time to a temple and they ask, I have read the spiritual leader's book, I have read the spiritual leader's book, I am a fool, rascal.
If you start speaking that, it's like somebody is coming to a hospital for the first time, is on some diagnosis and the doctor starts cutting them off. They just protest and go away. So it happened with me when I was in college.
At that time, I was introduced to bhakti and then I invited the preachers to come to my room for taking a program in the hostel room. And the program was going on. So I was like one of the intellectual leaders of the hostel.
There was another friend of mine who was like a social leader. He was more into many extracurricular activities. And he was also a spiritually minded person.
So he came to the, so I invited him to a program and he liked the program. Then I invited him to a temple for a festival. At that time the Pune temple was very small.
And so I couldn't meet him, there was a lot of crowd. So when he came there, he went to some devotee he met over there. And he asked, what do you think about this so and so spiritual leader? And that devotee, I don't know what possessed him, he said, he won't even get a place in hell.
That spiritual leader, he will not get a place in hell also. First of all, how does he know? Does he have omniscience to know who has gone where? And more importantly, this devotee, this friend of mine was so upset. So angry.
Not only did he never come for the program afterward, he started telling in the whole hostel that this is what these people think about such and such spiritual leader. And for the next several weeks, practically nobody came for our program. And then, now what has happened? That person, he was spiritually inclined.
He got so alienated from bhakti that actually he went and joined that very spiritual organization. And now he is a sanyasi and a leader in that organization. So what did that strong speech, so-called strong speaking achieve? It simply drove a person away from Krishna.
So, we, if our speaking, supposedly, strong speaking doesn't mean just speaking strong words, that anyone can do. Strong speaking means speaking in a way that strongly attracts people to Krishna. So, if we say, I am being uncompromising, but actually we are not saying uncompromising, we are actually being, we are actually doing disservice by driving people away from Krishna.
So, there is compromising is, suppose when a patient is sick and the patient needs to have a surgery and the patient has been explained that this is the reason for surgery and still the doctor starts saying, oh, so much blood will come, I can't tolerate this height of blood, so I will not do the surgery. Now, that is sentimentality, that is undesirable. But as I said, if surgery is to be done, what is required? First of all, it is never the first line of treatment.
Secondly, there is the consent of the patient that is required. The consent of the patient means that,.