Faith in Krishna’s existence, relevance, benevolence, intelligence and remembrance
Last year. Hare Krishna. Thank you for coming today evening and I will speak today on Bhagavad Gita 4.40 on the topic of 4.39 and 40 where I will talk on the topic of faith.
In 4.39 Krishna says Shraddhava labhate jnanam tatparasayate indriyaha jnanam labhaparam shantim achirenadhi gacchati He is talking about Shraddha the role of faith. What happens by faith he says Shraddhava labhate jnanam by faith we acquire knowledge and then tatparasayate indriyaha when we seek that knowledge with dedication and avoid distractions caused by our senses and what is the nature of this knowledge? We acquire different sometimes we acquire engineering knowledge by which we get a good job, we get some money we acquire some medical knowledge by which we may be able to treat ourselves better, keep our health good so what is the knowledge Krishna is talking about? It is spiritual knowledge and what is the result of acquiring this knowledge? jnanam labhaparam shantim by this knowledge you will get the supreme peace achirenadhi gacchati it won't take a long time it will happen soon so faith gives us knowledge which leads to peace and what exactly do we mean by faith? and is generally the word faith is associated with blind faith so how do we exactly understand this faith, concept of faith? so I'll talk about faith faith can mean many things can have faith in a doctor when we take treatment from him, we can have faith in a share broker when we are investing in the shares when we get married we have faith in our partner so there is faith in various levels, we are talking here about faith in God and I'll talk about this faith at five levels faith in God's existence faith in God's relevance faith in God's benevolence faith in God's intelligence and faith in God's remembrance so first of all is existence nowadays many people ask this question why should we believe in God, who has seen God what is the evidence for the existence of God and this idea, this disbelief in God is often fuelled by apparently by science people say that science has explained so many things now why do we need God as explanation actually the more science explains things the more the explainability of science requires an explanation that means if we consider that science has found laws in nature, F is equal to gm1m2 upon r square is the law of gravity now why does this law exist in nature at all if everything were a result of unguided natural forces then our brain would be a result of unguided natural force the world out there would be a result of unguided natural force and why should there be a correlation between the two now square root, square and square root, these are concepts in the human brain, why should nature function in a way that correlates with the way our mind functions with the way mathematical concepts are derived by our brain Einstein is attributed to have said the most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible the most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible so why should the universe make sense why should we be able to find out order in nature at all if if somebody has just by an unguided way thrown some paint on some paper why should there be some intricate writing on that paper written in a particular sophisticated script so similarly if everything is a result of unguided natural forces it is that science itself will not work science begins with the faith that there is some order in nature without that faith that there is order in nature science cannot function that means that god and science are not opposites actually god is the foundation of science why should there be any order in nature, god is not an explanatory alternative to science because science is explained so we no longer need god, rather god is the explanatory foundation for science explanatory foundation, why does science work at all why should nature follow any laws at all, India's famous mathematician Ramanujan said that an equation for me has no meaning unless it represents a thought of god an equation for me has no meaning unless it represents a thought of god so the existence of god is something which requires faith, but it is intelligent faith Ralph Aldo Emerson, a prominent American thinker said, all that I have seen has increased my faith in the one I have not seen the more we observe the world around us, the more we see it, the more we see order and all that I have seen has increased my faith in the one whom I have not seen so this is the existence of god, it is a matter of reasonable inference from the order that we see in this world ok, now that's one level of faith and most people who are somewhat spiritually inclined they have faith in god but ok, what next what is it's not just enough to believe in god faith in god's relevance relevance means how does god matter one of my uncles, he told me that I believe in god he is happy there, I am happy here I don't need god I am happy so we should feel the relevance of god that ok, otherwise god may be existent but there are so many things existing there is some Jupiter has so many satellites around it now there are so many galaxies existing, so god is also one thing existing like that, how does it matter to me so actually god matters to us because he is the sustainer of our existence, we are not just talking about some abstract intellectual concept, does it exist or not if god exists if you understand the concept of god then god is the source of everything that means whatever is existing right now it is sustained by him everything is originating from me and everything is sustained by me so people feel the relevance of god in different ways and different situations so in the past whenever there is a shortage of food there is a fear of shortage of food people may go to a church or a temple, they pray oh please give me this food in christianity there is a prayer oh father the almighty in heaven hallowed be thy name, give us our daily bread so the relevance of god is that he is a bread provider but if people can get bread in some other way then they again will feel there is no need for god nowadays people feel that our needs are provided for so well what is the need for god so nowadays what people need is very much is peace of mind, inner peace in UK just a few months ago the UK government has created a minister for loneliness we have minister for finance, minister for defence so they have a minister for loneliness ha ha ha so that minister is right now lonely, there are no other minister ha ha ha in other parts of the world like that but soon it may come up because people don't feel connected people feel isolated and actually to the extent we are connected with others our mind stays in order if we are in a responsible committed relationship with someone our mind may say 100 things but we will think what will this person think I have to take care of this person so we are forced to come out of our mind by our commitment to someone else and when people have no committed relationships then they end up having a very committed relationship with their mind whatever the mind says I will do so what happens the mind says get angry the mind says get depressed, you get depressed and the mind makes people into puppets which go here, there and everywhere so if we have no external committed relationship with others then we will end up with a committed relationship with our mind and that commitment is actually very degrading it is very disorienting and destructive so many people are turning towards God now because they want some peace of mind so what is the relevance of God, oh I go to the temple I feel peaceful, I go to the church I go to the, wherever I go I feel some peace, I feel some calm that's what I want, that's why I will go unless God is seen as relevant we will not be able to feel the need for any connection with him one way we can see the need for a peace of mind is through the sheer amount of money that people spend today on entertainment entertainment entertainers earn phenomenal amounts of money probably entertainers will be the most well paid professionals in the world today a doctor a surgeon who can heal a broken leg can earn barely a fraction of what a player can earn by kicking with a leg kicking a ball with a leg isn't it, so why do people pay sports players, movie stars such astronomical amounts India we have this IPL Indian Premier League where in 45-50 days people earn more than what most even middle class or upper middle class Indians earn in 50 years now why is it because entertainment is felt as such a great need mind is driving them crazy and somehow I want relief from it forget the madness within just watch something, get out of it so entertainment can provide us some forgetfulness some oblivion of the mind's problems but the mind will come back again what God provides us is not just entertainment but enlightenment so if you understand that God's relevance is that God will provide me peace of mind then we feel connected with God, we feel the need to connect with God so many people may be having some kind of passive faith yes God exists but it's not active, it doesn't make any difference in their lives because they don't feel that God is relevant so relevance is vital for us to be able to want to have a relationship with God and to work on that relationship every relationship requires work every relationship is like planting a tree when we plant a small sapling, at that time it needs to be watered, it needs to be protected and when it is nourished then eventually it grows up and gives us shade similarly every relationship it needs to be watered, it needs to be protected same applies to the relationship with God also we need to nourish that relationship then we will experience shelter in that relationship then we talked about God's existence God's relevance then it comes to ok, God exists but does God care for me? it's God's benevolence sometimes in life when we face a lot of problems and we pray oh God, oh Krishna, please help me please help me free myself from this problem and sometimes our prayers are answered sometimes our prayers are not answered we will go to seek for help from someone only when we feel that person is likely to help us only when we feel that person cares for us if we need money and if we have a relative who is extremely stingy miserly and uncaring then we know that just by going to them we will simply be rejected so although they may be able to provide, we may not go to them on the other hand if you know somebody is charitable, somebody is kind hearted then you may ask them can you help me? so when we know that a person cares then we care to develop that relationship we care to take steps in that relationship so God is not just a principle or a power God is a person God is not just a some principle some organising, so when you say God's existence as may be inferred through science there is some organising principle that's fine but God is not just that and if we talk about God's relevance, yes you know may be God is some light, when I think about it I feel peaceful yes, God has that aspect he is an all pervading light but God is not just that God is an all loving person in the Bhagavad Gita in 5.29 Krishna says that suhrdam sarva bhutaanam jnatvamam shanthim ruchati the same shanthi, the same peace that Krishna talked about in 4.39 which I quoted at the start of this class that jnanam labdha param shanthim achirenadigachati by gaining this knowledge about God you will gain peace, Krishna says the same point he says, when we understand that Krishna is our well wisher suhrdam sarva bhutaanam all living beings he is the well wisher, he is not just the well wisher of those who are devoted to him he is the well wisher of everyone to the extent we understand this, to that extent we feel inspired to connect with him we all acquire certain conceptions of God based on whatever whatever images or impressions we got during our childhood or in our formative years in Britain there is a, Britain is probably among the world's most atheistic countries, there are several aggressive atheists over there so, there is a atheistic gag, gag is a joke they say that, what is in the bible it is said, in the beginning was the word and the word was God that's how the bible begins so they say that in the beginning was the word and the word was no, the word was no means what, that their idea of religion is, you cannot do this, you cannot do that you cannot do that, you cannot do that so if we start thinking of God as a person who prohibits and restricts and deprives us of life's pleasures then we get a negative conception of God so, God is a loving person, if we have a conception of God, God is like a business person, I do some worship and he gives me some result, then just like in business, sometimes we we try to fool, we try to cheat we try to get the cheapest the maximum value for the cheapest price so once a person went to went to God and he prayed I have taken this one lakh lottery so if I win this lottery I will donate 50,000 to you and he prayed very fervently and the lottery result was after one week he waited one day, two days and after one week when the results came at that time he saw that he had won the lottery, it was jubilant oh, I won and then he paused and he looked he had won the second prize not the first prize, the first prize was one lakh, second was 50,000 then he went to the temple and he says, oh God, you are so clever, you took your share before only so some people just like in business, we may try to do a deal and we try to get the maximum from the deal, so first we try to screw away from, try to wiggle out of our part so when we don't, if we don't have that faith that God cares then we may do, even if we do some dharmic activities we do some puja, we do some kirtan it will be all mechanical I have to do it for the sake of doing it we won't invest our heart in it what the Bhagavad Gita tells us is that Krishna is a living, loving person who has a personal relationship with every one of us the Bhagavad Gita is the part of Mahabharata which is, it's the itihas it is a genre of literature which is based on ancient histories and in the Mahabharata, in the Bhagavad Gita the setting is that Krishna and Arjuna are together on a chariot and Krishna who is God has chosen to take the role of a chariot here for Arjuna so the Bhagavad Gita is also historical and it is also trans-historical, it represents something more than just history the body is also like a chariot for all of us, the body is like our vehicle Ishwaras sarva-bhutanam Hruddeshe Arjuna tishtati, brahmayan sarva-bhutani, yantra karudhanimahaya Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that I am situated in the hearts of all living beings who are mounted on a chariot made of material energy mounted on a vehicle made of material energy so the body which we often think I am the body, quite often but actually we are not the body we are the possessors of the body we are souls who are different from the body and we are residing in the body and Krishna says he is guiding the wanderings of the body when I am speaking all that I know is that I desire to speak, I get some thoughts now how exactly those thoughts get converted into words it's very difficult to understand scientists nowadays try to make text to speech conversion, more and more sophisticated softwares are coming up to do that now they may be able to generate the sound which simulates human speech but the tonalities which words to emphasise how to convey emotions through the tone through the modulation through the pauses all that is very difficult to do and even if somehow we could replicate that still there will be no conscious experience over there so with the best of scientists the normal way a human speaks, that is difficult to replicate, so how do we speak we don't know anything about how our thoughts get converted into speech it is actually Krishna the soul is here, the body is here Krishna is in between and the soul desires to act and Krishna instructs the body to act Krishna knows how the body acts it's our body but we don't know how it acts right now I can raise my hand effortlessly, tomorrow if my hand gets injured I may not be able to lift it at all it's my hand but I will not be able to lift it so actually Krishna's benevolence is that he is always present with us he provides guidance to us from within he helps us to operate the body, people who are very talented they often themselves don't know how the talent works there is some in India there is a mathematical genius Shakuntala Devi, she could multiply 13 digit numbers, now before the questioner could actually type the 13 digit numbers in the calculator and get the calculator to give the answer, she would give the answer now logically speaking, normally if you multiply this number by this number carry over this digit and multiply this number by this number that is a time consuming process, so she was asked how do you do it, how do you do it faster than calculator he said, no I just get the answer from within as soon as I hear two numbers I get the answer from within so all of us have certain ability that are innate to us some people are good at music just get the tune just hear it, yeah this is it other is strong enough, so our Krishna is present within us and his love for us is seen in our innate talents, in our intelligence that we have, in the inspiration that we get and Krishna's love for us ultimately is there that he is inside us to guide us to make right choices he is here to help us understand who we are to understand our identity and to fulfil our destiny we are souls and we long for eternal happiness we long for everlasting love and everlasting life and everlasting joy but this longing cannot be fulfilled at the physical this longing can be fulfilled only at the spiritual level so Krishna's love for us is not just in providing our needs in this world, yes he does provide but if that is all we look for, sometimes we feel I am praying so much for this, why is Krishna not providing this, but Krishna has a bigger plan for us he understands, he is concerned first and foremost for our spiritual elevation in the Bhagavad Gita Krishna talks about how he descends to this world whenever there is disorder in this world he descends so in 4.7 and 8 in the Gita he says so I descend whenever there is disorder, I re-establish order, I sideline, I protect those who are living harmoniously and I disempower those who are living disharmoniously so this is two verses which people often quote oh God descends to this world for this purpose, but the next verse describes the ultimate purpose why Krishna descends that Krishna descends so that we can become attracted to him so that we can attain him our longing for love can be fulfilled only when it is directed towards an eternal object of love Krishna is that eternal object and when we learn to become to practise bhakti and become devoted to him that is when we rise towards eternal life so Krishna descends from the spiritual level to the material level not just to create order at the material level but also to raise us from the material level to the spiritual level that is his purpose so if we see Krishna's love only in terms of whether he is providing us what we want sometimes he will not provide us and we feel God doesn't care for me sometimes parents may provide many many things for a child but the child wants a particular toy and the child may say not now and children also know after a few years how to press the buttons of their parents how to make their parents do what they want them to do they may start saying no you don't love me parents may have done hundred things for the child but the child says you didn't give me this toy therefore you don't love me so now when our children do like that we feel God is doing so much for you but because the child has got attached to that toy the child sees the parent's love through the filter of that toy if I don't get this toy then where is my parent's love for me similarly we also sometimes get attached to certain things what we get attached to may not be as trivial as a toy but from the perspective of eternity it is not as important as we think it to be we think ok I want a better job I want a better house I want this I want that these things are not as important as our mind makes them out to be and when certain things which we want are not happening and if we say I am praying for this I am trying for this, this is not happening where is God, why doesn't he help me does he even love me then at that time we are becoming like a child who is looking for God's love through the filter of a toy we won't be able to perceive and that's why to understand God's benevolence that brings us to the fourth point we also have to have faith in God's intelligence God's intelligence means that actually he is wiser than me he knows better than me what is best for me many times when we worship God, worship Krishna we form a relationship with him and we ourselves set the terms for that relationship, the terms are Krishna my intelligence and your strength I have this problem and I know the solution for this problem also this person is behaving like this this person changes everything will be so nice so I can't change this person but you can change so you use your power and I'll use my intelligence let's join partnership and we'll solve the problem Krishna doesn't work like that it is his power and his intelligence so sometimes when we go to God to have faith in his intelligence if we don't have it then we demand this is how this problem should be solved and if the problem is not solved in that way what is God doing everybody likes to serve God do you think it is true everybody likes to serve God yes why should I serve I am a boss, I am a king, I am wealthy I am so powerful why should I serve God yes that is true but everybody likes to do one service to God that is everybody likes to serve God as an advisor as an advisor means hey God you should not do like this this should not be happening like this this should be happening like this this should be happening like this so we have this idea we trust Krishna sometimes but we half trust we trust his power but not his intelligence no you can fix this problem but this is how you should fix it but you have to understand that Krishna often works differently from us so when we have faith in his intelligence that means we understand that he has some better plan and we will be patient to see how his plan may work out sometimes we may want food and we may pray for bread instead of bread Krishna may give us flour we have to make the bread with it so if we let our expectations determine our devotion this is how my problem should be solved the problem may be solved but it may be solved in some other way we may have to do some more background work which we may not have anticipated, I just want bread to eat but you get this flour, you learn to cook it, make the bread and you can eat it so Krishna may address our need but not in the way that we expect that's why intelligence is very much we have to have faith not only in Krishna's existence or his relevance or his benevolence but also his intelligence and we see this theme in the Mahabharata again and again that every time the Kauravas try to do something to get, to deprive the Pandavas of the kingdom, to dishonour the Pandavas, to disgrace the Pandavas but through each situation the Pandavas emerge stronger through even the Kurukshetra war actually the Pandavas whatever difficulty they face through it all they emerge stronger and Krishna arranges for that so in the Mahabharata there is an incident of how there was a huge elephant and there was this warrior who was an elephant warrior so this elephant warrior was wreaking havoc in the Pandava camp and he was in the Kaurava side so Supratika was the elephant and he had his rider who was an elephant warrior and he was just wreaking havoc at that time Arjuna said I have to stop and he countered that now this elephant warrior had a strategy that whoever he wanted to fight with he would just charge the elephant towards them and the elephant would crush so Arjuna was fighting and as he was fighting with this elephant warrior at one particular point the elephant warrior released an arrow and that arrow was a celestial weapon and that celestial weapon when the archers would fight a war they had different approaches to deal with different weapons some arrow which is coming towards them they would just expect the charioteer to move the chariot and they would dodge the arrow some arrows they would counter with their own arrows so the two arrows would meet and the arrow would neutralise some arrows they would allow them to hit their armour because in that time while that arrow is coming they can attack their enemy so if they felt that the arrow was not going to cause much damage to them they would allow the arrow to hit focus on hitting the enemy back so different strategies were used so now Arjuna did not recognise that this weapon was actually a lethal weapon, it was a celestial weapon it was called the Vaishnavastra and it could kill him so at that time as this arrow just sped towards Arjuna it was shot from a height because the opponent was an elephant, shot and as it was speeding towards Arjuna, Arjuna chose to neglect it, he said I will focus on counter attacking so as the arrow was speeding towards him suddenly Krishna got up and Krishna rose to his full height and because Krishna is Vishnu himself so when the Vaishnava weapon came to Vishnu it did not attack Vishnu what happened, mystically that arrow changed into a garland and it garlanded Krishna and the elephant warrior was shocked it is my most powerful weapon, what happened to this everybody was trying to see first of all Krishna get up and then arrow turned into a garland towards Krishna Arjuna however was mortified Arjuna said that oh Krishna, according to the law codes, war codes a war chariot here is not meant to be driven when two warriors are fighting it is meant to be a one to one fight if a chariot also comes in between then it becomes two to one fight, it is not fair if I had been injured if I had been wounded if I had been disabled in some way at that time for you to intervene to protect me to take my chariot away that would have been fine but I am healthy, I am alert I am fighting why Krishna did you intervene Krishna told Arjuna that I intervened because you were not alert you did not know the power of this weapon this weapon is so powerful that even the gods who are considered Amara, they will die because of this weapon this is the Vaishna weapon and Krishna told the whole story about how or what is the origin of this weapon so the point here is that Arjuna was seeing things from a particular perspective but Krishna knew much more than Arjuna Krishna knew about the weapon Krishna knew about the power of that weapon and thus Krishna told Krishna decided to intervene so Krishna's intelligence is far greater than ours and that's why sometimes when things seem to be going wrong in our life and we are praying but things don't seem to be improving, we should have the faith that there is some higher plan maybe it is not possible for me to figure out this plan right now because my brain is finite Jiva Goswami great Vaishnavacharya explains that God is supreme if we accept that God is supreme that means he is superior to our intelligence that is the meaning of his supremacy so we cannot understand God, everything about God with our intelligence his intelligence is far greater, his plan often is different from ours and often he breaks things to make things better the clouds may look very beautiful in the sky but Krishna breaks the clouds so that rains come the ground which is unbroken looks very good but Krishna arranges for the ground to be broken by ploughing so that grains can come from it now grains are nice but if you want to make flour if you want to make bread, if you want to make roti the grains have to be broken so that they can be eaten now bread, chapatis, all these food items look very nice but if you have to eat them again they have to be broken so that you can eat them so often existing things may look good but often the existing things have to be broken for something better to come out of them similarly we may have a plan for our life and it may look good this is the problem in this planet, this is fixed everything will be nice but sometimes our plans need to be broken so that a bigger, better plan may emerge so Krishna does this in nature all around us and he does it in our life also so when we have faith in Krishna's intelligence then we won't let bad things obsess us, why is this happening? ok, it's happened what can I do in this situation? how can I move forward in this situation? and the last point is faith in Krishna's remembrance this is actually the most important for a sadhaka what do we mean by remembrance? that actually we want to form a relationship with Krishna and relationship is centred on affection affection is expressed through action and through recollection when we love someone, we do some things to please them and at the same time we also remember them, oh this person likes this this person likes this when mother loves a child, a child he thinks my child is going to come back home today he likes this food, let me cook this for him so recollection is there so similarly for us our relationship with Krishna is centred on our remembrance of Krishna and his remembrance is so potent that just by remembering him we can get peace we can get a sublime calm oh my, just fix yourself on the lotus feet of lord Krishna and what will happen? I will become free from fear the remembrance of Krishna has extraordinary potency it is something which can free us from great distress often when we expect that this problem is there, Krishna should solve this problem and if that problem is not being solved what is the use of approaching Krishna but the purpose of approaching Krishna is that if we just remember him even within that problematic situation we can get relief often life determines our problems but our mind determines the size of that problem that means somebody insults us somebody disrespects us, somebody neglects us that's the problem but then if we keep thinking about why did this person do like this, how dare this person do like this, I have done so much for this person why is this person doing like this now that constant replaying is what makes the things much worse but if we just direct our thoughts towards Krishna remember Krishna, we will get peace see outside it is extremely hot and then we have a house which is nicely air conditioned as soon as we come into the house we will get relief so similarly the world out there there are so many stimuli which can agitate our minds Krishna is like that air conditioned room as soon as our consciousness comes into Krishna, we start thinking about Krishna there is remembrance of Krishna we get relief we get peace we get strength but unfortunately often what we do is we come to the air conditioned house, open the door and stand at the door expecting that the whole atmosphere should become air conditioned that means we come to Krishna but instead of becoming conscious of Krishna we stay at the border and we wait, when is the problem going to be solved, why is the problem not being solved, what is the use, why is Krishna not doing something, so even when we come to Krishna we don't become conscious of Krishna we remain not Krishna conscious but problem conscious why is this happening when is this going to be dealt with problems are there, problems will come, problems will go, if you look at our life, 5 years ago there was some big problem which we felt if this is not solved, my life will be over 10 years ago, there was also a big problem, 15 years also a big problem there are always some problems which are there we feel this is going to wreck my life if it is not dealt with but problems will be there Krishna is actually bigger than all problems, Krishna can give us shelter from all problems so don't tell God how big your problems are tell your problems how big God is focus on being conscious of Krishna and then you will find that in the remembrance of Krishna we will get such relief, such strength, such joy that whatever obstacles we will be facing they will become manageable our inner calm will come inner clarity will come and then we will be able to deal with the problem tesham siddhata yuktanam bhajatam priti purvakam tadami buddhi yogam tam yenam amupayantite Krishna says if you remember me then by such remembrance if you remember me with devotion then I will give you the intelligence to come to me I will give you the intelligence by which you can solve all your problems that is Krishna's great mercy so if we have faith in Krishna's remembrance then that is a treasure which no one can take away from us the world may take away wealth, it may take away position, it may take away health life can have so many ups and downs but what we think of is up to us if we make it the habit of thinking of Krishna develop the habit of thinking of Krishna if Krishna's remembrance becomes our habit then that will be an inner treasure, inner reservoir of strength that will toughen us internally to face whatever life sends our way ultimately remembrance of Krishna will increase our attachment to Krishna and take him take us to his eternal abode for a life of eternal ecstatic love so I'll summarise I spoke on the topic of faith and what does faith mean? I talked about five levels the first level, what does faith in God mean? existence, yeah faith in God's existence talked about how some people think that the more science advance there is no need for God God is not an explanatory alternative to science, God is the explanatory foundation of science why is science able to explain anything at all if everything is the result of unguided natural forces then the mind in here and the brain in here and the world out there should just be random things why should there be a correlation an equation is a thought of God that's what Ramarajan says so by the more we study science the more actually seeing, discovering the order in nature can deepen our faith in the existence of some higher intelligence then the second is, okay God may be existing but how does he matter to me, so what was that? relevance, yes so in that I talked about how God is the provider of our needs even the physical needs that we have, food, clothing we don't provide it to ourselves, there is a higher arrangement by which food, bread and other necessities are provided by through nature and for us we need peace of mind in today's world that is also provided by God, if we turn towards Krishna and devote ourselves to him we will experience a sublime peace of mind in trying to get relief from their mind's agitation people are ready to pay obscene amounts of money to get some entertainment, but entertainment can only provide some temporary relief, it is enlightenment it is the connection with God that can provide enduring relief the third was benevolence benevolence means that God cares for us so Krishna is present in our hearts as our indwelling guide Krishna guided Arjuna on his chariot, in the body Krishna is guiding us and when we speak, when we act when we have certain talents somebody has amazing mathematical sums somebody has musical talents so our intelligence, our capabilities, our abilities are actually gifts of God our inspirations are gifts of God and ultimately his love is shown not just by his providing us the needs in life in this world, so ultimately by raising our consciousness beyond this world, so often we get attached to certain things and we see God's love through the filter of whether he is providing us that thing or not, like a child seeing the parents evaluating the parent's love by seeing whether they are providing me my toy or not but if we as children expected to grow up, similarly if we grow up, we will see that even if this one thing is not being given so many other things are provided for and Krishna descends to this world because he cares for us the way he expresses his care is by re-establishing order in this world and more importantly by providing an orderly path out of this world so Krishna descends to raise our consciousness to the spiritual level we all long for love we all long for joy lasting love and lasting joy are not possible in this material level which is temporary, it's possible at the eternal spiritual level and Krishna comes to help us develop an eternal relationship with him and then the fourth was intelligence in that I talked about how Krishna knows better than us what is best for us so often he breaks things to make them better he breaks clouds to give rains he breaks the ground to give grains he breaks grains to give edible food and he breaks the food to give us energy similarly sometimes our plans will be broken by Krishna because he has a better plan so we have faith full faith in Krishna not just in his power to solve problems but also in his intelligence to solve problems most people want to serve God but as an advisor we want to serve him as a servitor so if we even if things are going wrong if we just maintain our faith and move forward let me see what I can do what plan Krishna has let me just keep doing what I can in this situation and lastly was remembrance so when we love someone we naturally remember them and Krishna's remembrance has the power to pacify us purify us, strengthen us satisfy us so that remembrance is his greatest gift and if we can practise bhakti and develop an attachment to Krishna by which we can remember him constantly then our memory will become our treasury, a treasury that no one can take away from us it will be an inalienable source of strength by which whatever obstacles come in our life we will have the inner calm and by that inner calm by his guidance we will get the clarity by which we can take decisions and move forward, so when the atmosphere is hot other than demanding that the atmosphere become cool we come in air-conditioned room when the world causes agitation rather than demanding that the agitation world removes the agitation we focus on absorption in Krishna first don't stand just at the door and demand that the atmosphere become cool don't tell God how big your problems are, tell your problems how big God is so I'll conclude with keep your faith and you will stay safe if you just keep our faith then Krishna will work out things for us thank you very much, Hare Krishna are there any questions or comments we see so much suffering around us not only in our lives but everywhere around we see so many people suffering just like we have now Kerala floods recently billions of people are stuck and there is a huge risk of them losing their lives so my question is as a practising sadhika how should we see that situation and how can we help them because in this situation it will be extremely hard to give them Krishna consciousness so now we say that this festival, that festival there are so many festivals coming up we need to give charity this is the best form of charity and but in this situation what choice we have then how can we help them what is the best help for these people as a practising sadhika how should we view this situation so we see that there is so much distress in this world for example now there are floods in Kerala so can we help those who are afflicted by giving charity for their help but we are also told that there are so many festivals coming up we should contribute over there and that is the best charity then how can we help those who are afflicted like this there are 2-3 different issues over here first of all although charity which we give to to some flood relief and charity we give to a temple both we may call as charity and in that sense we may put them in comparison but sometimes the comparisons themselves are creating false dichotomies somebody if somebody says that that when an American president launched a war against the middle east he said if you are not for the war against terror then you are for terror and that is a false dichotomy why false dichotomy because many people who were against terror but they felt this war is not the best way to fight against terror so whenever we create a dichotomy this or this are those really the 2 options if we can consider in India I talked about the IPL the amount of money that is spent on the IPL if that money were used to feed the hungry people of India there would not be a single hungry person throughout the year so if we consider one Bollywood movie how much money is spent in making that movie how much money people spend on watching that movie people take tickets in black and so many things so we spend money in so many different directions huge amounts of money so why compare what we are giving to a temple with flood relief why not compare it with so many other activities which are relatively speaking frivolous so when this kind of comparison itself is done that can very well be a tool for emotional manipulation how can you just donate to a temple for decorating some deities when people are dying for food over there obviously, if you make a comparison like that this is what we should do but why make this comparison why not compare this with so many other things there are hundreds of other things going on in the world where money is being spent so much we ourselves may be spending money so often these comparisons themselves may not be valid second point second point is that certainly when somebody is in distress we do want to help and if it is our capacity to help we should help that means that when Bhaktiswami Thakur when he would go to, he would take his parikrama to temples in Vrindavan and his grahastha devotees, disciples there are many beggars around there in the temples and his grahastha disciples would not give any charity to the beggars and Bhaktiswami Thakur said that we think that we will not give charity over here to the beggars because that is mundane and we will give charity only to Hari in temples but then we end up giving neither charity here nor there and we become hard hearted so Prabhupada also there is a letter where he says there was disasters happened in Hyderabad there was a drought, Prabhupada said that we should distribute food profusely and win the hearts of people through this so we have the Krishna consciousness movement which is associated with the food for life global initiative and many devotees have created their own initiatives for providing food relief so even when the tsunami was there in Sri Lanka and South India the devotees, food for life was one of the biggest initiatives which provided food relief so devotees themselves can have created some initiatives actually Prabhupada created ISKCON as a Brahminical organisation but Prabhupada also wanted the whole Varanashram to be established so we see in the Bhagavatam when there was starvation among the citizens of King Pruthu in the fourth canto it is described Pruthu actually arranged for food he did an elaborate yajna and whatever was required he did to provide food he did not just say this is a mundane need this is just whatever you are suffering your own karma, he didn't say like that he took the responsibility so for us as the Krishna Consciousness movement itself is focussing on Brahminical activities that means sharing spiritual knowledge, creating a spiritual culture and there are many many organisations which are doing social service so our movement focusses primarily on sharing spiritual knowledge and raising spiritual consciousness of people so that's why we ourselves may not be directly involved in this as at an institutional level but at an individual level we all have the freedom to contribute and help in whatever way we want. So if we are functioning as a Brahmana then Brahmanas generally don't have much money they don't do much charity but if you are living as a Kshatriya, if you are living as a Vaishya if you are broadly doing those occupational roles if you feel inspired, it would be best if there were some initiative which is also having some spiritual component to it then that helps Indra Dunda Maharaj is one of our Sanyasi leaders and he had gone to Sri Lanka when the tsunami was there and the devotees from all over the world had contributed and they had gone to provide food so one of the Sri Lankan relief in-charges over there, relief officers Maharaj and his team went there and they said that we have got food from all over the world what we need is not food right now people are traumatised they were living their life one day and suddenly next day everything is gone the home is not there, the family is not there the village itself is not there people are traumatised so do you have some trauma therapy and Maharaj said yes, we can offer that and there was a relief camp in which people were sitting and Maharaj went there and started a sweet soothing kirtan over there and then he was chanting Hare Krishna, people came and sat but nobody was following he asked this is Sri Lanka, here people don't know Krishna they know Ram over here so people started chanting Sri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Jai Ram and he started chanting and people came and said everybody is glum but they started chanting slowly then loudly and after a few minutes of kirtan there Maharaj closed his eyes and was doing kirtan and he opened his eyes and saw that actually people's face had brightened up there was a light in their eyes they were experiencing some solace, some strength there was a picture there is a picture there is people with some although their background is devastation the houses have been trees have been knocked down, houses have been blown away the debris is there in the background but the people who are doing this kirtan there is some light, there is some life there is some relief in their eyes and their faces this is also something which people very much need providing for physical needs is one thing but providing for emotional needs is equally if not more important so we can and if we feel inspired to contribute we should contribute at the same time it is best if we contribute in a way that enhances not only provides for people's physical needs we don't have to give a lecture over there but we can also address their emotional needs so if we can do that providing for their physical and emotional needs can be done in a spiritual context then that is the best way of offering relief ok any other questions sir sorry my question might not be relevant to the lecture but you know the food will really influence our thoughts and the action being you know apart from those four regulative principles if somebody is eating onion and garlic does it hurdle the spiritual progress or still a person can continue their journey towards spiritual yeah so if somebody is eating onion and garlic can they continue their spiritual progress there are two different things over here there are something ultimately the soul is always at its core spiritual but the soul's consciousness is covered over presently and we want to remove that covering so there are certain activities which increase that covering certain activities which perpetuate that covering so those activities which are grossly materialistic like say eating meat and killing animals for that purpose, illicit sex, gambling like those activities they increase the materialistic impressions on our consciousness a lot now meat is a product of violence onion and garlic is not a product of violence in that sense so there are different kinds of coverings there is there is sattva guna, rajo guna, tamo guna three modes of material nature and different substances are said to be associated with different modes so onion and garlic are considered to be associated with the mode of ignorance so that uncovering of the pure spiritual consciousness will be decelerated if one is eating such substances but the important thing is we stay connected with Krishna we keep practising bhakti to the best of our capacity and other things will fall in place in due course we don't have to obsess over certain things this, this, how can I go here, I don't get this food I go here, I don't get this food and sometimes we think, oh this is what is required for practising bhakti, therefore I can't practise bhakti let me give up practising bhakti no, priority should be clear Prabhupada was so clear about this in the 1970s when some devotees were going behind the iron curtain in Soviet Russia to distribute books and to share spiritual wisdom so some devotees said that there is no vegetarian food available properly so Prabhupada said eat meat but preach and the point is not that you should eat meat but the point is that don't let the essentials stop because of the other things, so the most important thing is that we stay connected with Krishna and there are certain things which can obstruct that connection so to the extent we can minimise or eliminate them, that is the best but even if that doesn't work focus on staying connected apart from Hinduism in Christianity and in Muslim culture or their religion they are allowed to eat meat fish and everything, is that religion considered to be tamasic or they are still sattvic because they are in a way going through the preaching and following them but in our religion in Hindu if we eat something that is not relevant our faith shakes with the fear that I did something and that God will punish me, but in Christianity in Muslims they don't have that fear.
So you know if we eat meat we have the fear in Hinduism that if we do something wrong God will punish us, but in Christianity and Islam they don't have that idea so they may eat meat, so are they still in tamasic or are they still sattvic because they are following their faith. These modes, the gunas, they are not black and white. Krishna in the 17th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita talks about how the modes influence us through the various things even our speech can be in different modes, our the austerity that we can do can be in different modes, the yajna, the religious activity that we do can be in different modes.
Even charity can be given in different modes. If somebody is an alcoholic another person is standing outside a bar and the person doesn't have money to buy alcohol, he says I'll give you a bottle just enjoy it. That's charity.
That is charity which is tamasic. So there can be various activities of a person and some activities may be in the mode of goodness some activities may be in the mode of passion. Some people may be eating meat but they may be very very environmentally conscious in other aspects of their life.
So we may not be eating meat but we may be causing so much environmental pollution. So if they are environmentally aware that means in that aspect of their life they are functioning in the mode of goodness. So the modes which influence us are not influenced by one, are not determined by one thing alone.
Our diet is a significant influencer. But in the 11th canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam in the Uddhav Gita described our diet our association our default thoughts the place where we stay the work that we do the mantras that we chant the various factors the samskaras that we have all these shape the mode that we are in. It's not just one thing.
So it could be that the eating of meat is one provision that is given in certain scriptures in certain religions and along with that what else are people doing that is important. We can't say just because somebody is eating meat they are in tamoguna. The rest of their life is relatively regulated it is moderate it is balanced.
Then that activity may sound sick but the other activities will bring them to overall the sattva guna. They may be. And as far as we don't have to be fear driven in our spiritual practises.
There is not so much that I have done something wrong and God is going to punish me. It is more that by eating meat or doing something like that we are diminishing our own spiritual consciousness. The light that we are trying to light within us, that light we are dimming it.
We are covering it with further darkness. The treasure that we are trying to dig from within that we are now putting more soil on it to cover it. So we see not so much in terms of this will lead to some bad consequences.
More on doing this is going to impede my growth. And it's not just in the Islam or Christianity even in Hinduism there is provision for eating meat. But we have to understand that there is recommendation and there is concession.
So a patient who has diabetes the doctor may the doctor's recommendation or doctor's instruction is to take this medicine morning, afternoon, evening. And the doctor may don't eat sugar. I cannot live without sugar.
Then take one sweet once a week or twice a week whatever. Now that take one sweet twice a week or whatever that is not an instruction. That is not a recommendation.
That is a concession. I do interfaith talks with different people. I was in Washington DC and I was talking with one Christian.
He is a Lutheran monk or Lutheran preacher and he is a Lutheran Christian and he says that he himself is a vegetarian, he is a vegan. And he said there is no passage in the Bible which insists that we should eat meat. There is a difference between something which is instruction and something which is a concession.
So in the Bible it is not that God is telling specifically you should eat meat. Nor in the Quran also. One of my, I have a book with me in India which is Vegetarianism in Islam.
There are many verses in the Quran which recommend that if you see Quran, the Quran was written, Islam emerged at a place in the desert where vegetarian food was not so easily available. If you see Christianity also emerged at a particular place where it was similar. The Middle East area where historically it emerged.
There is not a place where vegetarian food is always available. So the point was elevate people's consciousness from where they are at that particular level while also giving timeless principles. So if somebody is thoughtful and introspective, even in these religions they may become vegetarian.
Because they will see that this is better for my consciousness. So we don't have to be fear driven. We have to be driven by the consideration of what can best help our consciousness to evolve.
And we don't obsess over what somebody is eating or what we are eating. We are focussing on what is the kind of consciousness that we are cultivating. Is the answer your question? Yes.
Last question. If meat eating goes by fear. Good point.
Yes. With respect to meat eating, we can be driven more by compassion than by fear. Actually if you consider there is a social critic, a social thinker he said that if slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.
If you could actually see the kind of monstrous suffering that animals are subjected to. Sometimes people say that in the western world there are certain caricatures of India. So I saw one place this is, if Indians don't eat cows, cows will eat Indians.
Obviously cows are not going to eat Indians. But they say that cows will reproduce so much that cows will not be able to take it. So Indians have to eat cows.
This is a complete misunderstanding. Some people say that if we don't eat animals, animals will reproduce so much that it will disturb the ecology. But that's repeatedly untrue because today when people eat meat those animals who are killed for eating meat they are not growing naturally in the forest.
They are artificially grown in factory farms where thousands of animals are just crammed together in small spaces. So it's a very brute, they are artificially inseminated, they are artificially grown, artificially their flesh is expanded and then they are slaughtered. So if we see meat has always been a part of the human diet.
Prabhupada also says that we have some canine teeth. If somebody wants to eat meat they can eat. But meat has never been a major part of the human diet.
Because throughout history even if we consider the modern version of history, humans were more the hunted than the hunters. We were living in animals, we were living in when people were living in forest or whatever. Getting vegetables and fruits is much easier than catching animals.
So we have, nature has given us the provision to eat meat but in a very small quantity. In today's world it is largely because of the meat industry. That meat has become for many people a staple food which they take morning, afternoon, evening.
They can't think of food without meat. But that is an aberration from even a historical norm. And to have meat at this level, there have to be there are brutal conditions at factory farms which are there.
So if we just become more aware of the kind of brutality that animals go through just so that they can so that we can satisfy our tongues and we'll feel that I don't want to cause this much pain to anyone just so that I can get a little pleasure. Thank you for that comment. Yes, bro? How is it that sesame seed is considered a non-vegetarian food? Why is sesame seed considered non-Ekadashi? See, the thing is that there are certain classifications which are coming from scripture, certain classifications that are coming from tradition, and certain classifications that are coming from you could say medical or medical backgrounds.
Ayurveda says certain things are like this, certain things are like that. So with respect to Ekadashi, what is to be taken and what is not to be taken, that varies from tradition to tradition. Even if you go to South India, there is Sri Vaishnavas in South India.
Now they say that we cannot take Anna on Ekadashi. And they define Anna as rice. So apart from rice, they can take other grains.
So how is it like that? The principle of Ekadashi is regulation. The principle is that the way we normally eat food and enjoy eating that food, regulate that. Discipline that in some way.
Exactly the specifics of what is to be disciplined and how it is to be disciplined, that will vary. So we don't have to get too much into the technicalities of that. For many devotees, for example, on Ekadashi, take quinoa.
Now, if we try to go back to the Puranas, we will not find any mention of quinoa at all. So how do we decide whether quinoa is accepted or not accepted? We take it. The point is that this kind of classification, there is no explicit scriptural reference for this.
So this is something which vary from tradition to tradition. And if sesame seeds are considered to be of falling in a particular category, we don't have to necessarily associate that with any particular kind of story which might be given in scripture. This is like because of this or whatever.
There are certain things which we follow because that is the way the principle of regulation is being implemented. So rather than focussing on the specifics, why take this, why not take this, we focus on the principle of regulation and apply that in a way that has been followed in our tradition. Thank you very much.
Shri Prabhupada ki Jai! Gaur Bhakta Vrindaki Jai! Tai Gaur Premanandai Jai! Jai!