From exploration to realization to absorption – our devotional journey
Hare Krishna.
Thank you for coming today evening. And I will speak today on the topic of our spiritual journey. Broadly I will talk about three stages.
From exploration to realisation to absorption. How our spiritual journey progresses. Whenever if you say come and live at a new place.
So many of you are from India. You came and settled over here. At that time it's a new place you want to explore.
What is this place? What are the attractive things to look at? Where are various things located? So that is the phase when we are exploring things. And at the stage of exploration we don't know what we will discover. But often there is some excitement and find something new.
Now after exploration gradually we become familiar. When we become familiar at that time even if we are not fully focused we know this is the road I have to take. I will go here.
I can go here. I can go there. So basically as we become more and more familiar then the geography of the place becomes a part of our awareness.
If we consider if we are coming to a new place where we also need to learn a new language then the stage of exploration is where we how many people know my language? How many people don't know my language? Then I have to learn that language. I was in South America. So there most people speak Spanish.
In English also they don't speak so much. So even Indians who go there they learn Spanish and they speak in Spanish. So they have to learn that.
So first there is exploration. Then once there is exploration then that language becomes a part of us. It's the same with geography also.
The geography becomes a part of us and we just know take this turn, take this turn. If this road is blocked we can take this turn. So like that once the language becomes a part of us then we as we are familiarised then we can easily speak that language.
Initially, this word what does this mean? How do I pronounce this word? We are struggling. But once it becomes a part of us at that time we can start speaking with lesser effort. And then eventually if somebody becomes expert in that language then the language becomes almost like a mirror.
Not a mirror, it's like a window. It is there but it is not there. In the sense that when we have to communicate we are not much conscious of the language.
We are conscious of the message that we want to communicate. Otherwise, we are conscious of the thought inside our head. We are conscious of the searching for which word will express that thought and then we are thinking what is the pronunciation of this word? How many people in the audience will understand my pronunciation? And am I getting the word right? So many other thoughts are going on for us.
So similarly as we move from this journey from say once initially the exploration but then we go towards this absorption. We just start speaking whatever we want to speak and the language comes effortlessly to us. So something similar happens to us in our spiritual journey also.
In our spiritual journey when we start practising spiritual life initially there is a phase of exploration. In the phase of exploration we start with we broadly may go in the spiritual direction for either it is because somebody in our social circle does something spiritual and they invite us. Please come for this talk.
We have this festival. Please come here. They invite us and we say okay let me try it out.
So usually it is somebody from our social circle who may invite us or it may be that in the course of our life we face some difficulties and we get some questions. What does it all mean? What is life all about? I want to know. We normally explore during the course of our life but we explore usually in the in the context of our daily life.
Very few of us ask the big questions in life. Big questions even in science. Science and its product in terms of technology is pervaded practically the whole world now.
So the way the world has changed in last 50 years itself, last 30-40 years before the internet came in and now it has dramatically changed. And yet, if we go to science, how many people are interested in exploring science and how many people are interested in exploring the gadgets that are the products of science. When a new phone comes up, a new device comes up, people are like, oh this works like this, this works like this.
But actually in science not many people are interested. The science magazine put a on its 125th anniversary put an issue out. 125 questions that are not answered by science.
And the first among those questions was where did the universe come from? The second question was where does consciousness come from? So two fundamental realities, these are unknown to science. And there are some people who explore that, some scientists but not many. So our exploration usually is in a utilitarian direction.
Not many people are interested in exploring science per se. Far more people are interested in exploring technology. There are some scientists who have written books with the theme have we come to the end of physics? In the last 50-60 years most of the breakthroughs in science have been more in terms of application of science.
Not in terms of fundamental insights into the nature of reality. The nature of nature. So Stephen Weinberg was a prominent scientist and in the 1980s they had hopes that we will be able to understand everything.
The whole universe will be put in an equation and that equation you can write on your t-shirt. So he about a few years ago he made a statement, in the last few years, in the last several decades we have made enormous progress in our understanding of the universe. But the more progress we make, the further we seem to be going from answers.
Not coming closer to answers but we are going further away from the answers. In the field of science, we may think knowledge increases linearly but it doesn't work like that. Knowledge increases, ok, in the past, all of physics the knowledge that might have been there that could have been put in a handful of 10 books.
Now in atomic physics, in one field of subatomic fundamental particles you may have 10 journals coming out every quarterly. So the number of books has expanded phenomenally. But with these books actually our knowledge or our understanding has not increased.
Why? Because two things have happened. The more we come to know, the more we study and the more we come to know about nature, the more we realise how much more there is to know. From the Earth, we thought that oh the sky, the space has some stars, some celestial bodies but when we started sending our spacecrafts outside and we started exploring, we understood how vast the space is.
So Dalton thought that the atom is just a small indivisible particle but now the atom is like a whole universe in itself. That's what we are finding out. So the more we know, the more we realise how much more there is to know.
And second thing that happens is that even what we actually know, the more we know, the more we realise that what we did know was not correct. So that's why Newtonian physics, which is considered to be a bedrock of classical physics till the 20th century when relativity came up, when quantum physics came up, realised this doesn't always work. So our exploration is going on today but it's mostly in the matter of application.
Now why would somebody turn towards spirituality if somebody wants the answers to life's big questions? Steven Weinberg also said that the more the universe becomes comprehensible, the more it seems pointless. This is paradoxical because suppose say somebody, a friend of yours, they send you a letter and then that letter is written in such handwriting that it's very difficult to understand it. So one of my friends is a doctor and we studied together.
So when he was studying together, his handwriting was very good. Now as a doctor, his handwriting has become incomprehensible. So I asked him what happened.
He said, he was joking with me, he said it is a qualification of a doctor that nobody should understand his handwriting, except the pharmacist. So now suppose if any of you are doctors, no offence intended, but the point I was making is that if somebody has written something in a handwriting which is very difficult to comprehend and then we strain and stretch and ok, this seems to be G, this is H, this is L or is it I? We stretch and strain and finally we figure out, this handwriting, this letter means, this symbol means this, this symbol means this and then as we start understanding all the letters and start understanding the handwriting and then we read it and nothing makes sense. It's one thing if we couldn't understand the handwriting and then it didn't make sense.
But the more we understand the handwriting, the more we can make out the words and then we find it doesn't make sense. Well, if somebody wanted to send a senseless message, then they would just scribble some things. If they have actually written in a handwriting and if he is straining to understand the handwriting, so the more the handwriting becomes comprehensible, the more the message point should become clear.
But what is happening with scientific exploration is that the more we are understanding the world around us, the more the world seems to be pointless. What does it mean the more the world seems to be pointless? That means that does life have any ultimate meaning at all? We live, we explore, we enjoy and then we grow old and we die. So when we live throughout our life, every single thing that we do, we consider it, we think about it quite seriously.
Should I take this job or that job? Should I go this career or that career? Should I marry this person or that person? Should I stay at this place or that place? Should I buy this house or that house? So when throughout our life, we take our decisions so seriously because we feel everything is meaningful. Everything is going to matter. But then at one point, suddenly everything ends with death.
So what is the point of it all? So what is the point of it all? This exploration whether there is anything higher to life. That exploration is the beginning of genuine spirituality. The Vedanta Sutra says अथातो ब्रह्म जिक्याजा What is the point of life? We go through life considering everything very meaningful.
But suddenly in one moment everything can be ended. Therefore, when we think of this big picture how does it come? That's when the spiritual exploration takes off. Otherwise we may come to spirituality for socialising, for just having some peace of mind.
These are all good motives for coming. But our spiritual journey will take off when we start exploring. So for such exploration generally the exploration begins when there is some frustration.
There is some disappointment. Because we are as long as we are enjoying or thinking that we will enjoy whatever we are doing, why do we need to explore something higher? But when things are disrupted, there must be something more in life. That's when we start exploring.
So for such explorers, the Bhagavad Gita is a guidebook. And the Bhagavad Gita tells that just as we take our life, during this life meaningfully, consider it meaningful, similarly in the big picture also there is meaning. Because our life is not just restricted to the physical level.
We are souls. And the soul is on a journey of multi-life spiritual evolution. This evolution is in consciousness.
Presently, in our consciousness we are attached to many different things. And those attachments determine the range of the experiences that we enjoy in life. If somebody is attached to cricket, then the most exciting part of their life is when they are watching a cricket match or playing a cricket match or something connected with cricket.
Everything else is just, okay, finish it off to get on to this. Similarly, whatever we are attached to, that becomes the focal point of our life experience. But when we start moving spiritually, then our consciousness expands.
Yes, this is important, this may have its place in my life, but life has something much bigger. So, the Bhagavad Gita explains that we as souls have an eternal relationship with the home, with Krishna. In 15.7 the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says that all living beings are my parts.
And eternally they are my parts. However, presently what is happening? The mind and the senses, the soul is here, the super soul Krishna is here. Krishna is there with us inside our hearts.
He is present as the Paramatma. There is Atma and the Paramatma. But the Atma is not turning towards the Paramatma, Atma is turning away from the Paramatma towards the mind and the senses.
And the mind and senses say, come on, watch this TV programme, play this, buy this, go here, do this, do that. And we keep doing these things, one after another, after another. And all of them give a little pleasure, but afterwards the pleasure disappears.
So, Karshati, one struggles, we struggle with trying to get things, we get them, then we first are craving, when will I get it? When we get it, then we are fearful, what if I lose it? What if I lose it? And then, eventually we lose it and then we lament, oh, I lost it, I lost it, I lost it. Vidura tells this to Dhritarashtra that when did this kingdom ever give you happiness? Before you got it, you were hankering for it, when you were having it, you were fearing that you would lose it, and after you lost it, now you are lamenting it. Just expand your consciousness now, think of something bigger.
So, this exploration, when we start doing spiritually, the Bhagavata explains that the culmination, the summit of the spiritual exploration is in Krishna. He is the all attractive supreme person and he is eternally in our hearts because he eternally loves us. And when we understand his glory, when we understand his beauty, when we understand his potency, then we become attracted to him.
In fact, the Bhagavata says it says that whatever is attractive in this world, it manifests a spark of Krishna's splendour. That means, whatever attractive object may give us some pleasure in life, whatever we are exploring, this will give me some pleasure. Yes, it may give us some pleasure, but the pleasure it gives is like a drop.
The pleasure Krishna can give us is like an ocean. So, therefore, at this stage in the spiritual journey, from the exploration, we start the application. That means, we start practising Bhakti Yoga.
When we chant Hare Krishna, we come to satsang, we do our puja, we do our study scripture, and then gradually as we start exploring Bhakti more and more, then we start coming to the level of realisation. So, sometimes people say that when you become religious, you just have faith. And the word faith nowadays has a negative connotation.
That means, you people just believe things because somebody has told you it's like that. However, the way the Bhagavad Gita, the way the Vedanta Sutra talks about spirituality is exactly opposite. It doesn't call for faith, it calls for exploration.
So, what it says is, what many people who are anti-religious, they say is that, you religious people, somebody told you something and you are believing in it all. That's your blind faith. But actually, that same charge can apply to most people today.
Because most people are materialists and people are told, Oh, you buy this and you'll become happy. You get this and you'll become happy. You get that and you'll become happy.
So, it is said that the whole advertising industry, what is it doing? The advertising industry is actually telling us fairytales. Oh, you buy this and you'll enjoy. You do this and you'll enjoy.
So, basically, society is telling us that, what society is telling us, do this, do this, do this, you'll become happy. What the spirituality tells us is, ask questions. Will this really make me happy? Or is there something more in life? So, spirituality begins not with faith but a willingness to explore.
Explore what? Is there something higher to life? And when you start exploring, at that time, is faith required? See, faith is required in every field in life. Even science operates on faith. Sometimes people say, science deals with facts.
Not exactly. What science observes, those observations we can say are facts. I was in Cambridge University, speaking on science and spirituality.
So, when we were going along, we passed by that tree where Newton is said to have seen the fruit falling. Some people say it fell in front of him. Some people say it fell on him.
Whichever way. But now, when Newton saw the fruit falling, he asked the question, what made the fruit fall? And this question itself assumes something. The assumption that fruits don't fall on their own.
There is an assumption that there is some order in nature and that order we are trying to explore. So, science functions on the faith that there is an order in nature. And if scientists are asked, where did this order come from? They have no answers to that.
They say, that is not what we presume. We presume that there is an order in nature and we try to explore what the order is there. So, science assumes that things that happen in nature, they will have some natural causes.
What those natural causes are? There are certain principles over there. So, we try to find that. So, even science operates on faith.
The word that they use is different. The word they use is assumption. We make an assumption that there is order.
The way this is happening, there must be some pattern, some order and then try to find it out. So, when we want to acquire any kind of knowledge, even when we are doing exploration, say, if I said earlier, I gave two examples of exploration, that one is we are travelling and other is we are speaking a new language. Now, in both these cases, we are exploring but at the same time, we also have faith in some kind of guidebook.
If we are driving, we will have a map. Ok, this is here, this is here, this is here. If we are studying a new language, then at that time, we will have some book.
Ok, this word means this, this word means this. So, at that time, we are putting faith. So, it's not that faith is required in religion alone.
Faith is required in every walk of life. Principle Krishna talks about in the Bhagavad Gita, Shraddhava Labhate Jnanam. In 4.39, he says, only the faithful can acquire knowledge.
Any kind of knowledge you want to acquire, if somebody becomes super sceptic, I don't believe in anything. Ok, then you want to learn a language, how will you learn it? I don't believe this English textbook teaches English properly. Then A is, we start doubting everything that we, every source of knowledge, we'll not learn anything at all.
So, we have to put some faith in the map, we have to put some faith in the English book. Now, when we use the map and travel, ok, it says, ok, there is a lake over here. And we go left, we go right, we follow and there's a lake.
Oh, this map is accurate, it tells the right thing. And say, we want to speak a particular language. And then we go to a particular place and then say, we greet a person.
In Spanish, gracious. They say gracious. Oh, really? Ok.
Gracious means, how are you? Hello. It's a form of greeting. So, we greet them, they greet us.
Ok, this works. So, basically when there is certain knowledge given over there, during the phase of exploration, we put some faith and then we see if it works. When it works, then that, ok, what it's telling us is real.
It's right. So, that, that same principle applies in spiritual life also. So, for example, when the Bhagavata tells us that actually at our core we are spiritual beings.
Then, we can get realisation of this. Realisation means that which is a reality, we understand it to be a reality. So, for example, the book tells, the book on Spanish tells, this is a word for greeting people.
Now, ok, that is, that is true. But when we greet people and people greet us back, that's the time when we understand, oh, that's real. That's correct.
That's a reality. So, similarly, Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita in 9.2, So, he says, this knowledge which I am giving you, it is a knowledge which you can realise practically. It is joyfully performed.
It is imperishable. What does this mean? That actually when we start practising, we, at a tentative level, as a work, as assumption, as a working hypothesis, we say, yes, there is a spiritual side to me. The soul is there.
And there is a supreme soul. And in the connection between the two, there is peace, there is joy. So, let me see if this works.
So, then we start practising the process of Bhakti Yoga. We start practising the process of Bhakti Yoga, the result is, Bhakti gives us the experience of that transcendental Lord, the Lord who cannot be experienced by any other means. He is experienced by the practise of Bhakti.
And that experience is so enriching, so fulfilling, that one feels, I don't want to, I have no craving for other experiences. One becomes detached from other things. So, the realisation that we get, once we start the exploration, from there, the realisation we get is, that what the Bhagavad Gita is telling, it makes sense.
It works. If I do what the Bhagavad Gita is saying, I become more peaceful. I become more joyful.
And when we experience that, that is realisation. So, this realisation can come at various levels. I said, When we experience the Divine, that makes us detached from other things.
So, people across the world, nowadays have various different kinds of attachments. So, especially now, many people fall prey to addictions. It can be alcohol, it can be smoking, it can be drugs.
When people become addicted, it is extremely difficult to actually give up their addiction. But, when Srila Prabhupada went to America, at that time, people were mad into drugs. But he gave the process of Bhakti Yoga, and hundreds and thousands of people across the world just became detached.
We are getting something better. Getting a higher happiness. We don't need drugs.
And that same thing is happening even now. Across the world, people who become spiritually conscious by the practise of Bhakti, they get the detachment from the negatives of life. They get detachment from the negatives of life.
And thus, they become more purposeful. Their positive contributions in life increase. And then, beyond that, this is a realisation, but after the stage is absorption.
Absorption means, just like, once we learn a language, then we start speaking it effortlessly. And then, there is not just, for some people, language is simply a craft. It's a tool for communicating.
But for some people, language becomes an art. When they are communicating, they will use play of words, they will have rhyming words, they will have this and that. And, for them, speaking is a joy.
For others, hearing them is a joy. And then, when it becomes an art, everybody becomes absorbed in it. Similarly, for us, when we are practising Bhakti, as we start connecting with Krishna through devotion, when our Bhakti starts maturing, it starts stabilising, then we become connected with Krishna and with that connection with Krishna, then, su-sukham kartam, our life becomes permeated with a sublime joy.
Because, we connect with Krishna wherever we go. In whatever situation we may be in, we feel Krishna's presence within us, and Krishna's, because Krishna is all-attractive, Krishna is all-joyful, we start feeling that sublime joy within us. So, that joy is actually the supreme fulfilment of life.
As I said, we are eternal, Krishna is eternal. When we connect with Krishna, the relationship with Him also becomes eternal. And that eternal happiness is so great that, at that time, the devotee simply wants more and more and more of that.
He says, I don't need anything else in life. The Srimad Bhagavatam in its tenth canto, describes various pastimes of Krishna. And, there it describes how different devotees in different ways come to a level where they become completely absorbed in Krishna.
So, the that in the tenth canto, there are Krishna's pastimes which are described in Vrindavan, there are Krishna's pastimes which are described in Dwaraka, in Mathura, and there is Krishna Leela that is described in Dwaraka. So, the Bhagavatam also describes how Parikshit Maharaj, who is a grandson of Arjuna, he starts hearing the Bhagavatam because he is cursed to die in seven days. He has heard about Krishna Leela before, but he wants to hear Krishna Leela at that time in a completely focused way.
So, when he wants to do that, at that time, for him, how, we will discuss how these three phases go through. How he goes through these three phases. He is a king, he is already a devotee, he is a Raj Rishi, the saintly king.
But at the same time, he is ruling the world very virtuously, but somehow, a whole set of situation happens, and he is cursed. And suddenly, his whole life, at one moment, he is a king, and he is ruling the world, and next moment, he is about to die. It's like, there are sometimes some people just die in an accident, suddenly they are walking around, die in one accident, die in an accident, it's one moment, it's over.
It's painful, but it's over in one moment. But, suppose somebody is hugely successful in life, and then suddenly, they are diagnosed, you have got cancer. It's stage four.
And generally, even if there is cancer, you have a few months to live. But here, he is cursed to die in seven days. Even when there is some, one of my friends is in palliative care.
Palliative care is where people who are in the final stages of their life, there is not much chance for cure, so in hospices, they are given palliative care. So actually, people go through different phases at that time. For some time in their life, first, if they get a terrible diagnosis, they live in denial.
This can't be happening to me. How can this happen to me? So, in the denial phase, one is actually fighting against reality. It's a lost battle.
Because already, if the diagnosis is correct, it's there. And to overcome that phase, unless people do that, they can't take any treatment, they can't make any plans, they can't do anything at all. So, if our life has only one track, the material track, then a diagnosis like this, it's end of existence itself.
What is the point of life? Everything I worked for is doomed. But, if we are spiritually conscious, then we understand that our life has multiple tracks. There is the material track and there is the spiritual track.
In the normal course of life, we work on both tracks. We grow spiritually and we grow materially also. And, in the normal course of life, we are meant to work in a balanced way in both directions.
But, at this point for Parikshit Maharaj, his material track was glorious, but suddenly it's termination over there. There is no way to move forward at that time. So, what does one do at that time? So, he switched all his energy to the spiritual track.
He renounced his kingdom, he came to the banks of the Ganga and he sat down and he says, Gayanti Vishnugatha. He told the sages, whatever is the curse, let it happen, but I want to be absorbed in hearing about Krishna. Please speak about Krishna.
So, at that stage, what did he do? He channelled his whole focus of exploration from the material level to the spiritual level. And, generally, we, if we feel that there is no movement forward in our life, if we feel blocked, we feel choked, then we just can't function. And when a dead end comes in our life, we all identify with certain things.
We may identify with a particular role. Say, if we identify ourselves as a software engineer, and then suddenly we are fired from the job. And somehow, if we are not able to get another job again.
So, if I define myself as a software engineer, and then I just can't move forward in that, then it's a dead end. What do I do at that time? If we define ourselves as a parent, and then we find sometimes that a child starts going on a unwanted track, then we start feeling that my whole life as a parent is a failure. If that is the only track on which we have been moving, and if we encounter frustration in that track, it will become unbearable.
We are meant to be responsible in whatever track we work in. But, if some frustration comes in, if we have reduced our life only to one track, then it will be unbearable if frustration comes in that track. So, the spiritual exploration gives us a track that can never be blocked.
No matter what happens, the soul's connection with Krishna always remains. So, Parikshit Maharaj, at this point, he decided to focus all his energy on exploration, on exploring. Now, what, what is, who is Krishna? Now, in a sense, he knew about Krishna, but how Krishna had given shelter to so many different devotees throughout history, how so many different people across history faced so many problems, and still they all found shelter in Krishna.
The Bhagavatam is a story of many, many different people across history, across geography, facing great adversities, and then finally finding shelter in Krishna. And I travel across the world. One thing when people come and talk with me is, one thing I realise is that everywhere there is distress.
Everywhere there is distress. Somehow our society has become structured in such a way that being unhappy is considered to be a failure. If you are unhappy, that means something is wrong with you.
So people put on a facade of being happy. Even if they are unhappy, they somehow keep acting, I think they are okay. People have often smiling faces and crying hearts.
So across the world, people put on this facade. Now, if they are going to talk with somebody who is spiritual, who is a monk, then often people remove the mask. They remove the mask, at that time, actually everybody has distresses.
I realise that. I was in Canada, I was talking with a devotee who is a psychologist, a psychotherapist. So he said, for many years he was doing individual psychotherapy.
And that is the image most of us may have. You sit on a coach and the psychotherapist talks with you, asks questions and you answer. So he said, but for the last several months, I have been doing group psychotherapy.
So I said, how does it work? He said, normally to speak our problems to one person is a little difficult. But in the whole group, how do you speak your problems to so many people? I said, no, we have codes of confidentiality that whatever is spoken there, nobody speaks to anyone else. He said, but the advantage of group psychotherapy is that when we face problems, the mind makes the problems worse by making us feel we alone are suffering.
But when people start speaking their problems, you say, you have such a big problem. You also have a problem. You also have a problem.
So often when we understand that distress is universal in life. After one particular session of psychotherapy, where everybody poured out their hearts, he said, if you had a, you can do a thought exercise now, if you had an option that whatever is the biggest problem of your life, you could take it out and put it in front of a table, on a table, and everybody would do that. Now would you like to exchange your problem with anyone else's? And nobody came forward.
Yes, it can be true that right now, we may be facing a big problem. And right now, others may not be having that big a problem. But if we look at life as a long journey, everybody faces big problems.
It's just a difference in the time and the difference in the form. So the Bhagavatam, when Parikshit Maharaj started exploring, at that time that exploration meant, he heard the terrible thing that had happened to him, the sudden death, the distress that was coming upon him. Yes, many other saintly devotees had faced that.
And by taking shelter of Krishna, they had attained life's ultimate success. They had tolerated it. So similarly, he also started gaining that realisation.
Actually, if you go into the story, Parikshit Maharaj had been out in the forest and he was very thirsty. So he went to look, where can I get some water? And he found, there was a sage's ashram. So he went to the ashram and he offered his respects to the sage and requested, can I have some water? But the sage, Shamik Rishi, was in a trance.
And he didn't even notice the sage was there. This king had come. So now, Parikshit Maharaj thought that that sage is just being uncourteous, is being unhelpful.
So, he thought that actually he is not in trance. He is pretending to be in trance so that he will not give me water. He doesn't have to take the trouble of giving me water.
It's like sometimes somebody is sleeping, you can wake them up. But somebody is pretending to sleep, how do you wake them up? So, he thought the sage is doing like that. And he just got annoyed.
He was so thirsty. He got annoyed and he just saw there was a dead snake nearby. He picked up his arrow and just hurled the arrow.
The snake went and fell as a garland on that sage. The award was you did not offer me a garland, I will offer you a garland. So, it was just a gesture of exasperation.
But soon I realised I shouldn't have done like this. He said, sage, maybe he was actually in trance. Maybe he didn't notice where I was.
He didn't notice that I was there. But the sage had a son and the son was hot headed. So, Shringi, he came to know what had been done to his father and he said, how dare this king insult my father, such a great Brahmin.
And he cursed Parikshit. You will… Because you threw a snake on my father's body, I will throw a snake on your body. And this will be a living snake.
And this snake will bite you and this snake will kill you. And this will happen in 7 days. So, now here Parikshit Maharaj, he had been cursed to die in 7 days and this whole incident happened because he was so thirsty.
He just wanted some water and he found the thirst unbearable. But then, when he started hearing the Bhagavatam, hearing about Krishna Leela, he became so absorbed, he found it so relishable that he says that actually he decided, because he was going to die, he took what is called as the Prayavrat. Prayavrat means those who are going to die, they decide that I will abstain from food, I will abstain from water, so that I can focus all my energy on higher spiritual purpose.
So, he had taken this Prayavrat and he was having no food, no water. But he said, I am not feeling any exhaustion. I am not feeling any torment because you are speaking about Krishna, I am hearing about Krishna and this is giving me such nectar.
Chutam Harikathamritam Pibantam Tanmukham Bhojam. From your lips, this nectar of Krishna Katha is coming and that is nourishing me at a spiritual level. And therefore, I feel no distress.
So, he got practical realisation. Earlier, he had found thirst unbearable. But, when he started hearing about Krishna and became absorbed in Krishna, then, that thirst became not leave alone unbearable, it became even unnoticeable.
He was so absorbed, he just didn't notice at all. And then, eventually he was so absorbed in Krishna, the snake bird came and bit him. But, even before the snake bird bit him, he was absorbed in Krishna and he had departed from his body and he already attained the spiritual level.
So, that was the level of absorption where the Bhagavatam says that, Those who become absorbed in Krishna, the distresses of life come upon them. But, those distresses don't trouble them because their consciousness is absorbed in Krishna. So, for us, in our life, we may not be facing as deadly a dyad, as a reversal as Parikshit Maharaj is facing.
But, whatever situation we may be facing in our life, some problem is there, something is not working out, instead of just obsessing over why that track is blocked, we can take that as an impetus for beginning our spiritual exploration. Or, if you already began, for intensifying that spiritual exploration. And, if we do that, we will get the realisation that even amidst this distress, I can experience, we can experience relief.
We can experience strength. The problem may not go away just because we turn towards Krishna. But, the problems hold on us, will go away.
There's a difference between having a problem and having the problem have a hold on us. When the problem holds us, at that time, we just can't think of anything else. Our mind is obsessed with that problem.
And, when the mind is obsessed with that problem, we become constantly distressed. The problem remains, but if our mind gets diverted elsewhere, it gets directed towards Krishna. Krishna is still there.
And, Krishna will bring something good out of this. Krishna will take care of things. Let me do my part.
When we direct our thoughts towards Krishna, at that time, we start experiencing relief. This relief rejuvenates our inner strength. And then, whatever situation we have to deal with, we can deal with it in more calmness, with greater clarity.
And thus, when we get this realisation, that actually, remembrance of Krishna, that connection with Krishna, does give me solace, does give me strength, then we start focussing more and more on practising Krishna Bhakti. So, initially, we may come to Krishna because we treat, because we feel this world gives me many shocks. And, my bhakti, my spirituality, can be like a shock absorber.
Because if shock is coming, I want to bear it. It is good. Yes, bhakti will help us to absorb our shocks.
But that, if we keep treating bhakti simply as a shock absorber, then we are underutilising the potential of bhakti. Bhakti is ultimately meant to be not just a shock absorber, but a goal transformer. When we start understanding that Krishna is the goal of my life, it is in loving Krishna and serving Krishna that my life's supreme fulfilment is there.
Then, we will move from this exploration through realisation towards absorption. And when we are absorbed in Krishna, Krishna says, He says that if your mind is absorbed in me, if your intelligence is engaged in me, then you are already living in me. It is not that we will attain Krishna in the future.
We have already attained Krishna. So, the more we become absorbed in Krishna, the more we can experience security and serenity even while we are in this world. The world's ups and downs will come, but they won't shake us that much because our mind will be steadily on the track to Krishna.
That is the great potency of the process of bhakti. That it can give us shelter and strength even when there are storms around us in the world. And it can ultimately take us to the eternal abode that is beyond the reach of all worldly storms.
When we love Krishna more than the world. Right now we love the world, we love Krishna also. Krishna is good, but Maya is also not bad.
So, we think this also and this also. But when we learn to love Krishna more than we love the world, that time Krishna will take us from this world to his eternal abode for a life of eternal ecstatic love and joy with him. That is life's supreme perfection.
So, I'll summarise. I spoke today on the theme of our spiritual journey, how it goes to three stages. What are the stages? Exploration, Realisation, Absorption.
I gave two examples of how when we come to a new place, we may explore the place with a map. What is where? And then, this is here, this is here. The geography becomes internalised and you can effortlessly travel and enjoy the travel.
Or we learn a language. Similarly, at that time, first we explore. What does this word mean? What does this word mean? Oh, this word, I can connect this way.
I can communicate. It works. Then the language goes from just being a tool for communication to become an art where we enjoy speaking that language.
So, similarly, these three stages apply in our spiritual journey also. So, we may begin our exploration because let us say, somebody in our social circle invites us to come to a temple or attend a programme or we had a cultural upbringing where something we always taught. But the exploration spiritually begins primarily when we start asking the big questions.
I talked elaborately about how science asks questions. But more and more in the history of science and technology, the questions that are being asked are not the big questions. They are the utilitarian questions.
How can we make a faster phone? How can we make a faster computer? But where did the universe come from? Where does consciousness come from? Fundamental questions, the answers seem to be going further and further away. The more the universe becomes comprehensible, the more it seems pointless. That is counterintuitive because if we start understanding the handwriting of a particular person, then we find that the message doesn't make sense.
Something must be missing. So what is missing is that science is focussing only on the materialistic track. It is not looking at spirituality.
And that's why in the big picture, life seems to be meaningless. We exist, this is orderly, that is orderly, this follows this law, this follows that law. But life seems to be pointless because we are just looking from a short-term perspective of one life.
So spirituality doesn't just ask us for faith. Actually, it asks us for an exploring spirit. Is there something more to life beyond the physical level? And that blind faith, it is said, is you just believe whatever anyone tells you and start doing that.
But that is what is exhibited also in materialistic society. The advertisement, the media, do this, do this, you will enjoy. And people keep doing that.
So the faith as an operational assumption is required in every branch of knowledge. While learning language, while travelling, even in science, it requires the operational faith that there is some kind of order in nature which science is exploring. When we are learning any skill, that the books are telling us the right thing.
So similarly, the operational assumption, the faith is that there is a higher aspect to life. That there is an eternal core to us and there is an eternal whole with whom we are meant to connect. Now when we start with this exploration, then when we start practising Bhakti Yoga to connect the soul with the whole, with Krishna, then we get realisation.
We start experiencing a higher fulfilment which makes us detached from otherworldly things. And that inner enrichment and outer detachment, that is, oh this works, this makes sense, this is for real. That is the realisation.
I discussed how thousands of people across the world by Srila Prabhupada's inspiration, became free from drug addiction because they became attached, attracted towards Krishna. And then there is absorption wherein we just go biggest, develop so much attraction towards Krishna that there is a constant stream of joy and love coming to us from Him. And then I talk about these three stages in the life of whom? Parikshit Maharaj.
So he was already a king and he was virtuous. He was devoted but suddenly he was cursed to die by an impetuous boy. And the materialistic track just a dead end.
So when people, if they are living only a one track life, if they define themselves by their profession or their position in society and if that is lost, they feel there is the end of my life. But when we have a multi track life, this doesn't work, but still this is there. So spirituality reveals a track for our life which can never be blocked.
And Parikshit Maharaj took this material frustration as a impetus for spiritual exploration. And he started hearing about Krishna. And the Bhagavatam describes how different devotees face distress at different times and they all got shelter in Krishna.
Talked about how when we understand that distress is universal, then the mind torment that we alone are suffering, that decreases. And thus the problem may remain but the problems hold on us, decreases, when we can stop feeling sorry for ourselves, stop resenting what is happening and direct our thoughts towards Krishna. And the same Parikshit Maharaj, he got the realisation of the potency of higher satisfaction coming from connection with Krishna.
What was that realisation? That the same thirst which had made him offend a great sage earlier, now he was fasting voluntarily but he did not feel tormented by that thirst. And thus we can also experience during the course of our life that if we face shocks and we take shelter of Krishna, the magnitude of the shock will decrease. We will be able to have greater maturity and strength to face those reversals.
But bhakti is not just meant to be a shock absorber, it is meant to be a goal transformer. Through these experiences when we get inner strength and calm, if you understand Krishna is for real and he should be the supreme goal of my life. Whatever else I am attached to in life, the pleasure from that is like a drop.
The pleasure from Krishna is like an ocean. So when we make Krishna our goal and by the practise of bhakti, we become more attached to him than we are attached to the world. Then Krishna will take us from this world to his eternal abode.
Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. So are there any questions or comments? This Vyasadev, he was not happy and then Narada Muni thinks when he was not happy, had he also compiled Srimad Bhagavatam? So when Vyasadev was not happy, had he compiled Srimad Bhagavatam? Yes.
The Bhagavatam is mentioned as one of the 18 Puranas. It is a Satvaguni Purana. And Vyasadev had already written the 18 Puranas.
So he had already written the Bhagavatam. But if you consider the Leelas that are described, Krishna Leela is described in other Puranas also. But the focus is not on the glorification of Krishna.
The focus is not on Krishna Se Charita Varanam. It's not centred on Krishna. It goes on various different topics.
So when he when on the instruction of Vyasadev it is said he composed the Bhagavatam, that means that he edited the Bhagavatam. So that the pure devotional focus became very clear. So when he did that, that was the time when his heart became enriched.
Another time when the Bhagavatam that we have became manifest. Yes please. Prabhuji, I have one question.
As you have described few cases, if I consider myself, how I can bifurcate that this is exploration and I need to go to the realisation. So how can I move upwards spiritually and how I can find myself where I am. Ok.
So how can we know in these three stages of exploration, realisation and absorption where we are and how can we move forwards. These stages are not necessarily entirely discrete. They can be overlapping also.
So for example, if we consider that Krishna Bhakti has different limbs to it. So somebody with respect to Kirtan even without knowing any philosophy they just hear Kirtan, they get absorbed in it. So we can say there is a certain level of absorption that may not be entirely pure absorption because in a sense they may just love music and there might be some romantic song and they may get absorbed in that also.
So they can get absorbed in Krishna but it is not focused absorption in Krishna. But if we have that musical inclination and that it will be relatively easy for us to get absorbed. But with respect to say philosophy many of us may have been brought up in a culture where we knew something about Krishna but the philosophy of Krishna Bhakti we may not know at all.
So with respect to the philosophy we might be in the stage of exploration right now. Okay, this question I can get answer this question I need to find out where I can get the answer. And then as we move forward we will also get more questions and we will seek more answers.
So basically wherever we are we just think how can I take steps forward. It's not that realisation has to come at one moment. Realisation can also be a gradual incremental process.
Some realisations will come suddenly to us. That means say we get some bad news and we are now practising Bhakti maybe 2-3 years ago or 5 years ago we were not practising and now we are practising Bhakti. So if we had got that bad news 5 years ago we would have collapsed.
We would have been overwhelmed with negativity with resentment, with anger but now also we are troubled but we are not that troubled. So that could be certain moment of realisation. But realisations can also be gradual and incremental where slowly but surely our attraction towards Krishna is increasing.
So that means every day when we are practising Bhakti then through that we are connecting with Krishna and that connection with Krishna helps us to grow. Just like the sun rises in the morning. Say if we are walking around doing a japa walk and sun is rising.
Now this we go out it's dark and now it seems to be dawn and then we might be still chanting, walking around and suddenly it's daytime. So the sun is rising continuously but our realisation that the sun has risen happens at a particular moment. So similarly it is not that we get realisation at certain times and that is the time we make spiritual advancement.
No. All the time when we are practising Bhakti we are growing spiritually but there are certain moments just like certain moments we realise oh the sun has risen. Like that there are certain moments when we realise that we have grown spiritually and that realisation seeps into us.
So whatever activities of Bhakti Yoga we can continue doing that broadly speaking we say there is ABCD in Bhakti Yoga. Association, books, chanting and deity worship. So we can associate with devotees in programmes like this.
We can study the Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavatam and other books. We can chant the holy names of Krishna, the Hare Krishna mantra and other names of Krishna and B is we can worship the deities and take their prasadam. Okay.
Thank you. Any other questions? Yes please. For a busy mother there is so much I want to do.
There are so many books and associations and all that but I can only do limited. I chant in the morning but sometimes I am not able to because I need to stay awake all night or whatever it is. So in that sense is my progress very slow? Very limited or am I going back? It's like two steps forward one step back.
I feel like I am in this. Yeah that's true. So if we have many other things to do in our life, children to take care of, sometimes we do some things but then we feel as if we are doing two steps forward and one step back.
Spiritual life has two aspects to it. One is the external actions and the other is the internal intentions. So the actions are meant to express the intentions and the actions are important.
At the same time the actions alone are not important. It is the action done with the intention. So in different situations in our life we may have different things which become priorities and that is just the way life is.
If we are driving along the road sometimes the road is very crowded then we move slowly and the road becomes clear, we move much faster. So if we consider our drive to be like our spiritual journey, sometimes some other things become too tight and then we might be driving slowly but our intention remains the same and once the traffic becomes clear then we can move faster. So in terms of externally doing devotional activities, yes it does happen that at certain phases in our life, the external actions may not be as much as might be the standard or as we might ourselves want to do.
But bhakti is not just about the externals. It is also the internal aspect to it that means that if we maintain the intention then still that intention also is a connection with Krishna and Krishna is not restricted to the temple or Krishna is not restricted to the chanting of the holy names or any devotional activities alone. Yes, these activities we need to do so that we can infuse our consciousness with sevabhava, the service attitude towards Krishna.
But once we are doing this as much as we can then we can take that service attitude and bring it into our entire life. So even if we are taking care of our children, taking care of family responsibilities, say we are working at a job, our conception of it can be more devotional. This child is actually not just my child this is Krishna's child and he has been placed in my care by Krishna.
Let me take care of the child as well as I can as a service to Krishna. Not just because it is my child but because it is Krishna's child. If I am working at a job I do that job not just that this is a job which is giving money and this is the way I am serving Krishna through this situation.
By working at this job I can make our home into a temple and this is how I am maintaining the home temple. This is how I am doing my service to Krishna. So if we bring that service attitude then we will not have this fragmented vision of Krishna Bhakti where we think only this is Krishna Bhakti and this is not.
But we see that Krishna Bhakti permeates all aspects of our life. Of course we do also need the externals because otherwise that sevabhav we will have an abhav. The sevabhav will not stay.
So we do need external spiritual activities also. Going to spiritual places, associating with spiritual people, doing spiritual activities ourselves we need that. But in proportion in some phases of our life if we are not able to do it as much, that's ok.
We can still try to maintain the intention and the test of our eagerness is if say somebody is coming for a programme and we invited them for a programme and they say I am caught in traffic. You know I am not moving forward at all. And they are moving very slowly.
Sometimes in whatsapp you can get a map of people where they are, location you can see. And then when the traffic is there, they are moving slowly. But then we find the traffic is clear and still they are moving slowly only.
That means they don't want to come on time. Maybe they just want to come for prasad at the end or whatever. So the test will be that there are certain situations when it is difficult to give a lot of time.
But it's not that those situations stay lifelong. When those situations go, at that time we need to accelerate. We need to do the external also more.
So Krishna is not a judgemental God. He is an understanding God. He is in our heart.
He also understands our situation. And he reciprocates with our intention even if the action is not there. And then if we sincerely maintain that intention, Krishna may even change the situation so that we can do the devotional actions also more.
Okay. Thank you. Hare Krishna.
Can we stop here? Thank you. Thank you very much. Prabhupada Ki Gaur Bhakta Vrinda Ki Sai Gaur Pramana Sri Hari Bol Hare Krishna.
Hare Krishna everyone. So we have the books by His Grace Chetan Charan Prabhu here. You want to have a look and they are up for sale as well.
If you want to have a look.