How does destiny leave room for free will OMG Series 3 Mumbai

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So today we continue and concluding our Three days and sessions on oh my god exploring the issues so on the first day we discussed about our natural calamity the acts of god And then we discussed the triple level causation In all events then yesterday we discussed about miracles Does god manifest in supernatural visions paranormal visions? And today we are going to discuss further about Destiny the concept of fate and free will and today I will also discuss about some other miscellaneous topics briefly in terms of the The effects of religion on society so First I’ll talk about the concept of destiny.
We have discussed this quite a bit in our first session But I would like to focus on one specific aspect of it There is fate and there is free will So the word fate can mean many things fate can mean what happens to us. It can also mean destiny so now Now The question is that If our future is destined Then do we really have free will? And if we have free will The question will be how free is our free will? If I say my will is free, but how free actually is my freedom? so How much Are we controlled by factors beyond us? How much Are our decisions in our hands? so The connection with this with the movie is not very explicit over here but in general one of the ideas that is there in the movie is in the In one of the interviews the talk shows kanji bhai says that religion makes people helpless Religion makes people helpless So how exactly may religion make a person miserable helpless? And why it actually is a perversion of religion. That’s what we will explore today so the first and most important point to recognise And which is easy to recognise also is that The results of our work are not in our hands entirely When a student works In an exam and wants some result So at that time The certainly the student’s endeavours play a significant role But at the same time are the students endeavours? The do they play the decisive role? Do they play an exclusive role? We know that there are so many other factors students may endeavour very sincerely But at the time of exam He or she may fall sick or at the time of the corrections If we have a human checker, the human checker may be in a bad mood and may Assess him properly even computers can make mistakes so So One thing we learn very easily if we look at life that The results of what we do Are not in our hands alone So we are not the decisive or the exclusive Fashioners or makers of our results Exclusive means only and decisive means that is the most important factor so Now We see this in the arena of sports So in the arena of sports we see that sometimes even the best of players are Not able to play well sometimes the best batsman who can just Was so good at batting and misses a straight ball and finds his middle stump knocker over And then something like this happens Often it said this batsman is out of touch.
It is out of form right now Now if we ask that batsman No batsman would want to be out of form So what exactly happens when a person says that is out of form That just means that the person is not able to perform the way he or she would like to perform So what causes this? So this Is actually caused by factors that are not necessarily or entirely in our control now almost all sports stars Cricketers included have their own superstitions Now for example, there was a famous cricketer who would have whenever he would be playing he would have a Handkerchief in his right pocket and the handkerchief would keep it in such a way that One third of it is coming out and two third of it is inside And it would be a particular red coloured handkerchief And whenever the match would be not doing well, he would just look at the handkerchief. Is it properly positioned? And that he considered to be a good luck charm some other there was famous tennis player who would have a ring in only one of his ears And he would consider that to be a good luck charm There was another cricketer. He had an even more queer idiosyncrasy Now he believed that in the Pavilion they would have washrooms restrooms So it was his belief that all the restrooms their lid should be covered So before he would go out to play he would make go into the restroom and make sure that all the lids would be covered and he would feel that if any of these are not covered properly, then That would be a inauspicious sign and he would not be able to perform well So now we may laugh at these beliefs But many of those people who have these beliefs they are in their own way superstar performers from the material perspective And they it’s not that they don’t have talent.
It’s not that they have not delivered in their talent and What these superstitious beliefs? Indicate is The specifics may be laughable But actually the implication of that is they all recognise That in the sporting arena there is something which is beyond our control And that which is beyond our control Plays a crucial role in determining the result So in some way that which is beyond our control if we can make it favourable to ourselves If we can make it Go right for us, then we will get the results so There is the Every individual is shaped by one’s belief system. What do we mean by the belief system? You know researchers have found that How we feel about something Determines not only our mental attitude, but also our physical endeavour about it And it’s easy to understand if I am coming to give a class And if I am very discouraged, I am very different Then that will not only be internally Creating tension and turmoil within me that will naturally express itself externally also. I’ll not be able to think clearly I’ll not be able to speak clearly So this is from our day-to-day experience very easy to understand So now all of us we know that there are some things beyond our control And we want to try to see what is it that we can do to appease that which is beyond our control To make that favourable So now even if a person is an atheist and the person doesn’t believe specifically in god So most of the sports persons they may not believe in god, but they have some ideas some good luck charm Some amulet some some kind of belief So these beliefs indicate one important thing that there is Something beyond our power Which plays a very important role in the favourable result.
So now what exactly is that? So now when we work the result it comes by our endeavour and by the Arrangements that are beyond our control So Now there are two schools of thought traditionally that have been there. One is called karmavada and the other is daivavada karmavada means vada is a school of thought or a Logical argument karmavada is the idea that everything is in our hands That by my karma, I can get whatever results I want and The other idea is daivavada. Daivavada is the idea that Everything is destined.
Nothing is in my hands And some people say my luck is bad. What should I do now? Some people feel like that. So karmavada and daivavada.
These are the actually if we consider pendulum They’re the two extremes of the pendulum of human imagination The thing that everything is in my hands is actually a sign of arrogance and ignorance The thing that everything is in my hand is a sign of arrogance and ignorance arrogance because I think that everything is under my control and a little experience of life will show me that everything is not in my control Certainly my efforts do play a significant role, but they don’t determine the result entirely On the other hand if I say nothing is in my control fatalism This is english is called as fatalism So fatalism is the idea that everything is determined by fate nothing is in our hands now this is a extremely pessimistic the idea Nothing is in my hands Then why should why should I do anything at all? And we do see that our endeavours make a difference so And I want to understand how this works I’ll consider two three examples First is Now here there are two factors Now when let’s take an example of a cricket match Now sometimes in a cricket match the player Himself may not be able to perform well and we say that the player is out of touch in that thing But in other cases the player may perform extremely well And still some factors come up by which? The person is not able to get the result the player performs very well But somehow just when the team is winning the match rains come at that time Or the player is performing very well and somehow at that time the umpire does the wrong decision Or the player is performing very well, but the other players performs so pathetically and this batsman is batting very well But he just runs out of partners so that means What we are talking about here is two factors that is Sometimes our own endeavours and our own efforts are poor Because of factors beyond our control and like a batsman is not able to play well only when he wants to the other is The person plays well and the person plays what could normally have a winning performance, but even then results don’t come out So now let’s look at these two Now when we talk about fate the effects of the Destiny that are there on us they affect us in two ways Actually destiny affects us internally as well as externally Internally means that we all find that we go through moods Sometimes you feel very inspired to do something And sometimes you feel very discouraged very demotivated Now, why does this happen? at one level our moods Are because of the moods now the moods is a concept which not many people know about but moods is something everyone knows about so moods are You know, I sometimes I feel very irritated today. I feel very lazy today So people have different moods the bhagavad gita explains that there is something called as the gunas the moods The three modes of material nature. So these are subtle Psychological forces that shape the interaction between matter and consciousness the modes Are subtle psychological forces that shape the interaction between matter and consciousness without going into too many technicalities The point here is that our own internal Feelings are not in our control And often they run amok And they create agitation irritation frustration for us And they can demotivate us or they can remotivate us depending on how those feelings go.
So now We all experience these moods, but why do these moods come about? So actually even our moods are consequences of our past See this do you remember I discussed about how the soul is situated in three coverings. Does anyone remember the three coverings? Sorry If somebody can raise their hand Yeah Subtle and gross. Okay.
That’s one kind of that’s the bodily covering but I talked about three other coverings. Yes, ma’am. Thank you Okay.
Yes the child in the womb and that’s compared to ignorance Okay, uh, that is talking about three degrees of coverings I’m talking about something different Three degrees of covering is lower species and higher species. I’m talking about how all living beings are situated in three coverings They are like three concentric circles In which all of us are situated Yes spiritual circle Oh that was that was talking about the different levels of consciousness Yeah, that is true. That is levels of consciousness.
I’m talking about something slightly different here Remember I talked about how om shanti shanti shanti You say what are the three times shanti because what are three circles It’s the adhyatmic that is that is circle of the body and the mind Now these create some problems for us. These give some pleasures for us. Both are there then there is Adhibhautic so the psychophysical circle the social circle and the environmental circle So these three give us three different kinds of pleasures so now Now the situations that we encounter within all these three circles are determined by our past karma That means in my life if I have Some person who is very disagreeable Now, why is that person there in my life? That’s because There is some past karma and that person is the instrument by which i’m getting the past karmic reactions Or if I am born and brought up in an area where the weather is very unsuitable for me Now, why is it that I am situated over there? I could have been born anywhere else.
I could have been living anywhere else that particular circumstance is because of our karma so similarly the Psychophysical that means the kind of moods that we get in our mind They are also the result of our past karma Now, of course in some cases We ourselves also contribute to this See when I said in all these three cases in first case if I say that there is some person who is very disagreeable Now, it’s often that there may be some people who are disagreeable anyway But often we also some can make the disagreeable people more disagreeable or less disagreeable So our behaviour also contributes to it similarly with respect to our moods Now we if I am feeling lazy and I go in Comfortable bed and switch off the lights and then For lie down and pull a blanket over my face and then I wonder why i’m feeling so sleepy and lazy No, i’m contributing to that So similarly with the other feelings which may get so The we also contribute to the kind of moods that we have but in some cases Even without any provocation from us Still we get certain feelings I want to be enthusiastic. I want to work but I feel so bored. I feel so apathetic I don’t feel like doing anything at all So when these kind of feelings come we understand that they are also the result of our past karma Now, what does krishna tell about such feelings? In the 14 chapter when he talks about the three modes of material nature Then arjuna asked the question.
How can I transcend these modes? and 14.22 23 24 25 Arjuna described krishna describes how to transcend. So the first thing he says is recognise that actually Our feelings are not our feelings What does it mean our feelings are not our feelings means? That actually many of our feelings are just past Stimulations that have come they’ll be there temporarily and they will go away They often have got nothing to do with our core values our core aspirations Is So krishna describes Illumination that is the characteristic of the mode of goodness. Sometimes we feel like we are having a very clear thinking Very sound solid thinking we have Prakasham I want to do this.
I want to do that pravrtti means the desire for activity that is characters of the mode of passion That is real So many people are doing something people are running and let them run why bother You know, you just feel like not doing anything So krishna says when these kind of various feelings come Nadveshthi sampravrttani When they arrive don’t be resentful about them If they go away don’t crave for them then how should one be situated Stay as if one is detached Understanding that these are just the effects of the modes Unavartanti teva One whose children’s spiritual platform is not disturbed It’s like as soon as we go out of the temple, we will be assailed by holdings from various sides now all these different holdings are put up by Various companies who want things from us Now Earlier say before we became introduced to krishna consciousness and realised the spiritual values of life We might these advertisements might have comprised our dreams These are the things I want Now our values have changed But just because our values have changed doesn’t necessarily mean that the advertisements are going to change The advertisements will go on but what happens is we stop taking those advertisements very seriously You remember yesterday I talked about how doubt is a function of intelligence. So we understand. Okay.
These are they don’t mean a big deal they’re not they’re just false promises now, there’s a Social social critic who said there are lies There are bigger lies and there are advertisements So that’s how it is And you know the characters of kalyug are described in the 12th canto of shrimad bhagavatam is Anyone who can speak the most audaciously Whoever is the most audacious will consider it to be truthful So even if there is no truth in an advertisement just put it again and again and again and again and again Just be audacious about it This is the mobile which has the best connection Now it may actually have the worst connection just say again and again and again and again This must have the best connection. We’ll start believing it so The point which I am making is I am comparing the external holdings With the internal thought patterns of the mind see just as There are external advertising agencies so similarly There are internal advertising agencies What are those? Those are lust, anger, greed, envy, pride and illusion So now what has happened is That our values have changed We want to value spiritual things more and material things we want to use according to our spiritual values But that doesn’t necessarily mean our internal Thought patterns will automatically change No So now for example If we talk about lust or if we talk about greed or we talk about anger, so let’s consider anger Now is anger a thing or a feeling? Is anger a thing or a feeling? Now, what do I mean by a thing or a feeling? That means now suppose I get angry then I am feeling anger at that time So at that time naturally anger is a feeling Anger is a feeling that we sometimes experience But at the same time we also see that some people have greater Vulnerability to anger than others Some people are more short-tempered than others So if anger is just a feeling Then why is it that that feeling comes more in some people and less in some people? So actually anger is a feeling definitely That means a feeling that we get occasionally But along with that anger is also a thing It is not a thing like this table or this mic. It is subtle What does it mean that Actually speaking When we choose to cultivate certain feelings For example, whenever I feel angry and I let myself become angry at that time Then the kind of thoughts and actions that I accept They create certain patterns in my mind.
They create certain grooves in my mind And suppose now water is flowing And now if water just has to flow this way the flow the flow is flat Then water will just flow in a linear way wherever whichever direction it can go But if I’ve got a groove over here, then the flow of the water becomes much quicker much faster So like that when we choose to act according to certain feelings repeatedly Then certain marks not marks in literal physical sense like colourings But in a subtle sense they are created in our mind And when they are created in our mind, then those feelings come to us more and more So that’s why in the third chapter of the bhagavad-gita actually 3.36 to 43 Arjuna talks arjuna asks about lust and krishna answers how lust originates and how it is to be Controlled and conquered. So at that time krishna talks about lust as being both a thing So he says that is the thing which is situated in some places In So in 3.40 Krishna says that lust is situated in the intelligence in the mind and the senses So now if it is situated in particular places, that means it’s a thing It’s situated somewhere But along with that Also, he says Don’t become lust So just conquer this enemy of lust by situating yourself on the spiritual platform Now what this means is don’t become lust if you if you can consider you can situate yourself on the spiritual platform You won’t succumb to lust So what he is meaning over here is that That the lust itself as a thing is situated in the mind But it is up to us whether we accept Those feelings when they come to us See now i’ll explain. I was giving the example of the advertising the hoardings Now if the hoardings are not there We may not if there is a new car that is advertised there are hoardings just along one road.
There are 25 hoardings of that Then what happens just by seeing it again and again the desire comes in the mind Now if the hoardings are not there itself It’s not that We may not have the desire we still have the desire but the hoardings provoke the desire further so when we Act lustily or we act greedily at that time. We sort of create hoardings in our own mind And then Those feelings get stimulated mood So in this sense lust anger greed, they are both things and feelings So why are certain people more prone to become angry? Because in the past they have indulged in anger more And because they have indulged in anger more The groove has been created as I gave an example of a groove the other is of the hoardings So those hoardings have been created and that’s why they get allured more in those directions So Now When I said that by our past karma Our external situations and our internal situations are created That means our moods So some people may feel very lazy sometimes some people may feel very irritable other times So why are these people have this kind of natures? That means that kind of hoardings are there in the mind and that’s why irritable means Whenever there is a problem in my life. I want to find somebody who escaped good And blasted that person because of you this happened because of you that happened because of you and I snap at others I shout at others So now why is because I have indulged in that earlier and because I have indulged again and again That tendency has become ingrained in my mind And when a problem comes At that time it’s not necessary that I have to snap at others and blame others But because that’s what I have done That’s what I am tempted to do now.
It’s almost becomes like my second nature to do that So now That means our power The question which I was discussing is how free is our free will? So actually speaking we have the when when greed provokes us Now when I have a I have a good tv with me if I need a tv, but then I find the neighbour has a better tv A more fashionable brand then if I think about oh, I have this tv. If only I had that tv I had that tv. I had that tv the more I Contemplate on it.
I’m giving fuel for the greed and then the greed will go for the grow grow more and then it will become Intolerable for me So the point here is that some people are more prone to greed. Some people are less prone to greed. Why is that? That is by our past karma So by our past karma Uh, we may be situated in a part of the city where there are a lot of hoardings By our past karma we are situated in a In a rural area where there are practically no hoardings So why why are we situated in the area where there are more temptations more provocation less provocation? That’s our past karma similarly internally also Some people have much more provocations and agitations in their heads.
Some people have less and accordingly we face Greater or lesser obstacles internally on the spiritual path So the extent and the nature of the obstacles That we face on the spiritual path are determined by our past karma The extent means quantity nature means quality the quality and quantity of the obstacle that we face internally Now these obstacles are not necessary only for the spiritual path Our moods can affect us even on material advance Some students they want to study But somehow when they take the book open, they just don’t feel like studying Now, why why are the why the feelings so rebellious? So it’s because of our own past the way we have Cultivated our habits the way we have acted in the past accordingly our Inner mindsets are created. But the wonderful thing about this is that These mindsets Are not irreversible They are not permanent. They are changeable.
They are temporary How does that work? As I said there is when there is a groove then the water naturally will flow in a particular direction But so now if I want the water to flow in that way, but if this if this floor is sloping in this way Then what I will have to do is I will have to exert some extra force So naturally the water would flow this way, but then I have to have some Cloth some water some sweeper some something by which I can push the water in other direction And I have to apply some extra force so in general Whenever we talk about any kind of self-improvement Now there is a implicit understanding That there are two selves within us Two selves means That there is a part of me uh, which Wants to stay as I am And there is a part of me which wants to improve So there are these two so to put in more Blunt language there is a part of me Which needs a kick in the back and there is a part of me which is ready to give the kick in the back So there are these two parts. Now, what are these two parts? It’s a mystery The vedic scriptures describe that there is a mind and there is the intelligence. There is a higher self.
There is a lower self so now In general, when do people change? Most of us in you know in physics. There is a law of inertia Inertia means that the way we are where thing is thing tends to stay like that only And if it has to change then you have to put some force on it. So all of us also have an inertia So generally people change when the cost of Staying as we are Becomes more than the cost of changing See we do internally A credit debit calculation constantly that means If I just want to be lazy and sleep now At that time if say if it’s just a normal day and I’m a student I have exams coming up But the exams are after three months Then I can just keep sleeping Because at that time the cost of changing Waking up and doing studies is too much But if i’m a student and my exam is today And I have a lot of studies to do that time if I don’t study i’m ruined today So what happens at that time the cost of changing? The cost of not changing Becomes far greater than the cost of changing Like the consequences if I don’t change will be far more serious Then the consequences is the trouble which I’ll have to go through to change So now actually speaking The internal obstacles that we face on the spiritual path Are there and to change them requires an exertion of inner willpower exertion of inner force So, how do we get that inner force? that inner force We can get by our efforts But more than that we can get it by god’s efforts by god’s grace rather So let me explain this now right now I’m not going to talk too much about the external problem external obstacles because they are there and we have to deal with them So when i’m talking about how free is our free will it’s implicit that it’s not entirely free When i’m sitting here, I cannot suddenly start flying in the sky I don’t have that much freedom because my body creates certain limitations For me.
Yes, if i’m if I have a particular a financial Level if my earnings are of a particular level and I can travel in one kind of car It’s not suddenly that I can purchase a very posh car and I can move around in that that may require changes in external situations So we recognise that externally also we are limited by certain things But right now we are looking at how we are internally limited by our past the topic was How free is our free will how much is fate a room? How does fate leave room for free will and how does free free will leave room for fate? So now imagine that There there is a now this is wall imagine if there were nails over here And very closely spaced nails an array of nails say 20 nails vertically 20 layers horizontally 50 nails vertically Just an array of nails were there And then they’re very very small very closely spaced the space between them is very less And then I throw a marble from above Now normally the space between them is such that the marble can just pass through it Now the now because the space is very little the marble may fall on the nail Now when the marble falls on the nail the marble can fall on the left side or on the right side left now if Everything happens just by random Then sometimes the marble may fall on left sometimes the marble may fall on right And by the time it comes down through all those 50 The array of 50 nails it will more or less if we leave it to probability It will be more or less in the same vertical direction in which it was on top So it started from here. Sometimes it went here. Sometimes it went here.
Sometimes it went here Sometimes it went here 50 50 probability would be there approximately and it would more or less maintain the same trajectory Now when the marble is falling like this Because there are so many nails over there. The marble can suddenly cannot suddenly just take a Different trajectory and if it is coming like this, it can’t suddenly go like that over there But at the same time When the marble falls if at each time the marble moves rightwards It can fall towards the left it can fall towards the right It falls towards the right falls towards the right falls towards the right fall towards the right falls towards the right Now by the time it comes down the 50 at the array of 50 marbles. It will be at a significantly different position if at each juncture it took a Right turn right turn as compared to if it had just randomly come down So what is this? array of nails and marble represent actually the array of marbles represents the inner obstacles that we face And if that sort of the array of nails represents the inner obstacles and the marble is we our consciousness So we leave it to our we leave it to random now if I want to overcome some habit Say I have a habit of over eating And I want to avoid that So now if I just leave leave it to myself, sometimes I will over it.
Sometimes I will not over it Then what will happen over a period of time in general? I’ll just be the way I am So I won’t change But if I consciously choose So each time the marble moves in one direction one direction Now remember the marble if it is here from here, it cannot just jump here at that level because it is limited by the Nails that are there, but we’re consciously moving moving moving small small steps What happens is at the end? The difference is dramatic so actually The marbles progress is evolutionary Revolutionary But the result is revolutionary So the each step the change that is the revolution a little little little change is there But the difference in the end result is revolutionary the same way when we Want to practise spiritual life. So all of us have free will And whenever we face any tempting situation whenever you face any situation where our past Mindsets create certain Behavioural patterns or make certain behavioural patterns natural for us So at that time if you consciously resolve Okay, this way I’ll move this way. I’ll move this I’ll move this way So every time I take food, I’ll plan I’ll take this much not this much not this not this or whatever it may be I don’t want to spend too much time watching TV, whatever so I decide so each time I take a step in the right direction What is happening the trajectory is changing the trajectory is changing so actually speaking our even our inner conditions Are changeable We get a particular card.
So it’s like when a person is playing a game of cards Now all of us in one sense destiny Gives us the set of cards that we play with But it is our free will which determines how we play with the set of cards that we get Some people some people may get a very good hand some people may get a poor hand But still if a person plays expertly even with the poor hand the person can get a good result Somebody else even with a good hand if the player plays carelessly the player may end up losing the game also So that means some of us may from a even from internal point of view may be given a bad hand In the sense that we have too many conditionings. We have too many irritations from the mind and too many troubles, but It is up to us to play And we have room so we make choices At practically every moment some choices are very important. Some choices are not so important, but Every choice makes a difference so actually speaking in general When we want to make a change in any way in our life So the idea that religion will make us helpless indicates that There is a misconception that actually nothing is in my hands.
Everything is in the control of God But that is not the teaching of any religion at all Now all the religions that are there in the world all the scriptures that are there in the world They tell us They get that there are certain things we should do and certain things we should not do They’re called prescriptions and proscriptions So prescriptions are do’s proscriptions are don’ts Now If we were entirely controlled Then there would be no meaning to these prescriptions and proscriptions Because if everything is in our hands if our entire behaviour is entirely controlled Then what is the meaning in God telling us through scriptures do this and don’t do this? Because it’s not in our hands. We are going to act in particular ways only So the very fact that scriptures contain do’s and don’ts Indicate that we do have freedom And by acting according to scriptures, what are we doing? We are actually Tapping the grooves that God has provided What do I mean by the grooves that God has provided? Remember I mentioned the grooves? So if there is a passageway for water to go this way, it’ll just flow this way So the scriptural guidelines that are given the rules that are given in scriptures They are like grooves which take us towards God So when we chant 16 rounds or when we Take darshan of the deities when we study the scriptures. What are we doing? We are tapping the God-given grooves, which will take our consciousness towards God So in this way by going along by doing these things which are recommended in the scriptures we create a Facility An arrangement within our mind for our thoughts to go towards God And the more the thoughts go towards God the more they go they go towards good things And then we are able to do we have better thoughts and function better in life so do we have How free is our free will it depends on how much we use it how we use it So the more we use it properly our free will will come more and more and more The less we use it properly that means every time some impulse comes along and we act according that impulse Then we will become weaker and weaker in the exercise of our free will So just like when there’s an addict now What happens in the case of an addict addiction Actually when the addict starts off At that particular time the addict initially maybe has a desire.
Let me explore. What is this? Let me let me smoke one. Let me drink one.
Let me take some drugs once But every time a person Indulges in that particular activity a groove in the mind is created and then the thoughts go faster and faster towards us And then over a period of time it may appear like this. It will become irresistible But as I said this whole thing is not irreversible it is reversible Not just in the negative sense that we can We can change the negative thought patterns that we have But it’s changeable in the sense that also we can create positive thought patterns so some people we may find that they are very atheistic So now they seem to have some agenda against god only It appears some people are born to Born for the condemnation of god. They think it is their mission in life To condemn god now what has happened in such people They have got certain experiences those experiences scarred them mentally And then the atheistic thoughts that are there the atheistic tendencies that are there They have become stronger and stronger in them and that’s why Anything that they see they interpret in atheistic terms Anything and everything that they see just see the bad out of it So now on the other hand some people may have very spiritual attitude so Why does this happen? It depends on the kind of Thoughts that we have fed in our mind over here so for example now suppose somebody Is a practising devotee and then the devotee falls sick and the devotee dies Somehow some atheists may say okay.
This devotee the devotee fell sick and devotee died Where was god where did god why did not god protect him and actually there’s no god The very fact that somebody devoted himself or herself to god died means there is no god Now somebody else could see it Actually this person You know by one’s own past karma how long we live in a particular body is more or less fixed This person was supposed to die, but it’s so fortunate That while he was in this life itself and the person got a opportunity to come to god Connected Oneself with god and then with that connection established Then left the body and that connection to establish that is an eternal asset and that will continue on lifetime after lifetime the same event depending on the kind of Attitude that we have developed Through the past that we can interpret it differently so Now I’ll make one last point and then we can have further question answers so the scriptures tell us that When we want to change ourselves, there are two aspects to the inner change The one is conviction and the other is commitment So conviction is The inner acceptance. Okay. This is good.
This is bad. This is the way I want to be This is the way I don’t want to be So So when the conviction is there internally then the commitment comes commitment means doing it so conviction means Deciding this is good. This is wrong and not just deciding in terms of Just making uh saying it but actually feeling internally.
This is what I want. This is what I don’t want to do So on the other hand commitment means now I have made a point. This is what i’m going to do and let me start doing it so Often we feel that my willpower is not very strong You know, I decide to do things But i’m just not able to do it Actually More often than not the problem is not in our willpower the problem is Something more fundamental That is not our willpower.
It is our vision power Vision power means what? Willpower is about doing things vision power means vision is seen so You know before we decide Okay, this is what i’m going to do what i’m not going to do Now we have to ask am I really convinced that I want to do this. I don’t want to do this So generally for examples when the scriptures tell us that material things cannot make us happy Then when we hear this there is a part. There is a part of us Which secretly disbelieves it Things can make me happy so many people are happy.
I’ll become happy also so this When there is lack of inner conviction Then that lack of inner conviction Sabotages is entered, you know, what is the sabotage in a war is there that that time? Two enemies are going to come and fight both of them have got their fighter tanks And now in the fair fight both of them will come right each in front of each other and fight But the enemy can send some spies And then the spies actually put some bombs right under the enemy fire tank only And then before the fire tank can go and fight the fire tank explodes So then that is a sabotage that means before the war can happen itself the efforts for war are disrupted The arrangements for war are disrupted So actually speaking often we feel that when I try to do something i’m not able to do it because I don’t have enough willpower But the problem is often not with the willpower The problem is with the underlying conviction. So willpower means commitment. I decide to do it, but i’m not able to do it But it’s not that we decide we decide to do it and we’re not able to do it.
Actually we are indecisive about the decision itself that means We are internally not convinced that I want to do it So that’s why it’s very important if we want to exercise our free will to refresh our convictions What do I mean by refresh our convictions? Refreshing our convictions means that okay. This is what I want to do Then why do I want to do it? So then I have to have some reasons for it and I write down those reasons. I look at those reasons again so every time when we Refresh those convictions That means at that time we are giving ourselves The inner boost to be able to act externally See what determines? our actions It’s not just our capacity to do those actions it is also our desire to do those actions For example, there is a person who has good enough muscles where the person can lift up a weight But if the person doesn’t feel why do I take the trouble to lift up the weight? Then I will not lift up the weight So what I need is not only the muscles to lift up a weight, but I also need I need to lift up the weights So I have to have that conviction.
So when we come in the association of devotees and study scripture In a sense What are we doing? We are building our underlying conviction When the conviction is built and the commitment will come In 6.24 in the Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna says Gradually step by step Buddhadhati gruhitaya means intelligence Sustained by conviction with intelligence sustained by conviction. What should you do? Bring the mind under control Bring the mind under control do not let it go anywhere else so if we Refresh our convictions regularly We will be able to rejuvenate our commitments What I want to do I have to keep reminding myself. Why do I want to do this? If I keep reminding myself regularly why I want to do it That will give us the inner motivation the inner fuel by which we will be able to do it otherwise You know, as I said, there are there is a higher self.
There is a lower place There’s a part of us which wants to become better and there’s a part of us which wants to stay as it is so now For at some time in the part of us which wants to become better is stronger at that time. We move forward But then after some time The part which doesn’t want to be improved doesn’t want to take the trouble to change that can come and Sabotage put a bomb underneath and just remove our convictions So that’s how when it happens then we lose the opportunity the impetus To change ourselves. So to the extent we strengthen our conviction our free will will become more and more free So you know in the when the nazi inquisition camp nazi camps when the germans were sentencing the By sending the jews to the gas chambers So how did that actually happen? And actually there were uh, this has been studied.
It’s not that all germans were evil, but practically all the germans at that time participated Consented either directly or indirectly in the killing of lakhs and lakhs of jews in the gas chambers So, how did that happen? Actually, it was a gradual process of desensitisation Desensitisation means for example when the jews were sent out to the gas chambers Now what they had that they would do is they would have some soothing music going on So not all the times but sometimes so what would happen the music would create a sense of comfort And a sense of comfort is there and people just become lulled into complacency gas chambers similarly Then before that when hitler came to power So it is not that suddenly he started to set up gas chambers and started sending people to sending the jews to the gas chambers You know, for example if in india if somebody starts labelling this particular community is evil And let us kill all people of that community So the other people would not agree. They’ll be uproar against that. But how it worked was first they said Actually, these people are evil Why because you know they did this they did this they did this they did this And then slowly the propaganda went on when something went wrong and then the jew children were attacked when this has happened that happened Then over a period of time people actually they’ve done so much bad.
This is what should happen to them So I suppose some in the school there were some jew children the other children came and ganged up and beat the jew child Why for no reason except the child is a jew So what would happen is? Everybody said you are a jew. That’s what you deserve And that it started and then if there was a jew criminal somebody was Accused of a crime you are a jew. You must be a criminal And the person will not be given a fair trial the person will be punished more And as this labelling became more and more first there was beating in schools Then there was beating up in prison cells and then there was overall total takeover where You know just because the person was jew the person was considered to be worthless enough to be sent to a sent to a gas chamber so similarly You know Our moral values which are there.
We don’t lose them overnight We lose them by a gradual process of desensitisation Desensitisation means That when we start off on a particular course of action It’s not that when the person starts smoking the person thinks i’m going to become a chain smoker. Nobody thinks like that But there is a gradual desensitisation that happens first. I take one Then one is no big deal.
Nothing happened. Then I took two then I take five then I take ten And then I can’t live without it So what happens is when we study scriptures regularly Then the scriptures present us with the right standards And then when this desensitisation starts happening What happens in our current culture? Materialism is so rampant No, in fact, there is always good people. They’re always sinful people throughout history but in modern society Sin is glamorised as fashionable Sin is glamorised as if it is fashionable In movies when there are sexually implicit scenes and they are called as bold scenes Actually, it’s not bold scenes.
They’re shameless scenes But Now when the word use is bold, who doesn’t want to be bold, you know Maybe it’s just how the values are shaped by the language the values are shaped by vocabulary now in the future you know now people who are Sexually explicit they are called bold then in the future people who wear modest dresses. They will be called as cowards Who knows and then who wants to be a coward after that? So what happens is the society gradually desensitises us desensitises us And when you become desensitised what happens is our moral values our moral conscience Becomes dead end and even when we start doing wrong things wrong things wrong. We don’t understand it only And suddenly what happened? I was like that.
How did I become like this? So because there was desensitisation that was happening and there was no Reorientation that was happening So when we come to when we come in the association of devotees and we study scriptures Then this desensitisation is going to happen inevitably because we live in a materialistic culture but then when we come in the association of devotees, there is a Resensitization. Resensitization means we become resensitive. This is right.
This is wrong. We become insensitive desensitive, but become resensitive again So in general when we make some resolves also often we find that we are thrown off track I want to do a particular thing, but suddenly I go off track but the point is a devotee Is defined not by how the devotee falls but by how the devotee rises Now we’ll all fall but how we rise When the plane is going say from mumbai to calcutta Actually, if you ask pilots 90 percent of the time the plane is off track 90 percent of the time you know How is that? Actually speaking although there is a clear path known from mumbai to calcutta The environmental conditions the clouds the atmosphere such that a straight linear path can never be taken So if 90 percent of the time the plane is off track and how does the plane reach the destination? it’s because The pilot is consciously bringing the plane back on track Now if you see the person is driving a car It is sometimes if you look at when the person is driving if the road is smooth and there’s not much traffic The driver doesn’t seem to be doing much. He’s just sitting there and just a little bit moving a wheel This way a little bit moving the wheel this way.
It’s a very comfortable thing to do but You know, it’s not so easy if the driver goes to sleep then many people will go to a permanent sleep Isn’t it? So what does the driver have to do see the vehicle? By default will go off track Now if you just if the person is not you holding on to the steering wheel turning it around By default you will go off track. What does the driver do is bring it back on track bring it back on track Bring it back on track so similarly By nature there is the lower self within us which will take us off track which will take us off track again and again and again So what we have to do is when we go off track bring ourselves back on track Don’t be surprised or irritated or dejected when we go off track Expect it. That’s what is going to happen You know expect it.
We are going to go off track And what do we do when we go off track bring ourselves back on track just because we have gone off track doesn’t mean That we are useless or hopeless or incorrigible or that we don’t have willpower. No, it is a very nature That we will go off track, but we have the capacity as soon as we realise i’ve gone off track. Let me bring me on track So what gets the pilot what gets the plane? From its starting point to the ending point is the pilot’s constant Intent focus.
This is where I want to go. The plane goes off track. Bring it back on track Goes off track bring it back on track.
So similarly We shouldn’t become discouraged when I come to the temple, you know, I get such nice thoughts. I feel so good but as soon as I go out all sorts of Peculiar thoughts nasty thoughts are coming in my mind Am I really becoming a devotee? Am I really changing? Am I really better human beings? We may get doubts like that, but actually those other thoughts may come we bring them back we bring them back And in that way we will improve but this will lead to Improvement not just in spiritual standards in terms of our coming closer to god It will also lead to mental improvement because we’ll be able to tap our talents better when we have a greater control over our feelings Then we can tap our we can tap our abilities better and perform better So in that way what Krishna consciousness offers us is all-round success Now we’ll get spiritual success. We’ll develop love for Krishna, but even in this world We will be able to use whatever talents and resources Krishna has given to the fullest potential Otherwise, if we are internally jittery, if we have a weak We’re not able to tap our willpower and we’re not able to perform also properly So I’ll summarise and then we can have question answers.
I started the today’s topic was how free is our free will? So then I started by this point that you know Vice person understands that the results are not entirely in my hands And then when we see the results are not in our hands There are two things the external obstacles and the internal obstacles So player may play very well, but then The environment the circumstances conspire in a way that the player doesn’t get the win the match Or sometimes the player wants to perform well, but is out of touch can’t play well That means internally there are some problems So we focus on the internal problems and we discuss this acknowledgement And everybody knows even players they have their own superstitions by which they try to Get that which is not in their power into their control So Then we discussed about to understand these inner obstacles. We took the example of advertisements You know The advertisements are there externally and then they create certain feelings on the internal So similarly, there are internal advertising internal holdings So lust or greed is a thing as well as a feeling the thing in terms of that There is a mental groove which makes me go towards Uh, which lust for things be greedy for things whatever and along with that I have those feelings Which make me uh, which I accept and act on at certain times Then what this is both this is because of our past karma, but can we change ourselves? Yes the example of a Array of nails and a marble going through it a small small choices according to a plan for self-improvement Over a period of time we can see a radical change in ourselves And we can do this by our efforts, but if we take Help of god’s efforts. What do you mean by god’s efforts? You know when there are certain grooves created in the mind then the water just water flows in a particular groove Similarly the mind thoughts go in a particular way But when we practise the principles given in scriptures, then we create positive groups So when we make a habit of chanting a habit of studying scripture We make a habit of taking darshan of the deities Then we are creating positive grooves, which will take our thought towards krishna And the more our thoughts go towards krishna thoughts become godly thoughts become good and then we are able to act And then in the concluding part I discussed about When we are practising a spiritual life often we feel that I don’t have the willpower to change But what is lacking is not the capacity to bring about the change It is actually the conviction the wanting to bring about the change And to get that bring about that change there has to be a constant refreshment of our commitments When we constantly refresh our commitments, that means by regularly studying scripture So writing down if I want to change why do I want to change and repeatedly reading that? Then just as a plane will go off track, but we can bring it back on track And that’s how it reaches us and similarly we can move forward and reach the destination are there any questions yes There’s the mic Too much into intoxication and you know get too much into being a deity but It seems that the grooves are not in their case.
They are still very enthusiastic They are they don’t seem to be underage. They are still very active At least from the materialistic point of view and in my case particularly if I have to share I feel I am not very enthusiastic but under more or feeling lazy So this what you mentioned that this is more like a It is more like a progression the way we act that is how we are influenced but When we observe other people it seems that it is not happening. So is it that this there is more to it? So sometimes we see that people seem to have very low moral standards and they often make wrong choices, but still they seem to be enthusiastic and Seem to be able to do or get a lot of things done also See here also we have to understand that some people by their past karma are given certain abilities to do certain things now, for example You know happiness and humour are not the same thing And your person may have a capacity to be very humorous Spontaneously jokes come in the mind the person cracks jokes and everybody laughs around But just because a person has the capacity for humour Doesn’t necessarily mean that the person is happy The person may internally have a lot of cravings A lot of anxieties a lot of agitations and that humour may just be a way by which the person is trying to put a mask on it So now the capacity for humour Is a result of past good karma But Happiness actually comes by making wise choices Now the person if he’s always thinking of things which one doesn’t have and is craving for them The person may be able to crack good jokes because the person will not be happy so similarly just as A person can be humorous, but not happy Similarly a person may be very So we could say greedy in one sense But at the same time the person is very competitive in all the things So, how does that work that competence that is there Is a result of some past good karma for example Some people, you know, if they talk about spirituality And they seem to have profound insights when they talk about Spirituality is a profound but then if you look at their lives They are they are often they fall prey to terribly pathetic material temptations That means the capacity to speak and capacity to process That is something which they got by past karma but actually You can speak about god.
We can talk about god also But to develop love of god is something entirely different So the capacity to speak and talk to think to speak about god analyse about god that can or anything in general What god or anything in general that capacity intellectual capacity verbal capacity that is a result of past good karma But that alone doesn’t make a person happy It’s actually not just the abilities that we have But the attitude that we develop So now some people may be very enthusiastic about certain things But just enthusiasm for a thing doesn’t necessarily make a person happy if i’m enthusiastic for a wrong thing Then that enthusiasm May be mean that i’m actually probably some people are Proudly and boldly marching towards health So what is happening is they’re proud and they’re bold, but they’re they’re going in the wrong direction So it is possible that in some cases people have enthusiasm So there is a saying that the problem with the world is that the foolish are cocksure and the wise are doubtful The foolish are cocksure People are so confident if india wins the champions trophy There are so many So many world cups so many championships have come and gone But people are ready to spend so much so this is what happens So they have so much confidence in that but on the other hand now they’re devotees, you know, i’m chanting hare krishna Does krishna really exist? Or maybe I might be the body, you know, I don’t see the soul anywhere Yeah So the foolish are confident and the wise are doubtful now, why does that happen actually? Even our desire also determines our faith If I just want to believe something Then krishna says you want to believe this so strongly. Okay, believe even if it is not true You think by believing this and doing this you’ll become happy then i’ll use that belief so krishna says that When a person wants a particular kind of faith krishna says I’ll give that faith 7.20 when he describes this Why because that’s what the person wants to do so in such situations where we find that Some materialistic people with low moral standards seem to have a lot of competence a lot of enthusiasm We have to understand the difference between What they are right now Because of their past and what they are going to become because of their present choices So they have certain capacities that is because of their past The capacity to process information the capacity to analyse the capacity to do whatever they’re doing the talents These are what they have got by their past But if they’re making wrong choices Now there are going to be consequences for that Does that answer your question? Are the talents and the tendencies of the mind Not correlated They are definitely But there is also The difference that the tendencies of the mind don’t trouble a person all the time See for example now There are many very very brilliant scientists and philosophers Who are brilliant in their scientific research? But if you look at their personal life, for example, stephen hawking is one of the biggest scientists in the world in terms of his brain capacity now physically he is in a very Uh, very bad condition But his brain is phenomenal So now with that brain he’s done his uh, he’s done a lot of Research about physics but then Although it’s in such a case what happened is You know, he was very sickly and he had He had a christian wife was very dutifully serving him and then assisting him he had a nurse And from that physical condition he had affair with his nurse And even his sons his children got disgusted with it. No, your wife was serving you so much as a condition Why do you have to do that? So what was the response? I wanted to prove that i’m a man Such a perverse idea then how do I prove that i’m man by having extramarital affair? Now this is the moral standard of a person who’s considered one of the biggest scientific brains in the world Now, what does now here i’m not criticising science per se i’m just talking about recognising the difference Between the intellectual talent that a person has and the moral value that a person has So what happens is when the mind comes up with its passions? It comes at certain times and that time they just overpower a person person does all kinds of things And then apart from that the person has the intellectual talent the person keeps using those talents So our talents and mind’s tendencies They are different The tendencies affect us at times and that time they can completely grip and shake us But there are talents if we have if we have certain talents, we have those talents Somebody is a very smooth talker Now just because the person is smooth talker that person by the smooth talking may be able to Persuade others and get others trust So that smooth talking is a talent But that doesn’t mean that the person Is very thoughtful or sensitive or considerate or trustworthy? so We need to differentiate between the talent that a person has And the tendencies that a person then the tendencies of the mind So radhantmara says in one lecture that you have to speak about god to To speak about god just to memorise and speak scripture just require some good karma from the past life But to actually believe in the scripture and to live the scripture Requires the blessings of the great souls So we serve krishna we serve the devotees we get the blessings and then we can believe and we can live according to what we have So of course if somebody has the karma to speak and to memorise we should use that karma But we shouldn’t get confused between the two things is it clear any other question yes Yeah, where is the mic? So who is actually guru the word guru actually one who takes towards the light That is a guru Namasoma Jyotirgama the opposite of the sky go away from light go away from darkness towards the light so guru Gu guru the words gu and ru what do they mean? There’s from darkness towards light.
That’s what the word guru means the word guru has many meanings So one of the meanings only takes from darkness towards light so this is Referring to the darkness of matter to the light of spirit So the guru is one who helps us to understand spiritual reality and to go towards spiritual reality so Who is a one who is the actual guru? So now the guru is to take us towards spiritual reality and the guru Should be situated in the spiritual reality, isn’t it? so So he described that Brahmanishtam the bhagavatam the scriptures describe that the guru is situated in spiritual reality And the guru can transfer the devotee the disciple to the spiritual reality. Now, how do we know somebody’s situation spiritual reality? That is by looking at the life of a person So yes, we look at the what the person speaks, but also how the person lives So how what a person speaks means the person is constantly talking simply about materialistic things The person is not really situated in spiritual reality So along with that not the person should talk about god and not why does the person talk about god because the person sees that You know living in god Is so much more joyful so much more fulfilling instead of as compared to living in other things That’s why the person wants others also to come to that level of reality And then the person who is living in god is not attached to worldly things That doesn’t necessarily mean that the person has to live in poverty But the idea is whatever material things a guru uses uses it For the service of god and to help others come close to god. So the bhagavatam also describes So bhakti is the process by which gives us Anubhav That is anubhav is experience.
Isha is god Para is transcendental. So para isha anubhav means what? experience of the transcendental lord so actually When krishna is like a powerhouse of happiness is a reservoir of happiness When we connect with krishna, we become surcharged with happiness. So where does this happiness come from? Through the connection with krishna.
So bhakti Is the process that gives us experience of god And now when you say experience of god, it’s not that I go to picture of krishna and touch the feet of krishna I’ll get some happiness Yeah, we can do that. We can do blessings of krishna, but the contact is through devotion And when there is experience of god, the result is that The person becomes detached from other things So the internal symptom of bhakti is that I experience god internally And the external symptom is that One doesn’t care for other things too much. We’re not attached.
We’re not dependent on other things so actually speaking The real spiritual master is one who has experienced god And how do we know that person experienced god because that simple person simply wants to share that experience of god with others And not really caught up in material things And then after that, how do we know about? Why are there so many Gurus who are fake godmen and how do we discriminate discern between the two? actually There is a tremendous lack of education In the whole realm of religion and spirituality and because of that People are very non very non-discriminating in terms of understanding Or evaluating what they are following So it’s like when I’m sick I go to any doctor who catches my fancy or any person who claims to be a doctor The problem is that often That imagine actually when I go to a doctor when I’m sick, I feel miserable And then if the doctor’s treatment work, I feel healthy But If I did not know what is sickness and did not know what is health Then I did would not have no I would practically have no parameter of knowing whether doctor is true and the doctor’s treatment is working or not Isn’t it? So actually speaking when people go to a spiritual teacher They don’t know what is the problem And what is the solution? So in general most people confuse The mental to be the spiritual What do you mean by mental to be the spiritual they expect that if I go to a go to somebody Uh, who just makes my mind peaceful and that’s very spiritual So before I was introduced to ISKCON I had gone to one spiritual teacher Spiritual in double quotes and then he gave a talk and after that he said that now I will offer all of your spiritual experience So all of them became very interested and then he said Close your eyes Relax on your chair Imagine that you’re on the banks of the river The wind is blowing Your hair is rising You can feel all the tension from your muscles going Above you is the vast Blue sky There are blackish clouds moving in the sky The river is moving Gently as the river flows calmly your thoughts are flowing calmly You’re feeling calm. You’re feeling calm. You’re feeling calm So how did you feel? Calm So that was the spiritual experience for us Very good actually speaking now Yes, if I visualise I may feel calm But feeling calm doesn’t take away calm No What that means is I can visualise and I may feel a little bit calm but what Makes me restless is my own agitating desires So calm, growth, love these are the desires if those desires are not purified I may feel calm by projecting my thoughts in a particular image But after some time those desires will again come and agitate me so just by Pacifying myself.
I am not purifying myself the difference between pacification and purification If a person is a drug addict Just imagine a place where the where a person doesn’t feel any desire for drugs Whether no drugs the person is very happy You can imagine like that But those desires for drugs are not going to go away And that person is not going to feel free and peaceful Unless that person is helped to become free from those desires So similarly our own uncontrolled lust anger greed envy pride illusion these causes agitation and many many Spiritual teachers they will speak in such a way. They will have some music. They will have some very charismatic pleasing talk and personality and people will say please and then this is the thing when they feel peaceful Then this is spiritual But actually it’s not spiritual.
It’s simply mental so when we actually provide spiritual education to people When people study the bhagavad-gita study the scriptures and then they understand what spirituality actually is then they will be able to discern Okay, these spiritual teachers are actually here to do good to you. These people who claim to be spiritual They’re here simply to make money simply to exploit us and then we can Have benchmarks by which we can differentiate Is it clear? Yes Yeah, actually I have not discussed many of the questions that happen that directly related the movie because My idea was that as I mentioned the first class only that I had taken a Sunday programme here in Radha Gopinath temple on this topic And I had thought most of the devotees who would be coming would have already attended that programme So that’s why I did this was like a in one sense an advanced session The basic points of the movie are already covered. But yes, I can address this Yes in the movie It was shown that Say a lot of expensive cloth and other things are spent on the temples and the deities and for our sake In that way a lot of money which could be used for humanitarian purposes Is apparently wasted on god.
So why does that happen? Is it right? So actually there are two distinct issues over here Now when it is very curious that People become concerned for the poor Only when money is spent on god That means Now when money is spent on other activities according to the UNESCO statistics No, not UNESCO UNICEF statistics Okay, according basically UN statistics that the amount of money that the European Union and America spent on perfumes That amount is so astronomical if that money were used instead to Feed poor people And there will be no starving people anywhere in the world Just perfumes not even all cosmetics not all personal care products just perfumes So now why do people spend so much money on perfumes? Now that’s because people identify with the body so much You know, I am the body so I have to look good. I have to smell good It’s not that we are making campaign against perfumes over here. That’s not the point here.
The point is that often Disproportionate amounts of money are spent on things that are non-essential So if we see why don’t we critique that? or for that matter We see that There is the whole entertainment industry And phenomenal amounts of money are spent on it. In fact, the entertainment industry is practically one of the biggest industries in the world now People if we compare somebody watching movies and somebody somebody spending money and watching a movie And somebody is starving we could say that starvation is far more a serious problem than watching a movie And why not take even a small fraction of the money that is used in entertainment and use it for caring for the poor that doesn’t happen so If you see even this movie itself, it says that In religion is used To make money. There’s a dialogue You take take people’s faith and make money out of it But if we see what did omg do omg was produced with 30 crores, but it made 80 crores And the whole movie is about criticism of religion.
So what was it doing? It was doing Ninda So it is basically doing Criticism of religion making money out of that So certainly the point is not that Money should be wasted on anything Actually, if we talk about money that is spent on god, what is the purpose that is served by that? So if we are if we are concerned about poor then why target money spent on god? There are so many other areas in which people are spending money so frivolously in so many things So we don’t Raise questions about that but with respect to religious rituals Which do seem to involve spending a lot of money. We need to understand that god Is the supreme being and whatever we offer to god actually Contributes to manifesting his glory in this world and attracting people to him So when there is a big temple say when there are very beautiful dresses for the deities when there are gorgeous decorations When there are opulent abhisheks Actually speaking by all this The glory of god becomes manifested and then people come To see that in pune A few months ago. We had a big temple And the big temple was built the president of india came to inaugurate the temple and then after that Hundreds and hundreds of people almost thousands of people come every day And they come to the temple Not because krishna is present in the temple, but if the president came to see the temple We should also go to see the temple So the logic is what people are attracted to big and attractive things So when the best the biggest and the most attractive things are offered to god Then people come towards god so The rituals that are there So Just for the bigness of the temple the grandeur of the temple at one level it attracts people towards god Vishnu Prabhupada was once in a Doing an interview in hong kong and they were in a five-star hotel they had during the interview So one reporter says swamiji You are a monk.
You’re an annunciator. Does it befit you to be in a five-star hotel? So Prabhupada said, you know, I can live under a tree But if I had organised a press conference under a tree, would you have come? So the first point which i’m making is of attraction You know when there are gorgeous grand things that attracts people towards god Then you say okay. What is so big deal? What is the big deal about attracting people towards god? Actually, when people become attracted to god That transforms them How does it transform them? It makes them less lusty less greedy less materialistic less possessive and then that itself Reduces much of the problems that are there in the world Because people are more and more greedy and possessive about things So, for example, if you want to more in more empirical terms You know if you’re concerned about poor Yes, instead of offering some money to god you could offer it to a poor person Uh beggar that would solve the beggars problem of hunger maybe for one meal But then if you look deeper Why are people hungry? No, it is not just that there’s no money or there’s no food there is a huge amount of misdirection of natural resources So many people drink liquor Now liquor, how does it come about for that? There are hundreds thousands of acres of land, which is used to grow sugar cane Now if all the available land for this is actually The FAO statistics Food and Agriculture Organisation statistics If all the land that was available for irrigation for cultivation in the world if that were used for producing staple crops Then several times more of the current population of the world could be fed But the problem is this land is diverted to various other sources a sugar cane It’s not a vital commodity for our basic human consumption survival But huge tracts of land are used for sugar cane.
Why? Because people are addicted to drinking alcohol So now if that land would be used for growing crops, then the starvation problem could be nipped at the root but that won’t happen because So many people are addicted to alcohol. So when people come towards god They get a higher taste and they become free from the influence of alcohol similarly with respect to meat eating actually when people eat meat for that they have to Grow the animals and for that animals have to be fed So now today more and more of the land that is available for cultivation Instead of instead of it being used to produce grains for human consumption. It is often used to produce fodder for livestock And it is actually a colossally inefficient process because this much amount of hay For respect to animal most of it is passed out as the waste product from the animals and a small part of it becomes the fat becomes the flesh in the animal so Even now this is an undeniable statistical fact that if you say the amount of land that Is required to feed one non-vegetarian person anywhere between 3 to 15 vegetarian people can be fed by that land depending on the environment and other factors what kind of use the land is put to So actually if people became closer to god And they became attracted to god.
They would become purified become purified of all these wasteful indulgences and then many more resources Financial as well as natural would become free for doing all wrong good to humanity So the rituals all of them have a purpose whatever often the decorations are done for god They have a purpose now. This doesn’t mean that everything that is done In the name of religion Is necessarily to be condoned there are many malpractices also that happen So we have to look at what is happening and whether that has any spiritual purpose And if it has any scriptural basis, so if it has a scriptural basis and a spiritual purpose that even if it involves some investment of Finances we don’t reject that. We are trying that actually it’s going to have a transformational effect on people’s hearts individually and then socially But there are many things which are just exploitative and they definitely need to be rejected.
Does that answer your question? Any other question? Yes, where is the mic? Okay The first question is that we discuss something that Which we uh follow One of them is uh, how are you doing? So when we discuss this and someone argues that um If i’m if i’m if you think that i’m killing an animal Uh, why do you think that i’m killing the animal because I cannot kill I’m just using this question and In the same way during this infarction Is there any specific Just Okay, let’s take these two questions first and I think the other question the two are related with respect to vegetarianism no See EFS If the meat eater may not be killing animals But actually speaking if the meat eater did not want to eat animals then the animals would not be killed So it’s like saying somebody hires a mercenary to murder somebody and then Uh, he said I did not kill Somebody else killed But why did the mercenary kill? Because somebody else hired him So similarly we may say that i’m not killing the animal but because I want to eat that’s why there is the whole Slaughterhouse and the meat industry which kills animals. So we do play a very vital role And if a person people stop eating meat and they just do naturally over a period of time cut down and close down now with respect to our plants There is definitely uh killing involved there is some pain involved also in it but Scientifically intuitively and logically there is a difference Scientifically is The amount of pain that we experience is dependent on the development of the nervous system So the nervous system in plants is far far less developed than in animals And that’s why the pain that the plants experience is far far lesser than what the animals experience and the the Tendency of any sensitive human being Is to if possible cause no pain at all if that’s not possible then cause as less pain as possible So as compared to the amount of pain that animals undergo because of the developed nervous system The amount of pain that the plants undergo is far far less That’s the scientific perspective and intuitively actually If We go to a slaughterhouse And if we go to a field where harvesting is happening The atmosphere is entirely different You go to a slaughterhouse Actually speaking the animals are screaming blood is there everywhere. It’s a very ghastly scene There was one John Lennon said that if the slaughterhouses had glass walls Everybody in the world would become vegetated But if we go to a place where plants are being cultivated crops are being cultivated and harvested The cheerful atmosphere people are often singing and they’re happy and jubilant at that particular time Now ask any parent The parent would they want their children would they allow them to go to a place where crops have been harvested? If they let them go would they allow the children to go to a slaughterhouse? Almost all parents will say no.
Why? Because intuitively we know there is a difference There is a big big difference And most of the cases when the crops are there the crops will anyway If they’re not harvested that time they’ll just rot and die The lifespan itself is very small fruits also when we eat fruits the fruits are they fall off the trees So on the other hand when we kill animals Actually, if you look at the crops the crops generally when they ripen and after that they just rot and die So their life is almost ending at that particular point of time whereas with respect to animals Generally, they are killed when they are at their When they are the most fleshy when they have killed the most flesh the most product so often animals are killed young And not only they kill young they are often just grown for the sake of killing So in many cases In the this is the third logical point of view in many cases there is not Directly killing in the sense premature killing there is inevitable death would be there but there is this natural Utilisation of that which is going to die anyway or fall off the trees anyway for this in vegetarian food But that’s not the case. There is a deliberate and premature ending of life often in very brutal ways In the case of animal slaughter and meat eating And that’s why the two are very very different Now with respect to explicit scriptural quotations, there are many Especially in the Srimad Bhagavatam in the first canto It is described in the 16th chapter that Actually in Kali Yuga Kali stays in four places Abhyartha, Tatha, Tasmai So King Parikshit Maharaj said that So actually the places where illicit sex happens where intoxication happens Duty is gambling and suna is animal slaughter So these are the four places where Kali resides now in the Vedic scriptures also in a few places some people can Pull out some obscure quote saying that in the Vedic times also people used to eat meat Yes, people used to eat meat That is true But that was always in some religious context that yajna would be there or in some temples There are some some animals are sacrificed in their eater. So what is the point of this? We have to understand the difference I think I discussed in earlier class the difference between the concession and the recommendation Now concession is what a doctor allows Because the patient wants it So for example, if a person has diabetes And the doctor’s instruction is take this medicine morning after meal But then and the doctor says don’t take any Any sugar And the patient says I can’t live without sugar and the patient protest and says okay you can take some sweet once a week So now the doctor’s Instruction is to take the medicine And taking the sweet is not an instruction.
That is a concession So similarly within the Vedic scriptures for those people who are very attached to eat meat For them it is there are some places where concessions are given that if you want to eat then you can you can in some Say for example some temples of the Kali you can cut a goat And make it in seven divisions take six divisions given in charity and take only one for our self oneself And that also can be done only once on a Mahavasya day So there are statements about meat-eating also in the scriptures But if you look at the overall trend of thoughts Mahabharata says that there are higher level higher religious principles and lower religious principles So the lower religious principle is that One can eat meat on special on some specific occasions that way at least the meat-eating Is regulated for people who can’t give it up But the higher religious principle is give up meat-eating entirely and the Bhagavatam says that These four activities Gambling intoxication meat-eating and illicit sex and the four pillars of sinful life And as long as the person doesn’t give them up and the person cannot actually truly move closer to God’s God or moral life Is this clear? Yes Yes I’m writing a book on reincarnation. So one of the topics of this is Outer body experiences. So how does this happen? And how do we know whether in specific cases it has happened? So you see This is the gross body is outside in the subtle body and there is a soul now and then outside the gross body is the Outer world outer reality So now How does normal perception occur? Normal perception means I say I am looking at you all of you looking at me.
So, how does this happen? The external objects come to the eye From the eye through the optic nerve they go to the brain From the brain actually the impressions go to the mind Now we have the faculty of vision at three levels We have a physical eye Then we say there is an inner eye the mental eye For example when our physical eye is closed and when we are dreaming At that time also we see some images Then most of the most dreams are visual There may be some audio sensations. There will be tactile sensations, but primarily many dreams are visual. So there is an inner eye And then the soul has its own spiritual eye also So now normally how does perception happen? So there is the external eye which sees an object Then through the optic nerve to the brain then through that to the subtle eye and then after that the perception occurs so now There are out of there is basically Near-death experiences and out-of-body experiences.
They are often clubbed together but near-death experiences means That when a person is near death person gets a heart attack or some accident and the person is taken to The hospital rushed to the hospital is given Artificial resuscitation and it’s brought back And then person has many experiences seem to be extraordinary So now these in general is extraordinary experiences that people have are called as near-death experiences So from the biological point of generally a person should just be unconscious because the brain is not functioning at that time So among the near-death experiences some people may say I went somewhere and I saw this and I saw that Now there is no way to verify whether those visions were actual visions or they were hallucinations But there is one aspect of near-death experiences which is called as out-of-body experience Out-of-body experiences means the person envisions that I was outside the body and from an out-of-body perspective the person sees the environment That means the doctor was here and the doctor was speaking this and the nurse was doing this So now These are very strong sort of evidence experiences if they are well documented Then they are very strong evidences that That consciousness does not originate in the brain You know, there is a very famous case of one Pam Reynolds She was a she was a lady she had a brain aneurysm that means Right at the bottom of the brain in the cranial cavity. She had a Tumour and then to remove that is nearly impossible. So there was doctor So there was a doctor Spinglow who had done this research and he had made an operation called operation standstill Then the operation standstill first of all the person is given an artificial cardiac arrest By which the heart stops beating And then the person is then the whole Blood from the body is drained out All the blood from the body is drained out And then the whole body stops functioning the brain stops functioning And from all parameters the person is dead There is no measure there is no measure of life There is no heartbeat because artificial cardiac arrest is being given then all the blood is drained out the brain There is no signal of activity in the brain and then after that the person’s head is open The brain is picked out and then at the bottom of the brain where there is the aneurysm the aneurysm is removed So it’s extremely risky and a very long operation So now in such a situation this Reynolds She described that when I was When I was doing the surgery, I saw that a doctor said this And then I was surprised that actually there’s somebody who’s doing something near my groyne and then she thought it’s brain surgery and what they were trying to do was To get the when the surgery when the heart does a cardiac arrest is given artificially Then they had to have some bypass so that they could have some backup arrangement created So there was a lady doctor who was a heart specialist who was there then this doctor main doctor was a brain specialist and she described the conversation that was going on in it And the doctor said afterward that there is no way The person can be aware of these things now.
These are very scientifically strong evidences Because firstly the person’s brain can be monitored and if the person reports make some claims If somebody says I went and I saw Jesus or I saw Yamaraj or I saw this or I saw that How do we know whether that is true or not? It may be it may not be when the Yeah Yes, I’m going to come to that So now Ajayam is speaking the Yamaraj and Vishnu’s again The point is this is a scriptural example, but there is if people are more sceptical if they want some empirical evidence This is paranormal. How do we provide any evidence for that? But with respect to these particular lectures, you know, the patient says something I spoke I heard the doctor speaking this with this And then we compare that with the medical records of the doctors Then it becomes very very clear That the person was unconscious at that time the person was able to report it So the there can that means within the near the experiences there can be certain experiences which are of higher realities Which are not perceivable to us But if the person reports something from our experience of reality, which that person could not have known And that becomes a very strong evidence. So, how does this happen? Now in the case of near the experiences In the specifically out of body experiences So the soul along with the subtle body use the body But and the soul doesn’t go to another body because the body is not Irreversibly destroyed And then because of the shock of that near the experiences, there’s a temporary Separation between the body and the soul the soul and subtle body come out and then the soul with the subtle eye pursues directly So Now the physical eye and the brain are inactive So that’s why the person should not be able to perceive anything But the person is able to perceive how does that happen because of the a subtle eye and the soul which has the faculty to see And now the most remarkable among the near the experiences Are done by some researchers who found that there were people who were blind and from birth They could not see anything but only in their near the experiences they saw What does that mean because their eyes were damaged so they could not see But the soul and the subtle body there is the faculty to see is there But the physical mechanism is obstructing them.
They can’t see but when there is no physical obstacle and the person is able to see So these are very strong evidences For the understanding that consciousness does not originate from the body But from something different from the body and consciousness can Exist and perceive independent of the body also Does it answer your question? Yeah You had a question? Okay. Yeah What is the difference between religion and spirituality? so Spirituality is like a higher dimensional science So now in science, there are two aspects there is theory and there is experiment So the theoretical aspect makes some postulations. So for example Newton proposed the law of gravity So that is a theory And then the experiment is okay.
I throw apple it falls down. I throw a stone up it falls down I’m not just here but in america in euro in different parts of the world and not just I anybody throws it falls down So the theory makes some postulations about reality and experiments provide us Some verifications for those postulations so similarly In spirituality there are two aspects there is philosophy and there is religion So philosophy Provides a certain postulation. For example, I am not the body.
I am the soul So there is a proposition that is a theory that is like the theory in science and religion Is like the experiment so religion would be okay if I am the soul and The soul is actually happy then to the extent I become spiritually conscious to the extent I’ll become happy So then religion provides us means by which we can we can verify Theories that are given by philosophy. So then I chant hare krishna. I take darshan of the deities.
I participate in kirtans I experience some higher happiness by that So then that provides me verification So spiritual material science is experimental spiritual science is experiential Experientially the experiment has to be performed on ourselves In the laboratory of our own consciousness And we get the experiences So now that means religion is one limb of spirituality Now what happens is shila prabhupada would say that if there is A Philosophy without religion Then that is just mental speculation That means some people say that There’s some people who just don’t practise anything you speculate Maybe god exists. Maybe god doesn’t exist Some philosophers who sit in an armchair on sunday afternoon in an air-conditioned room And then maybe god exists there is so much design in the world Maybe god exists but then they look at the news Um, so many people so much destruction in uttaranchal How can god exist maybe god doesn’t exist but anyway the pleasure in this liquor exists, so let me drink So there is no practise So if we just stay at a theoretical level, we will never be able to understand whether there is any higher reality or not So religion essentially is meant to be a set of methods Set of activities which give us experience of the spiritual reality On the other hand if there is only religion and there is no philosophy Religion without philosophy is at best sentimentalism and at worst fanaticism Sentimentalism means anybody says something good. Oh, this is a great saint.
This is a great spiritual teacher You know, that is sentimental fanaticism means my way is the only way If you are not following my way My teacher is the way to god if you’re not following my way You are going to go to hell and I will help you get there faster So There are people who are fanatical like that. So why because they don’t understand the philosophy So people just get caught up in their external rituals without understanding their purpose So there has to be a balance. So spirituality becomes a science when the philosophical And the religious aspects are integrated together Okay Any other questions? Yes Okay Many of the godmen have huge fan following.
Is there any hope? Alternately we have to understand this age of this is current age is the age of Kali Yuga and in Kali Yuga people Are of two kinds. There are people who are overtly materialistic and there are people who are covertly materialistic Overtly materialistic means they don’t want to have nothing to do with god All that they want is just wholesale unrestricted materialistic enjoyment And there are other people for whom Religion is if they have some religions, they have some spirituality that is primarily for cosmetic purposes that means You know, so people say that You know, this is my car This is my refrigerator. This is my iPod and this is my guru So their guru is just like a fashion item One or one more trendy thing that person does So spirituality is often just a social cosmetic So there are people who have that kind of attitude And there will be people who will cater to that so When we say is there hope we have to understand that krishna is always ready to offer guidance And how many people will get that guidance? That depends on the individual sincerity See if people want religion just as a social cosmetic And that’s what they will get but if people are actually searching now, what is the is there some higher reality? If they’re just inquisitive seriously Then there is the paramatma in the heart and that paramatma will guide them to the right place And then they will come and as devotees we can help by spreading awareness about krishna consciousness not just about One particular institution but about the principles of spirituality that are universal So we are not here just to convert everybody to one organisation.
We are here to raise people’s spiritual awareness So when we tell people about universal spiritual principles and offer them understanding of the spiritual truths Then they will also develop some discernment so in general How we should see it is that there are so many gurus that are so many spiritual teachers godmen are flourishing because many people want Spirituality just as a social cosmetic. They don’t want spirituality as a means of personal transformation Or spiritual realisation or as a means towards god So whatever they want they’re getting but along with that there are also many people who are seeking So if they’re seeking then in one sense krishna will guide them as a paramatma to come to right source But we should also take the responsibility. We should try to provide them that knowledge as much as we can Generally a devoted attitude is that If they don’t know that is my problem If they don’t accept that is their problem So we should at least try as much as possible to spread the awareness, but definitely hope is there Because the super soul is there and there are sincere seekers who want And the process and the philosophy that the vedic tradition offers us is very potent It’s very cogent cogent in terms of intellectual understanding and potent in terms of transformation That we experience when we practise it So if people come across it, they will be transformed that’s why we should try to present as well as we can Yeah, so should before getting married should people look at kundalis horoscopes now When you die yesterday we discussed this question briefly yesterday Was Okay, is it written in the scriptures that it matters see the scriptures talk about two kinds of knowledge For example chandogya upanishad talks about there is paravidya and aparavidya Paravidya is direct spiritual knowledge For example the bhagavad gita tells us we are not the body of the soul And the soul can connect with god through different yogic processes and among them the best yogic process is bhakti yoga So the knowledge of direct spiritual reality That is called as paravidya And there is aparavidya.
Aparavidya is non-spiritual knowledge. That is material knowledge So scriptures give us material knowledge also So when the scriptures give us material knowledge that material knowledge is also god-centred But that is not necessarily entirely spiritual. For example ayurveda Ayurveda is a system of medical knowledge which acknowledges That there is acknowledges the existence of soul which also acknowledges the existence of god But at the same time it is a proper medical Science with its own understanding of how the body works and how the body’s imbalances can be cured So ayurveda is an example of aparavidya Similarly, you could say vedic mathematics vastu All these are examples of aparavidya So one among them is also jyotish Astrology is an aparavidya And the aparavidya Is referred to in the vedic scriptures repeatedly For example, when parikshit maharaj is born in the first canto of shambhadbhagavatam it is described That the astrologers come and they tell they do a horoscope Of parikshit maharaj and they say that he’s going to be a very illustrious son in the future And then they describe his qualities based on the horoscope so in that sense The References to the aparavidya come repeatedly in the scriptures So in that sense the aparavidya is accepted As a bona fide branch of knowledge But at the same time It is not essential So it is something which will depend on individual culture individual inclination so So some of the purposes of aparavidya in today’s society can be served by Material knowledge acquired from other sources also So for example, if you need to be cured Some people may prefer ayurveda.
Some people may prefer allopathy They have their pluses and minuses But the same purpose of curing the body which could be done in allopathy can also be done in ayurveda so in that sense The aparavidya is not absolutely essential But it can be used but we have to use it carefully in the sense that we have to find out a reliable astrologer and then Then consult astrologer and act accordingly So generally it’s not essential but if somebody feels inclined to use it there’s no No stopping against using it Does that answer your question? Any other questions? Yes Correct Yeah so So when we take initiation from a spiritual master at that time the spiritual master It is said takes the karma of the disciple So then how should the disciple attitude of taking this Now In general Whenever there is any spiritual principle or any spiritual practise that we talk about It should be talked about in the sense That it helps us in demophysis So whatever is acceptable favourable i’ll accept what is unfavourable i’ll put it aside so The primary point for a disciple In the practise of bhakti is not the consideration of karma the primary point is the Consideration of prema we want to develop love for krishna and while developing love for krishna There are certain activities that are unfavourable for development of love of krishna And that’s why for example the regulative principles They create breaks when you break those principles. They create breaks in our relationship with krishna so our focus Should not be on just avoiding the wrong things Our focus primarily has to be on doing the right things So we can take initiation Not just so that we will become free from karma Or that the guru will take our karma. We take initiation because you have to develop love for krishna and the guru has Is much more advanced than us in developing love for krishna and the guru can teach us how to develop love for krishna And if the guru gives us the mercy to follow the process for developing love for krishna So the focus always has to be on developing love for krishna and the whole understanding the spiritual master takes the disciples karma is based on the background fact that Actually our past karma can create obstacles in our practise of bhakti So the guru takes away our karma means the guru removes whatever obstacles we face in the practise of bhakti So that’s the primary focus And the devote what the disciple Consciousness should be is that now the spiritual master is providing me an opportunity to practise devotional service And let me take this opportunity wholeheartedly and Naturally if I take the opportunity wholeheartedly and I try to practise as much devotional service as possible Then naturally there will be no time or thought left for doing anything wrong And that’s how i’ll be able to move forward So we shouldn’t be paranoid some people may think why am I so much sinful karma in the past And should I take initiation at all all that karma will go to my guru.
Maybe i’ll not take initiation only So that is the wrong attitude Right, because the point is initiation helps us to develop love for krishna now somebody else may think that actually now I have taken initiation Now all my karma should go to the guru. Now. I should not suffer at all in my life Now that is also a wrong attitude Because the point is yes the spiritual master and ultimately through spiritual master up to krishna karma goes away but then Krishna uses that karma whatever is there to Orchestrate our life in such a way that we come to him So krishna may not in a sense entirely take away the karma But he may use that karma to let some sufferings come so that they remind us of spiritual reality And we keep moving towards spiritual reality So When we take initiation We should not be so much karma conscious.
We should be formally krishna conscious and see that as a focus as an opportunity for becoming more krishna conscious and There is a whole context of the guru taking the karma that can create some gravity of purpose That yes Now I have been used a precious facility for loving krishna So let me not lose that and create obstacles for my spiritual master and for myself By doing some unnecessary bad karma clear Last question Okay, if we have come to krishna consciousness, is it because of our past karma Is it because of destiny? Or is it because of the mercy of the lord? Did we discuss this in the first day? No First anyway, so actually speaking primarily And coming to krishna consciousness The opportunity for that is provided by the mercy of the lord Is provided for by the mercy of the lord and taking that opportunity is our own freedom so that means That Say I was just somebody just going along the road and that time somebody comes along and gives a book And then I take the book and then he writes oh there’s so much profound wisdom is there So then that means the opportunity we got by the mercy of krishna coming through the devotees But so many thousands of people take books most people take the books and they Basically often people take the book and bhagavad-gita is a book of Hindu official piety And you know I have a bhagavad-gita that’s the idea people have So they never read the book, but some people I think they read the books So that intelligence is the exercise of the free will properly So generally our coming to krishna consciousness is not destined It is the mercy of krishna coming through his devotees and our use of intelligence Which help us to come to krishna. Now, what can be destined is say for example now we have this temple here Now it could be destined that this temple was built here and somebody else was a neighbour staying over there So that means the circumstances Some of the circumstances which happen in our life They may create a setting by which we take to krishna consciousness But those the specific opportunities that come Those opportunities come by the mercy of krishna So the destiny may play a very minor role In the sense that it may we may be physically situated in a place where there is a temple something like that but Primarily it is the mercy of krishna and our use of proper free will our proper use of the free will That enables us to come to krishna Clear So, thank you very much