How spiritual knowledge helps us see opportunity in adversity

[Talk at Adelaide, Australia]

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Swami Nithyanandeshwara Samaarambhaam I’ll talk about how to see opportunity in adversity. Krishna says, if you become conscious of Me, you will pass over all obstacles by My grace.
But if you act independently, arbitrarily, you will be lost. So, I’ll talk in four points or three points. First, I’ll talk about four kinds of knowing or four levels of knowledge and ignorance.
Then I’ll talk about an incident from the Ramayana which illustrates this principle of how we can learn something valuable even in difficulty. And lastly, I’ll talk about how that can be applied in our life as a principle. So, let’s look at first thing.
Now, we all today live in what is broadly called as a knowledge economy. Most of us work in various fields where the kind of knowledge that we have is very important. Very few people of us work with physical labour or physical skills.
Physical labour also requires some amount of knowledge. But today education is very important because knowledge transforms into the capacity to contribute effectively and then earn effectively. So, knowledge in one sense is like money because it helps us to earn money.
Now, with respect to knowledge, if we draw a quadrant, there could be four categories in this quadrant. There are things that we know and we know that we know them. There are things that we know but we don’t know that we know them.
There are things that we don’t know but we think we know them. And there are things that we don’t know and we don’t know that we don’t know them. So, let me give an example of these four things.
Say, if somebody is an engineer, say they have done electronics engineering, then they know that, okay, I am an electronics engineer and I know engineering. So, that’s the category of we know and we know that we know. That’s the basic knowledge that we know.
Now, along with that, there is the second category where we know but we don’t know that we know. What does this mean? This means that every one of us at one level has certain knowledge that is instinctive. Like say, parents want their children to grow and some children they just pick up a kartal and just start playing it.
So easily, so effortlessly they play it without needing any training at all. Now, where do they get it? In fact, on YouTube, there are videos of small babies in diapers playing pianos. Where do they learn it? It’s there.
Now, in their case, it is dramatic because we see that those kids, those small children are having knowledge which makes them like a prodigy. In their case, that knowledge has come in the category of they know it and they know that they know it. But for many of us, we may know something but we don’t know that we know it.
In the sense that either we really don’t know it or we don’t know how valuable it is. Okay, doesn’t everyone know it? Say for example, in many traditional families, there are some traditional cures. Say if you have cough, if you have a little fever, there are some traditional cures and many of them work very effectively.
Is the volume going down too much? Are you able to hear clearly there? You are able to hear? Okay. So now, many of these remedies, home remedies or grandmother remedies, whatever, they might be remarkably effective. And the grandmother or any family members know it and they use it.
But somebody else who doesn’t know about it, they may spend a lot of money to try to cure that, take a lot of expensive medicines and still not get cured. So the value of that remedy, it’s known but its value is not known. Of course, sometimes we, there are things which, there is procedural memory.
When a baby is first born, the mother picks up the baby and offers her breast milk. And the baby just knows what to do with it. Maybe may experiment a little bit but eventually the baby starts drinking it.
How does the baby know that? So there are things which we know but we can’t really describe how we know. So another example, this could be that, all of us know language. But if I ask you, when did you learn the alphabet A? How many of us remember that? We use it constantly but we don’t remember it.
So things that we know but we don’t know we know them. We just know them, we may even use them. But we don’t know consciously that we know them.
The third is where we don’t know but we think we know. This is often where there is the biggest problem. Where we think that we know some subject or we have some knowledge.
But actually we don’t have that knowledge. So many times, now of course people use GPS for driving, for finding directions. Prabhupada writes currently in the Chaitanya Tamil Purport that in India, if you want to go to a particular place and you want to ask directions, just ask at least three people.
Don’t just ask one person. Many times, if you ask direction to people, people are unwilling to admit that they don’t know. Tell you to go like this and it’s just a short distance away.
Now short is a very relative term. Short can be in 2 minutes, short can be in 10 minutes. So people often do not want to admit that they don’t know.
Or they think they know, it’s just straight, you go and do it, it will work. But actually when you try to do it, it’s not that easy to do it. In fact, every field of knowledge at one level, if we don’t go deep into it, it can appear quite simple.
It’s like say, if some embroidery is to be done or some, okay, just move some needle, move something and do the embroidery. Actually, when you start doing it, it’s very complicated. So similarly, with so many things, we don’t know them, but we think we know them.
And in fact, this is where often we fall in spiritual knowledge also. Many people think that I know spiritual knowledge. In fact, when I, about 20-25 years ago, met a devotee for the first time, he came to my college hostel and gave me a Bhagavad Gita.
And he offered me, he said, I know it, I’ve already read it. I memorise verses also from it. So now, often the greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance.
The greatest enemy of knowledge is the illusion of knowledge. When we think we know, the chance of learning becomes very less. So this is the third category.
And the fourth category is, we don’t know, and if we don’t know, we don’t know. That means, it’s just that there is so much to know, that, what is there? How vast something is, we don’t know. At the start of the 20th century, Lord Kelvin, after whom we have the temperature scale, Kelvin, he’s quite well known physicist, he said, the biggest problem in future for physicists will be unemployment.
He said, all of physical reality is already mapped. The only thing that will be the work for future generations will be to fill in the details. There’s nothing more to be known.
The only problem at that time was, one was black body radiation, and the other was, that somehow, the speed of light was always seen to be seen. Suppose you’re going on a very fast plane, and if you’re pointing light in the opposite direction, now the speed of the light should be differing based on the speed at which the object is moving. It is not differing like that.
There are small things we don’t know, otherwise we know everything. But the small things led to two huge, you could almost say, seismic changes in physics. You have the Einsteinian relativity theory coming up, and then the quantum physics.
And all of physics changed because of that. In fact, a prominent science journalist has written a book about physics or science in the 20th century, and he says, the story of science in the 20th century is from certainty to uncertainty. From certainty to uncertainty.
The quantum physics is so complicated that there’s a physicist, he said, that if you think you have understood quantum physics, that shows you have not understood it. So, quantum physics has become very complicated, and Stephen Hawking, he said in the first decade of the 20th century that, he tried to come up with one theory which could explain everything. And finally he said, I’m happy to announce that humanity’s quest for knowledge will never end.
Now, he put it in a positive sense, but essentially what he’s saying is, we will never come to knowledge. So when we consider, let’s say, people are proud that we conquered space, we went into space, we are satellites, we are satellite robots, that’s true. In one sense, we may have satellites, but satellites have shown our greatness, we could go into space, but they have also shown our smallness.
Because from space, we realise how big space is. So, as science is advancing, you could say knowledge is advancing, but actually understanding is not advancing so much. Because two things, the more we know, the more we realise how much more there is to know.
In fact, the very word atom, etymologically, atom means indivisible. That’s how Dalton gave the name atom to it. But now, atomic physics is a whole universe in itself.
In fact, that’s nuclear energy, that’s the future where it is. So, we think, we don’t know that we don’t know. That is also the situation we are in.
And this is where, why I’m talking about these four categories, that’s to understand how spiritual knowledge is important even in today’s world. Through science, we are advancing in various ways. And it’s important that scientific knowledge, wherever it is available and usable, we use it.
At the same time, science and scientific knowledge always talks about process. It doesn’t talk about purpose. How things happen is what science can tell us.
But why things happen? The purpose is something which is outside the scope of science. Say, for example, it’s your birthday. And your mother makes a delicious cake for you.
Okay, let me change this a little bit. I’ll come to this a little later. Suppose one day, suddenly, your mother makes a delicious cake.
And you think, there’s no occasion for this. So, why is she making a cake? Now, you could call all the best scientists in the world. And they can study the cake exhaustively.
Its chemical composition, its ingredients, everything could be studied exhaustively. And you could be able to depict also, how this cake was made. This was the ingredient, this was heated, this was boiled.
Maybe you could infer everything about the process. But no matter how much the cake is studied, by studying the cake, science will not be able to infer why it was made. It’s a different category of knowledge.
And for that matter, even if somebody takes a CT scan or whatever and studies the mother’s brain, even that will not tell you why she made the cake. Brain scans can tell a lot about the physiochemical state of the brain. But they can’t tell us the content of conscious experience specifically.
Say, if there’s a very famous brain surgeon, who has cured very complicated brain diseases, he comes back home. And he finds his wife is upset with him. And he says, come, let me do a brain scan to find out why you are upset.
He will say, you go and scan your brain first. So, science can understand the physical interaction of things and the process by which things happen. But the purpose why things happen, that is beyond science.
And that knowledge of the purpose of things is what spirituality gives us. Arjun, at the start of the Bhagavad Gita, had a crisis. The crisis was not the process.
He knew how to fight very well. But his crisis was of purpose. What am I meant to do? If you see, most of the mental health problems that people have, they are not problems of process.
They are usually a crisis of purpose. So, when somebody becomes suicidal, at that time, as devotees, sometimes we send messages normally we start a message with, please accept my humble obeisances. There is a counsellor who sent it to me, one devotee sent me a message, please accept my final obeisances.
Now, that could just be a way of demanding attention, having distress. But, the point is, when somebody is suicidal, at that time, it is not a problem of process. Okay, you got a failure, you had a relationship breakup or this or that.
You can still go on with life. But what am I living for? It is the purpose, the knowledge of purpose that is extremely important. And that knowledge of purpose, that is something which science cannot provide us.
Why can’t it provide? Because science looks only at the material mechanisms and their interactions. So, why we are living is something which is out of the syllabus of scientific knowledge. But, this why is extremely important to know.
Say, when somebody has depression or somebody has suicidal tendencies. Nowadays, a common attitude is just take some drink medication. Now, in some cases, drink medication may be helpful.
But, the important thing is that we cannot have chemical solutions to human problems. Say, somebody has lost someone and they are grieving. Then, you cannot remove grief by taking some chemicals.
There has to be normal human growth by which they can recover from the grief. So, normally if somebody asks me, if devotees are feeling depressed, should they take some drink medication? My answer is, you have to look at your whole life. If there are things which are wrong in your life, say, if somebody has got a very bad relationship, somebody has just lost their job, somebody has some addiction or something like that.
Then, if you don’t work at fixing that and just take chemicals, that will not fix the solution. If the normal parameters of health are good in your life and still you are feeling depressed, then it could be a chemical imbalance which needs to be addressed. So, we all need a sense of purpose.
And, without that sense of purpose, we will not be able to persevere in life. And, most mental health problems come. Now, mental health is a very complicated issue.
And, each individual case is different. But, overall, what we need is a sense of purpose in life. What is the sense of purpose? We can never eliminate suffering from life.
It’s just not possible. Everybody will have to suffer. But, what we can do is, have a sense of purpose that makes life meaningful and suffering bearable.
We can’t remove suffering, but we can have a sense of purpose that makes life meaningful and suffering bearable. It’s like, say, when a woman is pregnant. And, it’s painful.
And, the child is especially growing and there are labour pains. But, that pain, it is meaningful pain. Because, from that a child is going to be born.
So, we are not so much afraid of pain as we are afraid of pointless pain. Say, if you are just walking along the road and a thorn pierces our foot. We get irritated.
But, say, it is not a thorn, it is a nail that has pierced our foot. And then, we have to go to a doctor. The doctor will give us an anti-tetanus shot.
Now, in terms of sensation, the nail piercing and the needle piercing are similar. But, in the first case, we are irritated. In the second case, we pay the doctor.
Isn’t it? So, the problem is not just pain. The problem is pointless pain. If pain is purposeful, we can bear the pain.
But, when this pain is purposeless, then it becomes unbearable. And, pain becomes purposeful within the context of a purposeful life. If life itself does not have any purpose, then, are you aware of this pain at all? So, traditionally, people had the purpose provided by the family structure.
I have my family members, I have to take care of them. I have to do this, I have to do that. In the family structure, it is the parents produce children and the children produce parents.
What that means is, when parents have children, the children also make the parents mature. So, when there is a family structure, where there is responsibility, it is responsibility that brings purpose. To the extent we take some responsibility, it’s okay, I have this child, I will take care of this child.
That becomes a purpose. But, if there is no responsibility, then there is no purpose. And, when we talk about adversity and how to see opportunity in adversity, the whole idea is, today, many people, for them, spiritual knowledge, they don’t even know that they don’t know it.
I don’t care for it. That’s what they think. Or, they think, I already know it.
But, spiritual knowledge is not just about gaining some, knowing some verses. Spiritual knowledge is not just about reading a book. The purpose of reading the Bhagavad Gita is not just to know the shlokas.
The purpose of reading the Bhagavad Gita is to know the purpose of life. Arjun had a crisis of purpose. Should I be fighting this war just to gain some kingdom? Should I be fighting against my relatives and kill them just to gain a kingdom? I don’t feel it’s worthwhile.
But then, if I am not a warrior who is fighting against enemies, then who am I? So, for him, he didn’t feel the fight was worthwhile, but not fighting made his life itself worthless. So, that was his crisis. What to do? And Krishna told him, don’t think that you are fighting for gaining the kingdom.
You are fighting to establish the rule. You are fighting to establish the rule of virtue. You are fighting to do my will.
So, Krishna gave him a higher purpose. And that purpose rejuvenated him. But the purpose was that Krishna told Arjuna, fight not against the Kauravas.
Fight to establish Dharma. So, we may have to fight against some people, but we don’t have to be against them. It’s just that they are coming in the way of a particular purpose and then we fight against them.
We have nothing against people in the world. That’s why Krishna tells Arjuna, fight. But then he says, in 11.55 he says, have no animosity towards anyone.
Don’t be inimical towards anyone. So, don’t think that the Kauravas are your enemy and you are fighting against them. No, you are fighting to establish Dharma and they are coming in the way, so you fight against them.
So, it was this knowledge of purpose that infused Arjuna with confidence, with energy. And that’s why at the end of the Bhagavad Gita he says, I have become peaceful now. My doubts are gone.
I am calm now. I will do your work. And he picks up the Bhagavad Gita saying, I will fight.
He has picked up his bow. So, the Bhagavad Gita’s contribution is, it gives us a knowledge of purpose. And this purpose is what we all need in life.
This was philosophy as the first point I was saying about how the different levels of knowledge and how spiritual knowledge plays an important role in our life. Now, let me move on to the second point about how this purpose can reveal itself in different ways. When Sugriv was in the forest, at that time, it was an extremely difficult period for him.
Because he, although he was a Vanara, he was a royal Vanara, he was a Vanara prince. And Kishkindha was, relatively speaking, a prosperous kingdom. So, he had lived in luxury, comfort.
And suddenly, he was exiled. And not only was he driven out of the kingdom by Vali, but Vali persecuted him. And he lived a constant fear of threat of his life.
Fear of losing his life. And then, at that time, Vali persecuted him. Because Vali thought that Sugriv has usurped me.
And Sugriv has conspired to have me killed. So, therefore, he said, I will kill you. And Sugriv ran afar and wide to try to find some place where he could hide from Vali.
And everywhere where he would go, he would try to look for some hiding place, some cave, some cavern, some dungeon, whatever. Somewhere he could hide. But Vali would ferret him out.
And Sugriv would have to flee from there. And finally, after going far and wide, across the globe, finally, Sugriv found a place which Vali could not reach. And that was near the Bombasa rover, in the Rishomukh mountains.
There, once, Vali had incurred the curse of a sage. He had defeated a big demon called Dundumi. After defeating the demon, he had killed him and he had flung the carcass of that demon into the sky.
And while the carcass was flying through the sky, some blood from that carcass had fallen near the hermitage of a sage who was living there. And seeing the desecration of his sacrificial arena, the sage had got angry and he said, this arrogant monkey who is desecrated by a sacrificial arena, if he comes within a 10 mile radius of this hermitage, he will turn into stone. Now, Vali was very powerful, but he knew these curses are much more powerful.
So, he decided not to challenge the curse. And he stayed away. And Sugriv stayed in that place.
This is interesting. Sometimes we look for safety all over the world, but safety was very close for Sugriv. Near Kishkindha only.
But anyway, he stayed over there. After that, Sugriv and Ram allied and then Vali was neutralised. And then Sugriv became the king.
And then after 4 months of the rainy season, then when Sugriv was to send the various soldiers, various monkeys to search for Sita, that was the agreement. You help me gain my kingdom and I will help you gain back your wife. So, he was to search and then he called monkeys from all over and they came and started giving them directions.
You go south, you go north, you go east, you go west. And he started describing to them that if you go to this, if you go in the north, you will come across this mountain. And this mountain, you come here, actually you can, this is very difficult to cross here, but you go this way, there is a river.
And near that, there is a path. You can take this path. And then you will come here, this is how you can go.
So, he described in detail for all the monkeys that whatever obstacles they would face, how they could overcome them, what obstacles they would face and how they would overcome them. And he also allotted in each group of monkeys the right monkeys who would be able to deal with the obstacles they would face in that direction. And then after he gave a talk explaining to all the monkeys and the monkeys were about to go, and Ram was there with him also and then Ram turned to him.
He was seen to be a geography wizard. I didn’t use those words. But he said, geography knowledge is impressive.
I didn’t learn out of interest, I learned out of necessity. So, what was the necessity? Yes, to escape from Bali. So, what he learned at that time, just to escape from Bali, now came to his assistance when he was serving Ram.
Now at that time, he could have just felt sorry for himself. I had to run away from my own brother, I had to run away from my own kingdom. But at that time, he was resourceful.
He was in learning mode. Let me learn this. For whatever reason he learned and when he learned that, it came to be useful for him later.
So, now for him, being in exile, being a fugitive practically, who was always under threat, it was a painful thing. But within that painful situation, rather than resenting it, he tried to keep learning. And what he learned at that time came to his help later.
So, his purpose was to serve Ram. And in this purpose, the knowledge that he had acquired in the past, it just naturally came to use for him. So, for us, when we go through difficulties, now we don’t know necessarily why we are going through a specific difficulty.
But, due to each difficulty which we are going through, we can learn something. And what we learn, how it will be useful, we may not learn at that time. We may learn it later.
So, when we have, when we face any difficulty, this is the second point at all, we can talk about how we can have this learning attitude amidst difficulties. Say, right now, all of you are sitting, and suppose there is an earthquake here. Don’t imagine it, just think about it.
If there is an earthquake, now, if it is a minor earthquake, now, if, say, I am sitting here, and the earthquake happens over there, somewhere in the corner, then I won’t be shaken that much by it, because the earth is quaking over there. But if the earthquake happens here, I will be shaken much more. If the earthquake happens right below me, I will be tossed up.
So, the closer we are to the location of the quake, the greater we will shake. Similarly, whenever anything shakes us, when something goes wrong in our life, and it shakes us, that is an indication that that is where something is very important for us. So, if that were not important, that would not shake us so much.
But, because it is important for us, that’s why it shakes us. Just a few days ago, there was this brutal attack in Christchurch, where, in a place of worship, some white supremacists went and attacked, and killed people who were there for worship. It was just brutal, and a shock, especially, and then in New Zealand, they said that more people died in this one occasion, and are killed usually throughout the year.
So, now, to the extent, this is geographically, or emotionally, or culturally close to us, to the extent we are shaken by it. Now, if we consider the number of people who are killed in the war in Syria is thousand times more than what is over here. But because this is close to us, this is more.
Now, for us, when we are seeking stability in life, seeking strength in life, we all want some kind of stability, which will last. We may seek it through good health, we may seek it through good finances, we may seek it through good relationships, and all these can provide stability or security to some extent. But, in all these things, these are all things below which a quake can occur.
Below which a quake can occur. I just met a devotee from Zimbabwe, and he says, the Zimbabwe currency has depreciated so much, it just keeps going up and down, but it has depreciated so much, he said that you take a bucket full of currency to the market, and when you want to buy something, the shopkeeper would throw the notes away in the bucket, and would give us something in exchange for the bucket. So, we are waiting, so many currency notes, it’s valuable, but what happened is, the currency kept depreciating.
So, we may seek security in different ways, at a practical level, that’s important. But, seeking this security can be sabotaged, can just be destroyed. If we understand that we are souls, we are parts of Krishna.
Krishna consciousness places us on a ground that no quake can shake. That, if we become conscious of Krishna, then, at that time, we will not be shaken by life’s adversities. Now, how does this happen? Basically, when you become conscious of Krishna, and not just you, becoming conscious of Krishna means, understanding that Krishna is our ultimate shelter.
That Krishna is our greatest object of devotion. That Krishna is our be-all and end-all. When that happens, then even if there is shaking around us, we won’t be shaken that much by it.
So, in every adversity that we have, there will be specific things we all can learn. But most important thing that we can learn, every adversity is actually an opportunity to shift our ground to Krishna consciousness. Whenever we are shaken by something, if we are shaken by the health going down, if we are shaken by the finances going down, now, those things need to be dealt with at a practical level.
Definitely. But, along with that, there is also a point indicator that I cannot have my shelter in these things. I need to work to fix this, but I also need to work to fix my consciousness so that my shelter is in Krishna.
So, every time an adversity hits us, that adversity introduces us to ourselves. So, why am I feeling so disturbed by this? Because I am too emotionally invested in this. This is important for me and I need to take care of it.
But I cannot make this my shelter. My shelter has to be Krishna. So, every adversity that we face, we can see that as an opportunity to take the shelter of Krishna, to deepen our connection with Krishna.
And then, that connection with Krishna will give us three things. It will give us calmness, it will give us clarity, it will give us confidence. Yes, we remember Krishna, we pray to Krishna, we become conscious of Krishna, we start becoming calm.
And as we become calm, okay, this is happening, this is happening, what can I do? Once calmness comes and clarity comes, then from clarity, okay, I can do this, I can do this, that confidence will come. And then we will be able to deal with that issue at a practical level also. So, I will conclude with one incident.
Last year when I had gone to America, I entered America and I was landing at one place and from there I had to take another connecting flight to go to the place where my programmes were. It was a very brief connecting time, maybe a very brief time, and I was going through immigration and as I was clearing security, suddenly I heard a loud alarm. Now, usually I use a wheelchair, so the wheelchair takes me through and I walk through in between the security gate if required.
So, I didn’t notice and I was in the wheelchair and as the wheelchair went through, then suddenly I found like seven, eight US security guards were pointing their guns at me. What happened? They said that, actually I use these crutches. So, they said, when the crutches went through the security machine, we got a high explosive alert.
And so, they took the crutches and then this one person was in charge and he said, what is there in these crutches? I said, there is nothing in the crutches. So, then he said, we will have to break these crutches. I said, if you break the crutches, how will I walk? That is not my problem.
So, initially I was annoyed, but then I started getting alarmed and I was thinking, first I was just annoyed that I will miss the next flight. I thought if my crutches get broken, missing a flight would be the least of my problems. Then, as I was trying to, I was trying to reason with him, maybe he was in a bad mood or whatever and he was the boss over there.
I said, there is nothing in the crutches. He said, no, no, we will have to break these crutches. So, I like to recite the Bhagavad Gita verses.
So, whenever I don’t have much to do, I try to recite the verses. So, somehow at that time, the Bhagavad Gita is 18.61, came in my mind. It says, I am guiding the wanderings of all living beings.
They are all seated in a machine made of matter. So, I just recited this verse and my mind suddenly struck me that actually I have probably travelled to 100-200 flights and more also. If things had to go wrong, so many places things could have gone wrong.
Krishna has seen me through all those situations. Krishna has guided my wanderings across so many different countries. Just as I thought of that, the thought came, Krishna, I am guiding you also.
And then the next verse says, Just surrender to Him. By surrendering to Him, you will gain peace. Krishna is saying.
So, I just prayed to Krishna and surrendered. And then, as I just offered this prayer of surrender, suddenly some other person came over there. And apparently he was the boss of this person who was quite disagreeable.
I said, what is going on over here? He said, this person we found high explosiveness. He looked at me and I looked at him and he said, you go, I will take care of this. Then he approached me and said, what is there in the clutches? I said, nothing in the clutches.
I just used them to walk. He picked up the clutches and started fidgeting around with them. And then he said, can we open this? Now the clutches, they are collapsable.
I had never tried to open them, but I looked at it, yeah, they are openable. Okay, then we will open it. And he started opening it.
And then he opened it and then he took the bottom piece and he put some kind of prong inside and I put it inside. Some dark kind of stuff came out of it. Then he looked at it, he dropped it.
Pulled it again, it came out dark. He said, what is this? I asked him, what does it look like? He said, it’s mud. I said, yes, it’s mud.
So, then he put a little bit inside and took it out and more mud came out. So, what had happened, before going to America, I had gone to Vrindavan to take the blessings of Vrindavan. And there I had gone to, I had walked by the banks of the Yamuna.
And because the Yamuna is highly polluted, so while walking in these clutches, they have this rubber padding at the bottom. So, somehow the rubber padding had got spoiled and mud from Yamuna had got inside the clutches. And because the Yamuna is polluted, so the sedimentation on the banks of the Yamuna had high metallic content.
And that was detected as an explosive. So, I was thinking, actually, it was Vraja-Raja, the dust of Vrindavan. That was the explosive.
So, I thought, yes, the dust of Vrindavan is the ultimate explosive. It can actually explode all our material attachments. It can explode all illusions.
But anyway, it took out a little more dirt. And then, he just put the clutches. He says, cleaning your clutches is not my job.
I said, okay, I’ll do that. So, then I just fixed the clutches and then I went out there. So, it was at that time, just an incident which struck me that if I had not remembered where I was, I don’t know, probably this person might also have still come.
But at least I was much calmer and clearer just by thinking of that words. So, for all of us, now, when I memorise the Bhagavad Gita’s verses, I never thought I would face such a situation when I remember this verse. But, when we try to provide for ourselves resources to be conscious of Krishna.
I’ll repeat this one. When we try to provide for ourselves resources to be conscious of Krishna. Because being conscious of Krishna by itself, I think of Krishna.
What do I think of? Do I think of a form of Krishna? What do I think of? Now, each one of us has to find out how we can most easily think of Krishna. So, if you consider this is a circle of Bhakti activities. And this is the circle of the things we like to do.
We find where these two intersect. The Bhakti activities and the things we like to do. Find out where the two intersect.
And where that intersection is there, those activities we’ll be able to do very easy. If somebody likes music, somebody likes singing, then for them to maybe memorise verses and study philosophy will be difficult. But for them, to sing will be very easy.
They can remember Krishna. But somebody who is more analytical, intellectual, for them, yes, Kirtan is nice, but I need some philosophical substance. So then, they may have some quotes written down, some good classes, some intellectually stimulating content.
If they have that, then that’s what will enable them to connect with Krishna. So, if we do this, if we see every adversity as an opportunity to deepen our Krishna consciousness, then not only will we go closer towards Krishna, but by going closer to Krishna, we’ll also be able to deal with the situation better. Because when we go closer to Krishna, it is not just we are running away from the problem.
Rather, it is running away from the problem and there is rising above the problem. So, bhakti may be done by some people in the mode of running away from problems. But the way we practise bhakti, as the Bhagavad Gita tells Arjun, bhakti is not about running away from the problem, it is rising above the problems.
Rising above the problem means that we understand that I am a soul, I am indestructible. I am part of Krishna and Krishna’s plan is infallible. And then when we have this understanding, yes, this problem has come, but I exist at a higher level.
I am a spiritual being. And how can I deal with this problem? So, when we provide for ourselves resources to be conscious of Krishna, then we can rise above the problems. And by rising above the problems, we’ll not only go closer to Krishna, we’ll also get the calmness, clarity and confidence to deal with the problem better.
And thus every adversity is an opportunity for us to deepen our connection with Krishna and to see the magic of Krishna consciousness not just in terms of solving the problems. Sometimes the problem may be solved, sometimes it may not be solved, but we will get a better understanding of how to deal with it. Sometimes we may get released from problems and sometimes we may get relief amidst problems.
Sometimes we’ll just get a solution. Okay, this I can do. This will get solved.
Sometimes even if it doesn’t get solved, we’ll get relief amidst the problem. The problem is there, but it doesn’t burden me so much. And that way, either way, whether we get a release from the problem or relief amidst the problem, we will experience the magic of Krishna consciousness.
So adversity can be an opportunity for us for spirituality. So I’ll summarise what I spoke today. I spoke on how to see an opportunity in adversity.
And for that purpose, I talked about knowledge in the four categories. What are the four categories? We know and we know that we know it. Then? We know, but we don’t know we know it.
Then? We don’t know what we think we know. And for this? We don’t know that we don’t know. So there are these four categories and we discussed various knowledge in different categories.
And the purpose of that analysis was primarily to recognise how spiritual knowledge often is either in this category of we don’t know what we think we know because we think spiritual knowledge is going to temple, doing some rituals or we think some people just are too rational. They think this is all just sentimental, mythological or imaginary. But we spiritual knowledge is the knowledge that gives us purpose for life.
Material knowledge, scientific knowledge gives us process. Whereas spiritual knowledge gives purpose. I’ll give two examples or multiple examples.
One is I talked about a cake. Scientific analysis can tell us how a cake was made or of what all things the cake was made. But no amount of scientific analysis can tell us why the cake was made.
Similarly, somebody is upset. We can’t use a brain scan to find out why they are upset. So many of the mental health problems facing people today are not a problem of process.
It’s a problem of purpose. What to do? It’s not so difficult to know. Okay, one career wouldn’t work out.
Let me try some other career. One relationship is not working out. Let me see how I can move forward.
Process is not so much an issue. It’s a purpose issue. The Bhagavad Gita did not tell Arjuna how to fight the war.
There is no knowledge of archery or warfare in the Bhagavad Gita. That Arjuna already knew from his archery skills. Bhagavad Gita gave him knowledge of purpose.
We all have some small small purposes. So one purpose for Arjuna is I’m a warrior and I have to fight. Another purpose was that okay, I’m a member of the Kuru dynasty.
I’m going to protect my family members. How can I fight against them? But Krishna gave me a big purpose. Big purpose is not self-centred.
It is God-centred. You are fighting to not gain the kingdom but to establish Dharma. So we are not so much afraid of we don’t like pain but what we are afraid of is not just pain but pointless pain.
So a thorn or nail piercing into our foot irritates us. But a tetanus, anti-tetanus dose piercing our body doesn’t irritate us so much. So what we need is a purpose that is bigger than the pains of the world.
We all have certain purposes. Say I have to take care of my family. I have to make a career.
I have this. We all have our purposes but is that purpose big enough to sustain us amidst life’s pains? If somebody’s purpose is to have financial security and somehow they lose that itself. What am I living for? Somebody’s purpose is I want to have a good relationship and suddenly a relationship with the thought of good breaks down.
What am I living for? So we need a purpose that is big enough to absorb the reversals of life. So whenever a quake occurs the closer the quake is to where we are that much we get shaken. So when adversity hits us if we are agitated that means that adversity has hit us at something which we are very emotionally invested in.
And we do need to work at a practical level to deal with that. But another thing we need to do is we need to situate ourselves on a ground where no quake can shake it. And that ground is Krishna Consciousness.
So understanding that we as souls are indestructible and understanding that Krishna as God is our eternal benefactor and then connecting with him in devotion that will give us an infinite stability. So for Sugriva when he was on the run he was not resentful but just learnt of the things that were taking place. And later on for Mr. Sarra that knowledge came in useful for him.
So for us when we face difficulties in life why we are going through what is it that is why what that particular why that particular difficulty is coming that may not be very clear for us. But if we have a learning attitude we may learn some skills that can help us in future at a material level but along with that most important thing we learn is we learn how Krishna Consciousness can provide us shelter. That Krishna Consciousness it may give us the calm clarity and confidence to find to tackle the problem to get release from problems.
But even if that doesn’t happen it will raise our consciousness up so that we will get relief amidst the problem. So we don’t practise bhakti to run away from problems but to rise above the problem. And we need to provide for ourselves the resources to be easily conscious of Krishna.
For me it was I mentioned the story of the crutches having some apparently explosive thing but for me it was remembering the verses of the Gita. So for each one of us we can find out what is the intersection point among bhakti activities and things we like to do. And then we do that more and more and then we can have that resource accessible.
And thus in every difficulty that we may face we will have the inner resource to turn towards Krishna and realise security and then get clarity to deal with the outer issue. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.
So any questions or comments? Yes. You mentioned about relationship and struggle in certain relationships and getting into depression. Many a times depression arises where things are imposed on us.
And it happens in family it happens in friends it happens even in temple as well and workplace as well. And sometimes those things are imposed out of ego. How do they behave? Imposed because someone else’s ego.
Someone has ego and they don’t want to accept their own fall and they just want to impose to show authority. So if somebody just imposes something which is not good on us because of their ego or their authority then what do we do at that time? Yeah. Life in some ways is like a tennis match.
In a tennis match sometimes we are serving and sometimes we are returning. Now when we are returning at that time the player who is returning has a little bit far less control. The player who is returning may be very good in the forehand but the serve comes in the backhand the player has to return to the backhand.
Which height the serve will come which velocity the serve will come which direction the serve will come there is very little control that the player has at that time. So when they are returning all they have to do is make sure that they touch the racket to the ball and get the ball back into it. Eventually their time to serve will also come.
That time they will have much more control much more initiative. So all of us will go in life through different situations. So sometimes we are in the position of returning.
That means the control that we have is very limited. So we just have to do the best we can in that situation. And while we are doing the best that we can in that situation because somebody is now in forehand while somebody has imposed that it is a different issue.
Right now there is a restriction for it. So I have to operate within that restriction. Of course we can work to counter that restriction also.
But the fact is if that person has the authority or that person has the ego or whatever the restriction is that operate within that restriction. Keep operating within that. Keep getting the ball rolling and eventually things will change.
So that constraint that limitation is not going to be forever there. Although sometimes at that time it can appear that it will go on forever. So we will rather than looking at that this person is imposing it first we can understand this principle that there will be times in our life when our control is limited and we it’s important to learn that skill of operating within limited controls.
Even when our control is limited how best can I function within that limitation. Sometimes you feel this person is suffocating me so much that I can’t do anything. It may be like that but we are never that powerless.
No matter how bad our situation is, we can just do this thought exercise, no matter how bad our situation is, we can always make it worse. Who wants to make it worse? It’s already bad. No that’s not the point.
The point is that think of the worst situation in your life that you are in. Can you make it worse? Obviously you can. Say if you are not done well in a particular exam and then I decide I will not study for the other way.
In that you get poor marks, here you get no marks. It will be worse. So in every situation that we are in, if we have the power to make it worse, then that means we are not entirely perfect.
If you can make it worse, you can also make it better. Now how much you can make it better, that’s negative. So sometimes some tennis players actually they win Grand Slam championships primarily based on their returning skills.
Most players will do well on their serve, but what defines them, what helps them win matches is their excellence in returning. So when we are put in constrained circumstances, how well we operate, that is also a valuable skill. And learning that can stand us in very good student future.
So for example in this class, when I was giving the class, I was serving. Now when you are asking questions, I am returning. I don’t know what kind of question you are going to ask.
Whichever question comes, I will answer to the best of my capacity. Now some people may like the class, some people may like the question answers. So it depends on some people, some speakers, because they are known especially for the question answers.
So there are different, even within limited control, we can actually develop mathematics. And I was in Singapore, so there was this, I was addressing, they have a forum of business people, so I was addressing a group of CEOs over there. And after that we were talking.
This one person, he said, I was an engineer, and I never did very well in my engineering. But then, at that time when I had to do my project, our project guy demanded a very difficult project to do. So we had very talented people in our team.
And we had very talented students, but they couldn’t get along with each other. Each of them had their, because they were all talented, they had their own demands. And he said, I was not talented at all, I could barely scrap through my engineering.
But somehow I was put in a project with them. And I felt horrified. I said, they’re all brilliant, but I can’t even pass my exam.
And they are a topper. How will I function with them? But then I found that I could actually massage all their egos and make them work together. And the whole project worked out very well, and that’s the time when I discovered that my talent is not in engineering, but is in team building.
And that’s how he was an engineer, but he went into management, and now he’s become a big CEO. So he was put in a situation where he said, I don’t know what all these people know. It’s a constrained situation.
But he tried to learn in a constrained situation. So we can see an opportunity over there to learn within that, to work within a constrained situation also. And apart from that, we can try to find out what is the way in which we can influence that person.
Sometimes, when they are in a domineering mood, they will not listen, but later on they might be in a reasonable mood, at that time they might listen to us. Or sometimes, if there is some other person whom they respect, and we talk with them and through them we try to influence, they might listen. And sometimes, some people have to learn through experience.
You do it your way, and then you see it doesn’t work, that’s why they will learn. So if somebody has that ego, we have to find out how to work with that. So either we try to help them understand, or we get others to help them understand, or then life will have to teach them.
Any other questions? Yes, please. Yeah, I remember, I’ll answer that, yes. Yeah, I understand.
I understand, yes. So in an earlier class, I mentioned that we shouldn’t restrict to group reduce people to their group identity. See everyone as individuals.
But we need to see group identity also. Say somebody is following a particular organisation, we are following a particular spiritual path, others are following a different path. So there has to be some differentiation.
How can we just not look at the group identity at all? No, my point was not that we shouldn’t look at group identity at all. My point was we shouldn’t reduce people to group identity. That group identity is definitely a marker of a person’s overall identity.
So say if somebody says I won’t look at group identity at all, if I start talking with a 6 month old baby, like they are 25 year old adult, I can’t. So group identity, okay, it’s a baby. If I’m talking with a particular person from a particular country, I’ll have to speak in a language that’s appropriate for them.
So group identity is definitely a characteristic we have to keep in mind. And when we are following a particular path, naturally every bond brings a boundary with it. Every bond brings a boundary with it.
Say, before people are married, they might just freely mix with many other people, but if they get married, that bond comes, but that bond brings a boundary with it. Similarly, when we follow a spiritual path, it’s a bond. We are bound with Krishna by following a particular process.
So when the bond comes, along with the bond, boundary will also come, and the boundary needs to be respected. It needs to be understood, it needs to be respected. So if somebody is worshipping Krishna or worshipping God in some other path, then we respect them for their path, but at the same time we have to understand that there are some differences, and recognising those differences is important for being able to properly follow our path.
It’s just like, say, if a student is studying in Oxford, and there is another university in England which is very famous, which is the other one? Cambridge, yeah. So now, in Cambridge, something is being taught in some other way, and the student who wants to get a degree from Oxford, that student has to commit to studying according to the Oxford pattern of studying, and that’s how the student gets promoted to Oxford. So, if there’s a different way of teaching in Cambridge, we respect that, but you can’t mix the two.
If you want a degree from Oxford, you have to follow Oxford. If you want to follow that process, then go to Cambridge. So, that bond with Oxford will bring a boundary of Oxford.
Similarly, when we follow a particular path, there will be a boundary that will come with it, and the boundary has to be respected. At the same time, say, I was going to Oxford, so there was one, they had that guy who was taking us around, and she said, sometimes terrible things happen in Oxford also. People from Cambridge come here.
Maybe she was joking, but she spoke it very seriously. So, they had that rivalry going on over there from a long time. So, if people in Oxford have a stereotype of how people in Oxford are arrogant or whatever, now, it could be that some people over there are like that, but it’s not that everyone there is like that.
So, we don’t have to reduce every person to their identity. So, if somebody is doing things in a particular way, then we have to observe them and if that person is arrogant, okay, they are arrogant. That’s how they are.
But we don’t have to presume, not even presume, presumption is impossible, but reduction. That means we don’t let the person present themselves as an individual at all. You are from there, that means you must be like this and you reject them.
That’s what we should not do. But certain amount of categorisation and distinction is essential for functioning in life. Without that we can’t function at all on a practical basis.
Okay? Thank you. Thank you for the question. Any other questions? Yes, please.
First of all, I’d just like to say it’s wonderful to have you back with us so soon and I’m sure I can speak on behalf of all of us the same. We hope that continues. It’s always a pleasure to hear how you can analyse things and break them down and make them, you know, take complex subject matter and make it easily understandable for us all.
So thank you. There was just one point. I wanted to maybe clear up a little bit and I made a couple of notes.
So just on that point about finding that, you know, that type of bhakti or that limb of bhakti amongst, you know, the 64 Angas, which you can connect with. And it’s such a good point. And I just want to clarify a comment, if I may, around that that Priti just spoke on.
Just in regards to Namsang Gitan, and it was nice you brought that up. You gave the example that if people like to sing and if they’re musically inclined, perhaps Namsang Gitan is the limb of bhakti they should naturally gravitate towards. But if they’re more intellectually inclined, then Kirtan is nice, but I need some philosophy.
So, and I just, that inspired me. I just, I remembered a few really nice verses, or quotes, which just bring those words together, because I think it’s really important that we understand that this is not a musical thing, practically, at all. In fact, and I’ve made, I think there’s a couple of verses here which might just clarify what it’s all about.
But one amazing quote from Bhaktivinoda Thakur, he says that in Kali Yuga, intelligent people prefer to take exclusive shelter of Yugadham, Parinam, Samyadham, as a means to achieve all spiritual perfection. That’s the first one. Then in Chaitanya Bhagavat, it says the culmination of all knowledge that is to be obtained from all the scriptures, the culmination of all knowledge from all scriptures, is the congregation of Chaitanya Katha.
And then, one more familiar to us all is the Krishna Varna Vishakha. I won’t recite it because I probably screwed up. But it says, the English has faced me with that.
In Kali Yuga, people who have they have sharp intelligence will worship the incarnation of Krishna with a golden complexion. Although he’s not blackish, he’s that self-same Krishna manifest in the Kali Yuga. And people who have intelligence in Kali Yuga will show that they have intelligence by worshipping Lord Chaitanya through the performance of congregation of chanting.
This is not about music at all. I got your point. I’ll just make a response to that.
Chanting is not just musical, it is transcendental, it is the culmination of all knowledge, the culmination of all philosophy. It’s definitely true. Having said that, when we are right now in the condition stage, moving towards the transcendental stage, at this stage, each of us has to find out the access way to Krishna that works the best for us.
So, both ways I can say that. Somebody who’s very intellectual, they will be studying philosophy. Now, they might just like anything intellectual.
They can read some materialistic subjects also, they will like it. If they write something about Krishna, they will also like it. But gradually, if they are reading something about Krishna, the Krishna connection is established.
And then, it becomes from the intellectual to the transcendental it will become the pathway for them. So, similarly, when somebody is relishing Yudha, are they relishing it at the transcendental level or are they relishing it at the musical level? Most people when they come initially, they will relish it at the musical level or just nice music. But that’s one of the strong points is to kind of attract the mind.
That’s true. Let me complete my point. The point is that somebody who is relishing it at a musical level, they like music and they like this music also.
But they are experiencing transcendence but they are not at a transcendental level. They like this music and they like this music. They In fact I later told that most of the bhajans that are very popular and devotees people will recite it and hear it, he would sing them after going high on alcohol.
So So, well, at least you are singing about God, that’s good. But, was he really experiencing something transcendental in a way that was transcendental? Not necessarily. So, let me complete what I’m saying.
So, my point is that, different people naturally find different things attractive. And those things will be the easiest for them to do. So, bhakti is transcendental, even philosophy is not intellectual.
When Krishna says, when you are studying the Bhagavad Gita, he is saying, अधेश्यते चेहिमां दर्णं सन्वादमाव्यो ज्यान यद्गेव तेनाहं इश्टस्यानतेव He said, you are worshipping me with your intelligence. Just like we might do aarti, padiya, Krishna is saying, when you are studying the Bhagavad Gita, you are doing a aarti of me with your intelligence. So, even the philosophy is not intellectual.
The kirtan is not just musical. The philosophy is transcendental, the kirtan is transcendental. What we are talking about here is, what is the access way that works best for different people.
So, for somebody who likes music, the musical connection with Krishna would be easier to establish. For somebody who is analytical and intellectual, the intellectual connection with Krishna would be easier to establish. For somebody who has some other interests, that particular, somebody who likes to do drama, for them thinking about this drama, this role, this dialogue, this setup, this costume, that’s what can engage them more.
So, each one of us has to find out how best, how most easily, most accessibly we can become conscious of Krishna. But that may not be the highest form of Krishna consciousness. But that is the most easily accessible form of Krishna consciousness.
For us to get our consciousness out of matter and towards Krishna. Once we get our consciousness towards Krishna, then gradually we can become pure. We can’t become pure devotees without becoming devotees.
First we have to have a connection with Krishna and then we can have a pure connection with Krishna. So, we are talking here about how best the connection can be established for people at their particular level. So, whatever is anyone’s deepest experience, that is their experience of Krishna.
Somebody is a writer and they spend hours writing, editing one word, editing one paragraph. They spend hours and hours. Now what are they experiencing over there? Actually, they are experiencing the opulence of Krishna over there.
Just they don’t know that they are experiencing Krishna. But if you can connect them in your writing, what is the taste in that? You are getting them writing, constructing a sentence well, having rhyme, having elegance, having precision. They are actually experiencing an aspect of Krishna.
Everything that is attractive, Krishna says, manifests a spark of my spirit. So, whatever is anyone’s deepest experience, that is their experience of Krishna. Just that they don’t know that they are experiencing Krishna.
But if you can give them that experience, you like writing, you write for Krishna. And I know devotees who they come to temple. I know one devotee, he came with us to Vrindavan.
And he went to Vrindavan, went to all the holy places and it’s nice. And he came back and he wrote a travelogue about his experiences in Vrindavan. And he told me that in writing that travelogue, I actually experienced Vrindavan more than I was in Vrindavan.
Because in writing I was more absorbed. This was what I experienced. I did more research, I wrote about it.
So, each person is an individual. And based on the kind of body-mind that we have, we will experience Krishna differently. So, we need to provide everyone the facility and the freedom to experience Krishna in a way that they naturally experience things deeply.
So, if for somebody it is music, that’s wonderful. Somebody it is analysis, that’s wonderful. Somebody it is drama, it’s wonderful.
Somebody it is cooking, that’s also wonderful. So, we have to ultimately become absorbed in Krishna. And the Yuga Dharma in this particular age is chanting of the holy names.
And that’s why it’s especially important. Definitely it’s not musical, it’s ultimately transcendental. Maybe we can talk more about this later also.
Yeah, I just wanted to appreciate your reply. I think it was just… I didn’t… We have to be clear that it’s not just one of the limbs of bhakti. Rather, all the other limbs of bhakti depend on also doing the Yuga Dharma.
From them to practise on. So, I may be worshipping Krishna by my intelligence, reading Bhagavad Gita. I may be worshipping the deity.
But, you know, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Hare Rama. In Kali Yuga, we have to make sure we have that understanding. That’s right.
Thank you. You had a comment or question? Thank you very much.