Lessons from Hanuman’s devotion to Rama 3 – Keeping our intention above our emotions

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
one is today Hare Krishna Hare Krishna so we continue our discussion on the lessons from Hanuman’s devotion to Ram so yesterday evening session I talked about how when we hide from the Lord the Lord hides from us that when Hanuman did not come in his normal form the Lord did not reveal his all attractive then in the second class this afternoon I discussed about how when the devotee is entrusted a special responsibility by the Lord like Hanuman was entrusted by King Dajjal then he resourcefully used his emotional intelligence to win the trust of Sita and successfully executed his mission and when Ram came back at that time Lord Ram offered himself to him so adventurousness or ambitiousness is not just in terms of doing heroic things it is also in terms of getting people to open their hearts which is what Hanuman did with Sita by glorifying Ram today I will focus on how Hanuman what was Hanuman’s what was what were his emotions while he was doing this adventurous feat of leaping across to Lanka and then finding Sita and then devastating Lanka and then coming back so the Ramayan is written in the mode of the omniscient narrator there are different ways in which stories can be told sometimes when a story is being told it may be in the first person so the author himself is telling I went here I did that sometimes in the second person he did this or you did this you you you is very second person is very uncommon third person is he did this there there there that’s the mode which is told so the omniscient narrator means that sometimes the narrator focusses on telling from one person’s perspective that means throughout the narrative is told from say the perspective of Hanuman and from the beginning to the end so words have a tremendous effect on us in this case of Hanuman the effect is seen physically but sometimes we may not see it physically the words that we speak to each other they can either encourage the other person or they can discourage the other person sometimes we can see if one person is just criticising the other person the other person becomes very defensive or can’t stop drooping start becoming depressed or somebody appreciating and encouraging this person to stop and start moving forward so Hanuman has this effect that he always has the devotional intent to serve the lord but Jambavan gives him the reminder that you have this great potential and then Hanuman’s size becomes huge and then he climbs on to a nearby mountain and from there he leaps off so as he leaps off by the backward pressure which he puts on the mountain the mountain goes inside and when the mountain goes inside all the animals start flying and they fly some distance and they fall into the ground after that then Hanuman keeps flying through the sky and he has leapt at various times but never has leapt so far so actually at one level Hanuman is flying at another level he is leaping normally when you think of flying there is a particular way to do that one has wings and they use the wings to fly so Hanuman is not exactly flying nor is he exactly leaping he uses the leap as the momentum and after that he moves on and as he is flying he is trying to do something which he has never done before goes such a long long distance normally when we start off something it is like an aeroplane when it is flying off the aeroplane has to estimate how far is the destination how much fuel do I have and usually the fuel needs to be significantly more than the destination in case you can’t reach the destination or some other reason you have to wait till you can land on the destination but there has to be some reasonable estimation of how much is the fuel in the aeroplane so that it can reach the destination in the case of Hanuman no he has been told by Jambavan that he has this promise and he also remembers the benedictions that the devatas have given him that he is the son of Vayu but at the same time he has never done this before and he is just marching through the sky and at one level you can say that those who are great devotees they are completely fixed in their purpose of serving the lord but just because they are fixed in the purpose does not mean that they don’t have any normal emotions like say normal human emotions once Prabhupada was in India and one newspaper reporter was interviewing him he said swami you have started this big international movement but we have seen so many movements after the founder when the passes away they crumble apart so what do you think that your followers are so young now so will your movement also crumble after you so Prabhupada why are you discouraging me I am not discouraging you I am simply asking you a question Prabhupada your question is discouraging me now can actually Prabhupada be discouraged can actually Prabhupada be discouraged he was what can one question by someone discourage him when he alone endure heart attacks when he alone endure being homeless when he alone endure being driven out of his home by a drug crazed person and still persevered so at one level Prabhupada’s purpose was never shaken he was very strong in his purpose of doing whatever it took to share Krishna’s message with the world but that doesn’t mean that there are no normal human emotions so there is the emotional response that happens to us within us to situations so for example he for me writing is one of my services so when I start writing I get absorbed in it but it’s not always that I get absorbed sometimes I get a writing block why did I start writing this the author who said writing is extremely easy all that you have to do is sit in front of a computer and glare at the screen till drops of blood form on your forehead what that means is that even when we are doing something which we like to do somebody likes to say me as a dancer they like to dance but it’s not that every time they dance they love it there are times they may be tired they may think ok maybe I’m not going to be successful so the mind’s emotions will be there very strongly when there is something which you don’t like to do anyway but even when there is something which we like to do still even in that our mind’s emotions will not stay steady all the time so the the the intelligence is fixed with a strong purpose then the mind’s oscillating emotions don’t affect us so much so for Hanuman he had gone with a whole whole group of monkeys in search of Sita and suddenly now he was left all alone now you go alone it is disorienting so as he was flying through the sky what were his thoughts he’s thinking that oh at one level he saw this big ocean he saw that he was moving along that ocean and then when we are determined to do something especially if it is something in the service of the lord then powers far bigger than ours start aligning with us so what happened was Hanuman’s father was Vayu and the wind started blowing from behind him it did two things first it you know it comforted him like if you are doing a workout in a gym with a nice fan above then we don’t feel so exhausted by the workout so it just ease him of that exertion in this way but along with that the wind was flowing forcefully enough that it added to his momentum so if the wind is opposing he has to exert more energy and the wind was moving with him from behind that aided him in his motion so as he started observing this he started moving smoothly across the ocean he started thinking that the sages say that by chanting the names of lord Ram we can cross over the entire ocean of material existence so then what is this small ocean this is just one small ocean within this material world i can cross this over so in this way by remembering the lord his determination increased he was all alone and there was some natural apprehension because of that but he maintained his determination now there were many obstacles he faced along the way which we may discuss in a future session but here we are going to focus not on the external situation that he faced but on the internal emotions that he went through so as he was moving through he came finally to Lanka and then he saw a huge city Lanka was an island and within that island there were different mountains and on one of the mountains was this big city which was like a fort so the entering the island was not difficult but within the island was the city and the city was covered by forts so how did he enter the fort then he decided he will make a very small form very small and then there were obstacles Lankini came in the way but somehow he managed to penetrate inside now for him there are many challenges first challenge is that Hanuman is Brahmachari and he is being sent to search for a woman as he is searching for a woman he has seen her only once and that too was a fleeting glimpse when did he see her when Ravana was flying across the sky he just had one glance at her and that time there were no android phones to take photos and show this is the person i want to look at so he didn’t even know really who he was looking for he knew she was extremely beautiful but beyond that he did not know anything so he has come to an unknown place to search for an unknown person sometimes detectives specialise in searching for missing people sometimes we see this person missing then they hire some detectives to track down people and they try to find them he had to search for someone but he had practically nothing to aid him he didn’t even have a picture he just knew that she must be here somewhere in this big city and where could she be so after he entered the city he went house this time for him to peer in and look carefully it took him time so by the time he came to Ravana’s palace even the demons they are active at night but they can’t stay active all night because they also get tired so most of the demons by then had gone to sleep so Ravana was sleeping lying asleep on his bed and then he saw that nearby there was an extremely beautiful lady lying thought oh this is Sita and right on the windowsill from which he was peering he said jump up and down i found Sita i found Sita i found Sita he is jumping up and down and suddenly in some ways Hanuman in the Sundarkand is a great warrior and hero in some ways he is just like a child sometimes children just get excited about something jump up jump up jump up jump up jump up he thought my mission is over now i am only thinking about how to contact her he said no this cannot be Sita then he started searching looking everywhere he went into the other chambers and as he was doing this he saw that there were these demons who were who were just engaged in all kinds of revelry and sensuality and there were their maidservants there were queens they were all in various states of wondrous so as he now he had to look for a woman and it was night when he had to look for a woman fearing and suddenly got a doubt what am i doing is this the right thing to do as the doubt started enveloping him he became very apprehensive he was not fearful that i have gone into the arena of demons where i might be killed that did not cause him much fear he was cautious but what caused him fear was oh am i doing something wrong so for us there are many different dangers in life there is a danger which happens in the form of accidents some car may hit us or some disease may hit us although now events that happen to us they are dangerous they can be distressing but they are more or less the results of our past karma so they come upon us but then the mistakes that we do they are actually far more damaging because they mean that we are creating further bad karma so in that sense the problems that befall us are not to be as feared as the mistakes that we do the mistakes that we do mean we are creating further karma which is going to give us further suffering the problem that befall us and why is it that some players they get the wrong decision at the worst possible moment and some players get the wrong decision at not as a critical moment so the point I am making is that action produces reaction but which action produces which reaction when that shapes the results quite a bit so that means that A and B A leads to B this is the law of karma but when A leads to B that is determined by one’s past karma so A may lead to B immediately or A may not lead to B for a long time B will come after some time so for example nowadays there is a lot of concern among people about obesity it’s natural because it’s a health issue but so I was talking with one doctor he has done a lot of research so there are some people now who say that actually obesity is the worst disease some people say no it’s being exaggerated whatever it is but there is some interesting thing that there are some people who just eat a little bit more and their body bloats up and they start hating themselves because of that there are some other people who treat their tongue like a conveyor belt nothing seems to happen to them so why is this see whatever we eat that is going to have a result but for some people then you could say they are genetically disposed to becoming overweight so even if they eat a little bit more they lead to overweight some people are genetically disposed to having a slim body so no matter how much they eat that doesn’t produce a result so there is the normal result that A will lead to B but in some people A may lead to B instantaneously in some people A may not lead to B for a long time so that is determined by the past situation so in this case Hanuman when he was peering through he was more fearful that I may do some wrong so basically whatever past karma is there that reaction is going to come to us anyway but if that past karmic reaction comes to us when we are relatively in a safe and secure situation then that may not lead to any big complication you know say if our car is going to because of our past karma our car tyre is going to puncture simple example karma may not work like that but if it punctures on a free express way not much crowd we just pull over but if it punctures when in the middle of high traffic and our car veers into some other car or some other car hits us when that happens is critical so for us you know the situation in which the problems come often determines the magnitude of the problems so in the case of Hanuman he felt fearful that I should not do anything wrong then he thought that actually my intention is to search for Sita and she is a woman where will I search for a woman except in the woman’s channel and because I am in enemy’s camp so I have to search at night he said my intention there is nothing wrong in that thus he felt reassured and he started to keep moving on as he kept moving on he was and he just couldn’t find Sita anywhere and as he searched everywhere he went to the entire city he went to every single house looking carefully that he couldn’t find any trace of anyone who looked like Sita and he started thinking am I going to fail now I jumped across came so far penetrated into enemy camp remained undetected do everything and at the end of it we fall short it’s after if we are not exerted too much for something and we don’t get it then it’s disappointing but it’s not devastating if you have worked a lot gone through great trouble to get something and then at that moment it seems to that it’s going to be taken away from us or just when we are going to get it we are going to lose it it can be devastating in the sixth canto of Bhagavatam there is a story of Chitraketu so Chitraketu for a long time he finally did not have a child and then finally he got a child after great efforts and then when he lost the child he was devastated so frustration is usually a function of expectation and our expectation builds up when we put in more and more effort so is the king of Kishkindha all of Kishkindha will sink into an ocean of sorrow Kishkindha they will not be able to maintain their lives over there if Ram dies Lakshman who has left everything to come with Ram Lakshman will not be able to live Bharat Bharat who is living simply for Ram to come back and Bharat gets to know that Ram is never going to come back Bharat will not be able to live not only Bharat all the Ayodhya Vasis they are waiting simply for Ram to come back if he doesn’t come back they will not be able to live all of Kishkindha will be destroyed because of me all of Ayodhya will be devastated because of me all because I was not able to find Sita as this his mind starts going off thinking of all the disastrous consequences of failure he immediately just jumps on pieces I will die but I will find Sita I cannot be responsible for this great distress on those whom I love those whom I venerate I must find Sita and as he jumped up he jumped high up determined enthusiasm the moon came back from the clouds as the moon came back from the clouds he just jumped up looking around and he saw in the distance a garden he had searched for the whole city peering into all houses but he had not searched the gardens so he saw this garden he thought yes let me go here and as he started going into the garden at that time the sun started rising in the distance and as the sunlight started streaming he felt his mood rising up yes I am going to find Sita now I will find Sita no matter what happens so when we take up some cause which is much bigger than ourselves at that time also our emotions sometimes work for us sometimes work against us but if our determination is strong then somehow either from inside or from outside some prompting will come yes I am going to do this so actually for us in many situations for us many times the situations are not in our control whether we will get success or failure whether the situations that we meet will be favourable or unfavourable that is not in our control and correspondingly even our emotions whether we feel good or we feel bad that is also not in our control but what is in our control is our intention like I am going to do this now we have to we often define success as a destination this is what I am going to do this is what I have to achieve so now yes success is a destination whatever it may be I have to do this service I have to complete this I have to do that now when we define success in terms of a destination that we have to achieve sometimes we may get the destination sometimes we just not get it what if anything has happened to Sita she was in that forest she was in that garden and the woods caught fire over there and she got burnt would she be able to run was she safe if anything has happened to Sita then my whole purpose would be defeated he started he started berating himself why did I get so excited why did I get so angry I should have been more cautious as he was just berating himself at that time suddenly a celestial voice came he says Sita is safe do not fear and so here Ravana at the end of his mission he was not just exulting in glory thinking that oh I have done such a great job when doing something so great did I do something wrong a devotee’s mood is not that I have done such a great thing his mood is that always is there a way I can do something better is there a way I could have done this service better while doing this service did I do something wrong sometime so his mood was even in his moment of greatest glory there was that caution that was there within him so he had achieved a stupendous feat in the service of Ram and having achieved that having completed his mission and done much much more he jumped up and he left back all the way to the coastline where the other vanaras were waiting this was Hanuman’s heroic mission throughout it all his determination remained enormously enormously strong totally unshakeable he went through various emotions but the ups and downs of the emotions they were there and they affected him but his determination to serve the lord remained always strong and in this particular pastime Hanuman demonstrates like I said both bhakti and shakti his devotion was that he has to serve the lord but he had to use all his energy all his determination not just physical energy physical energy as well as his the energy of his determination to serve the lord now for all of us we may say I don’t have any mission like Hanuman had or Vishwa Prabhupada had I am living my daily life I have my professional concerns my family concerns all these so how does this apply for us actually what is spiritual and what is material is determined not just by what we are doing it is determined by why we are doing so for us in our particular situations we all will face difficulties and those difficulties can be something which disheartens us demoralises us and think oh this problem this problem this problem so and I did this online bhakti shastri course before that I have taught many bhakti shastri courses also before that into live audiences also so when sometimes when I teach the bhagavad gita then I explain why this verse comes after this verse after this verse so then I get very great joy in analysing this is a connection between this verse and this verse so once I was very excited and this one devotee was just sitting so gloomy throughout the class he was completely unresponsive then we knew each other quite well so after that class I asked him so I said you know have you looked a little down he said yes he said you know you were telling why this verse is coming after this verse and the question in my mind was why is this problem coming after this problem my life is filled with problems this problem is getting over this problem and this problem is coming so at a practical level we get caught in problem consciousness and if we become problem conscious then we become disheartened we become gloomy we can’t do anything effective materially or even spiritually so our purpose may not be purely spiritual right now like it is Hanuman’s or Prabhupada’s but we have Krishna as a purpose of our life and Krishna has given us certain abilities Krishna has given us certain intelligence and although the particular situations may come in our life by our past karma that karma is also under Krishna’s supervision so for us in whatever problems we may face whether they be because of the service which we are trying to do in our job in our family whatever it is the point is not from where the problem is coming the essential thing is where it will take us so if we look above the problem and to Krishna to Ram and we focus on trying to become conscious of the Lord my dear Lord whatever situation comes in my life I am your servant please guide me how can I serve in the situation we have that prayerful mood then that will be the basis by which we will stay determined ok this problem will come that problem will come sometimes some problems we can solve them sometimes some problems we just have to live with them but whatever it is if our vision gets caught in the problem then we will become disheartened we will become de-energised we will become depressed but if we look beyond the problem to Krishna and say my dear Lord I am your servant please guide me how to deal with this please give me the strength by which I can move through this then that connection with Krishna will give us the strength to persevere and those problems which may have come because of our present mistakes because of our past karma because of people targeting us because of whatever situation it may be the important thing is that if we turn towards Krishna and try to connect with him that connection will become the basis of our strength and with that strength we will be able to persevere and when we persevere then that consciousness of Krishna will help us to find a way to rise beyond those problems machittah sarva-durgani mat-prasadat tarishya-sri Bhagavad Gita 18.50 Krishna says that if you become conscious of me you will pass over all obstacles by my grace sarva-durgani Krishna is not just saying you have to be purely serving me and the obstacles that come in my service only then you will cross over no sarva-durgani from whatever reason whatever be the source of those problems if we become determined to serve the lord and stay fixed keep our eyes fixed on that connection Krishna I am your servant whatever happens please guide me how I can serve you then we will be able to rise over those problems Hanuman and his unflinching devotion to Ram is an example for us to get that inspiration to persevere even through difficult situations so I will summarise what I spoke today I started by speaking about Lord Hanuman’s emotions when he was going to do this stupendous service for Ram so it come as a theme to the banks of Indian coastline but then suddenly he had to go all alone so Jamban’s words reminded of his power and by that both his morale internally and his size externally increasing so our words the words that we speak to each other they can either encourage or demoralise us we have to recognise the power of the word and channel it properly Hanuman was going across Lanka across the ocean towards Lanka at that time he was going all alone suddenly there could have been normal apprehension determination doesn’t mean that there is absence of the normal emotional ups and downs but there is a purpose that is stronger than those emotional ups and downs Lord Hanuman said asked that why are you discouraging now Prabhupada was never discouraged in the sense that his determination to serve was strong but still emotions would be there because spiritualising ourselves doesn’t mean dehumanising ourselves it essentially means cultivating a purpose that is stronger than the ups and downs of the emotions so when Hanuman had that purpose then vayu started flowing behind him ventilating him as well as energising him so like that when we work determinedly powers beyond us start helping us Hanuman eventually came to Lanka and he started searching it was extremely difficult that he had to search for someone who had never seen he was a brahmachari who had to search for a woman an unknown person in an unknown place he kept searching he had to look at women in various types of undress in their private chambers so he had fear because of that he did not feel fear when he entered Lanka he felt fear that I might be doing something wrong so the problems that we come upon are simply karmic reactions they are to be feared because the karmic reactions can be troublesome but the mistakes that we do they are to be feared even more because we are creating further bad karma which will give us bad reactions now which problem is because of our present mistake or because of our past mistakes that is difficult to know because our past karma determines which action will produce what magnitude of reaction or when the reaction will come so the the small mistakes can sometimes lead to big consequences and sometimes big mistakes may also lead to small consequences that’s how our past karma interplays with our present karma small mistake can lead to a big accident or sometimes big mistake like drunk driving also may not lead to something so we cannot know which action will lead to what consequence that’s why we have to be cautious to avoid even small mistakes and Hanuman was searching everywhere when he couldn’t find Sita anywhere he became demoralised but when he thought all of Ayodhya all of Kishkindha will sink into distress and death if Sita cannot be found he said better let me die before they die so when he became determined to keep searching till his death at that time the moon parted the clouds parted and the moon showed the garden where Sita was to be found similarly if we define success as a destination then sometimes if we don’t achieve my whole effort is worthless but if success is a direction we want to live according to certain values we want to live for the service of the Lord then even if a particular destination seems unachievable still we will persevere and through that perseverance the Lord will show us how the destination can be attained and Sri Prabhupada went to America he faced enormous difficulties and he would often become he could say consider going back but he stayed on and eventually he just entrusted to the Lord closed his eyes and did kirtans and then so many people started dancing and that’s how even now if you go to the Tompkins Square Park where there is a tree it’s called Hare Krishna tree and Hare Krishna movement is said to have begun over there so eventually when he found Sita and he decided to do extra service he had recognised and eventually gave a stern message to Ravana and then through his words and his actions even the best of the warriors of Ravana were bested by Hanuman finally his foremost warrior with the best of the best the of the of the best of the of the best of of the of of the best of the of the best of the the best best of the best of the best of the the best good times times yes there is a time place for everything. That means if I am caught in the heat of action or I am already worried about something, generally there are three modes, goodness, passion and ignorance.
And in the modes of passion and ignorance, we can’t think very calmly. Generally if we see there is a problem, the problem is out there, I am here. So both the modes, lower modes passion and ignorance, they cause us to estimate things wrongly.
In the mode of ignorance, I think, this problem is so big, I can’t do anything. So in the mode of ignorance we think nothing is in my control. Unless we start feeling sorry for ourselves, we got into self-pity, paranoia, it’s become, we say that I can’t do anything.
So we feel nothing is in my control. In the mode of passion, we think everything is in my control. Any problem? No problem, I’ll deal with it.
So we, in both cases, mis-estimate. In ignorance we underestimate our capacities, in passion we overestimate our capacities. In the mode of goodness, we can estimate more precisely.
Ok, this is my capacity, this is what is in my control, this is not in my control. So generally speaking, if we have to plan for future problems, that has to be done when we are in the mode of goodness. If we are in the mode of passion or we are in the mode of ignorance, then pointing to future problems doesn’t work.
A person will just be dismissive of the problem, if they are in the mode of passion, no problem, I’ll deal with it. That is not confidence, that is actually overconfidence. They are not really thinking clearly.
Or if they are in the mode of ignorance, then that problem will just, oh, ok, I’ll not do anything. So we have to see what is the level of, what is the mindset or the level of consciousness of a particular person and then speak with them at the right time. So when they are in the mode of goodness or maybe before that, before we bring up that particular issue, we talk with them in such a way that we help them to come to the mode of goodness.
And when they are in a calm, reflective frame of mind, at that time we address the issue. So we certainly have a duty to caution others and help them prepare for future dangers. Actually, Prabhupada did make a plan.
In the 1970s only, Prabhupada made a GBC, quite early, within a few years of the start of the Krishna Conscious Movement and that’s how he planned the succession. So Prabhupada did prepare for that, no doubt. The point is that in this particular situation, his point was that the Indian culture was dying even in India and Prabhupada had gone single-handedly to America and he had spread the culture and thousands of people were becoming devotees and this reporter, instead of appreciating at all, was saying, you know, what about the future? So that particular situation, Prabhupada gave that answer.
So we have to see that in the mode of goodness, when the person will be able to access properly, then we speak the right thing. We have to also, we just don’t have to speak the right thing, we also have to think of whether saying the right thing is going to have the right effect. And of course, sometimes, despite our best efforts, it may have the wrong effect.
But at least we try to do our best so that chances of it having the right effect are better. If somebody has some faults and you tell them those faults, if they are angry at that time, you tell them the faults, it’s only going to make things worse. So we try to find the right time or the right way to speak the right thing so that they become aware of future dangers and then they can prepare appropriately for it.
So why don’t we have Ram in the temple? We have Ram in the Mahamantra, first of all. So he’s there. Now the important thing is that every tradition has a particular focus.
So we are a part of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition. In the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, we follow Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who focused on the worship of Krishna. So we also focus on the worship of Krishna.
It’s not that we don’t celebrate Ram Navami. We also have temples where Ram is there. But every tradition has a particular focus.
And that’s what the tradition will follow. So for example, our acharyas, they have talked about Ram’s pastimes, but they have written commentaries primarily on Krishna’s pastimes. So now there is a whole Rama tradition, which has also written a lot of sweet literature about Rama.
And we may also read that and we may also relish that and we may also speak that. That is perfectly fine. But we have our particular focus.
It’s not that we have anything against Lord Ram. It is just that each tradition has its focus. So our tradition is the tradition of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, where we focus not just on Krishna, we focus on Krishna in Vrindavan primarily.
We focus on Krishna in the… we don’t focus on Krishna in Dwarkadheesh. When we discuss Krishna’s pastimes, we discuss much more about Vrindavan Leela. So for us, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he primarily considered Vrindavan the place that he wanted to go to.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu spent two months in Vrindavan. There is not much record of him going to Dwarka also. He travelled all over the country, probably have gone to Dwarka.
But that was not his focus in his pilgrimage. So there is always a focus which each tradition has. And we may accept… we do accept the Lord in the other traditions, Lord’s other manifestations.
And on those particular days, we will worship them. So for example, Ram Navami, we celebrate, we worship Ram. But we are… but that’s not what we do all the time.
Because we are… we are worshipping the infinite Lord, but we are finite beings. And for that purpose, we need a focus. So our focus is Lord Ram.
But we encourage, if somebody is inspired to worship Lord Ram, our focus is Krishna. But if somebody is inspired to worship Ram, that’s wonderful. Any other questions? So if in a particular situation, we may think that one thing is the right thing.
Somebody else may think that something else is the right thing. So how do we adjust? One thing is that life never comes with a guarantee of right decisions. We may do our best thinking, and we may do our best planning.
But sometimes the decision we take may turn out to be wrong. So I was talking with one devotee, he’s telling me that he’s been practising Bhakti for 45 years. So he says, there’s only one opinion that I am now strongly attached to.
Do not be strongly attached to any opinion. I am convinced that Krishna is God and I am his servant. But apart from that, everything else, I am in the wait and catch mode.
Don’t make any definitive judgments. This is right and this is wrong. This is good and this is bad.
So basically, we use our best intelligence and we make the best possible decision. So we use our best intelligence in a particular situation and we make a decision. And if that person is in a position of authority and they take the decision that way, that’s okay.
If we are in a position of authority, we take it our way. And we learn by experience. And it’s not that decisions are always right or wrong.
A decision may be right from a particular perspective at a particular time. But when the perspective changes, the situation changes, so this was not the best decision. So Bhaktivinoda Thakur says in a different context that if we are meant to go this way, but then we found that we have gone off in this direction, then we don’t have to go back till here.
We can just move on from where we were. So if I’ve gone till here, from here I can do the course correction. So we try to communicate the rationale for our decision as well as possible to others.
And we try to understand the rationale of their objection as much as possible. And then based on that, if we feel that what they’re saying makes sense, we will change our decision. If we know what they’re saying is okay, but I’m convinced about this course of action, then we move on.
In general, if we don’t, if while taking a particular decision or even sticking to that decision, if we don’t become dismissive about others, then they won’t take it so badly, so negatively. If we just dismiss them, you know, you’re a fool, you don’t know anything, I know the right thing, then that will injure the relationship. So if they know more than us, they’re more experienced than us, and what they say makes sense, we may correct our decision, we may change our decision.
But if we decide to proceed with that decision, we can just be respectful to them. And tell them this is my rationale. And I will keep your concern in mind, but this is how I’m going to move forward.
That’s okay. We can’t have agreement over everything in this world. So rather than focussing on what is right and what is wrong, that is extremely difficult to determine.
We can focus on, so there is a perfect and there is the optimum. Optimum means, this is the best in this situation. There might have been something better, which might be a better course of action.
But in this situation, this seems to be the best, most workable for me, so I’ll do this. So rather than making a judgement about the person that you are wrong and I am right, or rather than even making the person that what you are suggesting is wrong and what I am suggesting is right, we can focus it. In this situation, this is what is right.
This is what works best for me. And that’s why I’m going to do this. So if we don’t make it a personal issue, then that may not have so much effect.
Does that answer your question? It’s not exactly jumping. It’s not exactly flying. It’s something in between.
It’s basically, Hanuman has mystic powers. And with those mystic powers, he is able to fly, even without his wings. He doesn’t have wings.
So I would say that, as I said, it’s not exactly jumping, it’s not exactly flying also. It’s something in between. It’s mystical, but it’s not only mystical.
It’s also, he is physically exerting his energy. So generally speaking, when some people have some mystical powers, those mystical powers work in addition to the physical powers. They are not in substitution for that.
That means, say, if some person has phenomenal memory, that’s not a mystical power in the sense of the Ashtasiddhis, but they can just remember so much. Yes, they are able to do something much more than what everybody else is able to do. But that doesn’t mean that they can do that effortlessly all the time.
They also get tired by that. So there is a, you could say, there is a material mechanism by which they are recollecting. But there is something more.
Some people have some more extraordinary Ashtasiddhis. Even yogis, they may have practised it, they get something from somewhere. But that is something in addition to the physical.
So there is the physical mechanism of jumping. There is a physical mechanism of flying. Both of them are involved, but there’s something much more than that also.
So we’ll stop here. I just want to make one comment. It’s not a question, but a comment.
The way you relate that how Brahman went to the enemy camp and single-handedly destroyed everything, and the way you relate to the Prabhupada, how he came to the US, no one was there to welcome him. Even after entering, the bigger problem comes to him, and the way how he conquered the whole US. It’s so amazing to compare that.
It’s wonderful. This is the first time I’m hearing that contrast. It’s so amazing.
As I’m contemplating more and more, it’s giving me more joy, just to compare the both situations. It’s wonderful. Thank you.
Shri Prabhupada ki, Shri Ramachandra Bhagwan ki, Gaur Bhakta Vindaki, Tai Gaur Premanandai. Thank you, Prabhuji.