NoI 9 Text 3 How neglect of regulative principles destroys bhakti

Transcript

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Jai. Jai. Jai.
Jai. Jai. Jai.
Jai. Jai. Jai.
Jai. activity that enable us to make steady advancement in spiritual life. So we started by discussing the basic conception of bhakti as given by Vishnu Gopal Swamy’s explanation.
So he says that bhakti is not sentimental speculation or imaginative ecstasy, its substance is practical service as Vishnu Gopal explains and then we discussed about the nine levels of bhakti or the nine aspects. So let’s discuss this a little bit more now. So we’ll start with Yogi Shravan.
So now what is going on over here, the verse was talking about what are the six elements that enhance our bhakti. Now while talking about these six elements, the important point is that Yogi Shravan sets the background by clarifying what is bhakti. So he explains that bhakti means, it’s practical activity, it’s alushi nidana, it’s cultivation and how is that cultivation to be done? For that Shri Gopal explains the nine levels of bhakti and within the nine levels of bhakti now he is explaining Shravan and for doing Shravan he is explaining from whom we should And for that he talks about the scriptural verses that talk about the spiritual master.
So he talks on the Gita Upanishad, Srimad Bhagavad Gita 434 which talks about submission, service and enquiry. That is how we move towards Krishna through the connection with the spiritual master. This 434 talks about So actually he talks about three aspects to enable us to learn from the spiritual master.
So I have this article in the Gita, I have read it. This is the verse on article on the Gita 434. This talks about these three aspects.
So we can get Krishna’s grace by humbleness. So HIS is acronym. He talks about humbleness, inquisitiveness and service mindedness.
So what happens by humbleness is, each of these play an important role. I will explain why does Krishna talk about these three specific elements over here. So humbleness means I don’t know the way.
That is humbleness. Inquisitiveness means you please tell me the way. So first of all if I want to take spiritual advancement, it’s like when I am sick, I have to admit that I don’t know how to cure myself.
You please tell me the way. So inquisitiveness means we ask the spiritual master what is the way, please tell me. And the third is service mindedness.
We are ultimately servants of Krishna. So only when we render service to Krishna, do we move closer to Him. It moves us along the way.
So if I am going along a road and I don’t know where that road is going, I don’t know what is the way to my destination. First I don’t do it. Then I ask a reliable guide what is the way.
Then I walk or take my feet along the way. So humbleness means I don’t know. Inquisitiveness means please tell me the way.
And service mindedness is the actual kinetic energy, the actual motor force that takes us along the way back to Krishna. So this is how the process of connecting with the spiritual master enables us to connect with Krishna. And that’s why Shatrughna Prakash quotes the Goswami Muthaka Upanishad which states, So anidarche means you must go.
Takvijana means forgiving that particular knowledge. Tak is that. Vijana is scientific knowledge, systematic knowledge.
So if we want to get systematic knowledge about God, we must go to the spiritual master. It’s an emphatic and consistent statement from the Muthaka Upanishad. And then Shatrughna Prakash goes forward and explains how that mind of having taken on an idea about the deity.
So he’s saying that in this universe, among millions and millions and trillions and quadrillions and trillions of souls who are wandering about, where if you actually get the opportunity to connect with Krishna, and that happens when you meet Krishna, presided by Mokshi Datta. Being in Mokshi, Mokshi Datta reached the seat of devotional service achieved by the mercy of Guru and Krishna. So how does this happen? That Shatrughna will explain in the next part of the talk.
All right? You say it. You call the material universe. Yes.
So here, Shatrughna Prakash is setting up the background to go on to the Utsahan, which is Jyotindra. So what does he state over here? Who gets the Virata beach? That’s what is being discussed over here. So, among the various people, Mr. Prabhupada mentions here, one is sincere and one is fortunate.
So, actually elsewhere, Prabhupada mentions that actually, Prabhupada mentions that actually, the person who takes to, who gets to the pilgrimage, one is fortunate and intelligent. So these two words have specific meaning. Fortunate means, one gets the opportunity, and intelligent means, one accepts the opportunity.
So, there are in the city of Mumbai itself, the population is over a crore almost. Isn’t it? So among so many people, how many people actually, will get the opportunity to come to the Utsahan? Will they get some food, some prostitution, some devotion, very few among them get to the city, come to Utsahan. And among all those people who get the opportunity, there are very few who take the opportunity.
And to do this both, so to get the opportunity, you have to be fortunate. And to take the opportunity, you have to be intelligent. So, Prabhupada explains that it is the Guru’s business to make the unfortunate people fortunate.
The Guru Bhagwan is the Bhagwan. So, Brahman will take on a Bhagwan-ji, or Bhagwan-ji, some fortunate souls. But how will these souls become unfortunate? Guru Krishna said that by by the power of Guru and Krishna.
The Guru himself, and the Guru’s representatives, those around the world, especially Prabhupada, all over the world, trying to give Krishna consciousness to one and all, trying to give them the government. So, Sri Adi Prabhupada is explaining that if we want our nakshatras to flourish, we need the guidance of the spiritual master. And now we can go on to the specific items of this particular verse.
Yes. krishna-arthakula-jeshtha-bhujasamsinu Yeah. Yes.
So, Sri Adi Prabhupada talks about enthusiasm. Now, in every age of life, if we want to achieve something substantial, something worthwhile, then we have to be enthusiastic. So, students who say, I want to graduate and get into IIT, they work so hard.
They have to have this fantastic enthusiasm. Somebody wants to go to America, you have to work hard. There is enthusiasm to be expressed in many ways.
How when they want a visa, they are ready to go and stand right from early morning in the field, to get the visa. So, these people don’t complain. They complain, when for power exertion, they have to stand for a long time in the field.
But, they are ready to do that for the sake of mental health. There are athletes, when they become champion athletes, sometimes they practise for months and years before they can attain to becoming champions. There are authors who write books.
Actually speaking, for one, generally, the author writes a 300-page book. On average, the author writes something equivalent to 50,000 pages. Out of which, it may not be exactly 30,000 pages.
So much is written, and you can read, and discard it, reword it. every manuscript, every book that is written, takes so much input. So, authors were successful.
William Wordsworth said one time, today morning, I spent my time writing productively. After breakfast, while writing, while writing, we were writing. After breakfast, I wrote a comma.
After drinking for three hours, before lunch, I removed the comma. So, just placing one comma, instead of three hours, and you can say, that’s what you have to do. So, actually speaking, for a man, William Wordsworth, in this world, has been such an artist.
People have to be enthusiastic. They want to achieve anything they can do with William Wordsworth. So, Krishna Consciousness, which means love for Krishna, and belonging back to Krishna, is life’s supreme achievement.
Because all other achievements, no matter how wonderful they may be in the ayahs of the world, they might not be. This Krishna Consciousness alone, is the eternal achievement. And that’s why, if that is the supreme achievement, that supreme achievement also deserves our supreme achievement.
When we were working in some colleges, or our studies are working in companies, we work hard. So, why should Krishna deserve any less than what our material bosses or material teachers thought? Krishna deserves the best. So, without enthusiasm, we will not be able to achieve much in life.
So, now Prabhupada explains, enthusiasm again means action. Without action, there is nothing, no energy in the self at all. So, Srila Prabhupada is hammering back to the point he started in the book, that the substance of yoga, this is practically, enthusiasm means action.
But that action is for Krishna’s sake. Now Srila Prabhupada explains, that when we are for action for Krishna’s sake, it is just as a being coming to the temple and dancing with Nithyananda, or chanting the holy hymns, etc., that actually the whole universe is the arena for action on behalf of Krishna. So, let’s read this.
It is not that complete. Nithyananda darshanam Jagannatha parampara Narsanayi sarva-pura Nithyanandeshwara sadhya So, Mahasur Prabhupada, so this whole purport is basically an elaboration of this point, that we have to act for Krishna. So, acting for Krishna means not that we confine or narrow our activities.
Many people have this idea, that religion means just doing some activity, like having a handmaid come to the temple, but actually that’s not really an issue. It’s a potential arena for self-destruction. And that is what Shatrughan explained.
He was saying that everything in the world is ultimately sustained by religion. And that’s fine. So that’s why now the point of devotion service doesn’t narrow or confine our activities.
Why does it do that? We see all of creation, all of existence, permeated with Krishna. And that’s how he’s able to come as a potential arena for service to Krishna. So that means Krishna is there everywhere.
So Shatrughan is an example. For example, if you give him a laptop or a recorder, everything is pervading Krishna’s religion. And therefore, everything can be used for Krishna’s service.
And to the extent that I understand this, to the extent that we see everything as per which he is spiritual. So Shatrughan is demonstrating this in his own life also. We may not see the Western world as just a place of lectures and yavanams where all are far away from Vedic culture.
He saw it as hundreds of souls who were part and parcel of Krishna, who forgot about Krishna. But whose tormented, forgotten Krishna consciousness can be revived. So he saw them as potential devotees which were brought up in America.
He was constantly thinking of ways and means to expand Krishna consciousness. So one day he was on the terrace of the temple in San Francisco, in the balcony. He was walking along in Jai Hind.
Suddenly, he saw a flatbed truck, a normal truck, a sidewalk. He stopped in the flatbed truck. He just looked at the flatbed truck and he got on it again.
Now he didn’t know Jain Mahaprabhu was moving along in the flatbed truck. And he thought to himself, now, how many people see a flatbed truck and think that this can be used for Krishna’s service? Actually, nobody wants to do this. He saw everything as potentially made for Krishna’s service.
And that’s how he resolved the existent virtues. And this is the one who even went to a crock show out of the ballroom and he said, you are very rich and rich. So, now certainly we have to give up sinful activities.
But all of us have various talents. And we don’t have to mind our own talents. Whatever talents we have, we can use them in Krishna’s service.
So the whole idea is, Prabhupada writes in the 7th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, the jurisdiction of Krishna consciousness extends everywhere. So the jurisdiction of Krishna consciousness is the arena where Krishna consciousness is practised. So it extends everywhere.
And therefore, we can all serve Krishna what we know as Krishna’s fortune. Knowledge of Krishna is liberation. And forget the ignorance about Krishna.
It is not rich. So devotional service enables us to rotate all our activities, whatever it may be, as long as they are not directly anti-emotional, in Krishna’s service. So, that’s how bhakti, we discussed earlier that bhakti is not just a part of life.
Life is a part of bhakti. It means, life is just one phase. Bhakti has been going on for many lifetimes.
So like that, actually, bhakti can engage everyone in devotional service according to their propensities. So let’s move on. Now Shri Prabhupada will give the example or he will give a precise definition about how yes, three points are there.
Endeavour, execute with intelligence. So just arbitrarily, thoughtlessly, running around is not so easy. Endeavour, execute with intelligence.
And then in Krishna consciousness. So we are doing all this for Krishna’s sake. So that is enthusiasm.
Yes, I mean, this is filled with sutras, it’s all the same. The execution of devotional service, that means when chant, this is what works. So all that, this is not a matter of general meditation.
You know, I’m not saying what’s Krishna doing, this is Krishna’s work right now. He’s doing this, he’s doing that. What am I doing here? I’m wasting my time.
And I put that idle meditation gives us no higher satisfaction. We get dragged down lower edges. Therefore, it’s practical action in the foreground of spiritual life.
Practical action, which we do for the service of Krishna. In the foreground of spiritual life. Now after describing enthusiasm, next I’ll go back and describe patience.
So, before we go back to patience, how do we develop enthusiasm? Actually speaking, enthusiasm is a matter of choice. Every one of us, it is up to us whether we will be enthusiastic or not. For example, when we are sitting in the morning for japa, if we sit with our back erect, if we sit erect, it’s conducive to attentiveness.
But, if we lean against the wall, relax, and let our mind wander here and there, let our eyes wander here and there, then naturally we become distracted. We can’t be enthusiastic. So, enthusiasm is a choice.
And then, can you stand it? It’s beautiful, but it’s a choice. Enthusiasm. Shatrughan will say that.
In the same language, fake it till you make it. What is that? Fake it till you make it. What this means is, fake generally means false.
Focus. But that’s not the exact connotation what we mean. Fake means act as if we are enthusiastic.
And when we learn, then we actually become enthusiastic. So, how does this work? Fake it till you make it. What we do? Generally, when we practise bhakti, our mind has some initial energy, some initial indifference.
So, because of that, initially, we don’t feel any taste. But if we keep practising, then that taste comes. In 18.37 of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna explains that sattvic happiness is like poison in the vagina, nectar in the eye.
He says, the sattvicness is a great issue in our life. So, initially, it is a poison. So, when you go to sit down in the morning and chant, you feel like it.
You don’t feel it’s too much. You feel like it’s somehow gone. Keep chanting.
Keep chanting. Then what happens? Arjuna comes over and throws his bowls away. Gradually, we start getting absorbed.
We start feeling good. We start eating properly. So, then the nectar in the eye will come out.
So, poison in the vagina. So, why is the poison in the vagina? In order to take it. When we get the nectar in the eye, we have to eat it.
Then we can’t take it. That means, we tolerate the tastelessness and perceive it. You see.
So, we take it and make it. When we are going to the nectar phase, we have to take it. When we are going to the poison phase, we have to take it.
Once we come to the nectar phase, then we have to make it. So, now there is no way that we can just put aside the poison and get to the nectar. On some days, the nectar may just overflow.
And we just get swept up with positive, enthusiastic emotions. But, generally speaking, because we are not into our heart, there will be initially a layer of poison. So, if we don’t really penetrate that layer of poison, eventually we will come to the nectar.
So, is this false? Is this not authentic? If I don’t have enthusiasm, still I pretend to be enthusiastic. Actually, it is not that I am pretending because I want to show the world that I am a guru. Actually, I know that my present feelings are not the actual feelings of God.
And that’s why I want to put it aside so that I can eventually get to the real feelings of God. So, as long as we have an intention to develop authentic feelings, then our act of enthusiasm is not a pretence. It is an expression of our sincere intention.
Any questions about this? Let’s move on. Now we come to Ishtarayat. So, how is Ishtarayat taken up? So, Ishtarayat is determination, in the word in Sanskrit, And the purport of Naropal explains this as determination.
So, before going into determination, Naropal first talks about the purport of Ishtarayat. So, let’s look at what he says about Ishtarayat. Naropal says, Ishtarayat purport of Ishtarayat is the confidence that it can create a confidence of a self, which can be used for confidence.
So, Mr. Pratap till this point naturally expects a new narrative, naturally expects possibly that he’s talking about patience and then from off course he starts talking about confidence. So, now Mr. Pratap himself is among the greatest examples of patience. Normally speaking, when we try to do selectivity, and if we don’t get success, then people get discouraged.
Like a small child is going down the street and says, I’m going to become the most powerful person in the world. I will become the president of America. And as he goes and starts, I will become the Prime Minister of India.
I will start my own company and I will become the CEO of a big company. We find that, I’m just trying to pass my first standard exam also. How I am becoming that? And by the time that he comes to college, he struggles in college, there is so much competition.
Also, by the time he graduates, if I just get a job, I’ll do it. So what happens is, our ambitions are very big. But when we are beaten by the reverses of life, our ambitions start becoming smaller and smaller and smaller.
And it’s not that we don’t long for big things, but we realise that there is a huge amount of difficulties in achieving big things. And therefore, we feel that I will not be able to achieve these things. And that’s how ambitions, the difficulties, reversals, they build down on ambitions.
Vishal Prabhupada was so remarkable that he faced so many obstacles and reversals. See, obstacle means that when I want to go forward and something blocks me. And reversal means something doesn’t just block me, but it pushes me back.
It is angel going against the devil. Vishal Prabhupada faced both obstacles and reversals. When he made his spiritual master, he was already married.
So he felt that, you know, if I had not married, if I didn’t have a child, then I could have dedicated myself to this spiritual master immediately. So then he thought, okay, now I’m married, let me try to earn a lot of money. And by prospering his business, I’ll have a lot of financial support from his spiritual master.
But he tried multiple ways to expand the business. But there was some conspiracy instigated by some of his colleagues. And at one time there was a fire where the servant took away his wealth.
And again and again, he attempted to expand the business. Now actually speaking, for a business student, his collapse of the business could be a life-devastating because what you could do was to seek him. So Vishal Prabhupada decided to start the Back to Body magazine.
When he started the Back to Body magazine, it was 1944-45 was the first time when the world was at its peak. And the food was in short supply. But somehow he managed to publish his story in Back to Body.
He would often have to sacrifice the little money that he would have, which he would have used to get his own food. He would use it, purchase paper for publishing Back to Body, and he would himself go around and distribute it. And still on the streets of Kolkata, Vishal Prabhupada was once hit by a car, another time he was on some stroke and fell unconscious on the street.
And somehow, one of his friends was passing by in a car and he went to the hospital and that’s when Vishal Prabhupada survived and recovered. But eventually he ran out of financial resources and he goes on Back to Body. And he decided to start his own organisation, League of Devotees.
But then the local authorities over there, they had given him a place but then because of the pressure of some politicians, they threw him out of the place. And Prabhupada had spent a substantial amount of time, energy and money in trying to develop that place. And suddenly you have that homeless and resourceless that he tried to help.
Some of his godbrothers can assist him by editing the magazine that they were publishing. But then his godbrothers had a very ferocious attitude. They told him, probably this was magazine, silly magazine, they are publishing this, this way only.
So they couldn’t expand much. And finally, Vishal Prabhupada tried to himself get funds so that he could expand the appeal of the magazine. His godbrother had him removed from the postal editor.
That’s where Prabhupada went to Vrindavan and tried to live and distribute books from there. And initially, nobody even reacted. It was a Bhagavatam, but they had no money to publish the books.
Somehow he managed to publish the books, but then people were still not interested. And then they had to take him seriously. So then he said, move to America.
On the way to America he got a heart attack. Even when he got to America, people in Butler, Pennsylvania, treated him just as a curiosity object. Who is this Swami coming to India? I want to see this.
Then he went and started staying in New York, but there he where Dr. Mishra offered him hospitality, but he silenced him and asked leave. And Prabhupada left him and started staying in a separate place there. The watchman broke into his house and stole all his time, all his money.
And then he went to Lower East Side and was staying there. And people were coming and just as he felt that now people are becoming serious, then his partners in Navy all went crazy because of drugs and attacked Prabhupada almost to murder his intention. And Prabhupada could not away from that place.
At that time Prabhupada was stressed out. Then in the area of New York, in New York he said, there were birds chirping and moving around on the roofs and there were few flying censers on the ground. He said that actually he was in many ways more helpless than them.
Here was this person who had directly met the Prime Minister of America, the Prime Minister of India, the President of India who had for the respective sanyasi in Vrindavan, but now he was homeless and helpless. So he could easily have just given up everything from that trip with him. As if this were not enough, he continued on and then somebody else, Padappa Singh he offered him help from India to build the temple.
But then the government of India did not allow the money to go through. So Prabhupada decided to try and talk with the direct Prime Minister of India, Nilagavar Shastri, who had come here. And then through him I will get the money sanctioned.
Nilagavar Shastri died of a heart attack. And then one god brother disciple, Mukti Brahmachari said that Prabhupada, I want to come to help you. And then Prabhupada takes permission from the Ascension Master and the Ascension Master told him that his mission is not sanctioned and what he is doing is miserable.
And then a god brother’s disciple, Junaid Subjunia disrespects us. We will feel very bad. So imagine a person who is like a disciple.
A counsellor is bad enough. But a disciple disrespecting the god brother of a guru. He said your mission is ludicrous.
Ludicrous means laughable. So he is reversing after reversing after reversing after reversing. But what was Prabhupada’s response? He couldn’t run a business.
He decided to start an organisation. He couldn’t start an organisation he decided to start a magazine. He couldn’t start a magazine he decided to write a book.
His book didn’t go around very well in India. He decided to go to America. So when he decided to go to America, Shruti Maharaj said let’s take him to the school.
No Swamiji, if you want to speak, how can you come to our house? You have to hear Bhagavatam every day. Because you are oh so old. America is so old.
Why are you going there? So Srila Prabhupada did not just want some people to hear Bhagavatam all the time. He wanted people who were ready to transform and committed to transform themselves to transform the world. And so his vision went on to get bigger and bigger and bigger.
So Srila Prabhupada himself with the example of K. C. Panosh in 1922 he got the instruction and since then he was at the back of his mind. I have to keep trying. I have to keep trying.
But till 1966 Srila Prabhupada had practically no vision. In 1960 he had just a few sheets of paper on the back of his body. From 1963 to 1965, those three years he published the first canto of Bhagavatam in three volumes.
So actually he had that vision. And 1966 when he went to America after one year he had no vision. But then the last 11 years Krishna rewarded him in ways that are practically unprecedented in the history of the world.
The respective professor of history he has said that a professor of religious history he has said that somebody wrote a fiction novel that a 70 year old person he found across thousands of miles in a cargo ship and then started a worldwide mission. He said people do not people consider just fiction story to be unbelievable fiction also. But he said that Srila Prabhupada Swami said just that.
And he said you know generally somebody wants to start a big company and they will have interviews and they are the most qualified people to start a company. Then the interviewer he said Srila Prabhupada went and started an international institution and stopped them with people who were practically rejects from American society. They did not pay.
So there was nothing material else to be shown. And Prabhupada made them into heroes of this movement. Similarly Srila Prabhupada also he says that where in the history of the world is a tunnel like this? He says one man’s short time transformed so many people.
So he said that probably there is an example of Jesus. He got a lot of people and transformed them in a short time. But then he said there are differences.
Jesus was very young. Prabhupada was very old. And it is argued that Jesus was sharing with the boss fellow a lot of people of his own culture.
People who get filled with. So Srila Prabhupada Swami went far away and preached to people who were religiously, culturally, educationally, intellectually, linguistically, geographically, historically radically different from the kind of people who he did. And still he brought about transformation.
So he said this is one of the greatest miracles in terms of what Srila Prabhupada has done. So even from Hindu history what has happened in the market. You know if you compare say in the last 40, this one may not be a behaving institution right now, but Krishna Consciousness movement in the last 40-50 years, the kind of benefit that it has received is enormous.
And if it continues to grow the way it has grown in the last 45-50 years, you know in 500-700 years Krishna Consciousness can be the world’s most prominent religious movement in the world. Whatever growth has been there, it still keeps on staying there. So these years brings Krishna Consciousness.
Srila Prabhupada is just an example. 40 years of toiling with no desire. And then in the last 15 years we are having the success.
That’s right. We are everyday chanting Hare Krishna. Everyday I am chanting because the same desires are coming, the same anxieties are coming.
Nothing is happening. Transformation is happening. In this example of 50 lakhs each, everyday when we water the tree, we cannot go, today I have got one litre water, so maybe the tree should go by one millimetre or one centimetre or one inch.
Now there is no correlation with that. But everyday when the tree is being watered, everyday the tree is living. And over a period of time, we will be able to see it.
It’s a learning thing. If we just keep looking at our hearts constantly, we will not see any difference. But if we just keep practising devotional service, every Mahamantra that we chant, every class that we attend, every page of the scriptures that we read, every service that we do, every time that we remember and pray to Krishna, that is helping us to grow spiritually.
And patiently if we keep doing this, the results will be dramatic. So actually during bhakti, the rationale is the logic. What is the rationale for patience? So it is the process of bhakti is evolutionary.
Evolutionary means it evolves gradually. But its effect is revolutionary. So the process is evolutionary but the effect is revolutionary.
So because the process is evolutionary, we may not see any magical transformation on a daily basis. But over a period of time, the transformation is revolutionary. You know.
The most basic revolution is that, most of us would probably never have thought that we would dedicate our life to a spiritual mission and try to aspire to become monks. But in a sense, it is revolutionary in many ways. So along with that, sometimes when we face temptation and realise, you know, actually it was so magnificent, but now I am not attracted to this.
We all have experienced certain things. Some of us might have been eating non-vegetarian food earlier. But now what happens? We are not attracted.
Sometimes a train or a freighter with lots of vegetarian meat or flesh. What happens? Shush! Shush! We keep spitting at it. So Yamanacharya is spitting at sex desire.
That means we are far away from that. So at least we feel like, that is so bad, I don’t want to taste it. I don’t even smell it.
So that means something which had watered our mouth earlier, now makes our nose, makes us turn away our nose. So, makes us want to spit. So how does that happen? That is called revolutionary.
It is called revolutionary. Every revolutionary acts like that. So why should we be patient? Because it is a revolutionary process.
And I remember that a long time ago revolutionary began with this. Any questions? Narsimha Prabhu goes on and talks about confidence. faith or confidence.
Saha, Nishchayal, Priya. So now he is talking about Nishchay. So, the faith is that or the confidence is that Krishna will surely protect me.
I am paralysed currently, in my spiritual path. But if I just keep on swimming on, Krishna will protect me and Krishna will elevate me. The faith in Krishna is essential.
Just as when I am watering the tree, I cannot see the truly grown tree right now. I cannot see the flowers and fruits in the tree. But I have faith that if I keep watering the tree, the flowers and fruits will eventually come.
Similarly, when I am watering the tree by doing the Upilaka, by which I want to meet Krishna, the fruits will come. I just have to be patient. I have to be patient and I have to be confident.
So, the confidence is the faith that the process will produce results. So that is the confidence. And when we have this confidence, we will.
So, confidence means that means the faith that the process will produce its effects. It will produce the promised result. So, this confidence, how do we get it? By studying the scriptures.
By associating with devotees. By understanding how people of Kalyan will be transformed. By associating with devotees, we can see how devotees by the practise of devotional service systematically and gloriously advance.
So, all this enables us to develop confidence. Let’s move forward. So, this is a very powerful statement.
The neglect of the prevailing principles may destroy devotional service. The word destroy is a very strong word. Now, we may wonder, how will neglect destroy? Neglect is just not the attention.
So, there are various ways to understand this. If a tree is growing and it is neglected, what will happen? There is, the neglect itself doesn’t destroy, but the natural processes which are operating. The sun may become too hot.
It may not have adequate nutrition. It may be damaged. Or worse still, some wild animals may come and they may eat it up.
A mad elephant may come and disrupt it. So, neglect is the cause of destruction. So, another example to understand this is distance.
If I have a distance and if I don’t pay attention to the distance, if I don’t take care of the distance, then what will happen? So, what we are discussing here is how neglect destroys the tree. I have given examples. I will go through one by one.
Sapling is a small tree. A creeper, a sapling or a creeper is neglected. It may dry and die or may be eaten by a predator.
Predator is an animal which comes and consumes it. Another example is disease. It is neglected, the person and killed.
So, we have to understand that neglect itself will cause destruction. So, it’s said in Lakti, we are not fighting the energy. We are not fighting, we are losing.
Why is it like that? With the example of swimming upstream against the current. If I am trying to swim upstream, as soon as I stop moving my hands and legs strongly, there is the current which is going to push me down. So, if we are not fighting, then we are losing.
The other example is that is being raised If I am lifting this mouse up and I release it, it will fall. It’s released. Gravity will cause it to fall.
So, it’s neglected. It will drop. Gravity will cause it to fall.
So, actually speaking, from these different examples, for any object, a person swimming upstream for disease and growing sapling, we understand how neglect destroys activity. So, Lakti requires cultivation, attention. Without that attention, we will ruin our spiritual life.
And that’s why every day we have sadhana, every day we have jantar, every day we have classes. Every day we contemplate on the sub-consciousness. And that way we avoid neglect.
Any questions? Yes. Sometimes the priorities of yoga and other principles may not be according to the economic standard. Yes.
Life always throws at us challenges which take us away from the standard. So, we have to settle for ourselves some basic standards, which are always good. Just like saying, no matter how busy I am, I am always eating.
Somehow or the other, I manage to eat. I manage to sleep sometimes. Similarly, no matter how busy I am, there are some basic standards I follow.
I change my routine. I follow the regular principles. There are other things, for example, you know, studying irregularly or doing other things which nourish me.
I am not able to do. That’s ok. Sometimes, life just becomes business.
But you have to know that ultimately, you have to strive for a dynamic balance. If I am driving a vehicle and if I am going from here to there, now when, if I have a teacher who will say, I have a programme after 4 hours. So, if I am in the crowded areas of Mumbai, my progress will be slow.
But as soon as I break out of the metropolis and I come to the expressway, that time I can go faster. Sometimes, similarly, our shillings will be crowded. At that time, our forward motion will slow.
But that sort of thing does not always happen. So, even at that time, we need more effort. But as soon as our shillings become less crowded, then we have to wake up for last round.
We have to wake up for last time. So, we keep moving forward according to how much our shillings allow us. But we show Krishna our example by doing the best we can with the presently available technology.
And then, as soon as more time is available, we recapitalise it and give it to Krishna as an example. So, we cannot be rigid. We have to be flexible.
But then even with the flexibility, there are certain basic limits which should not be breached. And flexibility should not lead us to settle for a lower standard. We have to strive to come to the normal standard rise to a higher standard as soon as the opportunity presents itself.
Okay. Second question. Is expecting the process of Krishna consciousness produce the result? Is that selfish? Is that self-indulgent and inexplicable effort? Not exactly.
Because we are not desiring something that is outside our reach. It is natural for the soul to love his love Krishna. So, for water, it is a multiple liquid.
For sugar, it is sweet. It is not an extraordinary desire. It is a natural desire.
Because that’s what it actually is. And so, in that sense, it is not considered to be free. You won’t imagine that Krishna will become a human body.
That is not considered wrong really. At the same time, we should also look at the higher order. Yes.
Apart from getting purified, I have a desire to go to Goloka and become free from the miserliness of the spiritual institution. Is that free to do? It is. As I said, we should check the higher order in the Guru.
It’s not just to go back to Goloka. So, I want to go back to Goloka so that I can serve Krishna better. I want my primary goal is to serve Krishna, to please Krishna.
And thereby, I should be able to become happy. My goal is to serve and please Krishna. And I will do it here.
And if I go back to the spiritual world, I will do that there also. I want to go back to the spiritual world because in the spiritual world, the body and the mind will not limit and distract. The body limits it.
How does the body limit me? It has to sleep for so many hours. It has to respond to nature. So many things we want to do but the body limits us.
The body limits us. The mind distracts. So, we want to go back to the spiritual world so that we can serve Krishna better.
So, certainly we should want to become purified. And if we want to become purified, that is not just so that we will enjoy purification, but so that we can serve Krishna better. To give greater pleasure to Krishna.
And thereby, ourselves get a greater pleasure. So, one time Srila Prabhupada was asking me, I don’t want to go back to the spiritual world. What has happened to me? I just want to stay here in this world and serve Him lifetime after lifetime.
So, what did Srila Prabhupada reply? Lord, make me return here lifetime after lifetime to accept Your service. So, Srila Prabhupada said, come back to the spiritual world. So, our desire is to serve Krishna.
And it’s not wrong to desire to go back to the spiritual world. And as a part of our desire to serve Krishna better, expecting Krishna’s importance in our life is not selfish. Srila Prabhupada explains in the fourth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, how the Buddha says, a devotee desires, but does not demand Krishna’s worship.
So, desiring or expecting Krishna’s intervention is not wrong. But demanding that intervention is wrong. That means if I’m sick, to desire that I’ll have better health, so that I can serve Krishna, that’s natural.
There’s nothing wrong in that at all. But to demand that and to make our upti conditional to that, that is wrong. So, actually, the Buddha said, a devotee desires, but doesn’t demand.
So, these are actually, there is an attitude of pride, there is an attitude of humility. So, pride demands and complains. There is humility requests, begs, and hates.
That’s the difference. When I’m proud, I’m not giving, giving, giving. I’m not all that.
As Krishna exists, so does Krishna need it from me. That is also Krishna’s function, his work. So, we demand, and we complain, and we cry.
But with humility, what do we do? With humility, begs, and hates. Krishna needs this. What does Chaitanya Mahaprabhu say? That, I’m ready to go on a lifetime of existence, existence in your existence.
Begs and hates. So, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was so enraged with food, but he said, I’m ready to be happy. I’ll be grateful if I get a darshan of a temple in my life.
The Buddha. So, humility, begs, and hates. As devotees, if we don’t have the desire to be essential at one stage, then where is that emotion? Naturally, we want Krishna’s intervention so that our atmas get removed.
We want Krishna’s intervention so that our service becomes successful. We want Krishna’s intervention so that we go back to the spiritual world. Naturally, that is all good.
But we don’t demand it. Krishna, whether we give it or not, I’ll continue to serve. I’ll serve you better.
Either way, I’ll continue to serve. … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … of Rohan in the replacements. But surprisingly, Rohanji gave the replay.
And Rohan replied, devotional service is individual, voluntary and spontaneous. If the soul desires to serve Krishna, the soul can inspire to serve Krishna, then devotional service is performed. So, Baba said, don’t just train people to want to speak, but inspire devotees to serve Krishna.
Then they will decide how best to serve Krishna. So, aiding devotional service is the way of the soul. Baba’s devotional consciousness is, so I have already mentioned that that is Tatt Karma, Prabhatana, Prabhatana, that is Prabhatana.
So, Vishnu consciousness is individual, voluntary and spontaneous. So, individual means every soul is different. Not just different, every soul is unique.
So, man and woman are like each other. Even if twins are there, they also have their individual personalities. So, every soul is unique.
And that’s why we cannot standardise or homogenise what everybody else will do, what everybody will do. Voluntary, you know, every soul has unique level. So, you cannot force anybody.
This is the way, this is what you should speak to all the distributors. Say this sentence, say this sentence, raise your hand like this, hand like this. You know, everybody is, everybody has their unique level.
And every soul is spontaneous, is spontaneous. So, every soul needs to feel personally inspired to serve Vishnu. So, in the kirtan also, in the different devotees, they dance.
Radha Mahaprabhu’s Pramachari class then. Every Brahmachari has his own individual dance style. How every devotee dances.
So, there is all of a sudden irreducible, individual, irreducible, you cannot reduce the individuality to anything. So, spontaneous means when a devotee is inspired to serve Vishnu, then naturally everybody serves him. So, every soul needs to be personally inspired, personally inspired.
So, what we can do is, inspire others to serve Vishnu. We cannot force others. We can inspire others to serve Vishnu.
And how they serve will vary according to the person to person. So, what can we actually do for others? We can actually do only three things. We can inspire.
We can facilitate. We can exemplify. Inspire means what other people have written.
Educate. How can we inspire? How can we be inspired from others? So, educate means give knowledge about how to serve Vishnu. Facilitate means provide facilities.
So, you ask people to book distribution, who can do the basic knowledge? Who contenders this? Who contenders this? Who surprises this? And in this area, people speak this language better. And in this area, people speak another language better. Provide facilities.
If somebody is going to book distribution, provide a mic stand, provide a table, whatever is required. And exemplify. So, such a good example in a person to person situation.
Wanting others to book distribution, that person also could book distribution. That is a traditional asset. So, what we can do for others, and what we can expect from others is three things.
We can expect education, facilitation, exemplification. But beyond that, if each one of us is to practise, how can we do it? First of all, care about our karna, where engagement becomes the surface. Let’s move forward.
So, I’m saying, I’m presenting a verse, I’m presenting a verse. This is in a song called, And, I want to serve your local community. How? In the association I’m presenting a verse.
To be served in the association. Now, again, you see, Sathya Gopal explains the principle of positively and negatively. A person is a non-demoter, and he is the association of demoters.
So, remember we discussed the three things, the three contaminating effects of non-demoters can be, in terms of desires, yes, and the same can happen positively to the association. Desires, individuals and faith. In desires, what happens is, if you go to the religious literature, you go to the religious literature, we get the desire.
We get the desire as an association. And similarly, our engagement happens. Here in scripture, regularly, what happens is, we start seeing beyond the surface.
We start seeing a penetrating flood of energy. Actually, people are unfortunately so valuable. Advertisements operate on the principle of just limited use.
Before the 1930s, most advertisers were focused on telling people how useful this product is. How valuable this product is. But after that, they found most people are not governed by reason.
They are governed by emotion. So, instead of telling people how good the product is, the advertisers started telling how this product will make you feel good. So, advertisement became pop psychology sessions.
You know, pop psychology kind of operation. People just look up to little popular advertisement of some man watching some beautiful woman. And suddenly a film star appears on it.
And as soon as the film star appears, all these women run and start embracing him and kissing him. And then, that film star comes after. And that film star comes to this person and he says, what do you want me to say, correct? He says, apply this motion.
Apply this motion. And then, you know what happens. And then, he applies that motion and next time he is walking along and all the women come and embrace him.
Realness, advertisement, is an insult to both male and female intelligence. The idea that females will fall for a man just because he is applying a lotion, that is an insult to female intelligence. And the idea that the male will use this story, it’s a fairy tale.
But actually, it’s a crazy tale. What is the result? But we believe it. Now, what happens is, so, the false promises of Maya by the association of devotees, they start seeing through it.
There is an advertisement I saw of a housing complex. Remember the advertisement? Our housing complex will be as comfortable as your mother’s womb. Laughter Now, you know, that idea is mother’s womb is a very comfortable place.
Now, from the biological point of view, the amniotic fluid is there and that’s there after shock absorber. And you may say that it will be comfortable if the embryo were just a dead lump of man. But embryo is a conscious being.
And it’s squeezed inside that space. It’s not comfortable. But what happens? Now, it’s as comfortable as the mother’s womb.
So, the point is that the interest is also in this. And the thing that we are associating with devotees, when we see how they are being absorbed inside this emotional housing, this is what we can see how it happens in our society. As Prabhupada says, the purpose of the international society for Christian consciousness is to offer association.
Our goal is not just to spread an institution. Our goal is to provide association. So, if we are living in the temple, then we have also association.
If we are living away from the temple, then we come to the place and come to the temple and then we get beyond the association. Either way, the purpose is to provide an association. And it’s really important.
If you don’t have association, then naturally our values will be constituted. You know, Krishna Das Kaviraj also used the example of, he says, the association of devotees is like my walking stick. So, when I read this, I found it a little strange.
The walking stick is not something glorious. It’s a new association to walking stick. So, now I use crutches.
Earlier I used to walk without a walking stick. Then I decided to use a walking stick. And I was walking.
So, then I noticed that when I was not using a walking stick, I could still walk. When I’m walking without a walking stick, there are two problems. If the walking is slow, and it’s unstable, we fall down.
That’s what happens when we don’t have association. What happens, our progress is slow and it’s unstable. So, how association is like a walking stick.
I’ll explain this in a minute. How association is like a walking stick. Without it, our progress is slow and unstable.
Slow movement. If we are sitting alone and chanting, what happens sometimes is we start chanting. The beat is not beating over the beat.
Sometimes people take out the beat and say, are there 108 beats in this song? So, everything sits down super slow. That energy, that enthusiasm is there. That’s not there.
We are unstable. Anytime I fall asleep, or if I’m all alone at home, what happens is I miss the beat. When you watch some television or some TV programmes, they fall down as soon as it passes.
So, without association, our pathway becomes slow and unstable. So, with association of devotees, it becomes swift and stable. Because devotees are doing a zoologistic service, it creates a momentum which takes us forward.
So, the opposite of this is how they are sitting. With association, it becomes swift and stable. So, that’s how association is extremely important for all of us.
And, association essentially means that transfer of desires. And this is our association mode in the next verse. Let’s move forward right now.
Yeah. So, Sato is Sat is the devotee. Vritti is Vritti.
So, actually, our Vritti is currently Sato. Nationally, our mind goes there. Even if the opportunity not there, still the mind goes there.
So, our Vritti is Sato. But the Vritti of the Sato, the Sadhu, is the Sato. So, what we are trying to do is… is more in terms of activities.
Whereas, Sato Vritti is more in terms of activities. We try to create the attitude in the advanced devotees. So, Sato Vritti is all Tattva, Karmotava, Tanatis.
All the letters written in Hindi seem similar. Activities according to scripture and nature. Scripture, shall we say, is like broadness.
But within that, how we do it will depend on nature. Sato Vritti again, on the other hand, refers to attitudes similar to the attitudes of the saints, the sadhus. So, progression is… Tattva, Karmotava, Tanatis.
So, this progression is Tattva, Karmotava, Tanatis. Then, we talk of Tattva, Karmotava. Then, Sato Vritti behaves.
In some way, Sato Vritti talks about the process. It’s going deeper. We do activities but then eventually, we have to develop the attitude.
So, for a devotee, the natural attitude is to always think of Krishna, to always remember Krishna. Let’s move forward. So, now you used the Prabhupada’s model as complete and dispersed.
Now, you will take for some time to use callousness in different. Not caring at all for it. So, cautious and callous.
Cautious means very careful. Callous means a cunning. So, verse is an example of metaphorical instruction.
This verse. Why metaphorical means symbolic, representative. Because actually, chronologically speaking, night and day are same for everyone.
Isn’t it? So, for devotees, non-devotees, we could say a literal sense for non-devotees, devotees sleep at 9, wake at 3. Non-devotees sleep at 3 o’clock and then wake up at 9 o’clock and move on. So, that may be for some people, but that’s not literally for everyone. For people, whatever what this verse refers to is night refers to the arena of enlightenment.
Day refers to the arena of enlightenment. So, for the non-devotees, sense gratification is the arena of enlightenment. And, for them, Krishna for devotional service, Krishna consciousness is the arena of enactment.
Isn’t it? So, metaphorical meaning of 269 also refers to night refers to arena of enactment. Day refers to arena of enactment. Arena means, you know, ordinary area or scope or place menu.
Arena of enactment. So, now, here there are materialists and here there are spiritualists. So, sense gratification is like day for the materialists and it is night for the spiritualists.
Other than, devotional service is like night for the materialists and it is day for the spiritualists. So, that means, now the fact night and day will replace the arena of activity and activity. So, for example, when a cricket match is going on, what will happen? Now IPL is going on.
What will happen to people? They just don’t have money. What is happening? They are cheating and spending so much money and energy. But for the human beings, what is this? Why are we wasting so much time and energy and emotions and something so trivial? The time which is a day for the materialists is night for the spiritualists.
On the other hand, Sikhs and Pandavas, Darshan is there, Vishay is there, Nithyananda is there and from there it is a period of activity. People are dancing and singing and at least people are just walking. Why are you so happy? What are you doing? It is a period of night for you.
It is an arena of inactivity. You just can’t comprehend it. So, what Bhaktivinoda Thakur is saying is that when he says that as devotees we should become candles towards IPL activities.
Candles means indifferent to IPL activities. So, we will discuss this further tomorrow morning. Thank you very much.