QA in Nasik 1 April 2016

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna Welcome all of you to this giving questions session. So, who would like to begin? Does anyone have any questions? So, whatever questions you have, please feel free to ask. We will try to answer as many as possible.
Yeah. Hare Krishna What role destiny plays once Krishna passes away? For example, a person may have a very tough life during his childhood. He may have a better life otherwise also.
How does it affect destiny? Okay. So, how does destiny affect one’s life? In different phases, we may have less or more difficulties. And how does all this relate with our practise of bhakti? And how does all this relate with our practise of bhakti? Yeah.
Firstly, Vidura explains to Dhritarashtra in the Mahabharata that destiny determines the consequences of our actions. It does not determine our actions themselves. Destiny determines the consequences of our actions.
That means, when a student studies for an exam, destiny doesn’t determine whether the student studies or not. Destiny determines whether after studying the student will get a good result or may not get a good result. So, our endeavour is always in our hands.
Sometimes we may have tough times. Sometimes we may have really comfortable times or less tough times. But through it all, our freedom is always there with us.
And broadly speaking, if we consider, when we go through life, there are circumstances around us. There are situations around us. There are our dispositions within us.
The situations around us, our own dispositions, our own attitudes, our own thought process within us. And based on the disposition and the situation and their interaction, there are decisions that we take. So basically, our life is determined by our situations, our dispositions and our decisions.
Now, destiny determines our situations. Some of us remain in financially unstable situations. Some of us remain in financially unsteady situations.
Similarly, with respect to health. Similarly, with respect to relationships. That is decisions.
That is situations. They are determined by destiny. So, now, we all have our dispositions.
Some of us may be more regrettable. Some of us may be more prone to nervousness or tension or anxiety. Some of us may be more sociable.
Some of us may be introvert. Some of us may be extrovert. These natures are also determined by destiny.
Now, when we say destiny, destiny is not some mysterious unknown arbitrary force. Destiny is simply the sum total of our past karma. So, in that sense, we are ourselves the makers of our destiny.
Consider a water tank in which water is going in from one side and water is coming out from the other side. The water going inside is the present karma that we are doing. That water tank is our destiny.
So, the water that is going in, that is the actions that we are doing right now. And the water that is coming out is the destiny that is coming upon us now. The part of the destiny that is getting exhausted by coming upon us.
So, whatever destiny is there, that is also created by our past karma itself. Now, with respect to, as I said, destiny, there are two ways of understanding destiny. Destiny determines the consequences of our actions, not our actions themselves.
That means, I may take certain decisions and I may act in particular ways, but always the same results may not come out. So, that is a result of destiny. But, our decisions themselves, our choices themselves are always in our hands.
So, with this background understanding of the fact that we always have freedom to make healthy choices. Now, let’s look at how bhakti empowers us to make these healthy choices. Broadly speaking, whatever behaviour we have, whatever decisions we make, which is a part of our behaviour, they are determined by five factors.
One is our past karma, which creates our disposition or what popularly called as sabhaav, or what modern science calls as genes. Now, all of us have certain genetic inclination, genetic dispositions. So, our genes are the first factor that determine our behaviour.
Second is our upbringing. The way, the kind of impression that we had in our formative years, they shape our behaviours significantly. The third is our association.
And now, fourth is that in spite of these, these three in sociological circles are called as genetic determinism, parental determinism and social determinism. That means our genes determine us, our parents determine us and our society, our social circle determines. But the fact is that there may be two people exactly in the same circumstances.
There are what in science are called as monozygotic twins. That means the same, the same egg and the same semen are joined together and both the twins have exactly the same genetic and still they are different. They are different individuals with different inclination, with different interests.
So, their genes are same, their upbringing was also same and even if it was an association also largely the same, they are twins. But still they are different individuals. So, beyond these genes, beyond the upbringing, beyond the association we have freedom.
That’s the fourth factor. The fifth factor is God’s grace. We have certain capacity to make certain choices.
But when we connect with Krishna, our capacity to access our freedom increases. Now a person with an alcohol addict, a person at one level has the freedom to choose whether to drink alcohol or not. At another level, the desire is so strong that it is almost difficult, very difficult to say no to the urge for alcohol and kids.
But when we start practising Bhakti Yoga, we connect with Krishna. … … … The remembrance of Krishna is like a sword. … So, remembrance of Krishna becomes like a sword which enables us to cut off the pull of our past conditionings, of our dispositions, of our addictions and that way our freedom increases.
So, whether we are devotees or not devotees, certain things in our life are going to happen. Sometimes good things may happen, sometimes bad things may happen. But Bhakti enables us to, it empowers us to make wise choices, to make intelligent and productive choices amidst whatever circumstances we are in.
So, in that way, within whatever destiny we have, Bhakti enables us to carve the most auspicious way through it. Now, of course, there is another dynamic that Krishna himself can change destiny. In the sense that, whatever karma is there, Krishna can burn away the karma also.
And Bhakti can do that. At the same time, Krishna does not entirely necessarily eliminate the karma. He takes the karma and he uses that karma to disentangle the devotee.
That means that sometimes, if a devotee is going to get distress, Krishna will minimise the distress, that is, what is the best for the devotee’s spiritual growth. And sometimes if the devotee needs to get realisation about the temporariness of material existence, then Krishna may let some sufferings come so that the devotee becomes detached and renounced and spiritually realised. And that becomes more important.
So, that is a different part. How Krishna will work, how Krishna will handle our destiny, that is not so much in our hands. But, in our hands is what? Destiny determines our situation, destiny determines our dispositions also.
But our decisions are in our hands. And our decisions are influenced by our genes, our upbringing, our association, our own free will and Krishna’s grace. When we get Krishna’s grace, then the pushings that come from our genes, that come from our upbringing, that come from our association, all those, we can counter-push.
And we can add, we can access our freedom in a beneficial way and thus create an auspicious destiny for ourselves. Does it answer your question? Any other questions? Yes. You can ask loudly, I’ll repeat.
Hare Krishna. He is based on Saraswati Patil. He says that an institution is a lady and in any institution there are advantages and disadvantages.
How do you get the best advantages from all the disadvantages? So, Krishna Gupta says that every institution is an evil. So, it has advantages and disadvantages. So, how does this apply to ISKCON? Yes, the principle that Rupa Goswami tells us is Yukta Vairagya.
Yukta Vairagya is renunciation which is engaged. We are attached, but we are also engaged. So, now the principle is, there is a tendency in the modern world to demonise any kind of institution.
Oh, it’s very bad, it’s very bad, it’s very bad. It’s the source of corruption, it’s the source of degradation. However, institution is inevitable in existence.
What do we mean by institution? An educational college is an institution. Medical, a doctor will work. The doctor is a part of an institution.
In which field, which is substantially important, which is making a tangible contribution in life, which field does not have normalcy? Does it have some organisational structure? So, spontaneity and standardisation which is what an institution is. Those both are meant to dance in a synergy and that requires the individual expertise. That means, two examples I will give to illustrate about institution.
What is an institution when we come to spiritual circles? All of us have a spiritual urge and you can consider that urge to be like a small drop of water or a small trickle of water on a mountain top and that trickle of water desires to reach the ocean. Now, that trickle of water all alone for it to reach down from the mountain to the ocean is very difficult. The ocean is Krishna and we are the trickle of water.
So, now if many drops of water which become trickles, they come together, they form a tributary. A tributary forms a river and then that river moves along to the ocean. The river can move along with much greater ease than an individual drop or a small trickle.
So, basically when like-minded people come together and they decide to pursue their interest together in this case a spiritual interest together then that is what essentially an institution is. So, when the like-minded people, spiritually minded people come together and decide to pursue spirituality and for that they create some facilities, some infrastructure, some resources that’s what essentially an institution is. Now, when a river keeps flowing through a particular area the river creates a bed and there is a lot of water over there.
There may be people with ulterior motives who come for the purpose of damming the water. They dam the water and divert it to other purposes. Now, if the dam is built then the water will not be able to move on.
But, similarly when there is a spiritual institution where there is power, there is wealth, there is position then people who are not spiritually minded can also come to these institutions and they hijack or they misappropriate the resources that are there in the spiritual institution. And that’s why the leaders as well as the members of the spiritual institution have to be vigilant. More important than blaming the principle of the institution recognising the institution is necessary but always whenever we adopt anything we have to adopt it in the light of its purpose.
The institution is meant to help us practise Apti. It is meant to help us get closer to Krishna. And Krishna has this emphatic purpose Sarva Dharmaan Paritthachya Mamey Kamcharam Sarva Dharmaan Paritthachya Dharma in an expansive sense the way Krishna is using it over here.
It means whatever religious foreign items that are there, whatever ritual structures are there, whatever ordained duty hierarchy is there, whatever institution is there, you give it all up so that you can surrender to it. Now, interestingly when Krishna said Sarva Dharmaan Paritthachya at that time Arjuna doesn’t literally give up all Dharma and become Adharmic. Rather Arjuna takes up that Dharma which enables him to do Mamey Kamcharam.
So when Krishna is saying Sarva Dharmaan Paritthachya he is not saying give up all external structures rather give up those external structures which are obstructing in the internal purpose and take up that external structure. So Arjuna continues his Kshatriya Dharma as a warrior. But through that he surrenders to Krishna.
So when we are in an institution it is for us to always remember why have I come here. In an institution there will be people who will be gossiping, there will be people who will be backbiting and there may also be people who fall through spiritual standards, who have controversies, because it’s a large institution there will be these kind of people. Now if we focus on them Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita says As all people surrender to me I reward accordingly.
That means that if we come to Krishna’s institution for power we will get power. If we come for position we will get position. If we come for prestige we will get prestige.
If we come for controversy we will get controversy. And if we come here for Krishna we will get Krishna also. So it’s up to us.
We keep reminding ourselves that I am coming here for Krishna. Yes these things are there. They will be there in the material world and Krishna’s institution is also in the material world.
Now there has to be of course the leadership of the movement is vigilant to keep sidelining such elements to keep cleaning such elements. But the point is if we always keep looking for such things we will keep finding such things. If we are looking for Krishna we will find Krishna also.
So institution can be an evil if it becomes a goal in itself. If rising in the institutional structure, becoming more powerful, gaining more prestige that the institution itself becomes the goal then it becomes an obstacle. But if we use the institution as a tool towards the goal.
The institution is providing the facilities so that I can move towards Krishna. And we focus on the purpose of moving closer towards Krishna then we will find that the institution is valuable and in many ways indispensable. Because without the institution basically for us is a forum for associating with devotees and for getting the inspiration and the facilities to practise bhakti.
If we focus on that we will get a lot of support. But if we start focussing on peripheral things then we will get caught. So Krishna’s institution is also like Krishna and the structures are important so that there is a facility for us to practise bhakti.
But we need to focus on the purpose and pursue that purpose of the institution. Then it will be, we will be using the institution according to the principle of Yukta Vairag. Accepting that which is feeling good for us.
Does it answer your question? Do the Matajis have any questions? What we can do is we have two mics. So whoever has the next question you can raise the hand and the mic can go there. And then by the time you are finished the question can go behind to Madhavi.
So that we can keep moving faster. Maybe you can speak a little loudly, I will repeat. Do women have the same rights as men within ISKCON? Firstly, there is a spiritual perspective and a mental perspective.
And from the spiritual perspective as souls, we are neither males nor females. We are all parts of Krishna and we all have the innate right and the innate nature to love and serve Krishna. And that principle is very much stressed by Ishwara Prabhupada’s teachings that the whole bhakti tradition is that we go beyond everything material.
So that we can focus on the spiritual. So in the spiritual sense everybody has equal opportunity to practise bhakti in terms of the philosophy. Now in terms of practise men and women are different in terms of their dispositions, in terms of their natures in terms of their rational emotional balance.
And this is not a matter of any discrimination. It’s just a matter of naturally the way they are made. They all have different roles.
And traditionally men had certain roles, women had certain roles. And Srila Prabhupada was in one sense quite conservative and in another sense he was extremely accommodating. So in his books, Srila Prabhupada does talk about traditional gender roles quite significantly.
Consistently he talks about it. But in his dealings he focusses a lot on the principle of engaging everyone in bhakti. So for example when Srila Prabhupada went to America he found that the women there they were practically do everything with the men and that was just the way they were.
So Prabhupada engaged them in services whatever was suited for them. So in 1968 when Srila Prabhupada went back from India to America after his recovery, he had a big globe in front of him and his early disciples were there so he told all of them so all of you pick up one country. Go to that country and deliver that country.
So Jyotirani Mataji was there she asked Prabhupada, what about us girls? Prabhupada said we are not boys and girls. You also take one country. You also take one country.
So Prabhupada in that sense never discouraged anyone in the practise of bhakti. So broadly speaking if you look at Prabhupada’s, the tenor of his instructions, those women who were brought up in a western or westernised atmosphere where they were doing not necessarily traditional role of activity, they were doing various activities, he encouraged them to do those activities and continue in the practise of bhakti. And women who had been brought up in a traditional environment and they were happy in the traditional roles he encouraged them to do that.
The principle is, we don’t have to make bhakti more difficult than it needs to be. So for a woman who is brought up in a modern environment where she has been doing a lot of activities, for her to be expected to stick to the role of a traditional housewife, that may be very difficult. Now it’s not that the traditional housewife role is in any way no more, that’s also very important.
But if a woman is comfortable with the traditional housewife role, there is no need for her to think that I have to do all the other things which some other woman might be doing for me to practise bhakti. So this is even now a matter of discussion and evolution in our movement of what exactly the role of women should be. But broadly speaking, we need to keep ourselves inspired and engaged in bhakti.
So whatever facility, whatever environment, the important thing is that social roles, social standards, all these are meant to facilitate us in our spiritual life. So whatever is favourable, we accept that. So if the traditional gender role structure is favourable for our practise of bhakti, we do that.
If that is not favourable, then whatever way we can engage ourselves in bhakti, we should do that. So there are devotees with different orientations in our movement and based on their emphasis, some of them may be of the idea that everybody should just stick to the traditional roles. And there may be some devotees who may be attracted to that kind of presentation of bhakti.
Others may be more accommodating and they say just engage yourself in bhakti whatever way we can. So we can find out what is it that inspires us in the practise of bhakti and engage ourselves in bhakti accordingly. In bhakti, there is sambandha, there is abhidheya and there is prayoja.
Sambandha is the philosophical knowledge of who we are and what our relationship with Krishna is. Abhidheya is the process of bhakti. The process of bhakti essentially means how we practise the devotional service, how we fix our mind on Krishna.
And Prabhupada explains in the Nectar of Devotion that Rupa Goswami says that a sadhaka should always fix the mind on Krishna. And Prabhupada explains in the Nodi lectures that it is the acharya’s responsibility to create means and facilities by which a sadhaka can fix the mind on Krishna. So that means that the acharya, according to the expertise, according to the realisation, according to the expertise will adjust the abhidheya accordingly.
So the process of fixing the mind on Krishna in its detail, in its specifics will vary according to time and circumstances. So rather than worrying about a huge institution of ISKCON and how things are within ISKCON we can focus on that which is appropriate for our bhakti and practise bhakti accordingly. Find out how we can best engage ourselves in Krishna’s service.
How we can fix our mind on Krishna and accordingly practise bhakti. Does it answer your question? Thank you. Shri Shastri Prabhu, you want to add something? Yes.
Hi Krishna. Prabhu, normally this question is for parents and fathers. What we do normally, we spend less and less of rupees for the education of our children.
And we try to find out the best material source for them. Is this right? And sufficient? You are saying we spend less money and less? Less and less of money we spend for the education. And try to find the best schools? Yes.
Is that right? Is it sufficient for us? Okay. So, as devotee parents, if we want to educate our children and we try to spend the least possible money and try to get the best possible education. Is that good? Firstly, it’s not necessary that the education that involves the maximum expenditure is necessarily going to be the best quality education.
So, the parents’ responsibility is to educate the children and whatever is required for that, we should do that. And we shouldn’t equate simplistically that less expensive education is necessarily less quality education. But, as far as the practise of bhakti is concerned, we sometimes have a simplistic separation.
This is material, this is spiritual. And this material, I should do as less as possible. And this is spiritual, I should do this as much as possible.
This is actually a very surface level understanding of bhakti. Yes, we should separate between the material and spiritual so that we give enough time for the spiritual directly. That means we come to the temple, we chant the holy name, we worship the deities.
For that, we should make time. In that sense, we can separate or mark the material and the spiritual. But once we have cultivated through the spiritual activity, the mood of service to Krishna, that mood of service to Krishna should permeate our entire life.
And then, while doing every activity, it’s not that we should be thinking, is this material, is this spiritual? No. For example, if in a class, say, we are hearing a class and the speaker makes some joke. And then, instead of laughing, we start thinking, am I laughing for Krishna’s pleasure or for my self-gratification? There is no need to go into paralysis by analysis like that.
Just it’s a part of the Krishna Katha. We can laugh. So, there is no need to constantly be analysing material, spiritual, material, spiritual like that.
Our focus should be not what is material or what is spiritual. Our focus should be how can I serve in this situation? How can I serve? So, our children, we should see them as Prabhupada told them, Krishna has entrusted them to us. And therefore, we should do what it takes to offer them the best education.
As far as economising is concerned, yes, it’s always good not to be extra violent in terms of spending money. But we should try our best to give them the quality education that will help them to become wonderful human beings, to become wonderful devotees in future. And thus, they succeed in the mission of life and we also succeed.
We shouldn’t separate because this material life I could not spend too much money on this. No, our move should be how can I serve? Prabhupada writes in 7th chapter, Jurisdiction of Krishna Consciousness extends everywhere. So, even in our family life, in our relationship with our spouses, with our children, with our parents, there also we think how best can I serve Krishna and act accordingly.
So, give the best possible education within our circumstances. And we should see that not as a material duty. It may be a material duty but because we are trying to serve Krishna, it is also a part of our devotional service.
Is it answer your question? Yes, I understood. Recently, Sruti, they said entering Shani temple, should women go to visit such temples and should they be allowed or what scriptures say about it? So, recently some women entered the Shani temple. So, should women be allowed to enter Shani temple? What does scriptures say about this? There are two different forces at work in any tradition.
One is fidelity and the other is flexibility. Fidelity means faithfulness. So, fidelity is what connects a tradition with its past.
Fidelity is what connects the tradition with the past. And flexibility is what enables the tradition to connect with its current situation. So, we may think of a tradition, it’s not like a frozen thing that just continues generation after generation after generation.
No, the tradition has a central core that is unchanging and it has a periphery that is inevitably changing. Even in the Gaudiya tradition, if you see, the way Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu practised Bhakti Yoga and the way Bhaktivinoda Thakur taught Bhakti Yoga, that’s different. If you look at the way Bhaktivinoda Thakur taught Bhakti Yoga and the way Prithviraj Prabhupada practised Bhakti Yoga, that’s different.
So, the difference is not in the essence, but the difference is in the circumstance and the way that essence is accessed and presented in the circumstance. So, this principle that there is fidelity and flexibility, both of these need to be intelligently balanced. If one focusses too much on fidelity and there is no flexibility, then the tradition becomes a museum.
The tradition in a museum, things are there, they are preserved, but they are of no practical use to anyone. So, if one has only fidelity and no flexibility, the tradition becomes a part, something like a museum. It is just there, of no practical use to anyone.
On the other hand, if there is only flexibility and there is no fidelity, then the tradition becomes simply an extension of the current world. It has no connection with the source from which it has come. So, there has to be fidelity and flexibility both in balance.
And this balance of fidelity and flexibility often comes to a flashpoint when it comes to the issues of women. So, what role women should play or what all facilities men should have or should not have. In today’s world, this often becomes a heavy flashpoint.
Now, there is in different traditions, even if you look at the Vedic tradition, there is, there are different temples, there are different understandings of how to practise spirituality, how to access God. And, to simplistically claim that women not being allowed into a particular temple is discrimination or to claim that because women are allowed, now this is a victory for women. This is a superimposition of today’s values on traditional values.
And this sort of superimposition is not necessarily a sign of growth or progress because the tradition may have certain understandings. We have to look in the tradition to see whether necessarily this was because of discrimination. There may be certain esoteric understandings or there may be certain cultural aspects.
So, for example, now even in our temples we may not allow on the altar everyone to go. One has to become initiated, one has to not only be initiated, one has to be in a clean state, having bathed in and then one can enter the altar. That is simply to preserve the sanctity of the altar.
If someone starts saying this is discrimination, this is discrimination. No, that is not discrimination. That is simply necessary to preserve the sanctity of whatever circumstance is there.
So now, for example, when we go, if we go by aeroplane, at that time when we go by aeroplane, there is security clearance. Now in the security clearance, if we are wearing a jacket, a overcoat or wearing some headscarf, they tell us you have to remove it. Now we may say if somebody’s part of the tradition is there that you wear a headscarf, I cannot remove it.
So you will not be allowed to go inside. Now, that is a security necessity over there and one has to understand that this is not discrimination. So we look at so many other situations in today’s world where for the sake of security you know, we have where people follow certain protocols and it’s not necessary that those protocols are discriminatory.
So the point is that rather than simplistically claiming that this is right or this is wrong, now every every current representative of the tradition, every current representative of the tradition has to intelligently choose the right balance between fidelity and flexibility. So if in certain temples, if there are certain traditions, so for example, in some temples it may well be that the deity is considered to be a Brahmachari. And then in those temples so women may not be allowed.
There are some temples in South India where men are not allowed. The temple is only for women. Now is it that men are trying to break down the temple or those temple doors and go in and say now we have got our rights.
No, there is see one problem in material world is we take one value and we tend to make that value as a supreme value. And then so for example, the value that women should be equal to men. Women should have all the same rights that men have.
We take that value and we assume that anything that is opposed to this value is discriminatory. But it is not necessarily like that. There may be other circumstances over there which need to be taken into consideration.
So regarding specific temples have specific traditions. Then we have to look behind the traditions and see whether those traditions come simply from some dogma or they come from some scripture and whether they have particular understanding which needs to be educated about. So rather than just calling the temple discriminatory we have to look at the individual temples or individual situations and accordingly recognise how our actions are to be done.
So Shri Prabhupada during the Krishna Consciousness movement was he took the mode of bhakti and he was very inclusive. He said that essentially everyone is welcome to practise bhakti. So for example, in the Jagannath temple even today non-Indians are not allowed.
But Prabhupada said that he was Jagannath. Why are you making him Bharatanath? He is the lord of the universe. Why are you restricting him? So Shri Prabhupada in general was very inclusive and accommodating and that is the spirit of bhakti.
Everybody should be encouraged in the practise of bhakti and the specific extent of the encouragement and the form that the encouragement may take that may vary based on a specific tradition and its history and its current expression. But broadly there has to be flexibility in the tradition and there has to be fidelity. And rather than saying that the fidelity itself is discrimination or the flexibility alone is victory we have to understand the situation properly and then accordingly take well-informed decisions.
So I won’t comment specifically on the temple because each temple may have its own traditions. But broadly speaking, nobody should be discriminated against in the broad principles of practising. In the broad principles and practises of bhakti.
At the same time, without being sensitive to the nuances of each tradition or each temple, one should not try to wholesale impose one set of values on everything. Does it answer your question? Yes, please. Especially the Shirdi temple because there are a lot of occult influences around the Shirdi temple because of the amount of practises which need to be done over there.
Like exorcisms and to drive away all these occult influences. So there is a lot of evil and negative vibrations around the Shirdi temple. And women especially because they need to be protected as they will be carrying the progeny of humanity for the future.
This is one of the reasons that women are not allowed especially in the Shirdi temple. It’s more of discretion and discrimination. It is more to protect the womb of that female so that it doesn’t get influenced by these occult forces.
Especially when it comes to Shirdi temple this is the reason. Thank you very much. Any other questions? Yes ma’am.
Behind. Hare Krishna Guruji. Why are we following a family relationship nowadays than our Vaishnav relationships? Why are we fond of? Priority to family relations or Vaishnav relationship? Vaishnav relationship with our family members or Vaishnav relationship with other Vaishnavas who are not family members? Other Vaishnavas.
Those who are not from our family. So you are saying why do we do that? Why do we prioritise Vaishnav relationships over our family? So why do we give more priority to our family relationships than our Vaishnav relationships? Personally that’s not necessarily bad because our family relationships are also important and there are two extremes that we have our spiritual life and our spiritual relationships and spiritual practises and we may have family, professional and other practises. There is Paradharma, there is Aparadharma.
Paradharma is transcendental religion and Aparadharma is material religion. Now Aparadharma is also important and of course as compared to Paradharma Aparadharma should definitely become more important but Aparadharma is also important. So one misconception is that the Paradharma alone is important and there is no need for any Aparadharma.
All the material relationships, they are simply material, they are unimportant, they are entangling, they are distracting. I should focus only on my relationship with Krishna and only my relationship with those who are related to Krishna. Now this is a superficial understanding because we, even if we say that we are devotees or we are serious devotees, still we live in the material world, we still have material bodies and we still function in certain material norms in this world.
So therefore for functioning in this world our Aparadharma is also important. So to reject the Aparadharma is a superficial understanding of how Vakti is practised to sustain them. The other extreme is to take Aparadharma itself as all important.
Think that if I am taking care of my family, if I am taking care of my children, if I am ensuring that they are well educated, that they get married and settled, I have done my duty, I don’t need to do anything other for God. That is also a misunderstanding. So the balanced understanding is that both have to be given importance.
And because we have relationships of blood or relationships based on the body with our family members and because although we are souls and we are trying to develop spiritual consciousness, we are largely in the material level of consciousness at present. So naturally that’s where our emotions are more concentrated. Because things connected with the body wherever our consciousness is, that is where our emotions are.
And so for example somebody is attached to cricket, then something happens in some match far away and suddenly the person gets agitated. How did this person get up? Why did this happen? Because the consciousness is there, the emotions are there. So our consciousness is in the material level, so our emotions are caught in the material level, in material relationships.
That is to some extent natural but within our devotee relationships we can find out those devotees with whom we can relate very nicely and focus on those relationships, on strengthening those relationships. And even if it’s one or two relationships that we can focus on and strengthen and from that as those relationships become stronger and stronger we will, not that our material relationships will become weaker but our material relationships will be able to spiritualise more and more. So as we can, as our own heart becomes purified, as in our own consciousness Krishna becomes more and more prominent then for those whose lives Krishna is more and more prominent we will have more in common with them.
And then our relationship with them also becomes stronger. So it’s a process of gradual elevation of consciousness that will ensure that our Vaishnava relationships become significantly important for us. But in the sadhaka stage we can focus on at least one or two relationships and make sure that we are duly committed in those devotional relationships.
And by that we will be able to go towards Krishna and spiritualise other relationships also. Does it answer your question? Thank you very much for the very informative answers. In this world we always talk of chemistry.
So may I use the word chemistry? What chemistry do we require to have strong and intimate Vaishnava relationships? So what chemistry do we need to have strong and intimate Vaishnava relationships? Actually this idea that, for example the word chemistry the usage of chemistry for relationships is common often in Bollywood. Now this hero and this heroine they have got very good chemistry. But this idea of using chemistry it actually comes from a very mechanistic view of people that basically our relationships and our emotions in the relationships are simply products of the biochemicals or the chemicals that go around in our brains.
So there are researchers psychiatrists and researchers in the famous book they say that romance has a shelf life of 9 months. What does that mean? Romance has a shelf life of 9 months? That sometimes people may say Oh I saw her, she saw me or I saw him, he saw me and then we felt an instant connection. When we touched each other we felt electricity going through our body and people feel all those emotions.
So now when they feel all these emotions it’s possible that there is some interaction between people. But that is simply the stimulation of certain chemicals in the brain and the body and that chemical stimulation stays for a period of 9 to 15 months and afterwards what happens is that people don’t feel anything like that again. So let me say that people talk about love at first sight.
Well love at first sight may happen but the relationship will depend on what you feel after many sights. So if the relationship is based only on the surface feeling then people may say initially I can’t live without you. After 9 months when the chemicals dry up they say I can’t live with you.
So firstly their relationships are not a product of chemistry. Having said that we can go deeper and understand that we all have certain natures. Nature is not just a matter of chemistry it’s also a matter of psychology.
So by chemistry we refer to neurones and the chemicals that are secreted in the brain. But that is only the surface level. We all have a Swabhava which is based on the impressions that are there in the mind.
And in cricket they say form is temporary but class is permanent. That means sometimes a batsman may be in form and may not be in form. But if they have basic talent basic class then that will keep coming again and again.
So like that the chemicals that are there sometimes secreted sometimes they may not be secreted. Sometimes at a surface level we may feel or may not feel attraction but when there is a meeting of minds when people are like minded then the relationships are very sustainable. So firstly in devotee circle when we initially come whoever introduces us to Krishna Consciousness we understand the philosophy we start practising the philosophy and we are very inspired.
And that is very good. And as we keep moving forward in our bhakti we start finding that there are certain things that inspire us more than other things. Some of us may like deity worship more.
Some of us may like prostitution more. Some of us may like to study the philosophy more. Some of us may like to cook more.
There are so many different services in bhakti and associated with these services there are definitions of success. So for example somebody may consider studying Shastra very deeply and understanding the various aspects of Shastra very important. Others may think yes that is good but we should do other things also.
No need to go to Shastra, we can do deity worship. So there will be basically different devotees with different interests or in today’s language we can say different definitions of success. So Rupa Goswami says in the Devotees who have Sajati Asha Bhakwan That means Sajati Asha like minded those who have similar dispositions to what we have.
So we need to find out those devotees with whom we can connect. With the way they think, what they aspire for in bhakti, what they value the most. When we can connect even if there are one or two devotees like that you treasure and nourish those relationships.
You go out of the way to nourish those relationships. And they with those relationships will nourish us. So that’s first of all understanding what is our inspiration in bhakti and finding out who also has similar interest, similar inspiration and linking with them.
That will give us a very comfortable feeling of being at home in bhakti. When we have like minded association. At the same time we also, even like minded devotees are not alike.
There are still differences among them also and that’s why there will always be some amount of variety and individuality and that we have to take in our stride. And along with that also we need to recognise that because different devotees have different natures. When we are dealing with different devotees we should not evaluate all devotees from the same perspective, same lens.
You cannot you don’t do any distribution. You don’t raise any funds. Therefore what you are doing is of no use.
Rather when we are associating with other devotees who are inspired differently at that time we need to adjust ourselves to try to see things from their perspective as much as possible. Sometimes some people say with them my wavelength doesn’t match. Yes it’s possible but that wavelength doesn’t match.
Now still if we have to live in a community and especially if I do some services with those devotees then humility often means shifting, adjusting our wavelength so that it matches. Try to see things from their perspective. So tell me if you look at it some devotees with whom we can instantly connect.
Some devotees with whom we have to endeavour a little bit and then we can connect. Some devotees with whom we we find it very difficult to connect and there are some devotees whom we can barely tolerate. It will happen like that also.
So once I was giving a class after that I was standing after the class you know we have to practise tolerance. So we have to tolerate many things in bhakti. So what are the things that we have to tolerate? So one devotee raised her hand.
Yes we have to tolerate devotees. So I said yes it’s a good realisation that we have to tolerate devotees and if we advance more then we will realise that devotees are tolerating us. So basically there are different grades of relationships and if we have the first level where at least one or two we have relationships where we just connect with people then that will give us the inspiration and with that inspiration these relationships are very difficult to tolerate.
Where we have to constantly, being in that relationship is like walking in a land mine. Suddenly anything may explode. There are relationships like that.
So we will get the strength to tolerate those relationships also if we have these relationships. So basically we need like minded devotees with whom we can naturally relate and with other devotees we try to adjust our minds so that we can connect with them more and some devotees we may have to tolerate but intimate relationships we cannot have with everyone and that’s why with whoever we find that we are able to connect we should see that it’s Krishna’s blessing and we need to invest time in developing those relationships. Does it answer your question? Hare Krishna.
Do you believe the spiritual master, both Shiksha Guru and Diksha Guru speak the absolute truth and why? Does the spiritual master, the Shiksha and Diksha Guru, they speak the absolute truth always? There is, firstly the principle and there is the purpose. The principle is that Krishna guides us in various ways. Krishna is present in our heart as the Parmatma to guide us.
However at the present our consciousness is not tuned to the Parmatma. It is, let’s say there is a child who is watching TV and a mother is sitting next to a child and a child is watching a horror movie and is being horrified. Trembling, shivering, crying.
The mother tells her, there is nothing wrong. Don’t watch that TV. You are comfortable.
I am next to you. The child is not hearing. So like that we are caught in the material world.
Our consciousness is trapped. Krishna is right next to us but we can’t perceive it. That same Krishna who is inside our heart manifests outside.
Acharya Chaitraya says that Removing inauspiciousness from inside and outside, the same Supreme Lord manifests as Chaitraya Guru internally and Acharya externally. Now when we say that Krishna is manifesting as the spiritual master, the spiritual master is still an individual. The spiritual master is an individual.
That means that it is not that when Krishna speaks to the spiritual master the spiritual master is no longer a distinct individual. No. So because the spiritual master is an individual Krishna gives the message but the spiritual master speaks the message according to one’s own culture, one’s own nature.
So for example, to illustrate what this means. Prabhupada told us that he did not write his books. Krishna wrote his books.
Now that’s true. Prabhupada told that. But then Prabhupada still put his name on the books.
Prabhupada did not put Krishna’s name on the books. If he said Krishna wrote the books, does that mean Prabhupada did not write the books? No. Krishna gave the idea to Prabhupada, gave the thoughts to Prabhupada and Prabhupada put them in his words.
So Prabhupada put them in his words means that sometimes Prabhupada’s English was not perfect. And the devotees edited it. That one time Prabhupada had used a word that was not there in the English dictionaries.
So then Jai Gurudev Maharaj and other devotees who were editing Prabhupada’s books they started discussing what to do. They said if a pure devotee has used the word then we should not try to change that word. We should change the dictionary so that we include that word.
They said yes. This is good in spirit. But they said better ask Prabhupada.
When they asked Prabhupada, Prabhupada changed the word. Prabhupada was not very finicky about these things. Another time Jai Gurudev Maharaj asked Prabhupada Prabhupada what do you do and how should disciples see when the spiritual master commits mistakes? Prabhupada said the spiritual master never commits any mistakes.
But he said no Prabhupada sometimes the spiritual master may sometimes forget a word while quoting or sometimes may quote a word wrong. So then Prabhupada said that is material nature. Satsvarupa Maharaj was there in the same walk and said So Prabhupada that means we have a wrong conception of perfection? Prabhupada said yes exactly.
Wrong conception of perfection means that it is not that when Krishna speaks to the spiritual master that does not necessarily mean that everything every single thing that the spiritual master is going to say is going to be an absolutely perfect statement. Yes, so it is not that the spiritual master gets a message from Krishna and the spiritual master speaks that message. The spiritual master may use circumstantial examples the current language the current cultures understandings and present that message accordingly.
So we have to understand that Krishna is speaking but Krishna is speaking from the medium and the medium is also individual. And what applies to Srila Prabhupada? Also applies to his followers. So it is not that we are meant to not use our intelligence when we understand the spiritual master’s message.
So for example Srila Prabhupada said certain things for example the Leela Amrit it is said that Prabhupada said that by 2000 no one will be able to walk on the surface of the earth because there is so much pollution that everyone will have to live under the ground like rats. Now one may say 2000 has come and gone and they still live on the surface of the earth. Now if you look back what has happened is Prabhupada had this conversation in 1974 or something if you go back to the Veda base and look at Prabhupada’s conversation in Veda base at that time we find that couple of days before that a devotee had given Prabhupada a meteorological society’s report and that meteorological society was like a doomsday meteorological society which was giving very negative predictions of what are going to happen and they had predicted based on their own ideas that this pollution is going to be so much that nobody is going to live on the surface of the earth and Prabhupada was quoting them so now Prabhupada if you see he never claimed that his authority came because Krishna was speaking to him Prabhupada said my authority is because I am repeating what is told in Shastra what is told by my spiritual master so our epistemology our method of acquiring knowledge is Guru Sadhu Shastra so Guru Sadhu Shastra means that even if spiritual master speaks something we should check whether that is said in Shastra or that is said by the other sadhus so Prabhupada may speak certain things which are circumstantial and they are not internal Prabhupada never claimed that he was in the prophecy making business he said I am going to make prophecy of what is going to happen in future that was not his authority so Prabhupada was quoting some authority some circumstantial authority that is not Prabhupada speaking Krishna’s words over there so even when a Guru speaks, the Guru essentially gets his authority not just because Krishna is speaking through them Guru’s authority also comes because Guru is repeating their Guru and Guru is repeating the words that is why to isolate any one person from the tradition is the characteristic of a personality cult if I say my spiritual master whatever they speak is perfect and I don’t care for any other authority that will lead to our becoming a personality cult we accept our spiritual master’s authority because they are repeating Shastra and as an individual they have come up from particular backgrounds, they have come from particular situations and they may give some certain circumstantial examples and they don’t have the authority with Shastras because they are circumstantial Bhagavatam also recognises that even the Bhagavatam itself had said that यस्विन्प्रतिश्लोकम् उद्धवत्यति नामानंति सेशोन्कितानियति चुन्वन्ति नायंति जुवन्ति साधवा that that literature which is meant to glorify the Supreme Lord even if it is filled with defects still that literature is considered as written is accepted by saintly people because it is glorifying the Supreme Lord the perfection of the words of a devotee is that a devotee guides us to serving Krishna so in terms of Siddhanta in the philosophy of understanding and in terms of practise, the spiritual master gives the perfect guidance but it is not that the spiritual master is Krishna and the spiritual master is omniscient like Krishna the spiritual master authority counts not just because Krishna is speaking to them but because they are repeating what is taught in their tradition and that’s why rather than emphasising, rather than worrying too much you know it’s not that every time we hear a class from some devotee is this Krishna speaking or is this not Krishna speaking no, if we start getting into a hypercritical mode like that, we unnecessarily deprive ourselves of nourishment that Krishna is providing to us so we use our intelligence and rather than judging whether Krishna is speaking through them or not, we focus on what is unmoved for our bhakti and whatever instruction we get which we find inspiring our bhakti from whichever source it comes, we take that and move forward in life does that answer your question? Roshan, we are well aware of all the tremendous sufferings in the hell but it doesn’t reconcile with the loving nature of Lord Krishna if Krishna is our father, then what is his purpose behind creating hell? the enormous suffering in hell doesn’t seem to reconcile with Krishna’s loving nature if he is our father, why does he create so much suffering in hell? hell is not meant to cause us suffering hell is meant to save us from suffering see, the concept the word hell is the same in all the world’s religious traditions, but the conception of hell within the Vedic tradition and within the Abrahamic religions is very different within the Abrahamic religions hell is a place that will go eternally and that means their conception that if you don’t Jesus is the only way, if you are not following Jesus you are going to go to hell and there are some extremist followers of certain religions, they say you are not only going to go to hell, we will help you get there faster so their idea is of a very unloving God, one chance if you don’t accept that chance, you are going to go to hell forever the Vedic understanding is that the universe is a university and the universe is a university and all of the whole purpose of the university is to help us to learn to love love Krishna and to learn to love all living beings in relationship with Krishna and within this university, there are different planetary systems which are like classrooms with different kinds of discipline with different levels of strictness and disciplining and hell is also a classroom hell, the defining difference between the Vedic conception of hell and the Abrahamic conception of hell is that even the Vedic conception of hell is temporary it’s simply a classroom and to understand Krishna’s love, we need to see things not from the material perspective but from the spiritual perspective if we keep insisting on seeing things from the material perspective we will say, well even in this world there is so much suffering there is old age, there is cancer, there is accident there is this, there is that where is Krishna’s love? so if we see from the material perspective, what to speak of in hell even on earth we are not going to see God’s love but to appreciate the depth of God’s love, we have to understand the length and the breadth of our existence, length of our existence means our life doesn’t begin with birth, it doesn’t end with death we extend over many lifetimes so somebody may be suffering in this life but they have a bright future by Krishna’s grace in future so the length of our existence is much more and the breadth of our existence, breadth means we are not just our bodies, there is the body, there is the mind and there is the soul so even when somebody might be suffering at the level of the body, actually they are getting purified at the level of the soul and they are getting closer to Krishna so hell is a place where there is severe corrective action that is offered at the level of the body but it is not permanent it is temporary and the awareness that there are consequences for actions, that awareness and the experience of those consequences, all these are meant to help the soul accelerate its learning so to learn that my happiness is in loving and serving Krishna and my happiness, other things lead to suffering and they lead to various degrees of suffering based on what kind of actions I choose, that understanding enables us to learn to love Krishna, so Krishna’s love is manifested by giving us the opportunities to love and serve him and when we misuse those opportunities, when we create disruptions for others using those opportunities by exploiting others, by abusing others by hurting, by killing others when people do that, those actions have consequences, but even for people who go to hell Krishna still accompanies them in hell Krishna is not a god up there who sends people down to hell Krishna actually goes with them into hell and even for the souls in hell, he is there in Paramatma, so the sufferings in hell at a subconscious level help the soul to understand actions have consequences therefore it shouldn’t happen in this way and even if those lessons are not consciously remembered, they are subconsciously assimilated and thereafter the soul emerges back from hell and the soul is able to pursue transcendence with greater determination with greater conviction so in that sense, hell is not going to cause the suffering the suffering of misusing our free will, of doing wrong activities and bearing consequences, that will just go on and on, but the hell is like an intense dose of treatment it jolts us out and because it is temporary from the soul’s literal perspective, it is just like a flash and thereafter that whole thing inspires the soul to practise suffering, so that’s how God’s loving nature we appreciate by understanding that hell is temporary by understanding that we are spiritual not material, and hell sufferings are only at the material level and by understanding that God is not inflicting the suffering that system of karma which causes suffering and God doesn’t forsake us but God stays with us and helps us come out of hell and move onwards towards it, by this you can appreciate Krishna’s love for us.
Is it answer your question? Yes. My name is Krishna. My name is double standard in beauty worship I have been just paid permission one is allowed to do abhishek so why is there double standard in beauty worship just by doing abhishek just by doing abhishek one can do abhishek double standard is a very harsh word for this personally the principle is ये था माँखर करतें ते तामस भी वो जाने है as all people suddenly turn to me Krishna says I reward accordingly so there are different people who have different kinds of resources and whatever resources they have they can offer to Krishna and by offering those resources they can get reciprocation from Krishna so if some people by their past karma by their present situation they have more financial resources and they offer those resources to Krishna and that is one step they are taking towards Krishna and Krishna takes a step towards them within the practise of bhakti there is the external form of devotional service and there is the internal intention of devotional service the internal intention of devotional service that is what is primarily important and the external form of devotional service is also important but that is not what is important if you consider the external form then it is not just money, there are so many activities in their discrimination say if you consider that there are some devotees who are very good speakers, there may be other devotees, they may just not be able to speak well, now there may be those devotees who can speak well their speaking ability may just be because of their past karma they may not be very devoted to Krishna but they may get more opportunities to speak simply because they are able to speak well, somebody may be able to sing very nicely and now somebody else is there singing maybe you know it’s a singing only suited for one’s own bathroom it may be like that so even when it is like that now if in a public forum singing is to be done at that time the devotee who sings nicely, they will be given the opportunity so when they are given the opportunity to sing, we need to know that the certain facilities may be given according to certain abilities or certain circumstances certain resources but the opportunity there is a facility and there is an opportunity we should not equate the two the opportunity for advancing may is actually available for everyone so for example I am giving class right now and say you are here now it may well be if I am giving class and I am thinking see I am so clever I can answer all questions then by speaking this actually by being proud like this I will not move close to Krishna but you by hearing the class and learning the principles so by hearing the same class you may go closer to Krishna more than what I am going closer to Krishna so the facility in one sense that speaker has may seem more prominent, more attractive more prestigious than the facility that the hearer has and that facility is often determined by circumstances but the opportunity for devotional advancement depends primarily on one’s own desire, one’s own intention so yes somebody who offers money might be able to do abhishek but it is not that they were able to do abhishek they are necessarily going to make more advancement than somebody else who is watching the abhishek from a distance so it is the advancement depends on the intention with which one is trying to serve Krishna and that is what we should focus on even Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that he gives this knowledge that he gives this knowledge to the saintly kings Krishna doesn’t say that he doesn’t give this knowledge to the Vaishyas or Shudras but the fact is that kings have influence in society so the kings become spiritual then they can spiritualise the whole society so Krishna is not following double standards when he says that I give knowledge to the saintly kings no through them that knowledge can be efficiently disseminated so similarly now those people are kings because they have certain they have done certain karma in the past because of which they have the position of being kings and that position in the material world needs to be acknowledged and that position needs to be utilised in the practise of bhakti by the same time it is not necessary that the king is necessarily going to make more advancement than an ordinary citizen the ordinary citizen may make more spiritual advancement if they have the intention of serving Krishna in a more humble and pure way so yes, depending on resources depending on abilities, depending on circumstances, different devotees may get different forms of devotional service to practise and if we obsess too much over the forms then we will always feel that I am missing out, I am missing out, I am missing out but if you focus on the intent, the essential principle in bhakti is that the form is meant to assist us in purifying our intent अभ्यास योगे नित्तो मा इच्छा तुम दनें जाये so when you practise bhakti by which you will get इच्छा for me, the attraction for me so whatever situation we are in if we strive to develop our attraction for Krishna from that situation then we will develop an attraction for Krishna so Krishna is भावग्राही and if we focus on that principle that Krishna looks at the emotion of my heart and he appreciates that emotion, then even if we see there is apparently some difference in the facility offered with the practise of bhakti we will not get too caught in that facility, rather we focus on the opportunity to remember Krishna and move closer to him.
Does it answer your question? So we will stop here Thank you very much for your thoughtful questions and whatever questions are remaining I have my website www.missfitdesigners.com so there I will try to answer in the next few days if you subscribe on the daily feed you might get the answers in your email directly otherwise of course there are Vaishnavas here you can consult them and you can have the question and answer maybe tomorrow after, so what we could do is tomorrow morning I will speak briefly in the Bhagavatam and then we can continue the question and answer tomorrow, is that ok? Thank you Krishna Krishna ok so tomorrow morning