Rituals and Essence – Understanding why we do what we do

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
For most people, when they come to a temple, their idea of visiting a temple is silence, peace, prayer, meditation. And when we think of dancing, the idea is that generally people dance in pubs and bars and parties.
So dancing in a temple is something of a culture shock for many people. When I first came to this temple, I saw devotees dancing. Loudly.
I thought temple means it should be silent prayer. How many of you felt a little culture shock when you thought of dancing in the temple? You are used to seeing dancing in the temple? First time. So actually, how many of you are from this area, Bengal or Odisha itself? In this area, the dancing kirtans always go on.
But in general, people have this idea. Spiritual life should be silent prayer, calm, serenity, all those noisy kirtans and dancing and singing. So, today we will try to understand.
Have they got the marker also? So, what is the essential principle of spiritual life? As we know, we are not the body, we are the soul. And it does require philosophical understanding to know the difference between the body and the soul. Now after understanding the difference between the body and the soul, that intellectual understanding alone is not enough.
Because we have to experience ourselves as a soul. We have to experience spiritual reality. Just by intellectual analysis, it’s like somebody describing the physical properties of a gulab jamun.
Gulab jamun is a brownish spherical object with viscosity so-and-so, porosity so-and-so, weight so-and-so, height so-and-so, circumference so-and-so, and we can go on describing it. But does it give the experience of the gulab jamun? Not at all, is it? So, for the experience in the gulab jamun, just the speech is not enough. The same tongue has to be used for some other purpose.
It has to be used to taste that gulab jamun. Similarly, in spiritual life, we need philosophy to understand what are the truths. At the same time, we also need the expression, the actions to do by which we can experience those truths.
So, we all have senses. And these senses, yesterday in the Truth and Beauty, we were discussing how these senses attract us to the sense objects. The eyes are attracted to beautiful forms.
The ears are attracted to sweet sounds. And like that, we become entangled in material things. And we forget God.
Or we neglect God. Or we even reject God. So, in general, the senses cause us to become entangled in the material world.
And therefore, people think that there are three aspects of spiritual life. There is karma, there is jnan, and there is bhakti. Karma means activity.
Or what? Jnan means knowledge. And bhakti means devotion. So, generally when we do karma, the karma entangles us in material life.
When we use our senses to experience and enjoy the sense objects, that entangles us. Therefore, in general, we think that in spiritual life, we should become detached. We should not engage the senses in the sense objects.
And that brings us to the stage of jnan. Jnan means intellectual analysis. The objects may be looking beautiful and attractive now, but they are temporary.
And if I get attached to them, I’ll get temporary pleasure. But afterwards, I’ll get entangled and I’ll suffer. I don’t want the suffering, therefore, I become detached.
So, there are some spiritual organisations in India which say that this intellectual analysis is the highest. And that bhakti is for sentimental people. Yes, if one is doing bhakti without jnan, without spiritual knowledge, then that can be sentimental.
But, if we see, everything has come from God. Isn’t it? As souls, we are children of God. We have come from God.
Even our body. The body has also come from God. The body is made of metal.
That has also come from God. The senses have also come from God. So, for example, there are beautiful flowers.
There are roses and there are jasmines. They are very beautiful flowers. Now, certainly, this beauty is temporary.
But at the same time, when it is present, it is present. The flowers are really beautiful. If it is a rainbow in the sky, it is really beautiful.
So, when a person goes into the concept of jnan, he just focusses on how all this is false, how all this is temporary. Why? Because it is temporary. In one sense, the understanding is required.
Otherwise, one will just be attracted and when everything is temporary, one will suffer. So, beyond that, a wise person has to see that there is a connection of everything with God. So, the beautiful flowers are there.
And why are the beautiful flowers there in this world? They are there for offering it to the service of the Lord. They will garland and offer it to the Lord. Now, in this material world, at the level of karma, what do people do? They take the same thing and offer it to those whom they love.
A boy may offer it to a girl and so on. So, now, these people who are pseudo-intellectuals, they sometimes condemn rituals. Rituals means activities which are done generally in religious or spiritual circles.
Now, why do rituals exist? Yes, rituals are present even in the material world. Now, Anshula Prabhupada was in America. He was giving a talk in an American university.
At that time, one professor, I am a PhD in religious studies. I want to ask you. He said, why do you keep a tail on the back of your head? Why do you keep a tail? Anybody has this point? They have the shikha.
Why do you keep a tail on the back of your head? So, Prabhupada countered that. Why do you keep a tail around your neck? Why do you keep a tail? What does that mean? Tie. Tie means you are tied by something.
Actually, especially in India, to wear a tie is absurd. In the West, everything is cold. So, to wear a coat and to wear a tie, there is some feeling of warmth.
But in India, it is so scorchingly hot most of the time. And then we wear a coat and then we wear a tie. And then we feel like being strangled.
So, there are rituals which are actually needless. What does a tie actually do? Does it do anything? It doesn’t do anything at all. But there are rituals even in material life.
For example, say, there are two chemists. A husband and wife. Both are chemists.
And it’s a marriage anniversary. So, the husband goes to the wife. Oh, my dear wife, I love you very much.
Please take the buns and varnas. Why buns and varnas? We are both chemists, so we should use something useful. It’s a buns and varnas sign of love.
And then they give a flower, a rose flower. What is the use of a rose flower? Let us throw it away. So, people say that when we offer flowers to God, that is sentiment.
That is ritualism. But then, we do similar rituals even in day-to-day life. So, even in ordinary life, rituals are a way of expressing love.
If you see, when we shake hands, actually, what does a handshake do? We meet the hand, we already shake it. It’s a ritual. But that ritual is a way of communicating our expression of warmth, of care, of love.
Can any of you think of any other rituals in material life? Activities which in themselves don’t have any meaning, but when they are performed, they convey something meaningful. Yes? Some rituals in material life. There are many.
I give two examples. One is wearing a tie. Second is shaking hands.
Anything else? Embracing, isn’t it? Let’s say, when two friends meet, they embrace each other. That is an expression of love. That is an expression of warmth.
Why are you embracing? I am not my body. You are not your body. Why are you embracing? That is a way of expressing warmth and love.
Or, if we see from a more superficial point of view, that is genuine, like people wear their stockings, their socks. Now again, in the western culture, socks are of some use to me. Because it’s cold.
In India, people wear socks, and two days you wear it, you can’t bear the stench. So they throw it away. Or they wash it.
But why? That’s considered smartness. That’s considered being refined or modern. So the rituals even in life, are considered important.
Because they express certain things through them. But when we are connected with God, the rituals are an expression of our devotion to God. Just like, you see, in ordinary life, if a boy says to a mother, Mummy, I love you.
Can I do your studies? No, no, I love you, but I won’t do my studies. I love you very much. Now, love that is there in the heart, has to be expressed through actions.
Many people in India say, why do you chant the name loudly? Chant in the mind. God’s name keeps running in our mind for 24 hours. It keeps running in our mind for 24 hours.
So why doesn’t it come to our tongue even once? Isn’t it? That means, when they say 24 hours is going on, it’s never going to be. That’s just an excuse for not making tangible commitments to God. In ordinary life, if a husband says to a wife, I love you very much.
It doesn’t go on and on and on. And a wife is starting, I love you very much. Love has to be expressed.
If the wife says, I love you very much, but I’m not going to do it anymore. You can start playing. That is not love.
Isn’t it? Love is expressed through actions. Similarly, when we have love for the Lord, that has to be expressed through actions. And the actions through which we express our devotion to the Lord are called as rituals.
Now, rituals, if they are done without a proper understanding, they can become like blind faith. But, when rituals are done with a proper understanding of the spirit behind them, then they become spirit plus ritual becomes spiritual. They become spiritual.
They give us experience of God through those particular activities. So here, there is a long verse. We’ll try to recite this verse and we will discuss the meaning.
This verse describes how different senses, different faculties of our human body can be used to get experience of the Divine. So, you can repeat after me. Vacham Sivai Kuntagunano Varnane Vacham Sivai Kuntagunano Varnane Karau Harer Mandir Marjanadeeshu Karau Harer Mandir Marjanadeeshu Shrutin Chakara Chut Satgathodaye So, the meaning is Sanskrit and it’s a long verse, but the meaning is very simple.
Manaha. Manaha means what? Mind. And Padaravindam.
Padaravindam means what? Feet of Lord. Yes, Pada means feet. And Aravindam is the lotus feet.
Aravindam Yog. Aravindam Yog. So, Savai Manaha Krishna Padaravindam Yog.
So, how we engage all our different senses in the service of the Lord. First is, we fix the mind on the Lord. There are many people in India who absent-mindedly perform rituals without knowing what they are doing.
Like when people go in a temple, ta-da-da-da-da, they ring the bell. Why? They do it because it’s fun. And then when they go into the meeting and they close their eyes and pray and they don’t even notice what is the detail of it.
That is not the way rituals are done. First is, the mind is to be engaged. And then, what is the next thing? Vachamsi.
Vachamsi means? Can you guess? Boys. Yes, Vachamsi. What is Vaikuntha? Abode of God.
Yes, the abode of God. And Lord of that abode. God’s kingdom is called Vaikuntha and the name of God is also Vaikuntha.
So, Vachamsi Vaikuntha Guna. Guna is? Anu Varuna. Varuna means? Description.
So, we should use our tongue to describe the glories of God. We should use our tongue to glorify the Lord. And then, Gara means? Hands.
Harer is? Lottery. Mandir is? Temple. Marjan means? Clean.
So, use the hands to clean the temple of the Lord. Then, Shruti means? Ears. Then, Chakar means? To select, to engage.
Achuta is? Name of the Lord. And, Satkatha means? Past tense. Sat means? Eternal.
The Lord’s past tense are eternal. So, we should use our ears to hear His past tense. So, in this way, actually we have Indriyaani Dashankamchak Panchajendriya Gocharaha.
We have 11 senses. Do you know which are the 11 senses? We have 5 working senses, 5 knowledge acquiring senses, and above them all is the mind. Which are the 5 knowledge acquiring senses? Knowledge.
How do we acquire knowledge of the world around us? Eyes. Ears. Nose.
Tongue. Skin. So, there are these 5 knowledge acquiring senses.
So, we will see, all of them, most of them will be there only. So, first one, Shrotram. Ears.
So, ears will come just now. Shruti means? Chakar. Then after that, Chakshu.
Eyes. So, what should we do with the eyes? Mukunda means? Love. Linga means? Like we have form of Shiva.
So, Linga essentially means form. Mukunda Lingalaya Darshan. Darshan means? To see, behold.
Darshan doesn’t mean to see, but to behold in a respectful and reverential way. And Dhrushyam. Dhrushyam means? Eyes.
Dhrishti. Dhrishti is called Dhrushyam. Eyes.
Mukunda Lingalaya Darshan Dhrushyam Mukunda Lingalaya Darshan Dhrushyam Mukunda Lingalaya Darshan Dhrushyam Mukunda Lingalaya Darshan Dhrushyam Tadhrutya Tadhrutya Gatra Gatra Sparsha Angasangamam Angasangamam So, we have a sense of touch. So, what do we do with the touch? Tadhrutya. Tadhrutya means? Servants.
His servants. That means the devotees of the lord. Gatra Sparsha Angasangamam So, use the sense of touch to touch the forms to the devotees of the Lord and to take their blessings and ghanam, ghanam means to smell.
What do we do with that smell, tadpad, tadpad means his feet, saroj is Lord’s blessings, saroj is saura means, saura also means lotus. So the flowers that are offered to the Lord, we use it to smell it. So in the morning you got the fragrance, all of you, flowers that are offered to the Lord.
Pranam chatatpad, saroj is offered to the Lord. Then after that, then what is remaining is atam. So Srimat Tulasya, Srimat is fortune, blessed, like we have Sriman, Srimati, so Srimati.
Then Tulasya, Tulasya is? Tulasi. Srimat Tulasya, rasanam tadarpite, rasanam means tongue, tadarpite means what? Arpan means? Toe, yeah. So that means to taste the Tulasi flower that has been offered to the Lord.
Generally whenever we offer dhoga to the Lord, we offer food to the Lord, then the Lord accepts and that becomes prasad, but whenever we offer food, along with the food we offer Tulasi. Tulasi is very dear to the Lord and with the bhakti of Tulasi Devi, Lord accepts all the food. Therefore this, wasn’t it, we should use our tongue to taste the prasad of the Lord.
So now, and similarly we will complete this and we will discuss further. Padau is what? Feet, feet. Hare Kshetra, Hare Kshetra means? The place of Lord Hari.
Yeah, the place of Lord Hari, that is the holy places, like Nalavayana, Mathura, Jagannath Puri, Mayapur, and pada anusarpane means? Anusarpan means to go, so that means we use our feet for what? To go to the holy place. Yes, to go to the holy place of the Lord and shiro, shiro means? Head, Rishikesh, Rishikesh is? The Lord, control of senses of the Lord and pada abhivandane, vandana means? Respectful obeisances, so we use our head to offer obeisances to the Lord. Shiro, Rishikesh, pada abhivandane and then most important, these are all external, but what is most important, kama, kama means? Desire, so kama in what sense means lust, which is material desire, but in a more generic sense, kama means desire, so kama chadasi, that means we should use our desires to fulfil the desires of the Lord, not that we become servant of our desires, that means whatever our desires, not that we go on fulfilling our desires, but we fulfil the desires of the Lord and in this what will happen, yatha uttama shloka janashrayati, so uttama shloka, shloka means what? Shloka, shloka, verses, so uttama shloka, what is the name of the uttama? Best, excellent, so uttama shloka means, this is the name of God, name of Krishna, with that Lord who is glorified with excellent poems, excellent poetry, so this is called uttama shloka and jana ashraya rati, rati means attraction, so in this way, for all people, jana, they can get ashraya of the Lord and they can develop rati for the Lord, so this is the process that is given, that means we use our senses to serve the Lord and when we use our senses to serve the Lord, in this way we experience God, when we experience God, then we become purified, we become spiritually transformed by our experience.
Now here, we discussed the five non-requiring senses, now there are five working senses, which are the five working senses, five working senses, the senses which do work, hands, legs, voice, please do this, please go there, you get work done by speech and then that will excrete your organs, so now if you see, are the hands and legs included, hands are, sorry, what do we do with the hands, cleanse the temple of the Lord, with the legs, put in front of the speech, we glorify the Lord, so in this way practically all the working senses and all the non-requiring senses, of course the mind and through all this ultimately in our heart, in our soul there are desires, so everything we offer to the Lord and this is the way we connect ourselves with God, so this body is temporary, but the wonderful thing about the Lord’s mercy is that the temporary can be used in service of the eternal, and then that gives us eternal life, so we will recite this verse now, we will recite the first part, all of us will recite this verse, so I will recite the whole thing once and after that each of you can recite one by one, so you will recite one line and we will follow all of you, then you can recite the next line and we will follow all of you, and then everybody will get to recite one by one, so try to count in which line you will get it only, try to recite everything properly, first we recite the whole thing once, so that we will have a pronunciation together, Chakara and Achyuta, so what happens the two words come in, Chakara Achyuta, Chakara Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Achyuta, Ach When there is a dash above S, then it becomes SHUH, this is the small SHUH, not the big SHUH, that is this SHUH, so when there is a dot below R, it becomes V, and dot below S becomes SHUH, and that’s all that there is. Any questions? Yes. Shreemad Tulasya Ratanam Gagarkite Shreemad Tulasya Ratanam Gagarkite Padau Hare Kshetra Padanu Sarpane Shiro Rishikesh Padana Vinde Shiro Rishikesh Padau Vandane Kamam Chadasena Tukam Kamaya Is it that? Yes.
Nithyatama Slokad Dinasreyan Nithyatama Slokad Dinasreyan That’s all. Sarve Mana Krishna Padar Vindayo Vakam Sivai Tundra Vinan Vandane Karod Hare Mandira Manjana Adishu Shruti Chakara Shuddha Sarang Bahu Daye Mukunda Linga Deva Darshane Drishu Shraddha Vrindaya Darshanai Swarve Anga Samyama Radha Radha Swareshaya Vaishya Samyama Granam Shraddha Pada Seva Saurave Srimad Tulasya Grasanam Tatar Krite Who else? Hare Krishna Padam Sarvane Shiro Rishikesh Padau Vandane Kamam Chadasena Tukam Kamaya Kamam Chadasena Tukam Kamaya Yathodam Slokam Jnana Raya Rakti Yathodam Slokam Jnana Rakti Janah Ashray All of it together, in chorus. Sarve Mana Krishna Padar Vindayo Don’t follow me, be with me together.
Sarve Mana Krishna Padar Vindayo Don’t follow me, be with me together. Karam Hare Mandir Marjanadishu Shuddhim Chakaracharya Shraddha Bahu Daye Mukunda Linga Deva Darshane Drishu Tatraddhya Radha Vaishya Hamsa Sangham Ranam Shraddha Pada Seva Saurave Srimad Tulasya Grasanam Tatar Krite Padam Hare Krishna Padam Sarvane Shiro Rishikesh Padau Vandane Kamam Chadasena Tukam Kamaya Yathodam Slokam Jnana Ashraya Rakti Sarve Mana Krishna Padar Vindayo Vacham Sivai Kuntakunanu Varnane Karam Hare Mandir Marjanadishu Shuddhim Chakaracharya Shraddha Bahu Daye Mukunda Linga Deva Darshane Drishu Tatraddhya Radha Vaishya Hamsa Sangham Ranam Shraddha Pada Seva Saurave Srimad Tulasya Grasanam Tatar Krite Padam Hare Krishna Padam Sarvane Shiro Rishikesh Padau Vandane Kamam Chadasena Tukam Kamaya Yathodam Slokam Jnana Ashraya Rakti So, now based on this book I will see what all we do when we go to temple or what all we did in the morning programme or what all we will do in the future First is how in spiritual life we don’t deny the reality of the senses and their objects but we focus on their utility in connecting with God in glorifying God and in experiencing God through the senses So, that is, you remember we had if you have a pendulum, there are two unsteady states of the pendulum one unsteady state is called Karma, the other unsteady state is called Jnana and the steady state is called Bhakti So, why is the Karma state unsteady? Why is the Karma state unsteady? Because everything is temporary. We may use our senses to experience and enjoy the sense objects, but their senses are temporary Like a person may enjoy delicious food now, but the food is not going to last forever and even the digestive capacity, the tongue is not going to last forever, everything is going to die.
Same with all sense objects. And Jnana, on the other hand, means that we deny the senses, we just try to absorb our senses internally, try to meditate, intellectualise, analyse Now, that is also temporary, because by nature we are pleasure seeking, by nature we are active The third chapter of the first verse says that So, imagine a person is very sick, he has some terrible disease in his body and because of that, every time he moves his body, he feels pain He gets coughing, he feels terrible pain Any moment of his body he feels pain and at that time he thinks, just let me stop all motion If I can stop all motion, then I will become free from all pain Is it really possible to stop motion? Very difficult. But if he succeeds in stopping all motion and he becomes free from pain, then what will he want? He wants to do something again Because the nature of the person is to be active Now, superficially it appears that the pain is caused by the motion When I move my hand I feel pain, but is the pain caused by the motion? No, the pain is caused by the disease that is present in the body Normal motion doesn’t cause pain So, it is not the motion that is causing pain, but it is the disease present in the body that is causing pain So, the solution to pain is not just stopping motion, but curing the disease And when we cure the disease, then there is healthy motion There is joy giving motion.
The person walks around, he goes here, he goes there And by that he feels he is achieving something, he is accomplished something, he is happy by that Similarly, when we act in the material field then every activity that we do, it entangles us. We try to form a relationship with someone and there is a misunderstanding and there is a breakage and the cause of pain In this material world, the activities are the cause of pain. And so, that is karma But the Jnanis think, let me give up all activities, let me become inactive Then I will become free from pain, I will become free from entanglement But that is an unstable state, that is not a natural state Why? Because even if we succeed in being inactive As you know, in the 4th chapter of the Divine study, the Atma, what is the nature of the Atma? It is not Sat-Chit-Ananda, it is not Sat-Chit-Shanti Many people think, put your life in Shanti Shanti is just an intermittent bliss, but Shanti is not permanent Because you want Ananda, you want activity, you want love Actually, in school you have to take the sack race sometimes, you know sack race? They put a big sack around the leg and then you have to run Now is it very easy to run with the sack race? Normally we run very fast But when the sack is put around our body, around our legs, it becomes very difficult to run So like that, for the soul, the body, there is a big sack that will be put And even after the sack is put on the soul, still the soul is so active People are going there to do so many things So if the sack is removed, the body is removed, then does the soul become inactive? No, the pure soul will be even more active Because it is no longer burdened by the body So it is not that when one becomes purified or one becomes spiritually advanced, he becomes inactive No, the suffering, the problem is not activity The problem is the forgetfulness of God Like earlier, pain was caused not by the motion, but by the disease Similarly, the suffering that is caused in this world is not because of relationships, not because of activities Not because of forms, but it is because of forgetfulness That is the disease inside us, forgetfulness of God So when we do activities in remembrance of God, in service to God Then those activities bring us spiritual joy And that is our eternal position But actually, here Mukti is described in the Bhagavata We have our own spiritual group in the spiritual world Yesterday we were discussing about how we have rented houses We should have a permanent house, an eternal body But in that body, we serve the Lord So there are eternal activities we do in the spiritual world, and those same activities we do in the material world to purify ourselves Therefore, Bhakti is the eternal activity Now we are using this tongue to glorify the Lord And in the spiritual world, we have a spiritual body, and that spiritual tongue will glorify the Lord But with the spiritual tongue, say now there is silent meditation, that can give us some peace But when we chant and dance in Kirtan, that gives us something higher than peace That gives us Ananda, that gives us joy So there is a negative axis, this is the positive axis So Paramahamsa, material activity will fall on the negative axis Whatever we do that entangles us, that causes suffering And Jan is like the origin point There is no activity, no material activity, no spiritual activity also But Bhakti will be on the positive axis This is the spiritual activity, and this activity purifies us Say somebody is angry, it becomes silent Anger sometimes goes away, but sometimes it explodes It will explode after sometime But when a person becomes a Bhakta, he will spiritualise all the emotions The whole process of Bhakti is that there has to be emotion in the heart, and the emotion has to be expressed through our actions That’s why when we enter the temple What do we do when we enter the temple? We bow down to the Lord Now ultimately the feeling is important But the feeling is two things, it is when the feeling is there inside, it is expressed through our actions And even when it is not there, just by doing the actions we experience the feeling So feeling is, the feeling within is expressed and experienced by the actions without Just like a simple example Now say I am sitting here, and if I lie down My dear friend, I am feeling very humble now Is it possible to feel very humble? Is it possible? No, see the externals do determine the internals Isn’t it? So it is natural that our body, mind and soul are connected right now So if you want to feel humble, then we sit in a erect posture or slightly lean forward We hold our hand, then we feel a little humble So this is a simple example and it applies to every situation in life So when we talk about the rituals that are there in the scriptures, they are based on a profound psychophysical science Psychophysical means a science related to the body and the mind Means what sort of actions will bring about what sort of emotions in our heart There is a precise and profound science behind that and based on that we do our activities So for example, when we take darshan of the lord, we fold our hands So we fold our hands, that is the expression of respect, that is the expression of love Generally, with our hands we want to do many things, I will do this, I will do that, I will get this, I will get that We fold our hands, I cannot do anything, my lord, everything that I have is yours, I offer it to you So when we do kirtans, first when the singer is singing, we fold our hands We fold our hands, that is the expression of respect, so the holy name is coming, it is entering into our heart And then when we sing the holy names, we raise our hands Generally, when do people raise hands? Hands up! Surrender! So of course, that surrender is by force, but here when we raise our hands, that is out of love So when we raise our hands, that means I cannot do anything, my lord, you will be helping me So these are gestures, in one sense rituals, but rituals, if we perform them with the right understanding Then they help us to experience divine emotions Same way, when we come in front of the temple, then we offer obeisances We put our head down and offer obeisances, there are two types of obeisances There is panchanga pranam and there is ashtanga or dandavat pranam So panchanga means we offer obeisances like this, putting our head down And dandavat means we offer full obeisances, like lying down And this action of offering respect also helps us to become submissive To become humble in front of god, which is very important Similarly, when we do aarti, before we come to aarti We sing prayers, just like when we recite shlokas Now when we recite shlokas, what happens? These vibrations are purified And these vibrations, they purify our tongue, they purify our ears and they purify our heart That’s why these vibrations are extremely important to recite And similarly when we do aarti, aarti is a very extraordinary performance, isn’t it? We offer the whole material universe back to god This whole material universe has come from god And there are different ingredients that are offered in the aarti So those ingredients, through which the pujari is performing the aarti He offers all the ingredients back to the supreme lord So for example, how does the aarti start? So now in this material world, according to the Vedic sankhya, Vedic analysis of material world There are eight elements Aapam, nano, vayu, kham, mano, buddhi, reh, vacha, ahamkara, iti, amme, vimna, prakrta, prashna, Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, phalse ego There are eight elements So all these we offer to the lord when we perform aarti So when we blow the conch shell, what are we offering? Sound Sound is used to indicate the start of the glorification of the lord Ceremony for worshipping the lord The sound itself is divine, so we are offering the sound element through that Of course we offer the sound element through the accompanying kirtans also But even if there is no kirtan, sound is offered through the conch shell Then what do we do? We take the diya and offer the diya So when we are offering the diya, what are we offering? Fire element That is what we are offering to the lord And then there is, we take a conch and in the conch we offer water to the lord And then afterwards that water is sprinkled So that conch is, that indicates, what are we offering to the conch? In the water element? The water element, whatever The water element is offered to the lord Similarly, when we take a fan, then we fan the lord So what are we offering to the lord at that time? Air element Air element to the lord Then we offer flowers to the lord And those flowers, what are we offering? Earth Yeah, flowers are ultimately made of earth So earth we are offering So earth, water, fire, air, ether Ether or sound? Sound is transmitted through ether, so that is offered And then throughout all that we do, actually we are supposed to concentrate And then we are offering the mind And not only offer the mind, but actually we recite prayers And we meditate on the prayers at that time, that is what we are offering in intervals And before and after the aarti performance, we offer our obeisances Which indicate that we are offering our ego Generally we don’t want to respect anyone, but we are full obeisances to the lord So we are offering our ego So, it’s a profound ceremony In which we offer the whole material existence to the supreme lord To the aavasthu govinda To bhyam eva samatvayami Everything is yours, my dear lord I am offering it back to you So like that, everything that we do in devotional service Has a profound meaning to it Now for example The altar The altar where we worship the lord Some people say god is everywhere Why do we need to go to a temple? Why do we need to give a picture of god? Yes, god is there everywhere But can we see him everywhere? It’s like saying Water is there everywhere And the atmosphere is water everywhere So then why don’t we just take out the tongue and take some water with us? Now water is everywhere But we need a place where the water becomes accessible to us I’ll say electricity is there everywhere in the electric cable But can we tap that electricity? There has to be a socket, there has to be proper connecting wire And from there we get the electricity So yes, god is everywhere But where does he manifest to our vision? That is in the temple on the altar So the lord has a spiritual form in the spiritual world And in this material world He manifests in a form So that we can see him So that we can dress him, so that we can bathe him So that we can serve him So the purpose of this is that we can get sensory experience of god And if it’s sensory experience of god With our senses, we experience god through this process So the deity is not like an ordinary statue Sometimes they make this statue of a political leader and they put it on a square And when they put the statue on a square And people just watch it, nobody cares for it And once a year they come And the local municipality leader He comes in the same group, he can’t clean the street He comes and cleans the whole statue also And then one day they put a garland on it And then they give a speech And that is also ordinary And then they forget it for the rest of the year But that is a statue Statue means that person, the soul Has already gone to some other body And that image has nothing to do with that soul and that person But god is not like an ordinary person or an ordinary soul God is supreme And god is present everywhere And because he is present everywhere When the devotee calls the lord My dear lord, I want to serve you Please manifest yourself before my vision Please appear And then the lord appears in the deity form So yes, the deity to the material vision it appears is made of ordinary stone But the deity, although it is made of ordinary stone The stone is carved by a sculptor According to precise description That is given in the scriptures We discussed this yesterday And then after that The great devotee to the lord They perform a ceremony called prana patishta In which they invite the lord Please my dear lord, I want to serve you Please come and reside in this form And after that prayer, the lord comes and resides And then the devotee prays to the lord Serves the lord and reciprocates Now how do we know When the lord is present in the deity How do we know? That is, first we have to understand our intelligence And secondly, we have to experience by practise Just like the holy name of god The holy name appears just like any other sound We have heard so many sounds Any other holy name also But then, when we chant the holy names Regularly, we find The effect of it on us is tremendously good Any ordinary sound that we chant You know There are some people who say That this is just imagination You take any image and you put it on the wall And you will think that that is God And then you take any sound and chant it Again and again and again And you will feel peaceful So Shila Prabhupada When he was challenged like this Prabhupada said, challenged back He said, okay You chant Coca-Cola Let us see Chant Coca-Cola 180 times Can you? Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Just get fed up No satisfaction, no joy It is not just ordinary sound vibration So The difference between an ordinary sound And the difference between The sound of God’s name That is experienced through practise So we chant the holy names of God What is the difference that we experience? We experience that Yesterday we said Last time God gave me a bad illusion They go along Our mind becomes peaceful Our mind becomes devotionally attracted to the Lord And the same will happen with the deity form of the Lord So the Lord manifests in the deity form And we pray to the Lord And we approach in a mode of service We practise devotional service We offer our eyes to the Lord We sing for the pleasure of the Lord We offer prayers to the Lord Then what will happen? We will experience the transformation of our consciousness When we experience the transformation of our consciousness Then there is no doubt in our hearts What is it that we are doing? So then the philosophy to back up all The rituals that we perform And when we do it with the understanding Then there is purification in the performance of the rituals So therefore The Srila Prabhupada He made a very remarkable statement He said religion without philosophy Is sentimentalism or fanaticism Sentimentalism That means It just means something emotional Like sometimes people They just take a stone And they put some poom poom on that And they start worshipping that The temples in India Nobody understands what is being worshipped Who is being worshipped Pujari doesn’t understand who is being worshipped So that is it So religion without philosophy is Sentimentalism Or sometimes it becomes fanaticism Like we see unfortunately in modern Islam If you don’t agree, you kill the enemy It’s fanaticism They don’t understand that there is one God And there are all these religions of God So there is no philosophy On the other hand Philosophy without religion is Mental speculation Mental speculation means You do big big philosophy But you don’t experience anything You are on the mental platform Like there are philosophers who sit On an armchair On Sunday afternoon I think Is God personal or impersonal? Is God personal? I think God should be personal Because there are so many forms in this world Everybody is a person And God is the father of everyone Then God must be personal But then God is all-pervading And He is unlimited Therefore He must be impersonal right? So does the personality of God exist or does not exist? Anyway, no problem In this mind, pleasure exists So when they stay only on the intellectual platform There is no transformation of the heart that takes place Because they are not experiencing anything It’s just intellectual Therefore We need to rise above the intellectual platform And come to the spiritual platform The positive axis And that we could come by Performing the rituals in knowledge And that is Bhakti Yoga So there has to be a balance of religion and philosophy You perform the rituals But you perform them with knowledge And then you experience God Through the rituals Done with knowledge And that’s why Srila Prabhupada When he translated the word Bhakti into English He didn’t translate it as devotion He translated it as devotional service Devotion is there in the heart But it is expressed through service Through service for the Lord What this was we discussed was It’s all doing service to the Lord Using our senses in the service of the Lord So I’ll summarise Started first with discussing about how Is Karma, Gyan and Bhakti When we use our senses for material enjoyment They entangle us But if we detach ourselves from those objects Then that is a really positive job That is temporary peace And again we come back to material activities Therefore The real stable state is When we use the senses To glorify the Lord of the senses And then by that We get experience of God through the senses And we discussed The example of a sick person Who is suffering because of motion The pain is not because of the motion But because of the disease Similarly The suffering that comes Are not because of activity per se But because of material activity Because of activity in forgetfulness of God That is on the negative axis Inactivity is on the zero point But spiritual activity is on the positive axis So there is a ritual With spirit Becomes spiritual But in ordinary life also There are rituals Like wearing attire When you are talking Shaking hands Offering roses But the rituals They convey some meaning They are some emotions That are conveyed to them So in spiritual life also There are emotions And the emotions are Expressed and experienced Through rituals And we discussed how If I lie back And say I am humble I can’t feel humble So there is a Psychophysical science Behind all the rituals We discussed how the Aarti is Offering the whole Universe back to God Similarly The Deity form Is the form of God That we can experience With our eyes It is not just a statue This God is manifesting How can we understand it? Use our philosophy To understand it And we practise Then we experience it And lastly Concluded is What is religion without philosophy? Fanaticism Fanaticism or sentimentality And philosophy without religion is? Mental speculation Mental speculation Yes, thank you So we will recite all the verses Once again Then we will conclude Together Thank you Thank you Any questions? Yes, please Yesterday one of my friends Asked me this question Why we are offering our hair To God When we go to a temple Why we are offering our hair To God? Yeah Especially through the Spiritual life The purpose of all that we do In spiritual life Is to offer our heart to God Because we ultimately want to love God So One of the items we are doing with us In the way to offer our heart Is to offer to God That which is very dear to our heart So that’s why It is recommended We do charity also By charity because Money is dear to us So when we offer that Which is dear to us We are offering a part of our heart Similarly For most people Who misidentify with their body You know The hair is very dear People spend sometimes hours In front of the mirror Decorating their hair Especially women do that But even men There is one of our temples There is a building There is a 12 stone building And the lift was very slow So All the people Were complaining The temple The temple It was like a Not exactly a temple It was like a youth centre It was there And all the other people Were complaining Why is the lift so slow? And the owner Was a very stingy person He didn’t want to spend To change the whole machine To make a fast lift A lot of expenditure So he got an idea And what he did He put a mirror On all three sides of the Wall of the lift And nobody complained after that All right They were busy Looking at their hair Adjusting their hair And everything They forgot the time That it takes for the performance So in general People like Body consciousness So they Look at their hair And they That is considered A very attractive part of our body It is very dear to us So when we go to the Temple It is not that God needs our hair That is not the idea But We offer To the Lord What is dear to us And by that We are offering Our heart to the Lord So that is also a ritual But again it has a significance Any other questions? Why God had made this world? Why has God made this world? Yes God has made this world For you and me Why God Why God Made us And Oh Why God We call Atmaram Atmaram means Self-satisfied It doesn’t mean That we are at all At the same time Although self-satisfied For the reciprocation Of love There is There is Shanti In solitude But for joy For Anand There has to be reciprocation There has to be relationship We love someone And someone loves us back Then there is Anand There is happiness in life So So the Lord He is The eternal being And he has expanded Himself into Unlimited living beings Ekam Bahusyaam The answer to this That one Lord Has become many And what is The purpose of that The purpose is For the reciprocation of love And that is what Is eternally going on In the spiritual world Beyond the spiritual world What we are living in Beyond the spiritual universes There is a vast Spiritual sky In that there are Spiritual planets And in the spiritual planets The Lord resides With his devotees And there is The eternal reciprocation Of love Through service Between the Lord And his devotees And we were also there In that spiritual world So the purpose Of our existence The purpose of existence Of everyone Is the reciprocation Of love And the happiness That comes from That reciprocation But Some of the souls Who are there In the spiritual world They want to Enjoy separate from God Like a Wealthy son’s father Sorry A wealthy father’s son He has He has The father is providing Everything But he says Father I want to live Independently I want to enjoy Independently The father says Don’t go by yourself Do you think I want to live No I want to be Independent And because he Forces So the son leaves Similarly We were in the Spiritual world With God But because Of the desire To enjoy Independent of God We have come to This world And this world God uses Specificity to Try to enjoy Independent of But he accompanies Us along with The Atma That is the Paramatma In our hearts And he is waiting For us To turn back to him And as soon as We turn back to him He guides us back That he guides us On the journey To return back To his abode So the purpose Of this world Is twofold One is Enjoyment We want to enjoy Separate from God So try it And when we are Fed up with that Attempting to enjoy Separate from God Then the second Problem is Rectification Rectify ourselves And reinstate Ourselves in the Service of the Lord And we return Back to God That is the Shloka in the First line only Is written that Mana Means mind We are supposed to Incline our minds Towards the Lord Yes But the Bhagavad Gita Also says that Mind is Too hard To control Yes And our mind Is also too hard To control Towards the Feet of the Lord So What can actually Be done Correct Good question That is why I was quoting Shloka Shloka Shloka Shloka Shloka Shloka Shloka Shloka Shloka Shloka Shloka Shloka Twofold is We Try to Give spiritual Stimulus Spiritual inputs To all the senses Like say When we come to Temple Then We close our eyes We can see We can take Prasad We can hear The Kirtan of the Lord So we use Spiritual inputs That is why The mind cannot Go elsewhere Very easily Because from all the Senses the Spiritual input Has come That is why When we chant the Hare Krishna Mahamant also chanted aloud.
Not in the mind. In the mind, the mind may wander. But when you chant aloud, in both the tongue and the ear, two of the senses, the input is coming spiritually.
It’s easier for the mind to concentrate. Well, that’s with respect to senses. And along with the senses also, there’s something more important.
That there above the mind is the intelligence. Just like in college also saying, the mind is wandering. But then if you understand the studies that are important, we bring the mind back and concentrate on the study.
So like that we discuss the philosophy. So when we have to do brain shopping, there are rituals and there is philosophy. So the rituals give us spiritual inputs to the senses.
But then the philosophy gives us conviction so that we can drag the mind where it blinds us. That means we attack the mind from above and from below. From below, we give spiritual inputs to the senses.
And from above, through the philosophy, we convince the mind. So the mind is like a child. Child will always be restless.
But then the intelligence should be like a mother. Child goes here, mother gently but firmly brings the child back and makes him do the studies. So for that, our intelligence needs to be strong.
And that strength of the intelligence comes by philosophical study. That’s why in the morning programme, like in the camp, we have both philosophy and rituals. And both these together, this double attack from above and below helps to control the mind.
But we can have the camps for 2 days and 6 months. So for the rest of the time. Yes, for the rest of the time also, we chant the Hare Krishna Mahavantra and there are books of Srila Prabhupada which we can read.
There are cassettes and audio tapes which we can hear. So this double attack can go on continuously. We can try to offer the food that we take and we can take some cute turns.
So we can try to give as spiritual inputs as possible to our senses. And actually philosophy is there always with us. We can keep reading the books.