WATCH THOSE THOUGHTS OF THE MIND
svapne yathä paçyati deham édåçaà
manorathenäbhiniviñöa-cetanaù
dåñöa-çrutäbhyäà manasänucintayan
prapadyate tat kim api hy apasmåtiù
(SB 10.1.41)
Translation :
Having experienced the situation by seeing or hearing about it, one contemplates and speculates about that situation, and thus one surrenders unto it, not considering his present body. Similarly by mental adjustments, one dreams at night of living under different circumstances in different bodies, and forgets his actual position. Under the same process, one gives up his present body and accepts another. Tatha dehantar praptir.
Yato yato dhavati………..
At the time of death, according to the thinking, feeling and willing of the mind which is involved in fruitive activities, one receives a particular body. In Other words, the body develops according to the activities of the mind. Changes in the body are due to the flickering of the mind. But otherwise, soul could remain in its original spiritual body.
Purport:
One can very easily understand that the mind is constantly flickering, changing the quality of its thinking, feeling and willing. This is explained by Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita.,
chanchalam hi mahnah krsna ……
The mind is chanchala, flickering, and it changes very strongly. Therefore Arjuna admitted that controlling the mind is not at all possible. This would be as difficult as controlling the wind. For example, if one were in a boat moving according to the wind in a river or in a sea and the wind were uncontrollable, tilting boat would be very much disturbed and extremely difficult to control. It might be even capsized. Therefore in the bhava samudra, the ocean of mental speculation and transmigration to different types of bodies, one must first control the mind. By regulative practice, one can control the mind, and this is the purpose of the yoga system.
abhyas yoga yuktena……..
But there is a chance of failure in the yoga system, especially in this age of Kali. Because the yoga system is the artificial means. If the mind is engaged in the bhakti yoga however, by the grace of Krishna, one can very easily control it. Therefore, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has recommended, Harer nama Harer nama Harer nama eva kevalam. One should chant the holy name of the Lord constantly, for the holy name of the Lord is non different from Hari, the supreme person. By chanting the Hare Krishna mahamantra constantly, one can fix the mind on the lotus feet of Krishna. Sa vai mana Krishna padarvindayo…….. and in this way achieve the perfection of yoga. Otherwise the flickering mind will hover on the platform of mental speculation and sense enjoyment, and one will have to transmigrate from one body to another, because the mind is trained only in relation to the material elements, in another words to sense gratification.
Maya sukahya bharam udvahato vimudhan. Rascals being controlled by mental speculation make huge arrangements by which to enjoy life temporarily. But they must give up the body at the time of death, when everything is taken away by Krishna’s external energy, mrytur sarvar haras ca ham. At that time, whatever one has created in his life is lost. One must automatically accept a new body by the force of material nature. In this life, one may have constructed a very tall skyscraper. But in the next life because of one’s mentality, one may have to accept the body like that of a cat or a dog or tree or perhaps a demigod. Thus the body is offered by the laws of material nature. Karanam guna sango sah , sad asad yoni janmasu… The spirit soul takes birth in higher and lower species of life only because of its association with the three qualities of material nature.
When the luminaries in the sky such as the moon, the sun, the stars are reflected in liquids like oil and water, they appear to be of different shapes, sometimes round, sometimes long and so on, because of the movements of the wind. Similarly when the living entity, the soul is absorbed in the material thoughts, he accepts various manifestations as his own identity because of ignorance. In other words, one is bewildered by mental concoctions because of agitation from the material modes of nature. Therefore since envious impious activities cause a body in which one suffers in the next life, why should one act impiously? Considering one’s welfare, one should not envy anyone, for an envious person must always fear harm from his enemies, either in this life, or the next.
Similarities Between Two Narration :
This morning we are reading the continuation of the instructions of Vasudeva to Kamsa, as they have just departed the holy city of Mathura. They are seated on the bridal chariot of Devaki and Vasudeva. This is very interesting. The Bhagavad Gita is spoken on a chariot in a battlefield where there is about to be bloodshed and violence. And similarly these most sacred teachings of Vasudeva to Kamsa are being spoken in a holy place. Krishna spoke in the holy place of Kurukshetra. Vasudeva is speaking in the holy place of Mathura. They are again seated on a chariot, and there is about to be bloodshed and violence. So this is obviously a very auspicious environment for transcendental knowledge to be spoken. Off course, the difference is the difference between Kamsa and Arjuna, Vasudeva is representing Krishna, He is acting in the capacity of guru. And factually what we hear Vasudeva speaking in these verses today is exactly identical to what Krishna spoke to Arjuna on his chariot in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. He is explaining first of all that we are not these material bodies, that we are the eternal soul, and that soul is part of God, and therefore one should act according to dharma, according to the will of God.
Inner Differences In Two Scenes :
Of course Vasudeva is not explaining in such high detail, and is not going so far, but the basic fundamental principles that Krishna speaks in the beginning of gita, practically, exactly Vasudeva is speaking to Kamsa. Arjuna was on the verge of fighting a war where he would have to kill hundreds and thousands. He did not want to fight. Krishna had to convince him to kill. Kamsa was also sitting on a chariot, but the difference is that he wanted to kill, and Vasudeva was trying to convince him to not to do so. The difference between Kamsa and Arjuna was that Arjuna humbled himself to hear before his guru. And Kamsa was too much infatuated by false pride. So therefore he could not really hear the words of Vasudeva. Superficially he heard it.
Affect Depends On Our Receptivity :
This is very important. Although two people may be sitting in the exactly same place and hearing the same message, and the sound vibration is ultimately purifying for anyone who hears it, according to our receptivity, that is how it will affect our hearts. The holy name is the same thing. When we chant HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE, two people are chanting the same vibration in the same temple room perhaps, for the same amount of time, but someone appears to simply remain the same and someone’s life is completely transformed, Why is this? According to the condition of the field in our heart, this is how the seed of transcendental knowledge and transcendental love will grow.
Devotee Is A Gardener :
Spiritual life, Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has explained is like taking the occupation of a gardener. You have a field, you plant the seeds, you protect the seeds, you water the seeds, and naturally the flowers will grow. The gardener cannot force the flower to grow. The gardener has no power to make the flower grow. The flower grows simply by the arrangement of God, which is utterly inconceivable, how it is being done. A little tiny seed, and it is growing into a big big tree with fruits. Even the scientists, they have no idea how it’s happening. It’s by the inconceivable miracle of God, that it’s growing. And the gardener simply has to create the proper environment for God’s miracle to take place. Creating a fertile field in our heart, where the seed of love can grow, by the miraculous mercy of Krishna. The gardener’s duty, he cannot make the seed grow, but he can make the field very soft, very fertile.
Ploughing To Soften The Field :
Arjuna, sometimes you know, to make the field soft, you have to plow it. In America, they use big expensive machines, tractors, and there is metal like swords that just dig into the ground and rip it, rip it, rip it, rip it, turn it, to make it soft. Here in India, most people uses oxes, bullocks, the ox and the plow. The oxes are pulling and the plow is ripping the ground. And it’s ripping, to make the ground very soft and pliable. So in the same way, sometimes Krishna by his causeless mercy, He plows our hearts by putting us through all sorts of difficult situations, just to make it humble and soft. It doesn’t feel very good, but if we welcome it and accept it, then when the spiritual master plants the seed of love in your heart, it will grow and it will flourish.
You Cannot Teach To Someone Who Already Knows :
As long as Arjuna was proud, as long as Arjuna thought I know what is to be done what is not to be done, Krishna did not even bother planting the seed of knowledge in his heart. Because his heart was hard like a stone due to false pride.
We find in the first chapter of Bhagavad Gita, Krishna is lodging so many comp……….. I mean Arjuna is lodging so many complaints, giving so many excuses, as if one who knows. I will not fight this war, after all, how could I enjoy the kingdom, if it is stained by the blood of those whom I love? And besides that, ya, now, noble honorable people like Bhisma and Dronacarya, if they are killed, it would be a great disgrace. And besides that, if this war is fought, there would be so many hundreds of thousands, lacs of people dead, and their wives would become widows. And when a woman is unprotected, unscrupulous men would exploit them, and then there would be unwanted population, varna-sankara. And through unwanted population, the children would not be brought up according to the Vedic regulations, there will be no sacrifice. People would simply live abominable materialistic life and the whole society would go to hell, therefore Krishna I will not fight.
So Krishna remained silent. What to say to a person like this? He already knows. You cannot be…you cannot teach a person who knows. You can only teach a person who admits that he doesn’t know. The worst condition is when someone thinks they know, but they do not.
Krsna’s Grace Is Must :
But by Krishna’s grace, through his own mind, Arjuna’s, his mind became like a plow which just became so much confused that, it just began ripping his heart apart and soon he was weeping tears. He dropped his bow, his limbs were trembling, his complexion became white, his mouth became partched, his hairs were standing on end, he didn’t know what is to be done, what’s not to be done, what is right, what is wrong. Then he turned to Krishna.
Karpanya dosho pahrat svabhava, that Krishna, I do not know what to do. I’m confused about my duty.
Shishyasteham shadhimaam tvam prapannam. Now you are my guru. Whatever you say I accept. Please instruct me.
Two, Chariots Scene – Similarity and Difference :
So Krishna sitting on a chariot, in an atmosphere where immediate violence is about to take place, he instructed Arjuna. He planted the seed of love of God in his heart, the seed of transcendental knowledge, and how it grew. And how Arjuna became the eternally glorious associate, pure devotee of the Lord. But what is happening here in Mathura? Kamsa is also sitting on a chariot, in a holy place. Violence is about to take place. It’s the same setting, practically identical. And another thing, what was Arjuna’s worry? That he has to kill his relatives. How many parallels are there? Arjuna was thinking, I have to kill my cousins. Kamsa was about to kill his cousin. Devaki was his cousin sister. But because Kamsa was too much infatuated by false pride and prestige, although Vasudeva spoke transcendental knowledge, love of God, he could not hear it. He was not convinced as we will see in the future verses, by the philosophy of Vasudeva. But when Vasudeva made a deal with him, then he accepted.
Same Thing Different Vision :
So in this way, Vasudeva was explaining to Kamsa the nature of the mind. How the mind is virtually one’s worst and only enemy. And how everything in this world according to our perspective, that is how we see reality. To understand what is the truth is far beyond anyone’s comprehension. Everyone simply wants to see this world according to our consciousness. Srila Prabhupada used to say that if you look through yellow colored glasses everything will look yellow. If you look through green colored glasses everything will look green. According to the covering over your vision, everything is tinged by that. So according to how our mind is tainted by three modes of material nature, satva guna, rajo guna, tamo guna, we will see everything in this world.
No two people see the same thing the same way. One person comes to this temple, and they see Sri Sri Radha Gopinath and poor unfortunate soul may think, “What is this? They are worshiping stone idols? And he’ll leave, thinking this isn’t for me. And another person will come in, and will think, “What is this? Beautiful statues, so nicely decorated. I’m enjoying seeing them. And another person will come in and see, “haan, this is the worshipable Lord and His eternal consort, Radha and Krsna, let me bow down, let me serve them, let me purify our hearts and let me become Their pure devotee.” And a pure devotee comes in, and meets Krishna directly, and Srimati Radharani. He could actually speak to Them , hear Him playing His flute, and his heart is filled with ecstatic love and joy upon seeing this beautiful form.
Difference Is due To Our Consciousness/ Mind/ Hearts :
Now the components of eyes of all these four class of people are exactly the same, and what they are looking at is exactly the same. But there is one thing different. Their hearts, their consciousness, their mind. We see the whole world around us according to our mind. It is said one man’s food is another man’s poison. In the same way, haan, everything is relative. When the devotees some time back, when they would chant the holy name in the temple, the devotees are so happy to hear the holy names first thing in the morning, they are dancing.
We have seen how the devotees, hearing the holy name makes them dance in joy. It is not like the Ball room dance, simply for some sense enjoyment, or some pleasure. But it is an expression of our joyful celebration of the coming in front of the God, first thing in the morning. But some of our neighbors, they hear the same names, the same drum, but what do they think? They think it is just a total annoyance, a disturbance. Sometimes they even call the police. The devotees, when they, when they chant the holy name, they feel the ultimate peace in their life, and these people, they press charges against us and what is the charge? Disturbing the peace. Same name.
It’s the same Krishna. For a Brahman in the mode of goodness, to sit in a holy place and read the scripture is very nice. To be working hard in the field, haan, it’s worse than death. For a sudra, working hard in the field, this is his enjoyment. This is life. To sit in a holy place and read, is boring. Better to go to sleep. So you see, according to our mind, we perceive the whole world. There is no reality outside of our own mental condition, on the relative platform.
Yoga – Focus Your Mind :
Therefore it is explained here that yoga means to purify the mind, to control the mind. And in the yoga system, there is various methods of focusing the mind, and bring it to a stable condition. After Krishna explained the yoga system to Arjuna, after He explained how one must control the mind and described the nature of the mind, in the sixth chapter. Arjuna, he said what you are telling me, I know it is true, But it’s impossible. You are telling me to sit in a secluded place, you are telling me to , to , to sit with my back erect, to focus my concentration between my eyebrows, to become celibate, to free myself from all greed, anger, lust, pride, illusion, and to still my mind. But I think what you are saying, I cannot do it. To control, to control the mind is more difficult than to control the raging wind.
Raging Wind :
And then Krishna said, Yes what you are saying is true. It is and factually Arjuna for you to control your mind is more difficult than for you to control the raging wind. When Krishna is talking about the raging wind, he doesn’t mean just an ocean breeze. He’s talking about when the wind rages. You remember what happened in Bangladesh just a few months back. There was a cyclone. What is a cyclone? It is a raging wind. And who could control such a raging wind? Even in the big big country of America, when there are tornado warnings, or hurricane warnings, they don’t even attempt to control it. They make this, they just make arrangements to evacuate the area to protect themselves, and everyone goes into the basements. Even with all their nuclear bombs and all the big military phalanxes, they know that there is no chance, there is no hope of stopping a tornado or a hurricane or a cyclone, but best you could do is run away. Aaan, Mr. George Bush, he is very very proud that I never backed down from any one, whether it is Saddam Hussain or anybody else. Our military troops are supreme and we will not turn back, turn our back to the enemy. mmm. To the enemy of men, He has become very powerful, he has never turned his back. But when Krishna sends His soldiers, when Krishna sends an earthquake, or a hurricane, or a tornado, they don’t even, they just raise their arms, they give up. Aan, just like the…. If the Russians, the Iraqis, the Iraqians were to be marching and boats and planes coming to America, they will have their missiles and their radars and their armies ready to destroy them. But when they see a hurricane coming, they know it is coming, it’s on the television, the hurricane is coming. Everyone get out. Hide in your basements. They’re helpless. This is the power of the raging wind. The wind is more powerful than all the armies and all the nuclear bombs of this world. We saw it happen in Bangladesh.
No Mechanicall Process Can Help :
And Arjuna is saying that the mind is more difficult to control than the wind. And you are asking me to do this my dear Lord? You think by some mechanical process I’ll be able to control my mind? Krishna says yes what you are saying is true. But by constant practice and detachment it can be done. And what is that constant practice and detachment? Krishna says
manmana bhava mad bhakto madyaji mam namaskuru mamevashyasi satyam te pratijano priyosi me
Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me, offer your homage to Me. In this way, you’ll come to Me without fail.
Sarvopadhi vinirmuktam…..
That the same mind and senses which is so turbulent and difficult to deal with in this world, if they are simply connected to Krishna through service, then they, then that actually itself becomes purified. So, therefore Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has extracted the essence of all Vedic knowledge to present the yuga dharma. You cannot control your mind, but Krishna has the power to control your mind. You cannot control the wind, but Krishna says, “mayyadhyakshena prakriti suyate sacharacharam”. Krishna is the controller of this entire material nature, that is working under His direction. Krishna can control the wind, and Krishna has the power to control your mind. Therefore He’s called upon by the name of Hrishikesh, the master of the mind and the senses. So simply put your mind in Krishna’s hands. Let Him take the responsibility of what you cannot do.
Krsna I Am Yours :
That is bhakti. Bhakti means to humble ourselves to the reality of our insignificant, infinitesimal position against the almighty power of maya or the illusory energy. And in this humility, with folded palms, to say Krishna, I am yours. It was Arjuna’s conclusion that Krishna, I am yours. What is impossible for me is nothing for you. I’m putting my life, my heart, my mind, my everything in your loving hands. Bhaktivinod Thakur has prayed,”MANAS DEHO GEHO JO KICHU MOR ARPILU TUVA PADE NAND KISHOR”. My mind, my body, my wealth, my house, my family, everything about me and everything that is mine, my lord, I’m offering it to you, and in reciprocation to that act or expression of love. It is described that we take one step towards Krishna, He takes ten steps towards us. And Krishna’s steps are different than ours. If you want to go to Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, you have to go one step after another. It’s probably a couple of hundreds of steps. And it’s only at the corner. But Krishna ful…….when Krishna appeared as Vamana avatar, in one step He covered half the universe and in the other step, He covered the other half. Krishna’s steps are different than ours. So therefore, how Krishna reciprocates with His devotees? MANMANA BHAVA MADBHAKTO. It is the supreme experience of love, simply accepting the reciprocation of Krishna.
“Chanting” :
And in this way Krishna who has advented in this age of Kali within His name, he reciprocates with us according to the mentality in which we chant His name. Therefore to follow the regulative principles – no illicit sex, no intoxication, no gambling, no meat eating is very important. Why? Because these activities put us in in the spirit that I am the enjoyer, I am the controller. They increase the fire of the manipulative attitude of our mind. And also besides that we must engage in seva, in service. When we engage in the activities of devotional service, it puts us in a mood of mind where we are feeling ourselves to be a humble servant, and when we chant the holy name in that frame of mind, then the seed of love will grow unrestrictedly.
It is explained that the guru plants the seed of love in our heart by his causeless mercy. And the chanting of God’s name is the perfect water that nourishes that seed of love. And living a pure life, a life in the mood of service is like tilling the field and making it very soft, properly fertilized. And if all these things could be combined in an order, the seed of prema bhakti, the seed of transcendental knowledge will grow unrestrictedly. And therefore in this age of kaliyuga as Prabhupada quotes, HARER NAMA HARER NAMA HARER NAMA EVA KEVALAM, KALOU NASTYEVA NASTYEVA NASTYEVA GATIRANYATHA, there is no process so easy and sublime, to fix our mind on Krishna, to liberate ourselves from the fluctuating, ever changing condition of our mind, than placing it at the feet of the holy name.
HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA, KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE, HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE.
Is there any questions?
Question : How to see that , you just leave it on Krishna? That consciousness is there for some moment, that time the help is coming. But sometimes due to the influence of maya, we lose that consciousness. So, how can we maintain that consciousness?
Answer : There are two ways. One is through the process of hearing, you understand what is the truth. And two is – you experience. Just like last night we were discussing two beautiful stories from the eleventh canto of Srimad Bhagvatam.
Hearing :
One was the story of the brahmana from Avanti desh, who was a very wealthy man. He was a brahmana, but he was very very wealthy, honored in society. He had tremendous wealth, property, big family. But he became very proud and hard hearted and misused people. And the government came and exploited him by taking so much property, fire burnt his home, plunderers came and steal his goods. His family members saw that the ship is sinking, let’s get out when we can. They stole whatever was left. And this brahmana had nothing. Nobody had anything to do with him. All of his so called friends, who simply so called loved him. Because how they could get some distinction and pleasure from his relationship, they wanted nothing to do with him, he was a failure. It’s bad for there image to associate with such a person.
So he was alone. He had nothing. He had no one. He was suffering, he was crying, he was just lying on the ground not knowing where to go, what to do. In that condition, he was helpless, he was hopeless, and a realization awakened in his heart. That there is only one person, I could turn to now and that is Paramatma, the Lord of my heart. And he surrendered. And he became an exalted mahatma at that moment. And he began to offer beautiful prayers in the glorification of Lord, thanking Him for taking everything away.
Submissively Hear :
Because he lost an illusory treasure which was worth nothing. But in the process he was given an eternal treasure which was priceless. So, in the scriptures we hear about it. Every morning we are listening to this transcendental knowledge. If you simply prepare your heart to really hear submissively, then that sound vibration of Krishna’s words will give you the realization. NITYO NITYANAM CHETANAS CHETANANAM EKO BAHUNAM YO VID DHATI KAMAN, that I am eternally subordinate to the supreme Lord. Therefore let me take shelter of His lotus feet. Haan?
Experience :
But if due to the pride that we simply do not want to take shelter, we do not want to surrender, we do not want to hear submissively, but we do have some desire, then through the process of transmigration of eight million four hundred thousand species, births and deaths in this world, ultimately we will come to this conclusion, that Krishna only you can save me. Hmm, there is a saying, experience is the best teacher. Have you all heard that saying before? Experience is the best teacher. But you see people, they like to take what suits them and reject what doesn’t suit them.
Don’t Be Selective, Accept As It Is :
Just like in the Vedas, every sampradaya, every particular school of yoga, they take just the section of the Vedas that suits them, and ignore everything else. Even in, America, there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of denominations of Christians and each one disagrees completely with all others. And they have same savior, same scripture. They even accuse that everyone else, except their denomination is going to heal. And they have their scriptural references to prove it. They all take just the part that makes them the best and ignore all the rest.
Learn The EasyWay, Be Intelligent :
This is the tendency, the cheating propensity of humanity. Not to see the whole thing and accept it as it is, but just to take what you like. So experience is the best teacher. You’ve all heard that. But that’s only half the lesson. The great poet who wrote it, he wrote one full line, and we are taking only half of it because we don’t like the other half. So you want to hear the whole line? Experience is the best teacher and a fool learns by no other way. That means an intelligent person hears, understands, and never has to go through the experience. Prahalad Maharaj is in the womb of his mother and he heard Narada muni. He didn’t have to go through a whole life of trying to enjoy, being kicked by maya and finally just in utter frustration saying, “Krishna, save me.” Just by hearing once from his guru, haan, this is correct he was on the road back home, back to Godhead, and instantly.
So therefore the best teacher is Krishna, and He is speaking through the scriptures. And He is speaking through the sadhus. And if we learn to hear submissively, we can learn how to fix our mind on Him. SA VAI MANA KRISHNA PADAARVINDAYO. We don’t, then we’ll get kicked and kicked and kicked and kicked and kicked until we finally say Krishna, I give up. Please save me. Haan? This is wisdom. Some people say, “Well, I’m not suffering. Everything is very nice”. But how long will it last? What do you think? Either in this life or at death, it will be taken away. And the nicer things are now and when it’s taken away, the harder the kick will be to our heart. Therefore we should hear submissively, and we should act upon what we hear. And then the realization takes place.
Any other question?
Question : ………. I see there is so much pain and suffering after we come to K.C, because the same thing which we used to do before without any pain is now the cause for suffering……
Answer :
Don’t Step On Two Boats :
You are not speaking of someone who is not Krishna conscious, You are speaking of someone who has one foot on one boat and the other foot on other boat. And can’t make up his mind or her mind, which boat to be on. And they are both going in two directions, and you are being torn apart in two. aan? That is the pain. You have to decide…………. You have to see. The problem is this. Just like, the example I was giving yesterday in class by Vasudev to Kamsa, that just as a man walks, he places. He picks up the back foot and puts the foot in front of him. Then he must lift up the other foot and put it in front of him. You do this every time you walk. That is how you get to a destination.
Be Detach :
But what happens if you want to go forward, but you are very attached to where your back foot is , and you are not willing to pick it up. Haan? What if you are going from one boat to another, because you really want to get on to the second boat. You know it’s a better boat, you know that this boat is about to sink. So you put one foot. But then the back foot, you think, “I’ve been on this boat for so long. I just can’t imagine taking my foot off it. Then what happens? You are neither here nor there. In spiritual life, you have to detach yourself from what is not Krishna conscious. You have to detach yourself from sinful activities. You have to detach yourself from materialistic association. And if you are not willing to do that, then you are in that predicament.
Sinful Past / Habbits Vs Krsna :
And the materialistic side view, the sinful side view is pulling in one direction, and Krishna is pulling in the other.
And you have one foot on both. What’s going to happen? You’ll be torn to pieces. Our heart is in that situation. We want, our heart wants Krishna, but is not willing to let go of the sinful materialistic ways of our past. And Krishna is pulling our heart in one direction, and material energy is pulling our heart in other direction. And what happens? Our heart is being torn apart. That’s painful. Isn’t it? It’s less painful to remain a materialistic. At least immediately. But the greatest ultimate joy is to give our whole heart to Krishna. That is Krishna Consciousness. And when you give your whole heart to Krishna, nothing can disturb you anymore.
Avanti Brahman :
This brahmana from Avanti desha I was telling you about, You know what happened to him? I told you how he lost everything, and in that condition he just had no one else to turn to, except Krishna. He turned to Him, he surrendered, he became a pure devotee. He took sanyaasa. And just in full dependence, in love of the Lord, just to maintain himself, he would sometimes beg. But the people of society, they knew who he was. This is very very instructive. They knew who he was, they were identifying him with who he was. They couldn’t accept him for who, for what he is. They wanted him to be like the person they knew, not like the person who he is. Therefore they hated him. Everything he stood for, because they were such enjoyers of materialistic life, it was, it was a threat to them.
Therefore you know what they did to him? It’s described in the Bhagvatam. Krishna is telling this story to Uddhava. They would throw rocks and stones at him, till he was bloody. They would, they would blaspheme him with the harshest, cruelest words possible. They were calling him a lazy parasite, a beggar, a useless liability to society. He would beg for food, he would sit there, when he would be about to eat, people would pass urine in his begging bowl. They would throw stool on him, just to insult him. Sometimes they would tie him with chains and treat him like an animal. In this way he was a constant object of ridicule and disgrace.
If You Give Your Heart to Krsna :
But what was in his heart? He was very happy, because he had given his heart to Krishna. If he wouldn’t have given his heart to Krsna, but if his heart was still with these people, he would have Died, because of pain and suffering. But because he gave his heart to Krishna, he was in bliss. He was thanking Krishna for everything that was going on. Krishna, you are so kind, you are so merciful. What I’ve done in the past, all my material ways, I deserve millions of times worse. You are just giving me a little, just to keep my attention more focused on you and you alone. Let them say what they want, let them do what they want. I know I’m pleasing you. In this way he showed how one can be completely in the blissful state of internal contemplation on Krishna. That is Krishna Consciousness.
Any other question? Yes.
Question : When you are very far away from the association of devotees, like when we are far away, we don’t get any association of devotees and sometimes the occasion comes that we have to take very important decision in our life. How do you, when you turn sincerely inwards to Lord in the heart and ask him, how do you know it’s him or your own hidden self?
Answer :
Krsna Is In Your Heart : Be Sincere And Honest :
First of all, be honest. Are you really so far from the association of devotees that you cannot go a little out of your way to take part in that sadhu sanga? Hmm? The nature of the mind is to take the easy way. Oh, it’s too far, oh, it’s too early in the morning. Haan? But Krishna is in your heart, and He knows what you can do, and He knows the intensity and the determination of your desire. And if you are determined, it is said when there is a will there is a way. Haan? Ninety percent of people who say there is just no access to the association of devotees , it’s because they are simply lazy. It might be hard, it might be out of the way.
It Might Be Hard But not Impossible :
But my God, just to maintain your family, how many hard things, that are out of the way that you do, you don’t even consider, whether you have to do them or not. It’s your duty. But when it comes to something spiritual, Oh, it’s not being given to me on a sober plater, it’s not completely in harmony with everything that I’m, that I’ve arranged in my life. Therefore it’s out of the way. It’s impossible. Haan? When it comes to food for your table at home, you are willing to go anywhere and do anything. If your boss orders you, your employer tells you, you have to shift here, you have to shift there, you have to do this, you do it.
Krsna Comes As Guru, Sadhu, Sastra :
Even if it’s impossible, you have to try. So most of these excuses are justifications for the lazy mind. So, first of all be honest, and see is it true? It’s out of the way, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Make your priorities. But if it is really difficult, and you just cannot do it, according to time and circumstance, what you have gained, the information you have gained, in the association of sadhus is still within your heart. And the books are still there. And the remembrance of the previous instructions is still there. You have to turn to them and make a reference. Haan? Because you should understand that the paramatma, the supersoul in your heart is there to direct you. But in the conditioned state, he instructs you through the instructions of the sadhus, and the instructions of the scripture and the guru. Hmm? And we have to pray with our honest heart, and on the basis of what we have heard from them, we make our decision. And if we are sincere, Krishna will reveal His will through that process. Hmm?
Any other questions?
I thank you very much.
