Bhakti Yoga Techniques
Public Lecture Part II delivered
in Kouvola, Finland, 22 April 2005
(Second half of a public lecture series beginning with “Eternal
Wisdom”, given the previous evening)
manusyanam
sahasresu
kascid yatati siddhaye
yatatam api siddhanam
kascin mamabetti tattvatah
“Out of
thousands among men, one will endeavor for perfection; and out of a
thousand who endeavor for perfection, hardly one knows me in truth.”
[BG 7.3]
We see
the truth of this here in Kouvola – that out of the huge population,
we had one small auditorium here last night. And out of this small
auditorium, now we have four people. This is predicted in the
Bhagavad-gita. So consider yourself very, very fortunate to
have come to this stage of interest in Krishna consciousness.
Krishna consciousness means to come out of illusion. It means to
come out of all suffering conditions of life. It means to enter
into a state of consciousness which is eternal, full of bliss, and
full of knowledge. We promised last night that we would give you
some practical tips on how to realize that enlightened state of
consciousness. And we will keep our word to you.
Krishna
consciousness means practical activity. Krishna explains in the
Bhagavad-gita,
yat karosi yad asnasi
yaj juhosi dadasi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
tat kurusva mad-arpanam
“Whatever
you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, as well
as whatever austerities you may perform – do that, O son of Kunti,
as an offering unto Me.” [BG 9.27]
We were
speaking last night about being in harmony with the Supreme. The
key to harmonizing with the Supreme is to act in love and devotion,
because the Supreme is a person. Let’s say you’re married to
someone: how do you act in harmony with that person? You act for
that person’s pleasure and satisfaction. That’s what it means to be
in a state of harmony with a person. Thus similarly with God, the
Supreme Person: if we can do everything for the pleasure of that
Supreme Person, then we will be in a state of perfect harmony. In
this world we have a very good example of someone who acts in the
harmonious way: a mother with a small child. A mother does
everything for her child. She doesn’t even think about herself; she
just does everything for the child. This is the topmost example in
this world of love of God - the love of a mother. So this is how we
have to think in our relationship with God. We have to let every
thought that goes through our minds be pleasing to the Lord; let
every word that comes out of our mouths be pleasing to the Lord; and
let every activity that we perform with our bodies be pleasing to
the Lord. This art is known as bhakti-yoga.
In
English we have the word “yoke;” this is derived from the Sanskrit
word yoga. Yoga means “that which links you with the
Supreme.” There are many different types of yogas. There’s
hatha-yoga; there’s jnana-yoga; there’s astanga-yoga,
there’s dhyana-yoga . . . there are so many different types
of yogas. These are all different methods of how to link
with the Supreme. Of course, nowadays people think that yoga
is some method of reducing bodily fat. There are so many yoga
studios. But that is not the real purpose of yoga. The real
purpose of yoga is to link with the Supreme. The yoga
system is compared to a ladder, and there are many rungs on that
ladder. Hatha yoga, jnana yoga . . . in this way, different
yogas, all the way to the top rung. When you come to the top
rung, that is called bhakti-yoga.
So
if you have nothing else to do with your life – you don’t have to
worry about going to school, you don’t have to worry about earning a
living, you have no duties or responsibilities – then you can do so
many different yogas; and gradually, gradually, through many
different lifetimes, you can progress up the yoga ladder.
But if you find that you’re very busy - that you have so many family
responsibilities; or you’re a student with so many academic
responsibilities; or you’re working a job and have so many
occupational responsibilities – if you find yourself very busy, then
I recommend that you take directly to bhakti-yoga. It’s just
like if you want to go to the top of a building, you can go up the
stairwell or you can get on the elevator. Now, if the building has
only two or three floors, then it’s not a big deal. But if the
building has one hundred floors, then you should get on the elevator
- otherwise, by time you get to your appointment on the hundredth
floor it will be after 5 pm, and the office will be closed, and you
won’t make your appointment in time. So the intelligent person
takes the elevator. We have come all the way from America to teach
you how to get on the elevator.
Here’s
the easy way: We have what is called japa mala. These are
sacred chanting beads from India. I request all of you tonight to
purchase one set. We’re not doing this to make money; we’re only
covering our cost of bringing it from India. I advise everyone to
get one set of japa mala; and then take it home.
This is
how you chant with japa mala: Hold it between the thumb and
the second finger of the right hand. You don’t chant with this
finger [index finger], but with this finger [middle finger], like
this - you chant on each bead. You chant:
Hare
Krishna, Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama
Rama Rama, Hare Hare
Then you
move to the next bead and do it again:
Hare
Krishna, Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama
Rama Rama, Hare Hare
This is
all done inside your bead bag, which keeps the beads your beads
sacred – it keeps them from getting dirty or banged around. So you
do this inside your bead bag (the bead bags are also here).
Hare
Krishna, Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama
Rama Rama, Hare Hare
So then
you come all the way around to here - you finally come to the end
bead . . . There’s a big bead on the end; you do not chant on this.
You just chant on the other beads.
When you
go one time around the beads, it’s called one “round” . . . So those
who have formally taken the vow of initiation into this chanting
will chant at least 16 times around the beads every day. That means
they will meditate on the Holy Names of Krishna one and a half to
two hours every day. When you begin, you may chant whatever you can
comfortably chant – one time around, two times around, four times
around – and then gradually you’ll build up the strength to chant 16
times around. You become used to it. So if you will chant
regularly on these beads, and if you will read these books – study
our literatures, spend some time every day reading our literatures -
then you will find that you are actually making spiritual progress
every day in your life. You will find that within your heart you
will be getting many lights of spiritual realization. In our
present state of consciousness we are in the darkness of ignorance.
But the more you chant Hare Krishna and the more you read these
books, you will get so many lights within your heart. And
gradually, gradually all of the darkness will go away, all the
illusion will go away, all the anxiety will go away. So this is our
natural process.
To avoid
activities which inhibit our progress, we follow certain principles
also. To purify our consciousness we follow certain principles to
help us fix our minds on Krishna’s name. We follow a simple
vegetarian diet and we offer our food to Lord Krishna before we eat
it. We limit our sexual activities to procreational purposes rather
than recreational purposes. We have no need for taking liquor or
marijuana because the Holy Name, the Hare Krishna mantra, gets us
intoxicated: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna / Krishna Krishna, Hare
Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama / Rama Rama, Hare Hare. And we
don’t foolishly throw our money away on gambling. People are amazed
at how we can give up these activities; but actually we find that
these activities bring us down from the high state of spiritual
consciousness we enter by chanting Hare Krishna. In other words,
we’re getting so much pleasure from chanting Hare Krishna! Anything
that takes away from the sweet pleasure of relishing the Holy Names
of Lord Krishna we want to give up, because it’s a negative thing -
it doesn’t give us happiness.
People
sometimes wonder, how can you just keep going on, every day, saying
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, day in and day out? I’ve been chanting
Hare Krishna since 1971, on the same set of beads! Srila Prabhupada
chanted on these beads and then mailed them to me in 1971 . . . Do I
look I’m tired of chanting Hare Krishna? Do I look like I’m
enjoying this Hare Krishna chanting? This chanting is sweet.
You many wonder how you could chant this same thing for 34 years –
every day, for two hours! – and not get tired of it. I can tell you
the reason why. It’s because deep within the heart of every living
being is an ocean of unlimited happiness. You have a huge,
unlimited ocean of transcendental pleasure right there within you.
It’s simply covered right now. This chanting Hare Krishna is like a
pipe: it’s like drilling a pipe through the desert of the heart,
down to that reservoir of unlimited pleasure; it’s like boring a
hole down deep into that reservoir and pumping out that nectar from
within. Just imagine if you were suffering in poverty, if you were
in a horrible state of poverty, and then you found out that you had
one billion euros worth of gold coins buried in your backyard. Just
imagine that I told you exactly where to dig to find those one
billion euros of gold coin and that I gave you the proper shovel,
which could easily dig through the earth. Do you know what that
shovel is?
Hare
Krishna, Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama
Rama Rama, Hare Hare
If you
will take this Hare Krishna mantra and chant it faithfully every
single day – the morning is the best time; you get up early and you
take your bath, then you sit down and meditate on Krishna’s names,
first thing – then I guarantee you will become the wealthiest person
in all of Finland. Why only Finland - you will be the wealthiest
person in the universe! – if every day you will chant Hare
Krishna, Hare Krishna / Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare
Rama / Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
So we
give you, in a nutshell, the process of bhakti-yoga. You
chant the Hare Krishna mantra; you give up activities which
distract your mind away from God; you hear from bona fide spiritual
master and the bona fide Vaisnava devotees of the Lord who will
guide you in this scientific system of self-realization. And the
result will be that you will achieve a state of unlimited bliss.
You may
say, oh, Sankarshan das Adhikari is simply hyping us into chanting
Hare Krishna. But I’m not bringing my words here tonight. I have
simply come here as a messenger on behalf of Lord Krishna. I am
delivering to you the words of Krishna. Krishna guarantees in the
Bhagavad-gita that if you take up this Krishna consciousness/bhakti-yoga
system, that is will be simply recreation. He guarantees susukam.
You will not be able to find anything whatsoever troublesome about
this process – it is simply recreation. That is the Lord’s
description. Do you think God is a liar? An ordinary person may
try to lie to make some money – like a businessman; he will lie. He
will say, “For you, no profit.” An ordinary person may have to lie;
but God doesn’t have to lie because he’s all-powerful. Therefore
the words given in the Bhagavad-gita are true words; they are
not make-believe words. When Krishna says, “it is simply
recreation” - susukam – we can understand that it is a fact.
And if
you’re skeptical, we can understand that. This is the age of
skepticism. Just like today, one of the prabhus took me to
speak at one college where the teacher was simply full of
skepticism. Everyone doubts everything. So even if you are feeling
some doubt, we can understand that . . . But here is my request to
you: Seriously try this chanting of Hare Krishna for six months. I
simply ask you to try this process of Krishna consciousness for six
months. If you do not find that you have become the happiest person
you have ever known – and I go on record tonight - this is being
taped – if you do not find that you are the happiest person you
could ever imagine you could ever be, after chanting Hare Krishna
and following these simple principles for six months, I will give
you ten thousand euros cash. So even if you are skeptical, you have
nothing to lose. Either you will become the happiest person you
could ever be, or you will be ten thousand euros richer. You can’t
lose!
Does
anyone have any questions?
Q1 – I am
practicing Transcendental Meditation. Are there any of the same
elements in this bhakti-yoga, in order to get to a level of
consciousness that is more purified?
A1 –
There are some similarities between that Transcendental Meditation
and Krishna consciousness. One of major differences is that we are
not charging any money for the mantra. If you have a mantra
that will actually deliver a person from all anxiety you should
freely give it to the whole world. Why charge money so that only
some people can have it and others cannot? Why cannot all people be
happy? They are teaching you to chant the mantra for 20-30 minutes,
twice a day. But Krishna actually instructs satatam kirtayanto
mam [BG 9.14] – that actually 24 hours a day you should be
absorbed in this consciousness. So you may sit down and be absorbed
in the mantra for 20 minutes, twice a day. But we are teaching you
how to actually be absorbed 24 hours a day in the mantra,
because not only do we chant on the beads for 1 ½ - 2 hours a day,
but we learn how to turn every thought that goes through our mind,
24 hours a day, into a meditation. Every word that comes out of
your mouth is a meditation, and every activity you perform with your
body, 24 hours a day, is also a meditation. So in the
Transcendental Meditation method they give some idea about chanting
a mantra and transcending, and that’s very nice concept; but
we teach you how to be absorbed in a state of transcendental
meditation 24 hours a day. So if you think that transcendental
meditation is a very nice thing, then we will teach you how to
perfect the art of transcendental meditation.
Q2 –Why
does the chanting bring pleasure?
A2 – The
chanting brings us pleasure because it resituates us in our
original, spiritual nature. It’s just like a fish is naturally
happy when he is in the water: if the fish is on the land, no matter
what facility you may give him on the land, he will not be happy.
So in this material world we are like fish out of water. No matter
how much nice facility we may have in this world, we are never
happy. What do you think: am I right or wrong? You agree, I am
right? Of course, all the devotees also agree – otherwise they
wouldn’t be devotees. So yes, we all agree then - that this
material world is like being a fish out water, and there’s no amount
of material facility that can make us happy here, because this is
not our natural environment. So the chanting makes us happy,
because the chanting resituates the spiritual being back in his or
her original, spiritual nature. It’s just like taking the fish and
tossing him back in the water. That little fish is immediately
happy like anything, swimming here and there. So yes, chanting
naturally makes us happy.
Do you
have any more questions?
If you
have no more questions, then let me inform you of my special
policy. You might not like my policy. My policy is this: if you do
not ask me questions, then I will ask you questions. It is much
more difficult to be the one who is asked the question than the one
who asks the questions. So if you don’t feel like being, as we say
in English, “picked on” – by being asked what could be very pointed
questions, in front of everyone in this room – then you would be
intelligent to ask me some questions.
Q3 –Would
you please tell us who Krishna is?
A3 – Aah
. . . this is the most wonderful of all questions. I am so happy
you have asked this question.
Who is
Krishna? Krishna is called Bhagavan – this means “the
Supreme Personality of Godhead.” Krishna is the original source
from which everything is coming. In the Bible He is called “God.”
He is that original, supreme Person, and he is all-attractive.
All of
the qualities in this world which attract us are found in Krishna to
an unlimited degree. What are the qualities that attract us? The
first quality that attracts us is power. If someone is very
powerful, then everyone wants to see [him]. Consider, who is
powerful in this world? George Bush. You might not like him, but
he is powerful. If George Bush were walking down the street in
Kouvola, everyone would be looking – “Oh, there’s George Bush; he
has come to Kouvola.” Another quality that attracts us is beauty.
If Miss Universe were to walk into the room, all eyes would see –
especially all the men would want to see – “Oh, Miss Universe has
come; let us see that woman who has been voted the most beautiful
woman in the universe; let us see what is her beauty.” Another
quality that attracts us is renunciation. Just like Mother Teresa -
she was a very, very renounced lady. Because of her being so
renounced she became dear to the whole world. Another quality that
attracts us in knowledge. If Albert Einstein were to come to
Kouvola, everyone would like to go hear Albert Einstein . . . Or if
someone is very wealthy – like if Bill Gates were to come to town,
everyone would want to see: “Oh, Bill Gates is here.” If even you
don’t have any other quality – beauty, knowledge, wealth,
renunciation – if you can somehow become famous, then you’ll also
become very attractive. Just like the Beatles – from out of
nowhere, they became famous, and everybody was interested to see:
“Oh, the Beatles are coming.” So these are the qualities that
attract us: power, beauty, renunciation, knowledge, wealth, and
fame.
If you
study all the personalities in history - if you study all the
personalities that ever existed throughout the entire universe in
all of history - you will see that nobody equals or excels Krishna
in power, beauty, renunciation, knowledge, wealth or fame.
Therefore Krishna is all-attractive. Every feature that attracts us
exists in Krishna in full, beyond what anyone else possesses. Srila
Prabhupada explains that actually God has no name – because He has
so many millions and billions of names, you can’t say that He has
any one name. But, as Prabhupada explains, if there is any one name
which should be given to God, that name is Krishna, because He is
all-attractive.
Lord Sri
Krishna is residing forever in His spiritual abode. He never
becomes an old man with a beard. He always stays as a fresh youth –
a sixteen-year-old boy. He always wears a beautiful peacock feather
in His hair. And he plays the flute so beautifully that it attracts
everyone to hear His beautiful flute music. From time to time He
comes to this universe to bless us with His association. Five
thousand years ago He appeared in India in a place called
Vrindavana. And that place is still celebrated even today as the
most holy of all pilgrimage places. Last night we saw some slides
of Vrindavana. This is why India is such a holy place – because
whenever Lord Krishna decides to come to this universe, He comes to
this planet Earth and he goes to that place called Vrindavana,
India, because He loves that place more than any other. Just as
might love your Kouvola, Krishna loves His Vrindavana; that is His
home here.
That very
same Krishna, who lives in the spiritual world eternally, and who
from time to time manifests on this earthly plane, is also living in
your heart right now. And if you will chant His names with love and
devotion - Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna / Krishna Krishna, Hare
Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama / Rama Rama, Hare Hare – then you
will feel His loving kindness upon you, and your dormant love for
Him will become awakened. This is the perfection of spiritual
life. It is called Krishna prema: pure love of Krishna.
So that’s
a little something about Krishna. We could go on for millions of
years telling you about Krishna because the glories of Krishna are
unlimited. Every morning we study from a book called the Srimad
Bhagavatam. It is all about Krishna. It has 18,000 verses,
and it is only the tip of the iceberg of Krishna’s unlimited
glories. Lord Brahma, the first created being in this universe, has
written beautiful, beautiful prayers describing Lord Krishna -
perfectly composed Sanskrit poetry:
isvarah
paramah krsnah
sac-cid-ananda-vigrah
anadir adir govindah
sarva-karana-karanam
In this
way he has described Krishna. He says isvarah paramah krsnah:
the supreme controller is Krishna. Sac-cid-ananda-vigrah: he
has and eternal form which is full of bliss and knowledge.
Anadir adir govindah: Krishna is anadir, which means that
He has no origin. He doesn’t come from anything anywhere else.
Adir means that Krishna is the origin of everything, and
govindah, that He is known as Lord Govinda, one who gives
pleasure to the cows. And sarva-karana-karanam means that
Krishna is the cause of all causes. So in this way Lord Brahma has
so beautifully glorified Lord Krishna:
cintamani-prakara-sadmasu kalpa vrksa
laksavrtesu surabhir abhipalayantam
laksmi-sahasra-sata-sambhrama-sevyamanam
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
In this
way Lord Brahma has written many beautiful prayers describing Lord
Sri Krishna. So if you would like to study this subject matter of
Krishna, you will find an unlimited wealth of information. You can
fill up your entire life studying what Krishna is, and you will
never feel tired. By that absorption in loving service to Krishna,
that day will come when Krishna will personally reveal Himself to
you. But He only reveals Himself to those who are fully in love
with Him. So simply try to develop your love for Krishna. That is
our request. Have you seen Krishna’s painting? On the right and
the center paintings – that’s Krishna with the cow, playing the
flute; and in the middle is Krishna with the topmost of all His
devotes, Srimati Radharani. Here’s Krishna when He was a little
baby. So simply try to develop your love for Krishna; simply try to
develop your Krishna consciousness and your life will be sublime.
Are there
any other questions? . . .
We’ll
stop our formal presentation at this time. You can meet
individually with any of the devotees; if anyone wants to meet with
me also, I’m available.
We thank
you all very much for coming tonight. We have come together by
Krishna’s arrangement; let us always remain together by chanting
Hare
Krishna, Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama
Rama Rama, Hare Hare
Thank you
very much.
__________________________________________
Transcribed by Her Grace Labangalatika devi dasi
