Lecture:  Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.16

Birmingham, Alabama - 7 February 2005
 

SDA: 

om namo bhagavate vasudevaya

om namo bhagavate vasudevaya

om namo bhagavate vasudevaya

Srimad-Bhagavatam, first canto, chapter 2, text number 16.

susrusoh sraddadhanasya
vasudeva-katha-rucih
syan mahat-sevaya viprah
punya-tirtha-nisevanat

Translation,  O twice-born sages, by serving those devotees who are completely freed from all vice, great service is done. By such service, one gains affinity for hearing the messages of Vasudeva.

Purport by His Divine Grace, Srila Prabhupada:

The conditioned life of a living being is caused by his revolting against the Lord.

So, that’s why we’re all here, did you know that?  Each one of us revolted against God.  We became so envious and so crazy, so proud that we revolted against Krishna.  We rebelled.  We’re rebels.  We revolted against the Lord, so that’s why we’re here.

 There are men called deva, or godly living beings, and there are men called asuras, or demons, who are against the authority of the Supreme Lord. In the Bhagavad-gita (Sixteenth Chapter) a vivid description of the asuras is given in which it is said that the asuras are put into lower and lower states of ignorance life after life and so sink to the lower animal forms and have no information of the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead. These asuras are gradually rectified to God consciousness by the mercy of the Lord's liberated servitors in different countries according to the supreme will. Such devotees of God are very confidential associates of the Lord, and when they come to save human society from the dangers of godlessness, they are known as the powerful incarnations of the Lord, as sons of the Lord, as servants of the Lord or as associates of the Lord. But none of them falsely claim to be God themselves. This is a blasphemy declared by the asuras, and the demoniac followers of such asuras also accept pretenders as God or His incarnation.

This is not some story book.  It’s a fact.  There’s a famous person in India, I won’t name him, but he has a big asrama, the big government leaders come to him and bow down at his feet.  He has followers all over the world. They declare that he is God.  They worship him as God.  This so-called guru is actually a demon.  His followers are also demons.  If you follow a demon, you become a demon.  Whatever you follow, that’s what you become like.  If you’re following a demon, you become a demon. 

In the revealed scriptures there is definite information of the incarnation of God. No one should be accepted as God or an incarnation of God unless he is confirmed by the revealed scriptures.

The last incarnation, according to the revealed scriptures is Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and the next is kalki-avatara.  We have seen some persons claiming now that they are kalki-avatara.  It is also being claimed by some Muslims that Elijah Mohammad was kalki-avatara, and that therefore all the Hindus have to follow Mohammad; otherwise they are not proper Hindus.   There’s one thing wrong with this idea.  Kalki-avatara is scheduled to come in another 427,000 years. 

Anybody who’s claiming to be an incarnation like kalki-avatara or claiming that someone else is the incarnation of kalki-avatara is completely in the dark.  Kalki-avatara is not coming for another 427,000 years.  We were in the Laundromat.  There was a poster of Maitreya.  He was declared to be the incarnation, Kalki.  He has now appeared.  We immediately understood that this Maitreya is simply bogus, and the followers are bogus because they didn’t get their time schedule correct. 

VPM:  He has a website.

SDA:  In the United States they have an air-security system.  Every aircraft travelling within US airspace has to be scheduled and authorized.  If some airplane enters the US airspace without proper clearance, authorization, what do they do?  They give it a warning.  You land now under our direction.  If they don’t follow, they can shoot it down.

In the same way, if some incarnation enters into the airspace, and he is not scheduled, we can first of all ask him to desist from this pseudo-incarnation propaganda, and if he does not, then we can shoot him down.  Not literally; philosophically he has to be defeated. 

The servants of God are to be respected as God by the devotees who actually want to go back to Godhead. Such servants of God are called mahatmas, or tirthas, and they preach according to particular time and place. The servants of God urge people to become devotees of the Lord. They never tolerate being called God. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was God Himself according to the indication of the revealed scriptures, but He played the part of a devotee. People who knew Him to be God addressed Him as God, but He used to block His ears with His hands and chant the name of Lord Visnu. He strongly protested against being called God, although undoubtedly He was God Himself. The Lord behaves so to warn us against unscrupulous men who take pleasure in being addressed as God.

The servants of God come to propagate God consciousness, and intelligent people should cooperate with them in every respect. By serving the servant of God, one can please God more than by directly serving the Lord.

This is a fault we see among the sahajiyas.    Those who take Krishna-bhakti very cheaply want to immediately jump to Radha and Krishna.  They think, why should we worship the spiritual master?  We don’t want to hear about guru.  We only hear about Radha and Krishna.  But that is not the instruction coming in the revealed scriptures.  The revealed scriptures tell us that we can give more pleasure to the Lord by worshiping His devotee than by worshipping Him directly.

They do not hear from the revealed scripture.  They hear from the sahajiyas who give some cheap process of meditating on what your rasa is in the spiritual world.  You’re just supposed to imagine that I’m a gopi.  I’m doing this and that.  At the same time, what are they doing?  They’re having illicit sex.  A gopi’s having illicit sex.  Actually Krishna did not do such things.  We’re imitating Radha and Krishna, having illicit sex.  But Radha and Krishna don’t do such a thing.   The actual process is described here.  You can please God more by serving His servant than by serving Him directly. 

The Lord is more pleased when He sees that His servants are properly respected because such servants risk everything for the service of the Lord and so are very dear to the Lord. The Lord declares in the Bhagavad-gita (18.69) that no one is dearer to Him than one who risks everything to preach His glory. By serving the servants of the Lord, one gradually gets the quality of such servants, and thus one becomes qualified to hear the glories of God. The eagerness to hear about God is the first qualification of a devotee eligible for entering the kingdom of God.

 So we have to develop an eagerness to hear, to lay aside all other considerations and simply hear the glories of the Lord.  Because our minds are so distracted by material thoughts, it is sometimes difficult to do that.  We’re thinking in so many ways about material sense gratification.  How will we get that affinity for hearing? That is given in this verse.

By serving those devotees who are completely freed from all vice, great service is done. By such service, one gains affinity for hearing the messages of Vasudeva.

This is another one of those insider’s secrets on the path of bhakti.  You simply have to find a devotee who is free from all vice, who’s actually pure, with no ulterior motive, who’s strictly following the process of Krishna bhakti.  You simply have to find such a devotee and dedicate yourself to serving that person.  That surrendered service to that devotee of the Lord actually is your ticket into the realm of absorbed hearing of Krishna. 

You should find such a person who’s completely free from all vice and become his disciple.  Fully dedicate yourself to that person.  That dedication, that mood of giving service to that person will enable you to derive the deep, deep, deep satisfaction to experience deep, deep, deep realizations while you chant the Hare Krishna mantra, while you study the Vedic scriptures, while you hear the description of the philosophy of Krishna consciousness.  This is actually the key. 

Persons who say, I don’t want to worship guru, I just want to worship Krishna, they can never even enter into the actual hearing of Krishna’s pastimes.  They say I just want to hear about Krishna, but actually they can’t even really hear about Krishna.  That hearing doesn’t penetrate the heart.  The heart has to melt by submission to the servant of the Lord.  That’s what allows the heart to melt.  Otherwise, they’re not really hearing pure krishna-katha even.  The full-blown manifestation of Krishna is not happening in their hearts.  Unless you can be respectful, surrendered and submissive to the servants of the Lord, who are free from all vice, then you cannot go anywhere spiritually.  This is the sum and substance of this verse.  We hope that you will all take it very seriously and not remain in this material existence. 

How long have you suffered in the cycle of birth and death?  Do you know?  You wouldn’t want to know.  It’s too frightening.  If we could remember all the births and deaths we’ve had in this material world, it would just be horrible.  Some people ask, If I’ve had previous lifetimes, why can’t I remember them?  Just be glad that you don’t.  We went through so many nightmarish conditions.  Can you imagine being a centipede, or a baboon, an orangutan, a snake?  What would it be like to be a snake, crawling out on the grass? 

Some people who went through 9/11 and survived are still going to see psychologists for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.  People who go through traumatic experience suffer from psychological problems.  They wake up in the middle of the night from horrible nightmares, screaming because they relive that moment.  So just be glad you don’t remember you previous life.  If you did you would have a very serious case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  By Krishna’s grace, we’ve forgotten our previous lives.  He lets us remember by the information received in the Vedic scriptures.  That’s His kindness upon us.

Some people think they want to go to a hypnotist and do past life regressions.  This is a foolish waste of time.

Question 1:  We revolted against the Lord, and that’s why we’re here, right Gurudeva?

SDA:  Yes.

Question 1:  But it is also said, in the spiritual world we have full knowledge and bliss.  So how could we make the foolish mistake of revolting if we were in sat-cit-ananda?

SDA:  People cannot understand how that would be possible.  If I’m in the spiritual world, fully enlightened, illuminated soul, purely absorbed in serving Krishna, then how in the world could I ever end up making this stupid mistake of revolting against the Lord, and being condemned to the cycle of birth and death by my foolishness?  The answer is actually very simple.  Love is voluntary.  If I put a gun at your head and say love me or I’ll shoot, can you really love me?  No.  You’d just be thinking how I can get that gun out of his hands to save my life. 

If I say you can love me, you can leave me, but I will give my love to you.  Then you’d be inspired to voluntarily give your love to me.   This is what Krishna does.  He could force us all to just be His little cadets.  Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, yes Krishna, whatever you say Krishna.  He could program us as robots if He wanted to, but that’s no fun.  Instead of having a little girl, imagine getting a little robot girl. 

They have robot dogs now.  You can get a robot dog that doesn’t pass stool or anything.  Some people get robot dogs.  It’s mostly a joke.  They don’t get the same satisfaction as a real dog obviously.  The robot dog can’t show you any affection because he has no free will.   Without free will you cannot show affection.  You want a daughter that has free will.  You can give her love, and it’s up to her to reciprocate or not.  When she does, then you feel very happy.  If she’s just a little robot, what’s the use?  There’s no meaning in having a relationship with a robot. 

Krishna therefore endows us with free will to love Him or to leave Him.  It’s common sense.  Then you could say, even though the living entity has free will, still it doesn’t make sense that he would misuse it because it’s such a rotten deal.  How could he be so foolish to misuse it?  Looking deeper to answer that query, since there is free will, there has to be some degree of probability that it can be misused. 

If you argue that there is zero probability whatsoever that free will could be misused, then that means that it doesn’t really exist.  For free will to exist there has to be some degree of probability that it can be misused.  That probability may be very,very slight, it may be practically infinitesimal, but still that probability has to exist.  There is absolutely no possibility that one could misuse that free will than it doesn’t really exist.  For free will to exist there has to be some degree of probability that it can be misused. 

In the spiritual world there is an infinite number of devotees.  If you take an infinitesimal probability and apply it to an infinite number of living entities, then mathematically you derive some number of living entities who do, in fact, misuse their free will.  Guess what?  You’re one of them. 

You’re part of that small infinitesimal group who made big mistake.  All of us in this material world did.  We may think that this is such a big material world.  Actually, our numbers here are very very small, compared to the living entities in the spiritual world. 99.99999999999999999999999999% of the living entities in spiritual world never make the stupid mistake that we did.

We are the 0.0000000000000000000001% who were so stupid that we revolted against the Lord.  In the future, you may have in your homes a number of children.  As the children grow tall enough to reach the stove, you’ll train them not to touch the fire, or your hand will get burned.  The children will think, yes, we will follow our mother.  But there may be one child who’s a little bit mischievous, Oh, I don’t know.  I will try.  They stick their hand in the fire and go running, crying.  They burned their hand.  They will not make that mistake again. 

In the spiritual world, Krishna’s saying, don’t try to imitate Me.  Just remain My devotee.  Practically, all the children agree. Yes yes, Krishna is Supreme.  He knows, He is our father, our Supreme master.   Whatever He says, we accept.  There’s always going to be some number of those who think, well, I don’t know, maybe I’ll stick my hand in the fire.  We stuck our hand in the fire and here we are in the fire of material existence. 

Krishna has His safety net to catch us.  This is the position.  Just as the fire teaches us a lesson not to do such foolish things again, So, this material, hellish condition is here to teach us that you’re not really meant be here, doing this.  This is not really who you are.  You’re meant to come back to devotional service to the Lord.

Any other questions?

Question 2:  Everything comes from something.  Philosophy has to be applied to everything.  Where does God come from?

SDA: What is that something from which Krishna comes?  Krishna comes from Krishna.  Krishna is Self-manifested.  He exists because He wants to.  You are dependent on Krishna for your existence, but He is not.  He is self-manifested.  That’s the difference. 

That Self-manifestation distinguishes Krishna from everything else that exists within reality.  There are two categories, energetic and energy. Krishna is the energetic source of all that exists.  There are two things that exist only: Krishna and Krishna’s energy.  There’s the energetic and the energy, that’s all. 

IF there’s any source for Krishna, it must be Krishna.  Actually, Lord Brahma says anadir adir: Krishna has no origin and He is the origin.  If you demand to know that Krishna must also have an origin, then His origin is Krishna.  He doesn’t originate anywhere else.  He’s Self-manifested.  You are not.  Krishna is Self-manifested and everything else is Krishna manifested.  So, actually everything is Krishna-manifested.  Krishna is Krishna-manifested, and everything else is Krishna-manifested.  All that exists is Krishna-manifested. 

 You are part of Krishna’s lila, absolutely.  There’s nothing happening within reality except krishna-lila.  The whole thing is Krishna-lila.  You’re existing in krishna-lila right now.  This day, February 7^th, 2005 is part of Krishna-lila.  You’re living in krishna-lila.  Everything is krishna-lila.  Bell-South, everything.  They just haven’t realized it.  The city of Birmingham, it’s all krishna-lila.  The government builds a prison.  That’s part of the activities of the government. 

Now, we’re in Krishna’s prison.  This is part of His pastimes.  Of course, it is not His intimate pastimes.  He has His expanded Vishnu forms and demigods who are servants of Vishnu.  They take charge of this part of His pastime.  This is not the sweet part of His pastimes.  Those who are intelligent get back to Goloka Vrindavana.  That’s where the sweet pastimes are going on.

Question 3:  Sastra says that kalki-avatara  will come in 427,000 years.  Does that mean that Krishna is bound by the scriptures?

SDA:  Krishna is not bound by scriptures.  He can do anything and everything that He wants.  The scriptures are coming from Him, and therefore He follows them for our sake, to set an example.  To keep things in order.  Actually, He’s not under the authority of scriptures, they are His manifestation, but He does act in accordance with them so that we are not bewildered and confused.  Having compassion upon us, He acts in accordance with the revealed scriptures, which are coming from Him. 

The government has given laws to keep to the right.  The policemen are the government.  Theoretically, they can do whatever they want, but as a general rule, they follow the traffic laws also.  Otherwise, it would be very bewildering if the police kept to the left, instead of the right.  If they drove down the sidewalk instead of in the street, of course India is a whole other world, but we’re talking about America.  In India, anything goes.  Everybody can do whatever they want.  Just keep honking.  That’s the rule in India.  As long as you’re honking, you’re ok.  You can do whatever you want as long as you keep honking that horn, you’re fine.  But America is more regulated.

Although the government men can theoretically do whatever they want, they generally follow the laws themselves.  Krishna can do whatever He wants.  He’s not bound by the scriptures, but He generally follows them to keep things in order. 

Question 4:  How do you cope with disasters in life?  Like recently the Somali disaster which we call a natural disaster.  How should a Krishna devotee react to those kind of incidents.

SDA:  A devotee naturally feels very saddened.  A Vaisnava has genuine deep compassion for the suffering condition of all living entities within this material world.  He is not just thinking about himself, but his heart is always bleeding with compassion.  He’s feeling great pain within his heart to see the suffering condition in this material world.  The difference between a Vaisnava and an mundane philanthropist, who is also feeling sorry for the poor, and helping them in different ways, is that the Vaisnava understands the root cause of the difficulty.  He has enlightened wisdom as to what is the root cause.  Why did the tsunami come?

Other people say, we don’t know why it came, it’s just nature.  Let’s cope with it as best we can by giving a lot of welfare, sending a lot of money and food.  Of course, ISKCON is there too now in Sri Lanka doing much better welfare work than anyone else.  Other people are giving people raw food, and asking them to cook it themselves, or they’re giving things that people don’t like.  Not their traditional diet.  But devotees are there cooking things, giving hot food according to what people like to eat, according to their culture, so actually, even materially speaking, ISKCON is doing the best welfare work for the tsunami victims right now. 

The Hungarian government donated $20,000 to help ISKCON offer food relief to tsunami victims. Anyway, that’s one level, but the ultimate level is that the devotee understands better than anyone else.  A devotee knows, and others do not know why this tsunami came to begin with.  The tsunami came because of the huge accumulation of sin on this planet.  Such disasters do not come out of the blue, or without cause, without reason. 

They come as a reaction to a huge accumulation sinful activities.  It is the law of karma.  In my e-course, when I stated this, you wouldn’t believe how much protest I got.  People just couldn’t accept it.  I got e-mail after e-mail after e-mail arguing.  I had to ponder this very deeply why people can’t understand this point that the laws of karma are causing all these things to happen.  Then I realized that people don’t realize actually how sinful we are as a human society right now.  They don’t realize how sinful we are. 

If you and I went to the grocery store to pick up some vegetables and I came to you in a state of absolute shock and told you, They killed your mother and they cut her body up and they’re selling it here in the store!  Wouldn’t you be in a state of shock?  They killed my mother!?  They cut her body up, they’re selling it in the store, wrapped it up in plastic and are selling it for $2.95 lb. People are taking it home, cooking it and eating it?  Wouldn’t you be shocked?  Well, that’s what they’re doing here, every day.  The cow is our mother.  These activities are going on, but we don’t think a thing of it.  Let me get my fruits and vegetables.  Some rice, whatever it is. We go home.  We don’t even think that my mother was just murdered and they were selling her body in the meat department.  They’re eating her body. 

Even we devotees, who read these books are so conditioned.  We’re desensitized to the horrors that are going on.  In one sense it’s good.  How could we function and do our everyday work?  It would be difficult in one sense, to even function, we’d be in total shock.  How could they do this?  In one sense, it’s good so we can carry on.  But, actually it’s absolutely unbelievably horrible.  What’s happening every day in the grocery store is like 9/11. 

Everybody was so shocked when 9/11 happened.  That’s what’s going on every day at the grocery store.  9/11 is happening, and we just think, life is normally going on.  Everything is fine.  Say hello to the people.  How ya doing?  Fine.  In the meantime, 9/11 is happening right now.  Right there in the store.   They’re cutting up my mother.  Tsunamis are coming because our sinful activities are being committed each and every day throughout the entire planet. 

Question 5:  Is 9/11 the result of the sinful activities happening in this part of the country?  Are the people who committed the act pardonable?

SDA:  9/11 is definitely a reaction for sinful activities.  These are all reactions for sinful activities.  Of course they are not pardoned.  Just because they were used by the material nature as the agents of delivering karmic reactions does not free them from the karma.  Karma will come, but we should not be the deliverers of that karma.  That doesn’t free one at all.   In the state, the executioner does his duty by putting the criminal to death, and he’s considered a good citizen.  It’s not like that.  They’re not actually acting on the higher authority.  They’re acting out of lust, anger and greed. 

Therefore, they’re fully culpable for every single life.  If that was the case, you could say the cow was a meat eater in his previous life, and now he’s getting his reaction of being a cow, and the butcher is just giving him what he was getting anyway by his karma.  Those arguments don’t work.  If you do something which is against the order of Krishna, then you will suffer the reaction.  That’s a fact.

VPM:  These great disasters that happen are to awaken us.  All the time, we are thinking that I’m not suffering.  That disaster his happening, how I am suffering.  Actually, everyone is suffering, but we are so much blinded by the sense gratification that we think that we are not suffering.  That question was asked by Yamaraja to Yudhisthira, what is the most wonderful thing happening in the world.  Yudhishthira said that everyone is dying, but I am thinking that, I am not. 

We are seeing that if someone is poor, he is suffering.  I am not.  Actually, I am also suffering.  But I’m just thinking that I’m not.  These are the things which happen to awaken us to the fact that they are suffering and I am suffering in another way.  Still we are blinded.  This suffering comes to awaken us.

SDA:  They weren’t innocent.  That’s the point.  It is not something to believe.  You have to understand it scientifically.  The actual fact is that nothing happens to anyone except what they deserve by dint of their past karma.  That point you have to come to an understanding of.  They may not have sinned in this lifetime, but they have sins from a previous life.  They are now getting a reaction.  What about a child in the womb who was aborted.  That means they aborted someone else in their previous life, and now they’re getting aborted.  There’s no such thing as a person getting some suffering they didn’t deserve.  It doesn’t exist.  It never happens.  Nature is completely fair and just.  There is no injustice anywhere. 

Everyone will get theirs.  Don’t worry.  Everybody will get their sinful reaction.  Some will get it sooner, some will get it later.  There’s instant karma, delayed karma and further delayed karma. Sooner or later, everyone will get their karma.  Every man, woman and child on the face of this planet will get all their karma.  The higher authorities within the universe who regulate these things are absolutely flawless in their enactment of justice.  They’re absolutely flawless. 

You may say that this isn’t fair.  This isn’t right.  But it is a fair, well-managed, well-governed system.  Don’t try to buck the system.  You’ll never be able to.   Work with the system by surrendering to Krishna, then you become free of all your sinful reactions.  You don’t have to suffer them.  That’s why we’re trying to spread Krishna consciousness.  We can put a stop to the tsunamis.  We can put a stop to 9/11. 

We can put a stop to all the ghastly suffering that’s going on more and more every day.  Kids going to school and shooting their fellow students with guns.  You’ve seen the news.  The child will go to school with a gun and shoot his teachers and start shooting the other students.  How many were killed in Columbine High school.  Sixty children were shot dead by their school mates.  This is all karma coming out.

The solution is we have to find out what does Krishna want.  We have to do that.  We get free from karma chakra.  We try to free others also.  Krishna consciousness movement means to free everyone from all these sinful reactions.  Devotees dedicate their whole lives for preaching Krishna consciousness.  I could be working a corporate job and making money.  Why am I doing this?  Because the whole world is suffering for lack of Krishna consciousness.  Instead of thinking how I can make a lot of money and get a better house than the one I have now.  Instead of doing that, I’m thinking how I can help people become Krishna conscious, and putting my energy into that instead of making money. 

Question 6:  Why does it seem for every one of us that material activities are attractive?

SDA:  Material nature is attractive because it is part of the spiritual nature.  A mundane example is that a young woman is very attractive to a man.  When a young man sees her, he becomes enlivened.  Because the young woman is attractive, if you see her reflection in the water, it is also attractive, though not as beautiful as the actual form.  This material nature is a reflection of the spiritual nature, therefore it is also attractive, but it is not as attractive as the spiritual nature. 

You may try to enjoy a wonderful love relationship with the reflection of the woman in the water, but you’ll be frustrated.  When you reach out to embrace her, you’ll just get wet.  The point is that instead of trying to enjoy in a relationship with the reflection, make your relationship with the original spiritual energy.  Then, you’ll be fully satisfied.  It’s attractive because it’s simply a reflection of the original attractive nature.

Question 7:  Does the living entity have to pass through all of the 8,400,000 species of life?

SDA:  No.  Actually, our first birth in this material world, you may be surprised to hear as described by Prabhupada in the Bhagavatam, is as Lord Brahma.  When you first fell down into the material world you were born as Lord Brahma.  You could have gone directly back to Godhead from that position as Lord Brahma, but you were not so fortunate or intelligent to do that.  Because of your material desires you came down a notch, and another notch and finally you came all the way down.  So, no you don’t have to go through all those forms, you can actually go back within one lifetime. 

But, obviously there’s a lot of people who don’t do that, otherwise, we’d all be Lord Brahmas here.  Here in this world, the animals, plants, humans, we’re all living beings who fell from the spiritual world and didn’t go back after one lifetime.  Generally speaking, because we have such strong material desires to enjoy in various ways, we want to experiment. 

People enjoy their tongues by going to the Italian restaurant, Spanish restaurant.  They want to try to enjoy in all varieties of ways.  One year they go on vacation to Europe, the next year to the South Pacific, then to Mexico.  Because our desire to enjoy comes out in so many ways, there are 8,400,000 species.  You can try this way and that way, but you’ll find that you’re never satisfied.  Therefore, if you find yourself in the human birth, you’re in the most fortunate position because athato brahma jijnasa.  Now you can inquire into the absolute truth.  Now you can get out of the repetition of birth and death.  If you take it very seriously, hear soberly and attentively from the realized soul, and then act on the instruction you’ve received, this will be your last birth.  If you can actually take shelter of the bona fide spiritual master and become initiated, then from that moment on, for all of eternity, you’ll be living in the state of immortality.

If you can take initiation from a bona fide spiritual master and faithfully follow your vows, you’ll be living in the realm of immortality from that very moment, even while you’re maintaining your existence here, with your corporate job and your wife. 

Question 8:  How do lower forms of living entities get elevated to higher forms?

SDA:  It’s an automatic progression.  In school you go to 1^st grade, 2nd grade, 3^rd grade.  In India they call it standards.  It’s a natural progression.   The rule is that you have to be in the human form to be liberated.  There are exceptions, but those are very rare.  It is possible to get liberated from a non-human form, but it is exception to the rule.  The rule is you have to be a human being.  The animals don’t commit any papa, or sin.  They are simply acting under the dictates of the three modes of nature. 

Human life is a life of choice.  You can choose to live within the higher self or within the lower self.  The higher self means to cultivate krishna-bhakti.  The lower self means to continue in the realm of sense gratification.  The human being has a choice, but the animals don’t.  They’re just stuck in the lower self.  They’re burning off karma from sins they committed as a human being.  They get all these different ways to burn off their karma, then when they’ve finally burned it all off, they get a chance to become a human being, and go back to Godhead.  But if they again take up sense gratification, they return to the animal kingdom, plant kingdom, germ kingdom, fish kingdom, etc.

The key is that in this human form of life, do not cultivate sense gratification.  Do not waste your time absorbing your mind in television.  Absorb your mind in the Srimad-Bhagavatam.  You can sit there as a family.  You can get some Krishna conscious videos.  There’s so many dvds now.  You can get all kinds of wonderful things.  You can watch tv every night with a big library of your own material, instead of taking the karmi material.  You just get a nice big collection of Krishna conscious stuff.  Your little girl can watch Krishna conscious cartoons.  It’s the same enjoyment, but become liberated.  You don’t have to deny yourself. 

You just have to be intelligent how you do everything.  Do everything intelligently to get liberated.  I can’t be against tv.  I produce a tv show.  I’m a tv producer.  I have a weekly show in Austin, Turn On Your Soul. Com.  I produce a television show.  We’re not against television, but it should be enlightened television that elevates the consciousness.  You have to live your life in such a way that you’re hearing and chanting about Krishna 24 hours a day. At work, you can’t do that obviously, but the fruit of your work is income, money.  If that money is utilized in a Krishna conscious way, then that work also becomes purified.  You can spend that money on a library of Krishna conscious dvds, or in Bhagavad-Gitas to be distributed here.

If you take advantage of these points I guarantee you’ll be living in Vaikuntha, the spiritual world. 

Question 8: What do we do with disturbing memories of sinful activities?

SDA:  There are two ways.  In one sense, they can disturb.  If you engaged in some sinful activity and your mind is going back and basically drooling over that thing wanting to enjoy it again, that is very dangerous.  If your contemplating past sinful activities and trying to squeeze more so-called pleasure out of them, that is very dangerous and you have to pray to Krishna to save you from such a mentality. 

On the other hand, if you’re remembering that activity, how horrible it was, how much you were suffering, then that’s good.  That helps you become sober and realize that I have to strictly follow Krishna consciousness.  I don’t want to suffer like that again. 

If you can remember how much you were suffering before you came to Krishna consciousness, how horrible it was to not be Krishna conscious, then that’s very good.  But to remember that suffering condition you were going through before you came to Krishna consciousness will help you to be sober, stable and fixed in Krishna consciousness.  It’s a matter of how you’re remembering your past sinful activities.  Are you relishing it?  I wish I could do that again.  Or, are you saying, oh , that was so horrible, thank God I was saved.  It depends on how you were thinking about it. 

Question 9:  Is loving Krishna, just by His personality sufficient, or is some knowledge also required?

SDA:  Bhakti alone is sufficient.  It does not require jnana, but right now you’re polluted by ajnana.  Therefore, jnana is necessary to help clear out the ajnana.  We’re teaching you that you’re not your body.  If you had pure love of Krishna, you’d automatically realize that you’re not your body. But right now, your pure love of Krishna is very deeply buried under thousands and millions of layers of lust anger and greed. 

Your mind is polluted with ajnana.  I’m American, I’m Indian, I’m male, this or that.  I’m the Lord of all I survey.  You’re polluted by so much ignorance; therefore jnana is a necessary part of the purification process, to help you to revive that dormant Krishna-bhakti.  If Krishna-bhakti is there, no jnana is necessary, but to get it revived, you need the jnana.  Actually, jnana is necessary for someone who’s in material consciousness, otherwise, why are the Vedas there?

Bhakti is self-sufficient.  If you have bhakti, everything is there, but we don’t have it, so we need the jnana to help us get to the point of bhakti.  Transcendental knowledge is necessary.  We pray every morning that my only desire is to have my consciousness purified by the words emanating from mouth of my spiritual master.  We want to take in that transcendental knowledge that purifies our heart. 

There are also the pastimes of Krishna.  That is also purifying.  There is philosophical knowledge and lila.  Both are very good.  Both will purify us.  But, we see that if someone just wants to hear about Krishna’s lila, and they don’t want to hear that they’re not their body, we see the tendency that such persons will engage in illicit sex.  They say, just give me Krishna-lila, that’s all I want.  No jnana.  Such persons we see end up being debauchees, and have illicit sex life, even outside of marriage.  So, jnana is very necessary to purify us and make us chaste so that we can actually achieve genuine bhakti. 

In our conditioned state, if we try to come to bhakti without jnana, it will be sahajiya, cheap imitation.  If we think we have bhakti without jnana, that bhakti will be pseudo-bhakti, it will not be genuine bhakti.  Jnana, knowledge is absolutely required for us in our conditioned state.  Therefore Prabhupada has given us so many volumes of books.  Prabhupada said, all of my followers have to read all of my books, or they will fall down.  Take these books very seriously.  You have to be studying these books.

Start with page one.  It’s very simple.  First Canto, part 1, page 1 and go to page 2.  Read the book, the whole thing.  Even if you can read one page a day, one verse and purport a day, which may take you 5 minutes, eventually you’ll read all the books.  The best thing is you and your wife sit together and read one verse and purport in the morning from the Bhagavatam.  In the evening read one Gita verse together, and that way, the two of you together can read the whole Bhagavatam and the Gita. 

That jnana is necessary to help purify our hearts, so the bhakti can come out.  If you don’t understand something, the two of you can discuss, or if needed call me or mataji on the telephone.  Guru is there to help you get clarity.  Send an email, or call on the telephone.  Mataji is there on the telephone, if I’m tied up answering emails.  She can also give you complete, full answers and understanding.  That’s why we are here.

Why are we dedicating our whole life?  Just to sit there and take chapattis?  We want to answer your questions.  That’s why we’re dedicating our lives for Krishna consciousness.  We want to educate you.  You’re asking the question now.  You must.  Don’t think, oh we’re bothering Gurudeva and mataji.  No.  You’re bothering us if you don’t ask questions.  That’s when you’re bothering us. 

Mataji will agree.  We’re bothered when people don’t ask questions.  That bothers us.  When you ask questions, then we’re satisfied.  Thank God, somebody’s asking questions.  Somebody’s serious to learn about Krishna.  Somebody out of the millions of ignorant rascals. 

VPM:  Somebody called to ask how are you doing?  How’s the weather there?  (laughing)

SDA:  We get a lot of people asking, Well, how’re you doing?  When you approach the realized devotees of the Lord, it shouldn’t just be buddy buddy.  How’s it going?  How’re you doing?  It should be, please enlighten me in the science of bhakti.  When you approach realized souls, then that should be the mode.  Please kindly enlighten me in the science of bhakti.  I’m begging you’re mercy, kindly enlighten me.  Not how’s it going? How’re you doing?  Is the sun shining today, there?  You can talk that way with anybody.  When you talk to realized souls, you should be talking, please bless me with realization.  That’s how you should be talking. 

Question 10:  If we follow four regulative principles, chant 16 rounds and do kirtan every day, is it compulsory that we take initiation? 

SDA: Krishna does not accept your bhakti unless you’re initiated.  That’s stated in the sastra.

Questioner:  Prabhupada said in his lectures that by chanting Hare Krishna mantra you can connect with Krishna directly.

SDA:  There are ten offences to the chanting of the holy name.  The third offence is to disobey the order of the spiritual master.  The spiritual master orders us to take initiation.  Srila Prabhupada has ordered us that we have to be initiated disciples.  If you’re chanting but you’re not taking initiation, that means your chanting will remain impure.  If you say, no I will not get initiated, then you will never experience the pure name.  Your chanting of Hare Krishna will always remain impure if you refuse to humble yourself to Krishna’s servant by becoming a disciple. 

If you’re content to chant the impure name and take birth after birth after birth, then you don’t need to be initiated.  Not necessary.  If you’re thinking that I don’t mind taking birth after birth in this material world, its ok, then you don’t need to be initiated.  But, if you want to go back to Godhead, then you have to come to the pure chanting of the name, without offence.  That requires being initiated. 

VPM:  If we don’t want to take a decision, that means we’re not humble, we’re proud.  No matter how many millions of names we chant we will never go back unless we’re humbled. 

SDA:  We’re not concocting this.  It’s right there in Prabhupada’s books.  There are ten offences to be avoided in the matter of chanting the holy names.  The third offense is to disobey the order of the spiritual master.  Srila Prabhupada explains in the Nectar of Devotion that Krishna does not accept our service unless we’re initiated.  It’s compulsory to become initiated.  These are the first items given by Rupa Gosvami in Bhakti-yoga.  You have to take shelter of a bona-fide spiritual master.  That’s the first step.  That’s the beginning.  Krishna says in Bhagavad-Gita, acaryopasanam.  Bhagavatam says,

tasmad gurum prapadyeta
jijnasuh sreya uttamam

If you’re at all serious to achieve the ultimate happiness, then you must approach the spiritual master and take initiation.  It’s stated right there in the Bhagavatam.

VPM:  In Bhagavad-Gita, Arjuna had been Krishna’s friend.  In the beginning, Krishna’s was not instructing Arjuna, until he surrendered to Krishna, taking Him as the spiritual master. 

SDA:  As long as they remained friends, Arjuna was in a state of bewilderment.  After saying that I’ll become Your disciple, then he became enlightened.  If you want to, you can remain friends with the guru.  Guru is very kind, but you won’t get enlightenment.  You’ll remain in a state of ignorance.  No one’s going to force you.  The guru is very kind.  He won’t force anyone.  It’s your own choice.  It’s your own heart.  The fact is that if you remain in Arjuna’s position from the beginning of the Bhagavad-Gita, then you remain bewildered, until you submit yourself as a disciple.

Why is the Bhagavad-Gita given?  It is teaching you to be in the mood of the disciple.  Not just a friend.  You have to come to the position of being a disciple to become enlightened with spiritual wisdom.  For your pure Krishna bhakti to manifest, you cannot get it without taking shelter of Krishna’s pure devotee, the spiritual master.  It’s absolutely necessary.  Is that alright?

Questioner:  I need more time.

VPM:  I’ve been telling her. 

SDA:  Do you have the book, Nectar of Devotion?  It’s stated there, in Prabhupada’s summary study of Rupa Gosvami’s Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu.  It is directly stated in Nectar of Devotion that one must take initiation.  Krishna does not accept your service.  The example is given of a university.  You can go to the university, audit some classes.  Sit in without registering.  Pick up a little bit.  But, if you’re serious to learn a subject matter, what do you do?  Register in the university. 

What did you study in the university?  Computer science?  You can pick up computer skills on your own just by playing around with a pc.  So, why did you spend the money and do all the austerity of enrolling in a university?  Why did you go to the university?  Why didn’t you just pick it up on your own? 

To get authoritative training.  To get discipline to study every day even if you don’t want to, you’ve registered, so you must.  Initiation is simply registering in Krishna University.  You’re plugging yourself into the system that’s going to carry you along the pathway, even if you’re not always in the mood to do it.  When you take diksa, initiation it’s just like registering in the university.    You’re registering in Krishna’s university.  Do you want Krishna-bhakti? 

If you’re really serious about it, then register in the university, take initiation.  That commitment you made by surrendering to the guru will help you overcome all the impediments in your heart.  Otherwise, on your own, you don’t have sufficient strength to overcome all the impediments in your heart.  None of us have the strength to do it on our own. 

If you’re in the middle of the ocean, drowning, and I come by with a boat, and say, here, take the lifesaver.  We’ll pull you in, but you say, no, I’m just going to swim for it.  You do not have the strength to purify your existence without taking shelter of a guru.  None of us do.  I don’t have it, that’s why I took shelter of guru.  That diksa is absolutely essential.  There is so much contamination in the heart from so many millions of lifetimes.  How can we conquer that if we don’t surrender to the bona fide spiritual master?  It’s not possible.  We have to.  

VPM: Another point is that if we want to progress in life in Krishna consciousness we have to follow the mahajanas.  We cannot concoct ourselves.  All the mahajanas did the same thing.  Even Krishna did it.  Caitanya Mahaprabhu accepted guru.  The 12 mahajanas also had guru.  We cannot concoct. 

SDA:  Are we such big devotees that we don’t require guru?  Lord Caitanya took guru.  Krishna took guru, but I don’t need?  Krishna Himself took Sandipani Muni, but I don’t need a guru.  I’m bigger and better than Krishna.  I don’t need a guru.  Just see the fun!  The foolishness.  I don’t need a guru.  That means you think you’re better than Krishna, better than Caitanya Mahaprbahu.  Better than Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Better than Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji.  Better than Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati.  Better than Prabhupada.  Just see!

VPM: Better than Brahma, better than everybody I’ll go myself.

SDA:  I will do it on my own.  I don’t need diksa guru.  Don’t concoct your own so-called process of bhakti.  Take the standard process of bhakti coming down from Krishna, given to to Brahmaji, coming to Narada Muni, to Vedavyasa, handed down to Madhvacarya.  You have to take it as its coming in guru parampara.  Do not manufacture your own process.  I guarantee, you’ll be a failure.  You’ll fall flat on your face and you won’t go back to Godhead.  You will take birth after birth after birth until you agree to accept the spiritual master and fully surrender to him.

Question 11:  In one lecture I was hearing, Prbahupada said that it is not necessary for a pure devotee to go back home.  We can be here, and do krishna-katha, life after life. 

SDA:  For a pure devotee, that’s true.  But, you’re not a pure devotee.  You’re running after sense gratification.  So, you should desire to go back to Godhead just to get out of sense gratification.  The pure devotee doesn’t need it.  He’s already back to Godhead, even in this material world because he has no attraction for sense gratification, but you are so attracted to sense gratification.  Therefore, for you, you better think about going back to Godhead and getting out of this sense gratification.

VPM: Although they’re here, still they feel that I will take whatever Krishna gives me.  I will stay here in the material world and preach, but personally I would prefer to be with Krishna.  Otherwise, why would they be searching for Krishna over by Govardhana Hill?

SDA:

anande bala hari, bhaja vrndavana,
sri-guru-vaisnava-pade majaiya mana.

The pure devotee is satisfied to serve Krishna in any place.  But he is always worshipping Sri Vrindavan Dhama.  He is always worshipping it. 

VPM:  He would rather be with Krishna.  But whatever Krishna gives him, he will take it for service of Krishna. 

Question 12:  Is it the case that by desiring to satisfy myself, that is matter, and that desiring to satisfy Krishna is spirit?

SDA:  Yes, but you have to know what Krishna wants.  You can’t concoct your own so-called satisfaction of Krishna.  That’s an important point.  That’s why guru is required.  I may think I’m doing that satisfies Krishna, and actually, He’s dissatisfied.  That’s why guru is required, because we don’t always know what satisfies Krishna. 

VPM:  Guru is required because Krishna says you must accept a guru first.  tad viddhi pranipatena.  If you want to progress, you have to do the first thing. 

Question 13:  Since the sage is supposed to see with equal vision a learned brahmana and a dog-eater, then what amount of compassion should we have for people who are suffering in material nature’s grip?

SDA:  We must feel compassion.  The higher the better.  The more compassion you feel, the better. 

VPM:  That means that if you really feel compassion, you will take Krishna consciousness fully and give that compassion to others.  Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to continue.

SDA:  Physician, heal thyself.  If you really feel compassion on the fallen conditioned souls of this age of Kali, you will first of all make sure that you’re completely, totally surrendered to Lord Krishna.  You’ll do everything within your power, at every second, twenty-four hours a day, in all times in all places and in all circumstances, with every thought, every word and every deed to purify yourself as much as possible, understanding full-well, that the more you’re pure, the more you can help them. 

If you’re really compassionate, charity begins at home.  You will make your life pure, and household purely Krishna conscious twenty-four hours a day.  As far as you’re able, you’ll give it your best sincere effort.  Then you’ll have that platform on which to base your dealing with others outside of your household.  Then you will have empowerment to inject Krishna bhakti into the hearts of others.  Actually, do something practical to save people from their suffering. 

Question 14:  So to become Krishna conscious ourselves, is that enough?

SDA:  That is sufficient actually.  If you become purely Krishna conscious yourself, that will deliver you.  Being fully Krishna conscious means you follow injunctions of Sri Krishna coming down through the guru parampara system, and as stated in the scriptures.  Lord Caitanya is ordering us that we should all spread this Krishna consciousness.  In this age purifying yourself means to engage in the yuga-dharma, spreading Krishna consciousness.  That’s part of the process, just like the programs at the university, or like last night with Ted and Denise. 

These activities of preaching are part of our own purification process.  I have a disciple who is a very nice young Finnish girl, Laura.  She is spending some time in Mayapura.  And there’s another very nice young girl, Annie.  Two nice girls.  Annie is very enlivened to distribute books.  People come in and she’s distributing books.  But Laura has a difficult time distributing books to the people who come into the Mayapura center.  Annie is able to distribute a lot of books and it is encouraging to her, but Laura tries and she just falls flat on her face and gets discouraged.  So I wrote to Laura, telling her, don’t worry whether you sell the books or not.  Just do it for your own purification.

We don’t do things for the result, we do it because it’s our duty, and we do it because it purifies us.  She just distributes the books for her own purification.  Approach someone and give them a Bhagavad-Gita for her own purification.  That will help her.  In that situation, Krishna will reciprocate with some results from her activities.  The point is, we do engage in the activities of spreading Krishna consciousness, but our success or failure in doing so does not alter our own being properly situated.  We naturally will try to spread Krishna consciousness, but whether they take it or not, just our endeavor to try to give Krishna to others situates us purely in Krishna consciousness. 

The results are up to Krishna.  You have no control over the result.   Take whatever comes as Krishna’s mercy.  The result may be there, it may not be.  You have no control over that.  That you leave up to Krishna.  You have control over whether you’re going to endeavor to be Krishna conscious or not, whether you’re going to endeavor to give Krishna consciousness or not. Practice or not practice.

VPM:  The result of our Krishna consciousness depends on us.

SDA:  That result will come.  Prabhupada explains in the Bhagavatam that a Krishna conscious being is always thinking of how to deliver Krishna consciousness to others.  They may or they may not, but the person who is endeavoring, his Krishna consciousness is guaranteed.  If you’re always thinking of how to give Krishna consciousness to others, then your Krishna consciousness is covered.  You’re guaranteed to have it.  Whether they take it or not, doesn’t matter.

VPM:  That’s not the only thing.  We have to perform our sadhana.

SDA: Our personal sadhana is also there.  Not that I don’t chant any rounds, I don’t offer my food, I just go around preaching.  What kind of preacher are you if you don’t practice it yourself.  I don’t follow any of the principles, I’m not accepting a guru, but I’m a preacher.  No.

apani acari prabhu jivere sikhaya

First of all you practice, then you preach.  The first thing is that, physician, heal thyself.  You become properly situated in Krishna consciousness.  Then, when you explain it to others, there’ll be some result.  You may say, you should get a japa mala and chant Hare Krishna. They may ask if you chant.  Oh no.  I don’t chant. 

You have to be the example yourself of practicing Krishna consciousness.  Then, when you tell people about it, there will be some real potency.  Oh, you’re doing it.  Then they’ll ask you what it’s like.  What is your experience in doing it.  You have to do it yourself, then when you tell people there will be some potency. 

Grantha-raja Srimad-Bhagavatam ki jaya!

Srila Prabhupada ki iaya!

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Transcribed by His Grace Jagannatha Dasa

Index of Transcribed Lectures