What's Hot in Eternity: Some years ago, Andrew Sullivan was asked by Tina Brown of the New Yorker to write an article about "religion." His description and observations:
"After routine flattery, she got to the point. "We have a fabulous issue coming up on religion, and Dick Avedon is photographing several religious figures and icons, and I wondered whether you could do an accompanying essay," she asked in her clipped, breathless tone. "About what?" I asked. "Religion is a pretty big topic." "Oh, that would be up to you," Ms. Brown replied. "Anything that's hot right now in religion. Anything hot.
. . . It was the crazed cult of contemporaneity, the insistent, relentless outer-directedness of an editor who saw what was hot as always and everywhere preferable to what is true, ... When a grown-up editor can actually ask a writer about what's "hot" in the questions of eternal life, the fate of the soul, and the meaning of existence, you have to wonder if, deep inside her, that's all she actually sees."
Ms. Brown is credited with "reshaping" the magazine industry.
And so we begin the Daily Darshan. We may not always be able to provide what's hot, but perhaps what's true.
"Money may be thrown into water for the pleasure of Krishna!"
Srila Sridhar Maharaja: "I had some complaint against some big man in our Math: His monetary transactions were suspect. Prabhupada [Saraswati Thakur], in the beginning, he chastised me: �You have also attraction for money? You are a sannyasi, why should you have so much attraction for money? What is money! Money may be thrown into water, if necessary, for the pleasure of Krishna.�"
Srila Govinda Maharaja explained that Srila Saraswati Thakur expected more from Srila Guru Maharaja. He was upset that the person whom he expected to represent him had been influenced by the opinions of the other disciples. So he said, "Do not burn your good fortune!" and did not answer the allegations directly.
Then maybe some six months passed and in Madras Math Srila Saraswati Thakur suddenly showed Guru Maharaja the Bhagavatam and said: �Here is your answer!� Srila Guru Maharaja was at first perplexed. �What was my question? O! Prabhupada is referring to months before.�"
And Srila Saraswati Thakur presented a sloka from the Srimad Bhagavatam Eleventh Canto, Krishna to Uddhava, about mistakes made by devotees: sva-pada-mulam bhajatam priyasya:
"Expulsion or punishment cannot purify him. The highest form of purification is that in which he is already engaged. And that can purify to the highest degree. Krishna, who is staying in his heart, will purge everything."
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math
The flag of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math flutters high in the sky over Gupta Govardhan on the banks of the Ganga in Nadia. [Kuliya, Nabadwip]
It announces the victory of "Chaitanya Saraswat"�the principle that is held by Chaitanya Saraswat Math: The internal aspiration for the service of Radhika Madhava�and that, strictly in the line of Rupanuga.
The servitors of Chaitanya Saraswat Math are fully engaged in the cultivation of the thought current that began with Sri Chaitanyadev and extended to Saraswati Thakur and his followers. Their main business is to talk about Sri Gauranga and his greatness, his nobility and especially his teachings.
Their aim is what is recommended and given out by
Rupa Goswami�Rupanuga: Rupa and his successors. Their minds are made up�dedicated
to that principle�that line regulated by Rupa and his followers�radhika-madhavasam�as
announced by Raghunath Das Goswami, who is considered to be the acharya
of our highest destination�recommending what is our highest goal: the service
of the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani under the guidance of Sri Rupa.
�As explained by Srila Sridhar Maharaja
A Temple Over the Tomb of Darwin
There is a lot of construction going on here
at the Math and elsewhere throughout the mission, but Srila Govinda Maharaja
reminded the devotees of Srila Saraswati Thakur's caution to his disciples:
"We are not building contractors. Our kirtan�preaching�is a fight against
the mayik misconception. The world is captured by the glamour of Western
civilization so it must be crushed!"
And the pride of Western civilization is Science. Once a scientist disciple of Srila Swami Maharaja Prabhupada eagerly told Srila Sridhar Maharaja that he was constructing a temple. We all expected Maharaja to respond with some appreciation, but he surprised everyone with this answer: "You are not meant for that type of construction. Many can do that. Swami Maharaja wants you to construct a temple over the tomb of Darwin!"
The Floating Train of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math
Someone, newly initiated by another guru, asked Srila Govinda Maharaja if her choice was a correct one. Her guru is a disciple of one of the disciples of Srila Saraswati Thakur. She asked, "Are they all bona fide?" Srila Govinda Maharaja answered, "They are all bona fide�almost." He then began singing Srila Sridhar Maharaja�s glorification of Srila Saraswati Thakur, Sri-Prabhupada-padma-stavaka, concluding with the grande finale:
mahad-adbhuta-pavana-shakti-padam
pranamami sada prabhupada-padam
"Prabhupada! Pranams eternally to the wonderfully purifying power of your holy lotus feet."
Radiant with that divine flow Srila Govinda Maharaja exploded, "The line of Srila Sridhar Maharaja is so beautiful! It is like the floating train of Japan�the one that requires no rail�it is floating on divine current and speeding toward the ultimate destination�the service of the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani. It is inconceivably wonderful!"
"Hurry up! The sun is going to set."
Srila Govinda Maharaja:"Because the prostitute Chintamani�s advice awakened his Krishna consciousness, Bilvamangal Thakur revered her as guru. We should always be awake to the prospect of learning Krishna consciousness from anyone.
"There was one Lal Babu who was an extremely wealthy man. Near the end of one day he went to the market to buy vegetables. While purchasing the seller told him, 'O Babu, please hurry up and pay me. The sun is going to set and I want to go home.'
"Suddenly this realization flashed, 'My life is going to set and I will die and leave this world!' With that he left everything and renounced the world. That person who gives us the inspiration to leave mundane life and run to Krishna is vartma pradarshak guru, the Guru Who Reveals the Path.
"And Bhaktivinode Thakur takes this same idea even further in expressing how sadhana and seva will cleanse the heart and reveal the spiritual existence:
dekhite dekhite, bhulibo va kabe,
nija-sthula-paricoya
nayane heribo, braja-pura-sobha,
nitya cid-ananda-moya
"When like a flash I will forget my mundane self, I will see the spiritual beauty of Braja, the eternal plane of blissful conscious substance."
The Glories of Sri Govinda Kund: A Divine Manifestation in Progress
As Govinda Kund is being drained, the fish are being transferred to the next pond over. Srila Govinda Maharaja recalled a story told by Srila Saraswati Thakur about two ponds side by side: a karmi pond and a Vaishnava pond.
One day the karmi fish approached the Vaishnava fish with the news that Vaishnava Thakur had sold them and they would all die tomorrow. To the astonishment of the karmi fish, the Vaishnava fish began to dance ecstatically.
The karmi fish inquired, "Why are you dancing? You are going to die!"
The Vaishnava fish replied, "By the grace of Vaishnava Thakur we know a little Siddhanta. We understand that this life is temporary and that sooner or later we must give up these bodies and die. And if that occurs without any connection with the service of Hari, Guru and Vaishnava our lives will have been useless. Vaishnava Thakur is not interested in exploiting us for his own sense gratification, but rather the money gained will be used in the service of Sri Sri Radha Govinda and Mahaprabhu and then our lives will have been successful. So we are ecstatic to know that we will achieve the ultimate goal of existence!"
In the center of Govinda Kund will be a lotus temple where a full size murti of Sriman Mahaprabhu will preside over a yearly 7 day festival: Chandan Yatra. After manifesting his water sports pastimes by boat with his divine associates he will give his darshan to all of the most fortunate souls.
Universal Assembly of Vaishnav Kings
Srila Govinda Maharaja recalled how Srila Sridhar Maharaja used to hold the annual meeting of the Vishwa Vaishnav Raja Sabha [Universal Assembly of Vaishnava Kings�As Srila Guru Maharaja used to say, "Who are the Vaishnava Kings? The Gaudiyas who present Mahaprabhu�s full fledged conception of divinity�Sri Krishna Reality the Beautiful."]. He would chair this meeting the day after Gaur Purnima. Every year he would be nominated president, graciously decline and offer the presidency to Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaja.
Srila Govinda Maharaja explained the purpose was to glorify Vaishnavas. After extolling their good qualities there would be some mention of an area of improvement. Srila Govinda Maharaja regretted that he would be unable to preside over such a meeting and then spent then next hour praising the qualities of Sripad Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaja, the present manager of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. Highlighting Acharya Maharaja�s program of 24-hour non-stop service to the Math, the mission, its Acharya and servitors, Srila Maharaja suggested the only room for improvement was that his intensity be tempered with gentleness.
Srila Govinda Maharaja also pointed out that we should not expect all devotees to have the same temperament. He gave as examples the distinctly different natures of the Pandavas: Yudisthir, Arjuna, Bhima, Nakula and Sahadev�all unique, individual personalities.
Illuminating the Glories of Govinda Kunda
As Govinda Kunda daily reveals more and more of its divine form, Srila Govinda Maharaja continues to mine Garga Samhita for gems of glorification:
Nabadwip Dham is Gupta Vrindavan [Hidden Vrindavan]. And Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math is Gupta Govardhan [Hidden Govardhan].
Srila Sridhar Maharaja, by his divine vision manifested Govinda Kunda. As I have said, quoting Manu Smrti, real religion is in the heart of the Vaishnava�hrdayena bhyanuj�ato. Now we are serving Gupta Govardhan, especially Govinda Kunda as per the desire in the heart of Srila Guru Maharaja. Surabhi ku�ja, in Godrum is Surabhi�s residence, but the abhishek of Krishna took place here in Govinda Kunda.
Actually we are not doing anything, it is a divine manifestation, but I am extremely happy to have this service opportunity. Because really, I have already departed from this mundane world, I may disappear at any time, but Krishna is still taking my service. So I am trying to fulfill the desire of Srila Guru Maharaja and am so happy to have this chance. Otherwise, I thought it not possible in my lifetime. Now I see with my own eyes it is happening.
Before I did not know so much the glories of Sri Govinda Kunda: only something about Madhavendra Puri�s pastimes with Gopal. But suddenly slokas from the Garga Samhita appeared like electric billboards, illuminating the glories of Govinda Kunda.
After the lifting of Govardhan, Indra worshiped Krishna, and with the all-desire-fulfilling cow Surabhi, he bathed Krishna�abhishek. That divine milk filled Govinda Kunda. It is said who will bathe in Govinda Kunda will achieve the same form as Krishna: swarup.
It is also said that whom will do parikrama of Govinda Kunda will go to Goloka, Vrindavan. In perhaps fifteen days parikrama will be possible and the fortunate souls will collect their good fortune.
Take Me to the Pilot of Your Soul.
The Indian woman sitting on my right is looking out the window, chanting Vedic mantras for protection and an auspicious journey. A lady a few seats away is reading, The Teachings of Kapiladev in Russian. Eyeing her, the man to my left leans over and intones, "I don�t believe in gurus or reading books. I believe that you create your own spiritual reality. I read a book by Krishnamurthy that taught, teachers, as well as books, are unnecessary."
Hello.
Wondering if the fellow was capable of reason I conducted a test: How would you respond if you heard the pilot of this evening's flight was not trained by any recognized pilots school? And additionally, if he announced to the already anxious passengers: "Good evening ladies and gentlemen. This is your captain speaking. This is my first flight, and I just thought you might like to know, that I have never flown, nor undergone training of any kind, and to be quite frank, I don�t give a damn what pilots think. The navigators of the world can all go to hell! I fly the way I feel like flying.
"To me, flying is a very intuitive thing. You don�t need a teacher. You don�t need a navigator. You�ve just gotta� believe in yourself, have a positive attitude, and trust your own judgment. Sure, I might make a few mistakes, but if you can't trust yourself�who can you trust? So just sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight."
I offered, I would get off the plane immediately. Bravado is anathema for spirit seekers. Additionally, whom you entrust to pilot your soul is an equally, if not more important choice.
Resorting to some Hindoovoodoomumbojumbo he whimpered: "But don�t you think that intuition is the same as the "third eye?" I agreed conditionally, "Still, you need a teacher to verify what you are perceiving is coming from the region of "third eye," and not "brown eye."
I felt we connected. But, I report�you decide.
33,000,000 Gods & Goddesses�And Still Counting
As for the old, "Why do they have so many godz in Indya?" question, perhaps it is such an ideational culture that the spiritual hunger of the people cannot be satisfied by monotheism. People are always eagerly looking for spiritual undercurrent. Considering that traces of divinity may be found everywhere and in everyone, people are naturally inclined to revere. In opposition to the secular notion that nothing is sacred, they prefer the inverse, everything is sacred�or at least potentially sacred. So, why not error on the side of caution by giving respect. Srila Govinda Maharaja likes to cite the example of an old lady in Kolkata. She was found offering pranams to stones. When asked why, she replied: "One of them might be Shiva."
"Someone, Somewhere, is Secretly Sinning!"
We have been warned, vaisnavera kriyamudra vij�eha na bujhoy, we shall be most careful in observing Vaishnavas, lest we commit offense and invoke the spirit of Ramachandra Puri upon us. I am reminded of H.L. Mencken�s definition of a Puritan: One who suspects that someone, somewhere, is secretly sinning.
Srila Guru Maharaja liked to tell the story of traveling and preaching with A.B. Goswami Maharaja, Hayagriva Brahmachary, et.al. They once had to eat in a restaurant and when the food arrived someone complained that there were onions in the preparations. In contrast Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaja announced, "Mahaprasadam has arrived and should be honored!" Srila Guru Maharaja approved that he accepted what was offered to them as Krishna�s mercy.
We seek the grace of such Vaishnavas. Recalling the words of Srila Saraswati Thakur: let us not burn our own good fortune.
Thursday, April 11, 2002 Nabadwip Dham, India
Hell Revisited
Srila Govinda Maharaja on the comings and goings of an aspiring devotee: "Going to hell for preaching I must honor, but going to hell for your own purpose is objectionable. He may be a good man, but a good man and a good devotee are not the same."
"You talkin' to me?"
Srila Saraswati Thakur was preaching hari katha to a member of the intelligentsia, while one of his disciples nearby was taking harinam with the japa mala�aloud. Disturbed, Saraswati Thakur admonished him, "Stop making noise." The disciple replied: "You are making noise�I am taking Krishna nam!" Amazingly, this was years before the movement went West.
The Vedas or the Newspaper?
Srila Govinda Maharaja told the story of
how in Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhava Maharaja�s Math only the Acharya, the
Math Secretary and dignitary devotees were allowed to read the newspaper.
Once, when Srila Sridhar Maharaja was visiting, the devotees arranged for
a particular newspaper and were observing him reading with some consternation.
Seeing this, Srila Madhava Maharaja informed them all: "When Sridhar Maharaja
reads the newspaper, for him it is the same as reading the Vedas." [yo
mam pasyati sarvatra: Bhagavad Gita 6.30]
The Theory of Everything?
"George Johnson writes in the Science section of the New York Times:
"Last week in a quiet triumph, Fermilab, the high-energy physics laboratory outside Chicago, announced a discovery of great importance in the search for a theory of everything�the seamless intellectual framework that would explain how the universe is made.
Firing up the Tevatron, the most powerful particle
accelerator in the world, an international team of scientists slammed together
matter and antimatter, creating volleys of silent, invisible explosions.
Then they sifted the debris through their computers, looking for the long-sought
prey: exotic wisps called supersymmetric particles � SUSY's for short.
In the Jan. 28 issue of Physical Review Letters, the scientists revealed
the results. They didn't find anything."
Developing . . .
In the meantime, you might want to read "Subjective Evolution of Consciousness" for something a little more substantial.
So High, So Beautiful, So Enchanting�
It Is Heart-Swallowing!
Srila Govinda Maharaja: "Sushir Kumar Gosh, in the time of Bhaktivinode Thakur, was preaching Mahaprabhu�s conception: some things wrong, some things right. He published, Amiya Nimai Charit [Lord Gauranga]. It was so famous at that time."
Even Srila Guru Maharaja read it in his college days and said he "devoured it like nectar." Later, after coming to Gaudiya Math he heard Srila Saraswati Thakur�s opinion: "He has presented the Gauranga of his imagination." He found nothing substantial there.
Another gentlemen wrote a commentary on the Antya Lila of Chaitanya Charitamrita, after he had lost his wife, comparing what he felt in separation from her to the divine madness of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Rabindranath has also written on separation, but in the inverse: using the divine separation of Gaudiya Vaishnavism to express mundane love.
Srila Govinda Maharaja: "The pure, substantial conception of Mahaprabhu, is presented by Bhaktivinode Thakur. Their respective standards of devotion cannot be compared. Therefore Bhaktivinode Thakur was aptly called the "seventh Goswami."
Srila Sridhar Maharaja: "Krishna prema is so high and attractive that once coming in contact with it, no one can maintain his life without it. It is so high, so beautiful, so enchanting�it is heart-swallowing! It is impossible to even conceive of it. Divine love of such a high degree is known as prema. That divine love of Krishna is not to be traced in this world. If by chance someone had any experience of that high and vital kind of devotion, then by any separation from that�he would die instantly. It is so beautiful and magnanimous. We are out only to search for that divine love in this world. And Mahaprabhu descended to distribute that for our sake.
"When we consider the magnitude of the wealth given by Bhaktivinode Thakur, we must conclude, that it was not recently achieved. He was not a practitioner, but an eternal associate of the Lord, who descended from the highest plane, to distribute the wealth of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to the modern world."
Sunday, April 28, 2002 Novosibirsk, Siberia
SuperConductors of Divine Current�The Infinite Power of Negativity
The last time I was in Siberia [December, 2001] I made some notes: "It is 30 degrees below zero and my thoughts turn to the infinite power of negativity�"
Generally people are inclined to think that by the power of positive thinking, creative visualization, self-affirmation��I adore myself�, they will achieve success in life and realize their potential. We are told, "Believe in yourself," "Just Do It!" etc. But if the reins of self-restraint are unbridled in the name of self-discovery, how far will the horse-like senses go? An ad a few years back unashamedly suggested the bottom line: "Total indulgence�zero guilt."
In a New York Times article titled, The Trouble with Self-Esteem, Psychologist Lauren Slater writes: "We have long held in this country the Byronic belief that human nature is essentially good or graceful, that behind the sheath of skin is a little globe of glow to be harnessed for creative uses."
This system of thought, humanism, has become the advertising campaign for a self-centered existence. Which is fine I suppose, if you are the center of existence. If however, you are not the center of existence, it could be problematic, especially, when the waves of one�s self-interest collide with the egocentric waves of others who conceive of themselves as the center of existence.
"Self-esteem, as a construct, as a quasi religion," observes Slater, "is woven into a tradition that both defines and confines us as Americans. If we were to deconstruct self-esteem, to question its value, we would be, in a sense, questioning who we are, nationally and individually. We would be threatening our self-esteem."
Confining? Yes, because one of the unintended consequences of this Weltanschauung is the inability to recognize value or greatness in others, either individually, or collectively, as in other cultures: what to speak of greatness ad infinitum�Divinity.
Slater continues: "It has not been much disputed, until recently, that high self-esteem�defined quite simply as liking yourself a lot, holding a positive opinion of your actions and capacities�is essential to well-being and that its opposite is responsible for crime and substance abuse and prostitution and murder and rape and even terrorism.
"This all makes so much sense that we have not thought to question it. The less confidence you have, the worse you do; the more confidence you have, the better you do; and so the luminous loop goes round." But recently researchers have begun "to consider the unexpected notion that self-esteem is overrated and to suggest that it may even be a culprit, not a cure.
"Last year alone there were three withering studies of self-esteem released in the United States, all of which had the same central message: people with high self-esteem pose a greater threat to those around them than people with low self-esteem�
"The research is original and compelling and lays the groundwork for a new, important kind of narrative about what makes life worth living�if we choose to listen, which might be hard. One of this country's most central tenets, after all, is the pursuit of happiness, which has been strangely joined to the pursuit of self-worth. Shifting a paradigm is never easy."
For prejudices to lift, we must be prepared to radically alter our thinking if we are to perceive something like humility in relation to empowerment and not debilitation. And this is especially true when applied to spiritual realization.
Establishing perspective is the foundation of spiritual life [sambandha j�ana]. We must objectively assess our self, our life situation, and our potential for relation with others including divinity, from our present position in the environment. A realistic appraisal establishes comparative importance: The relative position of the Absolute. Once this is known adjustments can be made. To rephrase this argument spiritually: What should be the conscious finite�s attitude in relation to the SuperConscious Infinite? Humility is a good starting point.
We could say that humility is the spiritual temperature conducive to divine revelation and the cessation of karmic activity. You are ready to work on behalf of the Other as represented by His own.
Proximity to greatness instills feelings of humility. Standing atop Everest one�s identity is eclipsed by rapture. If one becomes overwhelmed in appreciation of the creative flow of another it is not necessarily indicative of low self-esteem.
We attribute greatness in an artist to the degree they are absent in their work. The mystical flow from an artist and subsequent "conspicuous by absence" presence in their work is a symptom of genius, not an inability to express oneself.
Similarly, to the degree that one has perceived depth in Divinity, subsequently there is a parallel inverse realization of one�s finitude. When spiritual adepts express self-deprecating sentiments, it should not be misread as lacking self-esteem, rather they are overflowing with divine current. It is an outward expression indicative of inner depth of experience. They may even defer to the necessity and hankering of their audience, as divine flow passes through them.
Just as the concept of Superconductivity is that certain ceramics conduct electric current with negligible internal resistance at temperatures near absolute zero. Similarly, at a particular depth of realization�proximity to the Absolute�with the accompanying humility, one becomes a Superconductor of divinity on account of zero internal resistance to divine current.
�To Be Continued . . .
Beauty Over Power: In a New York Times article, "Beauty
is Back" A.O.Scott writes, "At the end of the 19th century, Oscar Wilde
declared that ��one does not see anything until one sees its beauty.���
We could also say that one does not properly conceive Divinity until that
conception transcends power and reaches the plane of beauty.
Srutasrava Prabhu reports from Kolkata, India:
"Srila Maharaja's health is better than I have seen
in years. He is much stronger than he was the last time we were there,
and the type of speaking he has been doing has been inconceivable. As always,
it is moving in a crooked way, so that makes it even better.
Sometimes, he will come back in the evening, sit down and see
someone and then start talking about that person. In the next hour he has
spoken about every aspect of Krishna consciousness that exists.
The other night he started with "not seeing the faults in a Vaishnava" and ended with Narahari's sloka about how impossible it is that such a womanizer as Krishna, who does so many mischievous things with the young girls of Vrindavan, has now become a sannyasi who can't tolerate even hearing the name of a woman. And there was everything in the middle."
"Prabhus�can't we all just get along?"
Srila Prabhupada�s genius was in converting "sectarian spirit" into a competition of dedication.
I am reminded of a story Srila Guru Maharaja told about the Gaudiya Math days. A Godbrother came out of Srila Saraswati Thakur's room eager to share with someone the praise he had just received. With great pride he told Sridhar Maharaja, "And then Prabhupada said I was extraordinary. . . and unparalleled in service . . . etc.
Without looking up, Srila Sridhar Maharaja quoted a line from the Bhagavatam. The Godbrother's Sanskrit was limited and he couldn't comprehend what was being said. So he approached a senior, pundit sannyasi, Godbrother who began to laugh, "Sridhar Maharaja said that? Oh ho!"
Exasperated he begged, "Tell me what it means!"
The Maharaja replied: "It is from Rasa Lila: Each Gopi thought that Krishna was hers and hers alone."
So it appears this type of sentiment has its place, but once again, there is "relative consideration and Absolute consideration," and "religion means proper adjustment" of the two.
"Show your form and claim your name."
Srila Govinda Maharaja was asked about Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur�s position regarding "siddha pranali" [the practice of meditating upon one�s actual spiritual relationship, age, name, form, group, dress, orders, residence, service, etc.] He said, "Srila Saraswati Thakur practically eliminated these words from his dictionary. He used to say, �Show your form and claim your name� He considered the mass of people as conditioned souls, and that "siddha pranali," as described by Bhaktivinode Thakur, is an aspiration of the advanced and practiced by the liberated section [siddhi lalasa].
To show the extent to which people "don�t get it," Srila Govinda Maharaja has even quoted Vivekananda�s response, when asked about madhura rasa: "He who cannot catch a garter snake, wants to catch a cobra."
Lastly he has referenced Chandidas saying, "You must be able to capture an elephant with a spider web."
Hello . . .
Russian translation...
Hitler and Russia�Offensive for Offensive
Where should one place emphasis: personal development or preaching to others?
Preaching is indispensable for personal development. Preaching should not be considered separately. Mahaprabhu and Bhagwat both assert that preaching is the greatest help to ones self-realization. Kirtanam means reproduction. To receive and to reproduce: kirtan. A sincere man who is reproducing will get something new�a push from inside�inspiration. So kirtan has been considered to be the highest method.
Why? Because you cannot but be all attentive when you are reproducing something to others. Within, when you are trying to meditate, smaranam, or when hearing a lecture, sravanam, you may be absentminded. But when you are talking to someone you cannot be absentminded, you must concentrate otherwise you will speak irrelevantly. So internal culture reaches the extreme when you are reproducing. As you have already heard, received, you have to reproduce that�if you are properly making kirtan. You can�t speak at random�you must be give your full attention. And every fiber of your body and mind will be engaged unconsciously. So cultivation achieves its most advanced stage in kirtan.
And also the environment that has come to attack you is disinfected by kirtan. And many others are also being fed�not only you. It is offensive for offensive.
In the last stage of the war between Hitler and Russia, defense could not give the desired result. So offensive for offensive�that method was taken up in the last period of the war. Offensive. So in the present age Kali Yuga, the environment is offensive and if you are passive, it will try to enter you. Additionally, unable to utilize your full energy for meditation, you may be absentminded and prone to attack. So offensive for offensive is recommended. Srila Saraswati Thakur used to say kirtan means a fight: A fight to establish the Krishna conception of divinity in opposition to the Mayic misconception. So full concentration is automatically achieved when preaching.
�Conception by Srila Sridhar Maharaja
"Here is Mr. Ghosh!"
Srila Sridhar Maharaja speaks on the necessity of recognizing substance over form for spiritual progress.
We are slaves of the truth. We are beggars for the pure current of truth that is constantly flowing: the fresh current. We are not charmed by any formality. I will bow down my head wherever I find the river of nectar coming down to me. When one is conscious that the Absolute Truth is descending to him from the highest domain, he will think, "I must surrender myself here."
Mahaprabhu says to Ramananda Raya, kiba vipra, kiba nyasi, sudra kene noy, jei krishna-tattva vetta sei guru hoy. "Wherever the truth appears, wherever the nectar of divine ecstasy descends, I shall offer myself as a slave. That is my direct concern." Whatever form it takes doesn't matter much; the form has some value, but if there is any conflict, the inner spirit of a thing should be given immense value over its external cover. Otherwise, if the spirit has gone away, and the bodily connection gets the upper hand, our so-called spiritual life becomes sahajiya, a cheap imitation.
When we are conscious of the real substance of Krishna consciousness, the real wealth we are receiving from our spiritual master, then our spiritual life cannot be sahajiyaism, imitationism. We must be aware enough to detect our guru's advice when we find it in another. One who is awake will see, "Here is my guru's advice, I find it here in this man. Somehow or other, it has come here. How, I do not know, but I see my guru's characteristics, his dealings, and behavior in this person." When we are able to recognize a thing for its intrinsic value, then, wherever we find it, we cannot neglect it.
T here is an example of this in an instance regarding
Aurobindo Ghosh, of Pondicherry. He was the first leader of the Anarchist
Party and practically the founder of the revolutionary movement in Bengal.
In 1928, a case against him was proceeding in Calcutta High Court. A famous
attorney, Mr. Norton, was in charge of the prosecution. Aurobindo had absconded,
and when the case was going on, he was not to be found anywhere. Norton
was concerned. How to find him? Aurobindo's English was very good. He had
been educated in England from childhood, and could speak English even better
than many Englishmen. Norton began to search through different papers and
magazines for Aurobindo's writing. Finally, he found Aurobindo's style
of writing in the Amrita Bazaar Patrika, a Bengali newspaper. "Here is
Mr. Ghosh!" He said. The editor of the Amrita Bazaar Patrika was summoned
to court to find out whether Aurobindo Ghosh had written the article. Norton
examined him:
This is your paper. You must know who has written this article. You are the editor.
Yes, I know.
Do you know this man, Aurobindo Ghosh?
Yes, I know him. I consider him to be one of the greatest men in the world.
As the editor of this newspaper do you know who wrote this article?
Yes, I know.
Has Mr. Ghosh written this article?
I won't say.
Do you know what is the punishment?
Yes. Six months imprisonment.
You are ready for that?
Yes, I am ready for that.
Holding up the newspaper article, Norton said, "Here is Mr. Ghosh! I rest my case."
He saw Aurobindo in his writing, and in a similar way we must see, "Here is my Gurudev!" Our spiritual master would also sometimes say of one of his disciples who had departed, "Bhaktivinode Thakur came to me, but I could not recognize him." Those whose divine vision is awakened are always seeing signs of divinity everywhere.
Merrymaking in Vrindavan
Srila Sridhar Maharaja on the dissolution of false ego, and entering the plane of divine sweetness�Vrindavan.
When we come in connection with Krishna gradually we will realize that our environment is friendly to us. When the reactions of our previous actions disappear, we will find that every wave is carrying good news to us. When our egoistic attitude vanishes, we will find our self in the midst of sweet waves all around. We should try to do away with whatever wrong we have done hitherto. We must do our duty and never expect any definite result, but cast it towards the infinite.
And then one day will come when our egoistic feeling will dissolve and from within, our real self, a member of the infinite world, will spring up and awaken, and we will find ourselves in the sweet waves of that environment. There, everything is sweet. The breeze is sweet, the water is sweet, the trees are sweet�whatever we come in contact with is sweet, sweet, sweet.
Ego is our enemy, and to dissolve ego, we must do our duty as we think fit, but never expect any response according to our will. If we adopt this karma-yoga then in no time we will find that the wrong ego, which was always expecting something crooked for its selfish purpose, has vanished; the broad, wide ego within has come out, and we are in harmony with the whole universe. The harmonious world will appear before us, and the cover of selfish desires will disappear.
The cause of our disease is not outside us, but within us. A paramahamsa Vaishnava, a saint of the highest platform, sees that everything is all right. He finds nothing to complain about. When one can see that everything is good and sweet to the furthest extreme, he comes to live in the plane of divinity. Our false ego creates only disturbance, and that ego should be dissolved. We should not think that the environment is our enemy. We must try hard to detect God�s grace in whatever comes to us, even if it comes as an apparent enemy. Everything is the grace of the Lord, but we can't see it; rather, we see the opposite. The dirt is in our eyes.
Actually, everything is divine. It is all the grace of the Lord. The disease is in our eyes. We are diseased, and if the disease is cured, we shall find that we are in the midst of a gracious world. Only the coverings of desire deceive us from having a real estimation of the world. A bonafide student of the devotional school will accept such an attitude towards the environment and towards the Lord. We have to think that God�s will is everywhere. Even a blade of grass cannot move without the sanction of the Supreme Authority. Every detail is detected and controlled by Him. We have to look upon the environment with optimism. The pessimism is within us. Our ego is responsible for all sorts of evil.
This is Vaishnavism. If we can do this, then in no time, our disease will be cured, and we'll be in the midst of infinite blissfulness. Our tendency at present is to cure what we see on the outside. We think, �I want everything to follow my control, my sweet will. When everything obeys me, then I will be happy.� But we must take just the opposite attitude. As Mahaprabhu has said:
trinad api sunicena
taror api sahisnuna
amanina manadena
kirtaniyah sada harih
We should create no resistance against our environment. Still, if some undesirable things come towards us, we should tolerate that with our utmost patience. And even if someone attacks us we won�t become violent; we must practice forbearance to the extreme. We shall honor everyone; we will seek no honor.
In this way, with the least amount of energy and time we can attain the highest goal: the plane where Krishna Himself is living. That is the most fundamental plane of existence. At that time, all the encasements covering the soul will vanish and die, and the inner soul will awaken and find that he is playing in a sweet wave, dancing and merry-making in Vrindavan, with Krishna and his devotees. And what is Vrindavan? It is neither a fable, nor a concocted story. The broadest and widest plane of the whole universe is beauty, sweetness, and blissfulness, and that is present in Vrindavan in all its fullness. We have to dive deep into that plane of reality.
Our ego has floated us on the surface of trouble in maya�illusion. Concoction, and the search for selfish satisfaction have taken us here, and these must be dissolved once and for all. And then from within, our golden selves will come out, and we will find that we are in the plane of a happy dancing mood, with Krishna in Vrindavan.
Majority Report�Much Ado About Nothing
Srila Sridhar Maharaja paraphrases Sukadev Goswami's
opening remarks to Parikit Maharaja.
There is no end of ways by which we can utilize our senses. There are thousands of engagements by which all the senses are kept so busy that they find no time for leisure. They are mostly all engaged in serving those that do not know the true necessity of the real self. Those who do not know their own want and home are traveling in a foreign land endlessly working to try to satisfy their curiosity. There is no proper diagnosis but they are very busy in treatment: that is the situation to be found in the world. But self-realization, atma-tattvam, is such an important thing.
One of proper, normal understanding will therefore accept the necessity of revealed truth. Revealed truth does not rely on the majority consideration of the abnormal thinkers. Srauta-pantha means revealed truth, and that must come from the perfect realm: from God Himself. So here is established the indispensable necessity of the Srauta-pantha, the method of revelation. It must come from the perfect realm, from sarvaj?a:the quarter of omniscience. We find that there are thousands of engagements in those that are unconscious of their own real interest. They are very busy, but very busy about nothing. What do we see if we look around?
The Bhagavatam says that people are absorbed day and night in mundane pursuits: �At night, either sleep or playing with women. And the daytime is spent either in search of money or by serving relatives.
In this world we tend to group with those we can exploit. We are surrounded by those who supply our sense enjoyment, our sense pleasure. We are fully engrossed in their interest and only use them for our own sense pleasure. We are so much engrossed in that sort of false duty that we have not the leisure to find out about our own death that is drawing near towards us. Seeing, but not seeing. It is a plain thing: everyone is going to the jaws of death with the mood, "I see but still I can't see. I don't care to see and so I don't see. And this is the peculiar position I hold now. The danger, the final danger is approaching and I am asleep to that. I don't care to take notice of that greater duty." What can be more strange than this?
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