19820824 Evening Darśana

(Disclaimer: The following is a machine-generated transcript and may contain errors or inaccuracies. It will be reviewed and verified against the original audio soon.)

The following is an Evening Darśana lecture given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on August 24, 2002 – in Atlanta, USA.

We are reading yesterday from Śrīla Prabhupāda’s poem worshipping Kṛṣṇa and Vrindavan. Shall I read some more? Koto planakore tara bhalota kivari prakriti bhangiya dea sabha bharebharide doivihesha gunamai bhagawani māyā bhalo takaratobujo bhalo korebaya keho balonaihita tobu balo bole ibhave māyā sabha bhaṭṭa jīva chole cholanaya bhuli jīva sarbo dama jagul māyā lagi monetobubangītāna kobul. So śrīla hero father saying, quoting the english word plan. How many plans? How many plans do all the materialists make so that they can stay very nicely? They can remain nicely, but all of their plans are broken by the cruel hand of mother nature. Bhagawan says that the material nature is my own potency. So we should understand what the real meaning of. Yes, I am very well, I am very happy. What is the actual methodology in this material world?

In spite of everyone not being good, everyone says, yes, I am very well, I am very fine, thank you. Very well. I am good, feeling quite nice. So in this way, the material nature cheats the condition of souls. And in this cheating process, the living entity forgets and instead is always absorbed in trying to enjoy fruitlessly these senses. So chasing after this phantasmagoria, the illusion of Māyā, the living entity finally dies. And then finally, all of the illusions that they have created are broken once and for all. It’s the end of verse six. So everyone is making so many plans to be happy. And if you ask people how they are doing, they will say, well, not so bad, or doing all right, because they have all got plans.

And accordingly, if they’re making some progress on their plan, then they think that, well, things are going all right, just like they had a plan to go to the moon. So as they’re progressing, they’re saying everything is going all right, but whether or not they went to the moon, what was gained by all this show? So, like this, the materialists have so many plans, they feel satisfied having their plan. The actual fact is that they have no scope for really achieving any happiness in this material world because they are not at all of the material world. They are actually spiritual entities. So rather they compromise with the material nature. And in spite of suffering so many types of miseries in the body, misery in the mind, misery from other living entities, miseries from natural causes. They’re constantly experiencing these miseries. But they become accustomed.

They take it for granted. So they think that comparatively or relatively, everything is all right. Sometimes it’s better. They think, well, it’s all right. They don’t realize that this is not at all the purpose of life. And rather that they’re simply fruitlessly wasting their life. So this whole material nature is cheating them in this way. That they think. That prophet gave the example before. A man is lying on his deathbed and you ask him how he’s feeling. And that day when he has clean sheets, someone said that, well, he thinks, well, it’s very nice. I am very happy today. This is our position. We are continuously suffering. And one day, if it’s a little less, we think, well, today is all right. Very good time.

See, we’re struggling and struggling person, if he gets somehow a little bit on top of things, he thinks that now and really victorious, everything is great. But just to finally break any doubt, if one had that there’s no possibility of any absolute success in this material world. The cruel hand of death comes and ends everything. So better that the living entities realize that making plans to survive permanently in this material world is as fruitless as decorating a dead body. There’s no purpose to it. Rather, one should make plans how to return back to home, back to Godhead. One should make plans how to return to one’s original spiritual consciousness. Material happiness comes without making any plans. You don’t have to plan to become happy materially. But rather, one should plan and should endeavor to achieve spiritual perfection to achieve Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Even if this means that material sense gratification should be regulated or for this higher purpose than it should be done. Otherwise, one will simply spend his whole life chasing after the phantasmagoria of his mental concoctions without achieving any lasting benefit. Disregard. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains in the next verse regarding this repeated plan. Making Ayrupa Brahmando bodhi jīva Koray Brahman guru Kṛṣṇa Kripai Pai Pakti Nithyodhan Sadhana Milajodi Arodhana Chari Anayasi choli jaya sansariya pari bhavapari achechi da voya chitro opa nityoshanti Nithyosuke Koraye Bihar verse seven again and again we make again and again plans are made, and again they’re broken. They’re destroyed, they’re defeated. Sometimes a person falls down on the ground, and sometimes he gets stuck in the mud. In this way, the whole universe is filled with living entities and they’re wandering about from birth to birth, from body to body.

But by the mercy of Guru and Kṛṣṇa, one can get the eternal treasure of pure devotional service, Bhakti, that real wealth. If one gets and gives up the illusory wealth of this world, then easily they can go beyond this material world of birth and death. Once you cross over this ocean of material birth and death, you will find that there a whole realm of eternal, variegated, transcendental, inconceivable and wonderful existence is there awaiting you. There you will find eternal peace, eternal happiness, where you can enjoy continuously or you can relish continuously. So here we see the comparison. On one side we have the repeated plan making and repeated defeat of those plants, the various setbacks and fall downs which a person inevitably encounters in this material world.

Sometimes a living entity may achieve the epitome of success and material life, and next moment can be cast down into the lowest regions of existence. Nothing is fixed. Just like recently famous musician John Lennon, he enjoyed a lot of popular support, but in 1 second, some madman shot him and everything was in. Similarly, in the political side that’s going on daily, Anwar Sadat was reviewing his thousands and thousands of soldiers who are supposed to be the symbol of his dominion and protection. And his own soldiers shot him dead. So there’s so many examples. Guan in AmErica, John F. Kennedy, even the present Mister Regan was shot, although he survived. So like this, the success and failure of this material world is going on in its own course. And people are wandering around the various bodies.

The living entities are going reincarnating, being born, becoming youth, middle aged, old age, dying again, taking birth with new parents. In this way, somehow or another already fortunate person gets the mercy of a bona fide spiritual master. The bona fide spiritual master knows how to give Kṛṣṇa. So when one gets Kṛṣṇa, then all this cycle of rebirth, all this cycle of material bondage, all the illusion can be destroyed very easily. We know the story of there was once a person who was worshipping Lord Shiva. He wanted to get the boon of unlimited wealth. He wanted to have a touchstone whereby anything he would touch with it would turn to gold. So Lord Shiva said, well, you can. He said, first I want the greatest thing. And he said, yes. Then he asked for a touchstone.

So then he said, oh, you can get there by seeing Sanātana Goswami in Vrindavan. So he went to Sanātana and Goswami and he asked also for the most valuable thing, Sanātana Goswami was thinking. Then he asked for a touchstone. He said, oh, touchstone. You can find it in the back, in the garbage pit. So he went back and looked in the garbage pit, and there he found the touchstone. He started touch things and found that they were turning into gold. This way he was producing quite a good amount of gold, and he was very happy. He was shouting out, I am RIch. I am rich. Gold. NATURALLY, it was a BONANZA. Then he started to meditate. That why Sanatan Goswami was keeping it just sitting in the garbage.

He went BACK and ASKed that you may be having some greater wealth than this, that you have not given me, why you kept this in the garbage? He said, definitely, I have something much more valuable than that. Do you want that? I said, yes, give me that most valuable thing. But then, if you want the most valuable thing, you have to throw away this touchstone. So it was quite a big test. But he considered well, one time he led me correctly, so I can put my faith in him. So again he threw away the touchstone, came back to Sanātana and Goswami and asked for the most valuable thing. And then Sanātana GOswamI called him over and told him, this is the MOst ValuabLe thing. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, hare. Hare.

So the desire to enjoy the wealth of the material world should be discarded. Then one can appreciate the beauty and enjoy the actual SpontAneous pleasure of this spiritual treasure. Not that to get rid of the wealth of the material world, one has to throw it away, but one has to stop enjoying it. That can be done also more effectively by offering it to Kṛṣṇa, by utilizing it in Kṛṣṇa service. So this is achieved by combination of the mercy of Guru and Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is in the heart as Chaity Guru, the constant companion, the super soul. And the guru is from outside advising the disciple, the devotee, how to advance in spiritual life.

So when one achieves the spiritual treasure and then loses the taste, gives up the enjoying mood for this material treasures, the material wealth, then it’s very easy to cross over into the spiritual realm, to cross over this bondage. So we see so many practical examples. Of course, his pastime is why this place is called Nupanihati. He was a great devotee, he was a prince. But because he was completely absorbed in relishing or Chetanya Mahāprabhu’s pastime, he wasn’t attracted to them, to the opulence. Even he was born in it. Narutam Das Thafar was also the son of a, the nephew of a king. He was eligible to be the heir to the throne. But he wasn’t interested at all as a prince. He actually wanted only to join the movement of Caytania.

Although he came just when Lord Caitanya was finishing his movement, and he was not able to directly achieve his association. Association so far that I understand. So in this way, many great souls are there. They had every opportunity to enjoy material life, even lord. But he had every facility. But he didn’t find any happiness in the material things. Rather, they went off searching this spiritual bliss, so that spiritual bliss is personified in the form of Shimati Raharani. So naturally, by joining the movement of Chichaitanya Mahat Prabhu, the full transcendental realization of Sisi Raha Kṛṣṇa and the concomitant anumadesh, spiritual happiness that goes with that is easily available.

It’s a profile that advises us, and rather than try to make plans to enjoy this material world, when those plans will always be broken, that we should wake up to the real facts and then fix our mind, fix our direction firmly towards the spiritual objective, where you can get eternal happiness, eternal peace, you can actually achieve what all the material plans fail to do. There’s a story how once a wedding party, they were coming late at night, after the performance of wedding, came to the river, but it was all very foggy, and they were also very tired. Possibly they had some rice wine, so they were a little intoxicated, and they. This was india. So they went in the asked the boatman to row across the river, and they all fell asleep. But when the morning came, they found the boatman was rowing.

They still hadn’t reached the other side. When they looked, they said, why, we’re still here on the same site? How is it possible? The whole night you’re rowing? He said, I have been rowing very diligently, but somehow I have not been able to reach the other side yet. Then they looked and they found that still the anchor was set in the mud. You fool, you didn’t pull out the anchor. How do you expect to get to the other side? So in the same way, sometimes someone makes the show of trying to achieve some spiritual progress, but then they keep the anchor stuck in the mud, how they can cross to the other side. So that way one actually has to give up the desire to enjoy the material worlds. Sayyidan, milay, Jadi, Ardhan, Chani.

Get this spiritual opportunity to be Kṛṣṇa conscious, give up the desire to be materially successful. Take whatever success comes, use it for Kṛṣṇa. But rather than try to make that as the objective, there’s no guarantee. If you’re to become successful, it will happen. If you’re not, it won’t. But you place your energy, place all the attachment for getting to the other side. That’s the thing that really matters. All the success or failure in this world is all temporary. Nothing is permanent. So there’s no use of becoming overly concerned about it at all. Rather, one should simply concentrate on becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious. That is the rare opportunity. Prabhupda has brought that all over the world. Now we have the opportunity to become Kṛṣṇa conscious.

But even if we have every opportunity, and we make all the efforts to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, but we don’t actually give up the desire to still enjoy this material world. We keep that anchor embedded firmly in this shore. Then in spite of all the effort that we make to make progress, he won’t get to the other side. So simultaneously, as we get this spiritual wealth, we should give up the other material desires, give up our attachment to them. They may come in our mind, we don’t care for them. It’s like unwanted guests. They may come in our mind, but they don’t affect anymore. The poison fangs are broken. Once we actually simply fix as our real objective. Becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious, becoming spiritually perfected. That’s the whole purpose of human life.

Not to simply a man some kind of temporary success which will be crushed at any moment. That is the artificial standard of the modern society. And they’re being crushed at every moment. And now they want to crush out the whole world with their big amassment of nuclear weapons. They don’t realize that all their plans are failing. So just to try to somehow another adjust, they have created this huge arsenal which is not meant to help anyone, but simply to destroy it. This is the ultimate result of materialistic plans you make on plans to build your empire to enjoy. And by the very force of nature that you’re trying to exploit, you become destroyed yourself. So the only solution to the imminent destruction is that actually the whole civilization has to adjust their reference point from material success to actually spiritual goals.

Otherwise, all the successes, so called advancement, that they have achieved, will simply be the cause of the destruction. Any questions? Yes. How are you, dwaning? How are you? I think you’d like to be hearing your connection, because some devotees are very much into this kind of the war. It’s so foreboding that it’s so imminent. And what seems like at Marauri especially, there are devotees that are into this consciousness, and they feel a great need that we become self sufficient to prepare for this nuclear Holocaust. How constructive of a mentality. Do you feel what that is, to always be feeling this pressure, that it’s not really a problem. The problem is what the person does this. Hiddha Prabhupāda wanted our crown projects to be self sufficient. Whatever impetus will bring that about can’t be bad, and one can’t.

One can’t just renounce the idea that Holocaust may happen. Śrīla Prabhupāda did mention many things, and the world is not really going leaps and bounds towards any kind of peaceful situation. Nonetheless, we go on with our work of preaching, but in our far communities, their purpose is to become self sufficient. And since if the preaching fails, there will be holocaust, then it’s unconstructed. If a person uses it as an excuse to not perform devotional service, use that idea as an impetus to increase one’s devotional service. Of course, we don’t get very upset about it. In one sense, it’s not like the frantic situation of the materialist that we. We try our best. We’re depending on Kṛṣṇa to help us, because we know that any materialist, they make some plan, that plan may or may not succeed.

So we just go on mainly concentrating on being Kṛṣṇa conscious and then doing our respective duties. We’re advancing the Kṛṣṇa conscious movement. So building up self sufficient farm communities is one of the objectives that certainly would be a great asset in times of any international holocaust, should they happen. And should they not happen, it’s still very good to have self sufficient fish and farm communities. It’s just that if somebody becomes so upset that they somehow know, they become hysterical and give up devotional service for some kind of frantic survival attempt, that would be a very unconstructive mentality. One can be very optimistic about the present state of affairs in the world, because the people are very materialistic, and there’s not any sign that they’re changing in their direction. So one can but be a bit pessimistic.

Of course, the devotees, they have an ultimate optimism in terms of the inconceivable potency of Kṛṣṇa, that he can do anything. On the other hand, Kṛṣṇa jitaman prapadyang teitang satyava bajamya, that he rewards according to someone’s method of approaching him. So right now, the method is such that Kṛṣṇa rewards accordingly, then it’s another cause for pessimism. So then we have of course, the inconceivable mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And if the devotees continue expanding the Sankirta movement, well, that can lead unlimited souls on the correct path, and that could actually change the whole misdirection. So devotees living in their cities, they should go on preaching, those living in the firm project, they should go on striving for self sufficiency. And everyone should strive to be Kṛṣṇa conscious, which is the real self sufficiency, eternal self sufficiency. Then everything will be perfect.

Yoga means don’t eat too much, don’t eat too little, don’t sleep too much, don’t sleep too little. So everything has got its moderation. Everything in a proper proportion is good. Too much proportion or too little proportion, it may be bad. So being pessimistic about the material situation can be good if it’s too much, it can be negative if it’s too little. Also, if one is too much optimistic about everything, even though many obvious signs of future problems are there, that can also be bad. So Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the positive alternative. It’s the actual middle way. Is that all right? Who is that out there? Charity. He has a christian sand Tallahassee new preaching center. Any other questions? Yes, sure. Sorry. I remember reading something to the effect that my vision was generated in two universities. And then the mother daughter creates universal services.

Anyone answer? He’s saying that in one place in the scripture it says that Mahavishma generates the universes. And then another place, says Durga, is created in the. Durga is in charge of creation. One’s the mother, one’s the father. Material energies, the material energy is under my control according to my desire as acting. Ravishnu produced the universes from the pores of his body. And subsequent creation is done all by the agency of material energy, Kṛṣṇa Mah, subsequently BRaHma, by their desire. Then automatically the material nature is the agent which is crossing the creation. So who’s the agent of Brahma? Jordan, the first creator, that all the ingredients are created by Mahaprishna. So he also creates Durga. Durga is his expansion, his energy. So that’s coming from Mahavishnon. So then BraHmA takes those ingredients and forms them into different bodies and different planets.

And that also is not just taking a hammer and nails and forming it. There’s a subtle way of forming just by desiring automatically. The material nature is a system. You become a Brahma, then you can learn. Not like the modern day scientists put together the Frankenstein, or at least the fiction writers, if they have subtle seeds which are given by Kṛṣṇa, those seeds. From the seed comes the form, whatever type of being they want. Then the seed is provided and from that seed the form is like a chain of command. The material nature doesn’t move on their own. She is static. The living entities are dynamic. Either Mahavishnu is initially moving her and subsequently Brahma moves the already existing forms, elements and further develops. Is this the order?

Is this a personified being or just a general material personality comes first and the energy comes second. Just like you have consciousness over your body with your mind you may be able to be controlling so many things or maintain different ways. You can expand your energies. Well, she’s all this is her expansion. At the same time, she’s got her personal form, the material energy and the illusory potency. Your God’s purpose is to keep them as living entities, conditioned in the material world. So this is her material energy. She does it with all this energy. Kṛṣṇa is the owner. Brahma is the manager. Factory workers in Fort motor may never see Mister Ford. I just see the manager at works. The demigods, they don’t even see Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa. Only Brahman. He can meditate and send a message.

Sometimes he sees, but then he guys, they don’t even get to see Kṛṣṇa except on some rare occasion. How insignificant we are. And devotee. After a little bit of serving, he thinks already that somehow he’s very high in relation to Kṛṣṇa. And that immediately his eternal relationship is revealed in his mind. He thinks of now I. The mercy of Chaitanya can happen, but quickly. But one should remain always very humble. Not be subjected to the delusions. We’re very insignificant. How does Kṛṣṇa has God’s mercy? He says, guru. By Guru’s mercy we have a chance to actually get in touch with Kṛṣṇa. An inconceivable good fortune. We should be careful not to lose heritage. But nowadays that’s no longer been an objective.

Be a good moral person, praise the Lord, do all nonsense, whatever you can get away with, or even if you’re a good moral person. But just there’s no conception of who God is, how to approach him, no attachment for God. Very little. If I tell you should love my friend. My friend’s very nice. You say, well, what’s his name? I don’t know. What does he look like? I can’t say. What does he do? I don’t know. He’s very wonderful. Whatever his friends like. Nice. After a while you get frustrated. So like that. The Marx and other atheists, they said, well, you don’t need God. Actually, when people are financially crippled, then God is a yemenite. But once you have enough money, you don’t need God. So there’s no need for religion in the world. All we need is financial economic development.

Once everything is worked out economically, then God becomes a superfluous thing. It’s just created by the need of people that created God. So basically, Marx’s theory is very popular even amongst the capitalist in terms of this aspect. That’s why, because the basic theory that the whole world is being managed now is godless. God is not being put in the center. So as a result, people are becoming more interested in their financial development. That same thing is described, Prabhupāda described many times in the Bhāgavatam, that people, when they’re in distress or need money, they go to pray to Kṛṣṇa, pray to God, help. Once they get what they want, they forget. So that’s the whole theory of communism. Just get to financial. You don’t need religion at all.

Of course, despite of all the efforts, not able to maintain financially in Poland or even in Russia, because they’re not the controllers of material nature. They go on breaking material laws and they get punished. And then they wonder why they’re not successful. Then there are the philosophers say, well, if you follow all the laws, then even then you don’t need God, just follow all the material laws. So ancient vedic philosophers knew the laws, they knew the law of karma. But even then, if you offend Kṛṣṇa still, then you can’t escape getting various problems. Ultimately, he has to grant your desire. It’s not that he’s a silent partner. Silent, but he can. He’s always active also. So even though material nature seems to be going on automatically, Kṛṣṇa is giving his sanctions, just like in the. And the governments were.

I don’t know this government, but in parliamentary form of government, the secretaries, they do all the work and just the minister gives his signature. In fact, sometimes he doesn’t even give his signature, he just looks at it. And if he doesn’t object, he says, you can give your signature. The secretary gives the signature, but without the minister’s approval, without being according to his plan, they won’t sign anything. But they’re the one asked to sign. It’s not that the ministry is too big a person. They have to go signing all these orders. So like that Kṛṣṇa, he gives his sanction. If any time he says no, it can’t happen. So the material is. They like to think that Kṛṣṇa is not a factor at all. It’s just the material law.

Then when they become offensive to Kṛṣṇa like that work against the plan of the Lord, then he doesn’t allow them to succeed. Because the whole purpose of the material world is for people to come back to Kṛṣṇa. Materialistic civilizations where the people are not trying to cooperate with Kṛṣṇa, they can’t do something. They won’t let it. They will reach a certain point. And if they are not able to at that time achieve God consciousness that they’re not able to be spiritually connected, then they will collapse like so many empires in the past. Just now, because it’s Kali yuga, things happen quickly. As Kaliyuga goes on, empires can fall in a few minutes. Now, with these atomic weapons, they say they can knock off two thirds of the world.

(Side B of the Cassette)

That’s just a bunch of rubble heaps. Pick up the pieces. Survival of the fish that way. They said that the most prone to survive are the third world countries, especially India, because they’re not at all dependent only about a maximum 25% or something might perish from the radioactivity and all that stuff. In general, I said, the biggest casualty won’t be from the blast, it will be just from the whole supply system breaking down. No one knows how to live. 97% people live in an urban area now. In America. Yeah, they don’t know how to eat except all the tv dinners. All the lettuce are grown in San Jose valley or something in California. And all the cucumbers that have grown somewhere else. What are you going to do when they’re not able to ship anymore?

They don’t even, like, grow lettuce anywhere else practically anymore. Like india, everybody grows all their own vegetables, all their own rice, all their own. Right there. They got cows here, all the tractors. Everything going to be grounded, but there won’t be any fuel supply. This recently happened about three years ago in England. There was a huge boycott. England wasn’t able to get petroleum products then. They offered farmers 100 pounds per day or something if they would take a six week course on how to plow with oxen and horses in case of a complete blockade, so that they would know how to survive. Because at that time, tractors won’t run. That’s the 20th has three years. In all the papers. They’re offering a special course. I am sure if we offered a course, like a lot of people come by and want to learn.

They advertise in Mother Earth magazine or something that you give a course on how to flour, cool oxen and heat and agri. Wherever they have them. I don’t know. We have them or a couple of teams. We will. People probably come just like to be interested. They don’t. Even the farmers in that area, they think it’s some other breed of cattle. They don’t realize it’s the very same they’re raising phatik. There’s some other special breed that has to be rare breed. That’s how much wear they’re attracted to.

Yada nami shaisha tini janos randari rasay, vayasa raso rasika bhavuka sebi hoyta Boss santodasakovasa sarva rasa, sreshta madhu rasasa chit jagati rasav hoyu padaya māyā tela chayamatra gintu sabohaya Prabhupāda is saying that the childish, ill informed person says that supreme, absolute truth is all formless, that it is without any quality, just like a big zero, a big void. But Prabhupāda, he denies that, no, the Lord is a reservoir of all transcendental, mellows qualities, emotions. He quotes the Vedas raso vaisha, that he is made of transcendental, mellow rasa, rasik, bhavuk sebay, hoyta arbos. Rather, someone who is absorbed in transcendental, ecstatic love for Godhead, is serving him and is completely under his shelter, and he also reciprocates with them.

And the different type of relationships are neutrality, servitude, friendship, parental, and the topmost of all the transcendental relationships, madhuja or conjugal love, the essence of all the transcendental mellows, transcendental world, Rasa, is the summon substance. It’s the basic ingredient, the basic flavor of everything. In this material world. Everything is a shadow of that original relationships that are in the spiritual sky. But although it’s a shadow, everything is here. Thus, end of 8th verse. So Prabhupāda took us to the spiritual world, from the material world. We started off in material illusion, came to Vrindavan, saw the futility of material relations, saw the futility of material plans. Then finally we came to the understanding of the spiritual objective, the spiritual world, filled with spiritual bliss, eternal happiness, peace.

So now we’re coming to the point that some philosophers, they’re saying that, well, everything is impersonal, everything is void. And Prabhupāda is denying that. No, it’s not the understanding that actually the spiritual world, everything has got unlimited variety, and that variety is especially realized through various service relationships with the Lord Rasa, transcendental melo, ecstatic emotions of pure reciprocation of love with the supreme personality of Godhead, principle being neutrality, servitude, friendship, parental and finally conjugal love. The idea is that whatever we have within us, because we’re small particles of the supreme personality of Godhead, we can understand that those same things must be within him, only within us.

They may be imperfect, they may be perverted, they may be somehow manifested through material world in some inadequate way, while in his personality they are perfect and they don’t have any of the inebriates which we will find in the material world. The awe and reverence in a neutral relationship is in the material world. Some people are very, they admire some of the great personalities, but they don’t. It doesn’t take any further step. They just admire a great artist, a great political leader. So in the spiritual world, there are those that are in a passive way. They admire, they respect, they have that very passive type of love. Next stage is those who actually do some service, and beyond that is friendship. Just as in this world there are friends. So that means kṛṣṇa also has friends.

But in this world, their friends are naturally, everything is manifested through the bodies. So the bodies are not perfect, their friendships don’t, even if they are near perfect. But at the ultimate issue, they all end at death. And generally friendship means simply a reciprocation of giving each other material sense, pleasure. Similarly, with parental love, just as we have mother and father, the mother wants to take care of the child wants to be taken care of by the mother. The Kṛṣṇa also has the same mood. So he takes a devotee, puts him in the position of mother and father, and he puts himself under their care. Similarly, just as in this world, there is a man wants to enjoy with a woman wants to enjoy with the man. That feeling is there. But here everything is being manifested through material bodies.

So that original feeling is coming from Kṛṣṇa, but here is like a shadow, so it’s not the same. Some transformation is there, but the original feeling is ultimately coming from Kṛṣṇa. So when he wants to enjoy with a beautiful woman, he wants to be served by a woman. Then he expands him from his own self, his internal potency, his pleasure potency in the form of a beautiful woman. And he enjoys that is a purely spiritual activity. But because it’s existing there in the spiritual, therefore we find its shadow form, representation here in the material world. So the idea that the ultimate supreme reality is void or doesn’t have quality is completely untenable.

It must have everything we have here, but in the most perfect, eternal and full aspect, not that it would have less than what we have in the material world, actually, it has much more. Here, love is temporary, it’s misdirected. There, it’s perfectly directed. So if someone wants to experience real love, then that can only be experienced in relationship with the supreme person. In this world, we can only find some limited perversions, shadows of what real love is. So Kṛṣṇa himself is filled with all these transcendental loving emotions, all these transcendental flavors. He’s not impersonal. Supreme truth is never impersonal. This Kṛṣṇa conscious movement coming down from Kṛṣṇa and from Caitanya Mahara is revealing these most esoteric secrets about the supreme truth, the epitome of realization of these hidden truths, or the highest understanding. Not just saying.

Everyone may say they have the highest understanding, but actually in an objective way. The most detailed, scientific, systematic, and complete explanation of the material world, of the spiritual world, is actually available in the teaching of Caitanya Mahāprabhu and his teachings of Bhagavad Dharma, of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, which he propagated from the original vedas. And anyone is invited to give an objective hearing, to give an open minded hearing, to see what the teachings are, see what the descriptions are, and whether there’s any more complete description, they can judge for themselves. We stand on our books. We stand. Books are our basis. Sometimes people object because the Vaishnavas, or the pure devotees of Kṛṣṇa, they claim that this is the highest understanding, but there must be a highest understanding. It’s not that everyone has to have.

It’s the hope and aim of everyone to know what is the highest or the most complete, the complete understanding, the pure understanding of the absolute truth. So it so happens that Kṛṣṇa consciousness has that complete understanding. We invite anyone to go into the depths of it and understand. And if you feel in any respect that there’s some incompleteness and understanding of the absolute truth, then we’re always open for discussing that point. You’re not saying that. You just. We’re saying we are the truth, the way, in the light, and you like it or lump it, we won’t discuss it. No. Any question you have, whether the answer is there or not in this Kṛṣṇa conscious philosophy that you can find out, we’re not saying it in some type of dogmatic way. We’re saying it in a very open, factual, and enlightened way.

Without any doubt, there’s no higher understanding of the absolute truth than what was presented by Śrī Chetani Mahāprabhu that has been brought to the english and other western speaking countries by his divine grace, Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. And it behooves everyone to take advantage of this rare opportunity and understand what these teachings have to offer. Read his books, and by doing so, then anyone, no matter what his religion may be, will be able to have a more clear conception of what his relationship with God is. Śrīla Prabhupāda he didn’t say that one had to give up his religion. Rather, he said that the perfection of all the religions is to understand these principles of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, of pure, loving, devotional service, and to practice those. Thus, one can be perfect in his relationship with God. Irregardless of his religion or faith. Any other question? Yes.

So Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad Peter in 18th chapter, verse 66, the one should surrender to me. So we find that in the beginning it’s a little difficult to surrender as much as we should. So how can we increase it?

Work? Does it work? I didn’t know it was working.

So how can we increase the desire to solve?

How can you increase the desire? Well, there’s two ways. One is positive and one is negative. You can increase your diet by knowing more about Kṛṣṇa and by having association with devotees and by serving. Your taste will increase. Or by neglecting to do that. Māyā may kick you and that may also increase your desire. So we recommended one take the first alternative and avoid getting kicked. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness of observing a codic thing in Janmata and associating with devotees and having so many festivals and different congregational programs. It’s meant for increasing that desire to serve. But here also, I guess the secret one has to you want to get Kṛṣṇa well, but you also want material enjoyment. Give up the desire for maternal enjoyment. Then you’re going to get the taste for Kṛṣṇa. They want the cake and they want to eat it too.

How is it possible? Material enjoyment. At the same time, you know that material enjoyment is causing suffering. So you want to have also. You want to get spiritual realization without giving up material enjoyment. It’s a contradiction that material enjoyment. The whole idea is mood. Enjoying mood is the culture. Material enjoyment is not here, there for a devotee. It’s not at all enjoyment for them. What the ordinary materialists consider as enjoyment. Even a devotee does those things. He doesn’t find it particularly infatuating, doesn’t become elated when he experiences happiness and doesn’t become absorbed in fear or lamentation. When he had experienced the setbacks described in the Bhagavad Gītā, he’s already adjusted his objective to serving Kṛṣṇa rather than trying to enjoy the material world. When serving Kṛṣṇa, living in a material world, you have to eat. You have to do so many things.

 will it no longer be taoisthood? Sometimes say, do you eat to live or live to eat? Rather than eating to live, rather than living to eat, one is eating to live. Now people are living so they can eat, so THEy can sleep, so THEy can mate, so they can be fed. The body is living so we can serve Kṛṣṇa. The things are COntRAdicted facts of life. So if one gives up that enjoying mood and rather accepts a service move, the more one can do that, the more one will want to surrender to kṛṣṇa. Is there any water this time?

In the course of everyday practical service, one has a tendency to get behind and get rounds. And I am still probably saying one must make those rounds up the next day. One gets really for behind. Does he have to make those rounds up or does he discontiNue?

That’s why a spiritual master releases one coming over. Who else is there to release? Take an oath that you’re going to do something. Unless the spiritual master to whom you made the oath give some type of alternative instruction. Then when application is remaining, Mexico is in debt to America. There’s no american bankers, international bankers, whatever it may be, so they can. They could have crushed the whole economy. They have to pay it. They might decided to give them some more time. One can ask one more time, keep up the current deaths and then try to work out the bad debts. Unless one is released from those deaths, then how can you just take it that well, at least one can try to not create any more deaths. Eventually, somehow or another try to pay off the bad debts.

And if one dies with the bad debt, then at that time it will be up to the church master whether he wants to take another birth to pay it off. At least if one is trying not to accrue anymore, then may be able to. But if one is able to keep up with it, well, there’s a much better chance. We have no alternative but to depend on their mercy. Try as best we can to follow as much as we can. You can’t minimize the importance of this shadow, of what the spiritual world is in the spiritual. So that means I am a female and.

Both the dominant one time I was.

And that now this comparison for me, a female has no comparison to what a female is actually. I mean, the shadow difference means there’s no comparison. You don’t have to worry about the spiritual sky right now. You should right now try to just get your saddam together and service you. Find out what the difference is between a spiritual body and when you develop your spiritual body. So now you should work on developing. It’s beyond the material world. So as you can see, the spiritual world, the former layer of men form of their woman, but their forms are there, different types. But since everything is Kṛṣṇa’s energy is considered Prakriti. So it’s like that. It’s considered here. Masculine, feminine is one thing, there is a Different. Technically speaking, Kṛṣṇa is the only mAle. Everything else is his energy. That’s different than the material things.

You don’t give him. Concerned with all what’s happening in Alok and out in Paris. At this point, you just try to get your service and you will find out what you were when you were in the spiritual sky, whether you were a Hanuman or Nanduma Raj, or whatever it may be, or a gopīk that you first of all, now you just try to fill your surface. Those things will be revealed. Any other questions? Kṛṣṇa Kasas is known as the Buddhi Yoga. Kṛṣṇa says that for someone who is constantly engaged in devotional service, he wants to come to me. I give the intelligence whereby they can come to me by praying to the spiritual Mandev, Kṛṣṇa, to the deity every day for help. By trying to do what is pleasing to Kṛṣṇa gives intelligence.

So one can see that what is material, what is motivated, what is unmotivated. That’s why it’s actually process is very simple. But because it requires actually exercising your intelligence, actually concentrating and trying in a purposeful way is considered more difficult to these yogis, who are just in a personal way, when they’re mechanically going about the thing. But here one actually has to put the whole being in. So I bet you just have to go on trying, praying for help, along with trying and praying for help and getting their mercy. These two factors push one hand, your desire is the one important factor. And then they cause this mercy. And his devotees india, they want a magic touch. There’s one famous story about Indian Swami disciple asked to give that blessing.

So suddenly there was like a lightning crack, and the disciple was knocked on and just knocked off his feet, knocked on the ground, unconscious. And the touch of the guru. And when he came conscious, the guru was just holding his head, crying, saying, I have lost all my power. Now I am completely Shakti him powerless. Everything I have given to you have taken it off. Some people believe this, showing how gullible they are. The Prophet said that it’s not like that. Guru Kipa is not coming down like that. Giving mercy to the disciple, that he becomes completely powerless or bankrupt. When one gets the strength to follow, one gets the strength to practice. When one desires for it and tries for it. It’s a gradual process, depending on the intensity of one’s desire that can speed up things.

We can only control the intensity of our desire and that we can depend on the mercy. The mercy we can control, that we can hope for. But the intensity of desire we can. That’s within our hands to some extent, so that we should work on. Have any questions? Your name? Is Diana. You were here before? When I came one time, but not any other time. When I came other months. You’re chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. You’re liking it. How many times you chant? Do you count? You got beats. I was doing all right for 78. You live nearby the temple here. So the temple is actually so that people can come and chant with devotees. We sang a song today, aka ki matai bal because when I chant alone, I don’t get the strength. When acharya, we’re singing like that.

So I am praying to you, spiritual master, give me good association so that I can chant so many devotees and I will get strength chant rounds every day. But when we chant together with so many devotees that gives us more strength. Often as you can come and chant with devotees, give you more strength. Back to Bill. Jim. Jim, you have been coming for a long time. Everything’s going all right. Making progress. Catch your eyes. Yeah, I am survived from my upper tilt plus jump some of the countries in the world where there is nothing protection. I think I have extra. If anybody wants. I have some original Māyā puritus. It is phoned up from Lima. Sadhguru devotees wedding initiation Lima, Peru preaching seasons are going quite good there. They opened up another restaurant. They have one in the temple and another one in a ritzy part of town.

I just in Stockholm, Sweden. I was just there and the government had tried trials letting the people use the radio public service certain time during the week. So it was liked so much by the public that now it’s become a law. So ISKCON there has got about 25 hours a week every day from six to 930, from six to seven, another from 930 to 1030. Like that. There’s certain slots we get every day. Total 25 hours. Every station gives so many hours every day. But I have to be careful because I could lose it. Not that you don’t. You may appreciate some. Not that they don’t feel happiness. You’re happy, no doubt. But the point is not to the extent that one loses his reference points. Similarly, there’s some difficulties. If you’re arrested or whatever it may be, some difficulty comes up.

One doesn’t become so hopeless that it loses faith in Kṛṣṇa. Just as there’s good times, sometimes there’s bad times. I mean, just depending on Kṛṣṇa, how to get out. Just like Sumatran Goswami was arrested versus the. Yes, he was arrested, but then cool headedly maintained his faith in Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa provided the way he got out of that prison, was able to join Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So we had the devotees. It’s not that. When he was in prison, he said, well, I am a devotee, so it’s all right. I can just stay here for the rest of my life. He wanted to get out of. Certainly didn’t want to remain there. Definitely a miserable situation. But not that he lost all. Why Kṛṣṇa is forcing me to suffer? Why I put here? I was a good boy. I never did any wrong.

Why is he, you know, this type of materialistic or just some kind of oh, Kṛṣṇa goddess. Dead devotees doesn’t become completely hopeless in a setback situation. Rather takes it as an opportunity to make a new advance forward. Similarly, once successful, is careful not to just forget about Kṛṣṇa and get puffed up. Because he knows that success may not be permanent. So if one is careful, then he can maintain that position. Sometimes person might want to give a class, but he won’t get any inspiration. He can’t say anything. He tries to just get off the ground. But if he properly prays to the spiritual master, get some mercy, then the class can be very inspired. Words just seem to flow. And the Kali yuga. The process is Harinam Sankirtan. Without Ka’s mercy, it’s not possible to preach it.

So we just always keep our connection with Kṛṣṇa. Otherwise we become dislocated. So neither in happiness or in distress does the devotee forget his position. Therefore, he’s studying. Like you see, when Regan or any of these people, presidents, they win the election for two days. You know, when you see the soccer, the football team or the Braves, whoever, maybe everybody completely, you know, dancing in the street. Then like these soccer teams, when they lose, then the people on Brazil commit suicide. They don’t have any reference point. They don’t know what to be happy or sad about. If the football team loses, they think we should commit suicide. It’s such a disgrace. Przvodi, he knows that well. Ultimate reference point is Kṛṣṇa. He’s pleased or displeased that I should say some success is there. Now you want to see how I use this?

Let it go to my head, forget about it. Or will I take whatever success and now further develop on it, keep up the momentum? Say a person makes his quota, then all the rest of the week I can sit back. I already made two days quota, so I can take a day off. But if she said now, let me now increase my quota a little bit. Let me try to hire in Kṛṣṇa. That way, you see, it’s very sincere prayer and giving him more facility. He’s also increasing, his increasing, not forgetting, as long as one has a material body, if you eat good food, you’re gonna taste. You’re gonna feel good about it. When your belly, you know, your stomach is filled up and you just. You’re hungry, you had a big meal, you’re going to feel some kind of satisfaction.

You can’t help it. It’s not that we deny it, that you don’t. You have senses. You’re going to have sensual experiences. But the point is that the perception of those gradually change because devotee doesn’t. He’s going to give up his devotional service because at some period of time the prasad is more austere, because it’s more abstract. You can’t chase after all these things. Sometimes you have a feast and sometimes you have a fast. So fasting and feasting for the devotee is the same. It takes everything in strife. So when you’re having success, you don’t have to worry about the difficulties may come. So in success, in failure, you just have to learn to always depend upon Kṛṣṇa when you’re successful. Not to become infatuated, not to become puffed up, not to become misled by success. When you’re done.