Vedic life style and education verse modern life style and education

Iskcon Noida

19 08 2017 [1:5536]

Every single student used to join ashram.

brahmacari gurukule vasan danto guror hitam [SB 7.12.1]

You know this was the system in good old days, old is gold. Those golden days are kind of over and we have bad present days. Good old days and bad present days. In this age of Kali when there are no more ashrams but ISKCON is opening, ISKCON is trying to revive the ancient culture of India. We have Gurukul schools also, ISKCON has Gurukul schools all over the world.

In Australia, in Vrindavan, America, Sharanagati in Canada. There used to be the Gurukula and there used to be Kulaguru. The teachers, the Kulagurus, even now they are called? They have been to University. The teacher is called Kulapati, Kulaguru. But it is in the name only, the spirit
is gone.

When we also went to school, there was a village in Maharashtra; we also addressed our teacher as ‘Guruji.’ Now they call ‘Sir, Sir, Madam, Sir.’ This is not our culture.At least in the villages, this is fifty years ago when I was a little boy going to school. We used to call our teachers ‘Guruji Guruji.’ Did some of you also call your teachers Guruji In your schools?

Those Gurujis sometimes used to call us over and say ‘please go get bidi’ [cigarettes]

laughter. They used to give us a few paisa or chavani athani [coins] ‘go get bidi.’ They used to chew tobacco right in front of us. So in the name only, Kulaguru or Vidyapitha, Guruji. Hari Hari.

Vidyapitha, not the kind of vidya that they used to teach in previous ages, the good old days, several hundred and thousands years ago. The days of Lord Krishna, when he was on the planet, practically every school was a Gurukul school. There were Gurus and Rishis and Munis, thinkers, they used to teach. Then we had Nalanda Vidyapitha, Takshashila, you have heard the names? You’ve heard the names. Those were very major Universities, world known and for higher education, all Americans, Europeans, Australians, Chinese they used to come to India and get enrolled in Takshashila University, Nalanda University and that used to be higher education. Not only the word ‘higher higher.’ So in fact there is higher and lower education called Para vidya and Apara vidya. Right there in the Vedas this distinction has been made.

Para Vidya , Para superior, higher and Apara Vidya – not so superior –inferior, lower. So adhyatma vidya vidyanam , this is Krishna He has defined Vidya as adhyatma vidya vidyanam. So Vidya, the knowledge education is about adhyatma, about the spirit soul, atma and about the Paramatma, divya dhama also, that’s subtle, Spiritual, subtle, we can’t say matter. The soul is not matter. The soul is a spirit. One is a spirit and the other one is matter. So spirit is higher and the other one is lower. So there used to be studies of the spirit, consciousness. A study in consciousness, the name is International Society for what? For Krishna consciousness, consciousness. We are conscious beings, there is consciousness.

So they used to study the spirit, the consciousness, the super spirit or Supersoul, Paramatma. Even studies of the mind and studies of intelligence and that is subtle. Agni, Prithvi, Jal, Akash, Vayu five great elements, Pancha maha bhuta. And of course the chemists they have discovered so many, they have over one hundred and eight elements that they talk about so all that is study of the gross matter. More subtle than matter is the mind, the study of the mind. So they do study some kind of psychology but the Vedic psychology is much superior, more subtle, deeper which they do not study. But our Rishis, Munis  used to study and teach the mind matter, the mind and the intelligence and the ego. The ego is the false ego and the real ego. Aham aham, this is the false one ‘I am.. Aham.

And ‘aham dasosmi – aham dasaha asmi’ I am the spirit soul and I am a servant, atma I am the servant of the Lord’ that is ego but this  is real ego. That is what we are so there has to be studies of these, these are the subject matters of the studies. In fact they used to study both – the superior, the soul. So they used to study the soul, the spirit and the matter. So complete studies, everything was being studied. Depending on who you are, so the Brahmins they are studying, the Kshatriyas are studying and the Vaishyas are studying.

krsi go raksya vanijyam [BG 18.44]

Krsi they are studying about the farming or they are taught about the farming. Dronacharya also taught the archery, how to use weapons. Sudras are studying. Basically Sudras study matter and the Brahmins used to study spirit.The subject matter of Brahmin’s study is spirit and then the Sudras are studying matter, or production or civil engineering. And all engineering is dealing with nuts and bolts and matter, building bridges or whatever vehicles or supersonic sputnik, this is all the job of the Sudras.

So there used to be complete study one time, according to your varna or ashram. You understand varna and ashram? Society was scientifically divided into four sections, four portions of Brahmins, ksatriyas, Vaishyas and Sudras. And whether you officially divide or don’t divide, everywhere it is not limited to India, all over the world some people are Brahmanically or spiritually inclined. Some are administrators, they are managers, there are Ksatriyas and there are Vaishyas those who are trading. Import, export and dealing with the land and cows. Instead of protecting cows they are killing cows, the age of Kali. That is not a dharma. So Brahmins, they used to have their dharma and Ksatriya dharma, Vaishya dharma and Sudra dharma. So this is Varnashram. And this is natural as Krishna said ‘catur varnyam maya srstam.’ Of the four dharmas, who is the creator, divider, maker of this? ‘Maya sristam I am.’  God has given these varnas and asrams.

guna karma vibhagasah

According to their Gunas and Karma. What Gunas? The qualities, there are three Gunas so basically from those three Gunas. They get multiplied and from three become nine and then again become eighty one. So the three Gunas are Sattva Guna, Rajo Guna and Tamo Guna and they are acting all over the planet, all over the universe. Those Americans, ‘Hey hey come on! We don’t follow varnashrama dharma. We are not Hindus!.’ But this is beyond this dharma and that dharma. The varnas, the three modes of material nature are acting everywhere. The goodness, passion and from passion comes fashion. The goodness 'my goodness!' Or 'where is the goodness?' So there are the goodness, passion and ignorance. So depending upon which Guna you belong to, which Guna governs you or your wonderings or your thoughts, you are that.

You are – so if you are predominantly in the mode of goodness then you are Brahman. guna karma vibhagasah. Vibhagha, the division is how? Guna karma vibhagasah. So those who are in the mode of goodness they are Brahmanas.

The mode of passion but still some goodness, they are Ksatriyas. Then very little goodness, compassion and ignorance also they are Vaishyas and predominantly ignorant and little tinge maybe, occasionally every now and then once in a blue moon, a little goodness is experienced or exhibited and some passion also then you are Sudra. So some people naturally are,

prakrteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvasah  [BG 3.27]

All our activities are as per the movements of pulling and pushing of the three modes of material nature, either Goodness or Passion or Ignorance or a mixture of the three, all three. They are always trying to compete, the goodness pushes down and takes over, subdues the passion and ignorance and then the ignorance is pushing and pushing the other two down. This goes on. So the society used to be there was an understanding like that, the society used to be divided into four varnas and according to these three modes of material nature a lot of things are governed in this world. Satya Yuga, you have heard of the four yugas? Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. So these three Yugas also they become this Yuga, that Yuga according to the consideration of which Guna is dominating.

In Satya Yuga – what? There is Goodness. There is a predominance of Brahmins also. Then comes Treta Yuga, Ksatriya dharma dominant. You know which mode? A little Goodness, a lot of Passion, Ksatriyas. Then comes the, Jai Sri Ram! That was the Treta Yuga, Ksatriyas. Ram, Jai Sri Ram. He was a Ksatriya and Vaishya in Dwapara Yuga. Sri Krishna also appeared as Vaishya. Nanda Maharaja family, Nanda was a Vaishya, head of the Vaishya community.

So Vaishyas are prominent, that Guna, that mode of material nature. Some passion, some goodness and some ignorance also. And then comes which age? Kali Yuga comes and what happens?

kalau sudra sambhava
 
Sambhava means giving birth to or giving rise to. Sambhava, bhava means to become Guna sambhava. And you will find that in this age of Kali Kalau sudra sambhava. And which mode is active in this age of Kali? Ignorance. Ignorance is bliss. So there is ignorance and as I said earlier, Satya, Treta, Dwapara, Kali this is all over the planet. It is not India limited business Hindus only. No, this is everywhere. Satya Yuga everywhere, all over the planet. Dwapara, Treta all over. Dwapara Yuga all over. The characters, the Guna dharmas of that age all over, so the Kali Yuga is also where? Everywhere! Kali Yuga is everywhere. Because ignorance is everywhere Haribol!

‘You know he just ignores me!’ This is what we say right? ‘You know I was just right there. He just ignored me. He just ignored me!’ Ignore. So what are we ignoring to become ignorant? What do you think we are ignoring? Ignoring Krishna consciousness, ignoring what? Ignoring Krishna, ignoring what? Soul. We are ignoring soul. Ignoring and hence we are ignorant. Ignorant of the soul, the supersoul. Anything else you want to say? Ignoring what? Ignoring reality, ignoring something. Ignorant person is called ignorant because he is ignoring something. Ignore, better to understand this word ignore. ‘He just ignores me,’ What else would you say we are ignoring? Spirituality, yes, reality, enlightenment, ignoring enlightenment and going for entertainment.  Ignoring scripture and relationship with God. Whether you ignore or not, the power of Maya is there. We are not afraid of Maya. Prabhupada is saying we are not afraid. We should be afraid of Maya but we are daring.

‘Death? I’m not afraid of death’ – they say like that. Whether you are afraid or not afraid, death will come. I think you got the idea, you got the idea. So we are members of, citizens of such an age, the age of Kali where ignorance is dominant, prominent. And what do they study? What they must study in the age of Kali, matter. Everyone, practically everyone is busy studying matter. So of course the aim is exploitation of the matter which has a goal of enjoying the matter. There is no enjoyment in the matter. Yes so because of ignorance he doesn’t know where to find the enjoyment or joy. He just,

mandah sumanda matayo manda bhagya hy upadrutah [SB 1.1.10]

Bhagavatam says ‘In this age of Kali people will be mandah, mandah means slow, especially if it comes to going to the temple, very slow. If it is going to the movie? Very fast. Cannot wait ‘I have to be there fast!’ Fast means of communication. I want to hear something, enjoy hearing and next I want to run rush somewhere. I could eat and then somewhere else I want to rush. Smell something and touch something or somebody. ‘I want to go and touch that body. I cannot wait.’ So that’s why we want to rush so one becomes greedy. Ignorant person is greedy. Gauranga.. And then doesn’t matter how much you get, it’s not enough. The greedy person is never ever satisfied.
  
The greed – there’s a flame and if you keep pouring the Ghee, or oil or kerosene, would it ever extinguish, that flame? It would keep blazing. The more you pour, the more flames would. So our senses, our tongue, our all the senses are on fire in fact, on fire. They are greedy to grab something, to hear, to smell, to eat, to touch. And we are trying to feed these sense, so they could never be satisfied. They will never be peaceful, mind or the sense. And yes they are overwhelmed with grief because of the greed and the wars and quarrels and fights. We have wars and we spoil everything as a result. We spoil even all the resources, human beings are studying and exploiting and trying to enjoy. Enjoy….Enjoy …isn’t that the mantra? Enjoy.

They don’t understand, they don’t know. They are ignoring, like children. A little moth, and there is a fire and the moth is attracted by the glare of the fire. Fire is a glary fire. So as soon as the Moth looks at the glary fire it is attracted. It doesn’t stop and think before proceeding. What does it do? It just runs rushes. And what is the outcome? Ohhhhh, burnt. So we have spoilt the Earth, mother earth with our attempts, universal attempts. Everyone is wanting to exploit the matter, exploit the earth in this way, that way. Dig deeper into her mines and whatnot. Into the ocean
exploitations, into the air into the space. Different kinds of gasses we are creating and producing as a result, something called Ozone layer? It is depleted, there’s a hole! Something that used to cover or protect the earth or the whole atmosphere by the Ozone layer.

That has been dissolved or destroyed. The sun rays are directly coming down and hitting. Yesterday and all these days this is just like the rainy season but yesterday all this heat summer season. This is called climate change. Climate change is the reality, who is the cause behind all this? Our mentality to exploit, enjoy, grab the bidi. Earth’s temperature is increasing, It has the flu {laughter}. It has reached some two degrees higher than normal.  And if it goes even higher it could be disastrous, it could be Pralaya, annihilation.

Where are the forests? They are cutting forests, treeless planet. They say New York Times newspaper, the Sunday edition it has so many, many pages fifty pages, and big circulation New York Times. Just to print the New York Times for Sunday, the amount of paper they need, they need to cut some fifteen acres of forests, deforestation and then one day’s newspaper. There’s enough paper to print one day’s newspaper.

So to produce the newspapers they have to cut forests and for so many other purposes they also have to cut the forests. Hari Hari. When there are no trees on the land and it rains like cats and dogs, musaldhar {floods]. And the rain falls directly on the exposed land and that water brings all the soil into the rivers and riverbeds become shallow. Then what happens? Floods. You could see why one thing leads to the other? You cut the forest and all the fertile soil which is on the top of the land, fertile good for harvesting all goes down into the river and like that.

As a result we have made this earth unlivable. So many calamities, we call them natural calamities but we are collectively causing, are behind those calamities. The kind of mentality, the exploiting mentality that we all have. The health, so not only mother earth’s health is down. She is not well these days, these years. The past several years the earth is sick. But we all children, we depend upon that earth. The pure air and pure water and pure vegetables, where are those pure vegetables? Then we are also because when they increase the production we are feeding the crops with chemicals so the crops are growing faster, faster ,genetic engineering exploiting genes of those species, those grains. You know that they inject the cows so that the cows become fatter and fatter, more flesh to eat. So human beings are working, scientists are working day and night.

Yes so the chemical fertilizer, the crop is growing faster and the pumpkin is this big. The aborigine used to be tiny but now they are growing in size. Potatoes, now they are full of chemicals, which you eat and you get sick, cancer and this and that. So our health, we are unhealthy, this is the most unhealthy generation of human beings on the planet right now. And nothing to be proud of, India being capital of Diabetes. Most Diabetes patients are in this country just like America is most sick nation on the planet. Super power, leading nation, leading in what? The land of opportunities. With great pride they say this is their motto or slogan ‘America the land of opportunities.’ Here you could enjoy. The land of opportunities. Lots of Bhoga {food}, but from Bhoga comes Roga {Sickness, disease}. Bhoga has connection with Roga. So when I heard the outcome of this survey, the global survey they conducted. The health of people in Bangladesh, health of people in here there everywhere, New Zealand, India.
The conclusion was that America is most sick country in the world. So most Bhoga most Roga.

And because of this mentality the spirit of enjoyment and there’s no limit, no sense control or mind control. The Yoga Bhumi ‘Bharat Mata Ki?’ Audience responds ‘Jai!’ What Bharat Mata ki Jai? Not the present Bharat Mata ki jai, you can’t say that. One speaker said ‘ I want to introduce myself. I want to say that I’m not Indian. He was from Bharat. I am Bharatiya. I am not Indian. I don’t want to make Bharat into India. I want to retain Bharat, Bharat as it is, the heritage of Bharat, the character of Bharat.’ Bharat – Bha means light, Prakash. Of knowledge – light of knowledge. Light of Gita, Bhagavad, Vedas, Puranas light the direction, given by the Rishis and Munis and Sages. The land of Krishna and Sri Ram, we are the residents of that country, that Bharat where the Ganges flow.

ham usa desh ke vasi jisa desh may ganga bhati hai
Ganga Maiya Ki Jaya. Go Mata Ki Jai. Bhagavad Gita ki Jai.

So this is a Yoga Bhumi and we are trying to make it Bhoga Bhumi. Yoga Bhumi, it is Tapobhumi. India is Tapobhumi Tapasya {austerity}. And we should remain known for this character of Bharat. So there is no control over senses and then nobody’s encouraging control.

The lifestyle, this lifestyle that lifestyle. You go to the mall and, I don’t know, there is a big sign outside lots of malls in India and what does it say? ‘Lifestyle.’ Right, have you ever read?

'Lifestyle.' I don’t know what that refers to but it’s a kind of brand. We say death style. If we will die then we will die in style. Death style not lifestyle, live life king size. There used to be one brand, talking of brands, one brand of cigarettes they used to advertise their cigarettes on big big bill boards ‘live life king size.’ Live life what kind of life? King size life, we could live. All that you have to do is smoke our cigarettes. And we see while they are smoking their cigarettes, some kind of king enters them and the way, the style with which they move ‘whoo whoo whoo’ like a king, they have become a king. The smoke has entered their neck and they are intoxicated and if someone has no cigarette actually he has cigarette but no lighter or matchbox and he holds his breath, trying to get someone to be sympathetic towards the cause. ‘You know
I am matchbox less and need something.' Someone then kindly steps forward and lights his cigarette. And what does he say? ‘Thank you.’ Thank you for what? ‘For burning my cigarette. Or I would like to thank you in advance. Not only have you burnt my cigarette but you will be burning my lungs, you have helped me to burn my lungs and I may not be anymore. That is possible so let me – while I can walk and talk, thank you as I may not be there to thank you if I die.’

So I one time read a sign like that ‘live life king size’ when riding from Delhi to Noida in fact, Jamuna River and there’s some and then I drove some distance and there was another sign. That sign said ‘cancer hospital this way.’ I think you have made the connection? Live life king size and then what happens? Cancer hospital this way. We could live life king size or we could be admitted to five star hospital. If you want a five star hospital, the kind of way you enjoyed could lead to the death and then you could be transferred to the five star hospital. You could live life in a style or you could die in style. So this kind of India we are building, this kind of world people are building. Everything’s getting spoiled. The spirit is getting spoilt, the spirit is being ignored and the spirit is getting ignored. Everything comes from ignorance and this is the outcome of what? Ignorance. Collectively from all the doctors and engineers and scientists and leaders and this and that. Collectively this kind of world we have created.

Scientists these day are saying, that physicists from England, the leading what is his name? Steven Hawkins. So he said a few years ago seeing the condition of the planet, now their hands are off, now. The scientists have taken kind of leadership – technology and science. Science is the way, technology is the way to go! So their science technology is blind, ignorant and as a result they are seeing the outcome, the fruit which is all around us.

So therefore that physicist said ‘oh now what to do?’ So he said ‘another planet. Human beings should find another planet which could work as a life boat.’ You know life boat? A main boat with some other boats are attached. If the main boat is in trouble, sinking or some emergency then what happens? People from that main boat they jump into lifesaving boats. So he decided that have the life boat in another planet and they also made another survey and they came to a conclusion that the kind of the greed and the need. Mahatama Gandhi said that ‘you have right over your needs, your needs should be provided for, but not the greed. Greed is enemy of human society or human beings. Greed, so all people are greedy.

So another service said that if there is a living standard like the present day India, and whatever their needs are, if that kind of standard is all over the planet, to provide for and to cater to the needs of those needy and greedy people of India then there would be a need of two planets like
earth. One is not sufficient, you get the point? All the resources and all the matter for enjoyment – one is not enough. How many would be required? Two. And then for Europe they were saying maybe three and half or four planets and for America they said there would be need for five planets like this.

If everyone wants to lead a lifestyle as hankering or greed like the Americans have then we altogether would require five planets like this. So,

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

So the solution is Krishna consciousness. When we see what is going all around, we become dizzy. Like so much bewildered and frustrated and people do commit suicide, right?  Everyday, going by statistics, everyday three hundred Indians commit suicide, every single day. In the last twenty four hours, three hundred Indians have committed suicide. And so is that a good sign? So we have time to think before we proceed. Stop think and proceed. So Srila Prabhupada Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Ki Jai! So he took this leadership on behalf of India’s the sages and saints to represent all the scriptures, Sri Krishna and Sri Rama, Allah to represent Allah, Jehovah and after ‘why have you come to America? What do you want to
accomplish?’

So one time Prabhupada said ‘I want to see a change in the way people think.’ What did he say? The way people think. ‘I want to see change of revolution in the way people think.’ So that started fifty one years ago, Prabhupada founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in New York in 65 and so many American boys and girls in fact, in general especially or mostly the youths stepped forward. With the help of a handful of youths Srila Prabhupada founded the International Society. Prabhupada not even purchased but only hired or rented one small place. 26 Second Avenue was the address and still is the address as that place is still there. 26 Second Avenue, there are Avenues in Manhattan, New York. So
Prabhupada had just rented that place but he was naming his society the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. He was thinking of the future, international. So a handful of American youths, Prabhupada founded this international movement and then they took it seriously, they took to Krishna consciousness seriously.

‘Prabhupada,’ they used to say ‘why in America? Why you have started your mission in America?’ And he used to say ‘well the whole world is imitating Americans these days so I have started here. There’s some Krishna conscious Americans and if they want to world wants to imitate Americans, let them imitate those Hare Krishna Americans.’ Haribol! And that’s what Prabhupada did, we used to call Srila Prabhupada as exporter importer. He exported Krishna consciousness, Krishna conscious culture, exported Krishna the best product, best personality.

He shared Krishna with the world, with the Americans, Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavatam. He exported prasadam, Krishna prasad. They had no clue how delicious food could be, nourishing your soul, mind and the body. How it could be satisfying they had no experience. Then Prabhupada ended up importing, he became an importer and he imported American Brahmans, American, European sadhus he imported.

And in 71 when I was young man like you and I was studying in one of the colleges in Bombay, Prabhupada had come with his imported sadhus from America and Europe and he was holding a big festival near Church Gate Station, Cross Maidan. Hare Krishna festival and it was advertised all over the town and the advertisement said ‘American sadhus are here. European sadhus are here in your town.’  Then I had gone to find out. ‘Really, really or is this some kind of gimmick?  Are they really there? Are they really American and are they really sadhus?’ Scientists is okay, American scientists but American sadhus? This was unheard of. So when I went I saw and I was conquered, I was convinced. How genuine sadhus they were and their leader was Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada ki jai! There were thousands of folks in Bombay, turning up in big numbers and they were all amazed to see American sadhus. And some of them hippies, they were into hippie culture and with great pride Srila Prabhupada used to say ‘They were hippies but now they have become happies.' And then it is spreading all over the planet this Krishna consciousness and it is the only hope the ray of hope for this planet, the people of this planet. Kindness of God, kindness of Krishna in the form of this Krishna consciousness which is meant for the soul which we had been ignoring. Ignoring the soul, ignoring supersoul, ignoring ignoring ignoring reality. We’ve said a lot of things ignoring this, ignoring that, ignoring ignoring.

So this Hare Krishna movement is trying to get rid of this ignorance, get rid of this ignorance and make people enlightened, realized, knowledgeable. Cultivate goodness, Krishna consciousness which is the need of the soul. So because of ignorance one thinks ‘I am this body a lump of
matter. That is all that I am.’ This Krishna consciousness teaches 'no no no no. You are deep within this body.' 'You are not this body,' this is what Krishna says, this is what Bhagavad Gita says, this is what the Lord says and this is what dharma says. Knowledge begins here. You are not this body, you are spirit soul. And that soul has connection. Someone said that we are ignoring our relationship with God and that is taught. The soul has an eternal relationship with the Lord then how to cultivate, how to revive that relationship and how to thrive? Not just survive but thrive – thrive, thriving that relationship. Then we are properly situated, properly connected. And this applies this is good for everybody in the world, for all the countries in the world, all the states and all the communities, all the families.

It’s good for husbands, it’s good for wives, it’s good for children and good for neighbors. It’s good for the community – good good good for everybody. So we are trying our bit to propagate this Krishna consciousness amongst people, leaders, creating awareness and especially with keen interest in the youths. We have this Iskcon youth forum, we have youth forum and as part of youth forum we have different aspects, features, projects and programmes including this – the voice and the base where youths could come together like minded youths. So along with whatever you are studying, the matter you are studying, we are trying to add the spirit to the matter. We want to see you all happy, successful and then once you are happy and convinced you could also make others happy by sharing these thoughts with others. You have family members and you have friends, you have fellow human beings, other citizens of this country and other countries. Okay {applause}.

Questions and answers

Question: In Kali Yuga ignorance is predominating, in this age the mode of ignorance is predominating everywhere so when we are In devotee circle, when we are with devotees we are in mode of goodness. But when you go outside, how to maintain..?

Answer: Ignorance is predominately everywhere, yes. While you are here with the devotees at this place and in the temple you are good and mode of goodness but then you go out. How to maintain? When you stay together this is a charging battery programme, batteries are charged. And then you have high potential. High voltage and then when you go out the current flows from a high voltage to a lower voltage right. So if you are high and try to stay high wherever you are then you should be changing the people around you, not that people around you should try to change you. Do you get the point?

So we can be mature like that, high thinker like that. Become fixed up and then you are not influenced. You cannot be influenced, you cannot be changed or you cannot be brain washed by people all around or wherever you go.‘This is it! This is it! I’m convinced now.’ Prabhupada

used to ask from time to time ‘Are you convinced? Are you convinced? If you are convinced then you could convince others also. With all their convictions what’s Maya and the spirit of enjoyment and this and that? If you are convinced then nothing would work. You would remain fixed up. Or it is also said or I say just like when we stay together, do sadhana together and like that study, discussion together right now also we are having this discussion, some food for thought. From the day, we share, some food for thought. So what happens when we receive some food for thought? Even otherwise also the food we have to digest right? Assimilate that. So when we do our Krishna conscious practices together, chanting together and hearing together. That is called vichara manthan, churning, churning, churning.

So when you churn the

yogurt what happens? You get butter. So what position does the butter acquire in butter milk? The butter is at the top, butter goes at the top and then you make a little ball on top floating And if you try to push that ball deep it may go down but then what happens? It immediately jumps onto the top. It doesn’t become anymore homogeneous with the rest of the buttermilk. Once it was part and parcel of the yogurt, buttermilk was a part of it but churning and churning – the essence of the yogurt is the butter. So once this bit is separated, it remains at the top and doesn’t get mixed up with the buttermilk anymore. So we are together here, we have been churning, churning, thinking, thinking, settling, settling getting convinced, getting convinced and then when even if we enter a wine shop, ‘live life king size‘ shop then you will stay at the top and not enter, not go down the drain. So we have to prepare like that.

Question: Guru Maharaj you were talking about the greed. Identifying greed is quite difficult. I heard in your lecture it states in our sastras but hardly anyone gets to know where that greed is sitting and it then comes out. How to work out where is this? How to identify that greed, that
thing has to be worked out.

Answer: With sastra chaksusa, you wear the glasses of sastra. Sastras will show you or sadhus will show you. Or whether it’s not just greed but there are three things. There are six things but three also is set up. There’s Kama there’s Krodha then Lobha – lust, greed anger, mada, moha, matsarya these are called Sad Ripus. The thieves are very expert. To detect the thief, they are always hiding. So then the intelligence department, the government has intelligence department and as those terrorists are crossing the border, the first one to detect the migration the movement of the terrorist is who? Intelligence department, intelligence. They’re keeping an eye on the watch. Then they give the news to the police or the army ‘Watch out watch out watch out! Here they come, they’re here now they’re there now they should be reaching their destination.’ So we could use our intelligence to detect our enemies. Kama enemy, Krodh enemy, Lobha enemy.

Arjuna also was not sure what was happening.

papam charati puru?ha?
anichchhann api var?hneya balad iva niyojita?

‘You know sometimes I end up committing some sin. I know this is not right thing to do but someone something just drags me, forces me to do it and unwillingly I end up committing sin. What is it, who is it?’ This is Arjuna’s question in Bhagavad Gita. Does that answer your question? Does that also answer some of your..? Actually it happens to all of us. That is why on behalf of all of us Arjuna has asked that question. Then Krishna said ‘I’ll tell you.’

kama esa krodha esa rajo guna samudbhavah
mahasano maha papma viddhy enam iha vairinam [BG 3.37]

Please note please note – you all have notebooks? Viddhy. Viddhy enam iha vairinam. This is job of your vairi, This is job of your enemy. ‘Who is dragging me, forcing me to commit sin, who is it?!’ Krishna said ‘this is your enemy.’ And then Krishna also named, identified those enemies.
kama esa krodha esa – so that is your lust, enemy called lust and Kama Krodha – the anger. When lust is not satisfied, kamat krodho 'bhijayate.

Our desires are not fulfilled, some obstacles, some stumbling blocks some delay then what happens? We cannot stand – ‘why?! Who are you?! Get out of here! You are stopping me.’ And we get angry and when the desires are not getting fulfilled, we feel frustrated. We become angry and we begin quarrels and battles and wars. All over, the cause of all quarrels, battles and wars is kamat krodho 'bhijayate. When Kama is not satisfied, then we become Krodhi, angry. And when your desires are getting fulfilled, everything is going good, as per your plans everything is favourable then what happens? Lobha, we become Lobhi.

‘Oh nice, I’d like to have more of this. Could I have more? I want more of this. That’s nice, so nice. I want more of this’ Then one becomes greedy. So we all have Kama in the material world, we gave up Prema. Kama – lust is the perverted reflection of Prema. Krishna Prema, Bhagavad Prema, Prema, Prema. Radha Krishna prema, this is a divine, this is a divine. The pure spirit soul he loves Krishna, serves Krishna, loves, prema, full of Prema. But when the living entity has his back towards God and is facing this world, then bhoga vancha kare, then he has a desire for bhoga.

Bhoga vancha – that’s called lust, he becomes lusty. And then that lust, lust could result in either anger if the lust is not satisfied and lust could also result in greed, these things are going on. As per your plan and schemes everything’s working out, everything’s favorable to fulfill your
desires and lusty desires are fulfilled then you become greedy. Kama, Krodha, Lobha, mada and when you're greedy and everything’s going as per your plan you enjoy and you enjoy and then you become intoxicated. Mada – you become intoxicated and you think that this is the life.

‘Nice, nice’ getting intoxicated. Mada Matsarya, Matsarya ‘Oh I have a better car than the neighbor and then the friend.’ Matsarya the envy. One begins comparing ‘my wealth, my knowledge, my dynasty, my education. I have done overseas education.' This is called Matsarya – envious.

Sometime the person has a very luxurious car and next to him is a Maruti 800 and next to him is a motorcycle guy, next to him is a cyclist and next to him is a pedestrian. So one who has a bicycle is saying ‘look I have a bicycle. You’re just only walking. I have a bicycle’ And the one who’s on the motorbike ‘Ah ha I have a motorbike, you only cycle. I have motorcycle.’ The 800 Maruti driver is looking at the motorcycle thinking ‘I have better. He only has a motorcycle, I have a car but I don’t have a luxurious car, or flying car or this kind of car.’ So Matsarya. And then what is the final? Moha – What is the sixth one? Illusion, he is put into illusion. Illusioned – Ignorance is bliss. This is it materiality as the reality. So these are the enemies, these are the symptoms how to detect. These symptoms you can tell from a person’s walk and talk and everything that he does. This is Kama and this is called Krodha and this is called greed. This is Mada and Matsarya and this is called Moha these are the symptoms.

kama esa krodha esa rajo guna samudbhavah

This is also there is a lot of Rajo Guna – passion. Goodness passion ignorance, from passion comes the lust and anger. And then we go into the lower mode ignorance and then Mada, Moha, Matsarya these are even creations and productions of the lower nature. Krishna conscious person is Vishuddha Sattva – transcendental to these three modes of material nature so when you are fixed in the Shuddha Sattva, you have nothing to do with the Kama, Krodha, and Mada and Moha and Matsarya this is low thinking. Simple living and high thinking. So when you are a high thinking of goodness, the goal is pure mode of goodness.

The aim is thinking in the mode of pure goodness, the goal is pure mode of goodness. Goodness is good, but not the best. Worse than goodness is passion and the worst is ignorance. In the age of Kali there is mode of ignorance and now the education that goes on cultivates ignorance or revives ignorance, it creates more fashion and passion then ignorance.

Question: This thing happened yesterday in office after lunch , one of our other friends. The question goes that some other religions are bringing us down and all that and as persons we should be aware about this and stop them or be against them. All these things disturbed us for half an hour, one hour. What should we do in this situation in this condition?

Answer: It is also said that we should not be preaching to the faithless. That doesn’t mean that we should not preach, there are a lot of faithless people around. You can tell something something and stop there. We should also not expect result, they may or may not accept, we did our duty. That should or could take that stand.

karmanye vadhikaraste ma phaleshu kada chana

Preaching is our duty whether they accept or reject which they are going to do according to their level of understanding, their evolution and God consciousness, Krishna consciousness. They are going to be responding from their level whether their level is ignorance level, passion level, goodness level or pure mode of goodness level, they are going to be responding.

If you have spoken the truth then leave the results up to the Lord or as per their levels or depth of their understanding. Just because they did not accept what you said that doesn't make what you said as a wrong thing. You were right and you spoke the right thing but you did not have the
right customer. Patra, the eligible person or that idea’s time has not come for them. Not yet maybe, you could wait for a few more months and check out again whether they are now ready or something like that. We should go on. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said,

yare dekho tare kaho krsna upadesa

We have good intention and we have something good to share for the benefit of the individual, for the benefit of the society and the world at large so nothing to worry, we should not feel bad or guilty or those feelings. Or that may also make us humble, opposition.

‘Preaching is fighting’ Prabhupada said ‘preaching is fighting.’

Question: Nowadays we are so much into worshipping Gods that we are actually forgetting the worship of humanity. Like everyone has their own Gods like Lord Krishna, Lord Shiva, Lord Rama everyone has their own type of Gods. So my question is that people go in temples and they put a lot of money in it, thousand rupees, lakhs rupees, Crore rupees so why don’t we instead give that money to poor people. During Shivaratri we offer a lot of milk to God and in India people are dying of hunger, so if we give that milk to poor people so isn’t that a good thing?

Answer: It would be nice {laughter}. Yes, that’s why they say Daridra Narayan Seva. Well you have said a lot of things, a lot of things could be addressed but I will say something. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
 
The rich man’s son who is richest these days, Ambani’s or Tata’s, Birla’s, these are also from traditional. So if their son leaves home and now he’s loitering in the street, and of course you know he’s homeless and he is foodless or drinkless, he has abandoned his family and gone away. He is now in the middle of nowhere so some people may feel some sympathy towards such person, some young man ‘please come, please come, please come.’ Some young man, he has some small – some BHK?

One BHK and he has already half a dozen family members but he has this little corner you can stay in. Take a little food, a little this and that. So that’s one way to help that young man or whatever age group that he belongs to. That he has given up his rich heritage and all wealth and all facilities and all. But the other person, there may be another person who finds out ‘Oh you are Ambani’s son?’ ‘Yes yes, I used to be. {Laughter} I’m still the same!’ So he could convince him ‘let’s go back to your parents, back to your family.’ So if you could convince him and take him back to his father, mother, family. So there are two ways in this person is being helped out. Number one, with the BHK and number two you just say ‘let’s go back to your parent’s place. And they’re rich and everything is there.’

So of the two, who has assisted or helped that person in a better way? The second person. So this is so God exists, of course Shiva is God, this is God, I am God, you are God that goes on, let’s leave that aside. So let’s accept Krishna, Shri Ram, Allah, yes? Shiva is also a very highly
placed God, not the Supreme Personality of Godhead but he is Mahadeva. So going back to God, returning to God, the kingdom of God and going back, returning to him; that’s one way in which the Krishna consciousness movement, the members of Krishna consciousness, the members of different sampradayas, authorised sampradayas, the four Vaishnava sampradayas, Ramanuja, Vishnuswami, Nimbarka and which is ours? Madhava.

So there are four sampradayas are there, Vaishnava sampradayas. They are authorized and speak and propagate the truth. Others do a little hodge podge business – they don’t know what is what. They know some of the time half the truth so then they misguide but those who are authorized, our International Society for Krishna Consciousness belongs to one of those four branches or schools of thought or as they say Parampara.

So these Parampara’s, or knowledge of these Parampara’s is propagated with the aim of convincing those souls who are loitering in this world, they are being convinced to return to God, supreme –The Personality of Godhead. Go to God, face God, go to God, love God, go back to Godhead and by doing so, they hear those authorized speakers then they’ll be eternally benefitted. There’s no shortage of whatsoever in the kingdom of God. And they’ll be home, they’ll be going back to home, they’ll be at home. Sometimes people stay in their houses so – and the rest of the people, those who are not authorized to talk on behalf of the Lord. Those who are not talking about Krishna, not talking the language of the Bhagavad Gita, language of
the Vedas, language of the Puranas, language of the Srimad Bhagavatam – those who are not talking this but talking something else, something something else; they are trying to keep all the citizens, all the people happy here. ‘Oh I’ll stay here. We’ll have a smart city and we’ll have this we’ll have that we’ll have that.’ So then he made the point. So ultimately you know the poor – our understanding, devotee understanding is that the poverty of the consciousness – whether the person is in poor consciousness or enriched rich in consciousness, this is more important than wealth wise and facility wise and how much or what kind of house I have or whether I have only cycle or motorcycle or Maruti 800 or Limousine.

The devotees do not consider that as wealth. Wealth is meant to make you happy right? That’s why wealth is used but you are so poor in knowledge also that you do not even know who you are and you want to be happy but you are just trying to make your body happy. You have missed the bus, you have missed the point. You are not making yourself happy, take care of yourself. No one tells you who you are and that you should be taken care of. Everyone thinks that they are the bodies and this is our bodies and taking care of bodily needs.

‘Oh we have taken care of the citizens.’ No Sir, you have missed the point. Your spirit is missing, the spirit is missing. The spirit is what? Being ignored – it’s the ignorance on our part. So the first business is you want to help somebody but first understand who he is? He is not the body! Okay people are drowning, there’s a flood in Bihar and Assam and here and there. So one gentleman he was not such a good swimmer but then he fell in the well or he fell in the lake with all his clothes on and he was really struggling and about to drown and his wife happened to be right there on the bank of the lake and she started ‘help, help save my – save my husband!’

So someone a swimmer he jumped right in and he went there and grabbed what he thought was the husband that he managed to catch hold of and he was dragging and dragging to the bank of the lake. And he said ‘here here. Good lady have your husband.’ What he had managed to bring back or drag was the coat. ‘You fool! This is the coat of my husband, my husband has drowned! This is just the coat.’

So Krishna in Bhagavad Gita compares this body with a coat. This body is a coat.

vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya

This body is a vastra, his body is a cloth and if there is no person then there is no clothing right? First there is a person and then you go to the tailor and stitching cloth. So this body is a cloth and there are eight million four hundred thousand varieties of clothes of those many species,
those many kinds of vasamsi clothes. And inside those many clothes, there is a soul. So the present day leaders and the welfare workers and leaders of the family are trying to take care of what? The coat, the cloth only, the real person, forget it. They don’t even have a clue who my wife really is, who my children really are. Who are my citizens? Are they just lump of matter.

kaumaram yauvanam jara – kaumara or old?

tatha dehantara praptir, Krishna says ‘no, no, no’ tatha dehantara at the end when there is a death there’s a dehantara. You come out of one body and enter into another body.

vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya navani grhnati naro 'parani

We abandon the old cloth and we put a new one, new jeans, new this or new that. New one, I was wearing some jeans with lots of holes and I said you should new jeans. So these are brand new! So soul is the goal. So soul the self, the soul has to be served. So soul is starving, soul is drying, dying and we are having fun thinking we are enjoying.

Okay and something more could be said but this is basic concept which should be understood.
I think we should stop.
So thank you.