CONTENTS:
- ISKCON- A UNITED FAMILY
- THE BASIS FOR TRANSCENDENTAL ECSTACY
- INQUIRIES OF THE SOUL
1. ISKCON - A UNITED FAMILY
ISKCON is one family and it is a joint family. A joint family means where all the brothers are living together. And all the brothers’ family with the grandfather in the center. And that creates a very wonderful atmosphere because you have your cousins, you have your uncles, aunts, and that makes a big difference. Often, from your father you get chastisement. From fathers you get chastisement and from your uncles you get chocolates, so that is why the joint families are so wonderful.
Now generally, those families are centered around the body’s relationship, body’s father, body’s mother, body’s uncle and so forth but the spiritual family develops with Krsna in the center. Of course, sometimes this family with Krsna in the center can become too large, especially when most of the people don’t even care about Krsna, don’t even recognize Krsna. Therefore, there is a need for an identifiable and tangible relationship. So, with us, we got a family which is identifiable and tangible with Srila Prabhupada in the center. So, this is our identity. We are related to Srila Prabhupada.
In this generation, it is a family with Prabhupada’s sons and daughters, and Prabhupada’s grandchildren. But in future it will be great grandchildren and great great grandchildren, and it will keep on increasing like that and in this way the family will continue to grow. So, you can well imagine how large this family of Krsna Consciousness is. Therefore, we have to be very careful and concerned that we always keep Srila Prabhupada in the center, and do not create another family within the family. That causes division and dissension.
For example, how do joint family’s breakup? You may have seen. One of the brothers gets married and goes away, so the family breaks up. Then that becomes another family, with that brother’s children, his wife and his children. Now this is how the joint family structure breaks up. Nowadays, there is no joint families, why?
Because after marriage, not even after marriage, even before marriage, they break away from the family but we do not want that. That is not desirable. We want a family that will continue to grow because the more it grows, the more effective our mission will be.
Therefore, it is very important that we maintain the family with Srila Prabhupada in the center and do not break that family by creating groups, what we call in ISKCON – “Guru Groupism”. There will be a kind of identifiable units like that, we cannot deny that, that there will be groups with the temple in the center; there will be groups with zones in the center; there will be groups with nations in the center and so forth, but all the groups will be functioning under one unit, under one umbrella and that umbrella is Srila Prabhupada. So always make it a point to create that strong feeling of unity amongst you.
Become involved in the temple activities, because that is what Prabhupada wanted. Prabhupada wanted that the units should be the temples. The units should not be Guru Disciples unit. The unit should be temples. That’s how it was during Prabhupada's time. Each temple was one unit. Then many temples consisted in a zone and comprised a zone, and ISKCON was functioning that way and Prabhupada actually made that structure.
Prabhupada's way of structuring ISKCON was - the temples were the units. Devotees of that area would become connected to that temple. The preaching development would take place with that temple at the center. Make it a point to create that understanding or rather develop that understanding - that you belong to a certain temple.
Even if you are away from the temple but try to identify yourself with the temple. Now maybe, the temples are little distant for many of you but eventually what will happen is - there will be many, many temples. We want that - that every block will have a temple; in every street corner there will be a temple. Won’t it be wonderful? What to speak of every house becoming a temple?
So always make it a point to create that strong feeling of unity amongst you.
Therefore, we have to be very careful and concerned that we always keep Srila Prabhupada in the center, and do not create another family within the family. That causes division and dissension.
2. THE BASIS FOR TRANSCENDENTAL ECSTACY
And then so we must come back to Vyasadev like, Vyasadev couldn’t be bewildered. But we must understand that to establish some principles Krishna is decided in this way that Vyasadev must apparently get bewildered or confused. He didn’t know that despite writing all the way up to Vedanta sutras he was feeling confused. So, Narada Muni, his spiritual master then came and told him the cause of his dissatisfaction. And what did he point out? “Vyasa, you did not glorify the Supreme Personality of Godhead absolutely purely.”
Although Krishna has been glorified in Mahabharat and directly or indirectly in puranas, or Upanishads but still the glorification was not completely pure. Therefore, he gave him the instruction. But before giving him the instruction, he pointed out his own experience. Narada Muni narrated his own experience, “that you know Vyasa I was bewildered. But I was a little child and as a child I came across paramahamsas and I received the mercy of the paramahamsas. The mercy came to me in the form of their remnants and their instructions. And then I acted according to their instructions. I experienced the transcendental joy.
And not only I came to a point where I could establish a direct relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That will be described in the later verses. So, in this way Narada Muni through Srila Vyasadev establishing the process of Krishna Consciousness that apparently everyone is conditioned in the material nature, everyone is bewildered in the material nature and everyone is suffering in the material nature. But due their good fortune they come across a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When he comes across a devotee and hears from him submissively, respectfully and acts according to their instruction then he can receive devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, which is the basis for transcendental ecstasy.
3. INQUIRIES OF THE SOUL
Question: As you said when skin gets in touch with Krishna then all the other senses merge into it. In the spiritual world all the senses are absolute, we can see with the skin, hear with the eyes like this. When all senses merge how we can see with skin…
HHBCS: First of all, when it is said that when senses can perform the activities of all the other senses or when the limbs can perform the activities of other limbs this has been specifically mentioned by Krishna, “aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛtti-manti” (BS 5.32). It is Krishna’s senses and Krishna’s limbs but not the living entities limbs. But here we also must understand that the consciousness on the spiritual platform is on a different level altogether and that cannot be analyzed by our material understanding. First, we do not even understand how different limbs can perform the activities of other limbs. We do not know how Krishna can see through His nail and how Krishna can eat through His eyes. It is beyond our understanding or comprehension. But we must understand that spiritual activities as it is beyond our understanding.
Comment: You mentioned that it is beyond our analysis, it is part of the surrender to try to let go.
HHBCS: As some prabhu said it is beyond our analysis to understand our reasoning ability. Only when we surrender, we give up our reasoning ability. “nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyo na medhayā na bahunā śrutena” (SB 10.87.27), this transcendental realization cannot be achieved by argument or discussion or even by studying of the Vedas. Not by intelligence, not by reasoning or not by any of these. It can only be received by the mercy of the devotee of the Lord. And how to get the mercy of the devotee? Only by surrender. When we give up all our independent perception and even to think independently or act independently. When we give up all these faculties then the mercy of the Lord will flow through the devotee then we will be able to perceive the spiritual reality. Not otherwise.
Question: So that means that on that platform there is no Bhagavata seva?
HH BCS: No, in Krishna consciousness the means and the goal are the same. In Krishna consciousness we do not give up. What we do becomes more and more intensified and magnified. Not that by bhagavata seva we come to the platform of nishta, we become free from anarthas and think now I don’t need any bhagavat seva. And once we reach the platform of bhava, we think that we don’t need bhagavata seva. No. The more we advance whatever we do those activities of ours become more intensified not that we give up those activities.
I will give you an example of how to become more actively intensified. You see Raghunath Das Goswami, although he was the son of the king became the ideal renunciate. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu showed renunciation through Raghunath Das Goswami. And Raghunath Das Goswami was famous for his renunciation so much so that he would only take some buttermilk only once in three days. So, one day Raghunath Das Goswami became sick and then actually the rich business men of Mathura who were great patrons of the Goswamis of Vrndavan. So, when the news reached Mathura that Raghunath Das Goswami was sick, they sent some doctors. Then doctors checked him and said that Raghunath Das Goswami was suffering from indigestion. (audience laughs). So, when they heard, how is it possible? The person who takes only some buttermilk once in three days, how can he have indigestion? Then it was revealed that Raghunath Das Goswami attended the night before a feast in the spiritual sky. And there he ate too much. So, it is not that the devotees give up even eating. They do not give up eating because eating is also part of devotional service. None of the devotional activities are given up. On the other hand, they are spiritual activities. As one becomes more advanced, he becomes more and more advanced in bhagavata seva. And ultimately this is “nityam bhagavata sevayam.” It is uninterrupted Bhagavatam seva. So, in the spiritual platform we do not give up the means when we achieve the goals.
The understanding is that through bhagavata seva the devotee comes to the realization of other stages or levels of achievement. From nishta he will come to the platform of ruchi, from ruchi he will come to the platform of ashakti. From ashakti he will come to the platform of rati or bhava and then he will come to the platform of prema.
Everything will be accomplished by the mercy of the devotees.
Question: (inaudible)
HH BCS: You see one can break these religious principles like truthfulness only if Krishna says or if spiritual master says. Our principal aim is not the dharma. Our principal is surrender or shraddha. The principal of shraddha supersedes the principal of dharma. So, for the sake of our shraddha for Krishna, for the sake of faith for Krishna if we break the religious principles that is okay. What Yudhistir Maharaj's fault at that point was he considered dharma to be more important than surrender. That was the mistake and that was pointed out in Mahabharat. If Krishna says break the principal, then we must break the principal then we must break because Krishna is ultimately the Supreme Personality of Godhead and he is the profounder of dharma. He is not separate from dharma. Dharma is dharma because Krishna gave it. Right. Then if Krishna asks to break the dharma he gave before then the later instruction becomes more important. Therefore, the ultimate dharma which is pointed in Bhagavad Gita, “sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja.” (BG 18.66) This, “mam ekam saranam” is the ultimate dharma.
Question: It is mentioned that morality is detrimental on the path of bhakti. Arjun on the order of Krishna killed so many brahmins although that is not dharma. Even the gopis break the dharma although it is considered that it is prostitution to leave their homes in the middle of the night, they did it to please Krishna?
HHBCS: “na dharmaṁ nādharmaṁ śruti-gaṇaniruktaṁ kila kuru” (Manah Siskha V2), in the ultimate consideration of Krishna consciousness, the dharma or morality is secondary. We must be careful that it must be done for Krishna. It is immoral for a woman to give up her husband and run after another man. It is immoral but if it is done for Krishna then that is the highest morality because Krishna is even the husband of the husbands.
Question: Are we considering ourselves more advanced by doing something like these?
HHBCS: No, we are not thinking we are more advanced. We are doing it by Krishna’s instructions or spiritual master’s instructions. Because spiritual master is Krishna’s representative. Also, spiritual master must be very careful about breaking the religious principles. So, when spiritual master asks to tell a lie he must have consulted with Krishna before that. So, the devotee is not thinking that I am individually advanced that I can lie. If he does that then he is a sahajaya.