CONTENTS:
- WHY I WILL NEVER LEAVE ISKCON
- SRILA PRABHUPADA'S APPRECIATION
- GURU MAHARAJA’S INSTRUCTIONS
1. WHY I WILL NEVER LEAVE ISKCON
Hare Krishna. My name is Bhakti. Charu Swami and I am one of the body commissioners of the International Society of Krishna. Consciousness ISKCON. I am a disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Today I have been asked to speak on why I will never leave ISKCON. You see when you get something that is great do you ever want to give it up? My simple answer is that. I have found the greatest spiritual object and. I never want to lose it. As it is the spiritual reality is beyond this material nature. If you put all the wealth of this material world it will not compare to even a speck of dust of the spiritual world, that is how precious the spiritual reality is. Here through ISKCON which actually means through Srila Prabhupada's teachings I found the highest and most precious object of the spiritual sky. So, the question of ever losing it does not even arise what to speak of giving it up voluntarily.
As a matter of fact, I always pray to Krishna that I stay on this path life after life because I found the goal now it’s a matter of reaching the goal. I don’t really know how long it will take to reach that goal but since I found the goal I at least know one thing that I found the goal and I found the path that leads to that goal so all I want is to remain on that path and keep on progressing and moving forward. If I keep on moving forward then I know that someday I will reach that goal. When I reach that goal, I don’t really know but the consideration that someday I will reach that goal that is enough. Let it take millions or zillions of lifetimes I don’t care. Of course, ultimately it all depends upon the will of the Lord. By dint of our own endeavor we will never be able to reach that goal. The distance is so far and the way to achieve that goal is so difficult that its practically impossible to reach that goal by dint of our own endeavor.
For example, you are asked to swim across the ocean who will be able to do that? No one but if there is a ship and you get into the ship then the ship can take us across. What to speak of flying in an aero plane we can cross the ocean even faster. Similarly, the arrangement is there to go to the spiritual world. There is a spaceship through which you can reach the ultimate spiritual goal it is a matter of staying on the ship. ISKCON is that s and all you have to do is just stay in ISKCON because that spaceship will eventually lead us to the spiritual sky. To tell you frankly I appreciated this topic because often in my mind what will get deviated from this path. What will happen if at the time of death, I get drifted from this path and I wouldn’t be able to work my will to decide what I want to do. Therefore, I simply pray to Krishna that He allows me to stay on this path life after life. We found the goal and we found the means so just keep utilizing the means and the goal will be achieved.
Let us briefly consider is this just a sentimental consideration I can assure you that that is not the case at all. To me it is a consideration of taking full advantage of my life. I got this human form of life and this life came with an opportunity to go back to the spiritual world and become situated in my spiritual identity. No other form of life would have given me this opportunity. What to speak of subhuman species like animals, reptiles, birds and so forth. Even the superhuman beings like the demigods in heaven even they don’t get this opportunity. They can’t free themselves from the material bondage and become engaged in their loving relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In order to achieve that opportunity demigods have to come to the earth planet that is why we find that when Krishna decided to come to this planet Krishna instructed Brahma to tell the demigods to take birth in the Yadu and Vrishni dynasties. The demigods came to the earth planet was born as human beings and then they got elevated to the spiritual sky. From heaven they could not develop that relationship with Krishna they had to come back to this earth planet.
First objective is to recognize that we are not this body we are spirit souls. Information on spirit souls are available, nature of the spirit soul is that the spirit soul never dies, spirit soul is full of consciousness and spirit soul is joy. We are actually hankering for these three things. We don’t want to die, we want to know everything, we want to be fully conscious and we want to be joyful. Now by nature we are that, we are immortal, fully conscious and we are full of joy. In order to become situated in our constitutional position in our spiritual identity we have to develop our relationship with the Lord. The basis of that relationship is love. We have to develop our loving relationship with the Lord. That process of developing that loving relationship with the Lord is called Bhakti. Srila Prabhupada taught us how to develop that relationship. First is devotional service in practice which is called sadhana bhakti and then it is spontaneous devotion. We practice but when we master the process then it becomes a natural and spontaneous thing for us. The love for the Lord will automatically become manifest when you become free from our material conditioning. Srila Prabhupada is giving us that process how to develop our relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead and then Prabhupada is giving us the information what the spiritual world is like.
The first part of the spiritual world is the spiritual light which is known as Brahma Jyoti. The spiritual sky, sky means the space, the spiritual space is that eternal light, brilliant effulgence that is emanating from the body of the Lord. In that spiritual sky there are innumerable spiritual planets those planets are known as Vaikunta or the planets that are free from anxiety, distress and suffering. In the upper region of the spiritual sky there is a region called Mathura mandala that is beyond Vaikunta or the spiritual planets. In that region there is a place called Vrindavan. In Vrindavan the Lord enables His most intimate devotees to develop a loving relationship with Him in friendship, parental and conjugal. In friendship the Lord allows His devotees to develop his relationship with Him as a friend. The Lord allows His devotees to develop a relationship like father and mother where the Lord becomes the child and the devotees become the parents. The Lord enables the devotion to His most intimate devotees like that of the lover and the beloved.
The devotee there is a young girl and the Lord is the eternal, youthful Personality of Godhead and they have their loving exchange like a young boy has with a young girl. Vrindavan is the region where these relationships are offered by the Lord to His devotees. It is actually very very difficult to enter into Vrindavan only some very advanced very qualified individuals who developed a very intense love for the Lord can ever enter into that region. But the Lord appearing as a devotee opened the gate of Vrindavan for anyone and everyone to enter there and develop these relationships with the Supreme Personality of and that is the mercy of Sri. Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna Himself who came to give Krishna Prema. Krishna Himself came to invite anyone and everyone to come to the topmost region of the spiritual sky to develop that very very special relationship with Him. Srila Prabhupada is offering it to us through His ISKCON so who will ever even dream of leaving ISKCON once he has got this opportunity. Thank you all very much. All Glories to Srila Prabhupada.
2. SRILA PRABHUPADA'S APPRECIATION
Srila Prabhupada taught us how to develop that relationship. Srila Prabhupada is giving us that process how to develop our relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead and then Prabhupada is giving us the information what the spiritual world is like. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna Himself who came to give Krishna Prema. Krishna Himself came to invite anyone and everyone to come to the topmost region of the spiritual sky to develop that very very special relationship with Him. Srila Prabhupada is offering it to us through His ISKCON.
3. GURU MAHARAJA’S INSTRUCTIONS
- We have this opportunity that is even beyond the demigods so we must take full advantage ISKCON;
- By dint of our own endeavor we will never be able to reach that goal. The distance is so far and the way to achieve that goal is so difficult that its practically impossible to reach that goal by dint of our own endeavor;
- First is devotional service in practice which is called sadhana bhakti and then it is spontaneous devotion. We practice but when we master the process then it becomes a natural and spontaneous thing for us. The love for the Lord will automatically become manifest when you become free from our material conditioning cheat;
- Similarly, the arrangement is there to go to the spiritual world. There is a spaceship through which you can reach the ultimate spiritual goal it is a matter of staying on the ship. ISKCON is that s and all you have to do is just stay in ISKCON because that spaceship will eventually lead us to the spiritual sky;
- Our real identity is not this body our actual identity is we are spirit souls. We have to become aware of our spiritual identity; and
- Srila Prabhupada is offering it to us through His ISKCON so who will ever even dream of leaving ISKCON once he has got this opportunity.
The content of this E-Magazine is based on an interview with HH Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja by ISKCON Desire Tree on 7 March 2015.
(Compiled and Edited by Hemavati Radhika Devi Dasi)