Verse: Krishna's Pastimes in Vrindavan
Date: January 11th, 2014
Place: New Jagannatha Puri Mandir, Durban, South Africa
“The purpose of these seminars is to systematically present this philosophy for your understanding and appreciation. It is very important that you understand who Krishna is, and appreciate His greatness, appreciate His position. By appreciating Krishna’s position we will make spiritual advancement. Not only Krishna’s position, it is a matter of recognizing and appreciating our spiritual identity; recognizing that there is another reality beyond this material nature.
This world is there, but actually there is another reality beyond this world, and as a matter of fact this material nature is a reflection of that world. The real reality is that reality, and this is a reflection of that reality.
This is the most important thing to understand – that this world is not the only reality. The real reality is beyond this. This is a world of matter. We can see that matter by itself cannot do anything. Like just consider, for anything, matter needs something to motivate or move it. Just like a car; the car is sitting there, but the car by itself cannot do anything. You may say, but there is a remote, but even that remote must be controlled by somebody.
Matter by itself cannot act. To motivate matter, to activate matter, there is a need for a spirit soul. Similarly our body is made of matter. This body by itself cannot function but because the soul is in the body, the body is functioning in such a wonderful way. So this is the reality.
Matter is not everything. Beyond matter there is another thing – that is the spirit soul. And the spirit soul is not a product of this material nature. It is not some combination of cells and molecules. In fact atoms and molecules are also living entities, products of the material nature.
The reality is that the soul came from another world, and that is the spiritual world. And these discussions are actually to make us understand. These sessions are to give a clear understanding of the spiritual reality. These sessions are meant to take us closer to that spiritual reality.”
Questions and Answers:
Question : : Bhaktin S arisha Harrychund
Hare Krishna Maharaja, you mentioned that it is through our mind that our consciousness is flowing. How does our intelligence interact with our mind and consciousness?
Is it the intelligence that directs the mind and consciousness; or is our level of intelligence controlled by our consciousness?
How do we direct our mind and intelligence to always be Krishna conscious?
Thank you.
Answer : His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami GuruMaharaja
“Whose question is this? Okay. Very good! Very good question! So now look at it this way. The soul is the source of consciousness. Now when we become conditioned or entangled in this body, then the consciousness of the soul flows through our senses. And the mind is the medium. Like you look at it like, our senses are the network for the nervous system. All the nerves are ending in different senses. And what is the center point of the nervous system? Brain, right? And this is actually the seat of the mind.
So senses, and the internal sense is the mind; five senses, external, and internal sense is the mind. And it is through the mind, then through the senses that the consciousness is running to the objects of the senses. Now intelligence is the faculty that can decide what to accept and what to reject. That is your intelligence - what should be done, what should not be done. So that is being determined by your intelligence. Therefore the real purpose of the intelligence is to turn the consciousness towards Krishna, withdrawing from the senses.
And how does one direct one’s mind to always be Krishna conscious? Use your intelligence!”
Second Session
“So did you follow the equation? Serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead – first consideration; devotional service must be executed following vaidhi-bhakti . Serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead, following vaidhi-bhakti , when one achieves perfection, he goes to Vaikuntha. However, when the devotee Supreme Personality of Godhead is served following vaidhi-bhakti , then he gets the access to Vrndavana.
Clear?
It is very important for us to understand this point. Following vaidhi-bhakti devotional service must be executed, and by serving Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, by following vaidhi-bhakti one gets access to Vrndavana. Now how does one use vaidhi-bhakti to serve Caitanya Mahaprabhu?
krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam
sangopangastra-parsadam
yajnaih sankirtanaih prayair
yajanti hi sumedhasah
[ Srimad Bhagavatam : 11:5:32]
Those who are truly intelligent, they will serve this Supreme Personality of Godhead as a Devotee through the sankirtana yajna . This Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is served through the sankirtana yajna .
harer nama harer nama
harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva
nasty eva gatir anyatha
[ Caitanya-caritamrta Adi : 17:21]