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Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 9.178 – 194.
“Srila Prabhupada raised the question, ‘Why do we call this building a temple and that building, an ordinary houses?’ He said, ‘In this house, we are living. And the next house, they are also living. So what is the difference? The difference is that here, Krishna is the center. Therefore it is temple. And next door, a house. That is the difference between house, ordinary house, and temple. This is also made of bricks and stones and wood, and that is also made of bricks and stones. They also live, they also cook, they also eat. Everything is the same, practically. But the difference is that there is no Krishna, and here is Krishna. That is the difference.” The temple is spiritual because everything is engaged in the service of the Lord. Even the physical body when fully engaged in the service of the Lord becomes spiritual. When we engage them in the service of the Lord, material things become spiritual. And conversely, if we want to use something spiritual which is meant for the service of the Lord—which is really everything that exists—for our sense gratification, it becomes material. So, Ravana kidnapped Sitadevi to enjoy her, but he didn’t get the spiritual Sita; he got the maya Sita.”
It is stated that in Satya-yuga demons and devotees lived on different planets; in Treta-yuga demons and devotees lived on the same planet but in different families—like Dasarstha and Janaka on the one hand and Ravana on the other; in Dvarapa-yuga devotees and demons appeared in the same family—like the Kauravas and the Pandavas; and in Kali-yuga the divine and demonic propensities reside in the same person. Unfortunately, we almost all have that experience. We have love in our hearts, Krishna in our hearts, but unfortunately, we also have Ravana—that lusty, greedy, angry entity. So the question is: Are we going to follow Rama, or are we going to follow Ravana? The idea is that we can use even anger in the service of the Lord. We should use the anger in our heart and say, ‘I am not going to take this misbehavior anymore. I am not going to chase after this or that, do this or do that. I am not going to tolerate it.’ In this way we can make progress.
Giriraj Swami spoke on the appearance of Lord Ramacandra at the San Diego temple on Sunday, March 28.
