Japa Retreat—Level 02 Day 01—Entering the Retreat

Giriraj Swami: We have all gathered here at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada and the Pancha-tattva to increase our devotion for them and for Lord Krishna, in particular in the form of the holy name. It is a very special opportunity that we have, just from your words of introduction, I could understand how serious all of you are, and we really should take full advantage. New Vrindavan itself is a special place, a holy dhāma, like Sri Vrindavan dhāma. And just being here itself is elevating to the consciousness. Furthermore, we are here on a retreat, away from the environment that we usually inhabit, and away from the demands that usually press upon our time and energy. And we want to be in that eternal realm where it is just us and the holy name and the other chanters. Fortunately, in the cabins there is no telephones, no cell phone reception, no Internet connection. So, the universe. . . What did they say? The universe is friendly, or what was that? The universe is friendly, no cell phones, no landlines, no Internet connection. And we should, as far as possible, avoid the use of such facilities, and be in the present, or be in the eternal realm of Krishna consciousness.

The association of the devotees who have gathered for the same purpose is very powerful. Even in the Sunday morning programs at Haryasva Prabhu Center in Philadelphia, even though it is only for a few hours, but just being with devotees with the exclusive purpose of chanting the holy name with attention, deepening the relationship with the holy name, creates a very powerful environment. And so, we have the same opportunity now, but expanded over five or six days. Some of the people here have attended level one retreats, or at least japa weekend, and there will be some repetition of the concepts that you heard before, but the subject is ever fresh, it is Krishna, so it is ever fresh. Sometimes Srila Prabhupada would read his own books. Once, he asked Sruti Kirti Prabhu who was his personal servant, “Is there any other author who reads his own books?” Usually, they write their books, send it to the publisher or printer, and then they never look at it again, and they go on to the next book. But Srila Prabhupada read his own books because they weren’t his books, they were Krishna’s books, and they were ever fresh. And every topic on the schedule will be taught in a slightly different way, even if the same person is teaching it, so it will be new. But at the same time, even if we hear the same thing again, we can experience it in a different way, or on a deeper level.

I remember the last retreat, Yagya Purush Prabhu said something that I heard so many times before, but somehow, either the way he said it the last time, or the mood in which I received it, it just went much deeper and I thought, Oh, that is what that means. So, we should be very open, we should listen with open ears and open hearts for Krishna. We should be ready to receive Krishna in the form of transcendental sound, the holy name, as well as the instructions about the holy name. And Srila Prabhupada said, “Repetition is necessary for proper understanding.” Of course, in English writing they say you shouldn’t repeat yourself, but we do repeat ourselves. Srila Prabhupada said, “It is not enough to say once, in one purport, that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we will say in every purport that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” [laughter] So, we need to hear, to remind ourselves, but also to understand better, and to allow the instructions to enter deeper. The effect of the retreats is powerful and we want to keep them with us, take home with us what we learn at the retreat, but at the same time, we also want to renew the experience.

As Karnamrita Prabhu said, a retreat is not something that you graduate from, it is like a spiritual holiday for us. We leave aside our work and other obligations and responsibilities, and indulge ourselves in hari-nāma, and it is something we want to do again and again. In the material world, if you were to say to someone, say you are an employer, if you were to say to one of your employees, “You took a holiday last year, you have already done that once, you don’t really need to do that again, do you?” “No, I want my holidays, I get a holiday every year.” So, it is like that, it is not like, “Oh, I did it once. I went on a retreat.” No, this is our holiday, best holiday, I want to do it every year, or as often as possible. It is the best holiday, spiritual holiday. And for those who just completed level one it is an opportunity to carry forward on what you have already experienced and learned and, just carry the same momentum forward with even more impetus from the facilitators and other devotees. So, it really is a blessed opportunity, and it is really a matter of letting go, just letting go of everything else, Krishna is the property of those who have no other possessions. Of course, we don’t really possess anything, but we have the false mentality that we do. So, you want to let go of everything else, just stand alone with Krishna, the holy name, with the association of the other chanters, and nothing else.

Someone today gave the example that sometimes you are listening to the radio, and there is a lot of static on the air, and so, you are trying to listen to the sound, but there is just so much static, so much disturbance. So, we are trying to chant the holy name, but there is so much disturbance in our minds, we are not able to really hear the holy name. So, you want to get fine-tuned so we are right on the band and we are not having these disturbing vibrations interfering with the sound that we want to hear. And yes, we have responsibilities, in normal course we have obligations, but we have been given this special opportunity to come here. I am sure that we have friends, family, employers, employees, co-workers, fellow devotees, they have all given us permission to come, we are here with their blessings, they have given us permission to leave everything aside for this special time. So, we should leave it aside, we shouldn’t carry unnecessary burdens, and be happy in Krishna consciousness. Hare Krishna.

Devotees: Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Devotees: Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Devotees: Hare Krishna.