Japa Retreat—Chanting with an Open Heart—Part 02

Giriraj Swami: Well, it is time for a break; some fresh air, more sunlight, some drinking, after some social and spiritual conversations – we need to keep proper balance. All right. So yes, we do not have so much time left. I think I will just give one personal example from when I was a newer devotee. This goes back to 1971. We have just completed the first Bombay pandal which was very successful in so many ways. And out of that pandal, some months later as the temple president at Juhu, I got this very official typed letter on an Indian typewriter. But someone made the effort and said, “I attended the Hare Krishna festival at Cross Maidan and I want to submit my application to become a member of your organization.” And he told a little about himself and he signed it as Raghunatha dasa. So, we said “Yes, come.” And so that Raghunatha dasa later became Lokanath Swami.

And also, at that pandal there was an American, but he was a Shaivite with matted hair. And he later told me that I was the first devotee to engage him in service. Because I was in charge of the book table, and from America we would distribute BTGs. We had always put the magazines in their hands, that would be the first thing, so they would get attached. So, I would do that. Hundreds of Indians would gather around and I would pass out the magazines and they would walk off with them. So, I consulted one of our local advisors, life members. He said, “Oh, you can’t do that in India.” So I said, ”What do you do?” He said “Well, what you must do is, you poke a hole in the corner of the magazine, or the book and you put a string through the hole and tie it to the leg of the table. That way they can hold it in their hands and look at it, see if they want to buy it, but they cannot just walk off with it.” So, this young Shaivite was spending time at the pandal and I thought, Well, he is free, maybe we can have him do it. So, he did it. He said I was the first devotee to engage him in service, in the mission. And he became Radhanath Swami.

By Prabhupada’s mercy the Bombay pandal was very successful. So, after the success in Bombay Srila Prabhupada wanted us to have a pandal in Calcutta. And he sent Tamal Krishna Goswami and me there. So Tamal Krishna Goswami and I rode together on the train; we had some talks. We were actually a very good team. Yes, we worked well together. When we got there he said, “You make the money and I will spend it.” I said, “Okay, that is fine with me.” So one evening, it was late, I think everyone else was asleep. Somehow, we were both on the balcony of the Calcutta temple. And I do not know if I was leaning over the railing, looking out at the pukur, at the lake across from the temple. But anyway, we ended up next to each other. And everyone else was asleep. And there is guhyam ākhyāti pṛcchati. It is like he, I do not know, he really started to open his heart to me. And as Prabhupada says in that guhyam ākhyāti pṛcchati, a less experienced devotee inquires and the more experienced devotee explains.

So, he related this incident when Srila Prabhupada was very concerned about the situation in ISKCON and he called some of his senior men—that was when he formed the GBC. And he said that he was one of Srila Prabhupada’s most trusted sons. Now that struck me because I was quite new. And I knew Prabhupada was a pure devotee; he loved everyone equally, saw everyone equally, loved all the devotees. I just, did not have that idea that there were some people who were more confidential. And then he said, there were many things, but then he said something like, “The essence of spiritual life is service to the guru.” And that was also something new—for me that was something new. Because there are so many items of devotional service—chanting the holy name, reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, worshiping the deity. There is just so many activities in ISKCON and they are all transcendental. Prabhupada was very clear that they are all transcendental, when performed for the Lord. But this was something new and that resonated with me. And from then on all these different activities were seen from that specific perspective of service to the guru.

Now, that is one point about devotional service—any one of the nine processes, if performed perfectly is sufficient to award perfection. It is like the independent nature of Bhakti. But for me that became my guiding principle, as it was for him. And when I look back, that sort of confidential sharing. . . there was more, that moonlit night on the balcony of the Calcutta temple while everyone else was asleep. It was a very significant turning point in my understanding of devotional service, Krishna consciousness. So, this is so important. And I think the reason it is striking me with more urgency now is because, well, not that I have anything particular in mind but none of us knows how long we have in the body. And when you get older, statistically the probability increases that you do not have that much more time left. So, I am thinking I do not know how much longer I have in the body, but some time. I do not think there is anything imminent expected. But yes, when you get on to sixty years, you think like that. Fifty, even sixty, you start to think like that—you do not have that much time. And you think what is the best contribution you can make in the time you have left, what is the best use of my time and energy?

And I think of South Africa now, I have such a history here. I have so many friends here, making new friends, and I want to do something for them. So I am thinking, now I have two weeks left on this visit, a little more than two weeks and I should really make the best use of it. But it is a combined effort. Prabhupada gives that example, that for conception to take place the man must be potent, and the woman must be fertile. It is the same with transcendental knowledge, the communication of transcendental knowledge. So yes, I like it here, especially Soweto. I thought, Well I could just stay here, so nice here, just this facility, just stay in Soweto. Yes, I like it here. It is very active preaching, so many devotees. But health and circumstances, I do not know when I will be back again. So, I really want to make the best use of my time here. And Arcana Siddhi Mataji and Karnamrita Prabhu have been very kind to join me here. They will be here one more week. And I am feeling how we should take the best advantage we can of their presence and association. And that really means having open hearts. We are ready to open our hearts but we do that in relation to you opening your hearts. And these two things obviously, envy and pride, these are the big obstacles on all sides.

It is a very subtle thing receiving transcendental knowledge. In the Bhagavad-gītā we find at the beginning Arjuna was speaking with Krishna like a friend. They were friends—he was speaking with Krishna like a friend. Sort of like, I have my opinion, he has his opinion, discussing back and forth. But it was only when Arjuna surrendered to Krishna, he admitted: “Now I am confused about my duty. I do not know what is best for me: śiṣyas te ‘haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam – “Now I am a soul surrendered unto you, please instruct me.” And then Krishna really began to impart the knowledge of the Bhagavad-gītā, to Arjuna. The first thing he did was chastise him. “You are speaking learned words, but you are lamenting for that which is not worthy of grief.” Prabhupada says that indirectly He called him a fool: “You are not speaking learned words, what are you speaking? You are speaking foolishness.” Indirectly, he called him a fool. So, when we submit ourselves to Krishna, the holy name, the Vaishnavas, we must be ready to accept that we are fools. If we have that pride—“What do you mean, I am a fool? Do you know how many classes I have given? Do you know how many people take advice from me and praise me? How dare you?” You can go on like that, but then you will not get the real benefit of the association that is available.

His Holiness Gour Govinda Maharaja uses the word cheating; so it sounds a little like a startling word to hear in relation to a Vaishnava or a group. But if a disciple is proud, and what he really wants is name, fame, recognition, and appreciation, the guru may give it, the Vaishnava may give it. But the disciple is actually getting cheated out of the real benefit that he could get from the association. Because instead of getting real knowledge that will help him purify his heart and illuminate him, he is just getting the stuff of the world—name, fame, prestige, and position—he is cheating himself. But Prabhupada said, “The cheaters and the cheated.” We do not want to cheat anyone, and we do not want to be cheated. So anyway, that was just my thought. Because we are, we really do not know. That was a lesson I think everyone in the whole movement got; almost, cannot say everyone, many devotees in the movement got when His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami left, so many devotees. We never expected it. We all assumed he would be with us, and so many devotees felt that they had things they wanted to say to him. But they just assumed he would be around. And then after he was gone, they could no longer say it to him face to face.

One, I do not think he would mind because he is so open. One is His Holiness Sacinandana Swami. He had a transcendental disagreement with Tamal Krishna Goswami. And it was one of those things, he thought, Someday I must speak to him about it, someday we must resolve it. And then he got the news that Goswami Maharaja had left and was really upset that he had left while this was still pending. And then not sure how long afterwards, maybe within two weeks of Tamal Krishna Goswami’s departure, he visited Sacinandana Swami, and it sounded like Tamal Krishna Goswami.

Sacinandana Swami was having a dream in which a devotee, or a couple had said that either the spouse or one of their friends had died in an automobile accident. And they wanted Sacinandana Swami’s advice. So according to Sacinandana Swami that scene dissolved and then Tamal Krishna Goswami appeared, and he said, “So what is the great expert on automobile accidents going to say?” But then Tamal Krishna Goswami came to the real point that, “I know you are very upset that I left and there was this tension between us. And I specifically came to tell you it is all right. You do not have to worry about it, it is okay.” That was the essence. And then the way Sacinandana Swami tells it—the obnoxious, curious Sacinandana Swami just had to ask him, “What is it like where you are?” And Tamal Krishna Goswami replied, “It is different. We read things in the scripture, when you experience it, it is different.” Then he left.

So of course, that is extraordinary. That took place between two advanced souls, we cannot expect that mercy. But it does show two things: one is that we do not know how long any of us have and we should not put off important discussions, exchanges. We should not take for granted the opportunities for association that we have. But we should take advantage in the best way—to really open our hearts and exchange on a deep level, not just social. And the other lesson is that our relationships are an eternal principle. They are meant to be eternal, because we are serving Srila Prabhupada here and we will serve Srila Prabhupada in the spiritual world. Like Prabhupada said we will have another ISKCON in the spiritual sky. And Bhurijana Prabhu is also very humorous. There are many humorous god-brothers. He said, ”When I used to hear that there would be another ISKCON in the spiritual sky I was not quite sure how I felt about that. But now that I know that Tamal Krishna Goswami is there, the prospects look a lot more attractive.”

But anyway, in principle our relationships are eternal, whether we like it or not. And so, we might as well shed all this false ego, friends, and enemies and all these mental concoctions and just be humble, simple devotees—insignificant, which is what we are. Then we can have very congenial relationships with each other, in all different relationships. But the beginning is with, I would say, people you can reveal your mind to in confidence. People more experienced, or at least competent to help you. And yes, it is well, like Bhakti Chaitanya Swami said. He was looking at Srila Prabhupada’s picture and he is just, “I never imagined that this was there and what Prabhupada gave us, and how much more there is that we haven’t even begun to glimpse.” But that is possible with this constant chanting, associating with the holy name, in the association of devotees with the same intention. Yes, without offense. Yes, it is then we will also realize it is different.

All right, thank you very much. Hare Krishna.