Pandava Sena Youth Retreat—Welcome

Giriraj Swami: I was chanting here and I was thinking of the word “youth” or the idea of youth, and how Srila Prabhupada had said that the flower of the nation as its youth. When Srila Prabhupada came to America and began to speak the message of Bhagavad-gītā and engage in chanting the holy name, it was the youth who came forward to join, to learn from him, to work with him. Srila Prabhupada was very pleased or proud, that he had captured the youth. He said, “Youth to be the flower of the nation.” So much has been done to establish the Krishna consciousness movement in the West and all over the world since Srila Prabhupada first came by steamship, arriving at the age of seventy. Today’s youth is coming in touch with Krishna consciousness in a different way. They are finding a movement that is been established to some degree by the efforts of Srila Prabhupada and his obedient followers. The mood of young people in general may be somewhat different. The youth in our generation was really looking for an alternative to the materialistic way of life, whereas young people today are not exactly looking for an alternative in general.

Surveys have been done in different university, the university of California, and the main purpose of university is to get some qualification that will help them to earn more later. That is a different mood from our mood when we were in university. That said, the facts of life are the same. We are eternal spirit souls, part and parcel of Krishna, and we can never be satisfied by material means because we are spiritual. Srila Prabhupada always said that the living entity in the material world is like a fish out of water. The fish cannot be happy out of water, even if you put it in a beautiful golden bowl filled with precious gems and jewels. The fish won’t be happy; it needs water. So we, as spiritual beings, need to be in a spiritual atmosphere to feel happy and satisfied. Without that, we will always be frustrated and feel some lacking.

As a result, there are many books that have come out recently about what makes people happy. There is one by a Harvard professor, a very intelligent and witty person, called “Stumbling on Happiness.” He and other psychologists and sociologists have done research and found that there is a whole generation of people who’ve done everything they thought would ultimately make them happy. They have gotten a good education, gotten a good job or started a good business, gotten a qualified wife or husband, had intelligent children to whom they gave all facilities. They did everything that they were told would make them happy, everything that they thought would make them happy, and then in the end, they found out that they were not happy. Then they wondered what went wrong.

There is a whole generation of books on the subject of what makes a person happy because there is a whole generation of people who did everything that they were told would make them happy, but they weren’t happy. Therefore, the title of the one book is “Stumbling on Happiness.” You can’t predict what will make us happy. So, Srila Prabhupada knew the secret, it is reviving our spiritual consciousness of a loving relationship with Krishna. He gave the example that if you perform a mathematical calculation and you make a mistake in the first step, even if you perform all the other steps perfectly, you may end up further away from the answer if you made a mistake in the first step. In the same way, if we make a mistake about our identity—in other words, if we think we are the body instead of the spiritual spark within the body—and then we do everything perfectly for the sake of the body, we may end up further and further away from the correct solution, from real happiness.

That is what all these people have experienced, and that is why there are so many books now on what makes a person happy. The author of the book I quoted, “Stumbling on Happiness,” said that many of his colleagues, professional colleagues, friends, and well-wishers have told him that his analysis of the problem and of the mechanism of human psychology is excellent, but he doesn’t give any solutions. It is all negative. That is the problem. It is sort of like what Prabhupada said about our generation, the hippies: they knew what was wrong, but they didn’t know what was right. They rejected the stereotyped materialistic life of their parents and grandparents, but they had no idea of the beautiful life in Krishna consciousness.

Now, as society has progressed, if you want to call it that, there is a generation of researchers, psychologists, anthropologists who have analyzed that all the things that people thought would make them happy—in other words, material success—is not making them happy. They know that is not the solution, but they still don’t know what the actual solution is. They are like an educated version or a sophisticated version of hippies. It is like they know what is wrong, but they don’t know what is right. Srila Prabhupada has come to give us the solution. He has come to show us the way to happiness, and it is practical: by chanting Hare Krishna, dancing, taking prasādam, and following the lifestyle of Krishna consciousness. Therefore, devotees can keep doing the same thing year after year and not get tired of it. We don’t get tired of it; we wish we had more time to chant, actually. This retreat is an opportunity for all of us together to chant and hear and dance, speak and honor prasāda. We find in the pastimes of Lord Chaitanya that when Lord Chaitanya and his associates would get together, their main activity was certainly chanting and speaking about Krishna, but they would also have pastimes. They would have boat festivals; they would play in the water. Great learning scholars like Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and Ramananda Raya, would become so intoxicated with love of God that they would become just like little children, playing in the water and splashing each other and playing games.

There is nothing lacking in Krishna consciousness. Srila Prabhupada often said that Krishna consciousness is not just dry philosophy; everything is there, but its center is Krishna. The central point is Krishna and Krishna’s pleasure. By pleasing Krishna, we become satisfied. That is the secret; that is the method by which we will become happy, and that is by making Krishna happy, consciously and deliberately. When Krishna is happy, then everyone is happy. Everyone who is connected to Krishna is happy. So, many events have been planned for the next days of the retreat, and I thought I would read one verse from the Bhagavad-gītā that describes the essence of the activities of devotees when they come together. There are four verses that are considered the essence of the Bhagavad-gītā, and this is one of them (10.9):

mac-cittā mad-gata-prāṇā
bodhayantaḥ parasparam
kathayantaś ca māṁ nityaṁ
tuṣyanti ca ramanti ca

“The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me.”

When I first joined Boston temple, Krishna consciousness was such an adventurous. It was not adventurous externally but internally also. If we were conducting an experiment, Srila Prabhupada would say, just try the chanting of Hare Krishna. So whole process of Krishna consciousness was great experiment on oneself, although we were convinced in advance of the truth of the philosophy. Whatever we were reading was confirmed in our practical activities, and then we would discuss amongst ourselves. When I first joined, I was completely new. I really didn’t know much about what was going on, but I was experiencing it. One thing I experienced was that when you were given mahā-prasāda, the food from the deities’ plate, it tasted different from the regular prasāda. Just as cases are different from ordinary food, the deities’ prasāda tasted still different. But I didn’t say anything.

Then one day, as we were sitting for breakfast, one of the ladies commented, “Did you ever notice that the food that comes off of the deities’ plate always tastes like it has a little sugar sprinkled all over it?” Wow, that is exactly what I have experienced! I thought I was the only one. So we were comparing our experiences and gaining more and more faith. Later, I came across a very beautiful verse and purport in Ādi-līlā of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, quoting a verse followed by another verse: to those who are constantly devoted and worship Krishna with love, He gives them the understanding by which they can come to Him. Srila Prabhupada says in the purport that just as scientists in great academies compare their thoughts and the results of their experiments, so the devotees of the Lord also share their thoughts and realizations in Krishna consciousness. By that sharing, Krishna is pleased, and Krishna, being pleased, gives the devotees further enlightenment from within the heart. It is a very encouraging process, a very progressive process. If we give ourselves to the process, we will experience it. If we stand on the shore, we are not going to know what it feels like. Take a dip in the ocean, immerse yourself in the water, then you will know what it feels like.

If you do it properly under superior guidance, the way we were taught by Srila Prabhupada, you will feel the results and never be the same. You realize what you always put forth for God. So, I don’t know whether one of that, I mean, we shared it a little late, but I should still end on time, right? So the other events because it is about time. How are we going to stay on schedule? Please repeat after me with your hands raised in praise:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

I should also take the opportunity to thank the organizers of the retreat. They have been working very diligently, systematically, and intelligently for many months, and they have done a great job. I am sure that all of their efforts will bear many lovely fruits. In the beginning, they had some ideas, and then they would present them to me. I would think, well, maybe do it a different way, and I would ask different questions and find out more about it. In almost every case, it turned out that what they had thought in the first place seemed to me to be the best anyway. They present their proposals to me, and I do consider them, but in the end, I sort of realize they probably figured it out better than anyone else could anyway, so might as well not even question it too much.

A retreat is very special because it depends on everyone’s participation for its success. I think that you have come with the best intentions, and if you really give yourself to the experience without reservation, you will have something that you will never forget in your whole life. New friendships will develop, relationships will deepen, and already existing relationships will always stay with you. The experiences you have here and the relationships you develop will stay with you, and you will want to think back on this experience. You will also be able to look forward to other similar experiences.

I remember when I first attended a japa retreat, I had such a wonderful experience. I thought, so this is what a japa retreat is. I have experienced it, but then I experienced them again and again, and everyone was different, everyone was completely enriching and enlivening. Mahatma Prabhu said it is not something that you do once and that is the end of it. It is something you do again and again, like vacations. It is not that someone, a student or someone with a job, takes a vacation once and then next year when it is vacation time, they say, “I already took a vacation once, I have already experienced it.” No, it is something you want to do again and again.

Hare Krishna.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada