Japa Retreat—Conclusion Day

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. So for me, this is a sad moment, having entered deeply into the association of sincere and ardent devotees and having chanted and heard with them in the most holy land of Barsana. It is not a very happy occasion, not a very happy prospect to think of leaving.

There is so much shelter in that association. One reason we hesitate to surrender is that we are afraid that if we surrender, something bad will happen. We feel that we have to be vigilant to protect ourselves. But in the right association, in the right place, in the right situation, we want to surrender to that good process, that world, that realm, and let go of our vague attempts to protect ourselves and our false pretenses of who we are, and just surrender. In that environment, we take shelter of the holy name. Different devotees have mentioned different meanings of maha-mantra that Srila Prabhupada gave. One meaning he gave was “my dear friend, my dear friend, my dear friend.” When we chant with what we need to say, with Krishna’s grace, we are able to chant with some feeling. We realize that we have turned away from Krishna, and while chanting, we are praying to Him to forgive us for having turned away from Him, and we are praying to Him to accept us back. That is a real friend. You may go away, but he is always there for you when you turn back towards him again and want serve more and more.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that when one goes in deep into the chanting or in one’s spiritual practices, one will feel compassion for others. Even though we have not gone as far as we could, even the little experience we have had is enough to convince us that this is the essence of life. This is the essence of life, and everything else is just a frivolous, illusory, frustrating attempt to finding safety, security, and happiness elsewhere. That much is enough to tell one to speak to others about the purpose of life, the mission of life, the goal of life, and the means to it. In that process, we are also rendering service to the holy name, pleasing previous acharyas by whose grace we are here today.

In discussing dadāti pratigṛhṇāti, this story of the exchanges of love shared between devotees, Srila Prabhupada said that the gift of the holy name is the most sublime example of the dadāti pratigṛhṇāti principle that Lord Chaitanya, Srila Prabhupada, some Vaishnavas has given us that gift. But we have to take it deeply, and that is how we show our appreciation for those who gave it to us and for the gift itself. It is a great challenge to maintain this mood outside of it. As we have heard again and again, we are in the perfect situation, but what happens when we leave the perfect situation? From my own experience, it is hard. We may not have that association that supports our intention, except we had it here. But somehow, we have to try to bring others into that mood, even if not for their sake, for our sake, because we need their support. We can’t do it alone. As a Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual master told him, if you do that, speak the message of Lord Chaitanya, that will be good for you and for those who hear you.

Prabhupada often quoted the verse, dante nidhāya tṛṇakaṁ padayor nipatya, how we preach. “In the straw in the teeth, I you flatter one hundred times, you are so intelligent, Influential,” the person will be eager. “Yes, yes,” “You are very perceptive. “You have understood my greatness,” and then you say, gaurāṅga-candra-caraṇe kurutānurāgam, “Forget whatever nonsense you have learned and surrender to Lord Chaitanya.” In that way, we speak to people around us, even people who are near and dear to us. But actually, we have to speak in the same way to our own minds. Our own minds are not in association with what we want, so we have to appeal to our minds in the same way, to cooperate with us in this endeavor.

As far as how to take the retreat home, it is hard. My first thought was, well, I will take Bhurijana Prabhu to home, take Sacinandana Swami to home. Bhurijana Prabhu agreed and Sacinandana Swami was little reluctant. So, all of you, I want to take with me. So, I do pray to all of you to keep me in your thoughts and prayers when you are chanting. Certainly, prayers are very powerful, very powerful, and whatever little drop of mercy we get, let’s emanate us in bigger way so that it will invigorate us for the tasks that lie ahead. At the beginning, I said I was sad. I am also a little apprehensive, but I know from experience that when we go into the field, if we keep this consciousness with us, we can actually serve the holy name by encouraging others to come to the chanting of the holy name, to go deeper in their relationship with the holy name. I am sure that we will meet again together here next year.

Devotee: [applause] Haribol