The Art of Krishna Consciousness

Devotee: Why do thinking that anyone that comes to Krishna consciousness has to be, really good and full of virtue and good qualities to be able to associate here and after chanting and being with the devotees, so why was there talk about criticism? And should one devotee, junior devotee, can be criticized by a senior devotee, and from the senior devotee criticizes, and why would there be any criticism? Because everyone should be so happy being in Krishna’s family.

Giriraj Swami: And what did you say?

Devotee: Yes, talk about this tomorrow. I feel like it is from different angles. I just think why that maybe, yes, that we are all in the shower getting clean, and people come from different vantage points, different baggage. Some people apply themselves more, some don’t; that kind of a general answer, but I am sure you would hit the nail on the head.

Giriraj Swami: Well, I will say something, and this goes back to late 1971. The Calcutta temple was very poor, extremely poor. And just to give an example, there was one devotee, he had a pretty big strong body, he had been a Hell’s Angel, but you might know what that is, a quite—and he was so famished, many of the devotees were, that after the ārati, he would take the burnt-out ghee wicks, and if there was any ghee left, he would squeeze it out and I noticed, and it was like everyone was really famished. That was just part of it. And the temple president, because it was involved in a business to raise money for the temple, but on a personal level, he wasn’t very available to the devotees. It seemed like he is spending most of his time with his main salesperson in the office. So the devotees were just waiting for Srila Prabhupada to come so they could tell him what was happening and get some help or some solution. And then finally, Srila Prabhupada did come, and different disciples went and complained about the situation. And then Srila Prabhupada called a meeting of all the devotees in the temple. Do we have Yamuna devi’s biography here? I can tell my story, but I read something in her biography from her that added a little to what I remember from my own experience.

So how far is your house? Is there anyone—is there anyone I can bring both volumes? The thing is that in the chronology of the story, her part comes a little before mine. But still, we will continue.

So Srila Prabhupada listened, he asked all the devotees and then one by one, they explain what their difficulties were. And then, Srila Prabhupada with great sympathy and care, gave some practical advice, so that he made a committee of Tamal Krishna Goswami and me. He said we should meet every week and go over all the problems, and keep a minute book, and record whatever we decide. And then once we have agreed on it, then we should just do it, execute it. But then at a certain point, his mood seemed to change, and he said that we have a tendency to think about material things and talk about material things. And if we spend too much time thinking about these problems and how to make solutions to these problems, our spiritual life will be hampered. And we should really be thinking about Krishna and speaking about Krishna.

So this is page 402. The section is called “Calcutta Temple Difficulties.” Quote, “Our real business is to hear and chant about Krishna.”

READING from Yamuna Devi: A Life of Unalloyed Devotion

That fall in Calcutta—Yamuna’s frustration with the temple management was mirrored by many of the other devotees. The harmony in the temple had deteriorated to such an extent that Yamuna realized that only Srila Prabhupada himself could affect a solution. And so, she anxiously awaited his arrival there. Although he was due to arrive on October 25th, Srila Prabhupada was quarantined in Bombay for nine days after visiting Nairobi. He finally arrived in Calcutta on October 29th, to be welcomed by a barrage of disheartened devotees.

COMMENT

What does dishearten mean? Disheartened—discouraged.

READING (continued)

The morning after Srila Prabhupada arrived, we called the devotees together for an iṣṭagoṣṭhī.

COMMENT

Who knows what iṣṭagoṣṭhī is? Yes, a meeting—iṣṭa means desirable, and goṣṭhī means association.

READING (continued)

So Yamuna devi—we were in Calcutta near the end of 1971. The temple was in low consciousness. You will be able to study when you are in low consciousness and influenced by the lower modes of nature, and also when devotees around you are in low consciousness. And our temple was in a state.

COMMENT

So she is listing things that were at a low point, which were indications of low consciousness.

READING (continued)

And our temple was in a state where respect, honor, generosity, affection, consideration, etc., were at a low point. The real and tangible nature of what Krishna consciousness is, was not very evident. And so Srila Prabhupada called the devotees together to his room. And one woman devotee was really upset; she was in bad consciousness so she didn’t come to the room. Prabhupada immediately noticed her absence and said, “Where is such and such devotee?” And one brahmachari said something to the effect that she went off somewhere in a stew.

COMMENT

Now stew, in this context, stew is like it is a—it is a food preparation where you put different items in a pot, and you turn on the fire, and it sits in the pot, and it stews. It is simmering; it is just slightly boiling maybe, it is simmering, and it is just stews. The juices and the vegetables and things come out, and it just stews. So, when we say someone is in a stew, it means that they are have all these things going on inside of them, and it is just simmering. It means it is cooking, and it is just like all the stuff is coming out, but it is staying inside. Anyway, I am trying to explain stew.

READING (continued)

So, Prabhupada asked where that lady devotee was, and one brahmachari said something to the effect that she went off somewhere in the stew. Prabhupada looked at that brahmachari and said, “Go find her.” Shocked, the brahmachari said, “But I am a brahmachari; a woman should go find her.” And Prabhupada again said, “You go find her.” The brahmachari said, “But I have no idea where she is in the whole of Calcutta.”

COMMENT

See, this—I think Yamuna devi’s not saying it, but I am taking it as an indication of the bad consciousness that she was talking about.

READING (continued)

The brahmachari said, “But I have no idea where she is in the whole of Calcutta.” Of course, she wasn’t far away; she happened to be across the street, chanting her rounds by a lake that is in front of the Calcutta Temple. So anyway, he found her and brought her to the room. The mood was very sober, but Srila Prabhupada wanted to hear from everyone. He went around the room and asked each devotee what they thought was wrong in the temple, and each person gave their realization, and everyone else listened to that realization. And then Srila Prabhupada spoke. He said that we were all here because he had followed the instructions of his guru Maharaja and come to the West. And then he added, with great emphasis, “Do you think it was easy for me to leave India all alone and come to America?” And none of us had really thought like that, whether it was easy or hard. We had just assumed that he had done that by Krishna’s mercy.

Then he continued, “Do you think it was easy for me when I was in Butler, Pennsylvania, and I opened the refrigerator and there was cat food next to my vegetables? Do you think that was easy?” And all the devotees almost began to cry because they began to understand what Prabhupada did for us, and it wasn’t easy. He came from a place where his mother was carried in a palanquin from one house to the other. He was from another culture, almost like another planet, and yet he came to the West with a trunk full of books and seven rupees. And we know the prayers he wrote on the Jaladuta. Some of the most beautiful things that Prabhupada ever wrote were those prayers on the Jaladuta. There, he talks to Krishna; he prays to Krishna.

So he told us to try to just understand that Krishna consciousness will not always be easy. And then he said, “Three things are required for success in Krishna consciousness, and you must always rely on them: enthusiasm, will or determination, and patience.” So now, you can take that one instruction from Srila Prabhupada and start to apply it in your life. And to the degree that you want to become conscious, to the degree that you want to become committed, start examining these things. For almost thirty years, I have been going around and asking devotees, “What does determination mean to you?” Because I felt it was one of the weak things for me. If I had more determination, I might be a devotee. So I wanted that then, and I want that now.

COMMENT

So, that was like part of the meeting. And then, this is quoting me, but I already said a lot of it.

READING (continued)

But after hearing so many complaints from so many devotees, Srila Prabhupada called a meeting of all the devotees. Practically all the devotees in the temple came into Srila Prabhupada’s room, and he listened very sympathetically to what every devotee had to say. And he was really concerned and wanted to improve things. At one stage, the GBC for India protested, “Srila Prabhupada, my only intention was to execute Your Divine Grace’s will.” And Prabhupada replied, a little sarcastically, “Is it my Divine Grace’s will that the devotees should be disturbed?”

And he made a system. He named certain leaders—Tamal Krishna, Yamuna, and me—and said that they should get together every week and discuss the problems. And whatever they decided, they should write down in a minute book, and they should all sign, and then do what they agreed. But after all that was said and done, Srila Prabhupada’s mood seemed to change. He said, “Actually, we shouldn’t become too involved in such concerns because our real business is to hear and chant about Krishna. And if we become too absorbed in making material arrangements, we will forget our real business of Krishna consciousness.”

He said that, as it is, our tendency is to discuss mundane topics, so we should be careful and try to minimize the mundane talks and concentrate on hearing and chanting about Krishna. Then Srila Prabhupada said that in his life, he never complained because his policy was always “Everything for Krishna and nothing for me.” Imagine how he struggled to get the passage to America, and then on the way, he suffered two heart attacks at sea. And even when he got to America, he suffered in so many ways. He had some buzzing sound in his ears and his head. “I cannot even describe how much I suffered, nor do I want to,” he said he had suffered in so many ways but had never complained because his policy was always “Everything for Krishna and nothing for himself.”

So, that is why, as a service to Krishna, Srila Prabhupada was serving the devotees because his ultimate goal was to bring them back to their eternal relationship with Krishna. He was practically bathing them, feeding them, and dressing them, teaching them how to live as human beings, so that ultimately, he could bring them to the position where he could offer them for the service of Krishna. And he never asked anything in return, never expected anything in return, so he was never disappointed.

COMMENT

Now, having heard this, we can extract some lessons or principles. but I think, you heard everything I read, and said. So now, we have been discussing the offense of criticizing devotees. So your question was, why should we criticize devotees? If we are happy and satisfied, why should we criticize?” Is that your question?

Devotee: The specific context was, I was asked for my evening, and what I thought. And this was an interesting, it was an experience for me, and one that I wanted to see. But there were some just things that I didn’t expect. In one word, some critical, or some I jus it didn’t feel as though everybody comes at someone who yesterday talked about being either ignorant or uneducated. And a lot of us, myself definitely, I am uneducated. And so it was more of a statement than a question. It was rude. I didn’t expect it that the people who would come here and chant and speak about Krishna, who would treat other people like that. I just didn’t accept it. It is really more a statement. Does that make sense? [Unintelligible 00:25:00]

She said, but she is new to it. She is new. She is excited—I know she is honored about—she said, and she was hoping that people who have been here a while would be more welcoming and helpful and not criticize. Should be more welcoming to new people to new people, they are new to them. She feels eager to be there and she really wants the mercy and educate me. Exactly, no chastise, but educate and help.

Devotee: That is a fair request.

Giriraj Swami: I mentioned a little about the Boston Temple, how we had a policy not to correct new people. And another policy that we implemented in the same vein was that basically one person should establish a relationship with the new person and be the one to deal with the new person. Because that one person will have a sense of how much the new person knows and can handle at a particular time, so it is not overwhelming. So yes, definitely our mood then, maybe the mood here too now, but our mood then was that anyone who walked in the door was a special soul sent by Krishna, and so we have to take care of that person with utmost care. But practically, it may involve something like one person becoming a friend, a guide, a mentor, so that the person is not getting instructions and perhaps too many instructions or contradictory instructions from too many sides.

Srila Prabhupada have a disciple named Ambarish dasa. Have you ever heard of Ambarish dasa? Ambarish dasa is the great-grandson of Henry Ford. His name is Alfred Ford. Now, I hadn’t thought of it myself because I never would have asked him, but it turned out many devotees were asking him for money for their projects. And maybe he mentioned it to Srila Prabhupada, and Srila Prabhupada said, “That is all right. If they want any financial support from you, let them ask me, and I will take it up with you.” Which definitely cut down a lot of the requests for funds. But there is a point here that it is not proper, it is not fair, it is not practical for one person to be approached from all different sides. So it is better maybe one or two people who know the person well, are sympathetic to the person, can be the medium for that. And we also discussed how there are more important principles and less important principles, and some devotees who may not be that mature may place a lot of importance on less important principles. And then that can be quite bewildering or overwhelming. So it is, I think it would be healthy. We have the temple president here. I think that would be something she could think about. Do you want to add anything or say anything? You understood exactly what she was saying.

Devotee: Just like I said, she is brand new, and she is so obedient. I am just honored by her. And people who have been here awhile, be more welcoming, be friendly, completely simple. So basic, generic, simple. Be nice, be kind, be welcoming. Haters, pickling your arms, and help them. Don’t scare them away. It is just kind of intuitive, because when neighbors get here, she is feeling welcoming; be nice.

Devotee 1: If I may add, I think that is a wonderful suggestion. I love that idea. It would certainly help move forward to help me. And I feel like a couple of others. But if I may say, I am an incredibly observant person. And so, some of the things that I said were not personal things that happened to me; they were observation of things that happened to others because I am always observing behaviors. That is my nature. It was an overall observation. I think that is a beautiful suggestion. It would be so helpful for me too.

Devotee 2: It is kind of like ISKCON, and this community as part of ISKCON, is like a hospital. And when you go to the hospital, you check in, and we may be very sick, and we are going to start a long treatment. In the room down the hall, there is somebody that is been there for a long, long time, and they have had a lot of treatment. They follow the doctor’s instructions, and they are going to be released tomorrow, very well. And then there is everything in between. There is somebody who has been a quarter way through the treatment; they are still sick, but they are getting there.

So, not everybody is going to be well yet. As a matter of fact, some people will practice, or appear to practice, the medicine, but they are not taking the medicine. They are not hearing properly. I always say, the usual suspects in a given class, the people who are hungry to hear. And I always feel a pain in my heart for the people who really need what I am about to say; they are not here. They have excuses, why they can’t come to hear. They heal very, very slowly, and they may not chant as nicely. They may not read, as they read, they don’t discuss it with the other devotees as nicely. But these people are the same people who are quick to tell you what is wrong with everybody else. See what happens, you are going to meet two kinds of people: people who aren’t well yet, and you are going to meet people who are getting pretty well. And amongst those who are not well yet, they are going to be not able to help you, maybe they are contagious, and you can’t associate with them because they are not taking their medicine; they are not healing. And then, it can be complicated. But we do have shelters. We have absolutely, if you can take it to Mother Sundari, any questions you have, or you can call me anytime. Wherever I am in the world, you can call anytime. I can’t always take your call, but I will get back to you. And there are so many others. So we want our shelters for you to help you, that want to help you. And it would pain us very much to see you hurt in any way.

Giriraj Swami: Do we have Nectar of Instruction here? So this is a book called The Nectar of Instruction by Rupa Gosvami.

Devotee: I found that, give you just a little more context with me, I found Krishna consciousness about maybe six months ago. I am very, very, very fresh.

Giriraj Swami: Okay, alright, maybe we will leave this. It is good, but I might be giving you too much.

Devotee: Imagine me like a small child, he is left, but there is money.

Giriraj Swami: Okay, so I will read the Sanskrit because it is nice to purify the atmosphere in the heart.

TEXT 5

kṛṣṇeti yasya giri taṁ manasādriyeta
dīkṣāsti cet praṇatibhiś ca bhajantam īśam
śuśrūṣayā bhajana-vijñam ananyam anya-
nindādi-śūnya-hṛdam īpsita-saṅga-labdhyā

TRANSLATION

One should mentally honor the devotee who chants the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa, one should offer humble obeisances to the devotee who has undergone spiritual initiation [dīkṣā] and is engaged in worshiping the Deity, and one should associate with and faithfully serve that pure devotee who is advanced in undeviated devotional service and whose heart is completely devoid of the propensity to criticize others.

COMMENT

So, in the previous verse, Rupa Gosvami explained six exchanges of love shared among devotees: giving gifts, accepting gifts, revealing one’s mind in confidence, inquiring confidentially, and giving prasāda and accepting prasāda. So, these are the six exchanges of love shared among devotees. But in this verse, Rupa Gosvami explains that we apply these differently with different grades of devotees. It is exactly what Jiva Nanda Prabhu said, but in a more analytical presentation. So in the purport, what Srila Prabhupada says is, “In order to intelligently apply the six-fold loving reciprocations mentioned in the previous verse, one must select proper persons with careful discrimination.” You really can’t do that in the beginning. That is the idea. And then he elaborates. But because you can’t do that in the beginning, no one can do it in the beginning. So I think it is helpful if the management or the spiritual leaders help you to get the most suitable association for you in the beginning.

Devotee: A little bit of a preface. I found Krishna very simply. I was with [Unintelligible 00:40:15] He said something very sobering today that I really honed in on. He said it is very important to preach the truth, and to be honest, Maharaja, I really don’t know how to be in this world. but that was somehow trying to bring someone’s attention to Krishna. And please, I am, I know another cause, you might as good, and let me tell you, I am not the most purest devotee. But death has been affecting my family. Very sobering. lost my mother. I know how capricious that consciousness can be; here one day, gone the next. And like you said before Gauranga was initiated, to preach to the faithless is a big offense. And I don’t know how to be around my own father without some other, Krishna, just to make an environment easier. And so I think I read a lot of offenses. I am a very conceptual person. I love para and Bhagavān, and personal brahman. I think it is wonderful. I am not so sure I understand that literally, but this is how I enterprises myself with people, because it is really difficult to be in this world when you are not around the movies. It is very difficult, and the synthesis for me that makes it easier for me is just somehow bringing my Krishna in. Clearly I think I have probably done a lot of disservice for doing that, but how would I survive? Literally, because if I go to whole foods, I am thinking, “Oh my gosh, this person is eating meat.” I have let us somehow not judge; I am not making a judgment, but somehow, I feel like I might be speaking when I shouldn’t and encouraging when I should be a little bit more steadfast in my own determination and my own purification.

And so that really spoke to me today when he said that. It is so long, I am not sure, probably crazy., I am crazy about my friend, who wouldn’t be crazy about it? So yes, I get nervous. I am a kind of person where I love being up at the temple. I love being around mahatmas, but I am a bird that likes to fly a little bit and come back. So it is really, I don’t know why I am currently making myself difficult, but I just don’t know how not to mention Krishna to people without making offenses. In fact, my dad is an atheist. He would give me a check tomorrow if I quit Krishna. He thinks it is. . . But I have to somehow bring up Krishna. I just said, “Keep it all right,”

Giriraj Swami: The basic principle of vaidhi-sādhana-bhakti is to always remember Krishna, never forget Him. So, that is good that you don’t want to forget Krishna, but you can think about Krishna without necessarily speaking about Him if speaking about Him is going to have a bad effect and ultimately displease Krishna. Offense means displeasing Krishna. So, I will give the example of Ambarish dasa. You know who Ambarish is, who knows who Ambarish dasa is? Yes, so Ambarish came to Bombay with Srila Prabhupada once, and after spending some weeks, he was going to leave and go back to Detroit. So he went over his life’s plan with Srila Prabhupada before leaving, and he asked Prabhupada if he should give up working. Prabhupada said, no because he wanted people to understand that you can be a devotee and still have a responsible position in society. Then he asked, “Must I work for the Ford Motor Company?” And Srila Prabhupada said, “No, just any work. It doesn’t have to be for the Ford Motor Company.” And then, this is the real point which I am bringing to your attention. He said, “If I am working what will be my association?” Srila Prabhupada said, “While you are working, if you think ‘I am doing this for Krishna,’ that will be your association.” So whatever you do, if you are doing it for Krishna consciously, then that is your association. You don’t necessarily have to talk about Krishna if you don’t know the right thing to say, or you don’t have a proper person to speak to about Krishna directly.

That was another thing we did in the Boston temple. Some people are not that qualify to speak new people. We told some of the devotees that, before you start approaching people, you should become a little more steady and knowledgeable yourself. So of course, I am just responding to what you have said. I don’t know you as well as some of the others here do, but another thing Srila Prabhupada said is, if there is no one to hear you, speak to the four walls. But seriously, the introduction to the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, was that Prabhupada was speaking to the four walls. No one came, so he turned on the tape recorder, and he dictated the introduction to the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, which is like it is a masterpiece. It has made so many devotees, and in his words, he was just preaching to the four walls.

Devotee: Generally, doesn’t that offense mean speaking to someone and they become blasphemous? It is not just telling someone about Krishna because they don’t have faith because they don’t know, then that is an offense. Because in a certain sense, he brings a lot of people to the temple and brings a lot of people to the restaurant. He has just attracted many people to come and even some devotees. So, it is not like he is out there thinking offenses right and left. He is bringing people. All of them may not be that interested or reciprocate in the same way, but if they don’t, they choose not to come; it is not like that is an offense on his part.

Giriraj Swami: No.

Devotee 1: Well, it is not like he is telling the glories of the holy name to the faithless. He is just mentioning Krishna. “I am a follower of Krishna. We have this wonderful center here.” He is got this magic ability to say to people, “Hey, why don’t you meet me there?” And they do, whereas so many other people may be trying and not bringing so many people. So I don’t think it is an offense. Do you? That is not an offense.

Giriraj Swami: That is what you described.

Devotee 1: Is that what you mean? You are not saying to people, “Hey, if you chant Hare Krishna, it will take away all your sins, and if you commit more, you can chant more, and you will take those away too.”

Devotee 2: [Unintelligible 00:51:35]. “Well, who is this Krishna?” And then when I tell him, he will stop me, and then I will try and bring it up, and particularly even with my brothers, they are curious. When I talk, they stop me, and then I wait for another opportunity, a perfect opportunity to finish my point. Because, I am not the greatest. I know me. I know myself. I know how fickle my brain is. And to think that I found God in food. Smart people, my God, you are going to be. . . That is plenty of illustration for all these people. I didn’t read the Gītā; I didn’t find it in the Gītā, I found it in food. And so, Krishna really humbled me. [Unintelligible 00:52:15]. I see all these great people and I don’t think I know when to have discretion because there is a lot of great people I am surrounded by. I was nervous because I didn’t really say it exactly as I thought.

Giriraj Swami: Oh, are you asking about how to deal with your family members, or are you just clarifying what was on your mind?

Devotee 2: I think I was just free-associating a little bit there. So basically, it is one thing to invite and share enthusiasm like you mentioned today, enthusiasm. I was saying that person, like, “My God, there is so many people I have invited that haven’t come. Oh my God, maybe I shouldn’t have. Maybe I should just put it with you first.”

Giriraj Swami: What I quoted from Srila Prabhupada and George Harrison, that when you preach, you have to speak the truth. George Harrison asked that same question, “I tell so many people about Krishna, and some people like it, and some people don’t. Maybe more don’t like it than who do.” So should I not and the conclusion was that he should.

Devotee 2: We have Matthew from New York. But Matthew Gross, he loves you. He knows you from the Berkley center, and Matthew, we found Krishna together a few years ago, and he tells me, I learned a lot from him because he has discretion, his agility to have more discretion out of them. Yes, I should have just felt good to get it out.

Devotee: Okay, when we have festivals, we ask people, “How did you hear about us? Website, posters, the ad in the newspaper?” Then we have Sean, instead of other, yes.

Devotee 1: I add a line to the bottom. The whole is it should have been checked, Sean.

Devotee 2: Maybe a little bit about the discrimination. Could you speak a little bit about the internet? It is a plethora of misinformation and it seems like for news people, you can gain a lot, but you can really have your head twisted by a lot. I know that is relevant to the discussion you were having before, but association, discrimination.

Giriraj Swami: Well, what is your realization about the internet? Could you maybe elaborate a little more on what you were alluding to?

Devotee 2: Well, I think it is very dangerous, for like you said, for a new person who may not be able to discriminate and is not real familiar with Prabhupada’s teachings. To wade in the waters of the internet can be very dangerous because there is a lot of misinformation, probably more misinformation than accurate information. But there is so much. I practically have my computer out all the time. I am always listening to lectures, and it is a great asset. But I guess in terms of, not just newcomers, even experienced devotees, you have to be very careful because, Jiva Nanda Prabhu and I were talking just before that, somebody can. . . but we don’t know that person’s activities, their habits, and somebody just type stuff in the name of Krishna, the name of Prabhupada, and it is, I think, like you were saying, confer with more experienced devotees, sort of in the flesh, who should I be listening to, or visiting which websites.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna, what is your name?

Devotee: Dylan.

Giriraj Swami: Nice, do you come often?

Devotee: And I come here often.

Devotee 1: You have been here without me too. Yes, we are friends from school. We are in music school together.

Giriraj Swami: Oh, I see. Well, that is nice. So, would anyone else like to ask any question or bring up any topic?

Devotee: Awesome. Last chance, Maharaja, just leaving tomorrow morning.

Devotee 1: I wonder if you have any tips for us to help the mind get back to the sound of Krishna’s name during japa.

Giriraj Swami: Well, that reminded me of something Srila Prabhupada said about a parrot who learns to chant Hare Krishna. The parrot chants Hare Krishna, and it sounds all well and good, but if a cat catches the parrot, and is about to tear it apart, there won’t be any more Hare Krishna; there will just be “kah, kah.” So, the idea is, not to just chant like a parrot but to develop attachments for Krishna and the holy name. I have been a facilitator at a number of japa retreats, and I listened to, seminars from japa retreats. And japa is like anything else, it takes talking about it. It is actually mentioned in the scripture that reading about chanting the holy name is helpful in chanting the holy name. And one person is given a lot of seminars or facilitated a lot of retreats, His Holiness Sacinandana Swami.

And, he has a certain sequence which involves beginning like just how you sit because at our age, we are lucky we can still sit. And then, to articulate the mantra properly and then to hear, and it is hard work. It is hard work. It can be like a battlefield with you and your mind. And the one thing, Ravindra Svarupa often says is that because when we chant, we are praying. And so, Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu says, that it is nice to just keep it simple and just pray to the holy name to be able to hear the holy name. Keep it simple, and spending time. When the holy name sees that you are spending time because you want to develop your relationship with the holy name, that itself will please the holy name, and the holy name will reciprocate. And the other thing is to persevere. We will have ups and downs in japa like pretty much have ups and downs in anything, or everything. One thing I think of is just do the best you possibly can at that moment. Sometimes due to whatever circumstances, you may not feel you are at your best, but do the best you possibly can for you at that particular moment. And try to get up early in the morning, which often means taking rest early. And chanting in the association of serious chanters, chanting in front of Tulasi-devi, chanting in front of the deity. There are many factors that can help augment the experience of chanting.

Well, that is a very good question. Very good question. Best and asked in a very sincere way. Any last question?

Devotee: No questions? I don’t know. I get very attention like that. I am always playing another chance. Please engage in your service.

Giriraj Swami: That is nice. That is nice.

Devotee 1: That is interesting to me because we all have a different mood that we bring to chanting, such a pleading mood or something. It makes me think sometimes, but most of the time, my chant is more joyfully, gratefully, gratefully that I can do it, gratefully. And so it is interesting. The moods or the psychological point of view that we possess that way. There is got to be right as many people as there are. There has to be that many expressions of the holy name.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, and our mood at one time may be different from another time.

Devotee 1: When I was in India, with a little self-conscious because, as you might have pointed out earlier, and my dress can be a little bit eclectic and not very traditional, kind of Eastern in the west, I was feeling a little self-conscious. And she said to me, “Donna, look around. Krishna loves variety.”

Devotee 2: Vaisesika Prabhu related a story, they were asked, they were at hari-nāma, and somebody was out distributing books and mantra cards. And one fellow, who was a little eccentric and Vaisesika Prabhu, who was a little worried about what he was telling the people in the crowd, so he said, he kind of moved over by and it was sort of listening. And he was giving him the mantra card, showing them the Hare Krishna mantra. And then somebody asked him, “What does it mean?” And he said, “Help.” Vaisesika Prabhu said, that is a pretty good translation.

Giriraj Swami: Once Srila Prabhupada was saying that, “Dear friend, dear friend, dear friend,”

Devotee 2: Can you please come back soon?”

Giriraj Swami: I Haven’t even left. How can I come back? I am still here. But I am thinking of, not thinking, I was planning to come back and stay longer. This could be like an annual event. And yes, Phoenix, Tucson, Arizona.

Devotee 2: We will put us on the map if you do, if you make it more of a regular thing. It will attract other devotions. Yes, we are kind of off the beaten hands here.

Giriraj Swami: I would be very happy to come. She is crying confirmation too.

Devotee: Any instructions for us, anything you have observed that we can improve?

Giriraj Swami: Well, I have been very impressed by what I have seen. And I am very impressed by you. Wherever I look, there you are. [Applause] Very, very inspiring. But I am just saying that I am very impressed, very inspired by it, and in the afternoon, I saw you approach someone. I don’t remember who it was, but someone of a different race or ethnic background or something. But the way you approached him with such openness, it is like you weren’t even seeing the body. There were no reservations, but heart to heart or soul to soul. That was very, very impressive.

I don’t really, if I thought of little things, I might think of some little things, but I don’t think of anything big. But I could say something not about the management, but just a principle about not going to too many different places spiritually. Many devotees have commented, it is better to go deep in Krishna consciousness rather than to go broad, here and there looking for whatever in different places. And I thought of a devotee of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu named Mukunda. So, Chaitanya Prabhu, He would occasionally just be in the mood of giving mercy and just calling people forward to get mercy from Him. So, he was doing this at Srivasa Angan—calling and giving benedictions, benedictions to everyone but he didn’t call Mukunda. And so, the devotees asked, maybe Srivasa Pandit ask himself as well, why aren’t you calling Mukunda? And he said, “Mukunda, when he is with us, he talks like a devotee, and when he is with the Mayavadis, he talks like a Mayavadi.” And he said, “It is like he is offering me a lotus flower with one hand and hitting me on the head with a club with the other hand.” So, that is why I am not calling him.

There is more to it, and it had a happy ending; he did call him. But I guess I will finish it; just take a minute. So, Mukunda was waiting behind the curtain, sort of. So, he was hearing it. And so, he asked Srivasa Pandit, “Well, ask the Lord if he will ever call me.” So, Srivasa Pandit asked, and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “Yes, I will call him in ten million lifetimes.” So, when Mukunda heard that, he started to dance in ecstasy. “The Lord will call him in ten million lifetimes!” He was in ecstasy. He wasn’t worried that it is going to be ten million lifetimes, but he was dancing in ecstasy that the Lord would call him. And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu being the omniscient Personality of Godhead, knew that. So, then he said, “Okay, because he had so much faith in Mahaprabhu’s words, and he was so patient, he was ready to be.” Chaitanya Mahaprabhu called him immediately; so he came in. But then Mukunda said, “What you said about me is true. I deserve to be punished because I haven’t been loyal to you.” And then he stopped going here and there.

I don’t know about anyone in the room here now, but there is a lot of spirituality, or versions of spirituality, or quasi-spirituality, or pseudo-spirituality out there. And so, if we are clear about Krishna and our relationship with Krishna and the process to attain Him, you better just go deep here and not go far and wide, with no real benefit. Sacinandana Swami gave an example. It is like you are digging for water. So, you dig— whatever, you dig three feet. “Oh, I have been digging. I am already like gone three feet, and I haven’t hit water. Let me go somewhere else.” And go somewhere else, digs three feet, doesn’t find—if they go somewhere else. If you would have just stayed where you were and just kept going deeper, instead of three feet here, three feet there, two feet there, through there, three feet, six feet, nine feet, twelve—you would have hit water. So, I think that would just, especially in this eclectic environment, that would be a thought to share with devotees. Thank you very much.

[Applause]

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!