In-Dependence Event

Giriraj Swami: I don’t know exactly what Nityananda Chandra Prabhu has said already, but the word yoga means to link or connect, like the English word yoke, to yoke oxen, it comes from yoga. And the purpose of yoga is to connect with the Supreme, Krishna. The Bhagavad-gītā is the basic textbook of yoga and within the Bhagavad-gītā, which is spoken by Krishna, He says that the highest yoga is bhakti-yoga, yoga of devotion, devotional service, and only by bhakti-yoga can He be known fully. 

Bhakti-yoga is a way of life. Every part of the devotee’s existence is meant to be favorable to developing his eternal relationship with God, who we call Krishna. That would apply to eating too. Actually, if anyone wants to know about yoga, you should read the Bhagavad-gītā because everything is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. In fact, if you want to know about life, the purpose of life and how to live your life, you should read the Bhagavad-gītā. But as far as the food aspect, which someone mentioned, well, the idea is that everything in existence is either God or the energy of God, and we are the energy of God. In the Bhagavad-gītā Krishna explains that He has two energies: the superior energy, which is the spiritual energy, and the inferior energy, which is the material energy. The spiritual energy is conscious, we are spiritual energy, and the material energy is dead, matter. 

Our bodies are made of material energy, but we, the living beings, are spiritual. And when the spiritual spark leaves the body, it is dead. In fact, it is always dead, it is just a machine, it is always dead. But we say that it is alive when the soul, or the ātmā, jīvātmā is present. 

Our spiritual master gives the example that if you do a mathematical calculation and you make a mistake in the first step, then even if you perform all the other steps perfectly, you may get further and further away from the answer. In the same way, if we make a mistake in the first step of understanding who we are, if we think we are the body and then we do everything perfectly based on the idea that we are the body, we will get further and further away from real satisfaction and happiness. We have to understand first who we are.

There are many verses in the Bhagavad-gītā that can convince us that we are not the body, but we are the soul within the body. One example is that in this life span we are changing our bodies. If I show you a picture of five babies and one of them is me, you won’t know which is me because that baby’s body and my body now are different. So Krishna says that just as the soul passes through many bodies during this lifetime, at the time of death it also enters into another body. It is very logical, it is called transmigration of the soul, or reincarnation. But the goal of human life—yes, in whatever body we accept we have to suffer, and the Bhagavad-gītā, there are so many sufferings but, it mentions four that we cannot stop: janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (birth, death, old age, and disease). We can’t stop them. 

Therefore, having a material body is not a very good situation because of these miseries, and there are so many other miseries but these are basic. To get out of this samsara chakra, this cycle of birth and death and accepting material bodies and suffering, one needs to practice yoga, and specifically bhakti-yoga. There are many processes in bhakti-yoga, nine, śravaṇam, kīrtanam, viṣṇoḥ smaraṇam. And out of these nine, the first three are most important. Śravaṇam means hearing. What you are doing right now is also part of bhakti-yoga, you are hearing. Of course, everyone hears unless they are deaf, but hearing about Krishna. 

Śravaṇam, then kīrtanam means to chant, to repeat what you have heard, and generally, the kīrtanam or the chanting begins with the holy name of Krishna. Perhaps you chanted this evening Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. That is the easiest and best method for realizing God in this age. And there is a verse, harer nāma harer nāma harer nāma eva kevalam, means “Chanting the name of God, chanting the name of Krishna, chanting the name of Krishna;” kalau nāsty eva nāsty evanāsty eva gatir anyathā, “In this present age there is no other means of success,” and it is repeated three times for emphasis, “You must chant, you must chant, you must chant. There is no other way, no other way, no other way.” Not by karma-yoga or jnana-yoga or ashtanga-yoga. 

There was once a cartoon in a magazine which our guru Srila Prabhupada saw, and he would refer to it sometimes because some devotees showed it to him. There was an old man and an old lady sitting up next to each other, across from each other, and the old lady was saying, “Chant, chant, chant,” and the old man was saying, “Can’t, can’t, can’t.” Although chanting is the easiest, best, and most sublime method, sometimes we have a causeless reluctance to chant. There is no reason, no good reason, no reason at all. Srila Prabhupada said, “It is easy, it doesn’t cost anything, it is not fattening, it is not against the law, there is nothing against it,” so we should chant. And we can do it anywhere, anytime. Of course, people are known to sing in the shower, so you can chant in the shower, you can chant in the car, you can chant on the bus, you can chant anywhere at any time, and you will feel the result. Hare Krishna. Are there any other questions or comments? 

Devotee 1: Some of them are art students, so the idea with what is the essence or the concept within our artwork and ideas that you see in the paintings. 

Giriraj Swami: Oh yes, that is very good. Well, the idea is that God or Krishna should be the center of all our activities, and whatever you like to do, you can do it for Krishna. So if you like to paint, you can paint for Krishna. Sometimes people have difficulty understanding that God has a form. They think that if God has a form, you are limiting Him, but the opposite is true really if you say that God can’t have a form, you are limiting Him. God is our origin, He has made us, so He must have everything that we have and more. We have form so He must have form, we have personality so He must have personality, we have senses so He must have senses. We can speak, we can walk, and He can do all those things. 

But although we are persons and He is a person, there is a difference. In quality we are the same, just like a drop of water from the ocean has the same qualities as the whole ocean, but the quantity is different. We have the same qualities as God but in different quantities. He is infinite and we are infinitesimal. This is a very sublime philosophy, very perfect philosophy. 

Anything that we would do in the material world with a mundane focus, we can do for Krishna. We can speak about Krishna, we can paint pictures of Krishna, and that will be the perfection. The perfection of our speech, we will be speaking about Krishna, the perfection of language, and perfection of artwork will be to glorify the Lord through that medium. In a way you don’t really have to change anything, you just have to change the center. This isn’t a type of yoga where you have to go to the forest or the mountains caves and whatever, sit erect, and press your nose. This yoga, which is the highest, bhakti-yoga, you can basically do all the things that you are doing now but just make some adjustments so that they are favorable for Krishna consciousness, for God consciousness. I think traditionally many of the greatest works of art and architecture and music were done for the glory of God. Anything else from anyone? 

Devotee 2: I want to ask a question about the music with the chanting earlier. Is there a catalog of melodies and rhythms that are standard for chanting? Or are those improvised? Does every community have their own? Can you talk about where that comes from? 

Giriraj Swami: There are standard melodies, but the real thing is the holy name. The melody is just meant to support the holy name, and evoke some feelings while we are chanting. But some of the tunes that we sing have been composed by our contemporaries, some of them do come from hundreds of years, ragas, different ragas, but some have been composed by our contemporaries and they are beautiful. If you have the ability, you can compose your own tune. 

Devotee 2: Can it be with any instruments or are there certain instruments that are required or less helpful? 

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that is a good question. Well, this mridanga drum is traditional and helpful, and then we have the hand symbols called kartals. These are also traditional and helpful. Then there is the harmonium, which is not that old, but it has been adopted by our predecessors, and that is good. You can play any instrument. Sometimes we have big kirtans and some devotees will play violin, some devotees will play a flute, some even play guitar. In that way there is no limitation, but the holy name should be prominent. The music shouldn’t drown it out or eclipse it, it should support it. 

Devotee 2: There is another question I had. I think the Lord and Krishna and Rama and the Supreme Being and different titles in God, but only those two are supposed to be the holy name. So if other cultures have different ways of saying God, then that is not the holy name. That Krishna, that Rama are the holy names? 

Giriraj Swami: No, no, any bona fide name of the Supreme Being in any language or culture counts as the holy name. We chant the maha-mantra, mantra means—literally ‘man’ means “Mind” and ‘tra’ comes from trāyate, which means “To deliver,” so the mantra is meant to deliver the mind from material conceptions and misery. And of all the mantras, this one that we emphasize, it is not that on our own we decided to emphasize it, but it has been handed down. For thousands of years it is been in the Vedic text, this mantra. Hare Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. That is the maha-mantra

You can chant other names of the Supreme God, but it is not that every name is a name for the Supreme God, and especially when it comes to Vedic culture, there can be confusion because although there is one Supreme God, He has His agents, the servants as agents, and some people are not clear who is the Supreme God. A king will have ministers and the ministers are also very powerful, but their power is derived from the king. They are rewarded for their faithful service by being given the post of minister. 

In, I could say, the cosmic reality Krishna is the Supreme but the Supreme Krishna here can also be called Rama, He has His own names but they are referring to the Supreme. Then there is Brahma, you could say, he is the minister of creation; Shiva, the minister of destruction; Durga, she is the superintendent of the material world. All of these are demigods, they are servants of the Supreme Lord Krishna. Brahma, Shiva, Durga, Ganesh. So it is a mistake to chant those names and think you are chanting in the name of the Supreme. But yes, Krishna, Rama, Vishnu, or Gopal Govinda are different names of Krishna, so those can certainly be chanted. 

Now, there are other names in other traditions such as Jesus, Allah, and those can be chanted also. I used to spend time in Pakistan and while I was there, I came across a book called The Ninety-nine Names of Allah. In the Vedic texts there is Thousand Names of Vishnu, so there is The Ninety-nine Names of Allah. So in one sense you could say God has no name, but He can be addressed with the nomenclature derived from His forms, His qualities, His activities. For example, in The Ninety-nine names of Allah one is Habib which means “Friend,” and you find that name for Krishna also, dina-bandhu, “The friend of the distressed.” So those can be chanted. We say if you have a name of God that you are chanting, you can continue with that, but if you don’t, then you can chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, which is universal, it is not sectarian. It is a very scientific thing, it is very powerful. You can chant it for a long time. If someone is chanting “Allah, Allah,” or “Jesus, Jesus,” that is good too. You can encourage them. 

Devotee 3: I had a question. We had a privilege of visiting the temple before we came over here, and they were starting a service in the temple. Would what is taking place in the temple be different or similar to what is taking place here? 

Giriraj Swami: Good question. What they are doing in the temple is also part of bhakti-yoga, and I mentioned there were nine processes. I said the first two or three are the most important, that is śravaṇam, hearing; kīrtanam, chanting and smaraṇam, remembering. But, if you go further, śravaṇam, kīrtanam, viṣṇoḥ smaraṇam, pāda-sevanam, it means serving the lotus feet, arcanam. Arcanam means worshipping the form of the Lord. What you saw in the temple is another process of bhakti-yoga, arcanam. Vandanaṁ, offering prayers, and those prayers can be of your own heart’s spontaneous expression or they can be prayers that have come down to us, they are both included in that. Vandanaṁ, dāsyaṁ, rendering service, and last, ātma-nivedanam, surrendering yourself fully. 

That would be the nine processes, and in principle everything that you see performed by devotees should be some process of devotional service. Painting, well, painting wasn’t in the list, but painting comes under arcanam, that is decorating the form of the Lord, it is a way of worshiping the form of the Lord. Even honoring prasāda, eating the food that we prepare with love and devotion for the Lord and offer to the Lord, that is also part of arcanam because it is offered to the Lord and then we respect or honor or eat the remnants.

I lived in India for many years and there are very aristocratic families and they have servants in the house, and it is quite natural that after the so-called master eats, then the servants eat what is left. Of course, there is always enough, so it is the same idea here. We are servants of God and so we see that He is fed first, and then we eat the remnants, we eat what is left. But in this case because the master is Krishna, those remnants are sanctified and they have spiritual effects. 

The Bhagavad-gītā says that people who prepare food just for their own nourishment or sense enjoyment are eating sin, but those who eat the remnants of food that has been offered and sacrificed to Krishna, they become freed from sin by the [unintelligible 32:25]. Another way of looking at it is that everything is the property of God, so if you take God’s property and eat it, it is a sin, you are stealing God’s property. But He allows you to eat, of course, but He wants you to acknowledge Him and offer it to Him first. 

Another example is that at a dinner table, a child may offer some of the food to the father or mother, and the father or mother will be very pleased. They don’t need the child to offer the food, all the food is coming from them, but it is that mood of devotion, love, from the child, “Oh, there is something you should have.” We will be having some of that soon. 

I would like to say a little something about Independence Day. It wasn’t in my mind but as we were driving past the entrance to the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, I saw a big American flag flying in the wind, and I was surprised by how happy I was to see that flag. And the reason I was happy is because in the United States we have the freedom to practice our religion. Of course, this is not exactly a religion, we often prefer to call it a science, but people would take it as a religion. So that is a great blessing, which people don’t have in all other places. And our teacher, who brought this knowledge and this process from India, very much appreciated that about America. 

He was allowed to come, he was allowed to practice and preach Krishna consciousness, and he sometimes said America gave him everything, gave him men and support. We are fortunate in that way. We could do better, I am sure, but the basic principles on which the nation was founded on allow us to practice Krishna consciousness or any religious tradition. 

Anything else from anyone? We haven’t served prasāda yet, have we? All right, so now we will have some of that food that has been offered to Krishna. Now this is another point, you are also intelligent, I won’t even wait for you to ask, I will anticipate that you will ask, and that is, “Can we offer Krishna anything?” Well, there are certain items we can’t offer like meat, fish, eggs, and there are some other items that are vegetables but they are not wholesome like onions and garlic, we don’t offer those to Krishna. 

Traditionally Krishna ate a certain type of cuisine when He was present on Earth five thousand years ago, and in the spiritual world there are descriptions of what preparations Krishna eats. I don’t know what they have made tonight, but even if it is not one of the traditional items that Krishna eats, which is generally what you will see, if you look closely, they offer in the temple, it is the same idea, it is prepared with love and devotion and made with the acceptable ingredients you can offer to Krishna. 

If I knew the menu I could say, but even pasta, you can offer pasta to Krishna. Now we will be having that. We say a prayer before we eat, although the other day, I don’t know if I should make such a joke, but the other day someone sent me, not exactly a cartoon, but two girls sitting next to each other, and the one girl says, “Do you pray before you eat?” And the other girl says, “No, I don’t have to, my mom’s a good cook.” [Laugher]. We pray in the mood of expressing our appreciation to God. I will recite a translation of a prayer that we often recite in the Bengali language. I will say a few words at a time, and you can repeat responsively.

“Oh Lord, this material body is a lump of ignorance and the senses are a network of paths leading to death. Of all the senses, the tongue is the most voracious and difficult to control. My dear Lord, You are so kind that You have given us this nice prasāda, spiritual foodstuff to help us control the tongue. Therefore, let us take this food to our full satisfaction and in love call for the mercy of Lord Chaitanya and Nityananda.”

So enjoy. 

Devotee 4: Today we have veggie smoky not dogs. 

Giriraj Swami: Today we have veggie smokey not dogs [Laughter].

Devotee 4: Not dogs. Not hot dogs, not dogs. Macaroni and cheese.

Giriraj Swami: Homemade macaroni and cheese. 

Devotee 4: Potato salad. 

Giriraj Swami: Potato salad.

Devotee 4: Chips. 

Giriraj Swami: Chips. 

Devotee 4: And orange cake 

Giriraj Swami: And orange cake. Krishna, enjoy the good feasting, and now we are having the remnants.