SB 2.3.23 – Darshan Room Program

Giriraj Swami: Well, in two days, we are celebrating Sri Radhastami. Does anyone know what Radhastami is? Yes, tell us.

Devotee: It’s Radharani’s appearance day.

Giriraj Swami: Yes.

Devotee: I think ashtami means half of the moon, not sure, maybe I’m wrong.

Giriraj Swami: You are pretty close. Yeah, ashtami means the eighth day of the month. So, there is Janmashtami, Krishna Janmashtami, that’s Krishna’s appearance day. And now, fifteen days later, we are approaching Radhastami, which is Srimati Radharani’s appearance day.

So, I thought I’ll read a little about Srimati Radharani in preparation. So, this verse, we’ll read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Two, Chapter Three, Pure Devotional Service. Please repeat after me.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

So, please repeat.

TEXT 23

jīvañ chavo bhāgavatāṅghri-reṇuṁ

na jātu martyo ‘bhilabheta yas tu

śrī-viṣṇu-padyā manujas tulasyāḥ

śvasañ chavo yas tu na veda gandham

COMMENT

So, see if you can follow, otherwise, I’ll just read the verse twice. Please repeat. Translation by Srila Prabhupada. Jaya! Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

TRANSLATION

The person who has not at any time received the dust of the feet of the Lord’s pure devotee upon his head is certainly a dead body. And the person who has never experienced the aroma of the tulasī leaves from the lotus feet of the Lord is also a dead body, although breathing.

COMMENT

Please repeat.

PURPORT BY Srila Prabhupada

According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, the breathing dead body is a ghost. When a man dies, he is called dead, but when he again appears in a subtle form not visible to our present vision and yet acts, such a dead body is called a ghost. Ghosts are always very bad elements, always creating a fearful situation for others.

COMMENT

So, according to the Bhagavad-gītā, the living entity is a spiritual particle. Lord Krishna explains that He has two energies; the parā-prakṛti, or superior energy, which is spiritual, and the aparā-prakṛti, or inferior energy, which is material. And the material elements are divided into six; bhūmir āpo ‘nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca; earth, water, fire, air, ether. Those are the gross material elements. And then mind, intelligence, and ego, or false ego. Those are three subtle elements. And then there is the spiritual energy.

So, we, as living beings, we are spirit souls, ātmā or jīvātmā, and we have this gross physical body made of earth, water, fire, or in modern language, more like solids and gases, and then the subtle body, mind, intelligence, and ego. So, when the soul leaves the body at the time of death, it leaves behind the gross body, but it retains the subtle body, and according to one’s activities in life and one’s consciousness at the time of death, one gets the next body. And in rare cases, a person will not get a gross body but will have only a subtle body. And those living entities who have only a subtle body and not a gross body are called ghosts.

So, how does one become a ghost? The most common way. . . Not that I’m advising this as a technique, I’m rather advising it as something to avoid, is suicide. Because by committing suicide, in effect, one is saying he or she does not want a gross body, but they will have a subtle body. The subtle body always accompanies the spirit soul. And ghosts are always tormented because they have gross material desires, that’s why they committed suicide, because they have gross material desires that were frustrated. So, having only a subtle body but having gross material desires but not having a gross body through which to fulfill them is a very frustrating situation.

There was once a movie, I’m not recommending that you see it, called Ghost. And I heard about it as a devotee, I didn’t see movies, but I heard about it as a devotee. And some devotees were conjecturing that the author of the movie had read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam because so much of the philosophy of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was accurately portrayed in the film Ghost.

And as destiny would have it, that movie played as in. . . Now it’s different, but some decades ago, they would have in-flight movies and they’d show it on the screen and everyone would watch it. So, I got the chance to see it. It was actually quite an accurate depiction of the frustrations of ghosts. I don’t remember much from the film, but I do remember the ghost was on the platform of a train station and he wanted to have a cigarette, and there was a vending machine but he didn’t have a gross body, didn’t have any money, he was banging on the vending machine so he could get a cigarette, but he couldn’t.

So, ghosts have gross material desires, they don’t have a gross physical body. But they need a gross physical body to fulfill their desires, and so they try to possess the body of someone else so they can enjoy through that person’s body. And it happens, you can feel that when you are being attacked by a ghost. And the best thing to do is to chant Hare Krishna loudly, and then they’ll go away. It’s not only the best way to get rid of ghosts, but it’s also the best way to help them.

Now, another way someone can take birth as a ghost is to be very attached to. . . There are stories of haunted castles. So, the occupant of the castle is very attached to that castle, so at the time of death, he thinks of the castle. But he can’t take birth as a castle because that’s not a form of life, but he can take birth as a ghost in that castle and continue to live in that castle that he was so absorbed in that even at the time of death, he was thinking of it. And so, there is a lot of stories of haunted castles.

And sometimes it happens that a nice property will be haunted, and therefore, the owner of the property can’t get a good price for it. And so, our spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, said, “We can buy those properties at a very low rate, chant Hare Krishna, all the ghosts will leave, and we’ll have a good temple for Krishna.”

So, that’s ghosts.

So, I’ll continue reading the purport here of Srila Prabhupada.

PURPORT (continued)

Ghosts are always very bad elements, always creating a fearful situation for others. Similarly, the ghostlike nondevotees who have no respect for the pure devotees, nor for the Viṣṇu Deity in the temples, create a fearful situation for the devotees at all times. The Lord never accepts any offering by such impure ghosts.

COMMENT

Now, by nature, we are all servants of Krishna, jīvera svarūpa haya kṛṣṇera nitya-dāsa, the constitutional position of the soul or the living entity is to be an eternal servant of Krishna. That’s our actual nature, identity. So, ghosts, apart from completely taking possession of your body, they can influence your thinking. One devotee said to Srila Prabhupada sometimes he has these thoughts pass through his mind that he would never think in his normal consciousness. And Srila Prabhupada said that could be a ghost temporarily influencing his thinking.

So, the reason a non-devotee is compared to a ghost is because in our right consciousness, our normal consciousness, we are in the mood of service to Krishna. But if we are not in the mood of service to Krishna, it means we are being influenced by some other consciousness, which is like being haunted by a ghost.

PURPORT (continued)

The Lord never accepts any offering by such impure ghosts.

COMMENT

In other words, the Lord doesn’t really need anything, He is perfect and complete in Himself. What He does appreciate is the love and devotion with which something is offered to Him. And because these ghosts-like non-devotees have no love and devotion, He won’t accept any offering from them.

Now, we come to the next point.

PURPORT (continued)

There is a common saying that one should first love the dog of the beloved before one shows any loving sentiments for the beloved.

COMMENT

They are saying, “Love me, love my dog.”

PURPORT (continued)

The stage of pure devotion is attained by sincerely serving a pure devotee of the Lord.

COMMENT

In other words, the devotee is like the Lord’s dog.

PURPORT (continued)

The first condition of devotional service to the Lord is therefore to be a servant of a pure devotee, and this condition is fulfilled by the statement “reception of the dust of the lotus feet of a pure devotee who has also served another pure devotee.” That is the way of pure disciplic succession, or devotional paramparā.

COMMENT

So, one cannot serve the Lord directly, one serves the Lord’s devotee, who is engaged in the Lord’s service. But that devotee has served another pure devotee, and that pure devotee has served another pure devotee. So, that is paramparā. Paramparā literally means one after the other, or disciplic succession.

So, say in our case, I served Srila Prabhupada, and he served his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, and he served his spiritual master, Srila Gaurakishora Babaji, and in that way, all the way back to Krishna, who’s the original spiritual master. So, service is rendered to Krishna through the paramparā, and knowledge is received from Krishna through the paramparā. I received knowledge from my spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, which he received from his spiritual master, which he received from his spiritual master, and so on, back to Krishna, who’s the original spiritual master.

PURPORT (continued)

That is the way of pure disciplic succession, or devotional paramparā.

Mahārāja Rahūgaṇa.

COMMENT

Who is a king.

PURPORT (continued)

Inquired from the great saint Jaḍa Bharata as to how he had attained such a liberated stage of a paramahaṁsa.

COMMENT

It’s the highest stage of devotional service.

PURPORT (continued)

And in answer the great saint replied as follows (Bhāg. 5.12.12):

rahūgaṇaitat tapasā na yāti

na cejyayā nirvapaṇād gṛhād vā

na cchandasā naiva jalāgni-sūryair

vinā mahat-pāda-rajo-’bhiṣekam

“O King Rahūgaṇa, the perfectional stage of devotional service, or the paramahaṁsa stage of life, cannot be attained unless one is blessed by the dust of the feet of great devotees. It is never attained by tapasya [austerity], the Vedic worshiping process, acceptance of the renounced order of life, the discharge of the duties of household life, the chanting of the Vedic hymns, or the performance of penances in the hot sun, within cold water or before the blazing fire.”

COMMENT

In other words, the perfectional stage of devotional service cannot be achieved by any of those worthy activities, but it can be attained only by being blessed by the dust of the feet of great devotees. And the word mahatma means great devotee, pada means foot, raja means dust, and abhiseka means a bathing ceremony, you bathe yourself in the dust of the lotus feet of a pure devotee, and that is the qualification for advancing in bhakti-yoga.

But what does that mean? Well, generally, accepting the dust of the lotus feet of the pure devotee means to follow the instructions of the pure devotee, to serve the pure devotee, which means to follow the instructions of the pure devotee.

PURPORT (continued)

In other words, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the property of His pure, unconditional devotees, and as such only the devotees can deliver Kṛṣṇa to another devotee; Kṛṣṇa is never obtainable directly. Lord Caitanya therefore designated Himself as gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ, or “the most obedient servant of the servants of the Lord, who maintains the gopī damsels at Vṛndāvana.” A pure devotee therefore never approaches the Lord directly, but tries to please the servant of the Lord’s servants, and thus the Lord becomes pleased, and only then can the devotee relish the taste of the tulasī leaves stuck to His lotus feet. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said that the Lord is never to be found by becoming a great scholar of the Vedic literatures, but He is very easily approachable through His pure devotee.

COMMENT

So, the Sanskrit is vedeṣu durlabham. Vedeṣu means through the Vedas, durlabham means difficult to obtain. Vedeṣu durlabham adurlabham ātma-bhaktau means very easy to approach through His devotee.

PURPORT (continued)

In Vṛndāvana.

COMMENT

Vrindavan is a holy place in India, which is where Krishna appeared and manifested His childhood pastimes. And most beloved pastimes of Krishna, if you’ve ever been in the temple room here, Radha-Kalachandji temple, there are paintings on the wall of Krishna’s pastimes. And all those pastimes took place, or take place, because they are eternal, all those pastimes took place in Vrindavan. And the Vrindavan on earth, which appears to be a holy place in India, is actually a replica or a descent of the original Vrindavan in the spiritual world. This is also very mysterious, but the Vrindavan on earth is not an ordinary place, it is actually not different from the spiritual Vrindavan in the spiritual sky.

And Srila Prabhupada gives the example of an embassy. An embassy is not actually in the country where it’s located, but it’s actually considered an extension of the country that it’s from. So, the Vrindavan on earth is like the embassy of Krishna in the spiritual world, and it’s also spiritual, just like the Goloka Vrindavan, Krishnaloka.

But devotees of Krishna go to the Vrindavan on earth because it’s a very favorable environment for advancing in bhakti-yoga, in Krishna consciousness. And so, we can learn a lot from the modes of worship in Vrindavan.

PURPORT (continued)

In Vṛndāvana all the pure devotees pray for the mercy of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, the pleasure potency of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is a tenderhearted feminine counterpart of the supreme whole, resembling the perfectional stage of the worldly feminine nature.

COMMENT

So, the complete conception of Godhead, sometimes people ask, “Do you consider God to be male?” Well, we do, but male and female. Our worshipable Deity, as you can see in the temple, is Radha and Krishna, both male and female. And although They are both divine and Krishna is very merciful, but even more merciful than Krishna is Srimati Radharani. And therefore, devotees approach Her first, and through Her, it’s easier to approach Krishna.

PURPORT (continued)

In Vṛndāvana all the pure devotees pray for the mercy of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, the pleasure potency.

COMMENT

Potency means energy, and pleasure potency means She gives pleasure to Krishna.

PURPORT (continued)

The pleasure potency of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is a tenderhearted feminine counterpart of the supreme whole, resembling the perfectional stage of the worldly feminine nature. Therefore, the mercy of Rādhārāṇī is available very readily to the sincere devotees, and once She recommends such a devotee to Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Lord at once accepts the devotee’s admittance into His association.

COMMENT

So, Srimati Radharani is mahā-bhāgavata, the highest level of devotee. And the nature of mahā-bhāgavata is that they see that everyone is serving Krishna except themselves, everyone is a better servant than they are. And so, Radharani is like that, She says, “Krishna, see that devotee? That devotee is better than I am, I think You should accept that devotee.” And if She recommends someone, then Krishna will accept.

Within the larger area of Vrindavan or Vraja, there are different, you could say, well, neighborhoods. Like in Dallas, there are so many neighborhoods. So, one of the neighborhoods is Varshana, and that’s where Srimati Radharani appeared and had Her early pastimes. So, there is a saying in Varshana, and there is a little, you could say, transcendental rivalry there, and there is a saying in Varshana that whatever Radha likes, Krishna does. So, if Radha likes that Krishna should accept someone, Krishna will accept someone. So, whatever Radha likes, Krishna does, and whatever Radha does, Krishna likes.

PURPORT (continued)

The conclusion is, therefore, that one should be more serious about seeking the mercy of the devotee than that of the Lord directly, and by one’s doing so (by the good will of the devotee) the natural attraction for the service of the Lord will be revived.

COMMENT

That attraction is there, but it’s been covered over by our material association, but it can be revived by spiritual association, by the association of devotees, pure devotees. Hare Krishna.

Are there any questions or comments? Chaitanya Chandra Prabhu, would you like to say something?

Devotee: The first part, in terms of understanding the taking of another birth and not being embodied. So, what is the recommendation for us to try to have some kind of control over what we are going to take birth as in the next life? That seems like it’s a really big, it’s a very broad possibilities of where we could possibly take our birth. So, that’s one description, you may not get a body, the physical body may get stuck in our soul body. So, what is the recommendation for trying to at least get an improved version of what we got now?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that’s a very important question. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna says, yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ, whatever you think of at the time of death, that will determine your next life. So, our goal is to think of Krishna, because if we think of Krishna at the time of death, then we’ll go to Krishna, and then we no longer have to suffer the repetition of birth, death, old age, and disease. And that is called the final exam. There is a saying in the Indian language, sadhan koro bhajan koro, that whatever devotional practices you do in your life will be tested at the time of death.

So, we are all preparing ourselves for the time of death because that’s critical, that will determine our next life. So, if we think of Krishna at the time of death, then we’ll go to Krishna, we are not going to have to take birth again in the miserable material world. But you still exist, you have a spiritual form like Krishna’s and you enjoy with Krishna, it’s not like you merge and become one. And that’s why a lot of people don’t want to be liberated, because they think liberation means merge and become one with some void or some light and then there is no enjoyment.

Devotee: Can I have a question?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, please.

Devotee: How does one ensure that they think of Krishna at time of death? Let’s say you have an illness or a neurological something that is going on, is it a process where during your lifetime before you become ill you associate with other devotees, and therefore maybe perhaps they will be with you at the time of death?

Giriraj Swami: They are there for what?

Devotee: Perhaps they’ll be with you at the time of death?

Giriraj Swami: Oh, yes, yeah. So, practice. It’s like a final exam; you attend the classes, you do your assigned reading, you get pop quizzes, and they’ll sort of show you where you are at and where you have to improve. And yes, ideally, we would be surrounded by devotees at the time of death and they would be chanting and helping us focus on Krishna, focus on hearing the holy name of Krishna.

And having some neurological condition doesn’t really. . . I mean, on a certain level, it can impede the control one has over one’s thoughts, but on a deeper level, if you are attached to Krishna, then you’ll think of Him. That’s the thing, if you love someone, then you naturally think of that person. So, our process, bhakti-yoga, is to develop love for Krishna, and when we love Krishna, then naturally, we think of Him. But it also works the other way, that by practicing thinking of Him, hearing about Him, chanting His name, that also helps us revive that dormant love.

But yes, association of devotees is very important, very important.

Devotee: Well, I actually had a part two on that one.

Giriraj Swami: Okay.

Devotee: I just came from El Paso.

Giriraj Swami: Let me just add one more thing to this.

Devotee: Okay.

Giriraj Swami: So, I’ve established a hospice in Vrindavan, in India. You know what a hospice is? And that’s the whole idea. Of course, we do give palliative care, but the real idea is to help those devotees who are in the final stage to think of Krishna at the time of death, that’s the whole combination of the entire effort.

Yes?

Devotee: I was asked, when I was there, because just a few weeks ago, somebody went down and shot fifty people and killed twenty-two of them where I shop at when I’m there in El Paso, and some of my friends had relatives there. So, somebody was asking what happens to people, do they leave their body in a situation like that? Possibly. I was like, “Wow, that’s a hard one to answer” because it was just a shocking experience for us when that person started shooting people and killing people. So, what happens to people at time of death when it’s like that? It was kind of a hard question they asked, I wasn’t quite sure how to deal with that exactly.

Giriraj Swami: Well, it really depends on the person’s consciousness. I mean, we don’t know when death will come. And so, however and whenever it does come, we should be prepared. Of course, when it’s such a ghastly situation, we don’t have the support that we would like to have of loved ones surrounding us, chanting, and helping us to remember Krishna. But if we are surrendered to Krishna, then however and whenever it comes, we’ll be prepared by virtue of our surrender to Krishna.

Devotee: So, according to what their relationship with God is, whether they are Krishna’s devotee, or there are a lot of Catholics and Christians there amongst the people there in El Paso, according to whatever their relationship with God is.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, when I say Krishna, I mean God.

Devotee: They would attain some destination that the Lord would provide for them because of that shocking, quick situation where they didn’t have really any time to prepare themselves.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, it’s a test of their God consciousness. Yes?

Devotee: Excuse me, what about their karma? What about this list from all these lifetimes ago, there is an account of a king who had all his hundred sons killed, and he said, “Why wasn’t even one spared?” And please correct me if I’m wrong, but I understood it that you had to go through enough lifetimes and have enough karma to get to be a king, to have the wife, to have the kids, and a hundred kids, so that you could cancel out this debt. It’s my understanding, and please help me. I’m trying not to lament in a situation like this because surely, that plays a part, their karma, and it’s unfortunate, it’s very unfortunate. I’m not saying that’s what you get, no way, but where does karma play in these types of situations?

Giriraj Swami: Well, you are absolutely right that it was their karma. I mean, unless they are devotees, devotees are in a different category, but otherwise, it’s their karma to have died like that. But even then, they still could remember God. So, pure devotional service is anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam, it’s not covered by karma. In other words, it’s transcendental to karma.

Devotee: Can you say that one more time?

Giriraj Swami: Pure devotional service is transcendental to karma. So, we all come to Krishna consciousness with some karma, but when we surrender to Krishna, then He takes away all the karma. But there are some details to that, but the principle is He takes it away. At the end of the Bhagavad-gītā, He says sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja, “Give up all varieties of religiousness and just surrender to Me,” ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi, “I will protect you from all sinful reactions.” Mā śucaḥ, “Do not fear.”

So, when we surrender to Krishna, He takes away our sinful reactions. The people who were gunned down in that atrocity, they were suffering karmic reactions, mercy is higher than justice. So, according to your karma, you may deserve a certain reaction, but if you surrender to Krishna, then by His mercy, He can free you from those, that’s what comes when you surrender to Krishna.

But there is also one subtle point, and that is that Srila Prabhupada said that Krishna will use the devotee’s karma to the devotee’s best advantage. In other words, you surrendered to Krishna, so He takes away your karma, in a sense, He holds your karma. But it may be beneficial for you to experience something that resembles a karmic reaction to help you give up false attachments to the material world, subtle desires to enjoy. So, it’s not exactly karma, but it resembles karma. It’s actually meant for your purification and betterment.

Devotee: I have a question about when. . .

Devotee: I had a question too.

Devotee: Oh, okay. Go ahead.

Devotee: I had a question about one purport from Prabhupada.

Giriraj Swami: Okay.

Devotee: And so, this is on 10th Canto, First Chapter, he says,

TEXT 41

Instead of allowing one to forget one’s real position, Kṛṣṇa can revive one’s original identity at the time of one’s death, even though the mind may be flickering. Although the mind may work imperfectly at the time of death, Kṛṣṇa gives a devotee shelter at His lotus feet. Therefore when a devotee gives up his body, the mind does not take him to another material body.

Devotee: In relation to that, there is a story of Ramanuja, he had six doubts, he went to his friend who was a Pujari. There was a priest at the temple, he said, “Can you pray to the Lord to answer my six doubts?” And he didn’t explain what the doubts were. And then, the next day, the priests from the temple said, “I got the answers, I don’t know what the questions are, but the Lord came to me in a dream and He gave me the six answers.” And so, he gave him these verses. So, the fourth and fifth verse, it says;

Fourth: Devotees will certainly be liberated even if by chance they fail to remember Me at the time of death.

Fifth: As soon as My devotees give up their present bodies, I bring them to My supreme abode.

And then, this is also followed by a verse from the Varāha Purāṇa. In the verse, it says, “If My devotee isn’t able to remember Me at the time of death because of disturbance felt within the body at that time, then I shall remember My devotee and take him back to My supreme abode.”

Giriraj Swami: Jaya! Beautiful. There is another verse in the same vein that says that just like a mother cow can identify her calves in a multitude of calves, similarly, the Lord will identify His devotees at the time of death and take them back, reclaim them.

Devotee: When you say that if one surrenders to Krishna, all of their karma is kind of absolved, because when I was growing up, I was told by certain priests, I would ask questions in church and they would say, “All you have to do is accept Jesus Christ as your savior and your God.” But there was not really a practice that was emphasized, and people would kind of do all sorts of things, but they would say, “Oh, I believe in Jesus, so I’m good.” So, in what way is this different? Surrendering to Krishna, what exactly does that mean?

Giriraj Swami: Well, surrendering to Krishna means that you follow His instructions. If you are in a fight, you say, “I surrender.” Oh, okay, what does that mean? Okay, surrender, do what you say. So, the idea is that you may have engaged in sinful activities before you surrendered, but after you surrender, then you don’t. What Srila Prabhupada said about confession, I mean, confession is good actually, but his criticism of confession was that people go to the church and confess their sins, and they get relief, but then they engage in the same sins, and then they go back and confess. So, that’s not very congenial.

Yeah, there is a nice saying, “Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.” So, associate with devotees, surrender to Krishna, and the future is bright.

Any other questions are comments? Yes, [Unintelligible 00:59:12]?

Devotee: In reading different things about the history of different religions, just reading, I find that there is a lot of sort of obscure different groups of people who have practices, different tribes in South America or in Africa, where they worship things that are kind of seen, that I can’t really figure out whether it’s personal or impersonal. They worship a river or God in the form of fire, and different things like that. And just reading, even native Americans also have a lot of practices like this where they worship God. Anyway, I can’t really tell whether it’s personal or impersonal.

Krishna does say that He takes different forms as Saligram and Govardhana. So, when I read those things, that makes sense to me. Hearing that different indigenous people worship rivers and worship fire, for me, I think about different things in the Gita or the  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that Krishna says that He is the taste of water or He comes in different forms.

So, I just wanted to have clarification that me reading that and thinking, Oh yeah, that is kind of Krishna conscious, and if they are not thinking of it that way, it might be kind of impersonal, but I just didn’t know exactly what to think about it. I thought it was very interesting in just reading.

Giriraj Swami: So, what is your question?

Devotee: Oh, is that sort of worship personal or impersonal?

Giriraj Swami: Well, it could be either, but the tendency everywhere is to conceive of God as being impersonal. Because people are conditioned by the idea that personality means like our personality, which is limited and fraught with so many frailties. So, they think if God is a person, we are limiting Him. Of course, it’s the opposite because if you say He can’t be a person, you are limiting Him. And in a way, He is both because he does have the impersonal light that comes from His transcendental body, the brahmajyoti. But yeah, I think without the association of devotees, it’s very hard to have a personal conception of God.