Introductory Talk on Krishna Consciousness

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. So, before we continue, I would like to request the participants on Zoom to put on your cameras so we can see you. And just out of curiosity, what subject does Mukunda Madhava Prabhu teach?

Devotee: Differential Calculus, Vectorial Maths and Vectorial Calculus.

Giriraj Swami: So, because his students who are joining us do not know much about Krishna consciousness, I will give an introductory talk.

Our basic sacred text is the Bhagavad-gītā. Bhagavad comes from the word Bhagavān, which means God and Gītā means song. So literally, Bhagavad-gītā translated as Song of God. When God speaks, He speaks in song or poetry. And the first instruction of the Bhagavad-gītā is that we are not the body. We, the living entity, are the soul within the body and the soul is not physical or chemical. If life were caused by a combination of matter, then death would be a breakdown in that chemical combination, and we would be able to restore life by restoring the chemical arrangement. But we know from practical experience that once someone is dead; we cannot bring them back to life and the reason is because the soul has left the body. If life was just a matter of material elements, then after someone dies, we should be able to put the material elements back together again and bring the person back to life, but we cannot do that. So, everyone is interested in his own self-interest or her own self-interest, which is natural, but first we should know what is our real self, is it body or something else?

Our spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada gives the example of a mathematical calculation. If you make a mistake in the first step, even if you perform all the other steps correctly, you might end up further from the actual solution because you made a mistake in the first step. So, the first step is to know who we are. If we make a mistake in the first step, even if we perform everything after that perfectly, we may come further away from the actual solution. So, if I think I am the body mistakenly, even if I do everything perfectly for the sake of the body, I will end up further from the happiness that I seek. So, the first step is to understand we are not the body, but we are the soul within the body which animates the body. And so, to fulfill our self-interest, we should act for the benefit of the soul. The Bhagavad-gītā explains that the soul is part and parcel of the Supreme soul. And we, the individual soul, can be happy only in relationship with the Supreme soul. And that is logical and natural. But how do we revive our relationship with the Supreme Soul, or God, or Krishna as we say? There is a process and the process is called bhakti-yoga. Yoga means to link or connect. And bhakti means devotion or devotional service.

There are nine processes of devotional service, and the first two are the most important. The first two are śravaṇam—hearing and kīrtanam—chanting. So what you are doing now, hearing about Krishna is actually the beginning of bhakti-yoga. And after you hear, when you repeat, that is kīrtanam. Kīrtanam means literally to glorify, to glorify God or Krishna. Now, in one sense, God has no name but He can be referred to by names that refer to His qualities or His activities. But all those qualities and activities are attractive, and therefore the name Krishna is most appropriate because Krishna means all-attractive. But there is only one God. There is no such thing as Hindu-God, Christian-God, Muslim-God, Jewish-God. No. And the main process for glorifying God and realizing God is to chant His holy names. So we chant, as I did a little while ago,

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

But if you have some other name of God that you chant, Allah, Allah, or Jesus, Jesus, you can also chant that name and get the same result. But if you are not chanting any other name of God, then we suggest that you chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. The word mantra, man means mind, and tra comes from trana, which means to deliver. So a mantra is something that we chant to deliver the mind from all miseries. And mahā means great. So this Hare Krishna mantra is called the maha-mantra, the great chant for deliverance. There are no hard and fast rules for chanting. You can chant anywhere, at any time, in any condition. And you should chant as much as possible whenever you get a chance. When you are walking by the way or riding in a car or a bus or a train, you can chant. And the chanting has the effect, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam, it cleanses the dust from the mirror of the mind. Just like a mirror, if you have a mirror, but the mirror is covered with dust, you cannot see yourself. But if you wipe the mirror clean, then you can see who you are. So when we cleanse the dust from the mirror of the mind by chanting, we can see who we really are, which is an eternal spirit soul, part and parcel of God, eternal servant of God. So whenever you get a chance, as much as possible, you chant,

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

Or any other name of God if you prefer. So, with that brief introduction, we can now take questions.

Translator: I will be calling the name of the students, so he could ask the question.

Student: Good evening. My question is, where do we go after death?

Giriraj Swami: That is an excellent question. The Bhagavad-gītā explains that there are two factors that determine where we go after death. One factor is our activities during our lifetime. You might have heard the word karma. Karma means work or activity, but it also can mean the reactions to our actions. For example, if you do something good, you get a good reaction. And if you do something bad, you get a negative reaction. So, according to our activities in this life, we get our next body. If we have performed good activities, we can be elevated to a heavenly planet. And if we perform sinful activities, sinful activity means activities against the laws of God, we will be punished. So most people, practically everyone, engages in a combination of pious activities and sinful activities. And in your next life, you get the body that you deserve, not just the body, but the circumstances of your birth, that will reward you and punish you according to your karma. And the other factor that determines where we go is our thoughts or our consciousness at the time of death. So, if you think of an animal, for example, at the time of death, then you may get the body of an animal. And if think of God at the time of death, you go to God. And that is our goal. So we practice chanting so that at the time of death, we can chant God’s name and go to God, and then we are liberated from the cycle of birth and death.

In Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Krishna says that this material world is duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam, it is full of miseries and it is temporary. So, we don’t want to come back to this miserable material world. There are so many miseries, but Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-gītā mentions four: janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam. birth, death, old age, and disease. So we don’t want to come back to this miserable material world, but we want to go back home, back to Godhead, and that will be the success of our human life. Hare Krishna.

Wellington Picardo: Good evening, my name is Wellington Picardo. I am here to ask you the following question: What is the meaning of life?

Giriraj Swami: There is a very important question; What is the purpose of our life? Well, given that we are part and parcel of God, it is our duty, or our purpose, is to serve God. Just like the hand is part of the body, so the duty of the hand is to serve the body. We are part and parcel of God, so our duty, or our natural function, is to serve God. And just like in the educational system, if you are in high school and you are doing the work of someone in college, then you can be promoted to college. So if you are in the material world and you are doing the work or engaging in the activities of the spiritual world, which is serving God, then you can be promoted to the spiritual world. That is the purpose of our life, to serve God and go back home, back to Godhead. Hare Krishna.

Victor Martinez: Good evening, my name is Victor Martinez, and my question is: What happens when we die?

Giriraj Swami: So death means that the soul leaves the body, and where we go after we leave the body again, depends on our activities during our life and our thoughts at the time of death. If we have performed good activities, we will get rewarded, and if we perform sinful activities, we will be punished. And if we engage in devotional service to God, called bhakti-yoga, then we can go back home, back to Godhead, which is the perfection of our life. Does that answer your question?

Darcio Salazar: My question is as follows. Good evening, which one of all the religions is the true one?

Giriraj Swami: [Laughter] Well, what do you mean by true religion?

Darcio Salazar: So, there are many religions that claim they are worshiping the true God. So, some are based in the word of how they see God, how do I know that an X or Y religion is worshiping the true God? Because some worship images, others a cross. So how do I know?

Giriraj Swami: Well, every bona fide religion will worship the Supreme God. The symbols, the culture, the languages in the different religions may vary; it may be different from one to the other, but that doesn’t really matter as long as they are worshiping and serving and developing love for the Supreme God. But what we are teaching and practicing is not a religion in that sense; it is a science; yoga, bhakti-yoga. And so we say that you can remain whatever you are, Hindu, Christian, Muslim, but add this, and you will become a better Hindu, a better Christian, a better Muslim. What do you consider yourself to be?

Darcio Salazar: Well, I am a person that is in search of being fair to others and also follow the laws of our creator with his love.

Giriraj Swami: Nice, good. So then I would suggest that you read this book, Bhagavad-gītā. I am sure that Mukunda Madhava Prabhu has copies available.

Mukunda Madhava Prabhu: I have several, thank you.

Brian Sanchez: Good evening to everybody, my name is Engineer Brian Sanchez. My question is: For what purpose do we come to this world?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, you come to this world to serve God and to realize your eternal relationship with God as His eternal servant and to go back home, back to Godhead. But we want to help others also, we want to do good for others. And the best we can do for others is to help them revive their eternal relationship with God. That will make them happy, and also it will make God very happy. God is the Supreme father, and we are like His children who have run away from home. And because we have run away from our Supreme father, run away from our eternal home, we face so many difficulties in the material world. For example, if we see the son of some very wealthy man just struggling and suffering on the street, yes, we can give him some food or some money; that will help him temporarily. But if we say, “Oh, I know you, you are the son of such and such rich man, I will take you back to your father, and he will be very happy to see you, and all of your problems will be solved.” So, the father will be happy, and the son will be happy; all of his problems will be solved. So while we are here, we should revive our own relationship with our Supreme father, and we should also help as many of our brothers and sisters as we can to revive their relationships with the same Supreme father.

Augusto Heredia: My question is: Why if God left the Ten Commandments are there so many teachings?

Giriraj Swami: Well, God wants us to be good children of God and to come back to Him. So, the Ten Commandments and other commandments are meant to help us become good children of God and to go back to Him. As I understand, Jesus Christ said that all of these commandments and instructions can be reduced to two, or the essence of all the commandments and instructions, is just two. The first is, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy might, and the second is, to love thy neighbor as thyself. So if you can do those two things, then you are fulfilling all the different commandments and teachings.

Alexander Felix: Good evening, my name is Alexander Felix. So my question goes hand in hand with what my mates have been asking, regarding Martinez, that he was asking about the meaning of life and exactly that is the question that I have: What is the meaning of life?

Giriraj Swami: The meaning of life is to serve God and to serve others. And again, that relates to understanding our actual identities as the soul within the body and not the body. So if we understand that we are the soul within the body, then we will act for the benefit of the soul. And if we want to help others, we can help them, in relation to the body and in relation to the mind, but the real, permanent benefit we can give to others is to help them on the basis of the soul.

Lorin Kozikta: Good evening. My name is Engineer Lorin Kozikta. My question is regarding reincarnation. If we reincarnate, can we remember our past lives? Thank you.

Giriraj Swami: Well, generally, when we leave one body and enter the next body, we forget our previous life. We don’t remember our previous life. But in rare cases, one can remember his past life. Once, I was present at our temple outside London called Bhaktivedanta Manor. It is a big estate that was given to us by George Harrison. So a dentist came. He was a friend of the devotees, and he used to hypnotize his patients, so he didn’t have to give them any anesthesia, he would just hypnotize them. And he learned to do what is called past life regression. And by that process, you can take a person into his past life or even more than one life. So he did that past life regression with some of the devotees there. And one of them, I don’t think he would mind my saying, one of them was His Holiness Indradyumna Swami. And in his past life, he was traveling, traveling, traveling. But he was a devotee, a very good devotee, and at the time of death, in his past life, he was holding the Bhagavad-gītā to his heart. And the way he explained his past life, you could see very easily and clearly how the same tendencies were continuing in the present life. So yes, there is past life regression, but ordinarily, we don’t remember our past life. And Srila Prabhupada said, “If you want to know about your past life, look at your present life. And if you want to know about your next life, look at your present life.” Hare Krishna.

Benjamin Gonzalez: Good evening. My name is Benjamin Gonzalez. And I have two questions because I cannot let this moment pass. So, the first one is, if we are the experiment of, or the result of, an experiment of an intelligent race, and who created God?

Giriraj Swami: Well, I will answer the second question first. There are actually two terms. One is ‘God’ which means Supreme Controller, and the other is ‘Absolute Truth’ which means the origin of everything. So it is possible that someone who is the Supreme Controller may not be the origin of everything, but he may have some origin. But Krishna is both—He is the Absolute Truth, and He is also the Supreme Controller. So no one created Krishna. There is a nice verse in Brahma-saṁhitā: īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ. Krishna is the Supreme Controller; īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ, He has an eternal, blissful, spiritual form; anādir ādir govindaḥ, He has no origin, but He is the origin of everything; sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam, He is the cause of all causes. And so, what was the second question?

Benjamin Gonzalez: If we are the result of an experiment of some intelligent race?

Giriraj Swami: Well, we are the result of Krishna. I wouldn’t say it was an experiment. We are the result of Krishna. I don’t think there is a higher beings and they are making some experiment and create it. I don’t think it was like that.

Alberto Severino: Good evening. I am Alberto Severino. I have a question. If after my spirit leaves my body, can I communicate with the living? Or what can I do to communicate with the living after my spirit leaves?

Giriraj Swami: When you leave your body, you may be able to communicate with people who you knew during your life, but that would depend quite a bit on how evolved you are spiritually. For example, my spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada (this is his photo), he left this world, but he is still able to communicate with us in different ways. So I would say, the more spiritually evolved you are, the more you will be able to communicate with and influence the people who you have left behind.

Student: Good evening, thank you so much for this opportunity. I have two questions. The first one: In such a corrupted society, how can we have healthy relationships? That is the first one, and then I will make the other one.

Giriraj Swami: We can have healthy relationships by keeping God in the center. We want brotherhood, but for us to be brothers, we must have a common father. And the common father is the Supreme Father, God. So if we keep God as the center of our relationships, then our relationships with each other will be congenial and harmonious.

Student: So this question is related to reincarnation. You mentioned something that said, “If you want to know how was your past, look at your present, and if you want to know how is your future, look at your present.” So that means that our life is like a bundle of lives?

Giriraj Swami: Well, in your present life, you are experiencing the result of your previous life. You have a combination of, we could say, good fortune and bad fortune. So, by seeing our present life, we can understand, in a way, what was our previous life. And in our present life, we are preparing our next life, our next body. So if we look at our present life, what are our activities, what is our consciousness, we will be able to understand our next life. So again, if I am a good person, I will have a good next life. If I am a bad person, I will have a bad next life. And if I become a God-conscious person, if I act in a godly way and think of God at the time of death, then I will go to God.

Student: Well, this is regarding everything that happens in the world, many children, innocent children dying. So my question is, does God exist?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that is a good question. Of course, God does exist. But what you are perceiving as injustice, it may be due to your incomplete vision. For example, you mentioned an innocent child suffering or dying. Well, we are just seeing this lifetime, but in the child’s past life, the child did something for which the child deserves to suffer now, or die. For example, you might walk into a movie in the middle of the movie, and you see someone in the movie being killed. You think, “Oh, why should that person be killed?” But if you were there from the beginning of the movie, you would know what that person did and why he had to be killed. That is a crude example but there is justice. God’s justice does prevail.

Fronkiz Limniz: Good evening. My name is Fronkiz Limniz. I am going to take the chance, and I will ask two questions. The first one: Why are there people that who are bothered by the personal fulfillment and progress of others?

Giriraj Swami: Well, that is also a nice question. One can be affected by the progress of others in two different ways. If one is a well-wisher and one sees someone else make progress, one will be happy for them. But if one is envious, then one will be disturbed by the progress. So there is a phrase that describes a Vaishnava, it means a true devotee of Krishna. para-dukha-dukhī. He feels sorry in the sorrow of others, it feels unhappy in the unhappiness of others, and he tries to help them if he can.

Fronkiz Limniz: The next question. why are there people that hate somebody without any reason just because?

Giriraj Swami: There is always a reason for everything, but the reason may not be due to the person who is being hated. He might not have done anything to cause this person to hate him, but still, the other person might hate him, but there is some reason. For example, maybe the person hated his father and that other person reminds him of his father, so he hates him but he didn’t do anything, why he should be hated. But there is a reason somewhere.

Will Soto: Good evening. My name is Will Soto, and my question is: Why is society more corrupt every day?

Giriraj Swami: Well, according to Vedic knowledge, there are four ages that repeat like the four seasons. And we are now in Kali-yuga, the age of Kali, which is the worst age. And one of the symptoms of Kali-yuga is that people are corrupt. But Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says very interesting about Kali-yuga. The speaker of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Śukadeva Gosvami says, kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann, that this age of Kali is an ocean of faults, asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ, but there is one great opportunity. kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet, by chanting the holy name of Krishna, one can become liberated from all material association and attain the Supreme destination. But there are many different many descriptions of the age of Kali in the shastra, and that is the way people are.

Student: Hare Krishna Maharaja. When you spoke about this soul that couldn’t go back to a dead body, how did Lazarus went back to the body after being dead for a couple of hours?

Giriraj Swami: Well, I am not aware of that history, and that I don’t want to comment.

Student: The other question is: Why does God has so many names? Is it depending or is it due to the different religions that there are?

Giriraj Swami: Well, as I mentioned, in one sense, God has no name, but He can be called by names that refer to His different qualities and activities. And again as I mentioned, all of those qualities and activities will be attractive. Therefore, the name Krishna, which means all-attractive, is considered to be the best name or the name that includes all the other names. But God is unlimited, He has unlimited qualities, and He has unlimited activities, and so He can have unlimited names.

Benjamin Medina: When one leaves the body, that soul could encounter their beloved, their loved ones once they are gone?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, see especially if the loved ones go back home, back to Godhead, and then you go back home, back to Godhead, you will meet them all there. Otherwise, it is hard to say, how you will meet them or where you will meet them, how you will recognize them. But if you all go back home, back to Godhead, you will be reunited. We should try for that.

Brittany: When our loved one is ill or dying, it causes so much worry and anxiety. How should devotee of Lord Krishna approach such difficult life circumstances?

Giriraj Swami: Well, there could be different answers to your question, depending on what is the cause of the anxiety. One could be in anxiety for the other person or you could be an anxiety for yourself, that what will happen to you if that person dies. So I think that how you would respond as a devotee of Krishna would depend on which case it is. If you are in anxiety because the other person may die and you don’t know what will happen to the other person, so then you can try to help the person have an auspicious death. Help them remember God, Krishna, at the time of death. If you are in anxiety about yourself, what will happen to you after the person leaves, well, you probably should have faith in Krishna that He will take care of you. He will make some arrangement for you. But it is natural to be in anxiety to some extent. Sometimes anxiety can be an impetus to good actions. But if we are in too much anxiety, then we might not be able to function at our best. But if we have faith in Krishna, we shouldn’t be in too much anxiety. And in such circumstances, we can take shelter of the holy names, take shelter of the philosophy in the Bhagavad-gītā, and get solace and strength. Does that answer your question?

Francis Martin: How do you, the Hare Krishna see Jesus or God?

Giriraj Swami: That is a good question. So I have my guru, Srila Prabhupada, and he had his guru, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said that Jesus Christ was a shaktavesha avatara. Now, what is the shaktavesha avatara? Avatar means one who descends. Shakti means power, and avesh means to be invested with or empowered. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said that Jesus Christ was an empowered incarnation, who descended into this world from above. So yes, he was not an ordinary human being.

Student: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Please accept my obeisances and respect. My question is: When a person leaves this world having started the Krishna consciousness process and in the mode of goodness. So this person would come to the world to continue, but would he come to the same social group, maybe to the same family, or could he come back maybe born in Russia, or from the Caribbean to a cold place? Maybe you know something about it. I don’t know if you can give me an answer. Thank you so much.

Giriraj Swami: It is true that if one begins the process of devotional service but does not complete the whole course, one will be given a chance in the next life to continue where he or she left off. Anything material, what you don’t complete in this life, we have to start again in the next life. For example, suppose in this life you know six different languages, but in the next life, you start all over from zero. You don’t know any language. But spiritually, whatever progress you make in this life, you continue in the next life from that point. If you complete 1 percent in this life, then you begin from 2 percent in the next life. You complete 50 percent in this life, you start at 51 percent in the next life. But there is no guarantee exactly where one will be born. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna says, śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭo sanjayate, that the yogi, a devotee who is not completely successful will take birth either in a wealthy aristocratic family or a pious family of brahmans, or even in a family of devotees. As Krishna says, in the next life that person will automatically be attracted to the principles of yoga. He says that, verily such a birth in this world is very rare. So everything is auspicious that you will be able to continue in the next life. But we can’t say that it will be in the Caribbean, and in your next life you probably won’t mind, one way or another.

Student: Yes, I don’t refer to the place but to the family, but I understand. Thank you so much.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, so again, my advice: you all go back to Godhead, and you will all be reunited together.

Translator: Maharaja, we said that was the last question but it is going to depend on you. We have a devotee that has one question. He says that it is very short, so it depends on you. If you are not too tired.

Giriraj Swami: I can take one more question.

Krishna Kirtan dasa: Hare Krishna. Good evening. I have met many devotees, a lot that are very strict. They said you have to chant your japa, and others that are more submissive, that they are more subtle, so they are more devoted to Krishna, maybe in a more sort of way. So you, Maharaja, that you are a direct disciple of Sri Prabhupada, how was Prabhupada with the initiated disciples? Was he, strict, or was he pushy with the devotion?

Giriraj Swami: Srila Prabhupada dealt with different devotees in different ways, but he was always encouraging. There is one nice story that one of Prabhupada’s former servants told. His name was Nanda Kumar. I will just read that because it will give you an idea of how Prabhupada dealt with him in the issue of chanting his rounds. Nanda Kumar Prabhu was serving as Srila Prabhupada’s personal servant in the 1970s, and this is the story he told.

“It was the first time I had ever missed chanting sixteen rounds. I had completed fourteen rounds and was so tired I rationalized that it was better to take rest and make them up the next day, as we had been told we could make up missed rounds the following day. When I went into Prabhupada’s room early the next morning, the first thing His Divine Grace said to me was, “So you are chanting all your rounds?” As always, he knew everything without requiring any outside information. I told him about my missing two rounds the previous day and that I was planning to make them up that day.

Srila Prabhupada said, “When you are regularly chanting sixteen rounds, it is like a young child learning to walk with the help of the mother. Because the mother is holding the child’s hand, when the child starts to fall, the mother holds him up, and he doesn’t actually fall. It is the same with chanting. If you are completing sixteen rounds and start to fall down, Krishna will hold you up and not allow that to happen.” Then with his eye open very wide and a transcendental move of his hand back and forth in front of his face, His Divine Grace said, “However, if you are not chanting at least sixteen rounds every day, your whereabouts are unknown.” So, I guess you could say that Prabhupada was subtle, but he was also very forceful. He wasn’t harping, “You must chant your sixteen rounds,” but he was convincing us of the benefit of chanting sixteen rounds. Are you chanting sixteen rounds? Krishna Kirtan dasa.

Krishna Kirtan dasa: I want to.

Giriraj Swami: Do you have some minimum that you do every day?

Krishna Kirtan dasa: I used to chant four per day and do kirtan the whole afternoon.

Giriraj Swami: So your minimum is four per day?

Krishna Kirtan dasa: Yes.

Giriraj Swami: Okay. And if by chance you miss some of your four, you make them up the next day?”

Krishna Kirtan dasa: Yes, when I miss one, I always complete it the following day.”

Giriraj Swami: Good. Thank you.

Translator: We want to thank you Maharaja, for the great class and for responding to each one of the questions. Thank you so much. I am thanking also the students that join us today. They all had very good questions, and I hope that they liked the class.

Giriraj Swami: Okay, so if we are going to end now, I suggest that we conclude with Vaishnava praṇāma.

vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaś ca kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca 

patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ

Devotees: His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja ki jay!

Thank Maharaja.