Questions and Answers at the Hare Krishna Waterfront Festival

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Guru Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Devotee: How to get rid of false pride that is to be humble and tolerant as a tree?

Giriraj Swami: Yeah. Well, attentive chanting is the way. In fact, when you make a sincere effort to chant attentively then you see how difficult it is, how your mind wanders, you can hardly even chant one mantra without your mind wandering. So that should make you humble. When you realize how far you are, and you can’t even chant with attention. And, Srila Prabhupada advised us to address one another as Prabhu. “Prabhu” means master and that means I’m servant, gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ [Cc. Madhya 13.80]. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu identified Himself as the servant of the servant of the servant of Krishna, the maintainer of the gopīs.

So that is our position to be the servant of the servant of the servant. Shortly after Srila Prabhupada left, I asked Srila Prabhupada’s Sanskrit editor Pradyumna Prabhu that everything that we have in the material world exists in its original pure form in the spiritual world. So what is pride in the spiritual world? Pradyumna Prabhu replied that in the spiritual world, one’s pride is that one is the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant, the last in the line. That means, he has the most masters and that is his pride. He is the last in the line of servants and he has the most masters to serve. So yeah, we should address each other as Prabhu, master. And actually, they are the masters and we are the servants. That should be heartfelt. As Srila Prabhupada said, “We shouldn’t say, ‘Oh Prabhu! Please bring me my slippers.’ That’s not Prabhu. ‘Yes, Prabhu. You are my master, I am your servant.’” Hare Krishna.

So I would like to know who asked the question? That will be more personal. So this question is, [Question] “Can we make spiritual advancement even if we are performing mixed devotional service?” So whose question is this? Okay. And, what do you mean by mixed devotional service? Can you give her a microphone? 

Devotee: It’s not pure. [We have certain motives. 

Giriraj Swami: Can we make spiritual advancement even if we are performing mixed devotional service? You mean, it’s mixed with karma, jnana, yoga? You can make advancement but it will not be as rapid as a pure devotional service. And, I’ll ask you what would be the reason for your devotional service to be mixed when the benefits of pure devotional service are so great? Srila Prabhupada used to speak about unalloyed devotional service. In an alloy, if you have a metal and you mix another metal with it, it becomes an alloy and it’s weaker. So unalloyed the devotional services means it’s not mixed, and therefore it’s stronger. So there is really no reason to perform mixed devotional service. With the same effort you can perform pure devotional service, and you’ll make more advancement, and you’ll be happier and more satisfied. 

Devotee: I don’t have the determination to do it purely. There are so many distractions. There are so many distractions dominating. We know we have to do unalloyed but still.

Giriraj Swami: As I mentioned earlier Srila Prabhupada said, “90 percent of Krishna consciousness is association.” So if you associate with sincere devotees, we could say, pure devotees and that will help you become a pure devotee. I mean, you may have other duties to your family and whatnot. But that doesn’t mean you can’t engage in pure devotional service. But one may be a brahmachari, grihastha, a vanaprastha, sannyasi, and one can engage in pure devotional service. And, we have many examples such as Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, he was a householder but he was a pure devotee, and he did everything. He was a magistrate. He performed his duties as a magistrate. He was a father of many children, he performed his duties as a father, but at the same time he was a pure devotee. He had a schedule he followed to chant, to read, to write books, to preach. So he is an example of how to utilize one’s time in an efficient way. And, we need to learn to do that, then we can do everything. 

[Question] And, how to become tolerant? Whose question is this? Give her a microphone.

Devotee: Hare Krishna Guru Maharaja. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I want to know that being individuals, we are different, different characters, so how to adjust with different individuals both in material life and spiritual life. 

Giriraj Swami: How to become tolerant of different types of people? 

Devotee: Yes. 

Giriraj Swami: Okay. 

Devotee: There is this verse, tṛṇad api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṇunā amānina mānadena kīrtanīya sada hariḥ [Cc Ādi 17.31]. But what can we do more to be more tolerant? Thank you, Guru Maharaja. 

Giriraj Swami: Well, we need to chant attentively, and chanting ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam [Cc. Antya 20.12]. That cleanses the dust from the mirror of the consciousness, and usually we have difficulty tolerating it because of false ego. But if we become free from false ego, then we can easily tolerate the differences. And, so to become free from false ego, we want to chant good rounds, and also [do] kirtan, and read Srila Prabhupada’s books. All these activities will cleanse the heart and also enlighten us with spiritual knowledge so that we are not absorbed in false ego which makes it difficult for us to tolerate. If you realize how insignificant you are, how minute you are, then you can tolerate it more easily. But it’s very important to tolerate. As Srila Prabhupada said, “If you cannot tolerate, you cannot live in this world for one minute.” That was an important question. 

Devotee: Thank you Guru Maharaja. Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

There is more mercy when we serve devotees than when we serve Krishna. But it is more difficult. Please advise. Now, whose question is this? 

Devotee: She went away. 

Giriraj Swami: She went away? Okay. Well, we’ll go on to the next. 

[Question] How can we know if we are advancing in Krishna consciousness? What are the symptoms of someone who is advancing? Whose question is this? 

[Answer] Yes, a very good question. There is a verse in the Eleventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra ca [ŚB 11.2.42]. And translation is that when one eats there are three effects: One’s hunger disappears, one gets strength, and one feels satisfied. So the same analogy applies to Krishna consciousness. bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra ca, that by engaging in devotional service, one’s hunger for material things disappears, one becomes spiritually strong, and one becomes satisfied. So you can know if you are advancing by these tests. 

And Srila Prabhupada says, “When you are eating and you feel satisfied, you don’t need to take a certificate from someone else. But you know that you are satisfied.” So in the same way when we engage in devotional service, we’ll feel a decrease in material desires. We’ll feel that we are becoming spiritually strong, and we’ll feel satisfied. Satisfied means, we are satisfied to be engaged in devotional service, and we don’t want to do anything else but engage in devotional service. But it doesn’t mean we are satisfied that we have done enough devotional service. We always want to do more. So we are satisfied that we don’t want to do anything except devotional service.

Devotee: Thank you Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: [Question] I always feel I’m not qualified for so much mercy. And, so how can I improve my sadhana and serve devotees more? This is by Radha Mohan dasa. Are you here? Okay. So I always feel I’m not qualified for so much mercy. 

[Answer] So you need to say that you are getting more mercy than you feel you deserve. So that’s nice. That’s good. How can I improve my sadhana? So what is your sadhana? What is your daily routine?

Devotee: Hare Krishna Maharaja. My daily sadhana is, we wake up early, as Prabhupada set the sadhana schedule, four in the morning then chanting five to seven, doing abhiseka of deities, and prasādam, going to work, coming back, then I guess some temple sevā.

Giriraj Swami: And, what about reading?

Devotee: Yes, I do Bhāgavatam reading. That’s in the morning. I listen to Prabhupada’s lectures and read some books.

Giriraj Swami: Okay. So what do you think you could do to improve your sadhana?

Devotee: That’s what I want to know. I really don’t know. I feel like I can do more. But I just need some guidance.

Giriraj Swami: Well, the activities sound good. But you can always improve the quality. Otherwise, the activities are nice. So let’s improve the quality of the chanting, improve the quality of the study, and [Unintelligible 00:20:15–00:21:08].

Devotee: We do regular Bhagavad-gītā classes and programs. I can improve my quality of japa.

Giriraj Swami: I agree with her. 

[Question] How to become tolerant?

[Answer] We sort of discussed it. Whose question is this? We already discussed it. 

[Question] How to get rid of lust and attraction to the opposite sex and focus our mind on Krishna? Whose question is this? 

[Answer] Yeah. That’s a good question. Well, again the chanting, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam [Cc. Antya 20.12], chanting cleanses the dust from the mirror of the mind, cleanses the dirty things from the heart. And Srila Prabhupada said, “The first dirty thing is identifying with the body, and this sex attraction is based on identifying with the body. Mainly, chant.” And Srila Prabhupada also said that deity worship helps one to realize that one is not the body. Because basically this is coming from identifying with the body. And yes, once Srila Prabhupada told me that if a girl comes, if a lady comes, a girl comes, you should think, Oh! this girl has come to serve Krishna, I should help her. Not, Oh! this girl has come, let me exploit her. So we don’t reject women or stop interacting with women. But we try to purify the relationships to be one of helping them to progress in Krishna consciousness.

So again, gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ [Cc. Madhya 13.80], “servant of the servant of the servant.” But if associating with women agitates you too much, then it’s better to just avoid it. That’s also okay. We don’t want to look lustfully at ladies. Do you want to add any more to your question? 

[Question] How to get rid of lust, anger, and greed? Whose question is this? 

[Answer] Well, the general process as we discussed chanting, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam, and give up our false identification with the body, false ego. And, if these impulses arise, we should tolerate them. We should not act on them.

The Bhagavad-gītā says, a self-realized soul’s desires are just like rivers that enter into the ocean, the ocean is not disturbed. So yeah, chanting and hearing, hearing and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books will definitely help you to get rid of lust, anger, and greed. 

[Question] The secret of success in Krishna consciousness is to please our spiritual master. Correct. How to know that our spiritual master is pleased by our service? 

[Answer] Well, if you feel encouraged and enlivened in your devotional service, that’s a good indication that your spiritual master is pleased. Of course, if you are in the position to do so, you could ask him if he is pleased. And, you could ask him how you could improve? Because we always want to improve and be better. And, the desire to please the spiritual master is also pleasing for the spiritual master. Once a disciple said to Srila Prabhupada, “How can I please you?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Just your desire to please me is pleasing me.” So that also counts. Any more on this? 

[Question] Hare Krishna Maharaja. On the intermediate platform, one is expected to discriminate between individuals with different types of consciousness and devotees with different levels of realizations and act with them accordingly. For example, avoiding the envious, serving the superiors, making friends with equals, and encouraging those less experienced than oneself.

[Answer] Yes. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says, prema-maitrī-kṛpopekṣā [ŚB 11.2.46]. prema, we should give our love to the Supreme Personality of Godhead; maitrī, we should make friends with devotees; kṛpā, we should give mercy to the innocent like give them Krishna consciousness; upekṣāḥ, we should neglect the envious. We should not try to preach to the envious because they’ll just become more offensive. But Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura commenting on this verse says that although we are enjoined to neglect the envious and not to go to them to preach, but we can still pray for them. So okay, prema-maitrī-kṛpopekṣā.

[Question continued] But we are also meant to try to see ourselves as the last servant with the most number of masters. How should we reconcile both ways of thinking and interacting?

[Answer] Well, we are always servants. Prema-maitrī-kṛpopekṣā. In all of those cases, we are servants. But our service is manifested in different ways according to the candidate with whom we are interacting. But there is no contradiction whatsoever. It’s just a matter of how we express our mood of service. Okay? Jaya Chaitanya dasa. Are you here? Okay.

[Question] To my understanding, the four Kumaras were impersonalists. If so, how were they able to go to the Vaikuntha planet? 

[Answer] I don’t know if they were actually impersonalists. But they were in śānta-rasa, they were in neutral rasa. Yeah, they were powerful yogis, brahmacharis, and as you said, “They were able to go to Vaikuntha by the mercy of the Lord. And, they have their own sampradāya, there are four Vaiṣṇava-sampradāyas, one is Kumāra-sampradāya.” So they were like ātmārāma. They were self-satisfied. They were [not] actually impersonalists. Thank you. 

[Question] A few days ago, you were relating how Srila Prabhupada didn’t want to compromise. How do we deal with devotees with whom we serve, who are okay with compromising on principles and quality of service? Should this be tolerated? Sri Radha. Is Sri Radha here?

[Answer] So how to deal with devotees who are compromising on principles and quality of service? It would depend on your relationship with the devotees, and it would also depend on how serious the compromise is. But if it’s something minor, you could tolerate it. But if it’s something significant, then you shouldn’t tolerate it, but you should try to help the devotee to improve. And, again depending on your relationship with the devotee, you can point out to them in what ways they are compromising on principles or quality of service. And, that will also be a service to them and to Krishna. So yeah, I mean based on what you say, I would say unless it’s something minor then okay you can tolerate. But if it’s something more significant, I would say that you should bring it up humbly and respectfully. But you should bring it up, and if it is serious enough. And, if you feel you can’t approach the devotee yourself, you could speak to the devotee’s authority and explain this is happening, and I don’t feel I can bring it up. But I feel someone should bring it up to the devotee. So I’m informing you so you could take appropriate action. We don’t want to tolerate and compromise on principles and the quality of the service beyond a minimum degree.

[Question] How can we become experts in preaching Krishna consciousness? 

[Answer] Is the devotee who asked this here? Yeah. Well, that’s a good question. I think of two things. Once Srila Prabhupada told me, “If you just repeat what you’ve read in my purport, people will think you are very learned to preach.” And, by practice in preaching, you’ll become more perfect in preaching. And, you can also see where your preaching has been effective and where your preaching has lacked something. And, you can adjust and improve. Yeah, practice makes perfect. 

[Question] If bhakti is natural then why does it appear so difficult to practice? Is the person who asked this question here? 

[Answer] Well, Srila Prabhupada gives the example that the capacity to render devotional service is natural. But because we are covered, it takes some effort to revive that natural function of devotional service. And, he gives the example of a child learning to walk. The child has the capacity to walk, but in the beginning the child is not practiced to walk. The child has to work at it, and then eventually the natural ability to walk will come out, and then the child will be able to walk without even thinking about it.

So that’s why there are different stages in bhakti and our stage is devotional service in practice. We have to practice. But eventually our natural bhakti will be revived. nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema ‘sādhya’ kabhu naya[Cc. Madhya 22.107]. kṛṣṇa-prema or pure devotional service is situated within the heart. And, by associating with good devotees and hearing about Krishna, that dormant love is awakened. So it’s there. It’s dormant, and we have to awaken it by association with devotees, and chanting and hearing about Krishna. [Question repeats] If bhakti is natural then why does it appear so difficult to practice? [Answer] Srila Prabhupada also says that a spiritual life is difficult, but material life is impossible. So even if we take it that it’s difficult, it’s still better than the alternative, material life.

[Question] This Hare Krishna movement. . . This is from Chandra Shekhar. Chandra Shekhar here? This Hare Krishna movement, by dispensing transcendental knowledge from Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that by encouraging people to follow the four regulative principles and engage in devotional service is healthy. People in all walks of life can improve their life. 

[Answer] Correct. 

[Question continued] My question is how I can reach out to more people so that they will also benefit and make the whole world full of bhakti and peaceful? 

[Answer] Well, it’s a good question, and it’s a practical one. How to reach more people? Of course, Srila Prabhupada emphasized the book distribution, and then a lot of festivals like this festival is attracting many people. And yeah, somehow, we have to make an attractive presentation so that people will want to try to experience Krishna consciousness. The question we have is how to reach more people so that they will also benefit and make the whole world full of bhakti and peaceful? Maharaja, would you like to? So is that all the questions? 

[Question] Normally as you taught us and Srila Prabhupada also taught us, we should do our japa in the morning, well in the mangal time. But for me it’s difficult because I feel sleepy. So for me it is much better in the evening. Am I committing an offense by chanting at night and not listening to your advice? 

[Answer] So interesting, you feel sleepy in the morning but you feel more awake at night. Well, I mean, you should always chant when you feel awake. So if it looks better at night then you could chant at night. But I’m curious as to why you would be more awake at night rather than in the morning? And, as you take a nap during the day. But usually, it’s easier to concentrate in the morning. Is the person who asked this question here? Oh! yes. Can we get the microphone there?

Devotee: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, yes. So what time do you rest at night?

Devotee: Sometimes at twelve o’ clock midnight. [Unintelligible 00:48:23–00:48:46]

Giriraj Swami: Why do you take rest at midnight?

Devotee: Because I have so many services to do. [Unintelligible 00:48:50–00:49:08]

Giriraj Swami: What time do you wake up in the morning?

Devotee: I do my chanting but the only thing I think is that when I am not chanting in the morning, I feel that I am doing an offense to you. [Unintelligible 00:49:13–00:49:50]

Giriraj Swami: Well, I don’t think it’s an offense. But generally it’s better to chant in the morning. Generally, you are more alert than when we get involved in different activities in the day. Then when we chant, those activities might be in our minds. But if we chant first before we begin involved with other services and activities, then our mind should be more free to focus on the holy name. So yeah, I don’t follow all the details of your situation. But I would say, “If you could adjust and chant in the morning, it would be better.”

Devotee: Okay, Thank you. I’ll certainly try this.

Giriraj Swami: Okay. Hare Krishna. All right! We can move on to the next program. We have till 8:30?

Devotees: Nine.

Giriraj Swami: Nine. Wow. [Unintelligible 00:51:21–00:51:28]. Yes, Maharaja?

Devotee: For this session. [Unintelligible 00:51:31–00:51:56]

Devotee: Maharaja, regarding Mataji’s question continuation about chanting, when I am here chanting, my mind is feeling sleepy. When I have to think of other things, then I don’t feel sleepy.

Giriraj Swami: You mean, when you think about preaching while you are doing your chanting? Well, in principle we should try to hear the holy name when we chant. But if that makes you feel sleepy. . .

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:52:26–00:52:34] I forget that I have to listen.

Giriraj Swami: Anyway, you are a pure devotee. So I’m sure whatever you do is okay. So, I’ll be signing books, if anyone likes books. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Devotees: HH Giriraj Swami Maharaja ki. . . jaya!