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Archive for the 'Monday Morning Greetings' Category

Monday Morning Greetings 2025 #40 – The Black Swan (Not the Movie)

September 29th, 2025

The Black Swan (Not the Movie)[1]

 

I bought a book in the airport: 50 Philosophy Classics from the 50 Classic Series by Tom Butler-Bowdon. My idea was to skim through the summaries of the fifty classics to see if I could recognize a truth that was conceptualized and expressed in an especially inspiring way.

 

I liked that each classic had an “in a nutshell” summary that enabled me to judge which ones I thought worth reading, sometimes to affirm their conceptions and sometimes to critique them.

 

For example, “Nicomachean Ethics” by Aristotle seemed interesting: “Happiness comes from what we have rationally decided is good for us over the longer term. Happiness is not pleasure, but a by-product of a meaningful life.”

 

I found the idea of materialism expressed in “The Ego Trick” by Julian Baggini quite unappealing and not worth reading: “The brain and body provide us with a strong and continuous sense of self, which gives us freedom to create who we are.”

 

What I did gain while briefly going through the book was more faith in my own tradition. The Vedas teach that knowledge of this world is manifest simultaneously with its creation. It is then channeled and preserved through various lineages of wisdom teachers. To be connected in this way gives one a basic standard to gauge the validity of any philosophical treatise or school. I will try to demonstrate that by analyzing just one of the classics in the book, The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

 

The title of the book and Taleb’s philosophical message come from a particular historical phenomenon that he read about. Until a black swan was sighted by early explorers in Western Australia, people not only assumed that swans were white, but they were, in fact, even defined in that way. From this event Taleb developed an entire theory of events and causality. He postulated that things that happen against all expectations, which he named “black swans”, had an extreme and important impact on history and one’s life. These include anything from the unexpected spread of great ideas and powerful religions to dynamic historical events that no one foresaw, such as the rise of Hitler or the spread of the Internet. Accepting this fact of randomness as it applies to the world and one’s life rather than a strictly causal or linear perspective, he concluded, is the first step in succeeding in the world. Here is how 50 Classics sums up “in a nutshell” the import of The Black Swan:

 

“We want to make the world an orderly place, but the frequency of truly unexpected events should tell us that we really don’t know what causes things.”

 

Taleb therefore concludes, “black swan logic ‘makes what you don’t know far more relevant that what you do know’, because it is the unexpected that shapes our lives.”

 

Now a brief analysis of The Black Swan from the perspective of Vedic teachings, starting with the part of Taleb’s teaching that I found reasonably congruent with what you would find in the Vedas — the obvious weakness we can recognize in conditioned human psychology.

 

Taleb saw that we desire to impose order and control in the world beyond our capacity to do so. Living in that way makes one fearful and frustrated. In other words, to hope to see the world as linear and predictable, and in accord with the way we want it to be, is a recipe for disaster. I think Taleb got this right. Unless we temper our hope for a world that conforms to our desires, we will always live in uncertainty and disappointment. And we will be sorely unprepared for the unpredictable.

 

While I think Taleb’s insight is important, Vedic perspective gives much more depth. While the world is certainly beyond our control, he is wrong when he says that the world moves haphazardly and without meaning. The Vedic perspective teaches us that unexpected events, while far beyond our control, do not happen randomly. They are the result of the law of karma. They come to teach us important lessons essential to elevating us to a higher level of realization. I like how Rumi put it:

 

“When God is digging a ditch to throw us in, he is actually making a well to quench our thirst.”

 

And that was my takeaway from flipping through 50 Philosophy Classics from the 50 Classic Series by Tom Butler-Bowdon. Connection to traditions of true wisdom, and certainly the Bhagavat philosophy, gives us the tool of understanding to put into context all philosophical speculations, and certainly The Black Swan (not the movie).

 

 


[1] When I review Monday Morning Greetings from many years ago, I can see how much my writing has improved as has the quality of the editing. Occasionally I will rewrite and edit old Monday Morning Greetings in a way that even those who have read them before will find them almost new. This one is from March 2, 2020.

 

Monday Morning Greetings 2025 #39 – Guruship and the Death of Bhakti

September 22nd, 2025

Maybe the title is too heavy, but there is a point there.

 

Material consciousness means to think of oneself as the center of the world and thus as the controller and enjoyer. Devotion means the opposite, to move away from that imagined center to instead become the humble servant of God. In this regard, here’s how Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī describes the essence of bhakti in his treatise titled Bhakti-sandarbha.

 

“…Therefore, an intelligent person should engage unflinchingly in the unalloyed devotional service of the Lord, under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, whom he should accept as his worshipable deity and as his very life and soul.” Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.2.37

 

What can be more challenging in cultivating bhakti than to accept such a position where one is highly worshiped by many and sometimes thousands?

 

I remember the end of 1977, just after Śrīla Prabhupāda had passed away. Eleven sincere godbrothers, practically not one over thirty, most not even with eight years as a devotee, took up the mantle of guru. They all received the lavish worship worthy of an ācārya.

 

How do you think that worked out?

 

You guessed it. Most didn’t survive. How could they? Unless one is very spiritually advanced, the worship (pūjā) that is being offered to one as a guru and the distinction (pratiṣṭhā) that naturally follows are the very things one must shun if there is any hope of gaining a taste for bhakti.

 

At the time when my godbrothers took up that service, I thought they had the world. I certainly don’t envy them now. They were put, in many ways, in the most unfortunate position — attempting to follow the path of utter humility and being put on a pedestal at the same time.

 

But what to do? Although one of the principles of devotional service outlined in Bhakti-rasāmta-sindhu is not to take many followers, the commentary on the above verse also says that a sannyāsī must accept disciples to increase his lineage.[1] I was confused. Which is it? When I was asked to accept disciples, I therefore went to a senior Vaiṣṇava for advice. I placed this seeming contradiction to him for clarity. I took his advice to heart.

 

“Don’t think you are guru. Do it as a service to your guru. And be careful not to take many disciples.”

 

So that’s the key. Many must nobly take up the mantle of leadership to push on Śrī Caitanya’s mission, but one must never embrace any designation other than “I am the humble servant of Guru and Krishna.”

 

Why am I writing this? Shortly, I will be 75. Soon my disciples will celebrate Vyāsa-pūjā on my birthday. The worship will be lavish. In the midst of such pomp, it is important to remind myself, and thus others, that Vyāsa-pūjā is meant for worship of the paramparā (disciplic succession). The guru is simply representing the previous masters and redirecting that honor to them.

 

A great example of that mood:

 

“We are just sitting on the throne of our Guru Mahārāja, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupāda. So this pūjā, this offering, must go to him. Not to us. Our business is only to deliver it to him. So the students, who have to go through us, should give all honor and respect to our Guru Mahārāja.” (Vyāsa-pūjā address from 1982, Śrīla Bhakti-rakṣaka Śrīdhara Dev-Goswami Mahārāja)

 

The lesson is clear: if we remain simply the servant of the servant of Śrīla Prabhupāda, our service will be the life, not the death, of bhakti, whether we are doing service behind the scenes, or whether we take the center stage.

 

 


[1] The thirteenth item of devotional service as mentioned in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu does mention not to take too many followers in devotional service. It serves as a caution. Too many followers and management responsibilities can distract one from one’s devotional practices. The commentary does acknowledge, however, the sincere and necessary act of expanding the devotional lineage.

 

Monday Morning Greetings 2025 #38 – What I Learned from the Sad Story of David Seigel

September 15th, 2025

He was about five foot three inches and almost 200 pounds and that was in 10th grade! Tough karma for a young boy growing up in Brooklyn in 1964. America is perhaps more than any other country built on the superficial ideal of “I am successful.” Imagine the challenges placed on David’s psyche to find his self-worth in that setting.

 

But David tried.

 

More than anything David wanted to star for the high school basketball team. We thought he was crazy. Canarsie High School played in arguably the toughest basketball league in the country at the time. The conference even became known as the “suicide division” because it was so incredibly competitive and stacked with talent. It had produced the likes of NBA Hall of Famers Connie Hawkins, Lenny Wilkins, and Billy Cunnigham. The players were that good. But a short and heavy-set Jewish kid?

 

When we passed the outdoor public courts every day after school, we were amused to watch David by himself taking shot after shot. He was determined to make the team. The coach, however, was not amused. He cut David on the first day of tryouts. His dream was crushed!

 

We didn’t see much of David for a few months. Then one day we spotted him across the street on Seaview Avenue on our way home from school. It was a cold, miserable December day, but David was wearing only the shorts and thin jersey of the Knicks, New York’s NBA team! We quickly crossed the street to meet him. David began to ramble:

 

“Ate ‘em up! Ate ‘em up![1] Scored twenty points.” He began to describe the previous night’s game and the players he went up against and “ate up” or thoroughly outplayed. He went on and on about his exploits, “Ate ‘em up! Ate ‘em up! Twenty points!” He actually thought he was on the Knicks. David had gone mad!

 

Years later when I joined ISKCON and began to lecture, I realized that what happened to David was perfectly analogous to how we fell into illusion in this world. I would explain it something like this:

 

“We are eternal servants of God by constitution. When we desire, however, to be separate and independent controllers, a position we can’t have by our own constitution, it can only be fulfilled in illusion. Therefore, God, who fulfills the desires of the living entities, covers us by maya, or His illusory energy. Then instead of thinking ourselves to be part of God and meant for His service, we become mired in the illusion that we are our bodies meant to independently enjoy and control. There is an important principle illustrated here. When one intensely wants something that exceeds reality, it can only be fulfilled in illusion.”

 

Lecturing like thus, I inevitably thought back to my teen years and related the sad story of David Seigel.

 

But are our own stories any better? We are tiny sparks of the Divine. Somehow, we intensely wanted to be God and we have worked intensely on that since time immemorial. We became increasingly immersed in the illusion that we are our temporary body and the designations it embraces. Today we also walk down the streets of New York, or any town in the world, posting our profile on Internet, posing ourselves as the enjoyer, and announcing our exploits to the world. What a joke!

 

And that is the sad story of David Seigel and sadly our story also!

 

 


[1] “Ate ‘em up” is a slang expression used in sports, contracted from “ate them up.” When I grew up it was used to indicate that you dominated or utterly defeated the competitors.

 

Monday Morning Greetings 2025 #37 – There is no Victim Consciousness in God Consciousness

September 8th, 2025

There is no Victim Consciousness in God Consciousness[1]

 

“Victim consciousness is a stage of consciousness in which people deny personal responsibility for the things that happen in their lives. People in victim consciousness believe that the world is acting upon or against them, and they are the innocent targets of other peoples’ action or behavior.”[2]

 

Elevated God consciousness is the opposite. Here are four examples:

 

Dharma the Bull

 

King Parīkṣit was informed that a bull had been badly beaten. He immediately rushed to the scene of the crime. Although the bull knew that he was beaten by the personality of Kali, the bull refused to identify him.  He knew that ultimately without the sanction of the Lord, no one could afflict trouble upon him. He then began to explain in detail the various misconceptions about the cause of suffering and how one could use them to abnegate personal responsibility and remain ignorant of the lessons God meant for one to learn.

 

Observing the bull’s reaction, and hearing his exposition full of knowledge and philosophy, the king recognized the bull as Dharma (the personality of religion): “You are speaking according to the principle that the destination intended for the perpetrator of irreligious acts is also intended for one who identifies the perpetrator.” In other words, although it is the duty of one to protect the vulnerable from exploitation, victim consciousness is not encouraged.

 

Vidura

 

The elderly Vidura was unfairly thrown out of the kingdom by Duryodhana, his cruel nephew, whom he had served selflessly his whole life. In addition, he was harshly insulted by him. He refused, however, to play the victim. Rather, he saw that God was delivering to him an important message: it was time to retire from the intrigues of family and political life and leave for pilgrimage. An elevated soul sees destiny as the language of God.

 

Bhīmadeva

 

Although Yudhiṣṭhira led a noble and sinless life, his suffering year after year was unbearable. Even worse, nobody could satisfy his inquiry as to why he had to suffer. In frustration he inquired from his grandfather, Bhīṣmadeva, who was lying on the battlefield waiting to die. Somehow, his grandfather was able to muster up the strength to reply. Destiny, he explained, is just God’s grace offering us the gift of spiritual realization for those who respond to their fate righteously and according to appropriate guidance.

 

Socrates

 

When Socrates was unfairly condemned to die by the Greek assembly for political reasons, his wish to confront his accusers was granted. Rather than feeling persecuted, he informed them, “If you think you will harm me, you will not harm me; you will only harm yourselves.” Socrates was expressing something quite deep. The self or soul is eternal and spiritual. It therefore can only be harmed by one’s own acts of selfishness. In other words, if he was executed, the Greek Senate, who would kill him in a mood of exploitation, would be the one disadvantaged and not himself, who would respond in dignity.

 

It’s unfortunate how far the world has veered from a culture of personal responsibility and self-correction based on God consciousness.  Certainly, all forms of oppression and exploitation should be shunned and appropriately rectified. There are powerful realizations one can glean from the perspective of the downtrodden. One should be wary, however, of adopting the consciousness of victimization and conceding the power to change one’s life to external actors. Contrast this to the teachings of the Bhagavatam which educates and fully empowers one to change oneself in any circumstance.

 

“We all suffer, but to be a victim is a choice.” — Unknown

 

 


[1] This is a substantially edited reprint of Monday Morning Greetings November 18, 2019.

[2] Barry and Janae Weinhold — https://web.archive.org/web/20220122105432/https://weinholds.org/victim-consciousness/

 

Monday Morning Greetings 2025 #36 – Dearer to Me than Even My Brother Balarama!

September 1st, 2025

Yes, Krishna says say that. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.14.15) Who is dearer than his eternal associates, and even His brother? He is talking about His helpless devotees in this world who are completely dependent on His mercy and surrender to Him!

 

That same concept came up in my recent studies of Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta.

 

When Lord Śiva is approached by Śrī Nārada and glorified by him as the topmost devotee, Śiva deflects his praise by glorifying the residents of Vaikuṇṭha, and for good reason. They have given up everything material as if it was useless straw and have renounced all egoistic self-conceptions. Śiva then tells him that there is a destination even better than going to Vaikuṇṭha. He can visit Dvārakā on Earth where the Lord is presently residing with such eternal associates. Śrī Nārada is so enthused that he begins to leave immediately, but surprisingly the Lord stops him. He calls him close to whisper something into his ear and recommends something else!

 

“There is a greater recipient of Krisha’s mercy than your father, me, and other servants like Garuḍa, and even than the goddess of fortune. His name is Prahlāda. He is famous throughout the world as the dearmost devotee of Krishna.” Bb 1.3.75

 

But better than Brahmā, Śiva, and even the goddess of fortune?

 

A commentary in the chapter offers an explanation.

 

“One reason why the Supreme Lord speaks like this is that although His eternal associates — Saṅkarṣaṇa, Mahā-lakṣmī, and so on — are ever established in unswerving devotion, they underwent no tribulations to gain it, whereas His ‘new’ devotees in the material world have sacrificed all comforts and security to gain pure devotional service. For the trouble such devotees have taken, Lord Krishna is especially grateful.” Bb 1.3.84, commentary.

 

It’s still hard to believe. How can those in this world coming to Krishna consciousness attract the Lord’s mercy more than His eternal associates who are ever established in unswerving devotion?

 

Śrīla Mādhavācārya explains:

 

“The only way to obtain the Lord’s mercy is through His causeless love, and the Lord is most lovingly inclined toward those devotees who are most dependent on Him, just as ordinary mothers and fathers worry more about their helpless children than about those who are self-sufficient.” SB 11.14.15, purport

 

Ultimately, such comparison, that one kind of devotee is better than another, doesn’t matter much. Such devotees are all on the highest level of devotion. What really matters is how much these descriptions encourage us to make the same sacrifice to attain pure devotion to the Lord.

 

It also provides us with a powerful meditation:

 

How grateful Śrī Krishna must be for the trouble Śrīla Prabhupāda endured to give Śrī Krishna to the world, and how much we should revere those who have followed him!

 

A beautiful concept to fill our thoughts and hearts:

 

Dearer to Me than even My brother Balarama!

 

 

Monday Morning Greetings 2025 #35 – Advaita Vedānta: A Philosophy That Is Just Illusion

August 25th, 2025

I got a message from an Indian friend who visits Vrindavan. He is a good devotee, and I was therefore surprised by his letter. He had gone to an Āyurvedic doctor who was also a learned Māyāvādī scholar, and the doctor had said something that affected him. “It has poisoned my heart and affected my chanting,” my friend said. “What should I do?”

 

“What was the reason it affected you?” I asked. “Did hearing it hurt your heart because it negated the personality of God, or has the hearing created doubts in you about God being a person?”

 

“He started to explain something about the Lord’s departure in the Rāmāyaa and Bhāgavatam, how they died, but that Brahman was supreme,” my friend said. “He was very erudite, and suddenly I started to question if what I am doing is wrong.

 

“It seems to me now that my whole spiritual life is at stake. Yes, when I was a new bhakta in the ashram, I had that super-sensuous experience, sphūrti, but how did that prove that God is a person?

 

“I am embarrassed to write this, but I want to be honest. I don’t know why I was so affected.”

 

“Advaita Vedānta is not reasonable,” I wrote. “Their philosophy says that all distinction is illusion. But illusion must have a subject, someone in illusion. They can’t say the living entities are the basis of illusion, for according to their philosophy the living entities themselves are just an illusion. And illusion can’t be the basis of illusion.

 

“Their only recourse is to say that Brahman is the basis, or subject, of illusion. But if Brahman is the subject of illusion, then it is neither Brahman, the greatest, nor nondual. Such a philosophy has no solid foundation.”

 

“Do you read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books?” I asked. “Here is a link to a post that I wrote that might help you—‘Is God a Person?’

 

https://wavesofdevotion.com/2016/06/27/is-god-a-person/

 

His response:

 

“Deep, deep gratitude! No, I don’t read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books regularly, but I think now I should. And also hear his lectures. Thank you! Thank you!”

 

My conclusion:

 

Advaita Vedānta: a philosophy that is just Illusion.

 

 

Monday Morning Greetings 2025 #34 – Radha-Bhāva and Prabhupāda

August 18th, 2025

Radha-Bhāva and Prabhupāda[1]

 

This is not about Śrīla Prabhupāda’s eternal relationship with Krishna. I will leave that for other discussions. What I want to share with you is a realization I had recently in my reading of the last chapter of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta by Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja called The Śikṣāṣṭaka Prayers, a realization that highlights how Śrīla Prabhupāda gave us the most practical path in understanding our own relationship with Krishna.[2]

 

In that regard, I found particularly relevant the discussion of the last verse of the Śikṣāṣṭakam that describes the mood of Śrī Radha at that height of Her devotion:

 

“I know no one but Krishna as my Lord, and He shall remain so even if He handles me roughly by His embrace or makes me brokenhearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, for He is always my worshipful Lord unconditionally.” (v. 8)

 

Before I continue with my thesis, it is important to understand the context in which this verse is recited. According to Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja, this verse is a paraphrase by Śrī Caitanya of what Śrī Radha told Her friends after they advised Her to disregard Krishna. He had apparently spurned her. In other words, She loved Krishna so much that just the suggestion to ignore Krishna, even when seemingly justified, ignited the depths of Her unconditional love.[3] In Śrī Caitanya’s ensuing explanation of this verse to His most confidential associates Svarūpa Dāmodara and Rāmānanda Rāya, He further elaborates on how this concluding verse expresses the nature of Śrī Radha’s love at its height.

 

“I do not mind my personal distress. I only wish for the happiness of Krishna, for His happiness is the goal of my life. However, if He feels great happiness in giving me distress, that distress is the best of my happiness.”[4] (Cc. Antya-līlā 20.52)

 

Now back to my original inspiration. After reading the eighth verse of the Śikṣāṣṭakam and its explanation by Śrī Caitanya Himself, it struck me how this final verse not only expresses the mood of Śrī Radha at the height of her devotion but accentuates the basic foundation of bhakti in a manner very reminiscent of the way Śrīla Prabhupāda and his own spiritual master, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta, preached. This will be clearer when one recalls the history of their mission.

 

Without retreading a long and complex history, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta appeared at a time when the teachings of Śrī Caitanya had become very much degraded. The people who claimed to continue Śrī Caitanya’s lineage were mostly guided to higher and esoteric meditations in Krishna consciousness without the prerequisite foundational practices and rules of proper behavior. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta’s concern about this and how he called out those called prākṛta-sahajiyās who cheaply concentrated their meditation on Krishna’s intimate pastimes without the recommended step-by-step process to first purify their hearts.

 

“Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura says that a devotee does not care about his own happiness and distress; he is simply interested in seeing that Krishna is happy, and for that purpose he engages in various activities […] Those who are materialistic, […] like the prākṛta-sahajiyās, regard their own happiness as the aim of life. Some of them aspire to enjoy themselves by sharing the happiness of Krishna. This is the mentality of fruitive workers who want to enjoy sense gratification by making a show of service to Krishna.” (Cc. Antya-līlā 20.52, purport)

 

Seeing this tendency, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta, and Śrīla Prabhupāda after him, stressed unconditional surrender to the spiritual master and stringently warned of entering realms of esoteric bhakti prematurely. As a result they were often criticized for not giving what Śrī Caitanya came to give, rāgānugā-bhakti, a practice based very much on meditating on Krishna’s pastimes and visualizing one’s own spiritual identity within them.

 

The last verse of the Śikṣāṣṭakam, however, implies clearly that what Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta and Śrīla Prabhupāda stressed was not just for beginners, but also the essence of the highest attainment in Krishna consciousness, a practice that to achieve its fruition only needs to be ripened by the pure chanting of the name.

 

So that’s my realization today while reading the Caitanya-caritamrita – that if you want to awaken your eternal relationship with Krishna then faithfully follow the teachings of Śrīla Prabhupāda by unconditionally surrendering to Śrī Śrī Guru and Krishna in service of Śrī Caitanya’s saṅkīrtana mission. Certainly one who sincerely does this is embracing the essence of radha-bhāva as expressed in that ultimate verse:

 

“I know no one but Krishna as my Lord, and He shall remain so even if He handles me roughly by His embrace or makes me brokenhearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, for He is always my worshipful Lord unconditionally.”

 


[1] In honor of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Vyāsa-pūjā yesterday, a reprint from December 18, 2017.

[2] It is worthy to note here that the Śikṣāṣṭakam prayers are particularly significant because they are the only verses, eight in number, that Śrī Caitanya composed.

[3] Also significant is that this verse is the last verse of the Śikṣāṣṭakam and represents the fulfillment of the internal reason for Śrī Caitanya’s appearance, to experience the love of His topmost devotee at the height of Her love.

[4] Śrī Caitanya’s explanation of the Śikṣāṣṭakam comprises thirteen verses. I have chosen only one for the sake of the clarity and force of my post. That one captures the mood of them all.

 

Monday Morning Greetings 2025 #33 – Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta and the Necessity of Rasa Geography

August 11th, 2025

In my daily studies of Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta a question arose.

 

First, some background on the section I was reading:

 

Mahārāja Parīkṣit had just summarized the Bhāgavatam for Uttarā devī, his mother, which fulfilled the specific request she made of her son. He did it through an intriguing story in which Śrī Nārada searches for the topmost recipient of Krishna’s mercy. In order of their level of devotion, he visits the main exemplars of bhakti. His journey ends in Dvārakā where Śrī Krishna emphatically declares that the gopīs of Vrindavan are the topmost recipients of Śrī Krishna’s mercy. This journey, which is the crux of the first book of Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta, parallels the Bhāgavatam in both its thematic development and conclusion. It thus expertly fulfills the mission Śrī Caitanya gave Śrī Sanātana for writing the book — to give the world the highest devotion exemplified by the residents of Vrindavan, as described in the Bhāgavatam.

 

I was surprised, therefore, that the book didn’t end there. Rather, Uttarā devī continued. She wanted to know about the place where the recipients of the highest devotion reside.

 

And that raised the question that intrigued me today.

 

If Śrī Caitanya’s mission has been so perfectly delineated through Śrī Nārada’s journey, what was the necessity of presenting a second part of the text with a completely new story in answer to Uttarā’s question, which is almost twice as long as part one?

 

This is what makes sense to me:

 

Sanātana Gosvāmī had a difficult mission which is described at the beginning of the Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta as giving the parama-daśāntaṁ — “the last extreme of transcendental experience.”[1] And who was he to give it to? To all those who somehow have sincerely come to the path of bhakti and who need to develop the appropriate frame of reference so they can understand such an exalted subject. And that means almost every one of us!

 

Śrī Krishna’s dancing with the gopīs? The last extreme of transcendental experience? Who could honestly hear those subjects without projecting on them something mundane or fantastical?

 

Therefore, although Sanātana Gosvāmī had presented the parama-daśāntaṁ in such a comprehensive and intriguing way, he still wasn’t convinced that we could hear that truth without filtering it through our prejudicial material lens. In other words, due to the nature of the subject matter, he wanted to make sure we didn’t misunderstand it as something mundane. He thus presented the same subject again from a different angle to emphasize his point.

 

Instead of just pointing to the supremacy of vraja-bhakti via a journey through different levels of devotees leading to Braja, he points to the preeminence of vraja-bhakti by describing a journey through progressive levels of spiritual places leading to Braja.

 

But how is knowing the place providing the same inspiration as knowing the people residing there?

 

A room is designed to facilitate the relationship one wants to enjoy there. For example, a living room aids intimacy and family life, and an office engenders authority and respect. In other words, there is an intrinsic relationship between how a room is set up and the relationships it fosters there. Knowing the place thus helps one understand the mood of the people who use it. This is especially true in the spiritual realm where the Lord’s abodes perfectly reflect the moods He shares there with His devotees.

 

And this answers our initial inquiry: why was there a necessity of presenting the story of Gopa-kumāra in the second book if the first book of Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta has so expertly fulfilled the objective of Sanātana Gosvāmī?

 

Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī wanted to ensure his reader properly understands the parama-daśāntaṁ — “the last extreme of transcendental experience.” He thus takes the reader on a second journey with Gopa-kumāra through a gradation of spiritual abodes just to further fortify a clear understanding of the primacy of Śrī Vrindavan and the spontaneous mood of devotion found there.

 

A question arose today. I tried my best to answer it. What do you think? [2]

 

 


[1] parama-daśāntaṁ — “the last extreme of transcendental experience” is the Sanskrit and its word for word translation of the term found in BBT’s Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta 1.1.1.

[2] There is another explanation of why the second book of Brhad Bhāgavatamrta is a perfect complement for the first book. The first book explains what the highest destination is (the siddhānta or philosophical conclusion), and the second book, through the journey of Gopa-kumāra and his chanting of the gopāla-manta, describes the method used to get there (the sadhana or spiritual practice).

Monday Morning Greetings 2025 #32 – Swan Lake, the Ugly Duckling, and Krishna Consciousness

August 4th, 2025

It was the first ballet I ever attended.

 

I had no choice, actually. My gracious hosts in St. Petersburg thought I would love it. They had set a full schedule before I came, but somehow I didn’t notice they arranged an evening at the ballet. The tickets were not cheap and were non-refundable.

 

In other words, they gave me an offer I could not refuse.

 

We had the best seats in the house. We sat in the front row, the middle seats right over the orchestra pit, the conductor’s head bobbing and his hands flailing a few feet away.

 

I had no idea what was going on. How would I? My idea of culture growing up? Bruno Sammartino and Gorilla Monsoon![1]

 

I thought I would be bored out of my mind.

 

I was wrong. It started out slow, but by the time it all ended, during the four curtain calls, we also stood up applauding. I was surprised at my reaction. We really enjoyed it.

 

What happened? What did I get out of it?

 

I have studied the ṭaka śastra, where drama theory is outlined. It’s the elaborate science of re-creating an overwhelming emotion found in the world so that a qualified audience experiences the same emotion, but in a cathartic or “spiritually” uplifting way.

 

Here at the Mariinsky Theater you have arguably the best ballet dancers in the world, a great orchestra, and probably one of the best conductors in the world. The audience seemed also quite qualified. They were therefore unified in relishing the ballet as if they were of a single mind. That’s a condition in rasa theory for the emotion portrayed to be relished at its height. Jagadish, who accompanied me, also hadn’t seen a ballet before, but we were able to appreciate the performance just enough as to not disturb the unified mind of the audience!

 

Bottom line, the performance was rasika. The ensemble and the person who directed it definitely knew the science of recreating an uplifting emotion through music and dance. I was swept away in the moment. At least, I enjoyed seeing in action what I studied in the ṭaka śastra.

 

Also, I realized what I saw could be used as a tool to remember Śrī Krishna. Śrī Krishna is naṭa-vara, the most excellent dancer. How would I even conceive what that meant, if I didn’t see the best dancing that could be found in this world?

 

Excellence reminds one of God. I remember when I was preparing a seminar on apologetics, the rational defense of the existence of God, finding a supporting quote by the famous American conductor, Leonard Bernstein. He said that in classical composition every note is so right that it points to a divine order. I can’t find that quote now, but I found another quote by him where he describes the same idea:

 

“In the beginning was the Note, and the Note was with God; and whosoever can reach for that Note, reach high, and bring it back to us on earth, to our earthly ears—he is a composer, and to the extent of his reach, partakes of the divine.”

 

As I left the theater, I thought of the verse in Gītā where Śrī Krishna says He is the ability in all men. As these performers were the best at what they are doing, it was therefore not difficult to see their reach to God bringing a divine “note” back to earth for us to experience.

 

Would I go again? I want to. Should I? Maybe just to an opera where there are not so many beautiful, skimpy dressed ladies dancing. That is certainly a better place for a monk, but is that OK? If this sannyāsi (monk) goes to the opera next year perhaps you may even read the following Monday post:

 

The Barber of Seville and Sannyāsa Oparadha![2]

 

 


[1] I don’t have access here to get something from YouTube, but when very young, our culture was watching the Worldwide Wrestling Federation. These two names stand out in my memory.

 

[2] Oparadha is a play on the Sanskrit word aparādha (offense) and opera suggested by Jayanta, my editor.

Monday Morning Greetings 2025 #31 – Rubies, Diamonds, Rings, and Pearls

July 28th, 2025

“Rubies, diamonds, rings, and pearls

Just to attract fools to the spiritual world

Dashing, handsome, and carefree

Bhavānanda Goswami”

 

Those days were wild!

 

Śrīla Prabhupāda had just left this world. Devotees, barely thirty years old, practically none with even ten years in the Hare Krishna Movement, had taken up the service of succeeding him. They were lavished with worship and opulence by their followers. I personally believe most were very sincere, but how was it possible for such young people, relatively inexperienced in Krishna consciousness, to digest the opulence and adoration that was bestowed upon them? It wasn’t. Except for very rare exceptions, they failed.

 

It was 1978, at Śrīla Prabhupda’s first disappearance festival. Haṁsadūta Swami, one of those devotees, made his homage to Śrīla Prabhupāda. He came with his guitar and strummed a folk song glorifying the new “ācāryas’’ with a stanza he composed for each. It seemed out of place, but I guess he saw it as a kind of offering to Śrīla Prabhupāda to tout the attainment of his followers. The above stanza dedicated to Bhavānanda particularly stuck in my mind. As a leader at the time, I found him very personal and empowering. He was, however, awash with cash from his new followers. His strategy to spread Krishna consciousness seemed to have as much to do with his attachments as his mood of service. He would attract people to the path of bhakti by making Krishna consciousness as luxurious as possible, including his own lifestyle. Unfortunately, like most in his situation, the opulence and worship eventually dragged him down from his position.

 

At around the same time, we especially became concerned with another one of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s “successors” who was buying huge castles in Europe. In the one castle I visited, his vyāsāsana, the guru’s traditional seat of authority, was over five feet high!

 

A group of us went to Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja to express our concern:

 

“If he is attached to sitting on a big seat, will he fall?”

 

I loved his answer.

 

“He is already fallen!”

 

And soon he did.

 

Personal opulence therefore is usually seen as an obstacle in Krishna consciousness. It is often described as a fever, the outward symptom of an inner disease.

 

“The material covering of the pure spirit soul is an external feature, as much as fever is an external feature of the unhealthy body. The general process is to decrease the degree of the fever and not to aggravate it by maltreatment.” Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.26 purport

 

Conversely, material impoverishment is lauded on the path of bhakti.

 

“Sometimes it is seen that spiritually advanced persons become materially impoverished. This is no discouragement. On the other hand, such impoverishment is a good sign as much as the falling of temperature is a good sign.” Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.26 purport, continued

 

But does material opulence have to be a sign, or an external feature, of an unhealthy consciousness?

 

No. In fact, it could also be a sign of the opposite.

 

I am studying Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta every day with a friend. We noticed that as Gopa-kumāra ascends to higher and higher planets, not only does the spiritual attainment of its residents substantially increase, but so does their standard of material happiness and opulence. We reconciled the two ideas as follows:

 

Bhakti means to offer the best to Śrī Krishna. Therefore, while Śrī Krishna is often reluctant to lavish his devotees with opulence, he also may benedict them with opulence if they can offer it to Krishna in a mood of pure devotion. Śrīmatī Radhika is the perfect example of this. She is mahābhāva-svarūpā, the form (svarūpā) of the highest devotion (mahābhāva). Everything about her svarūpā therefore, from her beauty to her talents, is the best or most excellent as a pure offering of the highest devotion for the pleasure of Śrī Krishna.”

 

I recently heard that my Godbrother Ambarish dasa is in critical condition. We should all offer our prayers for him. He is a scion of the Ford family, the great grandson of Henry Ford. I am mentioning him here because he is a good example of Śrī Krishna trusting his devotee with His opulence. A substantial part of his wealth has therefore been used to serve Krishna in various ways. Years ago, he purchased the Fisher Mansion for ISKCON Detroit. Presently he serves as the chairman and financial backbone of the TOVP (the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium). Rather than becoming proud, however, he has always remained very humble.

 

Let me finish this post with a memory from one of my early visits to an ISKCON temple, an example that neatly illustrates this fine line between becoming distracted by and appropriately using opulence in the service of Śrī Krishna.

 

During lunch in 1971 at the Brooklyn ISKCON temple, I heard a class over the loudspeaker in which the teacher quoted Śrīla Prabhupāda:

 

“We can take over the world in eighteen days if all my devotees became Krishna conscious.”

 

I thought to myself, “If Krishna ever gave us that level of power, if He gave us the world, the fever of material life would certainly overcome us.” But as Śrīla Prabhupāda indicated, it doesn’t have to be that way. Perhaps we can mature and then sing a different tune:

 

Rubies, diamonds, rings, and pearls.

Just to serve Krishna in the material world!

 

 

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