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Archive for the 'Monday Morning Greetings' Category

Monday Morning Greetings 2024 #33 – Peterhof and Donald Trump / The Danger of Luxury

August 12th, 2024

Peterhof and Donald Trump Today I will share two thoughts from my recent visit to Moscow:

 

Peterhof and Donald Trump

 

Peterhof is a series of stunning palaces and gardens located in St. Petersburg envisioned, commissioned and supervised by Peter the Great. Perhaps the greatest technological achievement of Peterhof, and one that especially impressed me while visiting, was the sixty-four exquisite and awe-inspiring fountains. What struck me about them is that they are driven entirely without the use of pumps, but just from the pressure collected in reservoirs from natural springs in the upper part of the property. It’s really something to see. Now what does this have to do with Donald Trump?

 

I am not much of a tourist. But my hosts were enthusiastic to show me the city, so I took the opportunity to broaden my perspective by some sight-seeing. I thought that might be something that could inspire my writing. Besides appreciating the splendor of Peterhof, I naturally looked at things through the eyes of the Bhāgavatam. In this case, I particularly recalled the monarchal rule in the Bhāgavatam where the king had the pedigree, training and power to be the proper leader. I didn’t know much about Peter the Great. But I saw the expertise and beauty of St. Petersburg, most of which was accomplished in his lifetime in what was previously mostly a swampy area. I assumed that here was someone who did the work and had the qualities to rule, although now there is some controversy about how noble he was. Anyway, walking through Peterhof and seeing its grandeur, and attributing that to a noble leader, I thought of Donald Trump in comparison, and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris also, and all the other clowns posing as world leaders today in contrast with the noble kings of the past, at least as they are found in the Bhāgavatam. The Bhāgavatam (SB 2.3.19) says in very strong language that we shouldn’t be surprised that democracy can often produce the kind of leaders we see today:

 

“Men who are like dogs, hogs, camels and asses praise those men who never listen to the transcendental pastimes of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the deliverer from evils.”

 

Sure, monarchy can produce tyranny, and democracy can provide guardrails against that, but something about the brilliance of this place, inspired by a king, made me hanker for rāma-rājya!, leadership that is competent with impeccable moral qualities.

 

 

The Danger of Luxury

 

I returned today from Russia. The trip was wonderful. Jagadish and I were treated as royalty. A few days ago, we went to St. Petersburg, a city of unparalleled beauty. Our sponsor sent us first class train tickets for the four-hour bullet train. You can’t imagine its luxury. She also owns an apartment exclusively for distinguished guests, and that is where we stayed. I think that facility was better than a five-star hotel. Evidently, our host owns a company and is very generous, but her focus seems to be devotion, which naturally means she thinks of others before herself. Although she seems to have the means for comfort, she even traversed the quite austere Vraja-maṇḍala parikramā fourteen times. Anyway, we certainly enjoyed our stay and in some ways the facility made it easy for us to put our energy into our service there. I also started to observe that if one is not careful, one can be conditioned and attached to a higher standard of material facility. It made me consider if this standard of living, so far beyond my means, could grow on me with a creeping sense attachment, and I began to reflect to what extent luxury in general was really happiness. My thoughts:

 

The key to happiness is internal satisfaction, not what you have, as long as your needs are met.

 

I wondered how much I will be conditioned by this standard and what would happen if I don’t get it next time I am traveling. I usually travel in coach or economy; will I experience a discontentment that I never had before? In other words, does being conditioned to a standard way above one’s needs counterintuitively create in the long run less contentment and happiness?

 

The pleasure which comes from the satisfaction of a material desire can be very vibrant, but it is very limited because it is so short in duration.

 

Even if I could afford that standard again, the satisfaction of one desire immediately impels another desire, so that type of happiness also ends in some form of dissatisfaction anyway.

 

Next year, I have already been promised the same facilities and pray I use them in the proper mood. I see deep down, however, that I can’t wait until I get to ride that luxury coach again. It was so much fun. Will I accept it with some sense of detachment, or have I been spoiled? Such is the nature of luxury beyond needs. If one is not thoughtful it can certainly lead to more discontentment and thus unhappiness. Don’t forget, the rich and famous are often the most miserable. Hare Krishna!

 

 

Monday Morning Greetings 2024 #32 – Radical Humility

August 5th, 2024

Bhakti is the path of radical humility:

 

“One who thinks himself lower than grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, and who does not expect personal honor but is always prepared to give respect to others, can very easily always chant the holy name of the Lord.” Śikṣāṣṭakam 3

 

Although bhakti in many senses is easy in the sense that it is available for anyone without any material prerequisite, its application is still difficult because of its spiritual demands, specifically in the matters of humility and tolerance, as expressed in a Bengali saying about the path of Śrī Caitanya:

 

“I was attracted to the mission of Śrī Caitanya. It looked so inviting, but then I read the third verse of the Śikṣāṣṭakam.”[1]

 

But does humility on the path of bhakti have to be so extreme? It depends on what frame of reference you have when you make that consideration. From the standpoint of this world where each soul is embodied due to false ego and naturally strives for superiority and control, such levels of tolerance and humility as described by Śrī Caitanya certainly seem extraordinary.  If however we gauge such humility from the platform of the soul, which attains its fullness in unalloyed service to God, then such deep humility is just the natural condition of the soul. This becomes evident when we look at humility from the perspective of the two natural opulence’s of the soul—pure knowledge (awareness) and pure love (devotion).

 

Pure Awareness—when one attains transcendental knowledge, one is free of ignorance and can clearly perceive the truth. Such awareness of reality is called advayam-jñāna, non-dual consciousness. Advayam-jñāna means that one sees nothing as outside of God, the Supreme consciousness, and that one is simply an infinitesimal spark within God meant for His service. This is a vision which is certainly awe-inspiring and devotional. I remember thirty years ago traveling in the Himalayas. Before that I always somehow had the image of the Himalayas as being just a tall vertical mountain. I was so stunned to see the scope of not just a tall mountain, but of many vast, tall mountain ranges, that I stopped the bus party I was leading just to go outside to gaze and be humbled by the vastness of the Himalayan mountains. I remember being overcome with the sweet feeling of insignificance and reverence, which I coined as “happy small”, the definition I use now to explain humility. So just imagine the pure awareness of realizing God’s immanence, which is infinitely grander. Would not that state of pure awareness, the natural condition of the soul, invoke in one extreme humility and devotion?

 

Pure devotion: Love means that the happiness of the object of one’s love becomes one’s own happiness. In a sense, in true love we surrender our agency to the wishes of another. The greater the love, the more we become controlled by the object of our love. It’s the humblest position where our lives are ruled fully in love by the needs and pleasure of another. I suppose, especially, most mothers have realized this. But the highest form of love is universal love, where we love God and thus in a sense everything. The utter humility of this position is nicely described in a video conversation with ŚrīlaB. R. Sridhara Maharaja, where he describes the moment of enlightenment when out of intense devotion one’s consciousness is imbued with what he defines as transcendental knowledge (divya-jñāna). He describes a radical shift of consciousness, from seeing oneself as the subject having everything as the object of one’s will, to viewing oneself as the object of God’s will who is the real subject. He then dramatically describes how the soul is “captured,” in that it moves exclusively out of pure love. In other words, in pure devotion one’s false authority is completely relinquished by means of full surrender to the lotus feet of the Lord, which is the position of utter humility.

 

Thinking in this way, perhaps such humility is not so radical. After all, Śrī Caitanya, the most munificent avatar, is calling everyone to embrace it:

 

Raising my hands, I declare, “’Everyone please hear me! String this verse [Śikṣāṣṭakam 3] on the thread of the holy name and wear it on your neck for continuous remembrance.” (Caitanya-caritāmṛta Ādi-līlā 17.32)

 

 


[1] Sometimes I remember a quote but can’t locate it and have to paraphrase it. If any readers find the exact quote please send it to me.

 

Monday Morning Greetings 2024 #31 – The Single Most Important Question Asked in Two Different Ways

July 29th, 2024

Jayadvaita Swami would confidently throw down the gauntlet to his audience: “What could be more important than self-realization?!” The question-and-answer booth at the New York Ratha-yātrā was surrounded by intelligent and inquisitive New Yorkers. Some took up his dare, yet no one could meet his challenge.

 

When I watched those exchanges, I immediately thought about the time Śrīla Prabhupāda highlighted the importance of self-realization, but in a different way. Śrīla Prabhupāda was asked to explain the difference between a human being and an animal. I loved his reply: “A human being can ask the question ‘why am I suffering?’” Śrīla Prabhupāda was raising the same challenge that is found in Jayadvaita’s inquiry, but we need to dig deeper to understand how.

 

The question “why am I suffering” implies another important question: “what did I do wrong?” Suffering or pain is not necessarily a bad thing if we look at the issue philosophically. For example, if you did not suffer when accidentally resting your hand on a hot stove, you might not lift it off the stove and therefore could be seriously injured or even die. Suffering or pain, similarly, inspires one to seek the cause of one’s suffering and fully eradicate our problem at its root. But an intelligent person does not stop with the question “what did I do wrong?” There are deeper levels to the inquiry.

 

As soon as we ask, “what did I do wrong?” another question naturally arises: “what should I be doing?” But one more question must be asked.

 

The question “what should I be doing?” naturally inspires an intelligent person to inquire about his nature: “What I am made of and what am I made for?” For unless you realize the answer to that inquiry, how you can know what to do? For example, Ayurveda describes disease as a “crime against nature.” When there is suffering in the body, to answer the question of what went wrong and what should be done about it, we need to discover the natural condition that we violated, which is the ultimate cause of our woes.

 

And this gets us back to our initial inquiry and why no one could meet Jayadvaita Swami’s challenge: “What could be more important than self-realization?” Unless one realizes one’s true nature, which is called self-realization, how can one be fully in alignment with one’s being and avoid the suffering which is simply an indication that something is wrong? And this discussion also gets us back to Śrīla Prabhupāda’s insight about the difference between a human being and animal. The inquiry into suffering, which is the specialty of a human, also leads an intelligent person, as we have progressively shown, to the most important pursuit in alleviating suffering—self-realization. So, the challenge still stands: “what can be more important than self-realization?”

 

athāto brahma jijñāsā

“Human life is meant for inquiry into the Absolute Truth.” (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.1)

 

 

Monday Morning Greetings 2024 #30 – I Recommend this Book

July 22nd, 2024

As part of our Metro Mantra Sanga,[1] we hosted Hari-kirtana das for a weekend of programs to hear about his new book, Journey Into the Bhagavad Gita.[2] The programs were in an interview format. In both programs I questioned him extensively about his work. As a student of Gita and speaker and writer about its philosophy for many years myself, I was impressed with what he has accomplished—an accessible guide and rendition of the Gita imbued with his conviction of the power of its message.

 

I first questioned Hari-kirtana about the necessity for his Gita commentary, especially when Srila Prabhupada was already so successful in widely communicating the message of the book. He marveled at how successful Srila Prabhupada’s Gita was in attracting so many people, including himself, to fully commit to the Gita’s teachings and assist him in his mission. Yet Hari-kirtana was convinced by his years of experience as a wisdom teacher in the yoga world that many people in his western and contemporary audience needed a longer road to the Gita as an introduction to bhakti.

 

In the introduction to his book, Hari-kirtana clearly outlines the people he is targeting: the spiritual but not religious; those unfulfilled, wounded or abandoned by religion; those who are interested in principles of leadership and personal growth; and those who want to learn about yoga philosophy. He then describes for each what the Gita uniquely offers to those people if they can be convinced to enter the text. For example, he describes that for those disappointed with religion, “the Gita offers comprehensive answers to reasonable questions, deific opinions rather than commandments, and the voice of a patient and compassionate God who welcomes everyone.”

 

Hari-kirtana’s objective is to get these people to look at the world through the lens of the Gita with the confidence that they will get a profound clarity about what the world is and how to live in it. His challenge, as he sees it, is that the Gita’s philosophical worldview is so radically different from that of his contemporary western audience. He thus carefully educates his audience in the various philosophical concepts required to understand and appreciate the Gita’s worldview. Also, he helps a western contemporary audience to decipher the numerous references to people, relationships and events specific to Vedic culture that appear in the Gita.

 

As a writer, I appreciate a book that is focused, which means every chapter is relevant to a book’s theme, every paragraph is relevant to the chapter’s specific development of that theme, and every sentence is relevant to the paragraph’s development of the chapter. The book is exceptionally focused! Hari-kirtana credits the brilliant contribution of his wife, Elizabeth. She is a successful professional documentary film maker, expert at visual storytelling, and she gave constant critical input along his three-year journey to complete the text.

 

Let me finish by stating what I have gleaned as the book’s theme and briefly describe how the book is organized to develop it.

 

The purpose of this book is the give a western contemporary audience the tools to overcome the philosophical and cultural obstacles that challenge them to look, at least theoretically, at the world through the lens of the Gita so they may be able to experience its profound and convincing vision of reality.

 

Part One gives the reader the tools to become familiar with the Gita’s conceptual framework and guidance on how to follow and develop a deep sense of connection with the text.

 

Part Two offers a chaste rendition of the whole Gita within the limited frame of reference of his audience, who have been armed with the tools he has given them in Part One. I believe it is the first presentation of the Gita with only the Sanskrit transliteration and English verses side by side without any break in between to enable his audience to more readably get the flavor and flow of each chapter. To facilitate this experience, there is a prelude to each chapter that puts it in the context of the overall current. Each prelude gives an overview of the specific topics covered in the chapter and even highlights for the reader specific significant passages to look out for.

 

In Part Three Hari-kirtana provides autobiographical stories to help the reader see how by seeing through the lens of the Gita, as he did, one can much better understand and practically navigate life in the modern world. He finishes by offering exploratory tools and practical suggestions for incorporating the Gita’s teachings into one’s life.

 

Metro Mantra Sangha felt honored to host Hari-kirtana and discuss his contribution to our Vaisnava lineage. The audience was enthralled by his presentation and lauded his mission in the service of Srila Prabhupada to help the western contemporary audience find a new perspective: “Instead of looking at the Gita through the lens that the world offers us, look at the world through the lens that the Bhagavad Gita offers us.”

 

 


[1] https://wavesofdevotion.com/2024/06/17/metro-mantra-sanga/

 

[2] Hari-kirtana das’s book, Journey Into the Bhagavad Gita, is available here. For more about Hari-kirtana das, you can visit his website.

 

Monday Morning Greetings 2024 #29 – Betrayed!

July 15th, 2024

Betrayed! [1]

Last week I wrote about expediency, but it was beyond the scope of the entry to illustrate the concept with an example. A discussion of how one responds to betrayal would be an excellent way to broach the subject of how dharma can be brushed aside to serve one’s immediate personal feelings. There seems to be no deeper hurt and stronger impetus to strike back with vengeance than when one’s trust is violated. How to deal with being betrayed? I think the story of Vidura illustrates that best.

 

Vidura was renowned for his good counsel. When King Dhrtārastra, his elder brother, calls upon him, Vidura strongly advises him to instruct his son Duryodhana to return the legitimate share of the kingdom, which he had illegally usurped, to his cousin Yudhiṣṭhira. He outlines in detail the ruin it would bring upon the king if this was not done. Duryodhana overhears the conversation and immediately threatens his uncle:

 

“Who asked him to come here, the son of a kept mistress? He is so crooked that he spies in the interest of the enemy against those on whose support he has grown up. Toss him out of the palace immediately and leave him with only his breath.” (Bhāgavatam 3.1.15)

 

How painful! Not only was he thrown out of the palace in his twilight years without any possessions, by a kingdom that he served so humbly and selflessly his whole life, but he was also deeply insulted. What was especially painful was that the accusations against him were partially true. Although Vidura shared the same father with Dhrtārastra, his mother was not the queen, but a maidservant. Vidura thus dropped his bow at the door and immediately left “being pierced by arrows through the ears and afflicted to the core of his heart” (Bhāgavatam 3.1.16). Yes indeed he was hurt, but how he dealt with his betrayal was exemplary.

 

The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describes his attitude: “He was not sorry, for he considered the acts of the external energy to be supreme.” (Bhāgavatam 3.1.16) In other words, although Duryodhana betrayed him, he understood that nothing moves without the sanction of God. He thus saw the same energy that was moving Duryodhana to offense and destruction was giving him a greater opportunity to fully engage in devotional service.

 

The lesson from Vidura is clear. When betrayed, don’t only look at māyā as God’s energy which is entangling the person who is hurting you. See it also as His illuminating energy moving the world for your enlightenment. If you focus on māyā externally in terms of its illusory effect on your perpetrator, your bitterness and victimhood will only increase. If you see, however, that the same māyā is acting internally in terms of helping you to grow, your bitterness will reduce and your consciousness will elevate. In his purport to this verse, Śrīla Prabhupāda describes how Vidura was able to properly observe the workings of God’s energy: “Māyā, the supreme energy of the Lord acted both internally and externally”.[2]

 

I was also reminded of Socrates in the matter of viewing betrayal in this way. After serving his country by virtue of his wisdom and example, the government turns on him. He is falsely accused and condemned to die. His only request is to address his judge and jury, the senate of Greece. He looks at them intently and delivers his message: “If you think you can harm me, you will not harm me, you will only harm yourself.” He thus sees his apparent betrayal in the same way as Vidura, that the worst harm to oneself is not what others do to you, but the actions one takes that distance oneself from one’s spiritual nature as a servant of God. So if you harm another with vengeance to satisfy your feeling of being wronged, it is actually the cause of your own ruin, but if you see the situation as God’s will, then it’s a blessing which brings you closer to Krishna.

 

“Every betrayal contains a perfect moment, a coin stamped heads and tails with salvation on the other side.” — Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible

 


[1] This week is a new edit of a Monday Morning Greeting originally published June 24, 2019.

[2] There are also specific philosophical terms for this phenomenon. When māyā works to further one’s devotion it is called yogamāyā, the internal potency, and when it moves to further one’s material entanglement it is called mahamāyā, the external potency.

 

Monday Morning Greetings 2024 #28 – Solving the Humility and Self-Esteem Quandary

July 8th, 2024

Those who have been following my Monday Morning Greetings know I have several times approached the issue of reconciling the apparent contradiction that although acts of humility appear to demonstrate a lack of self-esteem, a humble person is actually psychologically healthy. I have written several articles on this point and will share today a new insight on the subject beginning first with the definition of humility that I feel best resolves our quandary.

Humility is seeing God everywhere. Imagine how insignificant one feels as one fully realizes that one is just an infinitesimal particle of God’s infinite magnificence.

The Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta helps us further understand such humility in the description of how a very influential and respected leader of the brāhmaṇas at Kumbha-melā responds to the great saint Śrī Narada who has just declared him the topmost recipient of Krishna’s mercy:

“Who am I but a most wretched person? How much charity am I able to give? What opulence do I have? And how have I ever reciprocated with the Lord in devotional service?” Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta, Part 1, 1.44

Śrī Gopiparanadhana in his commentary on this verse explains the psychology of a very powerful and respected person who sees the reality of God’s majesty, and how that person can think in the most modest of ways:

“Any true devotee of Kṛṣṇa considers himself insignificant, thinking himself one of countless jīvas who are mere sparks of God’s splendor. The devotee is sorry for having foolishly rebelled against his creator. And reflecting on this rebellion, he thinks that his relative influence among other fallen jīvas means little.”

Now that we have hopefully shown how this vision of God invokes humility, let’s try to demonstrate how it also helps reconcile how a humble person maintains self-esteem despite a sense of relative insignificance. I have written about this in some personal notes:

We feel insignificant but not worthless because God is so merciful that He can love every soul and the greatest feeling of worth is to be loved, which can be felt deeply by one who is humble. It’s just like a baby in its mother’s arms. The baby feels completely dependent on the mother, but also feels very loved and valued. As there is nothing that psychologically affirms one’s self-worth more than being loved and feeling love in one’s heart in response, neither the infinitesimal soul nor the small child can ever feel a lack of self-esteem, despite being totally dependent on one much greater than themselves.

Conclusion: Humility and self-esteem, as experienced by a pure devotee, can never be in opposition.

 

Monday Morning Greetings 2024 #27 – The Mind of God

July 1st, 2024

For many years I had the idea of writing a book called The Mind of God. It was inspired many years ago by the story of the passing away of Bhīṣmadeva. That episode describes the lengths Śrī Krishna would go to for the purpose of glorifying His devotees. For various reasons I choose not to write that book, but the idea always stayed with me. Recently, while studying the Śikṣāṣṭaka prayers, the last chapter in the Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, I started to see that chapter through the lens of the mind of Śrī Caitanya.

 

Śrī Caitanya comes to fulfill both internal and external reasons for His descent. That is, He comes both for Himself and for others. For Himself He was Krishna in the form of a devotee seeking to relish the love and ecstasy of Śrī Radha, His topmost devotee, at the height of Her love. He already had been almost 18 years in Puri, the place where he had come specifically for that purpose. He had just heard from Śrī Advaita that the external reason for his descent (why He came for others) was complete—the world by His mercy was now flooded with love of God. In this last year of His life, He could cultivate and relish ecstatic love for Krishna in the mood of Śrī Radha with even more focus. Almost all His time is thus spent in the Gambhīra, a little cave-like room in Kāśī Miśra’s house, with Rāmānanda Rāya and Svarūpa Dāmodara, his most confidential associates. He relishes verses and songs which encapsulate and excite the mood of Śrī Radha’s devotion which He had come to attain. Often He becomes so overwhelmed with those feelings that His words and emotional outbursts appear like the expressions of a mad person. His close associates, however, know better. He had entered deeply into the very heart of Śrī Radha’s deepest devotion. They watched as His devotion became so spontaneous that when a particular feeling would embrace His heart, He would ride that emotion into the night reciting related verses and relishing their taste

 

As one who is pure, He did not consider Himself advanced in devotion. But it is obvious to His closest followers that Śrī Caitanya is relishing rādhā-bhāva, the ecstatic mood of Śrī Radha, and He understands that indeed something wonderful is happening. As He realizes that both His missions are coming to fruition, a sense of gratitude overwhelms Him, and the cause of His fortune becomes clear to Him. He is a recipient of the unbounded mercy of nāma-saṅkīrtana, the chanting of the holy name! Overwhelmed by that feeling, He begins to carry that particular emotion into the night. He recites verse after verse glorifying the holy name and deeply relishes their taste. As His internal focus on chanting the holy name becomes deeper and reaches its height, the Śikṣāṣṭakam prayers, his ultimate glorification of the holy name, burst from his heart: “Paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam!” (All glories to śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtana).

 

And that is the mind of God!

 

 

Monday Morning Greetings 2024 #26 – Who is Advanced on the Path of Bhakti?

June 24th, 2024

I wake up in the morning and chant for several hours and then chant more during the day. Does that make one advanced on the path of bhakti? It is certainly good to chant more, and it could reflect some internal devotion, but not necessarily. Could it also reflect that one has little else to do, or is lazy and shirking responsibilities or pretending to be an advanced devotee? In fact, Krishna warns in the Gītā of prematurely becoming renounced with the motive of seeking adulation:

 

One who restrains the senses and organs of action, but whose mind dwells on sense objects, certainly deludes himself and is called a pretender.” (Bg 3.6)

 

Śrīla Prabhupāda also makes clear that what makes one advanced is one’s inner mood and not necessarily what one is doing externally:

 

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is known as bhāva-grāhī janārdana because He takes only the essence of a devotee’s attitude. If a devotee sincerely surrenders, the Lord, as the Supersoul in everyone’s heart, immediately understands this. Thus even though, externally, a devotee may not render full service, if he is internally sincere and serious the Lord welcomes his service nonetheless. Thus the Lord is known as bhāva-grāhī janārdana because He takes the essence of one’s devotional mentality.” (Bhag. 8.23.2, purport)

 

When I read the above, I thought of a devotee, a disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda, who seemed to me spiritually evolved in many ways although he had very little sādhana. I don’t know why, but early in his devotional career he came down with a severe mental disability. For him to function his doctors were forced to prescribe lithium. It is a very high-risk toxic drug which now is only given in the most serious cases, if at all. As a result, when I met him years ago he lived in government housing and rose from bed around 4:00 pm. When visiting the Boston temple and exchanging with him, however, I was always impressed with the depth of his humility and his dedication to service. Without fail for hours and hours every evening he would clean every nook and corner of the four-story ISKCON Boston temple with the utmost devotion and use whatever extra money he got from the government to serve the devotees.

 

But how can we say he was advanced in spiritual life when he woke up so late and probably rarely chanted? I composed an analogy that I hope helps resolve this quandary.

 

In Olympic diving a participant is not just judged by his score on a particular dive, but by multiplying that score by its degree of difficulty. Similarly, a devotee’s advancement is gauged not just by the amount of spiritual practice performed, but also by the degree of difficulty—the challenges they face in its execution.

 

In other words, my god-brother was extremely limited karmically in the amount of basic sādhana he could do, but the great effort he gave to overcome his challenges demonstrated a very sincere desire to serve Śrīla Prabhupāda. I don’t think it would be too much to claim that that he scored higher on the platform of devotion in the eyes of Krishna than many who were more accomplished on the level of sādhana, but not as deep in humility and devotion.

 

Of course, this doesn’t diminish the status of those with strict devotional practices which usually reflect a deep devotional mentality, nor does it indicate that those wasting time on social media are not plagued with weak faith and devotion. I am only stating that what’s ultimately important in devotional life, and what is the truest indicator of spiritual advancement, is “the essence of our devotional mentality.”

 

Monday Morning Greeting 2024 #25 – Metro Mantra Sanga

June 17th, 2024

During the Memorial Day weekend, I held several programs in the New York/New Jersey area. The events were accommodating to newcomers, but for the most part they were gatherings of like-minded people with deep, longstanding bonds. There was no dearth of volunteers, and the many services were all done expertly, especially the Memorial Day feast—chapatis, rice, sweet potato soup, koftas in tomato sauce, creamy paneer subji, bhel puri, handva, coriander chutney, potato patra, cupcakes, ladoo, kheer, mango lassi, and nimbu pani.

 

There was such a strong sense of community. I was impressed, and right after kirtan, at the beginning of my class, I made a simple point based on what I had just seen: “Bhakti is easy. Just chant Hare Krishna with people who like each other.” Like Christianity, the Hare Krishna movement must offer different “churches” for different people—eventually more localized, to bring nearby like-minded people together and provide community to the maximum number of those interested in devotion.

 

The modern world is increasingly exploitative, and it does not provide sufficient genuine community to give people respite from our dog-eat-dog modern society. As the Catholic social activist Dorothy Day said, “We have all known the long loneliness, and we have found that the answer is community.” More than ever, people need gathering places that can foster a deep sense of care and belonging, where one is inspired by the community’s service mood to serve others before themselves, the first step in spiritual life. It’s with this vulnerability, this letting down of the guard of self-centeredness that covers the soul, that one’s heart can be open to God’s grace—essential to experiencing the divinity of the holy name.

 

Bhakti is best expressed through seva, humble service, and genuine community inspires and offers opportunities for service; it is one of the most attractive and powerful tools to draw people toward devotion and keep them within the association of devotees. So, this week I am sharing a very simple realization: We need more of what I saw on Memorial Day—devotees who know and like each other gathered with a sense of belonging and care in genuine community expertly and selflessly engaged in service.

 

To address this need, I have started Metro Mantra Sanga. It’s a simple idea: I am organizing a yearly calendar of events—home programs and festivals—in the metropolitan area to provide more opportunities for participation and service in devotion and thus bring like-minded people together in spiritual community. On occasion we will also invite other devotees to enlighten us—some of whom are close to us but don’t have local platforms to share their wisdom.

 

Many of my students and followers render service and/or participate in other communities’ gatherings, events, and online groups, and I encourage them to continue to do so. Metro Mantra Sanga just adds another resource for in-person community and devotional service.

 

 

Monday Morning Greetings 2024 #24 – Swami’s Analogies

June 10th, 2024

A reasonable person wants to understand what is true and live by it. But how to ascertain the truth? The wisdom traditions of India generally outline three main means of knowing called pramāṇa.[1] The three main pramāṇas are verbal testimony (śabda—what we accept as true in the form of the testimony of a recognized authority), pratyakṣa (direct experience), and anumāna (inference or logical conclusions). In our tradition we consider śabda, our sacred texts, as the highest pramāṇa.

 

Of course, there are limits to śabda when communicating the truth. The audience may not accept the authority of one’s tradition or may accept the authority of śāstra but misunderstand the point being referenced. I therefore find upamān or analogy, making comparison between things that have similar features, helpful in communicating certain points, especially those which are somewhat abstract.

 

For this Greetings I would therefore like to share a few of the analogies I composed to hopefully demonstrate how helpful analogy can be in illustrating concepts that are sometimes challenging to explain.

 

What is Bhakti?

Introduction: Is bhakti our nature, an energy of God, or a practice to achieve perfection? It is all of these, but in explaining what bhakti is, especially to an audience not familiar with our tradition, I composed the following analogy.

 

Analogy: Just as there is a natural love that flows between a newborn calf and its mother, there is a natural love that flows between the soul and God called bhakti.

 

Comment: I was in the flower gardens of Vrindavan visiting a gardener friend when I saw a calf being born for the first time in my life. The calf got up immediately to drink its mother’s milk and the mother began to intensely lick its calf. I had an epiphany. There is a universal principle of natural love between two beings that have a relationship clearly seen in this innate love between a cow and its calf. It perfectly illustrates what bhakti is, except that in bhakti the natural affection is between the soul and God.

 

Why devotional practice must be concentrated, uninterrupted and prolonged to bear the fruit of realization.

Analogy: Just as a piece of paper under the intense rays of the sun focused upon it through a magnifying glass will not burn immediately but only catch fire when those rays are focused steadily for some time, similarly the experience of the holy name will only touch one’s heart in the practice of japa meditation when one is concentrated on the holy name uninterruptedly over a prolonged period.

 

Comment: This analogy came to me after reading in the Yoga-sūtras the definition of practice—meditation that is concentrated, uninterrupted and prolonged over a period of time.

 

How can the same divine energy of the holy dhāma which pushes us so sweetly and easily towards God feel sometimes so challenging?

Analogy: The same eastern wind, which is very pleasant for a sailboat moving east, is oppositional and unpleasant when the sailboat is moving west. Similarly, the divine energy of Vrindavan is helpful towards the service of Krishna and makes residing in Vrindavan so sweet. But it is oppositional to our desires when we are moving in the direction of false ego and makes residing in Vrindavan quite unpleasant.

 

What does śuddha-nāma, or the pure name mean? Isn’t the holy name pure itself?

Analogy: Sometimes a person whom we don’t recognize, although they are right before us, doesn’t reveal their full self and remains a stranger. But when we serve and love them, they reveal their full being as a child, friend or lover. Similarly, when we chant the holy name with neglect, although the holy name is right before us, it remains distant like a stranger. But when chanted with pure love, the holy name reveals itself fully as our child, friend or lover and that is called śuddha-nāma.

 

Analogies are a powerful tool in communicating principles of truth that we seek to share with others. I hope you found mine effective.

 


[1] From root mā, “to measure”. Pra usually means “completely”.

 

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