20200106 Evening Darśana

mukam karoti vacalam pangum langayate girim
yat kripa tam aham vande sri gurum dina tarinam
paramananda madhavam sri caitanya Isvaram

Find out who is expert in western university preaching. And consult them what system they use. Usually, westerners have difficulty with Sanskrit. So you need to present the things using English language and avoiding too much Sanskrit. You need to present things in a very simple way which they can understand. But usually the westerners like prasadam, as everybody does! So if they give out prasadam at the end of the program, you will find that people come! Ha! But others, tips, I preach mainly preach to Indians, to Indian students in India. So those who are, Kalasudha or Deva Madhava, they are expert in college preaching, you can consult with them, and those who are expert in college preaching. 

Question: Guru maharaj (Guru maharaj said: yes!) just by saying Gauranga, one will be delivered from more sins than one can commit. Please help us understand this. Your spiritual son, Sarvajaya Madhava das. 

Guru maharaj: You see, the holy name of Krsna is non-different from Krsna Himself. So if one chants the holy name offenseless, there is no limit to how much sin can be nullified. And Lord Caitanya is the most merciful form of Lord Krsna. But if one commits an offence like sinning on the strength of chanting, then it will not have an effect. If one thinks I can do something, later I will chant and get rid of the sin, they kind of cheat Krsna, it won’t work! 

Question: How can we bring our friends in Maya into Krsna consciousness, without losing their goodwill? Thank you guru maharaj. Your spiritual daughter, Surabhi.

Guru maharaj: If you bring your friend into Krsna consciousness, why would you lose your friend’s goodwill? Won’t your friend appreciate? If you try to bring your friend in and fail, then it may have a different result. But that is why it is not an easy thing to make a devotee. Srila Prabhupada said, it takes BUCKETS OF BLOOD! HA! HA! HA! To make one devotee! So if your friend is a real friend, then you can figure out some way to share with your friend something about Krsna. 

Question: Guru maharaj (Guru maharaj said: Yes!) is wearing a black dress, shirt, jacket, not good and why?

Guru maharaj: In the Nectar of Devotion, there are certain seva aparadhs. So, wearing certain cloth in front of the deities is offensive. As far as I remember, red, black is offensive. But someone can refer to the seva aparadhs mentioned in the Nectar of Devotion. Black is generally considered in the mode of ignorance and red is in the mode of passion. So somehow red and black are not recommended. But you can read the Nectar of Devotion about the different seva aparadhs like, when your feet are towards the deities, when you talk prajalpa in front of the deities. It doesn’t say using your mobile phone! But if you are speaking prajalpa on your mobile phone, it will count! If you are telling someone, I am in front of Krsna, He is so beautiful, oh KRSNA IS WONDERFUL! I feel so fortunate to be in front of Krsna. Then you may be excused! 

Question: Hare Krsna gurudev! (Guru maharaj: Hare Krsna!) Sometimes I feel like chanting becomes a burden. You always share how the bliss experienced from chanting is endless. When does chanting change from being a burden?

Guru maharaj: If you are committing a lot of offences then the chanting may be somewhat of a burden. And when you chant offenselessly, or you are clearing your offences away, then you start to taste different degrees of bliss. You don’t believe me? Ha! So, if we can, someone told me I don’t feel bliss. I said, how long have you been chanting? Since yesterday! How much do you chant? I chant twice, I don’t feel any ecstasy! So I don’t know, how many times you have been chanting? How long you have been chanting? How many offences you are doing? Obviously it takes more than two days, or twice to get taste in chanting. You have to chant and keep on chanting. Srila Prabhupada said, it took him twenty years for perfection. Normally it takes many, many births to achieve liberation, by another process. Bahunam janmanam ante, gyanavan prapadhyante – after many, many births, one who is knowledgeable, he surrenders to Krsna. But by following the process of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, then the whole thing can happen much faster! And you can get a taste. I once saw there was a mother and father, they came to see their son in Montreal. And they put their arms around their son and talking to him. And they caught him and said, COME WITH US, LEAVE THIS PLACE! Pulled him! He grabbed the handle of the doorway, the parents were pulling his feet and he was pulling the handle. Srila Prabhupada said, he has developed attachment! Ha! Ha! Normally, if the parents call like, you would surrender, but he did not want to leave! The child would succumb but he had developed a lot of attachment. Similarly, I was one time solicited to play a devotee in a TV show. It was a fairly easy role for me. At that time, they agreed to pay me something like 245 (?) dollars. So it was a show where the village leader, he and a band of psychologists, three people, I forgot who, they heard out a dispute and gave their verdict. So the father wanted to give me a bicycle or something. But he decided not to do it because he was afraid, I would use it for Krsna. And then so, there was this debate where I had to say why he should give it and he tried to explain, why he shouldn’t give it! So after we both presented our part, they had a commercial break! Ha! Ha! The panel, they started talking amongst themselves. He really believes in what he thinks; I mean he really believes! One of them said, I don’t believe in anything in my whole life, how would you like to believe in something? What would it be like to have belief in something? So, that was an eye opener for me. Of course they were actors but, they didn’t believe in anything! Anyway, I won the argument! Next question.

Question: How do I know the Absolute Truth? Krsna says, learn the truth from someone who has seen the truth. 

Guru maharaj: There are three ways to know the truth. Sastra, sadhu and guru. So, one thing is the sastra says, what is the Absolute Truth. A guru confirms and explains what the sastra says. The sadhus live by the sastra, and they give their personal example. So, through this triple check – sadhu, sastra, guru – we can understand the Absolute Truth. One can, you see the guru, he may have seen the Absolute Truth through the teachings of his guru, that is the guru parampara. And the guru may also, by following the teachings of his guru, he may have realized the Absolute Truth. So you should have a guru who is dependable, who has understood the Absolute Truth. One who has realized the Absolute Truth. So we have sadhus like Prahlad Maharaj and Dhurva and others who teach by their examples. So that is also considered as a type of evidence or pramana. Next question.

Question: How does one conquer fear of a subtle entity that is attacking and also deal with the bodily stress, anxiety caused by them?

Guru maharaj: Sometimes when one is sleeping or they don’t wash themselves before taking rest, and they feel like choked up by a subtle entity. But if they wash their feet and hands before resting, and if they chant Hare Krsna or some mantras before resting, or when they chant while being attacked, then usually the subtle entities, they cannot withstand the mantras. Hare Krsna! How many more questions?

Question: How to develop pure love for Krsna?

Guru maharaj: What are we here for? Ha! The whole process of bhakti yoga is to develop pure love of Krsna! It is a gradual process. We go step by step. There are different ways explained. In one way, it is explained that there are eight steps. First step, shraddha, then satsanga, first faith, just listen. Then next step is association with devotees. Sadhu sanga. Then bhajana kriya, starting to practice the japa and different processes of bhakti yoga. Usually at this stage, one takes shelter of a guru. Maybe initiation. Then anartha nivritti, one gets rid of the unwanted habits. Then one achieves nistha which is very fixed devotional service. And then after nistha comes ruci or taste. One may have glimpses of ruci before, but at the stage of ruci one is consistently having taste. And then one becomes very attached to that transcendental bliss. So that is the level of aasakti. From there one reaches the level of ecstatic love of Krsna. That is called bhava. And then from the stage of bhava, one reaches Prema, which is pure love. That is especially by the mercy of Krsna or Lord Caitanya. That is one way it is explained, step by step. Another way is three steps. The path of rules and regulations which has two sub steps. Then there is ecstatic love of Krsna, which has four levels. And then pure love of Krsna, which has many levels. So, this whole process of bhakti yoga or Krsna consciousness is to gradually take you to pure love. But we can reach systematically up to the level of ecstatic love. But to reach pure love, we need special mercy. One had a double question? There was one double?

Question: Part 2: Guru maharaj said: Part 2. Preaching is very dear to you. (Guru maharaj said: yes). That means it is very dear to Srila Prabhupada and Krsna. (Guru maharaj said: yes). Then why do we get obstacles in preaching? (Guru maharaj said: yes!) 

Guru maharaj: That is fine. Why do you think that if something is dear to Krsna, you will have no obstacles? You are in Kali yuga, in the material world, anything dear to Krsna, there will be more obstacles. But if you tolerate those obstacles and engage in Krsna consciousness, then how much more dear you are to Krsna?! When they give, like the President of the United States or top generals, give some award or some medal to the soldiers who take extreme risk and save, do some miraculous thing. So if you take some difficulty and tolerate it and try to please Krsna, then He will be more grateful to you! So it is a special opportunity! We should be thankful that Krsna is giving us these obstacles to prove that we are dedicate to Him! I mean, He may give or may be given by maya. And so, maya is in charge of this prison house. So she wants to test, to make sure you are ready to leave! And if you are not, she may give, a test may be dangle a fruit before you, or different kinds of tests. So, look at the tests that Prahlad went through, or Dhruva went through. See those tests. We get relatively light tests! Anyway, Prahlad was thrown down mountains, put in snake pits, horrible things! But he survived all those! Usually the obstacles we have are not so difficult. But we try to do Krsna’s service, Srila Prabhupada’s service, in spite of whatever difficulties there are. And then we naturally develop more of a taste for serving Krsna. 

Thank you very much for your questions and for your being here and hope you have a safe journey home, or wherever you are going. Flying, driving, whatever, walking! Ha! Okay!