How to enter Vrindavana. Class 1.

Sāgrajātām Sāha ganā raghunātām Vitām Tām sa jīvām Sadvāitām Savadhotām Parijanāsahitām Krishnacaitānyadevām Śrīrādhā Krishnāpada Sahagana Valita Shri Visakhavidamsya He Krishna Karunasindho Dina Bandho Jagatpate Gopesa Gopika Kanta Radha Kanta Namastute Taktakancana gurangi radevrindavaneshwari Vrishabanu sute devi pranamami hari priye Ancha kalpa tarubyashca kripa sindubyavaca Patitanam Bhavanibhyo Vaishnavebhyo Namunamaha Shri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu Nityananda Shri Advaita Gadadhara Shri Vasadhi Gaurabhakta Vrinda Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Vārī! Hare Krishna Hare Krishna I am very grateful to be here at Sri Kiriraj Govardhan with His Holiness Bhaktivigyan Goswami Maharaj and all of you. I would like to congratulate you and extend my deepest appreciation and gratitude for everything you and your whole community has done to inspire a true manifestation of Vrajabhumi here at Govardham. Seva to the Holy Dham is the true way of entering into the Holy Dham. And this wonderful Rupa-Seva-kunj, Sri Rupa-Seva-kunj, is truly an offering where devotees can enter into the real spirit and supreme grace of Radharani and Sri Krishna's mercy and Vrindavan. by creating such a place of seva. It's beautiful name, Sri Rupa seva. That is the very basis of our hope, our own parais to serve Sri Rupa Goswami. I will not interfere with Maharaja's class, but I want you to publicly express my appreciation for your Maharaja. And for all the devotees who are working so hard, struggling in so many ways to manifest this holy place. Thank you, Prabhu. Today His Holiness Shiva Radhanath Swami Maraj gave me a beautiful lesson of meditation. We are supposed to talk about meditation during this retreat. And basically meditation means slowing down the constantly rotating mind and And by ultimately stopping the disturbances in the mind to enable us to see the reality. The reality is hidden from us. the factor which hides away reality is our disturbed and constantly distracted mind and of course especially now in this day and age the destruction of the mind has become has reached unbearable level basically means that we are going away from reality. We are entering deeper and deeper into the illusion. And the purpose of this retreat and topic of this retreat to go away from the unfortunate reality of the material world, especially at this day and age. and trying to enter real reality. So I would like to speak a few words first about the bhajana which we sang. Because Srila Prabhupada on a number of occasions explained that this is the bhajana which teaches us how to enter Vrindavan. Therefore we will chant this bhajana every day. before our lectures, trying to meditate on the meaning of the words of this song by Narvatam Das Takur. He is the resident of real Vrindavan. He is the second generation devotee who achieved unbelievable heights of spiritual realization and left for us his realizations and his bhajans and songs. Srila Prabhupada said that even though his songs are written in a simple Bengali language, and it's really simple, practically everyone can understand this with rudimentary knowledge of Bengali or even Hindi. His songs are not different from the Vedas. That's Prabhupada's own words. So it doesn't matter what is the language. What matters is the condition of the heart from which the words are coming. And that's exactly the topic of our seminar. And when the realization is coming to the pure heart, then whatever one speaks becomes the revelation of spiritual reality. Disciples of Srila Prabhupada often explain this experience which they had during Prabhupada's personal presence. when he would just say something very simple about this, just a few words. But these few words would allow his listeners to enter into such a depth of realization. Why? Because these words are coming from this place in the heart. From the pure heart, the heart purified by austerities, by sadhana, by service to the spiritual master. and therefore every word which is spoken in this condition is saturated with deepest possible meaning. And I explain the words of this song, Gauranga bolite habel pulakasharira, hari hari bolite n-i-n-a-vabinira. It's very interesting how he composed this song. No, no, no, I don't need this. I only need Bengali. It's a very systematic explanation of how to enter Vrindavan. And he starts this song with the word Goranga. Goranga boli te habe pulakasarira. He says, when we will chant the word Goranga, first of all, that's our entrance. That's our password. Yesterday, Sachin Anmaraj was explaining about the guardians of the holy dham, but we know to pass the guardians you have to know the password. So the password is Gauranga, but not just Gauranga. Naratham Dastakur from the very beginning says that, Gauranga bolete habe pulakasarira. when you will chant Gauranga with such a feeling that your hairs will stand on end then only you will enter Vrindavan and how when you will be able to chant Gauranga with such a feeling when you understand who is Gauranga when deep in your heart you will understand that Gauranga is none other than Krishna himself and he came in this Kali Yuga He came in this Kali Yuga to experience the highest possible manifestations of love, and not only to experience himself, but to give access to the same manifestations of love to us, fallen people of Kali Yuga. When we understand this, and sometimes this truth which we have heard so many times, but it doesn't matter how many times we heard about this, it doesn't mean that we know about this. But when this understanding really comes to our heart, then naturally the hairs will stand on end. The remaining hairs, whatever is still there. So, but again, and that's the password. The understanding of what Gauranga Mahaprabhu, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, has come to give us. The understanding of who he is and what he gave. And the extent of his generosity, the extent of his, how do you say this? magnanimosity or whatever, the extent of His mercy, the depths of His mercy. When you understand this, then you will chant Gauranga and the hearse will stand on end. And then only, then only, then only, then only you will be able to chant Hare Krishna mantra with the tears in the eyes. That's the perfection of our chanting and we know that this perfection rarely comes, sometimes it comes, but it can only come to us if we really understand how precious this name is, which Goranga himself gave to us. And it's not a simple name. The name of Hari, the name of Govinda, is chanted in any Kali Yuga. This process of self-realization is the standard process of realization in any Kali Yuga. But when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is coming and giving this name, instead of ordinary avatar who comes, Kali Yuga avatar who comes in this age, but when Gauranga Mahaprabhu comes, he imbues this name, he saturates this name with his experience. And then, when we repeat the same name, understanding what is this name, how precious this name is, then, Hari Hari Boliten Aya Neba Benira, then, while chanting this Harinaam, we will not be able to hold the tears. Now, we are not able to drink the tears. But if we understand what is it in reality, how great is this gift of Gauranga Mahaprabhu, then we will not be able to hold the tears. But for that, he explains the preliminary stages. To come to the stage of complete realization He says that preliminarily you have to purify your heart from samsara vasana. What is samsara vasana? Vasana means desires, not just simply desires. There are different kinds of desires. There are incidental desires. desires which are just coming we see something in the showroom or whatever we see something which is attractive to us and desires come and goes but vasana means very deep desire the desire with which we came to this world to realize this desire, to fulfill this desire vasana is the repeated desires which are coming again and again into our mind and keeping us in this samsara. And therefore he says, samsara vasana morakabe tu chahabe, when Nittai Chandra, and basically here by mentioning the name of Nittai, he means the spiritual master because we know that Nittai Chandra is the original spiritual master. And the spiritual master helps us to understand this philosophy and helps us to understand the dire need of purifying our heart. And when the mercy of the spiritual master is coming to us, when we really deserve the mercy of the spiritual master by our sincere and steady service to him, then the miraculous result of this service of the mercy of Karuna of the spiritual master is that samsaravasana the very how you say it very insistent or very sticky yeah, that's a good word very sticky desires will become tucha will become insignificant we will feel that these desires which were really keeping us in this world which were really creating the fun because desires is that what makes this material life so funny or full of fun, I don't know. And funny too. So when the desires, these desires which would excite us, which would give us this excitation necessary for us to remain in this material world and to feel so-called happiness of this material world, then these desires will become insignificant. They will stop bothering us. Yeah, they will still be there. He doesn't say that they will go away immediately. He says they will become very insignificant so that you can neglect them. You can ignore them. You don't have to pay attention to them. And that's the preliminary stage. And then he says, This is the secret of entering Vrindavan. So what happened next when these desires which keep us in this samsara, this samsara vasana becomes insignificant as much, so much so that we will be able not to pay attention to them. What happens in the normal quote-unquote life, all our attention, all our energy goes into the fulfillment of these desires. But when they become insignificant so that we could easily neglect these desires, then the mind will become clean and we will be able to relinquish all these desires. desires, Vishayacharya. We will completely relinquish desires, understanding that desires will not bring us happiness, that desires don't make us happy. It's really an illusion, but it's a very persistent illusion. But when the mercy of the spiritual master comes upon then we understand the real position of the desires, and then the man, the mind, becomes clean, and with the clean mind, we will be able to see Vrindavan. I will explain in more details in this lecture, depending on how much time I have, but I'll try at least to say something. that our ability to see very much depends on the condition of our mind. And that's Vaishnava meditation. One very important lesson which I will try to explain today and I would like you to take this lesson with you together very important lesson what is the difference between the meditation, Buddhist meditation Mayavadi meditation meditation is a very prominent word in this world this moment of time everyone is doing meditation so one of one very important understanding which should come today and Satchinan Maharaj started describing this yesterday, but I will say the same thing from slightly different angle. What is the difference between our meditation and meditation of Mayavadis? Because unfortunately what I can see that sometimes immature devotees they come to Vrindavan and they start meditating on Radha Krishna Lila. But in reality, it's Mayavadi meditation. It's 108% Mayavadi meditation. They imagine themselves in their mind that they already achieved this Krishna pream or this or that. But in reality, it's 10% Mayavadi meditation. And we have to very clearly distinguish between these two types of meditation. because oftentimes when we hear meditation, we have in mind wrong idea. So he says, I will be able, only I will see Vrindavan, real Vrindavan, only when my mind is purified. But then he says, it's not enough to see Vrindavan. You can see real Vrindavan, but still will not be able to see Krishna. And therefore he says, Rupa Raghunatha Padehoi Viakuti. When the real Akuti, the ardent desire will awaken in my heart to serve the lotus feet of Rupa and Raghunatha. and we are here in this Sri Rupa Seva Kunj where we are dedicating our energy to this service of Rupa Raghunath following the footsteps of Srila Prabhupada when the desire will awaken in our heart Akuti means very strong desire then only I will be able to see and remember Jūgala Piriti and understand, then only I will be able to understand the dealings of Radha and Krishna. It's the most difficult subject matter. And sometimes it is described in such a light way that it brings pain to the heart of any serious devotee. Sometimes we hear ridiculous stories, some folklore story. I was told, can I tell this story? Little story about, yeah. So there were two girls. They were studying in Bhaktivedanta Gurukul. and they had a game they were here in Vrindavan and they had so many stories about this and that what happened and they invented a game one girl would run to a tree and in a very loud voice she would tell some completely fictitious story what happened near this tree about Radha and Krishna And of course, pilgrims would go after that, and they heard the story and started retelling the story. And the next day already, that has become the established tradition in the Raj. So now they're planning after 30 years, planning to come back to hear the stories which they invented. So, anyway, there are so many stories and sometimes they are told in such a light and even, I don't know how to express the pain which I feel. Naratam Das Takur says that you only will be able to understand the dealings between Radha and Krishna. In a real way, if you develop very strong desire to serve the lotus feet of Rupa and Raghunath. This is the entrance into this esoteric truth, otherwise you will not be able to understand anything. And therefore, he concludes this beautiful bhajan by saying, Rupa Raghunath Padei, Rahum or Ash, I have only one desire. I already gave up all other desires, I don't need other desires, but one desire still remains within my heart. Rahum or As. Only one hope is there. Prarta nakaro is so the Naratamadas. The only desire which I have is that Rupa Raghunata Pade, that the lotus feet of Rupa and Raghunata would always be within my heart. And therefore, Pratana Karoja Sada Naratama Das. I am Naratama Das, somebody who was called Narottam, which means the best of human beings. My only prārtana, my only prayer is to have the lotus feet of Rūpa Raghunādha firmly established within my heart. Then only I will understand Gauranga. Then only I will be able to chant the holy name. Then only I will be able to purify my heart and see real Vrindavan and understand what's happening here. So that's the song which serves as an introduction to our retreat. And I will try to explain some very important things about meditation. Today we will not start our story, Akrura's story. We will only touch it slightly. but we will have some important introduction to the whole topic. So first, I would like to say that there are three Vrindavans. Recently, Sachinanda Maraj gave the lecture, and he explained this concept of three Vrindavans. And one Vrindavan you have already entered. This Vrindavan is called Adibotic Vrindavan. This is the material Vrindavan which we can see by our material eyes, and we can see so many things in this Adibotic Vrindavan. This triple scheme is very important, Adibotic, Adidaivic and Adyatmic. We usually think that it's only Adibautica Klesha, Adidaivica Klesha and Adyatmica Klesha. But in reality, there's three planes of existence. Adibautica, Adidaivica and Adyatmica are everywhere, not only in the sufferings which we experience, miseries which we experience in this world. So Adibautic Vrindavan is accessible. To Adibotik Vrindavan you can buy ticket. You can reach this Vrindavan by conventional means, by ticket, by train, by plane, by taxi, by rickshaw, whatever it is. You can come to this Adibotik Vrindavan with your big suitcase, no problem. Other two kinds of Vrindavan don't allow big suitcases. This is the first thing which you have to give up. But to Adibiotic Vrindavan, no problem. As many suitcases as you need, you can bring here. So, but then Adidaivik Vrindavan. Adidaivik, daivik means, which is related to Devatas, and it's also related to the mind. It's related to the subtle plane. Adibautic is the gross plane of existence, Adidaivik is the subtle plane of existence, the plane where different energies are displaying different activities. So, the playground of the energies is our mind. And Adidaivik Vrindavan is the Vrindavan where the spiritual energy of the acclaimed saints is still kept. The Adidaivik Vrindavan is the subtle form of Vrindavan which we sometimes, if we're lucky, have an access to when we're a little careful and we can't feel the energy of the place. It's a very amazing place. Adidai Vikvrindavan is an amazing place. Because so many great saints were doing bhajan here. So many great saints left the samskaras of their spiritual realization here. They're accessible. If you're a little careful and if you're not so gross, if you're not so grossly engrossed, or how you say this, grossly absorbed in the material plane of existence, then you will be able to feel the subtle energy which is still there. These great saints, they're still living here. There are quite a few of them who are doing two Govardhan Parikrams every day, sometimes three Govardhan Parikrams every day. There are so many saints who chant one lock, two locks, three locks, five locks every day. Just nearby, there is Govinda Kund. Today in the morning, you went to Govinda Kund. And you were sitting actually in the ashram where Manohar Das Babaji started his spiritual journey here. He started actually in Kusum Sarovar, but then Shri Matiradharani herself in his dream came to him and said to him to him that your place of bhajan where you will achieve the perfection is Gavinda Kunt. He went to Gavinda Kunt and in Gavinda Kunt he was chanting six lakhs every day. Six lakhs of Hare Krishna mantra every day. So these vibrations, these subtle vibrations, very pure vibrations of their heart, their spiritual experience are still here. And you can feel them. Not maybe very distinctly, but still you will be able to feel them if you're a little careful and if the cacophony of your mind is little down. If it's not so loud within your mind, then you will be able to feel. And of course, when you sit here, you also feel some strange feeling. It's nice, isn't it? And the mind is calm. So this is Adidaivik Vrindavan, the Vrindavan where the mind becomes naturally peaceful and naturally receptive to these subtle influences which are prominent in the Holy Dham. So this Vrindavan is sometimes accessible to our experience. But then, of course, the most important Vrindavan which we all have to enter ultimately, is adhyatmik Vrindavan, the spiritual Vrindavan, purely spiritual Vrindavan. And this is the most difficult Vrindavan to enter. This is the Vrindavan where Krishna is still playing his games, his lilas. Krishna is still here. He is in Govardhan. He never goes away from Vrindavan. He plays his flute and he's herding cows. Today, Srta Kirti Prabhu told a beautiful story when Prabhupada... He was massaging Prabhupada in Los Angeles, and Prabhupada all of a sudden started saying that in Vrindavan... He saw the picture of Krishna and Balarama coming back from the pasturing grounds. and so many cows and the cowherd boys behind them. Prabhupada says, I would like to be there. I would like to be the cowherd boy. And then he started saying that all the cowherd boys, when they go to pasturing grounds, they have their breakfast prepared by their mothers. And the best breakfast is, of course, in Krishna's basket. and Prabhupada said that we cowherd boys snatch it from Krishna and eat nice kachoris and things which prepared by Mother Yesoda and give Krishna what other mothers prepared and Srila Prabhupada said I would like to again eat this something like this anyways so So entering this Vrindavan, not in imagination, but in reality, seeing this, experiencing this, is the most difficult task. And the most important goal which we have to very clearly establish with our mind. So I can congratulate you, you are here in Adibotic Vrindavan, in your gross body. Now we have to tune and purify our mind to feel the Adhidhyayvik Vrindavan. And then ultimately the Adhyatmik Vrindavan will reveal itself to us. So that's the stages which we have to go. And Prabhupada explains that the stages of revelation of real Vrindavan. It's called Journey. And he explains that Akrura's Journey, I will read excerpt from Krishna's book of Srila Prabhupada. He says that Akrura's Journey to Vrindavan is exemplary. One who intends to visit Vrindavan should follow the ideal footsteps of Akrura and always think of the pastimes and activities of the Lord. As soon as one reaches the boundary of Rindavan, he should immediately smear the dust of Rindavan over his body without thinking of his material position and prestige. That's a very important instruction. immediately when you enter Vrindavan you have to take the dust and smear it all over the body forgetting about your position and prestige Shilraddhan and Marajvaz told a beautiful story when he first brought his father from America to Vrindavan and father was not so much attuned to Vrindavan and Vrindavan's custom so when he opened the door of the taxi and stepped down, he immediately stepped down in a big pile of cow dung. And, you know, the expression of his face explained more than the words which emanated from his mouth at this point. And Radhanath Mahesh said, this is the best way to enter Brindavan. You are perfect. to step on the big pile of cow dung. So, Srila Prabhupada explains this. Forget about your position. You're nobody in Vrindavan. You're lucky if you are as good as the grain of sand in Vrindavan. So this is how our understanding should be. And then he says, he quotes this song which we just sang. Śrīla Narātam Das Thakur has sung a celebrated song. Vishaya chadiya kabhi sudha habiman When my mind will be purified after leaving the contamination of material sense enjoyment, I shall be able to visit Vrindavan. Actually, one cannot go to Vrindavan by purchasing a ticket, that Śrīla Prabhupāda says. The process of going to Vrindavan is shown by Akrura. So Śrīla Prabhupāda exactly explains to us, that's the process of going to Vrindavan, how Akrura came to Vrindavan. and we will try to understand deeply the lessons which Akrura gives to us and Sukhadeva Goswami while explaining this. And Srila Prabhupada says that Akrura's journey to Vrindavan is exemplary, not Akrura himself. I was a little hesitant to speak on this topic because in Vrindavan, if you say Akrura, especially in the positive connotation, you will be excommunicated from here for good. Akrura is not a very popular hero in Vrindavan. But for us, neophyte devotees who are aspiring to enter Vrindavan, the example of Akrura is very important because he was the only Yadava who saw Krishna in Vrindavan. He had an amazing good fortune to see Krishna and Vrindavan and Krishna and Vrindavan's pastimes. Nobody else was able to do this. Udova much later came to Vrindavan, but Udova didn't see Krishna. Udova saw Vrindavan desolated, completely immersed into the mood of separation. and gopis in tears, Mother Yeshoda completely emaciated and breathing heavily, Nandamaraj. He's so Vrindavan, he's so beautiful Vrindavan, but without Krishna. But Akrura was lucky, was fortunate enough to see Vrindavan with Krishna. Of course, he did an unforgivable mistake by taking Krishna away from Vrindavan without permission of the residents of Vrindavan. But that's another story which we may touch during this talk. But his journey to Vrindavan is exemplary, and we will try to learn from him what it means to follow his footsteps, because that's the only, as Prabhupada says, that's the only way to enter Vrindavan. And when Akrura is traveling to Vrindavan, simultaneously two travels are going on. His Radha, new very illustrious, brilliant, golden chariot given to him by Kamsa, is going on, and he is in this Radha, going on the way from Madhura to Vrindavan, sometimes completely forgetting, sometimes losing the way. But at the same time, there is another journey, journey of his thoughts. of his meditation. This golden Radha, which is given to him by Kamsa, and then Manoradha, the chariot of his mind, they're going simultaneously to Vrindavan, and we, of course, mostly concentrate on this journey in his Manoradha, in the chariot of his mind. So, and it basically means meditation. It's interesting that Rupa Goswami, when he explains different devotees who achieved perfection by following one process of devotional service, he says that the perfection of Akrura in his prayers. But in Simad Bhagavatam, we hardly see his prayers. In Simad Bhagavatam, we only see his meditation. And the reason is very important for us to understand. This particular verse is very important. Sri Vishnu, Pariksit, Abhava, Vaya Sakeh Kirtane. So, Pariksit achieved the perfection by listening about Sri Vishnu. Sri Vishnukshravane pariksitabavat vayasakih kirtane, Sri Lushukhadev Gosvami vayasaki, the son of Vyasadev, he achieved perfection by kirtan, by telling about Krishna. Prahlada smarane tadangribhajane laksmih prituh pujane. Prahlada achieved his perfection by meditating on the lotus feet of the Lord. Tadangri Bhajane Lakshmi. Lakshmi achieved her meditation, her perfection by serving the lotus feet of the Lord, Father Seven, Tadangri Bhajane. Prithu achieved his meditation by worshiping the deity, Puja. Akru ras vabivadane, abivandane. So in this vandanam or abivandanam, complete vandanam, immersion into prayers, The example is Akrura. Kapi Patir Dasyed and Hanuman is the example of Dasya. Adha Sakyarjuna. Sarva Smatvanimedani Balir Bali in his Sarva... How do you say this? Atmanivedenam. Abhut Krishnapteresim Param. They all achieved this by different means. But why it is said that Akrura achieved perfection by prayers, whereas in reality in Srimad Bhagavatam only his meditation is explained, or mostly his meditation is explained. And the answer to this question is very important because ultimately all these processes of devotional service involve meditation. You cannot really pray if you didn't meditate. You cannot really achieve perfection by hearing if you don't meditate. Hearing is a meditation. Talking is a meditation. Of course, Smaranam is the meditation, but Pujanam is meditation. When we serve the deity, it's meditation. It's a very special fashion of meditating upon the Lord by offering Him whatever we have. And all other processes of devotional service, the meditation is the background. It's the foundation. and without meditation you may hear without meditation and basically it means inattentive hearing something you hear and conveniently God gave you two ears so in one ear it enters from another ear it exits your mind and you're very happy I heard what did you hear, it doesn't matter you can make the tick I heard Shravana is the most important process. No, Shravana will only work if there is meditation. If you hear with attention and then you meditate on what you heard. Then you really think on what you heard and really recollect. And as Bhaktivinoda Thakur explains, when you give, when you heard this and allowed the words or the sounds which you heard to grow up within your heart. Allow them to turn into thought process. That's the meditation. That's how Shravanam is meditation. You hear and then you meditate again and again and again on this. And then when you speak, of course, this is meditation. This is a very deep kind of meditation. And everything else is a meditation. And therefore, meditation in one sense is the most important process, which is not easy. it is difficult process it is a very difficult process and the reason for this is very clear because our heart our mind is not clean meditation Srila Rupa Goswami very clearly says this, meditation is only possible, only possible when the heart is clean the real meditation but still, very generously Srila Jiva Goswami explains that some source of meditation are possible even for those people whose heart is not completely clean, but we have to really understand what it means. So, and meditation is... Meditation is a very special kind of activity I hope it will become more clear when we talk about this and think about this more meditation is not just recollection meditation is not just thinking meditation is something different it's switching our brain activity or our mind activity in another gear. That's why there are some important means which help us to meditate and one of most important means to help meditate is actually music. Meditation means you slow down your mind and not only slow down your mind, because if you only slow down your mind, you will very peacefully fall asleep. And we all know this kind of meditation. And Srila Prabhupada was mocking this kind of meditation. He said, yes, I'm meditating. Right. I heard them snoring while meditating. No, it's a calming of the mind, slowing down of the mind, but the mind remains very peaceful and very rhythmic. Actually, rhythm is the sign of sattva gun. What is the difference between slowing down the mind in tamagun and slowing down the mind in sattva gun? In tamagun, when you're just crushed, it's called laya. Vai means finish, you finish, your consciousness completely finish. There is no rhythm there. It's just... That's the only rhythm which is there. You are just crushed completely. Your mind is totally dull and dysfunctional. So that's not meditation. But meditation, you bring your mind into a rhythmic state. and therefore the music is very helpful for meditation therefore kirtan is such a powerful way of meditation because kirtan implies rhythm kirtan implies complete concentration and one other very important means of meditation or bringing mind into the very clear lucid and transparent light meditative state in sattva gun where sattva gun is predominant is of course poetry why Krishna is called Uttama Shloka this is one of his most famous names in Srimad Bhagavatam again and again and again he is called Uttama Shloka Because Uttama Shloka, he who is glorified in the best of the poetry, the poetry for the poet is the way to express his realization and to help us to enter into the same state. And the poetry is rhythmic. And of course Sanskrit language is the language which greatly helps meditation. So, all kinds of activities completely switch the gears of our mind. I said today that Srila Radhanath Maharaj gave me a very good lesson of meditation because meditation means to be in the present. And usually we are in the future, and because we are always running for the future, there is always this passion in the mind, and by running in the future, we cannot stay in the present, and we want to do everything quickly, and we always feel this pressure. I have to do it, I have to do it I have to do it but if somebody has very calm and translucent and very beautiful mind, he's not in a hurry this is one thing which is I love Sheila Radha but it's very difficult he's so slow he's not in a hurry But that's the lesson. That's the lesson for all of us. We are all in a hurry. And the further away we are from Krishna, the more we are in a hurry. In a hurry we are to hell, obviously. We are very quickly going there. I remember once, and of course, this is our passionate life in the cities, which is very fast. And people, they forget how to live in a natural life at present. How to bring again and again and again ourselves into the present and feeling the beauty of the present. without running to the future or lamenting about the past. I remember when for the first time I came to Moscow I couldn't understand why these people are so running. And then I came to Moscow myself and started studying this and I also started running. Because that's the mood of the place. It's a big city with a lot of passions involved. Or London, New York, oh my goodness. New York is the epitome of this. I'm sorry for all the New Yorkers who are here. But so when Sivar Adhanadmarc was going here and discussing something, or sitting just and sitting, and you know, let's go further, you know. We have something else to show. Why are you sitting? That's the difference. But by rhythm, and of course not the passionate rhythm, but by very slow rhythm. And therefore, this very beautiful word in Sanskrit, Sanskrit, rita, which means that rita means the harmony, rita means the law upon which this whole world is based. Sarvamata rita manye, Arjuna says in Bhagavad Gita to Krishna, when he heard Krishna speaking, he says, Sarvamata rita manye, I consider whatever you say is rita. basically means that's the law, that's the truth, that's the original truth which is there. So rita is a very important word and the English word rhythm is coming from this word rita. And rita basically means that you have to bring your mind, synchronize your mind, with the rhythm of this world. Or not of this world. Everyone is synchronizing his mind with the rhythm of this world. But the deeper rhythm, which is there, the rhythm of spiritual reality. And that's why all our acharyas and Sukadeva Goswami, he explains very beautifully in Simad Bhagavatam, by explaining Krishna, he explains the yearly cycle of Krishna's pastimes. This is what he is doing in Vasantritu, this is what he is doing in Grishmaritu in summer, this is what he is doing in Varshat in this rainy season, this is his Sharath. So he's explaining this rhythm, yearly rhythm. And then our Acharyas, they explain this daily rhythm of Krishna's pastimes. And there, this is Nitya Lila of Krishna, something which he's doing every day, depending on the season, there are some seasonal changes. So there are different cycles and different rhythms. but ultimately what they're explaining to us how to enter into the eternal present of the spiritual reality. By leaving behind us the material reality with its tamasic and rajasic rhythms and everything else. So meditation means to enter into this rhythm. and when you enter this rhythm you will not fall asleep it's a completely different stage of or condition of the mind so and therefore the poetry is so important therefore changing shlokas are so important therefore learning shlokas are so important because they help us they help to bring our mind in a proper condition by chanting them and by meditating on them. And they are the main object of our meditation. Our meditation on Krishna is the meditation on the shlokas of Srimad Bhagavatam. And of course, shlokas, poetry of Srila Rupa Goswami and Draganatha Dasa Goswami, these two greatest meditators who explained to us how to enter into the realm showed by Gauranga Mahaprabhu. Gauranga Mahaprabhu exposed it, showed it to the world. This is the highest possible stage of development of consciousness which everyone can reach. But then Srila Rupa Goswami showed us the way how to reach this. And for that, changing shlokas are very important. Singing bhajans are very important. So now, what I want to explain, I already said that it's one important thing which I wanted to say or to bring to you. What is the difference between Vaishnava meditation or style of meditation and the meditation which is famous in this world? Especially in the West. Nirvisesha Sunnavadi Paschatyadeh Shatarinay. Yeah. Like, once, there are so many different now. Bhakti Vaibhava, Bhakti Lata, Bhakti Shastri, Bhakti Sarvabhauma, Bhakti Pravesha. and then there is Bhakti Nirvisesha. So this is another program, Bhakti Nirvisesha. Śrīla Prabhupāda was very proud that he brought in this world a completely different understanding. And sometimes this understanding escapes us, because we use the same words and inadvertently we are using them by attributing to them different meanings, or not the original meaning which should be there. So let's try to understand this difference. And first, we know that this Sunyavada or Mayavada or Buddhism, or different kinds of philosophies which are there, which are very prominent nowadays and very popular nowadays. It's one extreme of this material reality. The material understanding, the understanding of material reality starts with materialism. This is the thesis and the antithesis of it is this Mayavad. And bhakti is the synthesis. So the thesis, the something which we all know, which is very familiar to us, and the understanding which is very prominent and which is also very familiar and very deeply rooted within our heart, is the materialistic understanding. And materialistic understanding is actually, if we formulate it very succinctly, it basically means that material world is real, the only reality is matter, and this matter is totally unchanged. It's independent. It's the fundamental reality of this world and it is not dependent on our mind. That's the premise of scientific understanding of reality. The matter is totally not dependent on our mind. We can try to study this matter, understand, investigate this matter by different means, dissect this matter, dig into this matter. But ultimately, it doesn't matter. Because matter remains the matter. Our mind is just good for nothing, but good to understand this matter. But mind is not a significant factor. That's a materialistic understanding, scientific understanding, that is naive materialism. The opposite to this, again, alternative, these two possibilities are very familiar to us. One is very familiar to us. And we can relate to it. we sometimes think that, yes, this is the reality and I have nothing to do with it and it doesn't depend on me. The alternative to this is, this is naive realism and there is naive idealism or postmodernism. Naive idealism goes into another extreme and says, very important, says that actually reality is the creation of your mind. In the extreme position, everything is just created by your mind. Everything is just the creation of your mind, and therefore meditation is very prominent for those people who follow this path, because for them everything is created by the mind, and if everything is created by the mind, let's create something else. And that means meditation. And therefore, the favorite pastime of these people, you know, just visualize. And by visualizing, you will achieve everything. Everything is just... depends on your mind. If you visualize Mercedes car, sooner or later Mercedes car will somehow appear in your garage. How... well... Just give it a little time. And if it doesn't work, it's probably because you're not concentrated enough on this Mercedes car and you're not visualizing it properly. But that's their crazy idea. There was this big book, The Secret, the main secret. Just sit down, visualize, and yeah. why because again because of this underlying understanding or the concept very important concept behind this that ultimately everything is unreal everything is just my mind and who am I? I am God because everything is the creation of my mind right? right? I created this very nice crowd of people in my mind. Yeah. And if I just close my eyes, you will disappear. If I sit long enough. And meditate on your disappearance. So, this second option, which Prabhupada was so much against it, this crazy option, people believe it. There are so many people who are completely sure that everything is just the creation of their mind. And because everything is the creation of the mind, there is a very important consequence of this understanding. Because everything is the creation of my mind, I can establish the rules which I like. the rules of morality whatever I think is moral it's moral I can change everything because everything is the creation of my mind I can change my gender because everything is within my power yeah today I'm male, tomorrow I'm female and then of course there are 50 varieties of genders nowadays you can choose and peak, anything. That's the same mentality. That's exactly the same mentality. Mentality of people who think that everything is just the creation of their mind. As the opposition of this naive materialism, they go to this naive idealism of postmodernistic ideas. You can do whatever you like. You have to respect everything. Everybody has to choose, morality is totally relative according to your whims and ideas. And what I mean to say, when the devotees come to Vrindavan and think that just by imagining some Krishna's lila, they can enter into Krishna's lila, they are in which position? Postmodernistic. Yeah. Postmodernistic. They think I will create the spiritual world within my mind because I am who? Yeah. Or very close to him. Devotives may not think that they are God, but the underlying principle is the same. If you think that you have to visualize, sometimes you hear this from people, just visualize, visualize, visualize. No. This is not Vaishnava style of meditation. What is the real concept behind this? The naive materialism say, nothing depends on you, the matter will remain no matter what you think about this. Mayavadis or Buddhists, they think, everything depends on you, on you, whatever you will create in your mind will ultimately become the reality. Vaisnavas say, no, no, neither of this position is correct, neither of this position is completely incorrect either. They are somewhat correct, yes, there is reality outside of me, there is no doubt about it. But this reality depends, the picture of this reality, this reality, the vision of this reality, my understanding of this reality very much depends on my attitude. And by changing the attitude, I change the reality. The reality can turn to me by its different faces and angles. And if I want to see the complete reality, I have to change my attitude to make it conducive for the understanding of this complete reality. Vaisnava meditation means, please listen very carefully, that's a very important thing which I would like us to understand, myself included. that Vaishnava meditation does not mean whimsical meditation on Krishna. Vaishnava meditation means that I take responsibility on myself on how I reciprocate with this reality. And by taking the right attitude, by reciprocating with this reality which is outside of myself. It's not completely the creation of my mind. It's real. It's there. The world is real. But by changing my attitude towards this reality, I can deepen my understanding of reality and ultimately, in the ultimate issue, in the ultimate end, this fullest manifestation of reality will reveal itself to me. So, Paisnava meditation means I am trying to live in such a way that my thoughts are conducive for meditation, my understanding is conducive of this world, of this reality, so that ultimately the highest reality, which is Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, would reveal Himself to me. Not that I imagine Him. In the ultimate issue, He has to be pleased by my attitude, by my attitude to the Holy Dham, by my attitude to matter, by my attitude to the devotees, to other living entities. It is said, Krishna says very clearly in the 11th Kant of Srimad Bhagavatam, He says that I explained everything about this reality, about the times, about the places, and about the vastus, the things of these substances which surround us, how you should relate to them, which are the places, the times, and the vastus with which we have to come into close contact, and what are the times, places and substances which we should by all means avoid. And by doing this, you will purify your mind. By doing this, you will please Krishna. Krishna himself says, you follow the rules. And following the rules, avoiding inappropriate times, avoiding inappropriate places, avoiding inappropriate association and the substances which are not conducive for meditation, you ultimately purify your mind. You will be able to enter into deep state of meditation and in the deepest state of meditation, ultimately as a reward to your endeavors, Krishna will reveal himself to you. That's Vaishnava style of meditation. That's what it is. It includes complete lifestyle, not just sitting here. You know, sometimes people, they are, They're smoking ganja and say it's very conducive for meditation. Because it's, yeah. Or sometimes they take this LSD and they say LSD is the greatest aid for meditation. Maybe, I never tried. But this is not the way. The way is explained like this. You follow Krishna's will. You follow Krishna's desire. You take responsibility upon yourself. Responsibility is the word from materialistic kind of vocabulary because responsibility means I'm the doer. No, I'm the doer in the sense that I know what I should do and what I should not do. And I take responsibility in reciprocating with this reality properly. And then in the ultimate end, as a reward for this, the reality will open up to me in a very amazing and profound way. So that's the difference. And therefore, this very... Therefore, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Takur Prabhupada and Srila Prabhupada were very much disgusted with this Sahajaya style of meditations. And they called Sahajayas as Mayavadis. Mayavadis disguised as Vaishnavas. And that's Mayavad. Because you think that by meditating you will open the that will be the key by imagining something you will open the door of spiritual reality. No, it's not. So let's try to understand it more deeply. Of course we don't have so much time now. I probably will not be able to explain everything which I want. I'll probably finish soon because I don't want to go into inappropriate time when the tamagun becomes very prominent. So just a few verses from Naratamdhas Thakur and from Upanishads and from Upadishamrita about the importance of meditation and why meditation is ultimately so important for us. Naratam Dastakur says, and this is a famous verse, 55th verse from Premi Bhakti Chandrika, Sadhani bhavibhyaha siddha dehi pabitaha ragamarghi e se upai Whatever you think of during your sadhana, you will attain in your siddha body. Those are the ways of ragamarga. So, yes, there is room for this kind of meditation, but let's be very careful about this. And Shilajiva Goswami in Bhaktisandarbo, he quotes the verse from Garuda Purana, very important verse, which should remind us about the importance of meditation. He says, even if you lose one muhurta, muhurta of course 22 minutes, but muhurta may also mean one moment. Ekas mean apakti kranti mukhurta dhyana varjite. If you didn't meditate on Krishna, even one mukhurta, or even one moment, what you should do? You should think that you were robbed by the thieves, by the rogues. You were robbed completely. Dasyubhir, mushetenaiva, yuktamakrai, and start crying very bitterly. I was robbed because I spent one moment of my life, which could be spent in this very important process of meditating on Krishna, I spent it uselessly. And that's the cause of very serious lamentation for us, should be the cause. So, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī is explaining to us What is the process of bhakti? The process of bhakti is to enter into this flow of meditation. And to live in this flow of meditation, beautiful flow of meditation. And it's very fulfilling and it's very pleasant to be in this flow. And of course, we will try to do it during this retreat. Actually, that's the purpose why we build this place, to help people to enter into this flow, to understand the subtle reality, and to enter into the flow, and to meditate on the words of previous Acharyas. And of course, Chandoghi Upanishad says the same thing, yaya kratu rasmi loke purusho bhavati tatheta pretya bhavati sa kratum kuritva. Whatever mentality a Jiva maintains in the world, He will be in doubt with that mentality also when he goes from this place, meaning when he lives from this current body. Let therefore the aspirant take shelter of this mentality. So the Upanishads explain this process to us. We have to be very careful. We have to be the engineers of our own mind. We have to bring our mind into this state where the higher reality will open, will be open to us, will be revealed to us. And Brihad Aranyaku Punishat says, The Jivaks, according to his desires, the completeness of these actions and consequently, completes his actions and consequently reaps their fruits. So again, we have to be very careful. And that's our responsibility. And the responsibility of Krishna is revealed, addressed to us, and he will do it, no problem, when we take responsibility on this. And the Vaishnava saying very important, Yadrishi Bhavana Yasyaya, please repeat, Yadrishi Bhavana Yasyaya, Yadrishi Bhavana Yasyaya, Siddhir Bhavati Tadrishi, Siddhir Bhavati Tadrishi, Yadrishi bhavana yasya, sidhir bhavatita drishi. Yadrishi, as how you, what is your bhavana, what is your meditation, what is your mood, sidhir bhavatita drishi, the same you will achieve when you achieve the perfection. So, and of course, that's probably the last thing which, yeah, maybe a few more things I will say. Yeah. So, and the famous verse from Upad-eśamrita, Tanama Rupa Charitadi Sukirtananu Smritiorkramena Rasanamana Sinni Yodja Tishtan Vrajeta Nanuragija Nanugami Kalamna yet, Akila Maiti Upad-eśasaram. Śrīla Rupa Goswami says, this is Upad-eśasara, the essence of all advice. This is the essence of all advice. Tan Krishna, Tan Nama Rupa Charitadi Sukirtan Anu Smrityor. Tan Nama Rupa Charita means Lila. First you start with Sukirtan. Sukirtan means, Sushtu Kirtan means complete Kirtan, means Kirtan with complete absorption. We all know when we chant kirtan, it's very easy to absorb our mind in the kirtan again because it's rhythmic, it's beautiful, it's music. And especially if the person who is leading the kirtan himself is totally absorbed in it, it becomes a very easy way to absorb. And this kirtan can be nama kirtan, can be rupa kirtan, can be lila kirtan, or can be guna kirtan. We can glorify the name of God. And this is the most important kirtan, because nam includes everything else. When we chant the nam, the holy name, everything else is included. Rupa is there, and Charita is there. And if you do Sukirtana, then Anu Smritiok. Anu Smritiok means after that you remember about this, Anu. Or Anu Smritiok means constant remembrance. Gradually, gradually you engage first your tongue and then your mind. You start talking about this, you start explaining to other people about this, and ultimately your mind will be engaged, Manasini Yodja. And then Tishkan Vrajaya, then you will come with your mind to Vraj. Tadanuragich and Anugami, you will follow the footsteps of great devotees who live here. You will become his Anugami, his follower. Kalamnayet. And this is again very important. Kalamnayet. We should dedicate all our time to this. Srila Prabhupada translates this verse. He said, 24 hours a day we have to do it. So again, that means entering into this space. That means bringing our mind into this condition where the meditation becomes the most natural. And for that, everything else is important. The food is extremely important. Everything starts with the food. If you take too many pizzas, I don't think it's very sattvic, even if it's totally vegetarian. because the natural outcome of pizza is complete. So the food should be sattvic. Everything in our life should be conducive to meditation. And ultimately, we enter into this flow of meditation, this flow of meditation in a very natural way bring us to Krishna. We don't need to do anything else. But that's the whole science of this thing. And Anu Smritiokh, again and again and again, Rupa Goswami, he stresses, emphasizes this point that meditation should be constant. Anu Smritiokh kalamna yet. You should utilize all the time which is there in this process of meditation. And of course, we have so many other important topics to meditate upon us. Now Trump is there. And it's a very intense meditation. but in reality we should try to follow the essence of all advice that is remember starting with kirtan and perhaps the last thing which I will say today because it's already late that I kind of intimated on this. I will elaborate a little bit on this. Perhaps you know that there are asymmetry in our brain. There is left brain and there is right brain. And there is a great difference in functioning of these two brains. and left brain I explained this yesterday this is the the difference in functioning of these two parts of the brain is not what thought originally and not what is very popular in the popular science the difference is the attitude towards the reality the left brain attitude is this exploitive attitude when you try to focus on something and forget about the context when you dissect the reality and concentrate your mind on some very narrow portion of reality which you want to exploit and sometimes we call this meditation when our mind is completely focused on something which is actually self-serving, when we want to do something for ourselves. And that's called exploitation. And when we look into the reality from this left brain perspective, with the attitude of left brain, we forget about the context and we only see what we need to see. And ultimately, everything loses meaning because the meaning is not in the things themselves. The very important characteristics of this left brain attitude is self-righteousness. I'm right. I know the reality. You are completely convinced, I am right, this is like this, it cannot be otherwise. Why? Because you see only very narrow dimension of reality and by concentrating on this, you imagine yourself that you know everything. Like we know scientists, every now and then, science is very much left brain production, especially modern science. Every now and then they announce, we know everything now. Like in the beginning of the 20th century, end of 19th century, physicists said, oh, you know, just a few points after the coma, maybe we can just a little bit understand here. We know the reality almost, but maybe some 0.00001% reality, we don't know. And then quantum physics was discovered and they understood. We don't understand anything. So that's the attitude. You have the illusion that you know everything, and therefore you're completely convinced I know the truth. I know the truth. and everyone else who does not agree with me, he is wrong, and therefore he should be condemned and this kind of stuff. So, and right brain sees the bigger picture, sees the context, sees the connection between the things. for the right brain it's important to see the connection and to see the bigger picture it is the better it is we were talking with him and I started talking a little bit about this he said, yes, yes, I will tell you a joke he said, once a very practical man came to a philharmonia to the concert hall where they were performing music and it was long, three hours performance and they were playing this. And after that he said, okay, I will explain to you what you should do now. First of all, there are too many instruments. You have to, you know, you're paying too much money to all these people. You know, there are some people who just play a few notes. Just get rid of them. then they repeat the same theme five times or six times one is enough don't repeat it again and again and again then there are so many pauses you can play much faster no problem ultimately you can just play this stupid piece of music within half an hour and then the rest you can just open your restaurant and get a lot of money so that's exactly the explanation of somebody with the left brain who sees this and doesn't understand what the right brain is talking about. The right brain is about the relationship. Not about the things, about the relationship between the things and how beautiful it is, how everything is interconnected and how everything has the bigger picture and how by understanding this bigger picture you can understand the meaning. Because without this relinquishing the context, you will not be able to see the meaning. And that's exactly what happens. They see this reality, they dissect this reality, take little pieces of this reality, understand them and say, ultimately, there's no meaning in this. Of course, there's no meaning. Because your approach already deprives the meaning. Because meaning is only possible when you see the bigger picture. so primarily it's the right brain function but of course with all I should say with the synthesis of the left brain understanding as I said there are this polarity this duality of this world and bhakti is the way to harmonize everything, to synthesize everything so bhakti style of meditation helps us to, from one sense, to be very real and grounded in this world and in this reality, but at the same time, not to be of this reality and ultimately to belong to the higher spiritual reality. And bhakti meditation means to become the observers, and we will speak about this at length when the time comes. We'll take the position of observer. We become sakshi. And by observing in a proper way the reality, we will understand the reality. So that's probably all I should say today because it's already late. So that's what I wanted to tell, to start, to introduce. topic of our journey thank you very much some questions questions if there is one or two we can do yeah yes i'm just trying to understand the difference between i will repeat the question to understand the connection? Because like Adidaivika, when we said, we get these impressions from the energy of the Holy Place. Yeah, Adidaivika is the subtle plane. Adibautika is the gross plane. It's made of bhutas, Mahatbhutas, something which is made of these five gross material elements which are accessible by our senses. That's Adibautika. Adidaivika is the subtle plane, in the plane of the mind. And in the mind, when the mind is purified, it's attuned, it's capable of feeling more subtle vibrations, and people who have more purified mind, they can read other thoughts and everything else. So that's more or less the attitude Attitude which helps us to feel the spiritual energy which is here. Or vibrations by our mind. But it's still not... We feel the energy within our mind. And the mind becomes peaceful. The mind becomes happy. But it's still on the level of the mind. That's Adhidaivika. And Adhyatmika is when we get the access to spiritual reality. It's a completely different realm. So it seems adyatmika is dependent on our purity? Oh, yeah. Adyatmika doesn't depend on anything else. Adyatmika is self-dependent. It can be revealed to anyone, no matter how pure or impure you are, but normal ways that you purify your heart, and then the spiritual plane reveals itself to you. Because you will not be able to really understand if your heart is not pure. But technically, it's not dependent. So it's not dependent on the purity of the heart. But generally speaking, in the normal circumstances, You have to purify your heart to get access to the spiritual reality. When we go back home and exit Vrindavan, the Adhi-Bautika level, do we aim or do we try to enter Vrindavan on the Adhi-Mikadavun or Adhi-Taj-Dikavun? No, our highest goal and aspiration is Adhi-Atmika level. Therefore, to facilitate this, we are coming to Adhi-Bautik Vrindavan, material Vrindavan, where still it's easy for us to absorb our mind when the mind naturally becomes clean and pure. Like one Brahmachari told me, it's amazing, you know, I'm in Vrindavan and I don't have any lust. Whereas when I go back, you know, immediately all these things come. So we come to the material Vrindavan, to Adi Bautic Vrindavan, to feel, to get the experience of Adi Daivika Vrindavan, to ultimately... And when we get the real experience of Adi Adi Atmika Vrindavan, then it will always remain with us. It will completely change our life. But initially we come here and we get the access, or try to get the access into the Aditya Vika plane. Yes, Manas, your name actually is very appropriate to our seminar. So Maharaj said that recollecting and thinking is not meditation, meditation is tuning in. for the process of Shruganam how does one enter into meditation? See, yes the thinking and recollecting is the entrance into meditation but we should not think that that's the only meditation, that's the meditation that's the entry point of meditation. When we start recollecting, this is actually what I'm going to explain tomorrow. I was planning to do it today but there was no time. So it's entry point. It's important entry point. Thank you. Thank you so much for your time. Or, you know, as you're sort of tuning into the rhythm of Satvagun and the previous Acharyas, and then you're also kind of still in the material world and, you know, you have to carry out your duties or, you know, do your job and you still have to be in tune with the rhythm of you know, this whole material world. Are you going to, like, balance this duality or dichotomy? There is a very famous Hungarian psychologist, Csikszentmihalyi, who wrote a book which is called Flow. And in this book, he studied many, many cases of very successful people in this world, sportsmen, businessmen, writers, and explained that, and they all, and he interviewed them all, and they all explained their experience and they say that my best performance is when I don't think rationally, but I enter into some flow. And this whole book is called Flow. And he's describing, This is a certain condition of our mind when we are very successful in everything which we are doing because we are totally focused and concentrated on this. But it's not this left brain concentration when your body is shaking and you're trying not to distract your mind. It's a different state. you're relaxed, you're in the flow, and you're flowing with the flow. So this meditation, Vaishnava-style meditation, actually does not preclude you of performing your duties. Arjuna, when he was shooting his arrows, he was in the flow. And Krishna says, you please remember about me and you fight. And fight means do your duties. Fight means do whatever you're supposed to do. But Mamanusmara, by always remembering about me, you fight. How to do this? Mamanusmara, for that you have to offer to me, Arpita, your mind and your intelligence. And that's exactly what we will try to do. So you can still remain in this very serene and peaceful state of mind and do your duty. It's possible. It's difficult. Especially because the environment is not very conducive, it's passionate and everything else. If your chief yells at you, your meditation most probably will be slightly disturbed. Yes, Tadas. Thank you very much. I wanted to ask, is it possible while you are in Holy Dham to see and feel something for which you are not ready yet? and if it is possible and if it scares you what to do then? Run away if it scares you. What else can you do? If you can't run away. You can drown yourself in your moon. No problem. No, you may have some experience which you may be not ready to do this, but just be grateful and keep the company with devotees. If you are in a company of loving devotees, then you will not be scared. Don't worry. the ultimate reality is extremely kind and merciful and when you experience love there are two experiences which are not compatible with each other love and fear when you experience the fear it means there is no love in your heart but when you experience love it means there is no fear so don't worry yes that will be the last question for today yes of course sorry I didn't see you because of this land I really was so grateful for your talk about rhythm and going into the rhythm. Thank you so much. Would you be willing to speak just slightly at least about the brahmana nectar devotion who was doing that imagination and how it became reality? Yeah, I'll do it tomorrow. I'll do it tomorrow. Tomorrow's the only day I can't come. Then for sure I'll do it tomorrow. No, sorry. I guess my own manifesting abilities are not very developed. We'll talk about this. I think we'll talk. We can always talk with you about this. Thank you very much. I actually wondered in the beginning, somehow or other, because Sivaradan and Maharaj came, I didn't say this, but I'm very grateful to all the Prabhupada's disciples who are here. I'm very humbled by their presence. I don't feel myself worthy of speaking in front of them, but somehow rather I am in this position. I would rather invite them to sit here and tell. And maybe we will have chance to do it by the end or something. Yes, Radha Prabhupada. You are telling about bhakti nirvishesh. So I wonder to know that you are working very hard, you are meditating. What will they are going to achieve? They're staying in Raja, they're doing, they're working hard. What exactly do they do? And they have good intention there, their desire is there. If it's a really good intention, Krishna will help them. There's no doubt about it. Sometimes, of course, it's not always the case. I don't want to make a blanket statement. but sometimes the intention is that I already deserve it I'm already ready to this and there is an element of pride the real meditation or entering into the flow is only possible when you are humbled by the feeling of the presence of the truth which are much greater than you and the influences so when neophyte devotees are trying to do this there is always a prominent element of pride which pushes them to do it again I don't say that it's in all the cases maybe there are some other cases but ultimately we have to by maturing in our spiritual practice to get rid of this mentality that I deserve it, I have to do it, I have to do it as soon as possible. They're trying to conquer over spiritual reality and you cannot conquer over spiritual reality. Spiritual reality has to descend upon you. What will be their destination? I'm sure their destination will be very, very beautiful. Krishna will help them. And there are different kinds of mercy which can be manifested. Once one lady devotee told me a story. She felt so proud that she's here in Vrindavan and she's so pure and she chants and she was so... She felt very good about herself. And then she, at that time there was this bicycle rickshas. You hardly see them anymore. But at that time there was a lot of them. And she was sitting on this rickshaw and she was sitting high and looking down. And she saw some, you know, hogs in the dirt of Rindavan and this and that. And she became disgusted with this. and she said and she was thinking I'm such an elevated soul and this stupid hoax that they're enjoying the dust and at this moment this bicycle rig she turned away and she found herself in the same dirt as the pigs hoax and she remembered what she was thinking the moment before. And yes, and she realized Krishna gave her very amazing mercy. Putting her in a proper position. So we are not judges. The purpose of my talk is not to judge anyone. We should not be judgmental. We shouldn't look down at other people. We should respect whatever they are doing. But for ourselves, we should understand. Maybe these people are, you know, they are great meditators. Maybe we don't say anything. Srila Prabhupada wasn't in the position to say very strong words about this, to warn his disciples against it. We should be respectful, whatever they are doing. But for myself, I'm not so elevated. like I remember once Radhanath Maharaj somebody asked him he was speaking about gossiping and somebody asked him what to do if somebody is gossiping in front of you and you cannot really stop him he said you just tell him Prabhu I am not so elevated I cannot really take part in it you please continue it yourself So basically, whatever they're doing, let them do. But Śrīla Prabhupāda was very clear, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati was very clear, and that's the science. And we will understand how the science works. If we understand how the science works, there will be no need for us to rush into this. And Śrīla Prabhupāda used to say that The fools, they rush with the angels, scared to step. So it's a very delicate subject matter. We cannot claim ourselves to be deserving to be a part of Krishna's intimate lila unless he himself says this. You can't say that I deserve it. He has to recognize it. And he does it upon the recommendation of other devotees, especially elevated devotees. That's the way to enter Vrindavan. Not just by imagining ourselves great, which is, of course, an easy way to achieve perfection. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. Thank you again, guys. I'm a Raja Ki. Yeah.