Q&A session

and Bhutani Shivam mitva udiya manasca vadram vajatattada uksajya aleshitam naumati rāpyahaitu ki All right. Hare Krishna. Recording in progress. Yes. I am very happy to know that you are here. I cannot say that I see all of you. It's 60 participants. My goodness. Okay, but I see Lakshmi Moni, my humble obeisance is to you. All right, so I'm ready to... We don't have so much time, but we have at least 35-40 minutes, so we can start. Yes, yes, Rupanuga. Prabhu. Hare Krishna Maharaj. Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. Happy to see you. Hare Krishna. Yes. Maharaj, my question is related to chanting. Hope you can hear me Maharaj clearly. Yes, very clearly. Okay, good. So, my question is related to the Japa. We chant and we hear like there is a consciousness with which like we chant, we approach or we mean holy name and Pau Bhat mentions like how do we address Hare and how do we address Krishna and how do we address especially Rama so like now according to the different relation, different rasas the devotee approaches the holy name differently like we hear about the Godia Vaishnav tradition like we approach Rama as a Radha Madhau or Radha Raman, like it's a total Radha Krishna. And if someone is in a relation or want to approach Supreme Lord in a more of a friendship relationship, Maharaj, so then the mantra nature or the name or the meaning of the mantra would be different, Maharaj, or according to the different Rasas, it will be different because it's a name which is living, like it's existing, like you are talking to someone. I hope you got my question, Maraj. Yeah, you are exactly right. You know, Krishna and Krishna's names are the same and he has so many different dimensions and he reciprocates accordingly, as he himself says, So if you mean by Rama Balaram, it's fine. Krishna accepts this and he will reciprocate with you accordingly. So that's why mantra is... How shall I say this? it's a subject of your it's not like fixed sentence in Sanskrit it has many dimensions and therefore many different people can use mantra according to their nature and for some people say that Rama is Ram is Lord Ram So, you know, whatever meaning you invest into mantra, Krishna will reciprocate. But we have the particular concept which is transmitted within our Sampradaya. And in our Sampradaya, it's of course, by Rama, we mean Radha Raman. So, if we strictly follow Sampradaya, the school of thought, then this should be the meaning which we invest in mantra. But again, as you said, within our sampradaya there is room for sakiras, and in this case the meaning may be changed. Yes, who is next? Somebody should... Ramananda Prabhu. Oh, Hare Krishna Maharaj, please have my humble obeysences. Maharaj, I have four questions. How many can I ask? Somebody tells me one. The Pramod tells me one, but you can start with one. Okay, all right, so I'll ask my first question. So as far as Brahman, Paramahman, Bhagavan realization, of course, we understand according to the example, according to your proximity, you know, like the train coming from a distance, everybody understands that. But devotees that I have asked, every single one, says that you don't have to go through different stages of realizations, that when you realize Bhagavan, then it's just like the sun. You see the sun yourself, everything else. It just pops out. So my speculation is that, no, it's more like the dawn gradually rising, and then the sun pops out. Just like you realize everyone is spiritual, everything is spiritual. You realize the Lord's in everyone's heart, and then gradually then you can see the Lord with your own eyes. And the proof is in Lord Kapiolati's teaching in the third canto where he says that if you perform deity worship, but don't see the Lord everywhere and in everyone, then it's like pouring ghee on ashes. So, please. It's not the only proof. I completely agree with your understanding that in our spiritual development we have to realize at least to a certain extent the unity of all things, which is Brahman. Without realizing this, it's very difficult to approach Bhagavan. And the main proof, in my humble opinion, is... Well, it's not my opinion. The main proof is the teachings of Lord Chaitanya to Rupa Goswami, He explains this metaphor with Bhakti Lata Beach. And he says that Bhakti Lata, while growing, first reaches Paravyoma, which is the realm of Brahman. Then it reaches the planet of Aikuntha. And then it takes shelter at the lotus feet of Lord Krishna himself. So this realization of bhakti has to be gradual. We are approaching the Lord and you cannot really just jump to Bhagavan realization. It's a certain qualification you need. So I completely agree with your understanding. This is more correct. Wonderful, thank you. Can I take one more? Yes. Okay, so the jiva is Satchirananda, which is synonymous with Sandini, Sandvita, and Ladini. There's no difference. But if there is a difference, would it be that the Sandini, the Sandvita, and the Ladini different aspects of the sarup shakti, whereas Satchitananda is a minute portion belonging to the jivas, just like you've got the ocean, the reservoir, and then you've got a drop. Or is that just speculation? No, it's not speculation. It's Satchitananda means exactly this, that you, because you are a minute portion of the You have the same spiritual composition, so to speak, or the same spiritual nature or structure. And some people say that it's only Sat or Sandini aspect which is fully developed in Jiva. and Samvita and Hladini are in the process of making. But according to strict quotations from Shastra, Sat Chita and Ananda are already there in Jiva. So the minute portions of these energies are there in Jiva. Thank you, Maharaj. I still have two questions, but I'll wait. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Tomorrow or the day after, let's see if tomorrow I will be in the position. But anyway, yes, Smriti. Hare Krishna Guru Maharaj. Hare Krishna. I hope you are doing better. Please accept my humble obeisances. Thanks to you. I feel deeply inspired to read the Mahabharata. So my question is related to this. After the burning of the Khandava forest, Indra agreed to grant Krishna and Arjuna a boon. So Arjuna asked for celestial weapons and Krishna asked that his friendship with Arjuna may last forever. Why did Krishna favor Arjuna, favorite friend of Arjuna so much among all the Pandavas? and does God love his devotees only because of Sambandajyan, our eternal relationship with him, or also because of our unique characteristics and personality, like our sense of humor, gentle nature, bravery, artistic abilities, or are these all meaningless because it's just our material lives and our existence in the material world. It's not spiritual in nature. Thank you so much. No, of course, Krishna and Arjuna, they have eternal relationship and every living entity has unique eternal relationship with the Lord. And there are, of course, different degrees of closeness and somehow rather the Lord likes Arjuna very much, and therefore he says among Pandavas... Yeah, I am Dhananjaya. So, I am Arjuna. Why he likes? Well, it's not the correct question. Because he likes. He doesn't need any special reasons. Yes, because Arjuna is... because of so many qualities which you mentioned, and because this is a very special relationship which they have. And again, on a superficial level, because they are of the same age, so to speak, so they are more close. Like Yudhisthira, he is older than Krishna, and therefore the relationships are somewhat more distant with Yudhisthira. Even though Yudhisthira accepts Krishna as the Supreme Lord, still Krishna pays obeisances to Yudhisthira. Therefore, these formalities, again on a superficial level, do not allow closeness. Whereas in Arjuna there is no impediment in the case of Arjuna. And also with us, does Krishna love us just because of some Vandaya, because we are a small spark of him, or does he also see our personalities in this life, how we are? No, we're all unique. Even though we're sparks, if we study the reality, we can see that even Even though we tend to equate everyone, we tend to consider the universals, like everyone is a living entity or all the trees are trees. In reality, everything is unique. There is no such thing as a tree. Every tree is individual. In a tree, every leaf is individual. Even though they are similar, but they are completely individual. And in the leaves, the little cells are also individuals. So even though we are all spiritual sparks, we're all unique. And this uniqueness is sometimes overlooked. It's typically a Western kind of approach. In Western approach, we tend to see through this principle of Samanya, the universals. Everyone is like the same, all atoms are the same. Actually, every atom is unique. So that's the nature of reality. And what to speak about the spirit souls. Spirit souls are also, they're all unique and therefore they all have their unique relationship. And this is explained figuratively in the 10th canta of Simad Bhagavatam where Krishna is sitting there in the center and the cowherd boys are sitting in rows around him. But Krishna is looking directly into each and every one of them. And each and every one of them thinks that Krishna is looking at me only. And during rasa dance the same thing happens. You know, Krishna is dancing individually with every gopi in the rasa dance and every gopi thinks, you know, Krishna is only dancing with me. And so that's the beauty of Krishna. He can reciprocate with unlimited number of living entities in a very unique and individual way. Thank you so much, good luck. Yes, Manohar Krishna Prabhu is the next according to Zoom. Hare Krishna, I have my Raj Denrad Pranam. Hare Krishna Denrad Pranam. My uncle, I have a question to you and all the Vaishnavas on the call. Raj, I have a question. In this entire cosmic and adhyatmic universe, Bautic and Adhyadmic universe broadly things everything is quite right into two different entities that is Purusha and Prakirti and Krishna is the only Purusha and everything else comes under the Prakirti. So once we see Radha Rani, how do we see Srimati Radha Rani as so though she is a part and partial of Krishna only, should we consider her as Prakriti or Purusha? She is Krishna's energy and being Krishna's energy, she belongs to the category of Shakti. So she is not Prakriti, you cannot say that she is Prakriti because Prakriti means material energy. And this duality developed by Sanche philosophers between Prakriti and Purusha is specifically for this material creation where the living entity plays the role of Purusha and Prakriti is material nature. But Shimatiratharani is not Prakriti, she is the origin of the the origin of the origin of Prakriti. So she is the original energy of love, but she belongs to energy category. Thank you, Maharaj. But not Prakriti, by far. Thank you, Maharaj. Yes. Shiva Kumar. Shiva Kumar. Shiva Kumar. Shiva Kumar. Shiva Kumar. Ari Krishna, my name is Madhava. So, you may have to please have some humble voices in your name. Yes, my humble voices. Yes. Maharaj, one question I had, Maharaj, of the three levels of realization, the Brahman, Paramatman, and Bahavahan. Our Siddhanta is the Brahman realization is partial and then the full complete realization is Bahavāna and in between is this Parthama Mahāma. So I was just thinking Maharaj when somebody is just satisfied with Brahman realization. He is just a spirit soul but he is not a servant of Krishna. when he stops with this realization and i was just thinking at that point he not only stops his realization of the absolute it just doesn't it could be he was a simple maybe you can switch off your camera your voice is breaking maybe you can switch off your camera because i didn't hear completely your question. Yes, Maharaj. Please switch off your camera. Yes, Maharaj, I switch it. Is it better, Maharaj? It is better. Yes, Maharaj, I have switched it. Yes, it is better. Yes, yes. So, I was just asking, the three of the three levels of realization, when somebody stops at realizing Silt has spirit soul and he does not want to go beyond the interpretation that he is servant of Krishna. There are some problems with the connection with this. Yeah, maybe you can type your question on the chat and I will read it. Then Dvich Ntamani is there. I'm here. I'm very happy to see you in good space. My question is, am I audible? your audible and uh um i just heard a bit of a class my mom was listening in the morning and you have mentioned there that people are struggling with anger control and i made it deeply and you maybe might suggest me some practical steps or advice to manage because i get sometimes uncontrolled anger which i regret later i go and speak with people who i might say harsh words and i don't really know what to do with this after so many years of practice again so your question is how to deal with angry people or how to control your own anger i i didn't My own. I have a temper. Oh. Well, I'm sure I will not say anything new by answering your question, but the anger is a manifestation of our understanding that we are controllers. That everything should... Unfulfilled desires, true. Yeah, unfulfilled desires ultimately. And, you know, this subconscious understanding that everything should be the way I want it to be, and everyone should be the way I want them to be. And things like this. We have expectations and even demands. So the only way ultimately to deal with this problem at the root is to say that I'm not the doer, I'm not the controller. Ultimately, you know, Krishna is behind everything. Unless you see that Krishna is behind everything, you will be angry. And ultimately you will be angry at Krishna because it will never be the way you want it to be. It's always something different and we become angry and ultimately we are angry at Krishna. Today I started listening to some fifth canto classes to meditate. And in the very beginning Lord Brahma comes to Priyavrata and he says, It says you should not be angry at the fate. You should accept whatever you're supposed to do. You should accept the reality. You should accept your fate, because ultimately it's good for you. If this understanding is there that whatever is happening is good for us, why are we angry? because we think that it's not the way we want and it's not it should be. So if I understand that it's the way, it's the best way, and it should be like this, then the anger will be a little less. Just say, Krishna is behind this. understand this logically fully get it, but in the moment it is really easier said than done. In the moment that all the intelligence is covered and memory is gone and only thing that is there is this destruction power, destructive power that something is not as I need it to be. And Krishna himself says that after anger, Dhyayata vishayam pumsah sanghasthishupajayate sanghasanjayate kamah kamah krodha bijayate krodhat bhavati sammohah. From krodha, from anger, sammoha, bewilderment or complete covering of consciousness takes place. So, therefore, when you are angry it's too late and the chain reaction already started and you cannot stop it in between. Therefore, you have to work when you are not angry with your consciousness by explaining that everything is fine, everything should be. When the anger comes, it's too late, I agree with you. But the work should be done before that to nip the root cause of anger, which is the desire to control things. I am not the controller, I am not the doer, I am not the main person, everything should not be the way I want to be. So, start doing it with the small things, then ultimately you will be able to do it in real-life situations. Thank you very much. This is very helpful. Next, we have a moment to have a question. There are... Okay. So there is this question from Shiv Kumar. Of the three levels of realization of absolute truth as Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan, and one who chooses to stop with Brahman realization is considered to be partial or incomplete, that his realization is spirit soul and not as a servant of Krishna. At this point in Sims, Jiva not only chooses the realization of absolute truth to be limited, but also his own self to be just spirit soul and not more than that. Does this mean the scope of realization is limited not only on the absolute truth, but also on the choice, but also the choice is limited how we want to realize his own self. Yes, absolutely. Are we? No, that's something different. Yes, we are free. And if we want to stop on this level, Krishna gives us the facilities for this. Krishna gives us the practices. Krishna sends the spiritual masters who teach you. There are so many Mayavadis who teach you that you are your spirit soul and your spirit beyond matter. So that's definitely your choice. And if there is no association, most probably... This is a very comfortable choice, just to be a spirit soul. It's a very comfortable choice. Yeah, what can I say? But you are free to choose, there is no doubt about it. And Krishna gives facilities for you to choose. So how shall we do this? Shall we alternate? Because there are some questions on the internet. We will take hands up. Hands. Then Tadas is next. And then Ramananda is... And then we will ask this. Yeah. Tadas, yes? Hare Krishna Guru Maharaj. Yes. Hare Krishna. Yes, Hare Krishna. Happy, happy to see you. Yes. So my question is related to your, in several of your lectures, I've heard about the position of witness, like to witness what's happening around you, right? Not to be attached to your body, but somehow to disattach by witnessing what's happening with your body and with your mind. And such practice should help you to understand, to get basically Vigiana that you are not this body. Right? Yeah. Which I'm trying to do. And actually it's quite interesting. I like it basically. I like to do that, to be in that witnessing position. But what's happening with me, actually, so I started to recognize that I have enough will or power to witness myself what's happening with me. But in that witnessing position, I do not have enough strength to change something. Like, for example, if my body is willing to do something, I'm witnessing that, but I do not change. I do not want to change anything what my body wants to do. Somehow it happens that we live two separate lives, like roommates, my body is doing whatever he needs, and I do whatever I need and somehow we try not to interact with each other, not to gain each other way. Which I do not mind, but then recently I was listening to your other lecture on the crisis, on spiritual path, compare the development of small child through the stages and the development of a devotee. And you mentioned that crisis on the spiritual path are very good and very welcome, and And there you said that if you're passing the prices properly, then two outcomes there are. You are become wolesome, which means that your inside and outside becomes the same. And then also you are become integrated into the devotees' society, which means that you are like to serve. and so on, so on, so on. So from that, I see that because I'm quite enjoying living this, you know, like life when I'm not wholesome, basically, because my internal myself and my body are kind of separate. So what I want to say, I see that somewhere I failed, you know, with that crisis in my life. And I do not know where, and I do not know what to do because you know from what I understand this is not right right okay okay so what I will do because it's already 7 30 Indian time I will answer your question and the question by Krishna Kamini long question and please save other questions till tomorrow or the day after when we meet so regarding your question the sakshi bhava the position of an observer it is explained basically by Lord Krishna in the fifth chapter of Bhagavad Gita where Krishna says that at one point the jiva who is living in this body with nine gates is just observing what body is doing. The body is eating, the body is sleeping, the body is evacuating, and the jiva is just observing this. So this position of observer or witness or sakshi, sakshi bhava, this is what they practice in mindful meditation also. This is more or less Buddhist sort of practice. You just observe what is going on and you try to stay detached from it. But in our case, this is... What shall I say? this is when you observe what is going on with the body it basically gives you control over the body because only if you have the point of view outside then only you you get the instruments to control, to control your mind, to control your body. This position of observer or witness, as you say, Sakshibaf, is not just to have fun and kind of look, this crazy mind is doing his crazy things, you know, so nice. This is not for this purpose. The real purpose of being in this position is actually ultimately to gain control over what your body or your mind is doing. If you see that the mind is doing something stupid, you should say, you know, my dear mind, You know, this is not good. I see. Please don't do it. It's like when a child is alone and nobody watches him, then the child will do all kinds of nonsense. Yes, exactly. But when the child knows that somebody is observing him, that somebody is witnessing him, as you say, or somebody is overseeing him, that he behaves nicely. So this position of being an observer is only necessary to ultimately gain control over the mind and the body, not just to let them do whatever they like. So this is your next step. First you separate yourself, but then try to also control your body and your mind by using this as an instrument. Okay, so I will only answer another question and we will have plenty of time to meet again. I am really sorry I was late today, but because Krishna Khamenei wrote her question long back, I will answer it. My question is about how to overcome one's offensive nature. I have an example of one devotee who left his practice because he started to commit offenses. The interesting thing is that when an astrologer was checking his chart, he could see that he was a serious practitioner in his previous life. However, he left the practice because of serious offense. In this life he had a chance to continue his spiritual path. And after meeting the devotees in this life, his practice also very quickly became intense with preaching and following everything. But within a few years, offensive mood came back and he couldn't resist it. And now he came back to his material life with hate towards everything related to God in his heart. One example, it seems to me impossible to overcome this situation, to really get back to spiritual path. Is it really so or there is some solution to this kind of situation? Yes, there is a solution to this kind of situation. Universal solution. You please save all your questions for tomorrow or the day after. Yes, we are conditioned. And yes, sometimes our conditioning is very, very strong. Because we committed very serious things in our previous lives. And the only solution against all these problems which will be coming, and which astrologers can see, is the association. If we sincerely appreciate senior association, and if we strive, and if we cherish, if we value association, then the offensive nature will be subdued. We all know that when we deal with our peers or with somebody, then we may become a little negligent or contemptuous or familiar with them. But if we see somebody who is higher than us and we really appreciate his position, then When we try to behave nicely and we subdue our offensive nature, we become very respectful. So I don't know exactly the details of the story of this particular devotee, but if he would be more conscious in his interacting with, at least with those more advanced devotees whom he met, he could have subdued his nature. And ultimately, we can overcome our nature. For that, the position of observer, which was there before, asked the previous question by Tadas. You know, we can observe the tendencies which are there. The offensive tendencies are very clear. And we have always to be in this neutral position, in the sense that we are standing not within our mind. If we only trust our mind, then we are totally dependent on our karma, on our chart. But Shastra is there, and senior association is there, and this facility to observe the tendencies which we have and subdue these tendencies is also there. So if we want, we can subdue. But we need to desire strongly. And sometimes the nature is even stronger than our desire, but we can develop good spiritual desires by reading Shastra, by associating with devotees, especially more advanced devotees. But there is no other solution. If we only trust ourselves and if we become proud, then of course we will become offensive. But if we remain humble, then the humility which is coming in the association of the devotees can subdue our offensive nature. There is no other solution. There is no other solution. There is no other solution. So, again, I'm really sorry for all those who already have raised their hands, but we will have a chance to meet soon, maybe even tomorrow or the day, for sure the day after tomorrow. I'm not 100% sure about tomorrow. But now I really have to go. It's late here. So, again, thank you very much for everyone. for taking part in this session. I'm surprised 75 people now here. Okay, thank you. Hare Krishna.