Reflections Feb09

8/14/2019 Reflections Feb09

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A Newsletter from His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swam

Aperson is said to be

still further advanced

when he regards all

the honest well-wisher, friends and

enemies, the envious, the pious, the

sinner and those who are indifferent

and impartialwith an equal mind.(Bhagavad-gita 6.9) There are

different kinds of friends. There is suhrt, who is by nature a

well-wisher and is always desiring ones welfare. Mitra refers

o an ordinary friend, and udasina is one who is neutral. In

his material world someone may be my well-wisher, friend or

neither friend nor enemy but neutral. Someone else may serve

s a mediator between me and my enemies, and in this verse he

s called madhya-stha. One may also see someone as pious and

nother as sinful according to his own calculations. But when

he is situated in transcendence, all of thesefriends,

enemies or whatevercease to exist. When one beco

actually learned, he does not see any enemy or any fr

because in actuality no one is my enemy, no one is my fri

no one is my father, no one is my mother, etc. We are all simliving entities playing on a stage in the dress of father, mo

children, friend, enemy, sinner and saint, etc.

It is like a great drama with so many characters pla

their parts. However, on the stage a person may be an enem

whatever, but off the stage all the actors are friends. Simil

with these bodies we are playing on the stage of material na

and we attach so many designations to one another. I ma

thinking, This is my son, but in actuality I cannot beget

son. It is not possible. At the utmost I can only beget a body

not within any mans power to beget a living entity. Merelsexual intercourse a living entity cannot be begotten. The li

entity must be placed in the emulsication of secretions.

is the verdict ofSrimad-Bhagavatam. Thus all the multifar

relationships between bodies are just so much stage play.

who is actually realized and has actually attained yoga no lo

sees these bodily distinctions.

-The Perfection of Y

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Krishna and Sudama displaying genuine friendship.

The Great Dramaby His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

ebruary 2009


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Humility in devotional service

with determination is a powerful

combination. When we lack

humility, then we have the tendency to

only see someone elses faults ratherthan our own. When someone tries to

show us our faults, we immediately see

it as the other persons issue. Therefore,

we conclude that we are okaybut we

re not okay because nobody in a material body is okay. If

we fully understood our faults, then we would not be in the

material world in the rst place. Krishna, in the heart and

hrough sadhu, sastra, and guru, is constantly showing us.

Humility is so signicant that it determines the degree of a

persons advancement. One who constantly looks to see what

has to be eliminated will quickly advance. Elimination comes

rst because we are already eternally connected with Krishna

nd we are pure, but this purity is covered over. Our spiritual

ife basically involves uncovering. It is just that simple and

ust that difcult. When some people are uncovered, what do

hey do? Some people who are sleeping simply become angry

when you wake them up. They want to be left alone.

For this reason, when Krishna comes, most people do

not know His real identity. They miss out because they do not

ccept how much they are prisoners and criminals who are in

llusion. The crazier a person, the more they see everyone else

s crazy rather than themselves. An insane person might roam

he streets, eating out of the garbage cans without proper clothes

on, but they notice other people, thinking how ridiculous they

re. They feel that they have a good situation since they can

leep anywhere while other people have to work, take baths,

hange clothes, etc. An insane person in such a situation really

annot change their situation because they cannot hear. They

hink they are completely sane.

The material world is just one big crazy house or prison

where the living entities are absorbed in the illusions while

imultaneously thinking of it as wonderful. For instance, when

ndra was cursed and became a pig, he thought of his situation

s wonderful. When Narada came to take him away, he thought

f the sage as a disturbance to his sense gratication. Srila

Prabhupada would sometimes tell the public, I have come to

emind you about what you have forgotten. And sometimes

t is painful to be reminded. Srila Prabhupada would explain

o much philosophy, which would disturb some people. The

deeper their illusion, the more it would disturb or even a

them to hear the truth.

Of all the elements conning us to this material pri

the false ego is the thickest. It is difcult because false eg

one of the rst things that Brahma created when he cre

the material universes. He created the misconception of bo

identicationahankara. The prison environment revolve

much around false ego.

We can even evaluate our state of humility by watc

our minds in different situations. If one of our peers is glor

in our presence, to what degree do our minds become envi

If we feel such intense envy, we can understand that we ha

deep level of contamination. We should recognize that it is

reason that we are in the material world. Attaining libera

means becoming non-envious and not seeing ourselves a

proprietors.

We can also evaluate ourselves by noticing the ex

to which we maintain the mindset of friends and enem

Krishna has said that one who is dear to Him does not h

enemies or friends. Even if someone acts as our enemy, w

not have to accept it. It does not mean that we are in deni

avoid addressing improper behavior. We address it out of

with humility by speaking truthfully, but we should try

to see others as enemies, whether they agree or disagree w

us.

We see the most exemplary humility in the beha

of Lord Caitanya during his interaction with Ramacandra P

Ramacandra Puri, who was extremely envious and devi

challenged Lord Caitanya by attempting to point out

improper behavior. At one point he saw ants and came to

conclusion that Lord Caitanya was not controlling His sen

Since they were eating sweets, according to Ramaca

Puri, the ants came. Did Lord Caitanya respond by arguin

criticizing as well? No, not only did He not defend Himself

He even changed and started to eat lessand He is the Supr

Lord. Rather than arguing, He showed us the position of

strength. When there is real strength, a person feels genui

humbled and always thinks, I want to know Krishna mowant to serve Krishna more; therefore, Krishna will help m

so many ways. A person constantly looks for ways to be f

of the illusion.

A devotee always feels very humble and is alw

thinking that he or she is the worst of all and the most fa

We see this example in the writings of the acaryas. They t

that no one is more fallen than them, and they pray for h

Conversely, the neophyte devotee not only does not acc

but he sometimes even tries to blaspheme or attack some

who tries to help him see his own suffering. When a perso

Humility with Determinationby His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami

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gets too absorbedin their mindset and in the habit of acting on

t, he or she will just try to nd faults as a way to not have to

ook at themselves and their weaknesses. It is just false ego.

But the mind could think, What if I know I am right and the

other person is just trying to put me down? Well, it is even

more of a reason to be humble and to be able to help the other

person understand what is proper by showing humility and

etting the bhakti prevail.

Lord Caitanya did just that when Ramacandra Puri

ttacked Him. In this case, Ramacandra did not even have the

Lords best interest in mind; he was just trying to demise the

devotees. However, Lord Caitanya just accepted the so-called

nstructions and made the shift in His behavior. A person

who has great strength does not get so swayed by popular

entiment, by fads, by friends and enemies. Rather, he or she

s very happy. Why? When someone is thinking that Krishna

s everywhere, is in the heart, and is calling us constantly, then

he person is always wondering why he or she hasnt gone

back to Him yet. The devotee wants to know what is blocking.

From that position we are taking the humble position, trying

o see what is obfuscating our return home. We are quick to

ook at whatever weaknesses we have, realizing that they are

esponsible for our position in this material world.

One devotee approached me the other day with fear

nd concern because he was seeing so many senior devotees all

round the world whose devotion is almost gone. New devotees

observe this phenomenon with fear and it should frighten a

devotee. He or she should wonder how such a thing happens.

A devotee should also nd ways to avoid that same result. A

devotee can think of ways to sympathize and the means to help

omeone else come back into the re of devotional service.

However, ego causes a person to think that such a situation

will never happen to him because he sees himself as different.

He sees that other people are a certain way but sees himself

s strong and immune to such consequences. However, the

ame maya is there, and she has different tricks to bring people

down in different ways. In most cases, the person who got

aptured by maya was not thinking that they were in mayauntil it became so dominant that they knew and everyone else

knew.

Many times people are in maya and are thinking they

re ne until they are so devastated that there is no way to not

ee the reality of their position. Therefore, if we dont have

humility, we will simply be a disturbance. Krishna will give us

o much assistance, but if He sees that we are not taking it, He

will help us through tough love just as a parent helps a child.

So, how powerful if we can even humbly accept

nd use the advice of a person who might not have the best

intentions. If we cannot do that, then we know we are wr

If we end up in such a situation and show enviousness,

we immediately know that our creeper is still very muc

the neophyte stage. Krishna makes it very clear inBhaga

gita 12.13-14, One who is not envious but is a kind fr

to all living entities, who does not think himself a propri

and is free from false ego, who is equal in both happiness

distress, who is tolerant, always satised, self-controlled,

engaged in devotional service with determination, his m

and intelligence xed on Mesuch a devotee of Mine is v

dear to Me.

How and where did you

the International Society

Krishna Consciousness?

It was Feb. 92 and I was ha

a crisis. A relationship had en

and I was losing the battle

depression. In counseling, I had been asked if I had plan

the future - the words stuck in my head. By that time I

been convinced about Krishna Consciousness for almost

years. In the back of my head it had been my plan for a

time. It was a plan that always ran into the same brick wa

four regulative principles. So there I wasnot doing

well and needing to come up with some real direction to k

from sliding deeper into depression. Unfortunately the

thing that inspired me seemed impossible. So I PRAYE

got down on my knees, closed my eyes, and kind of just l

all hang out. I told Krishna that I knew that I hadnt done m

with the mercy hed given to me already so there wasnt g

reason to give me more. But I told Him that I was despe

and that I knew He could help me if He wanted. In Ju

moved into the Detroit Temple full-time.

How did you meet your spiritual master?

Its funny. It was Srimad-Bhagavatam class and

expectations werent so high because the previous week H

Hridayananda Goswami had come through and had g

some wonderful classes. Since Maharaja had been an inte

part of the project to complete the translation and commen

of theBhagavatam, I was thinking that no one else woul

able to present it so well. But when H.G. Ravindra Swaru

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Devotee Spotlight: Giri-govardhana das


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Prabhu had nished his class, I was stunned by the insight and

larity of his explanations. I was hooked!

What are your current services and what services enthuse

you the most in your spiritual life?

recently had a big change in my service. After 15 yrs. in

Detroit, I joined the Bhagavat Life team. Bhagavat Life has

been holding Japa Retreats and Weekends around the country

or the last couple of years. I went from spending a lot of

ime on the altar serving the Deities to spending an inordinate

amount of time in front of a computer screen. While I do miss

he close connection with the Deities, I feel very happy to be a

small) part of something which helps devotees to enrich their

elationship with the holy name.

Can you describe a time when you faced a signicant

obstacle in your spiritual life and you overcame the

obstacle? How?

ts an on-going obstacle reallyand I think it ultimately

omes down to pride. In the beginning it was crystal clear

hat it was only Krishnas mercy that had allowed me to come

o Krishna Consciousness and only Krishnas mercy that was

keeping me. Thats no less true today of course, but I nd

myself trying to take some of the credit. Instead of feeling

helpless, I want to think that my service over the years has

omehow given me some standing in devotional service. I fear

hat I have closed myself in many ways to Krishnas mercyand have made offensesboth of which have drained some

of my enthusiasm. Unfortunately, like in the years before I

oined, I havent taken advantage of the mercy given. Thats

my biggest struggle at the momentto soften the hard heart

and feel helpless again.

What are your short-term goals in Krishna consciousness?

Long-term goals?

Taking goals to be something more realistic than hopes, andnding myself closer to the end of life than to the beginning,

want to build a foundation for Krishna Consciousness in this

ife that will allow me to carry on in the next. While there is

till life, there is still hope of becoming a better recipient of

mercy and making more substantial progress, but if it turns

out that I continue to muddle along in the beginning stages

ofbhakti, then I just want to keep the faith and carry on till

he end.

f serious doubts have arisen during the course of your

piritual life, how have you been able to combat them?

I think for me its less a question of doubt than of weak

of heart. In the Bible there is the story where Jesus stau

disciple Peter is afraid after Jesus is arrested and denies

he is his follower. He doesnt think to stop being a discipl

its more weakness than doubt. In the background at lea

feel condent in Krishna Consciousness and the path give

by Srila Prabhupada. Ive experienced enough of a chang

my life to know that it works. In that way I dont worry

maybe Ive made the wrong choice, or taken the wrong

or something. My struggle lies more in bringing that fait

bear in day to day situations.

How does your association with devotees help main

your own spiritual life/sadhana?

There are philosophical explanations for how associa

does what it does, but at the time it seems to just work

by magic. Im fortunate to have some excellent associa

right now and the effect is really amazing. Its sometweve really noticed in the Japa Retreats is how powerf

is when devotees come together for a few days of focu

association.

What do you see as the most signicant obstacle facing

expansion of the Hare Krishna movement? How do

feel that devotees can tackle this obstacle?

I think something we all can do is to step back and loo

ourselves as clearly and objectively as we can. Its hunature to be a little generous with ourselvesto play

the positives and gloss over the negatives. It makes it a

harder for us to make real progress. Even if the picture i

so prettyif we can look at ourselves honestly, we have

basis for moving forward.

envy envi, n. ill-will or hostility (obs); a feeling of discon

at the good looks, qualities, fortune, etc. of another; an ob

or person contemplated with grudging or envious feeling

wish to have or to covet someones property, good fort

skills, etc.4

Envy: The Orginal Sinby Rupa-vilasa dasa (ACBSP)


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Bhagavad-gita (7.27) states, iccha-dvesa-samutthena.

Two kinds of propensities arise in the living entity.

One propensity is iccha, which means desire to lord it

over material nature or to be as great as the Supreme

Lord. Everyone desires to be the greatest personality

in this material world.Dvesa means envy. When one

becomes envious of Krsna, or the Supreme Personality

of Godhead, one thinks, Why should Krsna be the all

and all? Im as good as Krsna. These two items, desire

to be the Lord and envy of the Lord, are the beginning

cause of material bondage(SB 3.27.20 purport)

Envy is the original cause of the living beings

bondage to matter. The living being is enslaved by the

unfortunate emotion of envyenvy of the Supreme Lord. As

Srila Prabhupada points out above, These two items, desire

o be the Lord and envy of the Lord, are the beginning cause

of material bondage. As long as the competitive desire to

be superior to others remains, the cause of our enslavemento matter remains, and from such consciousness there is no

escape.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has explained in his Sri

Caitanya-siksamrta that the anarthas (unwanted things)

which exist in our hearts are personied by the demons whom

Krsna and Balarama kill when such asuras attempt to enter

Vraja. The holy names of the Lord can swiftly destroy ourdemon-like anarthas, but due to the strength of maya, our

material conditioning, and offenses to the holy name and

Vaisnavas, the struggle may be long and difcult unless weare very sincere and determined.

The snake demonAghasurarepresents envy. The

attitude of envy, exhibited dramatically by Aghasura, is an

offense against the chanting of the holy names and to Vaisnavas,

as envy is most commonly manifested toward God and great

devotees who have dedicated their lives to the propagation of

he holy names.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura states: The devotee who

worships the holy name should rst petition the Lord for the

trength to cast out all these unfavorable tendencies andhould pray thus before Lord Hari on a daily basis. By doing this

egularly, the devotees heart will eventually become puried.

Krsna has killed a number of demons which may arise in the

kingdom of the heart so in order to destroy these problems,

a devotee must cry very humbly before the Lord and admit

defeat then the Lord will nullify all contaminations.

Envy is the original and most prominent anartha that

blocks our advancement on the path of Krsna consciousness.

Srila Prabhupada has described our existential situation as

ollows:

Since no one in this material world can tolerat

anothers advancement, everyone in the material worl

is called matsara, envious one who is not free from

the contamination of envy cannot advance in Krsn

consciousness. (SB 4.19.2 purport)

Important questions to be answered for the sin

practitioner are: how can I be rid of the contaminatio

envy, how do I deal with those who are envious, and, in

process of ridding myself of envy, how can I avoid commi

offenses while still in an impure state of consciousn

Srila Prabhupada addresses these questions repeatedly in

books.

O King Pariksit, anyone who aurally receives th

narrations concerning the characteristics of Lor

Ramacandras pastimes will ultimately be freed from th

disease of envy and thus be liberated from the bondag

of fruitive activities.

PURPORT

Here in this material world, everyone is envious o

someone else. Even in religious life, it is sometime

found that if one devotee has advanced in spiritua

activities, other devotees are envious of him. Suc

envious devotees are not completely freed from th

bondage of birth and death. As long as one is no

completely free from the cause of birth and death, on

cannot enter the sanatana-dhama or the eternal pastime

of the LordBecause the devotee knows that the Lor

is his supreme protector, he thinks, What harm can th

so-called enemy do? Thus a devotee is condent abou

his protectionA devotee must therefore be completel

free from envy, especially of other devotees. To env

other devotees is a great offense, a vaisnava-aparadha

A devotee who constantly engages in hearing an

chanting (sravana-kirtana) is certainly freed from thdisease of envy, and thus he becomes eligible to go bac

home, back to Godhead. (SB 9.11.23 purport)

In this purport, Srila Prabhupada gives the solutio

how to become free of envy: to become absorbed in hea

and chanting. The obstacle of the envious behavior of othe

addressed below:

To act under the direction of a bona de spiritual maste

with a motive to satisfy the Supreme Personality of

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Godhead is pure devotional service. But if one has a

motive for personal sense gratication, his devotional

service is manifested differently. Such a man may be

violent, proud, envious and angry, and his interests are

separate from the Lords.

One who approaches the Supreme Lord to render

devotional service, but who is proud of his personality,

envious of others or vengeful, is in the mode of anger.

He thinks that he is the best devotee. Devotional

service executed in this way is not pure; it is mixed

and is of the lowest grade, tamasah. Srila Visvanatha

Cakravarti Thakura advises that a Vaisnava who is not

of good character should be avoided. A Vaisnava is one

who has taken the Supreme Personality of Godhead

as the ultimate goal of life, but if one is not pure and

still has motives, then he is not a Vaisnava of the rst

order of good character. One may offer his respects to

such a Vaisnava because he has accepted the Supreme

Lord as the ultimate goal of life, but one should not

keep company with a Vaisnava who is in the mode of

ignorance. (SB 3.29.8)

However, disagreements and envy between Vaisnavas

can be resolved by those devotees who sincerely desire to please

he spiritual master and Krsna. Srila Prabhupada explains:

Indra decided to fall down at the lotus feet of King Prthu,

but the King was so magnanimous a Vaisnava that he did

not want Maharaja Indra to fall down at his feet. Instead,

King Prthu immediately picked him up and embraced

him, and both of them forgot all the past incidents. Both

King Indra and Maharaja Prthu were envious and angry

with each other, but since both of them were Vaisnavas,

or servants of Lord Visnu, it was their duty to adjust the

cause of their envy. This is also a rst-class example

of cooperative behavior between VaisnavasThere

is a great need to propagate the Krsna consciousness

movement in the world so that even though people

sometimes become angry and malicious toward one

another, because of their being Krsna conscious such

rivalry, competition and envy can be adjusted without

difculty. (SB 4.20.18)

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura discusses dealing

with envy and other anarthas:

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has suggested how

one can conquer lusty desires for sense gratication...if

one is determined not to live with a woman, even whil

seeing a woman he will not become lusty...The exampl

given in this regard is that even if one is hungry, if on

particular day he is determined to observe fasting, he ca

naturally conquer the disturbances of hunger and thirs

If one is determined not to be envious of anyone, he ca

naturally conquer anger. Similarly, one can give up th

desire to accumulate wealth simply by considering how

difcult it is to protect the money in ones possession(SB 7.15.22 and purport)

The indications in this purport are that it is not sim

a matter of passively waiting for purication to take place

that there must be active endeavor to control the lower

by the higher self, i.e. acting with determination, accor

to scriptural injunctions. There are many instructions a

the proper behavior of a Vaisnava. Despite the cond

of our hearts, we can adopt the process of purication

simultaneously change our modes of behavior. Munpropensities may dissolve slowly, but behavior can and mu

altered. Otherwise, we are pouring oil on the re of material

propensities and will continue to be governed by envy,

anger, etc.

Therefore, although envy is a pernicious prob

troubling to the heart, it can be overcome. First, one m

strictly apply the process of Krsna consciousness as given by

spiritual master, and second, one must alter his or her beha

to conform with the standards outlined in the teachings o

acaryas, and third, one must beg for the mercy of the Land the Vaisnavas. As outlined in the rst instruction of

Nectar of Instruction, one must learn to tolerate and neg

the unwanted urges of the mind, anger, tongue, belly,

genitals. Without controlling our materialistic urges with g

determination, our envious nature will manifest in beha

counter to our real self-interest, and, by offenses, our prog

in Krsna consciousness will be slowed or even halted.

must furthermore beg the Lord to help us in this endeavor

we must be sincere. When once questioned how to bec

sincere, Srila Prabhupada looked surprised and answered,

be sincere. There is no other formula. There is only sin

endeavor and begging for mercy. There is no other way.

Copyright 2009 Hari-Nama Press

All rights reserved. No part of this newsletter may be reproduced, stored in a retriev

system, or transmitted in any form, by any means, including mechanical, electron

photocopying, recording, or other wise, without prior written consent of the publishe

Hari-Nama Press gratefully acknowledges the BBT for the use of verses, purports a

photos from Srila Prabhupadas books. All such material are Bhaktivedanta Bo

Trust International, Inc.

Designed by Tamal Krsna dasa

Edited by Lila Katha devi dasi

Photo of Bhakti Tirtha Swami: 2005 Lawson Knight/Laksmivan dasa ACBSP

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