Cleanse the mind | NOI 07 | 16 June 2007 | Washington, USA | Srila Gopal Krishna Goswami

Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya! Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya! Om namo bahagate Vasudevaiahya! Om namoh Bhagwatai Vaasudhevayahyam! Sīvārāmānanda Mahāprabhu. So we would like to welcome everyone to the program this evening. I was going to lecture today from a verse from the Śrī Urdhvaśramaṁ, which has been published by Prabhupāda under the title of The Nectar of Instruction. This book has been presented by Rūpa Gosvāmī. We devotees of Viṣkāraṇa, are often identified as rūpānugas, isn't it? Why are we identified as rūpānugas? Because we follow Rūpa Gosvāmī. And we are also identified as prabhānugas because we follow Śrīla Prabhupāda. So Rūpa Gosvāmī, along with brother Sanātan, at one time was holding very important position with the government of Nawab Hudayn Shah. But then he resigned from his post. He had the privilege of being with Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who instructed him about the process of devotional service and instructed him to write books on the process of devotional service. So Rūpa Gosvāmī has given us Many wonderful books, but Prabhupāda specially translated two of them. What are the two? Which are the two books of Guru Mahāprabhu? Bhaktirasamhita-sindhu, presented as nectar of devotion, and Śrīyūkta-śrīmad, presented as nectar of instruction. I was personally in Los Angeles in 1971. When Prabhupāda released the Nectar of Devotion, I remember the Vātsakāmī Temple was fully packed. And Prabhupāda had just received copies of the Nectar of Devotion from Dainapon in Japan. At that time, Dainapon in Japan were printing our books. And Prabhupāda held up the Nectar of Devotion, showed it to all the devotees, and he said, This is the law book of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Every devotee should carefully study these books. So we should study these books. ISKCON actually is an educational institution where we have the opportunity to study the Vedic texts that guide us as to how human life should be utilized. The Bhagavad Gita presents the essence of the Vedic scriptures, and by studying these books, we remain on the right track and we act properly. So today we're going to discuss text 7 of the Sri Upadesha Mantra. Sad kṛṣṇa-nāma-caritā-dī-sita-bhāvedyā "Bittoh patabhara sannana rochika nu, kintāvadāraṇa anandīnam karau saiva juṣṭhaḥ, sādhikrīmad bhāvadītaṁ kadāmūlahāntre." The translation is as follows: The holy name, character, pastimes, and activities of Kṛṣṇa are all transcendently sweet, like sugar candy. Although the tongue of one afflicted by the jointness of avidyā ignorance cannot taste anything sweet, it is wonderful that simply by carefully chanting these sweet names every day, a natural relish awakens within his tongue. And the disease is gradually destroyed at the root. Om Adyam Teemran Dasya. Om Adyam Teemran Dasya. Jnanam Jnanah Sharakyam. Shakshuram Mritanyena. Dasmai Shri Gurave Namaha. Shri Chaitanya Manobhavestam. Sadvitamyena Murtale. Shri Radha Krishna Madana Sahagana Lalita. Shri Usha Kanvisamsha. Hare Krishna Karuna Sindho. Dina Manduru Jayatete. Gopeshwara Gopika Kanta. Nana Kanta Navasu. Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna! Krishna Krishna Hare Hare! Hare Rāma! Hare Rāma! Rāma Rāma Hare Hare! The Uddiyāṣrama book only has 11 verses. That's all. The Bhāgavatam has 18,000 verses, the Gītā has 700 verses, but Uddhayāśramita has only 11 verses. And each verse has a very elaborate purport. The purport ranges from 6 to 11 pages. Just to show you how important each verse is, Prabhupāda, when he would be writing these commentaries or purports, he would read the commentaries of the previous Ācāryas and take the essence from those teachings and what was necessary, and he presented it to us in the form of his purports. So when we study these books, we should study the purports also. Without the purports, you can't really understand these books. Sometimes in India we meet people who say, "Swamiji, don't you have a Bhagavad Gita with no purports?" "You have a Bhagavatam with no purports?" "I can read Sanskrit. I don't even want translation. I just want the original." So, we don't publish any books without purports. Because when you publish books without purports, that means you can make your own interpretation. And so the purports help us to understand what the Lord is saying. Now Rūpa Gosvāmī, as I said, gave us many wonderful pieces of literature. Dvāratānādaṣṭhākura in one of his prayers says, rūpa-lagunātā-padeḥ hai beya-kuti, ke beya mā hira-bho, sa yuga-laparīti. When will the day come when I will have the privilege to study the books of Rūmaka Śoavi? So it's a great privilege when we have the opportunity to study these Vedic texts. And if we study them carefully, utilize them, put them into practice, then we can perfect our life. Doesn't matter whether you are a householder or brahmachari or sannyasi, actually we all have one business. In the fourth canto of the Bhagavad Gītā, you read about the instructions of the Lord to the prachetas and not the munis. So the prachetas were the sons of King Prachina Bharishad, and they had chanted a song glorifying Kṛṣṇa that was given by Lord Śiva. And then they entered the Grihastha Ashram. Then again they came back to practice renunciation. And the Lord was very pleased by the prachetas. And the Lord said, "I am very pleased by all you brothers because all of you have only one business." And what is that? Devotional service. Because all of them were engaged in one business of devotional service, the Lord said, "I am very pleased." So similarly, in ISKCON, we have individuals belonging to different varnas and āśramas, and people belonging to different nationalities, etc. But we have one business. That is to render devotional service to Kṛṣṇa. And the medium for rendering devotional service is the chanting of the Holy Name. Without chanting the Holy Names of the Lord, there's no question of executing devotional service. I was just reading on the board behind, you have a quote from Prabhupāda's letter where Prabhupāda said, "Everybody must chant 16 good rounds." So the foundation of a spiritual life is how attentively do we chant the Holy Name. So the Holy Name is our most important business, getting attached to the Holy Name. Now, Rūpa Gosvāmī explains the following. He says, "The holy name of the Lord is sweet like sugar candy." Everybody loves sweets. Yes? Is there anyone who doesn't like sweets? All over the world, regardless of what your tradition is, whether you're Indian, American, Russian, what your eating habits are, Everybody has sweets. Am I right? Usually people have sweets after they eat. But sometimes people have sweets before they eat, like the Gujaratis. But generally we have sweets after we eat. Am I right? Sometimes they eat sweets before. But whether you eat sweets before or later, doesn't matter. The important thing is you are attached to sweets. Now people like sweets. And that's why you have so many people suffering from diabetes today. Diabetes, there are over 200 million people suffering from diabetes. And the diabetes has become such a major disease that recently the United Nations declared one day as a diabetic day. So we were love sweets. Now here, Prabhupada is saying, The Holy Name of the Lord is sweet like sugar candy. It says the character of the Lord is sweet like sugar candy. Paśyam of the Lord are sweet like sugar candy. And the activities of the Lord are also sweet like sugar candy. The point is the Holy Name is all sweet. The pastimes of the Lord are all sweet. Now the Holy Name is sweet, the pastimes of the Lord are all sweet. Now, even though the Holy Name of the Lord is sweet, the pastimes and the character of the Lord are sweet, unfortunately we are unable to appreciate the sweetness of the Holy Name. Am I right? If somebody says, "No, no, no, I'm very attached to the Holy Name," then we would bow down and say, "You have become a Paramahansa." But the reality is, in our neophyte condition, we are really, we really don't find the Holy Name that sweet. We chant our rounds, And then we think, "Oh, it's a big burden off our head now. At least tomorrow I don't have to chant." We hear the pastimes, we hear for limited time, but then we look at our watch or we fall asleep. You see people doing japa and falling asleep. You see that? You see people in the Bhagavatam class sitting and falling asleep. You do that? Do you ever see anyone falling asleep in front of a prasadam plate? I haven't seen one. Isn't it? I have never seen anyone falling asleep in the prasadam room. Why is that? Whatever it is, prasada is tasty, even to non-devotees. I had experience in a country which has strong Muslim roots. It's a part of the former Soviet Union. So, I was there and a journalist came to interview me. He was criticizing, "Why are you people spreading this in our country? We are Muslims," and so on. So, rather than argue, our devotees knew he was coming, so they had prepared some very nice cake prasad for him. So, rather than argue, we just offered him the one prasad. He was so pleased, he stopped arguing and came back for the lecture the next day also. The point is, Kṛṣṇa prasāda is attractive to everyone, to devotees and non-devotees. So here Rūpa Gosvāmī says, "The 'o' in Him is sweet, but unfortunately, Our tongue is afflicted with a disease, and the disease is called avidya. Avidya means ignorance. Vidya means knowledge. Avidya means the opposite, ignorance. Just like sometimes we have blisters in the tongue. Have you had experience of that, blisters in the tongue? So, when you have blisters in the tongue, even if somebody gives you the most palatably cooked prasad, you won't be able to appreciate the taste. Sometimes you have high temperature, and even if somebody gives you mahā-prasad, nicely cooked, you won't be able to appreciate the taste. Isn't it? Sometimes you have high temperature, you can't appreciate. Your taste buds are dead. They're not active. But then as you progressively recover from the disease, your capacity to appreciate increases. Just like Prabhupāda often used to give the example of jaundice. When you have jaundice, you can't appreciate. The sweetness of sugarcane juice. But then, as you recover from the disease of joint ache, you can appreciate the sweetness of the sugarcane juice. So Rūpa Gosvāmī is saying, the Holy Name is all sweet. The paths of the Lord are all sweet. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, you see that parikṣit-vrāda, what's fasting? Isn't it? He was fasting for 7 days from water and foodstuff. Very soon, Niranjali Kārtasi is coming on April, on June 25th or 26th. And on Niranjali Kārtasi, many devotees do total fasting. But we do total fasting, we give water, but then after 1 day you're anxiously waiting, "Oh, when will that Niranjali Kārtasi come?" it's the end and you want to drink water, isn't it? But Praśād RAVAL, he was fasting totally and he was getting such immense pleasure in hearing the Bhāgavatam that in the 10th canto he told Śukadeva Gosvāmī, "Read this guy more, more." the transcendental activities of Kṛṣṇa. He was getting so much pleasure. So the point is, these pastimes of Lord are very nectarial. But unfortunately, in our present position, we are unable to appreciate the sweetness because of our material contamination. So Rūpa Gosvāmī is saying, that because our tongue is afflicted with the disease of vidya, we are unable to appreciate the sweetness of the Holy Name. Now Rūpa Gosvāmī has identified the problem. Is there a cure? In mature life, we say that very often the problem is identified, but there is no cure. Just like there are so many diseases today. Even though on one hand, the scientists claim, and rightfully so, that many diseases have been controlled, nevertheless, so many new diseases have been identified. Is every day they're identifying newer and newer diseases. Now, in the material world, they identify a disease, but they don't necessarily have a solution. Just like cancer. The doctor will tell you, "You have this cancer." But you ask him, "Doctor, you have a solution?" No. Maybe. Then AIDS, so many diseases. But in spiritual life, the disease is identified, the problem is identified, and the solution is also presented. So Rūpa Gosvāmī has identified the problem. What is the problem? Our tongue is afflicted by avidyā. And how is avidyā manifesting itself? This avidyā is manifesting itself Through the influence of kam, krodh, lobo, madmācarya. This is manifesting through the influence of, through the agency of lust, anger, greed, envy, hatred, isn't it? In the 3rd chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, Arjuna asked, "How is one compelled into sinful acts even unwillingly?" We don't want to do what's wrong, but I still do it. Why? Because I have no control over my mind and senses. So Arjuna's question was more on our behalf. Arjuna is an eternal companion of the Lord. There's no question of Arjuna ever getting illusioned, but Arjuna was put in that condition so that an opportunity could be presented to speak the Bhagavad-gītā for the benefit of people in Kali-yuga. So in the third chapter, Arjuna asked, "How is one compelled into sinful acts even unwillingly?" To which the Lord replied, It is lust only, the all-devouring enemy of the living entity, which is always burning like fire and is never satiated. Never. We may think, "Oh, if I just engage in this activity once more, I'll be satisfied." Reality is you can never be satisfied. In the Bhāgavatam you read, King Yajñāti, who had the opportunity to indulge in unrestricted sense enjoyment for 10,000 years, still he wasn't satisfied. Finally he said, "I was like a lusty goat." Prabhupāda used to often give the example of a lusty goat. The goat's in front of the slaughterhouse, and if it has an opportunity to engage in sense enjoyment, it will do that, not realizing in minutes it's about to be slaughtered. So, Kṛṣṇa says, He's identified the enemy. What's the enemy? Lust. Then Kṛṣṇa says, where this enemy is located? Just like these days we are hunting for terrorists. So just saying there's a terrorist, Bin Laden, is not enough. You want to know where he is. Where is he hiding? Isn't it? So then you can focus. So, Kṛṣṇa says, this enemy lust is hiding where? It is operating through the agencies of mind, intelligence, and senses. Mind, intelligence, and senses are the agencies through which lust works, anger works, greed works. Envy works. Hatred, illusion, all these work through these agencies. So Kṛṣṇa goes on to say, "Mind, intelligence, and senses are the sitting place of this enemy known as lust." But then Kṛṣṇa says, "Destroy, slay this enemy with the weapon of knowledge, with the sword of knowledge." So we fortunately have the Vedic scriptures, and Prabhupāda has kindly translated them for our benefit. And if you carefully study these books, we will be able to eliminate the power of anarthas. Anartha means that which is unnecessary. Just like when we came, before we came to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, when we came to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and when you heard about the regulative principles that we follow, some of you may have said, "Oh, this is not for me." How can you live without this? I've had experience, even in India, when you tell people there are spiritual standards we follow, they say, "Oh, what's the use of living if you can't indulge in this? Might as well die." But having lived as devotees, you can see that one can easily live without this, isn't it? So similarly, we may think that you can't live without these anarthas, but you can easily live without them. And how can these anarthas be controlled or tamed? They can be controlled or tamed through the medium of devotional service. Devotional service is the power that can help you to eliminate the anarthas. Devotional service is so powerful. So Rūpa Gosvāmī is saying that even though the Holy Name is sweet, pastime, etc., all sweet, we are unable to appreciate the sweetness of the Holy Name because of the power of Avidyā or ignorance. Now what is the solution? Earlier we told you that Kṛṣṇa identifies the problem and gives the solution. So the Vaiṣṇava sages, they have identified the problem and given the solution. Just like in the Bhagavad-gītā there is a verse, deviṣa gunamāyam mamāmāyaḥ. Kṛṣṇa says, to work on this illusionary energy is very difficult. So some of us may say, if Kṛṣṇa says that it's difficult, then where is the question of our being able to overcome it, isn't it? We might as well not even endeavor. But then Kṛṣṇa goes on to add, Kṛṣṇa adds, "But if you surrender to Me, you can overcome the influence of the illusionary energy." So Kṛṣṇa has identified the problem and then also presented to us the the path by which we can find a solution to that problem. So Rūpa Gosvāmī similarly is telling us here, the Holy Name is sweet, but we are unable to appreciate the sweetness because of the disease of avidyā, because we are so addicted to the activities of the illusory energy. And because we are addicted to these activities of the illusory energy, We can't get a taste for the Holy Name. Now what is the solution? Rūpa Gosvāmī says, he says, "But by carefully chanting these names every day." So Rūpa Gosvāmī is saying, "Chant the names." When? Every day. He doesn't say, "Chant the names sometimes." Just like when Lord Caitanya was traveling in southern India, He came and stayed in the house of a devotee called Kurma. He was a Brahmin, South Indian Brahmin. And he expressed a desire that, "I should travel with You, my Lord. I don't want to stay at home in this household situation." Like householders often say when they get frustrated. So he said, "I want to travel with You." But Lord Caitanya said, There's no need to travel with me. Stay where you are but do the following. And Manuṭhāṇḍa said what? To chant the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa. So Rūpa Gosvāmī says, this disease of avidyā is conquerable. It is curable. But what's the cure? Every day chanting the Holy Name. Not only does he say chanting every day, he says chanting attentively every day. In the letter that you have posted behind in the board, Prabhupāda uses the word "good chanting," 16 rounds. So here Rūpa Gosvāmī uses the word, "By carefully chanting the holy names of the Lord." So by attentively chanting. As you know, there are three stages in the chanting of the Holy Name. The first stage is the offensive stage. The next stage is the stage of minimizing offenses. And the third stage is the— what's the third stage? Purified chanting. So initially we chant We may chant, follow some rules, not follow. I know one individual who has been chanting 16 rounds for a long time, but he can't give up drinking liquor, so he drinks also. I know one person in Moscow, he chants 16 rounds every day, but he also smokes. So one may be chanting and following one, two regulatory principles or not, but chanting is beneficial in any case. But chanting becomes more potent as you chant attentively. Then the intermediate state of chanting is the state of careful chanting, or good chanting, or attentive chanting. What is attentive chanting? I can ask this question all over the world. What is attentive chanting? Attentive chanting means that when you sit down to chant your rounds, They should be your main focus. Not that you're chanting around and doing 10 other errands at the same time. But like in the mature world, people do several jobs at the same time. Answer the phone, have a newspaper, drink tea, have a cigarette, you know, give a talk to people, isn't it? But attentive chanting means when you're chanting around, you just concentrate. When you are chanting. And if you attentively chant in the nama-bhasa stage, avoiding the 10 offenses, then you can get to the stage of purified chanting or śrīdhānāma. Now Rūpa Gosvāmī says, if you chant this holy name attentively every day, a natural relish will take place in the tongue. In other words, this disease of avidyā will get cured. How will it get cured? By attentively chanting the Holy Names. Otherwise, the disease will keep to haunt us. Just like sometimes we meet devotees who say, "Oh, I've been chanting for so many years, but my anarthas are still there." So the anarthas are there. Not because there's some defect in the chanting, not because there's some defect in the mantra. The inharita still exerts that influence because we're not chanting attentively. And what we need to do is develop a desire to chant the holy names of the Lord attentively. So Rūpa Gosvāmī is saying, by carefully chanting the holy names every day, This anartha will be cleansed and the disease will be destroyed at the root. Just like if you have a disease and you go to a doctor, you can have a doctor who will give you something superficial, or you can have a doctor who will cure you in such a way that the disease doesn't happen again. Isn't it? Destroyed at the root. So what is more important? Destroying a disease at the root, isn't it? Not just superficially. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, you read a nice story. There are so many nice stories. Jaya Sanatana Gosvāmī, as you know, was imprisoned by the king because he did not want to continue his government service. Rūpa Gosvāmī had already resigned and the king was very dependent on Sanatana Gosvāmī. But then Sanatana Gosvāmī also did not want to continue his job, so the king had him imprisoned. And when he was imprisoned, he was able to escape from the prison, and he proceeded to Varnāśī to see Caitanya Mahāprabhu. On the way, he stopped to meet his brother-in-law Śrīkānta, who told him, "What is this?" beard, long hair, torn clothes. "Come, stay with me. I'll treat you like a king." But Guru Prasada was not so interested. Rupa Gosvami, when he resigned from government service, he had a whole boat that was full of gold coins. These days you have the paper currency, and day by day the paper is getting thinner and the metallic content is getting lighter. Am I right? Even in America, the papers are getting thinner. But at one time they had the gold standard, and Rūpa Gosvāmī resigned from his government service. He had so many gold coins, the whole boat was full. Can you imagine? So, Sraddhalina Gosvāmī was staying on the way in the house of his brother-in-law Śrīkānta, who gave him a very nice expensive chādara to wear. When Śrīla Advaita Gosvāmī arrived and met Caitanya Mahāprabhu in Varnāsi, He noticed that Caitanya Mahāprabhu was staring at that expensive chādara that he wore as a renunciate. A renunciate should live a simple life, dress simply. So Śrīla Advaita Nātha Mādhava could understand that Lord Caitanya is not so happy with his opulent chādara. So he went to the bank of the Ganges where there was an old man with a torn blanket, and Sanatan told him, "Old man, I want to exchange my expensive blanket for your torn quilt." The old man said, "You must be joking. You're going to change your old— my new blanket for my old quilt?" He said, "No, I'm not joking." So then Sanatana wore the old quilt and appeared in front of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And when Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw him, he was so happy. He embraced him and he said, "A good doctor doesn't cure a disease and let the cause of the disease remain. He also cures the cause so the disease may not reoccur." So here Rūpa Gosvāmī is saying that we are afflicted by the disease of vidyā. Therefore, we don't appreciate the sweetness of the Holy Name. But if we regularly, attentively take to the chanting of the Holy Name, then This avidyā disease will be cured. And the disease will get cured at the root. And we will be able to appreciate the sweetness of the Holy Name. Just like the Bhāgavatam says, śrīmad-āsṭvākatha-kṛṣṇa, unyasya vanakīrtanā, helānda-sva-vadrāṇi, nodyaśura-svatām. So this chanting of the Holy Name is our most important business. And every devotee, whether regardless of whether he's a senior or a junior devotee, his focus should be, how can I improve the quality of my chanting? And we have to recognize that we are afflicted by the disease of avidyā, and the cure is As Rūpa Gosvāmī is prescribing here, attentive chanting of the Holy Name. The Holy Names are all-powerful. Nama cintāmne kṛṣṇa cetera rasa-vigrahaḥ purna śraddha-nitya-mukta-bheda-tvām nama nāmināḥ. The Holy Name is all-powerful. The Holy Name is complete. The Holy Name is as like a cintāmni touchstone. A touchstone. Wherever it touches, it converts that thing into gold. The Holy Name can give one eternal liberation. And the Lord is non-different from the Holy Name. Kali-kali-dāma-rūpa, Kṛṣṇa-avatār. The Lord incarnates. How? How does the Lord incarnate? He incarnates in His Holy Name. So Rūpa Gosvāmī is saying that these anarthas have to be eliminated at the root. In the Bhaktirasamrta Sindhu, Rūpa Gosvāmī explains, quoting from Niskandha Purāṇa and Pāñḍma Purāṇa, how when we perform a sinful activity, the reaction is to be experienced in different stages. Some activities that we perform, reaction is already felt. Some is about to be felt. Some are lying dormant. Some are gradually beginning to fructify. But definitely the reaction will be there. But Kṛṣṇa says, "If you surrender to Me, then what will happen?" If you surrender to Me, I will protect you from all types of sinful reaction. So what is needed is The destruction of the tendency to commit sinful activities at the root. And that is possible by attentive chanting of the Holy Name. Prabhupada used to give, Prabhupada gave us an example once. He said when he was studying in Scottish College, Calcutta. Prabhupada studied, at the time Prabhupada studied in this college, Scottish College, even the professors used to come from Scotland. So Prabhupāda said he had a professor who would explain that you should always aim to get more marks than you will actually get. Let's say your pass requirement is 50%. If you say, "I only want to get 50% in my exam," you'll probably fail. If you say, "I should get 80-90%," then you'll come somewhere near it, isn't it? So Prabhupāda said, if we only say, "I'm going to chant 16 rounds and no more," then you won't even do 16 good rounds. But if we say, "We're going to chant all the time," then you'll end up with at least 16 good rounds. So the point is, what is being stated here is the Holy Name's character and the passion to the Lord. The passion to the Lord, that's so nectarian. But as we said earlier, Prasad Raaval was fasting, steadily told Śrī Kulaivirāṣmāmī, "Please describe more, more, more." We hear for a little time and we get tired because we don't have a taste for the Holy Name. So we need to develop a taste for the Holy Name. One may be initiated, but that doesn't mean he has a taste. One has to endeavour to get that taste. And that endeavouring process is being described in this verse. So if we sincerely chant the Holy Name, we hear every day the glories of the Holy Name. You read Prabhupada's books, you read about in almost every purport the glories of the Holy Name. Tāgrabhakti Vinod gave us many wonderful compositions, but in one of his compositions, Jīv-jāgo, he very nicely says, Kedābhu kaniṣṇaṣo jīv-jāgo jīv-jāgo, no return the moment. You may say, "But I'm already awake. Can't you see that?" We may be physically awake, but spiritually we are snoring. So, we need to be woken up. You know, we are in deep sleep. You know, sometimes President snores, and when you fly on a plane, sometimes you see people snoring right on the back, and you can hear it. Some people are in such deep sleep. So, they need to be woken up. Tākya Prasāda says, 'I have brought the medicine to cure the disease.' And what is that medicine? The Holy Name. And where is the Holy Name coming from? Coming from the spiritual abode. So he says, 'Falling at the feet of the Lord, I beg for the Holy Name.' So we have a tendency to beg favors from individuals. We come in contact with a big man, famous man, we look for some opportunity, how can I beg for a favor. But what we should be begging is for the Holy Name. What we should be begging for is the— what we should be endeavoring for is to improve the quality of our chanting. We should not be complacent, "Oh, I am initiated, I am chanting 16 rounds." We should constantly be examining, "How good is my chanting? What more can I do to improve the quality of the chanting?" They would talk to Rukmini Devi and say, "Bhītāko bāni tāko, sadhāi haribholi tāko." Doesn't matter which ashram you belong to, take to the chanting of the Holy Name. Whether you're in happiness or in distress, take to the chanting of the Holy Name. Generally, when we are in happiness, we have no time for the Holy Name, isn't it? Do you ever see the very wealthy come and spend time on the Holy Name? And is there any shortage of wealthy people on the planet? No. But they have no time. I was reading that recently there was a pen manufactured by this Montclair company and they sold that pen for $700,000. $700,000 for one pen. So I'm saying there's no shortage of wealthy people. But did they ever have time for the Holy Name? There is no time. But He says, "Whether you are in happiness or distress." When we are in distress, we have a tendency, if your karma is pious, you turn to the Lord. Therefore, Queen Kunti prays, "My dear Lord, please increase my calamities. Because when You increase my calamities, I meditate more deeply at the Lord's feet. And the more I meditate, the faster will I get freedom from." the cycle of birth and death. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is presenting the art of chanting as a means of self-realization. Caitanya Mahāprabhu had predicted, "Prithivi-dācyi tasa-nagarā-dhigram sarvata-prachāra-ebe moranām." As many towns and villages as there are, the holy name will be chanted. Today living in America, you may not have that experience, But all over the world, you can virtually go to any corner of the world, and you'll find people chanting the Holy Name. And why are they chanting the Holy Name? Because it is giving one peace of mind. If we chant attentively the Holy Name, we will be satisfied. Otherwise, it doesn't matter what you achieve, you will never be satisfied. In the 8th Canto of the Bhāgavatam, you read the story of Lord Vāmandeva. How the Lord incarnated as Vāmandaiva and came in the sacrificial arena of Bali Mahārāja. Bali Mahārāja was very impressed by the beauty of the Brahmin boy. He said, "Please ask me for any charity you want. What can I do for you?" The Brahmin boy said, "If you want to give me some charity, just give me enough land." 'When I can keep 3 footsteps.' And the king said, 'You don't look intelligent to me. When you come to a big man, you don't ask him for some grains of rice. Ask him for something more.' And then Rāma Deva spoke as follows. He said, 'One who cannot control his mind and senses will not be satisfied Even if you give him the wealth of the whole world. And one who can control his mind and senses will be satisfied in any condition. Prabhupāda used to give the example of the Gosvāmīs of Vṛndāvana. They renounced their opulence. Rāgānada Gosvāmī was the son of the richest man of that time. They went and lived in Vṛndāvana being madhukārī. And they were very satisfied. Why? Because they took under the chanting of the Holy Name. So we should not be under any illusion to think that material facilities, the material means is going to be the medium to happiness. The real medium to happiness is the chanting of the Holy Names of Kṛṣṇa. Everyone sitting here knows the value of chanting, but unfortunately we don't always understand the value of purified chanting. So our purpose in presenting this talk today is to emphasize not only chanting, but attentive chanting, careful chanting. Because unless we get to the stage of attentive chanting, you will not be able to overcome the influence of Manahata. You will not be able to develop pure love of God. And if you can't develop love for the positive, your attachments to the negative will continue. So what is chanting is beneficial in any situation. Once there was a movie shah in India. He made a movie called Hari Rama Hari Krishna. He made this movie right after Prabhupada came to India with his Western disciples. When Prabhupada came to India with his Western disciples in 1971, it created quite a stir in India. Prabhupada was having big festivals with 30,000, 35,000 people every night. Bombay and Calcutta and all. So the movie was called Hari Rama Hari Krishna. We never saw the movie, but we did hear that in the movie the good thing is the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra plays in the background. But the bad thing was they showed that people get drugged up and then they chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. So I went to Prabhupāda and I said, "This movie is going to give our movement a bad name." That time our movement was brand new in India. Prabhupāda said, "No, nothing will be lost. People will hear Hare Kṛṣṇa and benefit." So the Holy Name is beneficial in any situation. Prabhupāda said, "If a drunkard says, 'The taste of this liquor is Kṛṣṇa,' he's making advancement." So the Holy Name is so powerful. Knowingly, unknowingly, doesn't matter how you chant, it's going to be beneficial. But as devotees, we obviously want to make spiritual advancement, develop love of God. So what is essential is attentive chanting of the Holy Name, and then that will cure the disease root, cure the disease of sense enjoyment at the root. And that is the paste through which you can eliminate your blisters, and then you'll appreciate the sweetness of the Name. And as you appreciate the sweetness of the Holy Name, you also appreciate the sweetness of the pastimes of the Lord. The character, etc., of the Lord. So attentive chanting should be your main focus. Hare Krishna.