Lecture | Live Now @ legacy elementary school | Srila Gopal Krishna Goswami

Hello, everyone. Welcome everyone to the program evening. I understand that we have a program Every Sunday at this location, you school and you rent the hall every week. And the preaching has developed in many parts of the world. We started off by renting halls, engaging everyone in mixing up words, and then one day there will be a temple in every home. Is anyone in the audience is coming for the first time in ISKCON program? You actually— we in ISKCON, very fortunate. We are very fortunate. Can you hear me in the back? I heard a voice in the baby. I think I went back to what have we gone. So, very fortunate that you encounter with Prabhupāda's movement. Prabhupāda gave us the real truth and he never worried whether people except for Nana. As you know, he started in India with Saraswati Krishna Goswami, and then he came to the West. And when he came to the West, he had to start up his own movement. He didn't have a place to open. The main preacher told him, "Shanti, you preach this philosophy, people will love it." He chose to become a modern man. But Baba did not talk about it. When Baba went to the Shiva shrine, he had a photo and he asked them, "What should be the order of the flagging?" They said, "This way." And then as he walked forward, the Lord had to be Prabhupāda books are very unique. They're unique because they are— Prabhupāda, they worked hard to present this book as it is. And I'm sure many times people will be asking you, Why is Yogīda called Bhāvāgīda Adhita? You ever get asked that question? Usually everywhere I go people ask that question. And Prasad Raaval explains in English in the Bhāvāgīda Adhita. He presented this to an aspirant of Krishna School, and then he got accepted. This is the appearance of Bhāvāgīda. I can answer all your questions. Once I was flying from New York to Moscow, 2 years ago, and the person sitting next to me was a professor of philosophy in a major university in Russia. So as we flew, we started talking, and he said, "I teach the Bhagavad Gītā to my students." So I asked him, "Why?" He wanted to Hare Krishna. He never would have heard of ISKCON. So he said, "I will give you the answer to one of your questions and I will give you the book on love." But the other real answer is not this. Can you hear me in the back? Yes. If you can't hear, you can just raise your hand. Someday in the back you will find it. So, Baba books are meant to enlighten us. They blend us with others. So today what are we seeing in society? We see that there is tremendous amount of unrest in society. Is that right? Yes. You would like to believe that Everything is good, everything is rosy, everything is what seems to be. If we analyze the world situation today and in the past, year or two, we see that things are getting bad too, bad too. Is that true? When you live in India, people say, "Oh, all the problems are only in India." our country is a paradise. But I don't think there's any paradise left. I don't think there are any roses left. All we have everywhere is thorns. For example, who can visualize the battle that's taking place between Russia and Ukraine? I mean, I've been working in that part of the world since 1966, and we had no clue that something like this But if you go deeper, the Russian and Ukrainians is like virtually one community. Almost every Russian family have one member in Ukraine. But today they are fighting together. Of course, they are fighting about one country's territory, but it's very unfortunate. And there is another fight. Our peace workers were very affected. We had thousands of devotees there, but unfortunately their families got separated. Many had joined the army because the President of Kriyayoga had a rule, everyone from the age of 19 to 70 had to join the army. Many of them fought the battle. But you can see there's only one event, and there's so much other tension. They're talking about nuclear war now. In these days, they were not talking about nuclear war, but now they're saying it's a very real threat. So you can see that things are getting from bad to worse. And what's the reason? Greed. Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gītā, 'Lust, anger, and greed are three highways to the kingdom of hell.' And lust, lust is a problem for everyone. In the Bhagavad Gītā, Krishna says, 'Anger is the only one compelling us into life, even unwillingly.' 'And what's the answer?' 'The clash only, you all be working.' Kṛṣṇa said, 'The clash only, you all be working on me.' And then Kṛṣṇa said, in Bhāgavad-gītā said, 'Where the enemy is located.' Just like, if you are looking for terrorists, you want to know where he is. The other day I was in Seattle. And we were going to give the evening lecture. But then they said, "Why? All the roads are blocked, so you can't go." I said, "Why?" Because there was a crazy man running around with a gun, and the police sealed up all the roads so that nobody would be harmed. Anyway, I'm not giving the lecture. then knowledge, and you know, it will come back. Then anger and greed. Does greed have any limit? No. If you look at the global picture, in a country like India, you see that millionaires and trillionaires are multiplying very fast. Because they feel that they are very poor. They must have a finger in every pie. They must have a finger in every business venture that goes. And we have it in the Srimad Bhagavad Gita. You read a nice story. The Srimad Bhagavad Gita is full of stories. And these stories are not my imagination. They're not my phandi. Some people say, when the Britishers came to India, They had their scholars, studied Sanskrit, learned the living Sanskrit, and translated the books. Translated the books in such a manner, they completely under— minimized— they said, "No, this is not mythology, this is not mythology, it's reality." So, let us create a normal world. Normal world, they incarnated as a young Brahmin boy, and he came to a sacrifice that was being performed by Padmanabha, and Padmanabha received him warmly and said, "What can I do for you?" And the young boy said, "I want you to give me something. Just give me enough land where I can keep 3 footsteps." So the king was surprised. You come such a big man and that's all you ask? 3 footsteps? Ask me something more. I can give you a planet, I can give you a universe. He doesn't want anything. If someone is only told mind and senses, even if you give the whole world, he will not be satisfied. An hungry man can be satisfied. When you give him food to eat. A thirsty man is satisfied when you give him water to drink. An angry man is satisfied once he's had the opportunity to shout. Sometimes you get angry with home, and then you go off. After some time, if you don't do tit for tat, things cool down, isn't it? And if you do tit for tat, then they escalate. So, So, you said, you can satisfy— you can't satisfy a greedy man. A greedy man just wants more, more, more. But in society today, we are all greedy. We are all actually miserable, it's a fact. That's why there's so much tension on the planet. So, there's so much tension, and we You know, it's such a wonderful thing. And as I went into the medium house, a lot of my— a lot of what I didn't know, never imagined. It's not— it's like in material life, material society, you have your favorite movie star, favorite pop star, favorite sportsman. So also on the devotional past, we have our favorite hero. One of the heroes is Balaam. Balaam was educated, or he was a Persian money— he wanted more money. But Balaam said, "Nadav and Abuzadraq, in the vision, people do not know how we happiness. So we're all searching for happiness, whether it's the materialist or spiritualist. As spiritualist, also searching for happiness. That's both, that's both right. And as spiritualist, you also want to be happy. Many people say, are you happy? They ask you something. They want to know, is this channel doing any good to you? And then when you tell them, "Yes, I'm happy," then they find it hard to believe, because they are so miserable. I'm not saying it. There are those who get the liberation. People do not know how we are happy. So all everyone sitting here is practicing Krishna consciousness. Nobody has asked the question, Even coming here the first time, nobody raised their hands. That means all of you are regular practitioners of Krishna Consciousness. The only thing that may vary is some may be more committed and some may be less committed. The more committed may be chanting 16 hours, the less committed may be chanting 4 hours. I think people off the bat would know number 1, One lung, that's it. Suddenly people start training, maybe one lung only. They had one, but in essence they had two. So we should take the pressure condition very seriously. Human life is serious business, and we can see You can see, human life, there is nothing but what? Misery. Misery. You may be a big movie star, you may be a millionaire, but there's nothing but misery. I know a billionaire dying in a long coma. So basically you can see, even with the best of technology, the best of facilities, The measurement of misery is more suffering in society than ever before. And if you wanted to have it, what do you have to do about it? You have to have spirituality. Spirituality means wanting the love of God. And the love of God are there in the different scriptures. Prabhupada was in Iran. In 1975, and he was talking to a Mohammedan leader, a Mullah, about the chanting of Allah's Holy Name, chanting of the Word by name of Allah. So, the scriptures glorify the importance of chanting the name of Allah. Even in Islam there is, in Christianity, You see, that is always there in the name of the Lord. And through His, through His purva description on this point. For example, when Prasadamārāja, Kauhai, Kinkai, how many people in Kali will be saved? The nature of the devotee of the Lord is the God of India. In reality, these days we have artificial Mother India. Like the politician from Belfast. They are pretending that they care for you, but no one really cares. Is that right? Ramachandra during his regime was so concerned about the welfare of the people that he would go in disguise to see if people had any complaint. These are the few. Within some short time, you get crucified by the government. So, we need to follow and understand the importance of the spiritual life. The spiritual life, what people in Korea will say, as an Asian, I must appreciate this. Once you know, I thank you very much to everyone. In response, Sri Aurobindo Swami said, Wherever you go, wherever you turn, what do you see? One being promoted, it's ungratifying. You watch TV, that's the same. You read an ad, it's ungratifying. But saying religion is a commodity, all the same, because people think we have to commit to religion. So why is it everywhere? But there is one benediction. What is that benediction? What? This chanting the names of the Lord, Kṛṣṇa, Kāli, Navarūpa, Kṛṣṇa, Kāli, this chanting the names of the Lord is the most important activity of any devotee. And this chanting, where is this chanting descending? From where? Spiritual world. Spiritual. From the spiritual world. Nisargadatta Maharaj. Nisargadatta Maharaj is very beautiful. I will talk about him all. Very graciously, as you may know, he's considered reincarnation. He's been with Srila Rādhārāṣṭhāna. And he gave us many wonderful books. And he re-established the pure teachings of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He wrote over 100,000 books. Poem in the book. And in one poem he says, 'Jīvābha jīvābha, vāśanamure kōrāya yamāmāna.' Couldn't you look her up and evaluate her? Which is not— When you go in the womb of your mother, you promise. And then today society we see, women in difficulty, you promise. What then you forget? So, we talk of mercy. You came to this world praying that we call you "Suddha." Now you have forgotten. So, Krishna is the Holy Name. The Holy Name is the only remedy for all problems. One solution for all problems. Krishna is the Holy Name. Attending to the thing, then it becomes the cure for our problem. If we don't attend to it, I see this whole chanting, this chanting becomes the cause of all trouble. Prasada Gurudeva says, "We share the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa." So the Holy Name is a beautiful life, but when it came to Prasad Raaval. He brought with him one good cookie. There's a lot of them over here. And sitting there, famous talking scriptural, just sharing Hare Krishna with Hare Krishna devotees. In this chanting, in wonderful kṛṣṇa love, But he summarized it into 5 main points. These are very simple. You can read after the bhāgavata-namaṣṭhara. First is, what is bhāgavata-namaṣṭhara? Sadhu-sanga. Sadhu-sanga. Sadhu-sanga is very important. Sadhu-sanga means spiritual association. In the— let me put it in English form. A man is known by the company he keeps. Drunkards hang around with other drunkards in bars. Gamblers stay with other gamblers, and so on. The devotees also look forward to spiritual life. And the muni explains, and of course, Kanto, you can possibly have— three levels of association. Association with those who are more advanced, association with those who are equally advanced, and association with those who are— what? Less advanced. Less advanced. How will you deal in these situations? That's the winning plan. When you make somebody more advanced, advanced, you should become joyful. Why? Because I'm going to hear something that's going to help me on this spiritual path. So you will be joyful. Give you one good example. At Peacock, you will see clouds. The poor chaplain, he didn't see that. The other next to him, one down and one up. But that didn't help him. He didn't have the opportunity to get to his Self. More advanced than you are. And the other association is the association with the whole world, equally advanced. And what do you do with that? Friendship. Make friendship. What does make friendship in spiritual life mean? In material life we know what it means. You scratch my back, I scratch your back. You have means and enjoyment, I'll help you. And we can't help each other, we say bye-bye. That's what the individualist would like to say. So, what is spiritual life? Spiritual being. You work together to serve the Lord. You work together to worship the movement of the Lord. That is what it means. When the boy came to me about, "I don't believe in Shreem Brzee." I am going to worship him. The Lord has given to all of you. He said, when you please all your brothers, all of you have only one occupation. What's that? Worshiping the Lord. Therefore, I am going to please you. You know, don't look at each other. I am pleased with all of you. You know, we have one occupation. Similarly, that should be our mood in this class also. We should all be willing to walk together. Never moan each other. Walk together. Then the Lord gets pleased. We are going to get up and walk. Pushkriṣṇa is like that. In the material world everyone is fighting each other. But in spiritual life we work together. Om Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi. So that should be our mood. To meet somebody you can do that. Work together to preach, work together to serve. When it comes to service, our mood should be serve as needed. I serve. I do that. There is a new terminology in this country. I just forgot the word. Comfort zone. Comfort zone. You're in a comfort zone with that new world. I serve, but my job— I tell the boy, he's in the army. He can't say, "Hey, catch me." You can't say, "I'm going to go to the Buddha temple." We have to go, our motivation should be to serve the needy. If our motivation is to serve the needy, then we make good progress. But if we say, "I'll serve my condition," then I don't think you can do much advancement. You may hang in there for a little bit, but not long. So, what is the secret? What is the secret? If you have sadhu sangha, you also get real knowledge. And that is, 'Aina Mohin, Aina Mohin, Aina Mohin, okay, you know.' 'What is the solution?' 'Stand up, Mohini, stand up, Mohini, stand up, Mohini.' We all have experience with not standing up. If you chant the Holy Name, a spiritual enthusiasm will arise. Am I right? And if you don't chant the Holy Name, any spiritual enthusiasm? No. No. So we were very fortunate. Prabhupāda gave us a real mantra. At the time, Prabhupāda's ISKCON was developing. It was in the Republic of India, New York. Me. He was very big history at the university running in America. So he had— he was selling his mantra, special price for businessmen and students and so on. So he would give everyone I said, "Give it to me, Manta." And they were, "Wow!" You wouldn't disclose it to anyone. My two friends decided to break the law. They wanted to find exactly the same Manta. So there were so many tricks that people tried. My papa gave a Holi name, a Bengali Holi name, which is in all the scriptures. There's nothing wrong about it. It's a relief, I would have thought. It's a relief. There's one area where the worry is far behind. And Baba wanted us to be this group. And we— Śrī Prabhupāda said, when Kṛṣṇa sees you reading these books, Śrī Kṛṣṇa says, "Here is someone trying to understand Me. Let Me give him the understanding by which he can come to Me." So reading, like for example, in which your profession, whatever your profession is, there is always room for improvement. You can try to improve. You know that if I don't catch up with the latest technology, I'll be isolated. If I don't read regularly, then my intelligence will become rusted. But if you keep reading regularly, your intelligence will be sharp. And then worship the deity with love and faith. Me. So Lord Jesus Almighty is your ultimate point. He can be chanted and he can be practiced by anyone. It's for everyone. It's not sectarian, and anyone can practice it. One time, the Baba went to the the former Soviet Union in 1971, took Gandhi to the street, and subsequently other Dhuburis went and the movement grew. Within years we had thousands of Dhuburis. They were not born in this culture, they were not educated in this culture, but they took to it like— holy. So they're sharing a holy name, emotional and activity. You can chant in any situation. Sometimes you go to the arena, you go to the opera, you look at the crazy audience. You had in here also. How many of you have been in the arena? They say crazy. Krishna. Prasada came to India in 1970 with a batch of disciples. He created quite a stir in India. There were, there were programs with 30,000-35,000 people attending. So, in which One movie producer made a movie called I Am a High Fish. I think you've heard of it. And that movie— how many of you in this audience chant 16 rounds a day? Anybody remember any movies? How many chant around? You waste a minute, you will never get it back. No matter the whole world. So time is very valuable. You save $10 when you are shopping, you probably walk 10 stores.