Path Of Real Happiness || IIT Kanpur || 03.01.2018 || Śrīla Gopāla Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī Maharaja

Sì, I'm very happy to be here. I'm very happy that Any of you are taking interest in spirituality? We've just started a new year now, isn't it? What's this year?

2018.

And we are busy wishing each other in English, "Happy New Year." That's right. In Hindi, Naya Samvaram ko. And we did the same last year too. One thing we should not forget, this is actually Christian New Year. But Christianity's influence is so powerful that it has become Universal New Year. Our Gaurian New Year starts in March, and by another Hindu New Year starts Ardha Diwali. Am I right? This is essentially the Christian New Year. But it's a New Year. The whole world accepts it. And we wish each other Happy New Year. We did the same thing last year. Remember that? The same thing 2 years ago. 3 years ago. When you say "Happy New Year," what is your understanding behind that greeting? Who would like to volunteer an answer? You all, huh?

It is like, "I wish that you have a happy year." You wish that you have a happy year.

Any other definition?

We wish that your life— when we wish to some other person, we wish that his life be happy and prosperous.

When we say "Happy New Year," generally we mean the following. If I am wrong, you can correct me. I may never fall sick. Nobody likes sickness, isn't it? The only people who like sickness are the doctors, the hospital owners, and the drug manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies. If you don't fall sick, they'll go bankrupt. So they're happy to see you fall sick. Am I right? Okay. When we say Happy New Year, we mean I may never fall sick. And we also mean everything we turn may turn into gold. All my business investments should shoot up. My stock should go up. I should get a good job. If you are a student, I should get good grades. Am I right? So when you say Happy New Year, We don't really mean spiritually Happy New Year. We just mean materially Happy New Year. So let's say you wished everyone, you know, these days everything is on computer, but before the computer generation, people would send Christmas and greeting cards, New Year greeting cards, and at least in the Western culture, You went to any man's house, he would have on display all the greeting cards for New Year, you follow? And they would count, "How many people greeted me?" If a lot of people greeted you, they would say, "Ah, then this year may be a happy year." But at the end of the year, what do you see? Is it a happy New Year? It was actually a sad old year. Because you wished that nobody would fall sick in the family, but people died, people fell sick. You wished that all your investments boom, but in reality they crashed. So you see that in spite of the greetings We went through a lot of misery. All right? You may not experience much misery in IIT. Your campus is like a mini heaven compared to living on the streets of Kanpur. The campus has less pollution, less traffic, less congestion. Am I right? I'm sure less crime. So it's relatively a safe place to live. But generally, in spite of our desiring that we may live happily, the reality is miseries continue. I still fall sick. I still get old. I still get disease. Eventually people are still dying. In the West they say, "One business never goes into recession." Which is that business? Never goes into recession. The funeral business. People are always dying. And in the Western culture, Funeral homes are big business. To have a burial for a Christian family, you need at least $30,000-$40,000. The burial, what it costs. They decorate the dead body and so on. So in spite of our desiring that there be no misery, the reality is there is misery. And in spite of our being greeted with "Happy New Year," we saw that it was a life of misery. Further, we see the time passes very fast. They say, "The clock is clicking." You know this phrase? Clock is clicking. How old are you now?

24.

You? 30. 30. So you can see how fast the clock has clicked. 30 years, isn't it? You can remember your childhood days, and more or less in all of you. So I can remember them. Clock is clicking. Time is a representative of the Supreme Lord. Krishna says in the Gītā, "Time, I am the destroyer of everything." The time destroys everything. You may have a very handsome body today. You may be crowned Miss World today, but will you remain Miss World tomorrow? No, they keep changing. Time will make sure. If you have strength in your body, the strength doesn't last for long. If you have a healthy body, you don't remain healthy for long. Am I right or wrong? In IIT, do they have any technology that stops people from getting old? Do they? No. Do they? Any technology that stops people from dying?

No.

So you see that time destroys everything. You may have a handsome face, but that Cheek Face gets wrinkled very soon. You may answer this and say, "Oh, but we have cosmetic surgery. I can get cosmetic surgery done." You know, in the medical field today, the doctors that make the most money are cosmetic surgeons. Because everyone wants to do surgery to look beautiful. So, let's say you go to cosmetic surgery, they may make you beautiful, but then is that going to last for long? Your hair, you're turning bald. With technology today, they can implant hair. Your hair is turning white, you can dye it. For how long can you do it? Not for long, isn't it? So you can see that time destroys everything. I want to fight with time. I want to use modern technology. In spite of all that, basic miseries of life remain. Am I right? Just like Krishna says, food grains come from rainfall. Rainfall comes from sacrifice. If you don't do sacrifice, there's no rainfall. Just like you people probably know better than me that, like, India is running out of water. And UP can take 300 feet and not get water. Will you be able to live without water?

No.

But they take— Gita says water will come if you do sacrifice. But time destroys everything. And time is moving very fast. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 2nd Canto, it is said, The rising and setting of the sun, the duration of life of everyone, but one who uses his life to serve the Lord, is being reduced. You know, before the computer generation impact, we used to have these old calendars in India. With date pads, 365 date pads. Every day would go, they would take a sheet off. That was very scientific. It shows that there's one day less left in your life. But we don't think in those terms anymore, isn't it? We just take it for granted. So we should realize that it doesn't matter where you go, you can't escape the basic miseries of life. What are the basic miseries of life? What is that disease over there? That's not so bad. If it was just these 4, it may not have been a very bad bargain. We have 3 more that are more heavier. Misery is caused by the mind. Misery is caused by other entities. And misery is caused by material nature. Material nature plays havoc. When you have earthquakes, floods, drought. So we should realize whether it's 2018 or '19 or '17 or '16, there is going to be misery in life. And time will destroy everything. There was once a lawyer who was about to die. You know how lawyers work. Any lawyers in the audience? You know how they work. They'll send you a notice. "If you don't do this within 2 weeks, we'll take this action." And then, So this lawyer went to Yāmraj and said, "You want me to die? Well, you didn't give me any notice that I'm going to die. Well, give me a notice. At least give me one month's notice so I can prepare." Yāmraj said, "Who told you I didn't give you any notice? How many hair do you have on your head now?" 'Oh, I am bald like Hare Krishna.' He said, 'How many hairs did you have in your head 30 years ago?' 'Oh, pure black hair, normal.' 'How strong is your eyesight now?' 'Oh, I can hardly see. I am almost blind.' 'How good was your eyesight 30 years ago?' 'As sharp as an eagle.' Eagle has very sharp eyes. How good is your hearing now? Oh, I'm almost deaf. How good was your hearing? Excellent. How strong are your legs now? I can hardly walk. How good were your legs 20, 30 years ago? I was part of the Indian cricket team. Kamran says, "I gave you so many notices. Your hair started turning white, then it became bald. Your cheeks started getting wrinkled. Your eyes began to get weak. Your ears began to get weak. Your legs began to get weak. And you say I didn't give you any notice. You ignored all my notices. So now you have to die." So we are all getting notices every day. But we tend to ignore them. We tend to think, "Oh, I have the technology to counteract all that." So you students at IIT are very fortunate. I know that I was always a non-tech student. I am very low on it. I am a low-tech man. But this is the age of high-tech. So I know that how in India they work so hard to get entrance in the IIT. Am I right? You have all these, you have all these institutes and quotas all training people up to come and enter the IIT. So, as they say, the cream of India is in the IIT. So you all are very intelligent. But we need material intelligence and spiritual intelligence. You students assembled here, under the direction of Dr. Leela Prashadam. They're also spiritually intelligent. It's not that if you take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, you don't pursue education. You can pursue education to the tilt. But recognize, recognize that what the goal of life should be. Recognize that without spirituality, human life is a failure. So Kṛṣṇa consciousness means keeping God in the center, basing your activities for the pleasure of the Lord. It doesn't mean you don't study, don't work. In the Bhāgavad-gītā we see That Arjuna was hesitant about taking part in the battle, but Kṛṣṇa induced him to take part. He said, "With your mind, intelligence dedicated to Me, take part." So today, in the so-called modern age, we are very proud of the technology we developed. And we are not against technology, technology. I came in a car to you. That was technology. Prabhupāda used the plane and the ship to travel all over the world. That was technology. We don't live in the bullock cart age. So we're not against technology. We wish that all of you achieve breakthroughs in your profession, especially those of you who are Pursuing PhD and desiring to pursue PhD would naturally, in your profession, have to write a lot of papers and come up with some unique angles to qualify, am I right? So do that, but keep God in the center. If you have God in the center, your life will be peaceful. I meet a lot of IIT graduates in America, a lot of high-tech people from India in America. You know, thanks to Uncle Trump, it may not happen because Trump is trying to stop all visas. The point is, it doesn't matter where you reside, basic miseries are everywhere. So along with your material studies, please pursue your spiritual studies also. Chant regularly Veda, Gita, and the Bhagavad Gita, and eat spiritual food, and regularly associate with spiritually minded people. That will help you to make spiritual progress. We should not forget that there is danger at every step, and this is the path of real happiness. You can get real happiness and false happiness. Real happiness comes by following the laws of God, and this is the path of real happiness. So please take this seriously. Be happy. Hare Krishna. I want to leave some time for questions. Usually I find that students have a lot of questions. You know the basic philosophy. Am I right? Okay, questions.

Somebody should start from the devotee side. Yes. As you mentioned, you always keep saying Krishna in the center, but sometimes I feel it's very difficult.

What does keeping Krishna in the center mean? It means that, let's say, what are you doing now? M.Tech, PhD? Let's say you are doing your M.Tech, okay. And let's say you decide to do your PhD after that. So putting Krishna in the center means what? I am going to do this PhD to please Krishna. If I become a big scientist, I'll tell the world it was Krishna who gave me the intelligence. And if I make a million dollars, I'll give something to Krishna. That's all. It's not difficult. Is that less wrong? And I will follow these 4 principles. If you follow these principles like no meat, fish, and eggs, no intoxication, it's healthy for you. In China, the government loves us for these rules. We lead a healthy life. And plus, let me tell you, you'll save a lot of money. Sometimes people say, "Oh, why didn't you tell us that first? Why did you tell that last?" Bad habits cost money. Am I right? Like if you're rich, you start a New Year's, New Year, by going to a big 5-star hotel in Delhi and spend lakhs. And if you are spiritual, you start a New Year going to one of our temples where we have kirtan all night. And that's how we start the New Year. So if you are spiritually inclined, you also save a lot of money which you can share with Krishna later. Yeah. Okay, I thought we were moderate with questions.

Yes. Ma'am, why Krishna has made this world? Exactly, reflection of the spiritual world.

When this material world was created to give those of us who wanted to enjoy independent of Kṛṣṇa, an opportunity to experiment. Originally, IIT Kanpur is not your real address. Your real address is so-and-so at Vaiṣṇava. We decide, "No! I want to be the enjoyer. Why should God be the enjoyer?" Kṛṣṇa said, "Okay. Here's the material world. Go there." Now having come here, what do you see? "I want to enjoy, but I can't enjoy it for long." You know, it's like recently I read an article on Reliance, the biggest corporation of India.

Hmm?

It was founded by Dīnubhai Ambani. He started it with ₹1,000. 40 years ago. He created a huge empire. Now the man's gone. He fall off. So we can see, I may make a movie and make it a super hit, but it's temporary. By having come to the material world, I can see. 'Even if I have a high position, it's temporary.' So one who is intelligent will say, 'Yes, even if I get two PhDs, I'll still be miserable. Let me find a permanent cure.' We want to give you a permanent cure, not a temporary cure. Okay. More questions?

You said that statement that one should keep Kṛṣṇa at the center.

Why?

Why?

What is the other option? No, no, no. What is the other option? No, you don't want to keep Kṛṣṇa in the center. What's the other option? You can say, "I keep my wife in the center, Maya in the center, my parents in the center, my country in the center." Isn't it? I'm giving you different options. You have to keep somebody in the center. Just like in China at one time, even now. And Russia, they didn't believe in God. They had Lenin in the center. You heard of Lenin? Stalin? So if you don't have Kṛṣṇa in the center, what are your other options?

Why do you say no?

Searching. Searching for what? Then, no, you can keep searching. Because you were sincere in your searching, you've come over here. If you were not sincere in your search, you wouldn't have come to this program. You follow? Okay. More questions?

Is there any distress made because of the rules or these things? Is there any suffering because of the rules?

Good statement. There is misery, but hard to realize because you have flashes of happiness in the middle. My spiritual master used to give an example. In the old days, The system of punishment was they would take a prisoner deep in the sea, Kalapani. You heard of that, Kalapani? And they used to take, and to make sure the person would not die, they would duck his head in the water. Bring it up. Okay. So you come out of the world crying, don't you? And you end up crying. In the middle you see flashes of happiness. And we think this is permanent. So therefore, you need saintly association. You need right association to get right guidance. In English they say, "A man is known by the company he keeps." So you have the right understanding, but you need to be in right association to keep remembering it. Yes, more question.

What would be your suggestion for those who do not believe in Krishna consciousness?

At least believe in God philosophy. My spiritual master in 1975 went to Iran. He met with the maulas. He said, "Chant the names of Allah, but at least chant the names of God." We tell Christians, "Chant the name of Christ and follow the Ten Commandments, or at least chant." So we don't say you only have to chant one mantra or no mantra, but chant any bona fide names of God and see the effect. See what effect. Chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa gives you and what effect any other name gives you.

You follow?

At least be virtuous.

Oh!

It's so painful to be away from the cell phone, isn't it? You know, there was recently a survey done and people were asked, 'How long can you live away from your family?' 80% said they wouldn't mind living away for one week from their family. And then they were asked, 'How long can you stay away from your cell phone?' And they said, 'Zero. Can't stay away.' So we've got so attached to these gadgets, you know that? And especially these gadgets have succeeded in breaking up families. In the Western world, and even in India now, you see families getting isolated because everyone has a new partner now, the cell phone. So everyone is busy. Playing with a cell phone. Okay, any more questions?

Yes. Sir, doesn't spirituality take us into a new world and make us weak to actually live in the real world?

This is the propaganda of the materialists and the atheists. The atheists say, "Oh, these sadhus, they're always scaring you. All these disease, that." See, I'm giving you a lot, but that doesn't mean we stop preaching. You follow? And people are interested. They, there are, more devotees practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness than ever before. There are more PhDs chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa than before. So it's not that nobody is interested, but people are interested. Otherwise, even Leela Purṣottam's class would be empty. People are interested. When you go to preach, you meet people who are interested and you meet people who are not. If you didn't meet people who are interested, you would not have become a devotee yourself. Hehehe.

Okay. There are many spiritual yogis in India. How is Kṛṣṇa Yoga better than other places like the United States?

Yeah, okay. We use the Bhagavad-gītā as our benchmark. You know what's a benchmark? It's a basis on which you calculate. So we say the Bhagavad-gītā See what's in the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna— we don't forget Krishna philosophy. Just do what the Bhagavad Gita says. Bhagavad Gita is the highest book of knowledge. And happiness, what's your goal?

Miseries teach us a lot of lessons in life. We become more attached to God in that way. But happiness leads us the other way around.

Happiness makes you forget God. Misery makes you remember God. Am I right? So, not in all cases. If you have good karma and you are fortunate, then miseries will bring you to God. If you don't have good karma, miseries will take you to the whiskey bottle.

Happiness.

If you have good karma, you will translate happiness into service to God. If you have bad karma, you will consider material happiness as real happiness. That happiness is going to end at any time in any case. So Kṛṣṇa says, People come to meet you due to 4 factors. One of them is in distress. So if you have good karma, you are in distress, you should be God. Isn't that right? Okay. Does that answer your question? Any more questions?

Yes.

It's a devotional service question. A Brahmin, deksha toh. Aaah, siddharamika sakthaya. And Pujari se pooche. Okay. You study in the IIT? What are you studying?

PhD.

What subject?

Civil. I am doing PhD on Ganga.

Ganga? On Ganga?

Mother Ganga.

One aspect. Why don't you do PhD on how to keep Mother Ganga clean?

Yes, Ma.

All right. And how to enforce the cleanliness? We want to write papers, but how to keep it clean? Okay, good. More questions? Yes.

Prasad Raaval, how to How to every time keep our faith strong? In the class you told that in the starting someone has to have some faith. So how to keep it constant and going stronger?

Faith in God, you mean?

Yeah.

You feel your faith, make your faith strong, you have to give it up, isn't it? Am I right? So similarly, when it comes to spiritual life, you also give up what is undesirable. Okay, more questions?

Is there any importance of astrology? How serious is it?

Astrology is a very sophisticated science. And if you have a genuine astrologer, there's no harm in consulting. A lot of the astrologers today are computer-based astrologers. I know a lot of people who failed in every profession and became astrologers. This is true. So if you meet some genuine— because these days there are packages. You buy an astrology package, press the button, and you'll get the answer. If you get really authentic astrologers, I'm sure there are a few in India, then you can consult them.

But again, our material life is not going as per the expectation, and that's also coming during chanting also. So during chanting, we are not completely with the Krishna. So chanting is getting—

So your first question was— what was your first question? Amritsar life will never go as it is going, because we all want the moon. We all want to become Bill Gates.

Am I right?

So we all have our history of karma. And if thoughts are coming while chanting, I'll give you some good news. You want the good news? Yes? No?

Yes. Okay.

The good news is Krishna forgives you for your thoughts. Just chant Him here, and gradually they'll become stable. Okay?

I want to state a statement. I want you to explain if it is correct or not. I mean, many people believe in the concept of God because it is looking like the best option.

It is looking like—

many people believe in the concept of God because it is looking like the best option to believe in, but it is not naturally coming.

It is not—

it is not really natural belief, or it is not naturally we are accepting it. I mean, that is the statement I want to make.

It's more natural to believe in God, to believe in the Almighty, to believe in the Creator. Who could have created such a universe? Who could have created a body like yours? Can any scientist duplicate? Your eyes or ears. There must be somebody behind it, isn't it? Sun rises every day, sets at the right time. The planets never collide. Even the best of planes have accidents, but his planets never collide. So there has to be somebody behind it, isn't it? We call him Krishna. You can call him by a different name if you wish. But there is a God in control. The atheists will say, "Oh, there's no God." If there's no God, how do you explain the creation? All right. Nothing happens by chance.

I mean, how do you strongly believe in all the things that we have created, like, you say that Bhagavad Gita is told by Sri Krishna Himself, and we believe in lot of cultures and temples and lot of things. So, I mean, do we have to believe in those also? Like, we know if there is some really Krishna concept, it must be there.

We follow Krishna as explained in the Bhagavad Gita. So much you could. If you don't want to follow all the rituals that we do, okay. At least accept Krishna as the Supreme and do the basic of chanting. Chanting is Mantra Yoga. It's a form of meditation. It's the most practical form of meditation. Closing our eyes, You end up falling asleep. But chanting keeps you awake. Chanting here. So the chanting is a very scientific method. How many more questions do I take? How long do you all want to go on for? Go on for 10 more minutes.

Yeah, after Keshav's question, one more question. Many times in life we have to, we are bound to associate with the non-devotees or atheists.

So many times we have to— I follow your question. In the ideal world, we would love to have Krishna conscious corporations, Krishna conscious prime ministers, Krishna conscious IITs, and so on. But reality is, it's not. So we don't say don't associate with non-devotees at all. Associate with them to the extent necessary and not more.

You follow?

Let's say you do a job. We can't employ all the IIT graduates. The temples are too poor. So you go for a job. So you go for a job. But you don't have to socialize after the job and go to parties. You follow? You go to preach. Majority of the time you are preaching to non-devotees. But it's not that we socialize with them. We preach to the extent necessary, and then mind our business. You follow? So we don't say don't associate with non-dwaris. We don't associate beyond what's necessary. Okay?

This is the last question.

I can take one or two more if you want.

Okay. When we live as an engineer in this world—

What?

When we live as an engineer in this world what should be prioritized, chanting God or welfare of society created by him himself?

I'm sorry can you please repeat?

When we live as an engineer in this world— when you live as an engineer in this world what should be your priorities, the chanting God or the welfare of the society created by himself?

What should be our priority?

The chanting of Krishna!

First is chanting. First priority is chanting. First priority is chanting. And the second priority is caring for the welfare. First you have to save yourself before you can save others. Am I right? Chanting will give you the right vision. Chanting will cleanse the heart. Chanting will give you— right now we are intoxicated. Do you ever go to a drunk man and say, "Hey, can you give me direction?" Right now we are intoxicated. We are virtually blind. So first we must get out of that.

Okay, any more questions?

Any more questions? No more?

I think Krishna is controlling everything. But when I do some good thing, I think that Krishna is doing everything to do this thing. But when I do some bad thing, I also think that Krishna is letting me to do that bad thing.

I will say, when I do a good thing, Krishna is the inspiration. When I do the wrong thing, I miss Shiva's mind as inspiration. You can't— the criminal can't tell the judge, "I did this wrong thing because the government allowed me to do it." That's misuse of freedom. Correct? Yes?

What is the— how much amount of independence we have exactly?

Independence to accept God or reject God. Am I right? We have minute independence, very small degree. If you decide to accept God, then God guides you in an appropriate fashion. You want to reject God, You have a minute independence, and based on your prime decision, Lord guides you. Okay. So I thank all of you. Very thoughtful questions. How many of you chant 16 rounds a day?

Okay.

Normally you chant 8 rounds a day.

Madhav Ji, I have a question. How to train child from the beginning?

How to?

How to teach child kriyas from baby age?

Well, till the age of 4, let the child do what they want. From 5, you start disciplining. How many of you chant about 4 rounds a day?

4 rounds? 4 rounds.

How many of you chant 1 round a day?

1 round.

How many of you don't chant at all?

Those who are not chanting at all, please raise your hand. Don't feel bad about it. Yes.

And how many of you, just curious, what is this Kṛṣṇa consciousness philosophy on our campus? Okay. So thank you very much. I must say all of you are very intelligent. You all are double intelligent. You know why? You were intelligent enough to enter the IIT, and you're double intelligent because you realize and will also oppose your spiritual life. The devil in you and I, the devil in Justin. So please stay on this path. Thank you.