Take to Krishna consciousness to get real happiness | Rus-Split | 2017 | Srila Gopal Krishna Goswami

Om namah bhagavate vasudevaya! Om namah bhagavate vassudeva ya! Om namah bhagavate masudvaja! Om namah bhagavate vastu deva yaha! Om namah bhagavate vaasthu devamayaa! Amma kiyaanthe mandasyaan— Hare Krishna. So again, welcome to all of you for our Sunday program. As all of you know, Kṛṣṇa consciousness is a process of finding real happiness. Spiritual or material, we are all looking for happiness. Krishna Consciousness presents the genuine path of happiness. So this year, as you know, is a very special year for ISKCON. Actually, every day is special, but this year is especially special. Why is that? Why? We are celebrating the Golden Jubilee of ISKCON incorporation and the opening of the Forest Temple. Some of you may say, "Wasn't there a Golden Jubilee last year also?" Was there? Was there a Golden Jubilee last year? So what's the difference between this Golden Jubilee and that Golden Jubilee? Next year we're going to have another Golden Jubilee. So last year was the Golden Jubilee of Prabhupāda's departure from India. As you probably know, Caitanya Mahāprabhu had predicted The Holy Name will be chanted in every town and village of the world. And our Acharya had endeavored to make that come true. Thakura Bhakti-nanda was a great pioneer. He re-established the pure teachings of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He wrote a book on the life of Lord Caitanya that he sent to universities around the world. In theory, did he do that? Who knows? Nobody knows. Which year was that? As we go along, we'll ask you questions. We want to see how equipped you are with philosophy. It was in 1896. What was 1896 famous for? It's the year that Prabhupāda appeared on the planet. And Dr. Bhaktivedānta Mahāprabhu, you know, did great service. He wrote many books, maybe 100 books. And then his work was carried out forward by his son, Bhaktivedanta Swāmi. And he, in the first meeting with Prabhupāda in 1922, instructed Prabhupāda, "You are an educated young man. Take these teachings to the Western countries for the benefit of humanity." Prabhupāda took this instruction to heart. It took him nearly 40 years to finally leave India. Of the West. In 1965, at the age of 69, almost empty, he sailed on the Jaladūda, motorized Jaladūda, from Calcutta to New York. A luxury liner. I mean, if you ever traveled in a cargo ship— No, you wouldn't even travel if you had a free ticket. I see devotees go regularly to India for karatek, and go to Baltimore. How many of you are going to work hard like this? And how many of you have been to India? I'm sure if I ask you, "How did you go?" you'll all say, "I went by Air of Wall," or Trans Air, then went by aircraft, or one of these Middle East airlines. Middle East airlines. I'm sure none of you went by ship. Baba sailed by cargo ship. But He had no other alternative. And he arrived in New York on September 19th, 1965. It was a 37-day turbulent journey. It was turbulent, but still, according to the captain of the ship, the eye of the little river of the Atlantic Ocean was a lot smoother and smoother than normal. When Prabhupāda arrived in New York, He went to a place called Butler. Butler was a small American city. At that time they had a steel mill in that city. I don't know if it's still there. Prabhupāda stayed with a family that had hosted him. Then he lectured in an American college called Slippery Rock College. Can you imagine a name like this in Russia? I think they still have it. Slippery Rock College. In America you have a lot of crazy names. So that was Prabhupāda's first lecture. And he was very inspired by the questions he was asked. And then he moved to New York. He came to New York, he hardly had any place to live. He stayed in the Bowery, the most degraded of all spots in all of America. And when he would go into the Bowery, You been to New York? Okay. Anyway, there are a lot of Russian devotees in our American temples now. The Bowery is, is one of the most degraded places. Prostitutes, drug addicts, drunkards, gamblers. And that environment he lived. He had departed from India with only $7 in his pocket. Can you imagine a 70-year-old man landing in New York with only $7 in his pocket. Actually, he had $27. He sold the first Kanto-dī Bhāgavatam on the ship to the captain for $20. I'm sure when he went to India, he carried more money than $27. But he was on a mission. The mission was to carry out the order given by his spiritual master. We all, in material life also, we have missions. But the mission of us prasādvas is to carry out the order of the Lord and His agent. Then Prabhupāda started doing kīrtan in a park called Tompkins Square Park. It's not a very good big park. It's a medium-sized park. Prabhupāda would go there with a drama troupe from India and do kīrtan all alone. And slowly, slowly people joined. There's a plaque over there underneath a big underneath the tree that Prabhupāda sat and started his Kīrtana. There's a plaque that says, "This is the tree under which the Bonar Charya, A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmi, founded the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement." This was the first time that anyone had done Hare Nāma in New York, in America. And slowly, slowly, This year souls began to join. And then finally, Prasad Raaval decided we should incorporate ISKCON. So what we are celebrating this year is the Golden Jubilee of ISKCON's incorporation as a legal society and the Golden Jubilee of the first temple opened by ISKCON, which was in New York. So when Prabhupāda was setting up the Society, he took the help of divine or some of his followers. What name should we give our Society? Prabhupāda never had doubt that Lord Caitanya's message will spread to every corner of the globe. He knew that one day this prediction will come true. So even now he waits So many challenges and difficulties, but we still understood. Finally properly established, ISKCON. It opened the first ISKCON temple in New York on Second Avenue. I believe yesterday I gave you the story of the Matchless Gift, which was a storefront before ISKCON opened its first temple. And Prabhupāda opened the Forest Temple in New York. And since then, ISKCON has continued to expand. Now there are nearly 650 temples around the world. Basically, the philosophy presented by the Vedas is a philosophy aimed at making us happy. Lord Caitanya has emphasized 5 items to be very essential for spiritual advancement. Everyone sitting here has some interest in spiritual advancement. Some of you may be coming for the first time. How many people are coming for the first time? Okay, well, give a special welcome to. Some of you may be coming the first time, some may be coming second time. Some may be regulars. At one time we were all coming for the— we all came for the first time in some part of the world. The fact that you are here means you have interest in achieving the goal of life. In English there is a saying, "A man is known by the company he keeps." So Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, our scriptures recommend the advantage of spiritual association. What it is known as? Sadhu-sanga. If you have the right association, you will get the right knowledge. Is that true? Yes. Aren't we all sensitive to the association we have? Association influences our lifestyle to a great degree. In an ancient scripture called Caitanya-caritāmṛta, You read the story of a hunter. This hunter used to half-kill animals, and when they would die, he would rejoice and sell them. So there was a great sage called Narada Muni, was passing by. He saw many half-killed animals everywhere. He inquired, "Who is the cause of all this?" The hunter's name was Mrigari. Very fearful, everybody feared him. And he had hidden behind the bushes. He saw Nārada Muni coming. So the hunter proudly came up forward and said, "I'm responsible for all this." And the hunter, Nārada Muni, said, "Why don't you fully kill these animals? Why do you let them, half kill them, let them suffer?" The hunter said, "Get me great pleasure in seeing them suffer." Society today is so cruel. We love killing animals and eating them for our taste buds. Prasad RAVAL, the Varnāmika saint, explained the reaction that would follow and advised him to give up this habit. The hunter was concerned, "How will I make my living?" "This is my main source of living." Now the muniya told him, "Don't worry, Lord will take care." Soon the word got around. The cruel hunter stopped killing and is now chanting the names of the Lord. And everyone was surprised. "That Māgārī, the cruel hunter, has stopped killing? Impossible!" So they would all come to see him with some gifts. A little later, Narada Muni wanted to see how his disciple was doing. He saw this man was so transformed, he would not even place his feet on the ground till he made sure he was not stepping on any entity. This is one example. There are so many examples. Take example of your own country. Prabhupāda, as he said, came to the West, started his preaching, and by giving his association, inspired people of all walks of life to take to spirituality. Prabhupāda's mission was to save entire humanity. That's the vision of a transcendentalist. You want to act for the benefit of society. Normally in material life we are all selfish. Prāma. No? Maybe in Russia people are not. People are selfish everywhere. But the transcendentalist thinks about the welfare of everyone. He's always maintaining, "How can I make them happy?" 5,000 years ago, there was a young child, young boy called Prasād RAVAL. He had received spiritual knowledge when he was in the womb of his mother. So he was convinced as to what's right, what's wrong, and he would regularly instruct, preach to his classmates. In one of his prayers he said, "I'm not worried about my own liberation. Not that I want to go to the mountains or the forest or the jungle. I want to stay where the people are, so that I can give them the ultimate knowledge. That is the mentality of a Vaiṣṇava. Once a devotee called Vāsudeva datta approached Lord Caitanya and said, "I want to ask You a favor." The Lord said, "Okay, what favor do You want?" "Take everyone else back to Godhead." Then we saw the reaction. Prabhupāda, being compassionate— if he wasn't compassionate, why would he leave Vrindāvana at the age of 70, when almost everyone discouraged him from doing so? Important people in India told him, "Swāmiji, you'll end up dying in the West. At this age you're going to go?" Does anyone start a mission that in a foreign country with hardly any money at this age. But Prabhupāda was determined. So he established Kṛṣṇa consciousness in America. The first temple opened in New York, second in San Francisco, third in Montreal, and slowly, slowly it spread to Europe also. Prabhupāda said, 3 householder couples to England. Kṛṣṇa Mahāprabhu and his wife, Utkanda and his wife, and Gurudāsa and his wife. And before they went, Prabhu constantly instructed them how to preach in England. At that time, the Beatles were at the height of their popularity. You remember the Beatles? Were they big in Russia also? They were virtually like demigods. So our devotees started cultivating, two of them, John Lennon and George Harrison. George Harrison especially took to the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa very seriously. And then they produced an album called, and they produced an album of the Hare Kṛṣṇa Mahā-mantra. And that album was the top of the hit parade in many parts of the world. And Kṛṣṇa consciousness began to spread in Europe, Africa. And then Prabhupāda was thinking about your countries. Then he came to your country, planted the seed of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and it continued to grow. This is all the result of sadhu-saṅga. So in order to maintain our spiritual lives, we should also regularly associate with saintly people. We can associate with those who are more advanced, equally advanced, less advanced. When we associate with those who are more advanced, we become joyful. Because when we hear something that really helps you pursue spiritual life. Just like all of you were recently, had the recent Sādhana Sanga Festival. Why did you go there? To get spiritual association of those advanced devotees. So which, that should be our guideline. Then you associate with those who are equally advanced. But then we make friendship. We serve together. Help each other fulfill the mission of the Lord. And then you meet people who are less advanced. What do you do? We show compassion. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, you read stories of the Lord and His devotees. In the 4th canto, you read the story of another young boy called Dhrūvārāja. Dhrūvārāja, The boy was trying to sit on his father's lap. His stepmother stopped him. He was very offended. When crying to his mother, her name was Suniti, she said, "I can't help you. Only God can help you." Then boy was curious, "Where can I find God?" What did the mother say? "In the forest." Here you just see in the forest. And as he was leaving for the forest, Nārada Muni showed up. He was nice, Nārada Muni. Okay, Nārada Muni always shows up at the right time and the right place. And he only has one mission: to give the message of the Lord. Nārada Muni tells to this young boy, "Why are you taking the words of your mother and stepmother so seriously? This is not the age to look for God." In society, is there any age that's good to look for God? I have experienced where a 70-year-old person takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And children, "Oh, this is not the age to look for God. Wait, wait for some more time." When is the age to look for God? Oh, when you're half blind, half deaf, half lame. Then no one wants to sit next to you. That's when you turn to God. And as long as you have some strength in your body, eat, drink, and be merry. Is that true everywhere? When you turn to God, what do people think? Have you gone crazy? You've lost your full intelligence. Prasada Raaval once gave a talk called "Who is Crazy?" He analyzed two sections of society. One, the devotee class, the other, the non-devotee class. The devotee class thinks, "Hey, look at those fools, the non-devotees, they are crazy." There's some people coming up. There's a jazz concert going on also in the auditorium. Next door, and you can hear the jazz concerts. So I'm sure those who are going to the jazz concert are probably thinking, "What is crazy Hare Kṛṣṇa?" And the spiritualists are thinking, "What is crazy people wasting their valuable time?" So who is crazy? Obviously the hobos are not being more wasting valuable human life. Society today, Is in so much ignorance. Most people are born in ignorance, they live in ignorance, and they die in ignorance. Problem. Yes. A small fraction, ramānda-pramīte kono bhāgavanadi guru-kṛṣṇa-kīpāvai-bhaktiṇṇa-sabhi, a small tiny fraction get attracted to devotional service. Once Prabhupāda was giving a lecture, addressing a press conference in Australia. So the journalist asked him, "If you are Kṛṣṇa consciousness perfect, why is the world overpacked?" Prabhupāda said, "When it's selling real diamonds, only few will buy. But when it's selling imitation diamonds, thousands of people will buy." The Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the real diamond. So Dhruva Mahārāja performed extreme austerities. I'm scared to tell you the austerities he performed. You know why? You will think, "Oh, will I have to do that one day?" Like in the forest, only eat every 3 days fruits and berries, but not from a strawberry field that monkeys eat. Once in 3 days! We probably eat 3 times a day. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks in between. He was eating once every 3 days. Then the next 6 months, once every 6 days. Only dry gas. Third month he stopped eating. Only water once in 9 days. So he was able to attract the Lord. He was able to get an audience with the Lord. The Lord feels very obliged when we undergo austerities for His pleasure. The Lord asked him, "Dhruva, ask Me for any benediction you may desire." What did Dhruva say? "My dear Lord, if You want to give me any benediction, give me the benediction that I may associate with advanced devotees. Because if I associate with them, then I'll be able to get philosophy which will help me to cross the world." the turbulent ocean of birth and death. We would like to believe material life offers nothing but happiness. Is that right? We would all like to believe that. We would like to believe there is no misery. But what's the ground reality? We experience nothing but misery. Danger at every step. Gāṇṣa. We get warnings, but we ignore them. There was once a lawyer, was about to die. Even jurists die. Is that true? Even doctors die. Best doctors also. So this jurist was about to die. He told Yāmraj, "You didn't give me any notice. First give me notice and then take me." You know how lawyers are. They first give you notice. "If within 2 weeks you don't know this, we'll take this action." So Yamarāja said, "Who says I didn't give you notice? How many hair do you have on your head now?" "I'm bald like the Hare Krishnas." "How many teeth do you have left?" "None at all." "How many did you have 20 years ago?" "All 32." "How good is your eyesight now?" "I'm almost blind." "How good was your eyesight 30 years ago?" "Oh, as sharp as an eagle." Eagle has very sharp eyes. Flying high in the sky, he can identify when there's a corpse on the ground. "How strong are your legs now?" "I can't even walk. I'm on a wheelchair." "How strong were your legs 40 years ago?" "I was part of the Olympic team." So Yama and Asma series of questions. "How good is your hearing now?" "I'm almost deaf." How good was that years ago? Adventure. Very good. Sanyamraja said, "I gave you so many notices. Your hair started falling, your hair turned grey, your cheeks started getting wrinkled, your legs began to get weak, your hands began to get weak, your eyesight began to get weak, and you say I didn't give you warning? I gave you so many warnings, you ignored all of them." We all are getting warnings. The Bhagavan says, With the rising and setting of the sun, the duration of life of everyone, but one who engages in service to the Lord, is being reduced. Do we realize every morning when you get up, "Oh, I have one day less left in my life." Honestly, do you ever realize that? We virtually take everything for granted. Youth for granted, happiness for granted. But the reality is, there is danger in every step. Everything is temporary. In the Western countries, in Europe and all, they have these anti-aging shops. I'm sure you have that in Russia too. No, I'm sure. What do these anti-aging shops sell? They sell paraphernalia to avoid the appearance of old age. If your cheeks are getting wrinkled, no problem, you can do cosmetic surgery. You know which doctors make the most money these days? The ones who do cosmetic surgery, because everyone wants to look beautiful. In India we have many devotees, not many, we have few beauty saloons. You know what's a beauty saloon? We have a devotee, he has Prabhupāda's tape playing all the time. He has a huge beauty saloon with over 20 chairs. Then when they come in, they say, "Just make me look beautiful, I'm getting married next week. Charge anything you want." We would all like to look beautiful. But what's the real beauty? The real beauty is the presence of the soul. Prabhupāda once wrote an article called "The Liquid Beauty." I won't discuss the story now. But the bottom line was, real beauty is the presence of the soul in the body. Does anyone like going to a body that's in which there's no soul? No! As long as the soul is there, there's beauty in the body. What's the nature of the soul? No birth, no death. In the late '60s, there was a big scientist in Canada who had seen people die. He was a doctor for 32 years. This doctor has seen people die for 32 years. When you're a doctor, that's all you see. So he said, "I'm convinced." There's something in that body. When that something leaves the body, the body is pronounced dead. But now we are going to do research and see where is that something in the body. So we sent this article to Prabhupāda. Prabhupāda wrote to this scientist and said, "I'm happy that at least you are acknowledging there's something in the body. When that something leaves the body, the body is pronounced dead." And quoting different scriptures, Prabhupāda pointed out how you will never be able to see the soul. Or find the soul. When you talk about the eternal nature of the soul, often people say, "What's the proof? What's the proof? I can't see the soul. What's the proof?" No one knows. What's the proof? The proof is consciousness. As long as the soul is in the body, there is consciousness. Finally, the scientists admitted that what the Vedas have to offer is far superior to what modern science can ever discover. This whole exchange between Prabhupāda and the scientist is produced in the book called "Science of Self-Realization." Prabhupāda, by his preaching, convinced people of all walks of life of the importance of spirituality. Yesterday we were talking about questions and answers. Prasad RAVAL. We explained how life is nothing but a series of question and answer. So we should be asking question, "How can I find real happiness? How can I free myself from the miseries of birth and death? How can I make real friends?" But these answers are there. Your real friends are those who guide you on the path of real happiness. So we have this program every Sunday in almost every temple of the world. In some of our programs, like in Toronto, New York, you get 600-700 people coming. And what is being presented is a very sublime path. Chanting the names of the Lord, what's difficult in this? You can chant the names of the Lord day and night and not get tired. But unfortunately, Sometimes we are obstinate. In the early days of our movement, there was a cartoon that came in a big newspaper in New York. The cartoon showed a Hare Kṛṣṇa devotee and a modern materialist. The devotee was saying, "Chant, chant, chant." And the other responded, "Can't, can't, can't." So, Obviously everybody sitting here believes in chanting, otherwise you wouldn't be here. This is chanting. Where is it coming from? It's coming from the spiritual world. Tākṛbha-kliyāṇa says, "Doesn't matter, grihī-taka, vāni-taka, sādhāri-pūrī-taka, you may be brahmachari, grihāsta, whatever." Just chant the Holy Name. In the audience here, I'm sure we have householders, Students, whatever your āśrama, chant the Holy Name. In happiness and distress, chant the Holy Name. Often when you are experiencing material happiness, you don't have time for God. Is that true? Yes. Kṛṣṇa says, "People come to Me in the four factors." What are they? One who wants wealth. But that I heard that all the devotees don't want. I heard they're very renounced. They want wealth, Maharaj? Okay, if you want wealth, come to Kṛṣṇa. One of them distressed. You all get distressed sometime or another. Inquisitive. The genuine seeker of knowledge. It doesn't matter. If you analyze, each of you, we're not going to do a survey, we don't have the time. If you analyze, you will see All of you who came to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, you are one of the four factors. So now that you have come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, please make sincere endeavor. Be determined to stay on this path. When you come to spiritual life, the illusionary energy tries to bewilder you more. Therefore you need spiritual association. Therefore you need determination. Therefore you need enthusiasm. Therefore, you need conviction of purpose to take the Kṛṣṇa consciousness seriously. Time and tide wait for no one. Does anyone like old age? Ask anyone who is getting old. Nobody likes being old. And tell a young person, "How old you look?" He or she will feel bad at it. So we don't like disease, we don't like old age, we don't like material calamities. They happen. What's the cure? Accept Kṛṣṇa's invitation. Kṛṣṇa is inviting you through the scriptures and through His agents, the spiritual teachers. What is Kṛṣṇa saying? "Come to Me." Sarva-dharmaṁ paritājyamām ekaṁ śrīmad-bhāgavata-sūtraḥ. "Come to Me. I will protect you. Do not worry." Come back to the spiritual world. It is a place of nothing but bliss and happiness. So we are very grateful that you took the trouble to come here. The weather forecast was rain today, but it didn't rain because I think Lord Indra wanted you to come to the program. So, well, definitely sincere. Please take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and be happy and make others happy. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. I thought we were running out of time, so— but thank you very much. Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. Any questions from— any questions from first-timers, second-timers? No questions? How many of you chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra regularly? How many of you chant 16 rounds a day? How many of you chant it on 8 rounds a day? Impoṣu. How many of you chant it on 4 rounds a day? How many of you chant it on 1 round a day? I know all of you are honest brahmins. And how many of you don't chant at all? Well, the maths doesn't add up. That's because they live every hour equipped. Those who chant 1 or 2 rounds, those who don't chant, those who are chanting around 4 rounds can increase it to 8 rounds. Those who chant around 8 rounds can increase it to 12 rounds. And those who do 12 rounds can increase it to? 16 rounds. And what about those who do 16 rounds? They can improve the quality of their chanting. There's one thing. When Prabhupāda first started the movement in New York, He told the devotees to chant 64 rounds a day. At that time there were only American followers. After a few days they came to Prabhupāda: "Swāmi, we can't do 64 rounds, it's very difficult." Prabhupāda said: "Okay, do 32 rounds." So they tried 32 rounds a day. After a few days they came and said: "Swāmi, 32 rounds is too much for us to do." So Prabhupāda said: "Okay, 16 rounds and no less." But sometimes devotees are Why, what happens, why the sacred number 16 rounds? If you chant in 16 rounds, like many of you do, it'll take you an hour and a half, 2 hours to do it. Then we chant for that period. The good child will be able to control Maya for the remaining 22 hours. Otherwise, if you chant in rounds, follow the regular principle, The guarantee to go back where? Where? There is neither. And where do you go? Straight to the world, called Vaikuntha. Where there is nothing what happens. But sometimes we say, "No!" This world is called Kuntaloka. So please take the advice. Kṛṣṇa is giving you the invitation. Take it seriously. You take one step towards Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa will take 10 steps towards you. Please take and keep endeavoring to serve the Lord and chant the Holy Name. When Prabhupāda started the movement in America, the drug culture was quite high. People would take drugs and try and feel high. So Prabhupāda devotees made a poster, Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and stay high forever. If you like to stay high forever, then chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. And you'll be nothing but in bliss all around. This bliss is free. Most things in life you have to buy a ticket. Even for the jazz concert they were selling tickets. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, bliss is not there. So thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. And I'll give darshan now. What time do they have to finish this hall? We booked the hall up to 9, but if it will be necessary we can continue. Ah, there's no prasādva? They have some prasādva. Also they will distribute outside. They will distribute outside.