It is not about perfection
Sri Madhuri Kunj Ashram, Vilnius
Hari-katha by Sripad Vasanta Prabhu
July, 2019
How do I relate myself to the world?
It is very important how do I relate myself to the material world, what type of actions I am performing in the world. In what way we relate to everything it is our morality, our dharma and duty – the way that we relate and produce the result. In Bhagavad-gita chapter 3 it is explained, that in order to produce the positive result in the world it is important to understand what is the nature of action and inaction and what is the result of every action that we take in our life. Here Krishna is also explaining in what way we can liberate ourselves from our karma, because by our past actions our karma is fructifying in both positive or negative ways. So everything that we are experiencing in our life is the result of what we have done before, what we have desired before – everything has come to pass at certain time in our life. So if any suffering comes we can understand that we have done something on the same nature in the past life or that we may have a misconception that by doing things in a certain way we may attain a different result than the one that we got.
Everything is in the hands of Krishna
Srila Prabhupada said, that by doing things in a certain way we may attain the different result then the one we got. Success is something that is in the hands on Krishna. So if Krishna wants you to be successful then you will be granted with success. We have our free will but everything is in the hands of Krishna so if anything comes to pass, everything is under the control and guidance and the auspiciousness of Krishna, he is superintendent of the entire universe.
In Bhagavad-gita (3.17) Srila Prabhupada is explaining:
“One who is, however, taking pleasure in the self, who is illumined in the self, who rejoices in and is satisfied with the self only, fully satiated—for him there is no duty”
As living entities we all have a duty, we are constantly performing our duties – some people are cooking, some are helping other people, some are social representatives and we have came with that job, that duty in this world. Naturally by the level that we have acquired in the past life in the video game we are elected in this life. Some people are natural leaders and everybody automatically follows them, because they have a certain power in a certain level. However, leadership is not something that is easy because by your actions you have to be an example and if anybody is successful in the world then naturally other people became envious, they start attacking because everybody has different opinion how things should be done. Everybody wants to be respected and everybody wants their opinion and their choice to be ultimate because everybody wants to have correct model of the universe. So there are so many jobs in the world that you have to perform.
When a person is humble then he respects the service of another. If not humble then doesn’t respect the duty of another because always thinks: “I am superior so my opinion should be foremost and last” but Krishna is saying, that actually the opinion of sadhu is foremost and last because sadhu is not seeking for any material result, which means that sadhu is doing what he is doing from pure love. All the saintly people in the world, who are performing harinama-sankirtana, bhajana, teaching Bhagavad-Gita, engaging in devotional service – this is not done for their own name and fame or for their own pleasure, it is done under the command and guidance of their Guru for the only purpose of satisfying the supreme Lord and Sri Guru. When the Supreme Lord and Guru are satisfied then this is not called karmic interaction, this is called action in the platform of pure bhakti. If I am offering everything that may come, my entire power for the pleasure of Krishna – this is called bhakti.
What am I attracted to?
Material world is full of suffering, even if anybody is good people who are full of suffering are attacking: “Why are you doing good? We don’t agree with what you are doing. Why are you doing charity, collecting for the others? You should be giving to me” – this is their commandment, they want all attention to go to them because they think that they have correct ideas. So even people who are doing very good work in the world, people like Mahatma Gandhi, they are always getting in the trouble. For example his holiness Dalai Lama – he is doing a very good work, he is explaining to people the teaching of having warm heart, relating to life with kindness and compassion – this is the core of his teaching, but many people don’t like, they say: “Why are you teaching everybody that they should be weak? The purpose of life is war, we must survive and defeat ourselves, we must fight” but Dalai Lama said that nobody should fight. So in this way people are getting attacked all the time for doing good activities.
There are two sides: demons who like bad things and sadhus, good people, who like good things. Like the fly and the bee, both very small insects but fly is black and hairy and has bad taste always smelling bad smells of stool and thinks that this is delicious because it has taste for bad things. Anybody who has bad nature has a taste for bad things and then they incarnating in such body. Another insect is the bee, it is not attracted to stool, controversy and politics or other bad stinky things, the bee is like a sadhu, it is only attracted to the fragrance of flowers and if the bee is flying and there is a flower then the bee will automatically will be attracted to the fragrance of the flower and will collect the nectar, so the bee is always drinking nectar and if there is a very fragrant lotus flower the bee will fly to the lotus flower and think: “I must take this nectar and make an offering” – the offering of the bee is the nectar of the honey and what is the offering of the fly? The fly is not giving anything – it is only taking very bad things but not giving anything, only bothering – bzzz, bzzz, bzzz. The bee is taking good things but then giving more excellent things. Human can’t drink nectar from the flower but the bee is taking the nectar, then working with it and after some time giving very pure honey.
Sadhu has taste only for nectar
Many people have no sukriti (result of pious activities). They are going to pure, clean place, collecting nectar but instead of giving honey they are vomiting because they have bad nature. It is like the fly going near by flower: “In this life I will not try stool, I will try flower, I want to change” and then fly is also going to the lotus flower and the lotus flower closing for one night and then the fly is trapped inside the lotus flower and can’t escape even if the fly wants to run away. The lotus flower is closing – this is called Premananda Prabhu is calling you to Vrindavan. Somehow you are coming and then lotus flower is closing for some time, we can’t escape. Some people have good sukriti, they spend there 6,5 year, some 10 years, people like Krishna Karunya prabhu spends there 30 years, but he has no problem because he has clean nature, he only likes honey and nectar, also he is going to other countries and also giving only honey and nectar.
Meanwhile the fly is coming near by the lotus flower, anyhow became attracted: “In this life I don’t want to be stinky, I don’t want to drink this stool and urine” so anyhow it is coming near by the lotus flower and then the lotus flower giving mercy: “You stay here, smelling, drinking nectar, listening to nectar, everything fragrant, beautiful, clean” but the nature of the fly is that it doesn’t like flowers and wants to run away – pinching, poking and at some point breaking the lotus flower because the fly is going anywhere and vomiting, then making one little hole in the lotus and never going to another lotus flower, but going back to old habits. In the process of bhakti it is the same. In our life we have generated some type of nature from the past lives whatever you were in bee or fly body, frog body, Lithuanian or Mexican body – this is according to your taste and actions.
If you have fly body then you really need the mercy of sadhu but fly doesn’t understand that it is in fly body. Fly is thinking: “Now the bees will listen to me” and the fly is also preaching, standing in the middle of the honeycomb: “This honey is nothing, you better come with me, I will give you some real nectar”. Some bees are stupid, thinking: “Honey again for breakfast, lunch and dinner – what if we follow the fly?” then the bees also going and tasting and then understanding. This is called falling from the grace of sadhu, falling from sadhu-sanga. The moment when you fall from the grace of sadhu many Gurus are out there: the fly is preaching, the frog is preaching, the dog is barking – also preaching, politicians are preaching – everybody is preaching, selling something according to their nature everybody is trying to convince us that: “My conception is best conception”.
How to know the ultimate conception of life? We have to follow the instructions of Sri Guru. Guru is sadhu and sadhu has taste only for nectar. So a pure person has no interest if anybody did right or wrong – he is absolutely detached. Anybody is doing anything – sadhu has no problem because he has no relationship with temporary qualities of the person, he has relationship only with the vastu-siddhi, only with the eternal spiritual form of the person so when you are coming, he is not looking if you are sinful, dirty or good. They are looking to the pure soul within the covering of the material karma of the person and in order for that fly to understand that the purpose of life is not to eat stool – sadhu has to teach that honey is good for him.
How are we advanced in our consciousness?
Depending on our level of consciousness and the level of samskaras (impressions) in the realm of pious activities – it is called sukriti. If anybody is doing good for the others, helping for the others all the time, anybody is respecting, protecting the earth all the time, carrying for the others all the time then they can understand very quickly that love exists. This understanding comes into the heart through the service and the actions to the other living entity. Then when she sadhu speaks: “Love is beautiful, love is real, God is love” – person can perceive, maybe not very clearly, because we all are very covered but he can perceive.
For example if you are feeding the dog then little by little the dog becomes friendly to you. The dog comes from the family of wolfs, it is genetic mutation, before wolf was wild and had a very bad nature. Even though it is very convenient for the wolf to be near by humans because humans settled down and then they began to be farmers, cultivate the land, they were feeding the wolfs and they made friendship with the wolfs so the wolfs understood that humans are not bad: “They feed, protect, I don’t have to live in the cave, I can live near by humans” and the attitude of reciprocation developed in the wolf. So if you treat the dog with love and respect, feed, bath it, then it will be absolutely loyal to you.
Cat’s nature is different because even if you feed it, help – the cat will be a king. If the cat likes then it will let you pass, if the cat is not feeling in the mood then will walk away. This is the nature of the cat while the nature of the dog is to be loyal. Dog has realized: “If I am friendly with human, human will be friendly to me” – this is called humbleness. Dog is definitely more humble than a cat.
If you do the same thing to the snake, if you take care, feed it everyday and think that it will change it’s nature – it is not going to happen because the snake is the snake and when one day you will come and try to feed the snake and the snake will bite you with poison. So depending on your advancement, the consciousness in the body that you got – it shows some type of advancement in consciousness.
The nature of sadhu
Gurudeva used to tell the story that there was the sadhu and he was walking near by the beach and he saw that the scorpion was running towards the water to the ocean so the sadhu said: “If the scorpion will go to the ocean, it doesn’t know how to swim so it will drawn” and to avoid it the sadhu picked up the scorpion, he did this act of kindness. The scorpion thought: “This is my enemy because he is not letting me to go where I want to go” so he bit the sadhu’s hand so the sadhu let go of the scorpion and it felt down and again immediately he was running towards the ocean. The sadhu put a bandage on his hand and immediately with his other hand, which was still available, went to pick up the scorpion which was already drawing in the ocean. As the sadhu was carrying a scorpion to the shore to the save place, the scorpion realized that it is not drawing anymore and was thinking: “Where am I? That man again, he is my enemy” and again bit the sadhu and the sadhu let it go because it was painful. Then after some time again the scorpion was going back to the ocean. The sadhu was on his way to pick him up again but his disciple chastised him: “Gurudeva, why are you trying to pick up this scorpion? Can’t you understand with your wisdom that this scorpion will not give up his bad nature?”. Then Gurudeva said: “The scorpion will not give up it’s bad nature but why will I give up my nature as the sadhu?”.
So the nature of sadhu is to be compassionate and the nature of scorpion is to be scorpion – anyhow the sadhu went and picked up the scorpion the third time and at that time the scorpion was tired doing nonsense and also he had no poison left, so sadhu picked up the scorpion and gently put him back into bushes and the scorpion lived. Out of that even if sadhu got beaten in both hands, karmickly he got nothing because he said: “I am not doing this for any reward, I don’t want him to repay me in any life in the future, I am free from this, I am glad that I can do something good for this living entity, may he be blessed so it will lose this bad nature”.
The process of bhakti cleanses the heart
Srila Prabhupada is explaining: “A person who is fully Krsna conscious, and is fully satisfied by his acts in Krsna consciousness, no longer has any duty to perform. Due to his being Krsna conscious, all impiety within is instantly cleansed, an effect of many, many thousands of yajna performances. By such clearing of consciousness, one becomes fully confident of his eternal position in relationship with the Supreme. His duty thus becomes self-illuminated by the grace of the Lord, and therefore he no longer has any obligations to the Vedic injunctions. Such a Krsna conscious person is no longer interested in material activities and no longer takes pleasure in material arrangements like wine, women and similar infatuations.”
The process of bhakti will cleanse your heart into such extent that you will understand that the temporary pleasure is nothing. Anything good that is coming to you is temporary. Any pleasure, doesn’t matter if it lasts one hundred years – anyhow everything is temporary. Anything what is coming to you in the material world is temporary. Anything bad coming – anybody talking bad about you or any scorpion biting you, any fly offering you stool and urine, criticising you because you are not eating stool – this is temporary. Flies come, they live less than humans, it will bother you a little bit and after a few days – dead and then next body. If it likes to be fly then again will incarnate into fly if it has a little bit of consciousness achieved because it has tasted a little bit of honey, then next life higher birth, in that way developing.
Everything in the world is temporary
Whatever reaction I can get from my activities, from helping the others, anyhow, what will happen to the person who does good work – more good work and one life you will become a representative of your community, then next life you become a representative of a bigger community in your municipality, then you become a representative in the state, then you will have an ambition to become a representative of the country, then to become a president of the planet, solar system, galaxy, universe then it is not enough for you then you want to be a creator of the universe,… It doesn’t matter what you do, you just get more and more entangled if you have a taste for things that are temporary. Sadhu understood – what is the purpose for me to create my own universe if anyhow it is temporary? And it takes so much effort to create the universe and for what? Anyhow Shiva is coming and destroying everything – it is his job and nobody can stop him.
In the same way we have this micro universe which is our body and we are taking care, feeding, worshiping our body – in the morning we can’t wake up to do puja to Thakuji because we are lazy but when it comes to our body we are doing so much puja, breakfast – puja, you are worshiping your body, taking very nice things. When it is summer you are worshiping with ice- cream. Then at lunch time I can’t eat simply, I worship my body with very tasty cakes, so all the time there is a process of worship. Worshiping body with coffee, because I have to work very much, I have to attain status in the society, be powerful but devotees never want to be powerful because they understand that if they are powerful then this will take away time. If I am very beautiful then people want to enjoy me. If I am very wealthy, then people want my wealth. If I am very strong then people want my protection. If I am very smart then people want me to tell them what to do. When you are fresh, young, shiny and golden then everybody like you but if you are old – nobody likes you. This is the nature of the material life. Never fall for this type of thing.
Sadhu understands this so he is so detached from everything what is not connected to Krishna. In our Gaudiya Guru-parampara we are detached from everything that is not connected to Srimati Radhika. Our Guru-varga is not interested in any type of action that is not directly connected to Srimati Radhika and her service. In this way they are performing the highest service in the universe and not thinking: “In this life I will be liberated” – they are never thinking like this, they are praying: “Life time after life time may I be born in the place where I can perform service”. So if anybody in your service as devotee or in bhakti path is criticizing you that you are doing something wrong and telling that their conception is better, remember that the most important is to perform your service sincerely. The main thing in your prayer is your sincerity. Not the quality of your performance but your sincerity.
Bhakti is a process
Bhakti is a process and it means that when you come to the temple you are not done, also it is not that Gurudeva has a microwave and puts you for three minutes and you are done, perfect. This is not going to happen, because Vaishnavas cook with wood, so it will take time and before they start cooking they must clean the pot that is so dirty. Before you are coming and before Guru starts cooking – you will clean the pot and this process is very painful. How is he cleaning the pot – lotus is closing and he is drowning you in nectar, love and affection. When you are coming to the ashram Gurudeva is treating you nicely: “Prabhu, you came from so far away, do us a honor becoming a pujari of the temple, this would be great honor for us if you could worship Radha and Krishna tomorrow”. You have come from nothing, from the street, but Premananda Prabhu is offering you the supreme position: “Please do us a honor of singing in the temple, please give us the nectar of your voice, please give us the nectar of your cooking” – but actually we are not qualified and this is the mercy of Vaishnavas that they give us the service and meanwhile they are cleaning because our nature is like scorpion’s or monkey’s and in order to lose this nature take many lives. The more you are down in your consciousness the more Guru will give you mercy. The more down you are in your consciousness the more Guru will pour his blessings on you.
Sometimes you can see that Gurudeva is giving so many blessings to one particular person and it is because that person is scorpion. Anybody who is coming in good consciousness already then Gurudeva knows that he doesn’t need to worry about that person – good person is good, they are doing bhajan, following. Sadhu gives mercy only to elevate our consciousness so if anybody is coming with a dirty pot then it is necessary to wash even if many people don’t understand that mercy means Guru has to wash your pot because many people who come to the temple wants to be Guru. Sadhu’s heart is so humble, he understands that when I arrived to the temple I had a nature of the fly and it is only by the mercy of my Guru my eyes opened and I saw that there is more than the taste of the fly, there is some nectar, so the moment when your taste changes, your nature changes. If your taste for engaging in the activity doesn’t change, then your nature will be the same as it is. So number one duty of the sadhu, number one thing that he will try to do when you come to the contact with him is that he will try to give you a choice and the possibility, service so you can taste nectar and then at that time you may change your nature. If you give honey to the fly one life maybe the fly will get some taste for honey and maybe it will not go back to the old taste. However, the fly will not become a bee in this life, it need to wait until the next life. Anyhow sadhu gives only honey and then the fly understands: “Honey is good for me” and then the fly is humbly praying: “May in my next life I receive a body that can always be around honey” and then Guru and Vaishnavas will give us the body of the bee, cow or a human being, put us in good family with devotee parents that brings us to kirtan – this is mercy of Guru and Vaishnavas.
What do I do with my consciousness in human body?
So we are already in the human body. Many people coming to astrology and saying: “I can’t figure it out how to be rich, I am so depressed in this country” and they are looking if astrologer will be sorry for them but I am telling: “Were you born in Afganistan or Africa? Have you always had water in your flat and do you eat everyday free times a day? Do you have to walk three kilometres to get the water? Did you get the education when you were growing up? Do you have clean rivers and sunshine? Do you have political stability in your country and can you go to the street without fear in the night?” – then how can I feel sorry for you? If you were born in Africa than maybe I would feel sorry for you because there is no water, no education, everybody fighting, everybody surviving – how tough it is in Africa.
What we do with our consciousness in human body – we always want somebody feel sorry for us and we are not understanding what a great gift it is not only to have a human body but also in this life to attain Sadhu-sanga and when we are connected to sadhu it is a very high birth. If you are thinking that you have a low birth – this is a very bad habit. Now you are going with spiritual family because your nature has changed. So high birth means that you are born in the family or in a human body with pious activities, if people are good then the result is good. European birth is also auspicious so you must think what can I do with this in the process of karma-yoga, in what way I can serve the others so that for the benefit and healing of all living entities and the pleasure of God.
What do we do with what we have?
One nice girl called Yogamaya dasi received wonderful body and sings like the angel. Even Prabhuji said that she must have come from Satya Yuga, because she is very tall and so good. We are thinking she is different but she is thinking that we are different. There is a place where everybody is good, magnanimous, always giving but in this life she is shy. She has this quality and this ability to spread kirtan around the world, to touch people’s hearts with her voice and remind them: Hey Govinda, Hey Radhe! – but she is always holding back thinking: “My voice for myself” but then why are you coming into human body? Birds are singing, giving a beautiful song to everybody. Bee is flying giving honey to everybody, the tree is growing and giving mangoes and not taking your tax. Imagine if mango tree doesn’t give mangoes: “I am afraid, my mangoes can be soured”, but this is it’s purpose and the nature of mangoes is not to be soured, then mango tree says: “I am afraid that my mangoes may be too sweet, too good and then everybody will know that I have good mangoes” but then why are you asking for mango tree body if you don’t want to give mangoes? Trees doesn’t have these ideas and complications, they are giving mangoes.
World needs love, it is like desert, nothing growing, only harshness, politics, but this rain, this nectar, sweetness – where can you find it? Premananda Prabhu for ten years trapped me in lotus flower so I love honey. So if you have some nectar in your heart then give this nectar, distribute, don’t think that it is for you. If your job is to help people then even if flies attack you have to do your good job. Don’t think you have to do it or not – if you are mango tree then you give mangoes. If anybody helps to those who has less then everybody criticizes: “Why are you distributing a good thing?”. If you are good then you are doing a good thing and if somebody doesn’t like it then they have to deal with it. I represent love and affection for the other – deal with it. I love to help people and I will never stop – deal with it. I give mangoes and if you don’t like it – deal with it. Jasmine tree smells amazing – deal with it. If you tell jasmine tree to stop smelling like it smells but jasmine tree’s nature is to smell amazing. So if you are giving a good fragnance why are you worried – this is your nature, give it for the world, more people like you, please, just don’t be attached to the results of your actions, it is not for you, offer for God’s pleasure and then you are free.
Self-realized man understands: “I am a mango tree so I give mangoes” – you are done, don’t need to think too much. For example I asked Prabhuji what to do and he said to do astrology for all devotees. Then he said take care of the sanga in Lithuania. If Prabhuji is saying why do I have a headache? Premanda Prabhu is telling: “This is your nature, go and perform your duty” – I don’t have a good reason not to perform my duty. Anybody don’t like me – I am sorry. Always think: “Do I have a good reason not to follow my Guru’s instruction?” Whatever anybody is saying about you, whatever anybody may throw at you – he gave you an instruction that is designed that you may advance in your process of self-realization. You may not do it perfectly, but you got that order from Prabhuji so do it. Do you have anything better to do than to follow the instruction of the sadhu? You may listen to a person who is not a sadhu and then they will try to instruct you.
Sadhu is an expert gardener and knows how to take care of each
So it is always going to come down to following the instructions of your Guru or you believing that you must follow somebody’s conceptions. Then life becomes so easy – Prabhuji told me to do so I am going to do and see what happens. The problem is that we get trapped in the mind also in the internet it is so popular to criticize: “Why are you doing like this, why Premananda Prabhu said like that?” but how can you understand the Sadhu? Like an ant that is running, picking up a little peace of bread and taking to the colony and an ant has a very small brain and then compare an ant to human being – very big difference in size and consciousness and understanding. So can you imagine the consciousness difference of somebody who was born in kali-yuga and a pure devotee? It is more than an ant and human being, we can’t even understand.
We are thinking that we have two eyes, two ears, we speak English, we are better than sadhu but if Guru gives you an instruction – bas, do what he tells you and that is it. Don’t be afraid of sadhu, he is an expert gardener, he is taking care of one tree in this way, another tree in another way – he is an expert gardener. He is not going to treat a mango tree in a same way that he treats a rose tree or cherry tree. Garden is very big and if he tells you that your duty is to smell good because you are a jasmine tree – do that. Cherry tree is going to look at you and say: “Why are you smelling good?” – cherry tree is afraid that jasmine tree will smell better but it is not about the competition between trees because cherries are very delicious and you can’t eat jasmine but you can eat a cherry. In that way your relationship with Sri Guru is individual, he give you instruction and you do and you try. Even if you fail following the instruction you must try because that itself will clean your heart and then you pray at the moment of your death: “May I continue in the process, may I keep trying”.
Some jobs are a little bit difficult than the others but this is only in our own perception because we give ourselves importance. We are thinking that doing kirtan is more important than washing pots in the kitchen. Really? If somebody doesn’t wash pots in the kitchen then nobody can cook and kirtanyas can’t eat, then there will be no kirtan. So in our perception we are thinking that one job is more important than the other but actually no, in the garden everybody is welcome and everybody is welcome to give a fruit and everybody is under the care of the gardener. So in this way your heart will become so peaceful.
Sadhu understands where you are and gives instructions in a healthy way
When Guru gives you an instruction just ask yourself: “Do I have any good reason not to perform what he had indicated? You will soon see that actually whatever reason you may have or whatever story that you may want to tell yourself – it is just something that you making up because the instruction is so clear it is so because we are always looking to make ourselves stories not to follow the order of sadhu. Anyhow sadhu is giving mercy and he knows: “My child is tired, go and take vocation – no problem”. Sadhu is not hating me for not being able to follow his instructions, he know we are babies.
For example Premananda Prabhuji was telling me when Anandini dasi was getting married to Jatin: “You know Vasanta, Guru has to play with children. Now you are playing, this wedding is going on, you are playing nicely, little bit giving love and affection, embracing, hugging, kissing, you play and after the child is growing then he is doing bhakti. Now go play” and he send me to play the wedding day. He said: “Guru has to play with children because they are so little” in this way he explained so sweetly to me why we do weddings and this big events. He also said: “Don’t worry, when they grow up, after 10, 15 years, I am waiting for them, no problem. 18 years, then they are coming back and I am taking care of them – no problem, but now you go and play with them”. Living entities we have this: “I want to play the marriage game” and sadhu says: “Ok, do it in dharma”. Sadhu’s heart is not sour, he understands where are you, where you are going, he understands and gives a program in a healthy way.
Every moment depends on the will of God
There is no reason not to perform an order of Sri Guru. If I have good or bad reputation, this doesn’t depend on other living entities because anyhow anybody at any moment, at every second of creation depends on the will of God. Once you get to the level where you are fully connected you understand – everything is run by the will of God and everything is God’s consciousness. So whatever any living entity can do, it doesn’t matter if it is the most evil living entity – if God wants to protect you then God will protect you. If anyhow God wants you to have this experience because it teaches you something, then you will have that experience but God protects his people.
Sadhu understands that there is absolutely nothing to worry about because God is taking care of everything. Sadhu has no worry or anxiety in his heart because he knows that: “Krishna is my best friend and he likes me and he wants the best for me” so sadhu is always shanti, he is always chanting – winter or summer, young or old age, ice-cream or salt coming, pain or happiness coming – sadhu is always chanting, never hating anybody, never have anxiety. Anxiety also comes if we think: “Will I do good, people like the kirtan? Was my class good?” Sadhu has no problem, he understands that: “I have done the best what I can throughout my process”. So if I am here, now I will do the best what I can and I will offer it to Krishna and whatever the result is, it is out of my hands because I am doing not to collect anything, I am just offering. If Krishna likes – I am very happy and if he doesn’t like, I am still happy because I got to learn something so my life has a purpose, if I can please Krishna then I have a purpose.
It is not about perfection
Sadhus are creating opportunities so we can offer with love. The main thing is not the perfection of the offering but the love because Krishna takes the love. When Krishna goes to Dvaraka He is not happy there. Also Jagannath, when He is in that big temple in Dvaraka then not happy, but when he is coming to Yatra and going to Vrindavan – that day very happy. In Dvaraka everybody are princesses and queens and in Vrindavan everybody is very simple hearted, simple minded. When Krishna is coming to Vrindavan people are not offering jewellery, gems and stones, people are offering to Krishna their hearts, some butter, something cooked with their own hands – this Krishna likes. Great people understand that it is not about worshiping but it is about love, sweetness, attention, affection, intimacy, kindness, true friendship, simplicity. In Vrindavan everybody is very simple – no PhD, no name and fame. Simplicity is at the core of Vaishnavism and warm human interaction, love, affection what we can do for each other – brotherhood, sisterhood, respecting everybody as human beings. Learning to see the vulnerability, the kindness in the heart of another person in front of you.
It doesn’t matter how much sastra you may know, it is nothing compared to the warm heart of the Vaishnava. What do you need to know from sastra – Krishna is God, Krishna is love. Jesus made it simple, he said: “Love God with all your heart, all your words and all your actions. Love your brother like I have loved you” – very simply sastra. Then why do I have doubt, why doubting to give mangoes or not, if they don’t belong to me, why I am doubting myself? Why thinking that mangoes in my garden are better than mangoes in your garden? They are both mangoes, both sweet, both belong to God. “My Guru better than your Guru, my gardener is better than my gardener” as human beings we get caught up in these things and that disappears when we are in kirtan because in kirtan we don’t remember anything, then you just feel and understand and any love that you have in your heart for God is coming out when you sing. This is why Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said: “Param vijayate Sri Krishna sankirtanam” – supreme glory to the congregational chanting of the holy name. If you have anything good in your heart for the others and you really know how to appreciate what is good in life, if you have that samskara in your heart, then you understand what is the value. If the only thing you have done is to be very proud of you advancement, knowledge, what you have achieved and anybody will give you a sweet, ladu – you will never appreciate. If anybody says you with all heart with sweet voice poetry, divine prayers – you will never appreciate. Only if you have done any type of service for the others, or you have prayed then you will be able to appreciate.
Anywhere where it is love will be sweetness
If any Vaishnavas have love in their hearts – there will be sweetness, atmosphere will be impregnated with sweetness. The main quality of Krishna is Madhurya, sweetness. Krishna has a flute, he is playing and without words he is telling: “Gopis, I love you” and this gesture is sweet, no need to speak. The way how he is standing also is saying a lot. He is very crooked very young, beautiful – this is sweetness. Also his pastimes are very sweet because Krishna lives in the ranche, his father is the leader of the ranches, they have cows and he is the king of the ranche. Krishna is the prince of the ranche, it is called Vrindavan, it is very sweet because there people are not complicated, they are clean beautiful, simple, they have time for what matters, people have time to be with each other, they have time to cook, to share a meal, they have time to pray, smile, laugh and spend time with each other, people have time to sing. In Dvaraka everybody are very busy but in Vrindavan there is time.
When Prabhuji send me to preach in Lithuania I asked him what mantras and slokas should I learn and he told me: “Radhe Radhe” and I asked: “What else?” and he said: “Radhe Radhe”. He said: “This is mantra and medicine, heart, love and everything – Radhe Radhe”. That is it, he told me: “Chant Radhe Radhe and you are done, you preach”. So Vrajavasis are so simple: “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. In your heart you are undeniably sweet. Gurudeva is trying to teach us warm heart, sweetness.
