Whatever you have to do – do it,
but it can be an offering
Sri Madhan-Madhuri Kunja Ashram, Vilnius
Hari-katha by Sripad Vasanta Prabhu
2019-05-25
Comfort zone or advancement?
Vaishnavas are always trying to help us to advance but what do we do according to our nature is that we try to find the comfort zone in the ashram or on the lap of Vaishnavas but this is counterproductive to our advancement because if we get comfortable in the art of service then we won’t be developing. When we are little, Vaishnavas give only milk and honey and Vaishnavas are not expecting anything from you, they only want you to come and heal your heart. Ashram is the place where we come to take the shelter from the material energy so it is has to be very clear what is my service, where am I appointed. Otherwise we will become stuck in the modality of comfort and if you are in the comfort then you can’t advance in the spiritual life.
Spiritual life means: “I want to develop love” and love is service
When you are young you need to build a character not based on comfort, loneliness or running away, but based on what your potential is and the only way to find your potential is to serve and to be very focused, one pointed: “What is my service to Guru and Vaishnavas and what is going to help me advance?”. If we don’t see value in that, then we will begin to think that: “Vaishnavas are my enemies, they only want to push me into something that I don’t want to do”. Prabhuji used to say: “The world is full of enjoy centers, almost every house you go it is the enjoy center”. Cinema, discos are enjoy centers and designed for these purposes. Prabhuji would always kindly request all the brahmacharis: “If you come to the ashram, understand that this place is for advancement in your spiritual life”. The definition of spiritual life is “I want to develop love” and love is service. So if you want to understand what love is, then it is necessary to do service, perform service, then ashram and community can sustain. Otherwise the modality that we do is that we follow into the place where we think that: “Vaishnavas are very merciful and should maintain me” but Vedic system is not like this. In Vedic system everybody understands that: “Vaishnava Thakur is my respected” and we should all look at Vaishanava Thakur. In our society it is the other way around, because we fall in the comfort zone, it is like: “Vaishnava Thakur, I came to give you all my problems” and Vaishnava Thakur says: “No problem, you give me all your problems, I can digest”. Then we ask: “Do you really take all my problems?” and he says: “Yes, give me and I will wash”. So he is washing and giving a shelter and a little service that is for your own advancement, otherwise without service experience we can’t advance into unselfishness. But some people never have time for the service because they are too much involved in their material life.
What are we doing with our time?
The time when we can live in the ashram when we are young is very precious, for most people it is just 2-3 years. What are we doing when we are here? Checking facebook? Not fully focused on our service but more focused on our material life or material job, etc? Or a little bit lost in life? Some people they can’t chant or do service because they say that “they are looking for themselves”, but the quickest way out is to perform your duty. It requires some effort to get yourself out of the situation when you wake up in the morning and you don’t know where you are, your mind is disbalanced, you don’t know who you are and what your next step is, nothing is clear, you are confused about who you are, you don’t feel so good about yourself and you wake up like that in the morning – that is chaos. So how do we bring order into chaos? We bring order by constantly following rules and regulations, by being able to be in the community. So if we don’t pay attention as the community, order of the ashram and we don’t have the rules clear (what are the rules of engagement in the ashram) then you give too much freedom and everything falls apart and everybody becomes complaisement: “Vaishnavas are not asking for my effort, so I can do whatever I want” but it is not like that because of your own disadvantage. Vaishnavas are very tolerant and they understand who is ready for teachings and who is not ready. If you are ready they will tell you, if you are not ready, can’t digest then they will not tell you.
Who can help you?
Premananda Prabhuji is one of the most responsible persons that I have ever met in my life. He doesn’t play this game when he smiles at you but then he laze out and he is not trying to sneak out of the service, not trying to go into the comfort zone because he understands that he has a relationship with Gurudeva, he has a commitment and if he wants to advance he needs to engage into devotional service. If you are not ready to engage, then Vaishnava will give you sadhu-sanga where you can associate yourself with Vaishnavas who are actually performing service and then you will become inspired. Some people can’t even take sadhu-sanga, you have to beg them to come to the temple once a week – they are too busy with works. Some people come once every 6 months – how much can you advance? If you live in the ashram you must understand that you came here for the purpose so you must endeavor.
You have to understand that Vaishnavas are my well-whishers and if you don’t understand who can help you? Loneliness is not going to help you. Vaishnavas care and want to help and there is nothing wrong with you, just sometimes we wake up a little bit moody but catch the lifesaver and try to be in the association. Vaishnavas are not judging you and they don’t expect you to be perfect, it is irrelevant. It is about love and affection and that is why you have the community around you. Vaishnavas are not counting the mistakes.
If you really love somebody you take responsibility for them, no need to ask
In Bhagavad-gita (3.8) Krishna says:
“Perform your prescribed duty for doing so is better than not working. One cannot even maintain his physical body without work”
So if you are in the ashram your prescribed duty is to chant, serve the deities – those are the main and there are series of other services and somebody has to pay for the ashram. Ideally the grihasthas who have jobs contribute. So it is a part of prescribed duty to maintain the ashram, it is our service, not volunteer work but a duty. Those who work they have all the responsibility on heir shoulders to make sure that everything it moving forward, not backward, and volunteers do as much as they want. Responsibility is very important. You are responsible for your own choices, life, quality of the relationship with Guru and Vaishnavas. It is beautiful that we have ashram but everyone must take responsibility for it. This is not a volunteer work, for Vaishnava, this is our core duty if I cannot be a monk who is always serving in India. Monks are serving all day – Prabhuji gives hari-katha, cooks, goes on parikrama, chants 64 rounds, gives darshan everyday, Prabhuji maintains everybody everyday and he is a monk. So this is a great example what does it mean to be a responsible person. Gurudeva gave him order to take care of the family and he is doing so everyday for the last 10 years. So this is what happens when you understand that the ashram doesn’t belong to somebody else, but you realize: “The ashram is mine, it is my duty, I take responsibility for the quality of the experience that bhaktas going to come when they take shelter in the ashram”. What we do is that we usually wait until the Vaishnava tells us: “This is your home, do this and that”. Why? If you really love somebody you take responsibility for them, no need to ask.
The level of responsibility that we are going to take in our service is the level that we are going to advance
The difference between being a brahmachari, somebody, who stays in the temple and exclusively dedicates his life entirely for the service of Krishna – those people have the right to be maintained by the community but if I have a job, I am studying, if I like to be outside most of the day then why do I expect the Vaishnavas to maintain me? It is not about money, it is about engagement and responsibility. So somebody who is fully engaged in serving – this is beneficial for everyone, everybody benefits from such a person, because they are constantly studying, chanting, remembering but grihastas are constantly outside involved into material life so we must be responsible for the level of the engagement that we take in our service. The level of responsibility that we are going to take in our service is the level that we are going to advance. If we are not sure what our responsibility and our role is then we become so detached from what is going on in the ashram. I can come, sing to you and gives classes but at the end of the day it comes how much am I engaged, how much mamata, it means how much spiritual attachment I have for the mission, Gurudeva’s lotus feet, for my ashram? Premananda used to say: “Why you are not thinking that this is your home? That this is my ashram, it belongs to me, because it represents my heart?”.
The attitude of humbleness to our well-whishers and caretakers
Young people should learn from the adults. When I was young I was near by Premananda Prabhu and whatever he would tell me to do I would do it either I liked it or not. No questions asked and it made me strong. Now I have twenty times more responsibility than when I was young and by the grace of Vaishnavas I can deal with it. Sometimes we think that we know better than the Vaishnavas, but how can we? If we don’t develop the attitude of humbleness to our well- whishers and our caretakers, then we are going to start criticising them, desiring that they will find a very bad luck in their life, that life will teach them a lesson and we start desiring that the Vaishnavas will fall. That’s is evil. If life gifted you with a teacher and the teacher gives you an instruction and you don’t want to follow it because you are too proud and you start thinking that: “I am more qualified than the teacher that Krishna arranged for me” – that is it, it is pride at it’s topmost and the person like this will start desiring that in order to have what they want the Vaishnava should fall down and that the Vaishnava will fail. But if the Vaishanava fails then humanity fails. So it is our own best interest don’t desire bad things for Vaishanavs but better encourage every Vaishanava to succeed no matter what their anarthas are, no matter in what level of realization they are in, our duty is to protect them. If anybody is desiring for bad faith for the Vaishnava then be careful, don’t associate with that person.
Gurudeva, may I have your grace that I will never fail you
Make-up can cover the jungle of the heart very well and there are many people who are very expert at make-up. They look very good like Putana, who came to give poison to Krishna. She dressed like a demigoddess, she looked amazing and everybody were thinking that she must be a very good person but in reality she had poison in her breast and she was trying to poison Krishna. So make-up is never going to make for what is inside. True Vaishanava is generous, he is
always trying to help everybody and he is realizing his limitations, he is always going to his Guru: “May I have your grace that I will never fail you”. That is how Vaishnava prays. He is not saying: “I will conquer the world myself and I will safe humanity” – that is not the Vaishnava. True Vaishnava is always praying at the lotus feet of his Guru: “Please give the strength and wisdom so that I can know how to never fail you”. Vaishnavas pray everyday not to fail because life is full of desires, anarthas, ill-wishers – it is so easy to fail and if don’t have a routine of service then we will become weak in our bhajan.
What is my character build on?
When we are young we build our character and whatever it is that you build based on values that is what you are going to carry for the rest of your life. If you build a character based on hiding and everything what is good to have for yourself then you will never be able to distribute Mahaprabhu’s mercy to the world and you will die incomplete, that is inacceptable. If you want to go beyond yourself then Vaishnavas are going to inspire you, pinch, kick you whatever they need to do so that you discover that you have the capacity to serve. The comfort zone can be very big, you can be very confortable in your isolation but the world is burning and Mahaprabhu has the desire to distribute mercy. There is a very small percentage of Vaishnavas and everybody else is absorbed in their material lives and this small percentage instead of fighting each other Vaishnavas should be encouraging and supporting each other. So 98% of people we meet in our lives are going to inspire you to be in your comfort zone and enjoy and only 2% inspire you to serve. Vaishnava comes and gives service so we can become strong and fixed in it and develop the character. Some people become angry because they don’t have sambandha with the ashram, have no real sambandha with Guru and Vaishanvas, no relationship. In the level of your priorities where does Krishna, ashram come in your week? Number 1, 2, 3, …? Real love never count on disengagement. Somebody loves you because they care for you and everything that is what you need you can count on that person. So it is important to understand that we have a certain duty in our lives and in the measure that we respect that duty we will develop the discipline, and in the measure that we will develop discipline we will develop the potency. And in the level that we develop potency and skill we will be able to serve Vaishnavas so it is necessary to practice.
Be present with love all times constantly
Vaishnavism is not about being on the top, it is about understanding that we have a potency to give pleasure to God and for that we just need to be present with love all times constantly. If I am your friend then I am going to remind you that and you have to learn to be self-reliant and self responsible in your service, you have to find your own resources inside of yourself because then no matter where will you go – you will be in the ashram, if you are thinking about Krishna then whatever you go Krishna will be at the center of your life. For example me, from the moment I came to Lithuania I am preaching here because I have desire to be with Guru and Vaishnavas and I take responsibility for it and I understand that it is for my own benefit, and this is all you are here. Otherwise I would be chanting alone 64 rounds alone. Can I do it everyday? On my good day yes, but not every day. It is not that the community should force you to take the responsibility but it is that you as a human being should understand that it is good to have a responsibility, it ennobles you. This is our ashram, our community, it is our survival and if we don’t stick together then everyone else will catch us with a different idea.
The biggest gifts
Mahaprabhu said that the best gift that you could give is sadhu-sanga, kirtan in sanga and this gift is given but somebody can’t even appreciate that. Hari-katha and hari-kirtan are precious gifts. So we have a choice to develop the positive culture where we all are engaged or the lazy culture where everybody always passes the ball to another who is always taking the responsibility for everybody who is usually the kindest person. So In Krishna consciousness usually the Guru and the monks takes all the weight, monks trying to do everything including get the money and grihasta people trying to be monks. Everybody has to take the responsibility for their place humbly. If I am married, I have to take a job and the ashram is my place of shelter so to take care of it.
In Bhagavad-gita (3.8) Krishna says:
“Perform your prescribed duty for doing so is better than not working. One cannot even maintain his physical body without work“
Commentary (3.8): “There are many pseudo-meditators who misrepresent themselves as belonging to high parentage, and great professional men who falsely pose that they have sacrificed everything for the sake of advancement in spiritual life. Lord Krsna did not want Arjuna to become a pretender, but that he perform his prescribed duties as set forth ksatriyas. Arjuna was a householder and a military general, and therefore it was better for him to remain as such and perform his religious duties as prescribed for the householder ksatriya. Such activities gradually cleanse the heart of a mundane man and free him from material contamination. So-called renunciation for the purpose of maintenance is never approved by the Lord”.
So you can’t pose as being a devotee if you are not fully engaged. The community has to take care of those young people who want to be fully engaged in the ashram, we need to take care of them so that they can explicitly dedicated their life to Krishna.
The second part of the commentary (3.8): “After all, one has to maintain one’s body and soul together by some work. Work should not be given up capriciously, without purification of materialistic propensities. Anyone who is in the material world is certainly possessed of the impure propensity for lording it over material nature, or, in other words, for sense gratification. Such polluted propensities have to be cleared. Without doing so, through prescribed duties, one should never attempt to become a so-called transcendentalist, renouncing work and living at the cost of others”.
So there two scopes – the person who is pretending to be renounciate but he is just lazy in the ashram and on the other side the person who is out enjoying themselves and not contributing anything to the cultivation of the higher culture. Two extremes – the lazy and the ones who has the power but doesn’t contribute anything. So if you are involved into material life and you want to advance, you have to purify whatever it is what you are making in our material life by offering it to Yagya or sacrifice and if you are in the ashram your sacrifice is to serve all devotees. In order for these two to be balanced and be in order and not to fall into chaos we all need to know what our duty is in the scope of things, we need to know what is our position. Do we get to choose our position? It depends on resources. If there is enough recourses then the residents of the ashram can choose what type of service they want to do, but if it is not there then we have to do whatever we have to do and why those little ones have to do sacrifices, but not the big ones? If you big and strong then help the little ones.
Whatever you have to do – do it, but it can be an offering
In Bhagavad-gita (9), Krishna says:
“Work done as a sacrifice for Vishnu has to be performed, otherwise work binds one to this material world. Therefore, O son of Kunti, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain unattached and free from bondage“
So whatever work we have to do we have to perform it for the satisfaction for Krishna. For example my destiny is to write a book and I did it and I offered it to Krishna. Prabhuji saw the book and he was extremely pleased. When he looked to the book the first thing that he asked was: “Where is Guru Maharaja’s name?” and he saw it on the first page of dedication and as soon as Prabhuji saw that the book is dedicated to Guru Maharaj he understood that this book is offered so he became so happy and gave his blessings. So whatever you have to do – do it, but it can be an offering.
You have to be so strong, commited, one pointed in service to Krishna and if any service comes and you don’t want to do it then how are you going to develop strength? Otherwise the weakness and comfort zone will come. Preaching is not an easy activity, you have to be so strong. First you can play a little game you like but if Prabhuji sees the capacity to preach Mahaprabhu’s mercy in you, if Prabhuji sees this little seed in you, then it is Guru’s job to develop this quality to spread Mahaprabhu’s message to other people. But if you hide in one corner and shelter yourself in a cave then how are going to get out of there and get the strength, confidence and how are going to taste the infinite mercy that comes from preaching? If you can sing nicely, people like you, you are touching their hearts, reminding them about God – why should you keep it only for yourself? Go and do it, why not? The world is burning and if you see somebody drowning and you say that: “It is not my seva?”. No, just throw him something. If God gave me voice, heart, talent, Vaishnavas, hari-katha, sadhu-sanga then you are rich, don’t be miser. Anybody who is very wealthy but giving two coins is a miser. We are misers because we have talent but we don’t want to give. We can distribute books, but we don’t want to do it, we can translate but we don’t want, we can maintain the ashram but we don’t think about it. My voice is not mine, it belongs to Guru Maharaj. My youth is not mine – it belongs to Guru Maharaj. My book is not mine, it belongs to Guru Maharaj.
Commentary (9): “Since one has to work even for the simple maintenance of the body, the prescribed duties for a particular social position and quality are so made that that purpose can be fulfilled. Yajna means Lord Visnu, or sacrificial performances. All sacrificial performances also are meant for the satisfaction of Lord Visnu. The Vedas enjoin: yajno vai visnuh. In other words, the same purpose is served whether one performs prescribed yajnas or directly serves Lord Visnu. Krsna consciousness is therefore performance of yajna as it is prescribed in this verse. The varnasrama institution also aims at this for satisfying Lord Visnu. “Varnasramacara-vata purusena parah puman/visnur aradhyate…” (Visnu Purana 3.8.8) Therefore one has to work for the satisfaction of Vishnu. Any other work done in this material world will be a cause of bondage, for both good and evil work have their reactions, and any reaction binds the performer. Therefore, one has to work in Krsna consciousness to satisfy Krsna (or Visnu); and while performing such activities one is in a liberated stage”.
What Srila Prabhupadha is saying is that: “I am not attached to the results of my actions. Everything I do I offer and sacrifice and I am free from reaction, there will be no negative or positive karma – I am free, not bound to anybody. I am serving, doing everything I need to do but I am offering to Guru Maharaj: Gurudev you please take this”. Otherwise I am bound. The same can be done with our work. If you are offering then no karma.
Commentary (9): “One should therefore act very diligently, under the expert guidance of a devotee of Lord Krsna, or under the direct instruction of Lord Krsna Himself (under whom Arjuna had the opportunity to work). Nothing should be performed for sense gratification, but everything should be done for the satisfaction of Krsna. This practice will not only save one from the reaction of work, but will also gradually elevate one to transcendental loving service of the Lord, which alone can raise one to the kingdom of God.”
The importance of the relationship
If you have a relationship then you are there. If you work and you donate something for the ashram you have relationship with God and that can’t create a reaction and what you get from it is a sambandha, relationship: “I am responsible for that, that part of life is my responsibility, I have direct sambandha” but if you take no responsibility, not serving, you are wasting your life and nothing you did, nothing you offered? I am very primitive, the only thing I know is to tell the future and read astrological charts, that is it. Compare to Vaishnava and famous people this is very primitive. But what I do I explain everybody what is astrology and I try to remind dharma, and in every astrology class I say that: “The first thing you do is to understand that God is at the center” and I offer. If what you do can’t be in direct activity of what is Vaishnava then you can still do it, for example the person who is making music created some devotional music and now the CD is everywhere in the world and you are getting sukriti, you have relationship with God, you understand that: “With my power I can produce a wonderful CD”. If you have job, get money – do you burn all money for your own sense gratification or do you sacrifice some for the advancement of everybody? So in this way we learn to share and understand that one can go beyond oneself.
We are each other’s strength
You have to understand that: “My duty is to serve Guru Maharaj” and that will fructify your heart. Instead of being a source of darkness and tears, misery for other people I can be a source of good, love in this world. Try to remember what is good and don’t see yourself as weak people. Being humble means ready to serve all times. Otherwise how much time do we spend being sad and being absorbed in doing stupid nonsenses thinking who likes you or not – it doesn’t matter, do what you can, do something good and remember that you can have a beautiful relationship with God and it all depends on sambandha, the quality and the level of relationship, the engagement, how much attention you pay to your opportunity. Ask yourself in what way can I contribute? Doesn’t matter how much you do or how much you contribute there is always going to be people that want you will fail, there is always going to be people who wish that you will fry in boiling oil, or who wish or encounter banana peel on your path that you will slip and smack yourself, there is going to be people who criticize you and don’t understand you or going to talk bad about you and make you a cause of their problems but we are going to do it anyway. And if we fail we are going to fail trying, and if we die we are going to die trying. What else are we going to do? Surrender to their idea? I don’t think that Prabhuji wants me to fail. Do you think Prabhuji or Prabhupada wants you to fail? So why other people want us to fail? Prabhuji has some degree of encouragement and faith in what I can to do to serve – that is enough. I am going to make myself an armour, shield and bow and of an arrow with that love and I am going to punch it and if I fail then I am going to fail trying. And if I fail the first person to pick me up is going to be Premananda Prabhu. He is not going to say: “You failed”. As long as Prabhuji and Gurudeva is with us we have a chance and remember that anyway we have each other. It is important to understand that we are each other’s strength. That is what sadhu-sanga gives. We don’t let anybody down, we embrace each other and we advance each other. When we create this enthusiasm then we are going to make it shine and stable all together.
Nobody is perfect but he is my brother or my sister and we walk together
Don’t try to think that you are alone in the world – you have a community, get together, a place where we can go. Leave something beautiful behind be engaged, be passionate. When Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupad left his body the last thing he said: “Go and preach Krishna nama everywhere and preach with might”. Cause if you have love then why would you hold back? Give, distribute, help people to know. If you have a song in your heart go and sing it. There is enough hate, irresponsibility in the world. So we have to help to each other to become strong, we move as a unit. Criticisms make us weak. You have to understand: “Nobody is perfect but he is my brother or my sister and we walk together”. So it is not our privilege, it is our duty, duty is my responsibility and if we were given the responsibility to distribute the highest love – we are doing ok. You are the messengers of the highest love. That is who I am, what is why I came here to do. No matter if others believe in you or other people oppose you – you have the right to perform your duty.
Once I asked: “Prabhuji how do I know if Krishna is happy with me?”. Prabhuji answered: “Seva will come to you. If Guru Maharaj is happy then more and more seva is coming to you”. If service not coming means that I am not paying attention. So the first thing when you wake up in the morning is: “Gurudeva, don’t forget me, I am your servant, kindly bestow your mercy upon me, kindly give me some service that I can always remember you, I can always have sambandha with you, I may always be connected to you” – then our life has a purpose, then happy and no matter what obstacle – I will cross. I am not yours, I am Gurudeva’s, his order I am fulfilling, nobody can stop me, I will die trying. What cost? Yagya – sacrifice everything and no need for sorrow, weakness, unhappiness because you are appointed. Once you are appointed then you will never be disappointed. So try to be appointed.
