NOI- 5 Difference between desire and Urge Tolerate Control the senses How to nourish the positive side and guide us towards prema SB 6.1 asked Sukhdeva Goswami how the sinful people can be delivered. If they atone the sins they can be delivered. Parikshit Maharaj is questioning the process and result of the atonement. Example: 1. Elephant bathing 2. Thief 3. Confessions Sins-Atonement- knowledge- Do not lose the sinful mentality therefore the sufferings don’t go away. Just having the knowledge that I am part and parcel of Krishna is not enough to connect with God. (Alcohol pot is washed, smell remains) it can only be achieved through devotional service. Devotional service kills the propensity to sin. How do we reform ourselves- we have revive our original nature (pure). When we try and purify ourselves we are usually going from one kind of contamination (passion and ignorance) to another kind of contamination (goodness) that does not necessarily restores us to our original nature. You can get dragged down again because we are getting shifted from one unnatural state to another unnatural state. So when we return back to our original nature of being servant ok Krishna. We need to get to the point where we will not fall back 2 ways to do it. Shama –mind control Dama- sense control Spiritualise your senses- Try to speak about Krishna as much as possible. Tongue can attract Krishna. BG 18.68- one who shares my message is very dear to me. Manasah Vegam Can’t have vacuum in the mind. The mind has to think about things all the time. Speaking can we stop, but mind cannot be stopped. We can’t freeze the mind. Give your mind- safe and satisfying avenue to be busy. Example Child-Mother. “Krishna surya saman, Maya haya andhakar, Jahan Krishna, wahan nahi maya adhikar” Only way to remove darkness is to bring light. Once the light is on, we don’t have to anything separately to dispel darkness. When we bring Krishna, Maya has to go away. When we serve Krishna, we can drive away Maya. We have to fill the mind with Krishna. If you don’t chant with attention then it will be a burden. If you leave the chanting to the last hours of the day, then it will become burden and you might reduce the chanting or might leave the chanting altogether because the thought of chanting will bring you memories of the late night chanting and you will dread to keep doing it. Your mind will start giving you reasons to reduce or stop chanting. Easier method is for us to find out how I can direct my mind towards Krishna. We all have unique relationship with Krishna, what is the way I get attracted to Krishna- eg – knowledge, darshan, deity worship, book distribution, kirtan, dancing, and association of devotees. Which process of devotional service attract us, which service inspire us more. We don’t have to drive maya away, we just have to do devotional service. Whose responsibility is it – devotional progress? Doctor can only give medicine, he/she can’t force anyone to take the medicine. Taking the treatment is patient’s responsibility. Mentor/Guru provides us with the conducive environment and facilities but whether we take advantage of the facilities, it’s up to us. e.g SKP and GVM have organised this BV class for the benefit of all of us. It is not an easy task to organise these classes. That’s what SP had done for us- gave us various things so that people with all kinds of interests can progress in Bhakti. It’s our personal responsibility to make spiritual advancement. Fixing my mind on Krishna is MY responsibility. What is the way I can fix my mind in Krishna? Find out what attracts us to Krishna. Then we can be steady and happy in devotional life. Krodha Vegam Urge for Anger- Anger can’t be stopped. Jagai Madhai, Hanuman and Anger can make things worse for everyone. Offense – harm causing mentality Focus on how I can use anger, we should focus on how I should control anger. It is very hard to know if you are using in Krishna’s service or anger is using me in Maya’s service. It will depend on 1. Motivation and 2. Consequences If our motivation is not pure it is very dangerous If the consequences are really bad, then anger is not justified. Assertive Vs Angry – e.g. Snake and his fangs When we are more worried about our name. When we are angry, we lose control of our speaking (this will lead to anger using us in Maya’s service) Spiritual anger is very rare so we should avoid anger altogether. We should use our anger in a way to clarify doubts in people’s minds. We should not use our anger if it is not conducive for Bhakti. We challenge our energy to study hard and refute the atheist. Jivah Vega – Urge of the tongue to eat People are controlled by the tongue. So much of advertisements. Solution- eat prashad and take only on schedule times People are committing suicide in term of what they eat and how much they eat. “We live on 1/3rd of what we eat and on the rest 2/3rd our physician lives” Flight to Godhead - Diksha - Passport Guru kripa- Visa Ticket money- Nine limbs of bhakti (95% is Chanting) Travelling money- All other limbs of Primary quality of devotee out of 26 qualities- Sharanagati Udar Vega- over eating Food is glamourized in the modern culture. Playing a game that you can’t quit and can’t win. Insatiability Vs irresistible Just self-control is not necessarily was devotional- like Hiranyakasipu When we go on regulated path, the sense automatically get purified. When we take Prasad, we control the tongue. Major level of sense control. As sadhaka’s we also need some material enjoyment which is not banned. Bhakti provides us enjoyment within the boundary. If we are not remembering Krishna, while we eat prashadam, the impact of purity will go down. Prashadam will purify our heart but it also depends of our remembrance of Krishna. Fasting is not to torture our body. Fasting is all about remembering Krishna not a fat reducing exercise. Sacrificing the good for the best. Bad- Pad Good- Punya Best – Bhakti Sometimes good can be distracting in the path of Bhakti. Purpose of fasting is to bring all the desires and concentrate on Krishna. I can’t do it for all my life but I can do it for one day a fortnight. Our body is fasting Our Ego is feasting We should not be proud of the fact that we can fast and others can’t. When we are struggling with hunger, the remembrance of Krishna will help us fight our hunger. We experience the reality of the higher consciousness. Fasting forcing us to be conscious of Krishna- if done properly. Fasting is very good for health as well There are different level of fasting- starting from Nirjala to eating 3 times day (no grains) Fasting should not become other thought for us to struggle with. SP: if we are selective in going to a place where we are going to get great prasadam, then we are not KC, we are Food conscious. Prashadam should be treated equally. Whatever Krishna offeres we will take it. Some day if there is feast its ok, if there is very plain prashadam its ok as well. Hunger and pseudo hunger. Hunger for Gulabjamun. Specific hunger is pseudo hunger. Pseudo hunger creates fat. Eating can drag our consciousness towards passion and ignorance. Principle of mercy vs rigid adherence in rules Sarvabhaum bhattacharya ate prashadam from Mahaprabhu without taking bath. We should keep our prashadam time regular. This is Jivah vegam and udaro vegam Stomach should be filled as below: 50% food 25% water 25% air Udara vega is not necessarity means not to eat, it means eat whatever is necessary. Upastha Vegam Vedas don’t reject mating. Krishna says in BG – I am life con Our society is gramourising mating and therefore devalueing it. It is only for physical release. It is so valued that it is reserved for something very special- bringing new life to the world. We are becoming co-creator with God. What is the most sacred is glamourised, we lose the whole point. Don’t deprive- retrieve. Use it for its purpose. NEWS- old things happening to new people We don’t have stay away from the information, but keep it to minimum. Don’t waste your time. Information been diverse from their function. Don’t supress your curiosity-it is nature of the soul. We should use the curiosity to find out how to go back home back to god head. Trivia – We have to connect information with function. Solution is Hari Katha. We are always looking for more and more information. We learn- we apply- we get better. Like doctor advice. When we come to a BV class and say it was amazing. These classes should bring transformation. Too much information and no transformation.
