No sleep for me tonight. Packing for two weeks away - one week in Dunedin with bedding provided and a whole lot of electronics for recording, one week in Lake Taupo with no bedding provided and a whole different set of clothing. It’s a bit of a challenge. I also have a box filled with Red Hat and Fedora t-shirts, and Fedora Core 4 DVDs to take with me.
Today His Holiness Prahladananda Swami came over for lunch and chatted with the guests. There were about twenty people in the house all told, between guests and inhabitants. We have a home group here on Saturdays, which is our pilot group. The group is thickening. Two of the members are coming with us to NZ.
Maharaja gave a very funny talk about evolution and the shortcomings of modern science. During lunch there was a lively discussion and many questions for him.
After lunch I had the opportunity to speak with Maharaja about a few different things. I got some advice from him on internal conceptual orientation in the face of the circumstances and external duties that I presently have - which is probably an overly verbose way of saying that I got some advice from him about my job - but also about how to approach things in general.
Our internal attitude is the real thing, and it is very difficult to know what someone else’s internal attitude is. Not that I am a Vaisnava, but it is said that the mind of a Vaisnava is mysterious. In the Bhagavad-gita Srila Prabhupada explains that externally a person in Krishna Consciousness and a person not in Krishna Consciousness appear very similar, but there is a vast difference in their consciousness. One works with the conception that they are the doer, the other knows that Krishna is the ultimate actor. One works with the motivation to please themselves, the other acts to please Krishna.
Someone may criticize Arjuna, the hero of the Bhagavad-gita (of course Krishna is the real hero, but He gives credit to His devotee), for being proud and violent, or they may consider him a mundane actor for responsibly utilizing the body he was given, rather than renouncing it, but I don’t think such a person has really grasped what is going on. Perhaps they haven’t read Bhagavad-gita to understand the internal motivation of Arjuna, which is exposed in this way just to let us see that being a spiritual person does not mean being inactive, or acting in a random manner just to prove that “you’re not the body”. Actually, when Arjuna wants to abandon acting according to the particular body that he has been given in this lifetime in the name of spirituality, Krishna spends a lot of time explaining to him the system that He has set up for giving material bodies to the living entities in accordance with the necessities of maintaining a functioning society that exists to provide protection and spiritual progress, and how Arjuna should follow and propagate that system, even if he himself doesn’t need that facility, to set an example for others, just as Krishna Himself does.
Arjuna is fully active and acting in terms of the material body he is inhabiting - a male, an executive leader (warrior), a member of a particular family. He is doing so in Krishna Consciousness, however, fully conscious internally that he is simply playing out a role as a dutiful servant of Krishna, and we are given some special insight into his consciousness through the window of Bhagavad-gita. Otherwise, speculating about a person’s internal state of consciousness and motivation based solely on their external actions is very dangerous. The only internal state of consciousness that we can know is our own, so that should be our primary concern.
That’s why saintly persons advise to refrain from commenting on the activities of others, except in a case where we are called upon to give a concrete example to illustrate a philosophical principle, always being careful to keep it on the level of principles (this is explained in Sri Bhaktyaloka, among other places). We should bear this in mind when preaching. Sukanthi Radha takes a lot of pictures, and we have to be careful when using these pictures that we don’t identify a particular person. If people sense that a particular person is being identified and condemned they reject the presentation, and that includes me. For that reason I prefer to avoid that type of presentation wherever possible (yes I know that there are one or two photos that fall into that category in the presentation that I gave the other day). Saintly persons have concluded that if one does break the injunction to not praise or criticize others, then they should do so on the side of praising them. Emphasize the positive, as the saying goes. The reason is that misguided praise is less damaging than misguided criticism.
Statements that a Vaisnava is beyond varnasrama refer to their internal consciousness, not to their body. The person is the consciousness, not the body. The Vaisnava, or Krishna Conscious person, is conscious that they are not the body. However, as the principles of Bhagavad-gita explain, they continue to act externally in terms of their body, although internally they are transcendental to it. Arjuna may be a devotee, he may even be or become a pure devotee, but his body is still a male body, of an executive leader, of a particular family. Now he performs his actions in Krishna Consciousness. Krishna explains that He Himself does this. Even though doing so many actions, the fully Krishna Conscious person (Vaisnava) is aware that they do nothing. This is a very elevated state of consciousness, which also includes a complete detachment from sexual desire, although the person may also engage in sex life as a duty, as Maharaja Priyavrata did.
It is actually a sign of ignorance to identify anyone as a sudra or otherwise. These are bodily designations. They refer to the body only. One who identifies the spirit soul with the body is in ignorance. It is not ignorance to identify a body as being a sudra or brahmana body, however.
It is incorrect to identify a Krishna conscious person with the bodily designation of sudra Vaisnava as much as it is to identify them with the bodily designation of male. Both are bodily designations. However, we do see that generally a Krishna Conscious person respects the designation of male and female. There are exceptions, such as Sukadeva Goswami, who made no distinctions, but Vyasadeva, his father, the author of the Vedanta-sutra and Srimad Bhagavatam, equally Krishna Consciousness, set the general example that is followed.
Everyone can understand that the Krishna Conscious person, even when liberated within the body, the state of jivan-mukta, is still within the body of male or female. They still pee standing up or sitting down. Similarly, they are still within a body suited to a particular form of work. They will not be affected by this at all when they are in a state where they are not affected by the sexual identity of the body. Even in this state they will generally act in such a way as to provide an example. They don’t have to, but generally they do. In fact, as Krishna explains, only such a person can provide a perfect example, for they have nothing to gain in trangressing any codes - they have no ulterior motives. Their only motive is to please Krishna, and the way to do that is to set a perfect example for others to follow in discharge of occupational duties. Such an example allows the other members of society to create a favorably situation for elevating their consciousness.
Therefore, the conclusion, based on the principles imparted to Arjuna by Krishna in Bhagavad-gita, and the personal example of Arjuna and other devotees, is that although Vaisnavas, or Krishna Conscious persons, are fully aware that the self is not subject to bodily designations, the body still exists, and should be utilized responsibly and appropriately.
Helping other people to connect with their internal state of consciousness is the function of a Krishna Conscious missionary preacher. The first step is to build a relationship. Preaching is a form of Leadership, as you can see from this description:
We wish to give guidance, for the benefit of the person, and we want them to receive benefit by taking that guidance.
That statement applies to preaching, which is a specific form of leadership, and to leadership in general. You can imagine that as applying to a King, a government, a father of a family, or a preacher. Leadership, and preaching, are a service. A preacher, and any other form of leader, is a service provider.
Remember that Leadership is about permission, not position. Similarly, preaching is about permission, not position. It’s about gaining people’s trust by cultivating a relationship, then giving them Krishna Consciousness assistance by helping to put them in touch with themselves, which ultimately means with Krishna, since we are all part of Krishna.
Anyway, now I’m just babbling, because I haven’t slept. We discussed some realizations arising from studying books on management principles and Bhagavad-gita. Maharaja made the point that whatever tallies with the Vedic conclusion is valid knowledge, which is explained by Srila Prabhupada in a purport to a song by Narottama das Thakura (not sure which one). “Whatever presents the Vedic conclusion is accepted as part of the Veda, or knowledge.”
Maharaja told me about Vikarna and how he changed sides just before the battle. It was very nice to spend some time with him. He is a very purified and purifying personality.
As you will notice from reading this blog, I don’t usually express myself from this perspective, and after this post I will revert to my usual way of expressing things. Some devotees once said to me in relation to a course I did through my work: “Why are you going to this course on leadership?” That is not the right question, for me. The question for me is: “Why are they not coming to us to learn about leadership?”
The answer for me is two-fold: we have not yet developed a deep enough understanding of the knowledge that we have at our disposal - mere repetition of the formulas and words is not sufficient - nor have we developed the ability to communicate it in the language that others can hear it in.
Others will have a different point of view, and that’s fine by me. That’s just my angle of vision, and I’m not pushing it on anyone who doesn’t want to listen to it.
The language I have used in this post will be comprehensible to only a few persons, and most people who come here by way of Google and other means will have no idea what I am talking about, because the communication is too dense with background concepts. Usually I talk about Krishna Conscious principles using the conceptual building blocks that my audience carries around in their head.
I will probably go through and find all the verses and sections of the books that I have quoted here, and link to them. I humbly request that comments on this article be limited to verses which support the points contained within it. If someone wants to present a different perspective then I feel that the appropriate way to do it is by taking the time to write an article and use a trackback. I don’t want to get involved in argument, or spend time on points of disagreement. I’m happy to present my realizations for those who want to read them, and myself read, or not read, the realizations that others see fit to publish on their web sites. I respect the opinion of people who take the time to form it and consistently articulate it. I comment on things I agree with, and neglect everything else, in accordance with Sri Bhaktyaloka.
