Happy or not ?

[shvu]

 

Can someone explain this clearly?

 

Extracts from Morning Walk October 20, 1975, Johannesburg with Srila Prabhupada

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Pusta Krsna: Such standard of religion the Western countries are not used to.

 

Prabhupada: Where is religion in Western countries? There is no religion. All bogus thing. Religion means to surrender to God. Then where is God, and whom to surrender? They surrender to senses, that's all. So unless there is God, what is the meaning of religion? That is not religion. They have created something, civilized human society. There must be some religion. Just like aristocracy means he must have a good dog, that's all. There is no religion in the world except Krsna consciousness. All bogus.

 

Harikesa: As far as I'm concerned, I'm very happy. I have my car, my air conditioner...

 

Prabhupada: That means you are fool number one. That means you are fool number one. As soon as you say, "I am happy," it is immediately proved that you are a rascal, fool number one.

 

Harikesa: So it's not possible that anyone's happy? There is no possibility of anyone being happy.

 

Prabhupada: No. One who thinks he is happy, he is number one fool.

 

Pusta Krsna: So everyone at present is trying to become happy by this or that activity.

 

Prabhupada: They are fools, rascals.

 

Harikesa: But I look around and I see everybody else enjoying.

 

Prabhupada: Because you are fool, you are seeing like that. That is the proof that you are a fool.

 

------

 

Cheers

 

 

 

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Confucius says a man who runs behind a car will get exhausted.

[animesh]

I remember that long back, a poster named Sumeet mentioned that everybody is a fool, though the explanation given by him was different from the one given by SP.

[Guest guest]

 

We do not known for certain what kind of profit one may have while reading some conversations between a guru an his disciples while he is given some instructions that may be placed out of context or may be misunderstood.

 

In this conversation the acarya was instructing his disciples on the fallacy of material happiness that is considered temporary and illusory.

 

The aim of any acarya is to convey his disciples a perennial happiness that is attained by yoga's process, by samadhi. To attain this platform one should first control his senses and mind, to ingress into a realm that is not material, but is easily attainable by those who follows the process.

 

If one is seeking after the mundane happiness he will never be fit to attain the transcendental happiness.

 

[Jahnava Nitai Das]

I would agree that this conversation is being taken somewhat out of context; as though Prabhupada just goes around telling everyone they are fools.

 

But the content is not much different from the message of the Upanishads. Those who take shelter in the external, thinking it to bring happiness, are foolish. They are situated in avidya.

 

Vidya is to understand the source of happiness, which is not a product of material interaction. Happiness comes from within, as it is the inherent nature of the soul. Thus nothing external can bring happiness.

 

The process to realize the qualities of the soul - sat, chit and ananda - is meditation or yoga; a linking process betweent he self and the Supreme. In simple terms this is the system of Krishna consciousness; to link with the Supreme Lord through complete absorption on Him.

 

[shvu]

 

...as though Prabhupada just goes around telling everyone they are fools.

That is your inference. Mine is that he is of the opinion that anyone who feels happy is a fool [indexed] and a rascal. Unless he was in a bad mood that morning and this not the way he normally talked.

 

Here are the exact statements,

 

As soon as you say, "I am happy," it is immediately proved that you are a rascal, fool number one.

 

One who thinks he is happy, he is number one fool. (A universal statement)

 

Will mean the same in any context, won't it? I was laughing when I read the Indian mother joke the other day. I am a rascal and fool #1, because I felt happy. In fact, everyone who laughed at that joke will sequentially become fool #2, fool #3 and so on, for feeling happy.

 

Anyway, jokes apart, I understand what his point was, except for the rascal part.

 

Cheers

 

[amanpeter]

I believe `rascal` and `fool` were pretty soft terms for what many of his followers turned out to be. Personally, I wish he'd been a lot harsher in disciplining disciples. Distributing his books and building worldwide temples were the priorities, it sems, at whatever cost. Hopefully, sometime in the future, many more will actually LIVE his teachings and the words `Hare Krsna` and `ISKCON` will be better appreciated by the public in general.

 

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Radhe Radhe ALWAYS Radhe!

 

[This message has been edited by amanpeter (edited 05-21-2001).]

 

[This message has been edited by amanpeter (edited 05-21-2001).]

 

[This message has been edited by amanpeter (edited 05-21-2001).]

[kailasa]

SP speak " If you want to understand me, simply READ my books. "

That here complex(difficult), the not too reasonable people are happy in the material world. The man does not worship the God for two reasons. First it(he) anything about it(him) does not know, and second does not know that such a nature. The spiritual life assumes presence of reason. The reason can easily combine contrasts. That ISKCON, everywhere any people suffice. Your representatives Radharany here have done much that. Djay Radhe.: (As you have enough humility constantly to abuse whom that. You would begin would be too most. The distortions of philosophy are much more dangerous than external problems. What such especial is demonstrated by(with) the followers Bhaktivedanta Matha? Materialistic the people are constantly concerned with external well-being, it is their life. Whether there is at you though one work on philosophy based on the books Prabhupada? We know whom abused Prabhupad and we know that means in His(its) books and Materialist and impersonal. I shall not write further not so it interestingly. You do not experience so for ISKCON, his(its) businesses are much better than yours. Calm down.

[Guest guest]

 

Anyway, jokes apart, I understand what his point was, except for the rascal part.

 

We agree with you in this point, Shvuji. Even in GV's camp there are many people who have a tendency to criticize Srila A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Goswami due the employment of this word.

 

Once my own Gurudeva told us laughing that he would not employ that word, never! He said us: "Swamiji (as affectionately he calls Srila Prabhupada), could employ it, but he could not. Swamiji words become a sastra and ordinary people understand that they will get everything only by reading sastras. No association is needed. But how can they understand the mood of sastra? Swamiji was a very sweet personality and he could tell everyone that they are rascals and so on, but his audience would never fell upset due his sweet mood. So, we never employ these words that may cause pain in someone else in a near future. People won't understand our mood simply by reading my books."

So, we apologize if these words caused you any pain.

 

dasa dasanudasa

Satyaraja dasa

[shvu]

 

Swamiji was a very sweet personality and he could tell everyone that they are rascals and so on, but his audience would never fell upset due his sweet mood.

I guessed as much, since he is directly telling it on the face. It is just a way of talking and is not to be interpreted literally. I have read other talks of his before, and they were all ok. I was surprised at this particluar one.

 

So, we apologize if these words caused you any pain.

No pains at all.

 

Cheers