I have godbrothers who say that we can't be like Srila Prabhupada, that's not what Pr

[krsna]

Vyasa-puja 2003

 

Address given by His Grace Srila Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu

___________

 

namah om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale

srimate bhaktivedanta svamin iti namine.

 

namaste sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine

nirvesesa-sunyavadi pascatya-desa-tarine.

 

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya

caksur unmiltam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

 

vanca kalpa tarubhyas ca krpa-sindhubhya eva ca

patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah

 

"Well, thank you all for coming and encouraging me. I appreciate the homages. I

guess we couldn't hear from everyone. We have just a short time [left to speak

before the arati begins]. I think I only want to make one point--something that

I have been thinking about. It is related to the verse we were talking about

this morning. Prabhupada remarked in a letter, a very well known letter,

describing the management he wanted to see in ISKCON. He said that our members

must be trained to be 'independently thoughtful.' This is a very important

point.

 

"What does it mean to be 'independently thoughtful'? It doesn't mean to be

whimsical---arbitrary in one's decisions--or engaging in mental speculation.

(...)

 

"What is the meaning of independent? For example, in 1976, I was requested by

Back to Godhead Magazine to interview Srila Prabhupada. It was the American

bicentennial and they wanted to run a bicentennial issue. I was supposed to

interview him for this issue. I was talking about the Declaration of

Independence, and he said, 'We are declaring our dependence on Krishna not our

independence.' Well, certainly part of a devotee's way of being is to always

feel himself or herself always dependent on Krishna, dependent on the spiritual

master. Then [on the other hand], Prabhupada says to be 'independently

thoughtful.' How do you reconcile these two ideas? Some people have asked me

about this.

 

"You receive knowledge and information from Krishna, through the sastras,

through the spiritual master, through great devotees (guru, sadhu and sastra);

this is where our knowledge comes from. If we try on our own to gain knowledge

in this world by our defective senses, our limited perspective and our various

kinds of minds, we will not be successful. Prabhupada says that perfect

knowledge comes from the perfect person--that is Krishna. We are not supposed

to be independent of Krishna in our knowledge and our decision making process.

When one becomes mature in Krishna consciousness, we can act autonomously and

in the same time, be in perfect harmony with the instructions of Krishna and

the instructions of the spiritual master.

 

"The spiritual master who conveys the messages of previous acaryas, and of

Krishna, is described by Prabhupada as being an external manifestation of

Supersoul. What the spiritual master says is identical with what Krishna is

saying in the heart.

 

"Studying Bhagavada-gita is different from studying some mundane production of

knowledege. What Krishna is saying to Arjuna in the Bhagavada-gita is really

just what Krishna is telling us from within the heart. Krishna is in the heart

as Supersoul and as such, he gives direction to the living being--how to make

advancement in Krishna consciousness.

 

"So, in the beginning, we have to approach the spiritual master to find out

what it is that Krishna wants. We should gain the maturity to take the

instructions of the spiritual master and make them our own.

 

"Cittete koriya aikya;" make my intelligence become one with the instructions

of the spiritual master. That is the literal translation--so that I assimilate

or internalize these instructions which are not something foreign or alien, not

something coming in from the outside being imposed on me. Rather, they are the

instructions that Krishna is giving me from within the heart.

 

"When I have made the teachings of the spiritual master my own, then I can act.

Then everything I do, I can act on my own, autonomously or independently, but

everything I do will be in accord with those instructions. That's maturity in

Krishna consciousness and that is what Prabhupada meant by 'independently

thoughtful.' I have to be mature enough that when I am confronted with a new

situation, I will be in a position to be able to receive directions from the

Supersoul what to do.

 

"In this world, we are always finding ourselves in new situations. Now how in

this situation am I able to apply Krishna consciousness? We have the spiritual

master to give us these directions. For 11 years in this movement, we had Srila

Prabhupada. Now Srila Prabhupada is no longer here when we make a mistake, to

say, 'Do this. Do that.' You see that in Prabhupada's career; he actually tried

to detach himself from the day-to-day management, give general principles and

let people learn how to apply it. He knew he wasn't going to be around forever

and that people had to carry on without him.

 

"That process has to continue also with you who are my disciples. You should

become 'independently thoughtful.' It is not my intention to micromanage the

day-to-day lives of my disciples. I wouldn't want to do that. Sometimes it is

necessary, but that is not the best situation. It is just like when somebody is

a child, parents have to guide him...but then they expect him to become mature

because [the child has] taken in [the parents'] instructions. This is the

general process in human life. That is what Prabhupada wanted--for us to become

mature and become 'independently thoughtful.'

 

"In order to be in this position, to act properly in a mature way, we have to

be following strictly the principles of Krishna consciousness. What is clear

about spiritual knowledge, or realized knowledge, is that for it to flow, for

it to come to us, from the Supersoul, we have to be in the proper condition of

life. We have to be in the correct existential condition. We have to be acting

in such a way that we are always trying to serve the Lord and increases that

service; increase our attachment to Krishna and detachment to matter.

 

"We should always be thinking about, and praying sincerely to know, 'What is

the next thing that I have to do to advance in Krishna consciousness?' There

may be 15, 20 or 40 things in the line that I have to do, but the one that I

really have to worry about is the next thing. Sometimes Krishna shows us so far

ahead and does not show us anymore, and that's fine, just as long as we know

what to do next. If we are sincere and serious, Krishna will show us what to do

next. Take that step and then He will show us the next step. What he wants us

to do next always involves more and more surrender, more attachment to [Him]...

If you see really far ahead--you go (Gurudeva makes a gasping sound) (audience

laughs). But it's true; Krishna really wants everything from us. There can be a

fear factor in all this dependence upon Krishna. If we just take the step, then

Krishna will give us all the courage we need, all the guidance we need, all the

direction we need, all facility.

 

"The example of this that we have before us that, as far as I can see, I've

never seen it's equal, is the example of Srila Prabhupada coming to the West on

his spiritual master's order. Basically all he had was the faith in this order

and he decided to do it. By Krishna's arrangement, he did it without any

facility. He had no money. He was 70 years old, so he did not have youthful

energy. He was not in good health. He had no institutional support. Nothing.

Undercapitalized from the beginning--just a few dollars. Yet, what happened?

Somehow or another, in a few years, the Krishna consciousness movement was

spread all over the world.

 

"You may wonder why Krishna put Prabhupada through all that. We can see now,

to understand what Srila Prabhupada's asset was--his complete confidence in the

order of the spiritual master and the willingness to take it up and do it.

Prabhupada said once that he thought that he would be a businessman and make a

lot of money and then spread Krishna consciousness. And then Prabhupada

remarked, 'Krishna made me a business failure.' Prabhupada surrendered to the

plan of Krishna, and Krishna showed with just that confidence in the process of

Krishna consciousness, and willingness to take all kinds of risks--everything

came out successful. So, this is the illustration that we have and why I am

very confident on this point, because we have seen [it work]. Prabhupada has

shown us.

 

"I pray to Krishna that all of you, learn this Krishna consciousness, take

advantage of everything Prabhupada has given us and absorb what he has to say.

I remember what he said at one point. Prabhupada said, 'I am one person and see

what I have done. Now we are 500,' that is how many disciples he had at the

time, 'each one of you become just like me and imagine what we can accomplish.'

This was actually his desire. <font color="red"> Sometimes I have godbrothers who say that we

can't be like Srila Prabhupada, that's not what Prabhupada wanted. He wanted

that we should become exactly like him. We may have to operate on our own

scale. </font color> The full surrender that we can give--that will accomplish wonders. That

was the order of Srila Prabhupada.

 

"With that order, we should also understand that the mercy to fulfill that

order is available. We are indebted to Srila Prabhupada for having done so much

to save us. We have to pay him back by doing the same thing for others. That is

our obligation. Learn this Krishna consciousness, make the instructions of the

spiritual master one with your heart and in this way give Krishna consciousness

to everyone.

 

"Thank you very much. Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!"

[Guest guest]

I am read in home this citations. Too big citatations for me, I am not able read now. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Guest guest]

It is very good artikle.