What really counts

Posted by dinesh

What really counts
11 Nov 2016 1 Comment - 
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 20 July 2013, Cape Town, South Africa, Spirit Matters Program)


Even when we are so transcendental ourselves, we still have to take people's feelings very serious, even if they are partially motivated by false ego – it doesn't matter, just like a child. But when you are an adult, you see it different although a father leaving home is not a small thing; that is real suffering but what can be done!?
When I was a kid, I lost my favourite toy car in a sand-pit; I never got over it. It was a big thing. I dug up the whole sand-pit and sifted through the whole thing but never found my little golden Jaguar, as it was called. What a drama it was!
Now, of course, I look at it a little bit different but my little golden Jaguar stands there to remind me that for me, that was a very important thing. So, what really counts is what is really important to people. I don't think that we should go around and put labels on people and say, "False ego!"
I think that we should take serious what is serious to others otherwise how will they take us serious. If I am so transcendental that I don't take anybody serious, that doesn't make sense at all. Then I become cold and disinterested from people.
Like Prabhupada, he was very transcendental yet he could be very human with human beings. He was able to come down to what moved people although it didn't move him in the same way.

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Lessons in life

Posted by dinesh

Lessons in life

27 Oct 2016 Leave a Comment -

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 03 September 2016, Cape Town, South Africa, Srimad Bhagavatam 1.9.25)

In this chapter, the passing away of Bhismadev, in the purport to this verse there is a list of challenges for society at large to improve their quality of life. The first challenge is, "Not to become angry!" We remember Upadesamrta, the Nectar of Instruction Verse 1, vaco vegam manasa krodha vegam, one must control the pushings of anger. So even when anger is pushing, one must somehow or other subdue it. Bhismadev also said that in order to conquer anger, one must learn to forgive because it is very difficult to judge with two types of measurements – measurement for others and different measurements for ourselves. For ourselves, there are so many explanations for our mistakes, "It wasn't really my fault. It was just circumstances. I didn't intend it that way…"whereas for others, "How could they do that! This is outrageous." We judge them different and the same extenuating circumstances are not being considered so Bhismadev points out that we must learn to forgive. We have to see that others make mistakes because then we can overcome anger.

Forgiving is not necessarily the same as forgetting. If someone has committed an abominable activity, we may forgive but it does not mean that we forget. We will remember but we will also keep a special eye – if someone puts his fingers in the money box then after that we keep him at a distance from the money box obviously. So forgiving and forgetting is not necessarily the same. Also, there may be a point when we forget, it depends on the seriousness of the offence.

Sometimes though, anger is required. Sometimes, it is necessary to send out a signal that from now it is too much. This has to stop. BANG, fist on the table! Everyone needs that also. It is not that anger per se is bad. Those who are envious sometimes deserve anger. Those who are envious of devotees, we need to sometimes check it with anger. That is also there. But Bhismadev is referring to uncontrolled anger. Controlled anger has a place. Srila Prabhupada would also get angry at times but his anger was always related to Krsna and to whatever was favourable to Krsna. When there was neglect, Prabhupada was not tolerating that. He would point it out!

Best Regards,

Dinesh

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Transcendental morality

Posted by dinesh

Transcendental morality

31 Oct 2016 Leave a Comment -

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 03 September 2016, Cape Town, South Africa, Srimad Bhagavatam 1.9.25)

Continued from, "Lessons in life," Bhismadev's list of challenges for society at large to improve their quality of life…

With regards to these moral principles given by Bhismadev here in the purport, the principle of, "Not to lie," may be exempt in exceptional circumstances. When devotees are hiding in the basement and a soldier comes looking for them then we can say, "Devotees, I don't know, I've never seen them!" One must not take these principles in a fundamentalist way, they must be applied with intelligence. Fundamentalism is a form of reductionism where we try to eliminate the complexities of life and try to get a few slogans which are applied at all times, all places, all circumstances and which cannot be possibly adjusted in any situation. This creates fanaticism and can create many problems.

Prabhupada also gave the example of the father who has to lie to a child to give the child medicine and tells them that it is sweet. For a higher purpose! Once there was a debate about book distribution because some book distributors were at times not so moral and not so honest in the way they were distributing books. There was another group who was into honesty and it became a big issue. This matter was taken to Prabhupada. Prabhupada said that not to lie and to be honest is very important. He wrote this in a letter to Bhurijana and said that he upheld the importance of moral behaviour and honesty and then Prabhupada asked, "What about those who are so moral, are they distributing books?" The answer was, "Not so many as the other group…" and Prabhupada asked what was the point of morality, books have to somehow or other go out! So sometimes, we have transcendental morality that for the sake of Krsna things may be different…

Also Yudhisthir Maharaj's example can be applied. At the end of his life, Yudhisthir went to hell, well not himself but he saw that all his brothers had gone to hell and Yudhisthir asked how was that possible – there was Arjuna who gave his life to Krsna's service, Bhima who had no evil in his heart, Nakul and Sahadev – how could they go to hell!? But this was the punishment that Yudhisthir had to go through for hesitating to lie when Krsna requested it. However, this does not justify that in the name of transcendence, to lie left and right. We cannot take these stories and say that for Krsna and for the sake of sankirtan it is perfectly alright to tell endless lies.

Even though we have principles, we are not being relieved from using our brain. We have to, in a refined way, take these principles and say that this is dharma and dharma is to be followed and then, there is apad-dharma, religious principles which is followed in case of emergency and sometimes one may deviate from the principle i.e. not to lie, not to get angry…

Now what if we have to apply this to the four regulative principles. Let's say there was a plane crash and the only survivors were in a jungle and there were no vegetables that one could eat but there were these fat birds which moved very slow, so what are you going to do!? Fast for the first couple days and then what to do… apad-dharma?? I will leave that up to the individual, to their intelligence but personally, I will tell you that I would fast… and if I die that is okay, it is all still in Krsna hands wherever we go! That part does not warrant apad-dharma. As far as the four regulative principles go, I think it is very important to keep those very fixed.

Best Regards,

Dinesh

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