Author Archives: Ananda Subramanian, Iowa, USA

Two or Two Hundred
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Yamuna Devi: Srila Prabhupada, although we are very happy where we are, we are prepared to go wherever you would like to send us in order to have your blessings.

Srila Prabhupada: You westerners are always are restless. Why can’t you stay where you are?

Yamuna Devi: But we have been told that because we don’t have the association of devotees, we cannot make any advancement.

Srila Prabhupada: Association can be two or two hundred. But you must be compatible. If you are two and you are compatible, you can go back to Godhead. But if you are two hundred and not compatible (his eyes opened widely), then no one will make any advancement.

Yamuna Devi: But Srila Prabhupada, some of the leaders are saying that we have lost your mercy because we left ISKCON, and without your mercy, there is no meaning to our lives.

Srila Prabhupada: ISKCON is where you are chanting the Holy Names of Krishna. This is ISKCON

-Yamuna Devi, A Life Unalloyed Devotion, Offering the Gift of Bhakti to Others, ch 9 p68,by Dinatarini Devi

Originality vs borrowed plumes
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Everyone wants to be original – to offer something unique to this world. They want to contribute to the welfare of this world by showing their unique identity. This desire to show off originality is very natural and common in this world. In fact, this idea is promoted right from kindergarten.

As for devotees are concerned, they do the exact opposite. They do not offer anything unique to this world. They simply repeat what has already been spoken for thousands of years. In other words, they do not take pride in “borrowed plumes”. Peacocks look very beautiful with their plumes especially when the rainbow is out. If we borrow a plume from a peacock and show it off as our own, what credit do we get? Therefore, devotees give all credit to the teacher or Guru who teach to repeat knowledge as it is.

Unlike materialistic people who take pride in their originality, devotees express humility in the repetition of knowledge. This is one way to remain humble.

Hare Krishna

Questioning our ethos
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Our modern society, at least since my birth since the seventies, has operated based on the idea that we live only one life/birth. The Bhagavad Gita on the contrary was spoken by Krishna on the basis that life is not limited to one birth. If we really want to understand Bhagavad Gita then we have to broaden our definition of life. We simply cannot cram the ideology of Bhagavad Gita to our singular lifetime with all of its’ natural, social, cultural, religious and economic ethos. If we do that, our understanding of the Gita will be tremendously skewed to the point where we will be forced to remove the idea of a Supreme Being. In other words, our understanding will be impersonal and at best conceptual. However, to broaden our vision of life beyond one birth is not a small thing because it basically brings to question everything we hold sacred and vile.

Hare Krishna

Our first step in our thousand-mile spiritual journey
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Every living being especially humans have two natures (1) spiritual nature (2) material nature. Spiritual nature and material nature are completely independent of each other yet co-exist. Material nature is time sensitive and is created from material elements. The human body for example is a combination of these time sensitive elements. A person’s character, way of speaking, dressing, walking, and general beliefs is primarily influenced by the society he or she lives. This society in turn is formed over time by human beings. There is a symbiotic relationship between man and his surroundings and both influence each other constantly. Therefore, we have to intellectually appreciate the difference between the true self and the externally influenced self. Typically, we merge the two.

The externally influenced self is constantly changing and we should learn to see ourselves separate from it. Whereas the internal true self which does not change is our real self or identity. This non-changing self is spiritual and the changing self is material. When we slow down our life and step back from our externally influenced changing self, we will realize the existence of a non-changing self. In order to step back from the changing self, we need to practice the art of careful dissociation from the changing external agents such as our physical body/mind, family, children, wealth, career and in that moment of dissociation meditate on the non-changing identity of our self.

This is our first step in our thousand-mile spiritual journey!

Hare Krishna

Narasimha Bhagavan ki jay!
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Today is the most auspicious appearance of Lord Narasimha Bhagavan who mercifully came just to protect His five year old devotee Prahalada. On this day, I fervently pray at His divine Lotus feet of the Lord to remove all obstacles that is in my heart causing me to be distant from the Lord. Haribol!

oṁ namo bhagavate narasiṁhāya
namas tejas-tejase āvir-āvirbhava
vajra-nakha vajra-daṁṣṭra karmāśayān randhaya randhaya tamo grasa grasa om svāhā;
abhayam abhayam ātmani bhūyiṣṭhā oṁ kṣraum.

I offer my respectful obeisances unto Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, the source of all power. O my Lord who possess nails and teeth just like thunderbolts, kindly vanquish our demon like desires for fruitive (selfish) activity in this material world. Please appear in our hearts and drive away our ignorance so that by Your mercy we may become fearless in the struggle for existence in this material world. – SB 5.18.8

Hare Krishna

Computational Irreducibility
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Computational irreducibility is one of the main ideas proposed by Stephen Wolfram in his book A New Kind of Science. Wolfram terms the inability to shortcut a program (e.g., a system), or otherwise describe its behavior in a simple way, “computational irreducibility”. The empirical fact is that the world of simple programs contains a great diversity of behavior, but, because of undecidability, it is impossible to predict what they will do before essentially running them. The idea demonstrates that there are occurrences where theory’s predictions are effectively not possible. Wolfram states several phenomena are normally computationally irreducible.

– source: Wikipedia

The behavior of a living being or a man-made system will correspond to the computation of equivalence sophistication. For example, the brain of a child versus an adult will exhibit behavior based on the computation equivalent to the brain’s sophistication. Children’s brains are not developed so they behave differently than an adult’s brain. Wolfram explains as a result of the sophistication of the system, we can only reduce its computation to a certain point after which it is irreducible thus hampering our ability to predict its future behavior in full. Wolfram thinks this is why we are not able to explain the unique unpredictable nature (undecidability) of this natural world. Basically this is a fancy way of saying scientists don’t know everything.

Because science does not fully comprehend the idea of consciousness and is unwilling to admit it within mainstream learning, scientists are coming up with new kinds of science to explain the concept of free-will within our natural world. Computation irreducibility is one such deterministic theory to explain a non-deterministic natural world.

The video captures this idea in short.

 

Hare Krishna

Bhagavad Gita – two-step method to solve problems
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In the beginning of Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna gets anxiety attack and then Krishna reacts to his anxiety. Interestingly, Krishna never gives a direct answer to Arjuna’s anxiety attack in terms of problems of war and the people involved in it, which was the basis for Arjuna’s argument. Instead Krishna gave His opinion based on a higher principle.

Similarly, when we face problems in our own lives, we should wear the hat of Krishna in the sense that we should step back from our problem and try to reevaluate from a higher principle. One may ask what is that higher principle that Krishna focused on – the answer to that is upon Himself. In other words, Arjuna was confused thinking of the impending death as a result of war, in that confusion, He forgot Govinda who was standing right next to Him. To remind His intimate friend to be fearless, Vasudeva Krishna had to remind Arjuna about His Own Supreme dominion and that nothing happens without the sanction of Him (Vasudeva). This is the highest principle – that if we step back from our daily anxieties and simply go deeper into this principle that nothing happens without the sanction of the Lord, then as Arjuna, we can also get inspired to fight our daily battles.

So Bhagavad Gita is a two-step process to deal with problems of life whenever it hits us;

  1. First step – to always be reminded (with faith) that Krishna controls everything and henceforth, we should seek His shelter always. In that mood, surrender our intelligence to Him. 
  2. Second step – in this mood of shelter we use our intelligence to solve problems. Now the problem may go away or become worse, regardless if we approach the problem in that mood of shelter, it is always a success because the problem enforces us to get closer to Govinda. 

Materialistic people who have no knowledge of Govinda try to directly solve their problems, sometimes they succeed, sometimes they fail. But because they do not get closer to Govinda, they ultimately only fail. So success and failure in life, per the Gita, is how much we realize Govinda. The rest of our problems are mere details for it is like summer and winter seasons, comes and goes!

Hare Krishna

Hodgepodge institution of various concocted ideas – Hinduism
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This analysis by Śrī Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, supporting the statements of Śrī Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, depicts the position of the present so-called Hindu religion, which, being predominantly conducted by the Māyāvāda philosophy, has become a hodgepodge institution of various concocted ideas. Māyāvādīs greatly fear the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement and accuse it of spoiling the Hindu religion because it accepts people from all parts of the world and all religious sects and scientifically engages them in the daiva-varṇāśrama-dharma. As we have explained several times, however, we find no such word as “Hindu” in the Vedic literature. The word most probably came from Afghanistan, a predominantly Muslim country, and originally referred to a pass in Afghanistan known as Hindukush, which is still a part of a trade route between India and various Muslim countries.

– CC Adi Lila 12.73 Purport by Srila Prabhupada

Prabhupada and Kaliya
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In 1976, when Srila Prabhupada visited New Vrindaban for the last time, the community was caring for four working teams of oxen and over 150 cows. A new barn had been erected in Bahulaban, and Prabhupada visited it to see the cows and four new-born calves. He let one of them lick his hand as a devotee told him how the cows were yielding about 120 gallons of milk every day, which they were turning into ghee, cheese and buttermilk. Prabhupada was pleased. But there was one cow he still hadn’t seen. Kaliya, now fourteen years old, was the retired matriarch of New Vrindaban’s herd. She had given birth to eight calves herself, and up until the previous year, had still been producing about six gallons of milk a day for the Lord and the devotees — despite having maladies common to aging cows of her breed, such as blindness in one eye and respiratory problems.

Writing in Brijbasi Spirit magazine, cowherd Amburish Das described how Kaliya — the smallest cow in New Vrindaban at 800 pounds — never pushed and shoved to eat grain as the other cows did, but stood patiently waiting her turn. “There may be some mild cows, but Mother Kaliya is even more than mild — she is a devotee,” he said. “Her humility is unmatched.” This rare soul was finally reunited with Srila Prabhupada after seven years in a meeting that left an indelible mark in the minds and hearts of those who witnessed it. Towards the end of his visit,

Prabhupada walked with a large group of devotees to go see Sri Sri Radha Vrindaban Nath in the farmhouse temple at the old Vrindaban farm, where Kaliya resided. It was a beautiful morning, the rays of the rising sun shining hazily through a light mist. As Prabhupada rounded a curve and spotted the Vrindaban farmhouse in the distance, one of the devotees, Advaitacarya Das, pointed to a small herd of cows far up at the top of “Govardhana Hill,” which rose to their left. “Srila Prabhupada, look!” he said. “There’s Kaliya. She’s our first cow. You used to drink her milk.” Suddenly, as Prabhupada looked up at her, Kaliya broke away from her herd and made her way alone down the steep bank. Matching the devotees’ pace, she stepped out right in front of Srila Prabhupada, and began walking with him as if she were his pet calf. “Ah,” Srila Prabhupada said simply. “My dear old friend Kaliya.”

She continued to walk with him for some time, a quiet connection hanging between them that the devotees all felt. Then, finally Kaliya picked up her pace and disappeared over the horizon. “For me, it was a mystical experience,” says Advaita. “Srila Prabhupada was always preaching that we’re all trying to get to Vrindavana, where Krishna and his cowherd boy friends are eternally playing and taking care of the cows. And to see Kaliya come down the hill and walk with him like that just made it all very real.”

– memory by Madhava Smullen (source)

Hare Krishna

Why there are many religions today?
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Religion as one
God is one and hence laws emanating from God are also one. These laws are called in Sanskrit “dharma” or loosely translated to “religion” in English.  I say loosely because it is not an accurate translation. Dharma can be described as the “constitutional and non-changing nature of a thing or living being” whereas religion means to simply profess one’s “faith”. This definition of religion is a far-cry from the description of dharma.
Therefore from the perspective of dharma as described above the concept of God is not a monopoly of one religion or one group of people (in other words it is not sectarian). Today, religion is sectarian (will discuss below). But if one is interested to understand the universal truths of life which is harmonious with nature (thus verifiable truth), one can follow this path of dharma which is natural and non-changing (sanatana).
This sanatana dharma is succinctly explained by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. The Gita was spoken some 5000 years ago and one can find elements of spiritual knowledge from Gita in other major religions of the world. So the Gita is a universal book of wisdom that teaches how a living being can live in harmony with nature and be happy in his or her local environment.
Religion as many
“One size does not fit all”. This is an axiomatic truth. The reason “one size does not fit all” is because not all are of the same size, shape, form, thought, color, quality or behavior. Human beings, who can comprehend God, come in varying forms, shapes and attitudes. To expect all of the myriad humans to adhere to the highest standard of God consciousness is not practical and is not acceptable. Therefore, based on one’s psycho-physiological states of existence, the “one” religion is packaged differently to the varying degree of human beings. This packaging has happened at certain points in the annals of human history by great seers of truth. People like Jesus Christ, Buddha, Muhammed etc spoke how much ever the local audience at that time could accept a Supreme God. It does not mean they spoke everything. They spoke universal thoughts of penance, charity and devotion to God but packaged to fit the local needs of the audience.
How can we say with confidence that these seers of truth did not present everything? – If we make a comparative study of philosophical ideas of all religions of the world and create a structure based on it, we will find a clear hierarchy of philosophical thought which ranges from complete to incomplete.  Just as different grade students study physics at different levels of understanding, similarly different religions teach different levels of spiritual knowledge per the psycho-physiological states of human beings. This is not sectarian.

Religion as materialism
My first topic “religion as one” is purely spiritual. My second topic “religion as many” is material and spiritual. My final topic “religion as materialism” is purely material.
Today majority of believers of God (regardless of their professed faith) have one thing in common – to practice religion for satisfying their material motivations (which also leads to corrupt religious leaders). In other words, religion is used as a tool to satisfy one’s materialistic ambitions. This sense of material identity has different names such as Christian, muslim, hindu, catholic, jew, Buddhist, Methodist etc. While we need the material support system to live peacefully in this life, that is not the end all be all and religion should not be used for that purpose. This is the religion we see and experience every day and this is why there are many religions or faiths.
To put it in a nutshell– because human beings use religion and God for satisfying their selfish material motivations (attitude of consumerism), we have many faiths and many religions. Unless we have a desire to rise above this attitude of consumerism (materialism), we will not find the true dharma which is inherent within all beings, which is universal and transcendent.
Hare Krishna

King Mucukunda’s prayer
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O Lord Krishna, the people of this world, both men and women, are bewildered by Your illusory energy. Unaware of their real benefit, they do not worship You but instead seek happiness by entangling themselves in family affairs, which are actually sources of misery. That person has an impure mind who, despite having somehow or other obtained the rare and highly evolved human form of life, does not worship Your lotus feet.

Misidentifying the mortal body as the self, becoming attached to children, wives, treasury and land, I suffered endless anxiety. With deep arrogance I took myself to be the body disregarding You in my deluding pride. A man obsessed with thoughts of what he thinks needs to be done, intensely greedy, and delighting in sense enjoyment is suddenly confronted by You like a hungry snake licking its fangs before a mouse. You appear before him as death. The body that at first rides high on fierce elephants or chariots adorned with gold and is known by the name “king” is later, by Your invincible power of time, called “feces,” “worms,” or “ashes.” He whose urges are so rampant, thinking “I am independent” cannot attain happiness.

When the material life of a wandering soul has ceased, O Krishna, he may attain the association of Your devotees. And when he associates with them, there awakens in him devotion unto You, who are the goal of the devotees and the Lord of all causes and their effects. O all-powerful one, I desire no boon other than service to Your lotus feet, the boon most eagerly sought by those free of material desire. O Hari, what enlightened person who worships You, the giver of liberation, would choose a boon that causes his own bondage? Therefore, O Lord, having put aside all objects of material desire, which are bound to the modes of passion, ignorance and goodness, I am approaching You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for shelter.

You are not covered by mundane designations; rather, You are the Supreme Absolute Truth, full in pure knowledge and transcendental to the material modes. For so long I have been pained by troubles in this world and have been burning with lamentation. My six enemies are never satiated, and I can find no peace. Therefore, O giver of shelter, O Supreme Soul, please protect me. O Lord, in the midst of danger I have by good fortune approached Your lotus feet, which are the truth and which thus make one fearless and free of sorrow.

The Supreme Lord Sri Krishna said: The intelligence of My unalloyed devotees is never diverted by material blessings. Wander this earth at will, with your mind fixed on Me. May you always possess such unfailing devotion for Me. O King, in your very next life you will become an excellent brāhmaṇa, the greatest well-wisher of all creatures, and certainly come to Me alone.

– Conversation between King Mucukunda and Lord Sri Krishna (SB 10.51.45-63)

This is a correctional facility
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Atheists argue that God cannot exist because there is so much tragedy and evil around us. If God is all good, evil cannot exist and because evil exists, God cannot exist. If we look at this world objectively, the atheists are indeed correct. There are tragedies taking place every instant and with social media, it is more glaring now than ever. People more and more are losing faith in a higher power as a result of difficulties around the world.

In my opinion, losing faith in God is a bigger tragedy than all other tragedies put together. But we have to keep reminding ourselves, this world was created by God not as a place of permanent happiness but a transient place of correction. Of course, this has to be accepted as an axiomatic truth (that cannot be fully tested) – much like when we assume the laws of the physical and natural world around us are constant at all places and times. There is no way to test if light behaves the same way it did at the time of Big Bang versus today or that light on the earthly domain is the same as the light in distant galaxies. Yet practically every leading physicist from renowned universities such as Harvard, Oxford etc accepts the constant nature of light. Otherwise, no theories can be formed or explained.

Similarly, in order to understand God’s creation, the axiomatic truth is that this place was created as a place of “corrective behavior” and not “paradise”. People who believe or want to create “paradise” in a “correctional facility” will not be able to accept “non-paradise” ways of this world. In a correction facility, there will be punishments to correct and rewards for corrective behavior. There can be times of distress and times of relief from distress. Similarly in our world both global and personal, we can experience distress and relief from distress and both are meant to correct us.

So what are we correcting? – this very attitude of rebelliousness towards God’s supreme dominion. We don’t like His supreme dominion and we don’t want to hear about it or do anything with it. we (the individual) like to be independent and be the supreme dominion of our piece of land, property or people. This very attitude has landed us in this correctional facility.

A true hero will willingly submit to a superior hero with pride and dignity. Accepting defeat to a superior warrior is not a sign of defeat or shame but true chivalry. Similarly, it is only noble for a lesser person to submit his greatness to God’s Almighty greatness. If we can work in this mood of humility in front of God and all of His creation, then, as a true hero we will be released from this correctional facility.

So instead of trying to correct the correctional facility or find fault with the creator of the facility, it is in our best interest to correct our attitude and if possible teach others to correct theirs.

Hare Krishna

Six Promises by the Lord in the Gita
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  1. Sri Krishna promises: “Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Krishna and at the same time carry out your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt.” (8.7)
  2. Sri Krishna promises: “Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me, and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me.” (9.34)
  3. Sri Krishna promises: “To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.” (10.10)
  4. Sri Krishna promises: “My dear Arjuna, he who engages in My pure devotional service, free from the contaminations of fruitive activities and mental speculation, he who works for Me, who makes Me the supreme goal of his life, and who is friendly to every living being—he certainly comes to Me.” (11.55)
  5. Sri Krishna promises: “Just fix your mind on Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and engage all your intelligence in Me. Thus you will live in Me always, without a doubt.” (12.8)
  6. Sri Krishna promises: “Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me, and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.” (18.65) 

Hare Krishna

Bhagavad Gita stresses bhakti over other paths
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Some people argue that Prabhupada misinterpreted Bhagavad Gita in the sense that the verses are translated to suit bhakti. In Bhagavad Gita, Krishna speaks about karma, gnana, yoga and bhakti and hence all paths are as good as other paths. This is their argument. But such criticisms are indications that people read Bhagavad Gita for other purposes and not for surrendering to Krishna.

In the Srimad Bhagavatam, Krishna speaks similar Gita to Uddhava entitled Uddhava Gita. There, Uddhava asks Krishna this very type of question. Uddhava asks that dear Krishna you have referenced many paths, which is the ultimate one? Krishna clearly says that bhakti is the ultimate path. Krishna continues to Uddhava that I speak so many other things besides just bhakti to cater to the different needs of the people. Keep in mind, as Supreme Being, it is the desire of Krishna to attract all souls and not just who are disposed towards bhakti. So the only way to do that is to offer different platforms from where one can elevate one’s self from that platform to bhakti.

If we carefully read the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna, Krishna uses superlative degree whenever He talks about bhakti. He does not use superlative degree when Krishna speaks about karma or gnana or yoga. This is an indication that not all paths are the same and negates the common man’s criticism. If we stress on one point versus the other means not all points are equal. Similarly Krishna stresses that only through bhakti (none other) can one reach Him. Now if all paths were equal He could have said by any path one can reach me but He does not thus clearly placing bhakti above karma, gnana and yoga.

If the speaker of a book is meant to be the central figure of the book thus attracting everyone to the central figure, then it is clear as daylight that Krishna is the central figure of Bhagavad Gita and He wants all those who read Bhagavad Gita to be attracted to Him and He also says that I am attracted fully “only” through bhakti. Therefore, Srila Prabhupada as the translator staying true to the central figure of Bhagavad Gita Krishna through out the entire eighteen chapters focuses on bhakti as the essential ingredient to access that central figure Krishna.

If, however, we “do not” want to approach the central figure of Bhagavad Gita (i.e. Krishna) and we have ulterior motives, then other paths will seem attractive to us. However, those who read Bhagavad Gita with an open mind keeping aside material considerations and selfish motivations, will surely recognize that bhakti to Krishna is the ultimate path and through bhakti only can one solve man’s timeless problem of struggle for existence in this material world.

note: bhakti here refers to pure bhakti (not mixed)

Hare Krishna

Become budhah first!
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Many eastern traditions of the world talk about enlightenment as the goal of human life. They call it in different names – moksha, nirvana, mukti, kaivalya, budhah etc. Of course, the Judeo-christian traditions do not focus on enlightenment but only on salvation. Unfortunately without enlightenment one cannot get salvation. Hence today there is so much fighting in the name of religion (all religions) because people sidestep enlightenment to salvation and each religion claims their way is the “only” way to salvation. This attitude of monopoly of self-righteous salvation through their own professed faith is a symptom of non-enlightenment, in other words, the very opposite of enlightenment. To put it differently, non-enlightenment is ignorance or avidya.

When we stop seeking knowledge from this world, saintly people, and scriptures of the world and fail to traverse the path of enlightenment, then all our religious, social, philanthropical, political etc activities will be tainted with avidya which will be the cause of our misery. When one reaches the platform of enlightenment (Budhah), then one will see the universality of beings and creation. This is the first step towards understanding anything transcendental. But to get there, one must first come to the deep realization, “I thought I knew, but actually I do not know anything that is beneficial for me, please enlighten me”. Once this realization deeply dawns within the horizon of our heart, we must approach someone who is enlightened and enquire submissively.

Personally, having been exposed to many of the eastern traditions that focus on enlightenment, I find this common criteria towards enlightenment among all traditions – to come to the realization of our own avidya, humbling ourselves before an enlightened soul, inquiring from him and serving him thus paving our way for becoming a Budhah or enlightened soul. 

Hare Krishna