(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 11 May 2015, Brisbane, Australia, Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.42)
Question: How do you preach from realization?
There is scripture and then there are the acaryas who have given their realizations on scripture. We can study their realizations and that will help us to understand the scriptures better. Just like Srila Prabhupada said. “My purports are more important than the verses of the Srimad Bhagavatam.” So isn’t that like…is that humble? Yes it is humble because on our own, how can we understand these verses therefore Prabhupada gives an explanation. So in this way, we first look at the realizations of the acaryas and that will help us to deepen our understanding. Then our own realizations come from our own experiences. We start to practise spiritual life and follow the injunctions of the scriptures and we get some experience; that is realization. We can speak from our own experience but not beyond it.
When we start to speculate about things which we have not experienced then it gets difficult. There is only a portion of the process that is within the realm of our realization and after that, all we can do is quote scriptures and quote the acaryas. But, for example, we can speak about the struggle that exists in the beginning of vaidhi bhakti; we all know that struggle and also how to overcome that struggle. It is not easy fix oneself and to everyday chant sixteen rounds but it becomes easier when we do it in a regulated way and when we everyday do it at the same time. We have some realization about sadhana because we are practising sadhana, and you can feel when sadhana goes better and when sadhana does not go better.
Like that we get some realizations, we realise that eating has something to do with our sadhana and we realise that we have to control the tongue. We have to eat in a regulated way; this becomes a realization. At this stage, it is no longer just what the scriptures says, “One must control the tongue.” No, one has personally experienced it! Like that, because we personally experienced it we become stronger in applying it. Yes it says in the scriptures and I know it from my own experience therefore we are definitely going to live like this. When it is realised and there is more strength to it.
