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II. Hearing, Chanting and Serving
Most people encounter difficulties in their search for peace because they have failed to control their minds. The nature of the mind is that it is very flickering; it accepts some things and rejects others. Consequently the mind is never at peace. One minute we may decide to do something, and at the next minute we may reject the idea. In this way we try to be satisfied by pursuing so many different paths of action. The principles of religion aim at controlling the mind. Only in the human form of life can we take to these religious principles, for in animal society there is no question of acting in accordance with religious principles. In Hinduism, Mohammedanism, Sikhism, Judaism, Christianity, etc., the basic principle of yoga, which is mind control, can be found.
Of all the senses, the mind is the most important. It is the center of all senses. The body is a combination of senses, and if the mind is disturbed, the senses cannot act. If a mans mind is in disorder, a man is called mad because the man cannot use his senses properly. He cannot think properly, feel properly, nor act properly.
Some five thousand years ago there was a great meeting of sages at Naimisaranya, in India, and Suta Goswami, who was presiding over the assembly, spoke to the great sages about satisfying the mind. He said that if we want to satisfy the mind and actually attain to peace, we will have to take to the transcendental process of Krishna consciousness. Essentially this process is a process of rendering service.
It is the nature of man, or his dharma, to serve. Service is not only characteristic of man but of all other living entities as well. We often see animals serving their cubs, or ants serving their community, or bees serving their hivesthat spirit of service is characteristic of all. We render service either out of a sense of love or a sense of superiority. No one can claim that he does not serve anyone. We must be serving, and Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu points out that it is the prime duty of all living entities to understand that their position is to serve God. That is our real dharma, our real constitutional position. We are eternal servants of God, and therefore we cannot possibly escape rendering service. If we are not serving God, we are rendering service to our personal selves, to our bodies, to our families, to our society, community, or nation. Just as liquidity is characteristic of water, or sweetness is characteristic of sugar, so service is the characteristic of the living entity. It is the basic ingredient and cannot be taken away. In chemistry certain characteristics are understood to be intrinsic as far as certain chemicals are concerned. We have to understand that the dharma of service is intrinsic for the living entity.
When the word dharma is translated into English, it is often described as a kind of faith, but in Sanskrit the word dharma does not mean that. Dharma refers to the inherent characteristic of a particular thing, that which cannot be changed. A mans faith can be changedtoday one can be a Hindu and tomorrow a Christian. The essential characteristic of service, however, cannot be changed. This service is the perfect characteristic of the human being. It is transcendental, not material. Transcendental refers to that which is beyond this material conception, beyond the material energy. In Bhagavad-gita, Sri Krishna speaks of His material and transcendental energies in this way:
Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and false egoaltogether these eight comprise My separated material energies. Besides this inferior nature, O mighty Arjuna, there is a superior energy of Mine which is all living entities who are struggling with material nature and sustaining the universe. (Bg. 7.4)
Just as there is superior and inferior energy, so there is superior and inferior service. Inferior service is service rendered for some material purpose. In the beginning of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Vyasadeva says: He who serves the inferior energy is engaged in pretending, falsity and cheating. (Bg. 7.5)
Sridhara Swami, the great commentator on Srimad-Bhagavatam, says that in general people are interested in four kinds of religious principlesreligiosity, economic development, sense gratification and liberation. Generally people are interested in some material benefit. Why? They desire sense gratification. If we get material riches, we can satisfy our senses according to our desires. In this way there are different motives for rendering service.
But transcendental service is devoid of such motives. Suta Goswami, the speaker of Srimad-Bhagavatam, says that by executing transcendental service one can advance his natural love for God. Everyone has a natural love for God, and in the Chaitanya-Caritamrta it is said that this love is everlasting. This transcendental love is not attained by practice; it is already there. It simply has to be cultivated.
In Bhagavad-gita it is stated that when a man becomes addicted to something good, he gives up bad habits. For instance, a child sometimes plays very mischievously, but when he grows up he devotes himself to study, he reads and writes and goes to school and becomes sober and gentle. A person cannot be taught things by force; it must be natural. In Krishna consciousness movement we have experienced that thousands of American and European boys and girls are taking to Krishna bhakti, devotional service to Krishna, although four years ago they had never even heard the name of Krishna. Upon initiation into the service of Krishna, they willingly gave up the practices of intoxication, meat-eating, illicit sex and gambling. Although they engaged in these practices almost from the beginning of their lives, they abandoned them because they were taught them unnaturally. As soon as one comes to his natural position, which is dormant and everlasting, he gives up his artificial life.
If Krishna bhakti is natural for everyone, how is it invoked in everyone? Information of this is given in scripture. We must patiently hear about Krishna. The Krishna consciousness movement is based on this principleone must listen to the message given by Krishna or to the message given about Krishna. The message given by Krishna is Bhagavad-gita, and the message given about Krishna is Srimad-Bhagavatam. Everyone can listen to these messages; there is no impediment. If we simply give aural reception to these messages, our dormant Krishna consciousness will be invoked naturally. The centers for the International Society for Krishna consciousness are being opened all over the world just to give people the chance to hear about Krishna. If we hear about Krishna, we can speak about him, and this process is called sravanam kirtanam. Sravanam means hearing, and kirtanam means speaking, describing, or chanting. When many men and women get together and glorify, chant or sing about Krishna, it is called sankirtana. Sankirtana is particularly appropriate for this age and is advocated by Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
In the Satya Yuga, a previous age characterized by longevity and piety, people could advance in spiritual consciousness by meditation. In this fallen age meditation is not easy, but it was possible in Satya Yuga when people would live for 100,000 years. Valmiki Muni, for example, meditated for 60,000 years and reached perfection. Of course in the present age this is not possible. Even if we lived for such a long time, our minds are so disturbed and we are engaged in so many impious activities that it is impossible to meditate. One or two great yogis may be able to meditate properly, but for the masses of people it is not possible.
Meditation means concentration on Vishnu, not on something impersonal or fictitious. When yogis meditate, they fix their minds on Vishnu, the Supersoul expansion of the Lord. The Supreme Personality of Godhead lives in everyones heart. We simply have to meditate upon Him to realize Him, and this meditation was very easily performed in the Satya Yuga.
In the next millennium, Treta Yuga, the same results were achieved by performing great sacrifices. In accordance with the Vedic injunctions for sacrifice, many tons of butter and grains were sacrificed to the fire. Obviously today no one has sufficient money to perform such sacrifices, and even if the money were available there are no qualified brahmanas to perform the sacrifice. Traditionally, the priests who executed the sacrifice were tested to see whether they were qualified. The first test was to see whether or not the priest chanted the mantra perfectly. An animal would be placed into the fire, and if the mantra were chanted perfectly, the animal would come out with a new life. Such a task cannot be performed today because there are no qualified brahmanas, nor is all the additional paraphernalia available.
In the following millennium, Dvapara Yuga, it was possible for temple worship to be performed perfectly. Today even old temples are neglected; no one is taking care of them properly. The Christian churches and the temples and churches in England and America are now being sold because people are not taking care of them. People are gradually becoming atheistic in this age, and they have lost interest in going to the church or temple. Therefore this process is not recommended in this age.
The conclusion is that the process of sravanam kirtanam, hearing and chanting, is particularly suitable for this age. Everyone can hear, and everyone can chant. There is no difficulty. This can be done under any circumstance, at any time, in any condition of life, by anyone. This process of chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare was given to the world by Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who descended on this earth specifically to give this process as the dharma for this age. By means of this process, purification of the senses is easily achieved, and the attitude of service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead is invoked. It is the most efficient means of realizing our constitutional position as servants of the Supreme.
That process by which we can advance our understanding of our constitutional position is to be known as a first class religious process. We are everlastingly servants of God, but unfortunately we have forgotten Him. We have forgotten our relationship with God as servants. As pointed out before, the attitude of service is there in everyone, but in material consciousness we are rendering service to our senses, to our family, society, etc. In any case, the service spirit is there, but it is pervertedly reflected. Because we are covered by gross and subtle material elements, our spirit of service is being misused. Suta Goswami says that the spirit of service which is inherent in all of us can be perfectly realized when we come to the platform of rendering service to the Supreme Lord.
The method of rendering service is transmitted by the parampara system, which passes knowledge down from master to disciple. The most efficient process for the perfection of all religious systems, the process by which our minds can be pacified, is this process of bhakti-yoga, the rendering of transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord who is beyond the perception of our material senses. Another name for God is Adhoksaja, which means beyond the perception of our material senses. We can see directly, eat, touch and smell directly, but we cannot perceive God directly through these material senses. Because we cannot see God directly, we are not to assume that He has no form. When Krishna was personally present on this planet, people saw His form. In addition, there are descriptions of Krishnas transcendental form given by Lord Brahma in the Brahma-samhita. In the beginning of the creation, Brahma realized the Personality of Godhead by tapasya (penance), and Brahma-samhita was sung by him in praise of Sri Krishna. Through so many authorities we come to understand Krishna as having form. In rendering service to Krishna, there is no question of voidism or impersonalism. Transcendental loving service must be rendered to a personal God, the Supreme Person.
Service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead can not be checked by any material conditions. If we engage ourselves in His service, we will never be impeded by any material considerations. It is not that we cannot serve God because we are too busy, or because we are too rich or too poor, or because we are black or white or whatever color. Anyone can serve God in any circumstances whatsoever. Once we take to this process of pure devotional service, we will never be checked.
In order to attain the perfection of pure devotional service, we should worship God without purpose and without motive. The demigods are worshipped with a motive, but Krishna is served without any motive. In Bhagavad-gita it is affirmed by Sri Krishna Himself that the demigods are worshiped out of desire.
Those whose minds are distorted by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures. (Bg. 7.20)
It is the wise man, however, who turns to Krishna and worships Him without motive.
After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes, and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare. (Bg. 7.19)
We must take shelter of the Supreme Lord according to the rules and regulations of the scriptures and not whimsically. If we take shelter of Him in this way, we will attain the highest perfection of life, regardless of the birth we take.
O son of Pritha, anyone who will take shelter in Me, whether a woman, or a merchant, or one born in a low family, can yet approach the supreme destination. (Bg. 9.32)
In Srimad-Bhagavatam it is stated that if we want to attain real peace, we must be peaceful individually. Only when we are peaceful individually can we be peaceful nationally or collectively. A person may be satisfied in his own way, but if others are dissatisfied, there is disturbance. If we would come to the platform of Krishna consciousness and engage in the transcendental loving service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, our minds and souls will be fully satisfied, and peace will be possible. There will only be peace in the world when we turn to the Supreme Lord and glorify Him. In all scriptures we find that we should glorify the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Somehow or other, we must worship Him on the platform of glorification and service. There is no necessity to perform austerity, penance and meditation because it is understood that by devotional service the perfection of austerity, penance and meditation is already reached. If we do not come to the point of worship of God, what is the value of austerity? We may consider ourselves a Christian or a Hindu, and we may execute our prescribed duties very nicely and think that we are working in accordance with our system of religion, but if we are not attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His pastimes, there is no benefit.
Unfortunately in this age people are not attached to or attracted by God and His pastimes. Throngs of people would assemble for a political meeting, but if the subject matter is Krishna or God, no one is interested. This is due to the influence of the age. The fact remains, however, that if we faithfully discharge our duties as a politician, a businessman, a professional man, a laborer or whatever, and do not develop Krishna consciousness, then our work is fruitless. The very aim of life is God consciousness, and the Srimad-Bhagavatam says that activities that do not bring us to God consciousness are simply a waste of time. The Vedanta Sutra also indicates that human life is especially meant for inquiring about the Supreme Absolute Truth. If that inquiry is not invoked in human life, the human form of life is spoiled. We are born in ignorance, without Krishna consciousness, without understanding our relationship with God. If we continue like this, we are actually defeated, regardless of how victorious we may think we are in our business or profession.
If we are too attached to this material world, we have to return again, and according to our karma we have to accept another body. There are 8,400,000 forms of bodies, and according to our work we can be put in any one of them. We may try to avoid natures law, but it is not possible. At death material nature again throws us into the cycle of birth and death. In these millions of forms of life, we have no control over where we will be placed next. Therefore the scriptures enjoin that we should try to evoke Krishna consciousness before death comes.
Death is certain. When death comes, it takes away everythinghome, family, country, dress, apartment, etc. Everything is finished. We then have to accept another body and construct another house, another society, etc. This cycle is going on and on, and in this way Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu points out that the living entities are wandering in so many bodies all over this universe. Sometimes we may appear as Brahma, sometimes as an ant, sometimes as a demigod, a man, a fish, an insect and so on. While wandering in this way, the living entity is most fortunate if he gets in touch with the guru and Krishna.
If we get a very valuable seed of a lotus flower and do not utilize it, the seed will not fructify, but if we plant it, the seed will grow, and one day a very beautiful lotus flower will blossom. The seed of Krishna consciousness is given, and if we cultivate it, our life will be successful. Krishna consciousness is a great science. It is authorized, not concocted. It is based on scripture, not mental speculation, and it is very easy to execute. If we try to meditate on our own, we will run into great difficulties and will ultimately fail, but in this age the process has been made very easy. Let us just try to approach a bona fide spiritual master, or a representative of Krishna, and under his direction take this seed of Krishna consciousness and sow it in our hearts and water it by hearing and chanting. If we continue hearing and chanting, the seed will grow. Simply by beginning this process we will quickly come to the stage whereby we will realize that this is the quickest, easiest, and most reliable way to peace.
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