CONTENTS:
- QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH GURU MAHARAJA
- SRILA PRABHUPADA'S APPRECIATION
- GURU MAHARAJA’S INSTRUCTIONS
1. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH GURU MAHARAJA
Q: The first requirement is that one should be serious and second is that one should surrender so how can we be sinless?
A: Yes, to be sinless means, the sin is standing on four legs. Those four legs of sin are meat eating, intoxication, taking intoxication, indulging in illicit sex and gambling. If you abstain from these four preeminent sins, the sin will not be able to touch you. That’s why in ISKCON we follow the four regulative principles. Because all sins are pertaining to these four activities. When one abstains from these activities, sin cannot touch him. And becoming free from false ego is by hearing the glory of Krishna. The more we hear the glory of Krishna the more we realize how great He is. And then in relation to His greatness we begin to see how insignificant we are. We really begin to see, how He is the Supreme Creator, how He is the Supreme Maintainer, how He is the Supreme Enjoyer. And then we see ourselves as so minute. Like He just lifted Govardhan hill and He held it there for seven days. And who can do that? Now one may think: “Well, this is just a story.” But then the question is. If this is a fairy tale, then how come that the greatest of the intellectuals, the most brilliant personalities are accepting this? Right’.
The people, those who are following Krishna, those who are following the instructions of the scriptures, they are not ordinary living entities. For example, Vyasadeva. Such a giant of an intellect, intellectual person. There is a history of these powerful individuals, like Sukadeva Gosvami. Even if we don’t want to go that far. Even in the recent past we have seen. Like Bhaktivinoda Thakur was such a brilliant person, devotee, he was holding such a big position under the British government. And he is accepting this. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur. Of his time, he was considered the most brilliant person. And look at his writing. So brilliant. Then in the recent past we have seen Srila Prabhupada. So brilliant! Why these personalities are accepting this? If they could accept it and if they have accepted it as the absolute truth, why should I hesitate? In this way our faith increases by hearing or reading the glories of Krishna. And as a result of that, as we become aware of the greatness of Krishna, we become, we begin to appreciate His greatness. And when we appreciate His greatness, then what happens? Automatically we become … So that is the process.
Devotee: If we accept bhakti..is it necessary to go…
A: Yes, right. If you have achieved pure devotion then you don’t have to do anything. But if you are not in the pure devotion then you have to practice to achieve the perfection. These are the art of the practice. There are two expressions: siddhi and sadhana. We do not become siddha straight away. To achieve to achieve the siddhi we have to do the sadhana. Yes, when one comes to the platform of perfection then there is no need for it. If you are able to chant the Holy Name of the Lord all the time, then there is no need for any rules and regulations.
Q: How long does it take for a soul to reincarnate to the next body?
A: Very nice question. This depends upon your karma. The more sinful you are the longer time it will take why because it will take a longer time to clean you up. The more clean you are the less time it takes. There is no specific time limit. The Garuda purana states that it takes one year for a human being generally. Hiranyakasipu and Hiranyaksa are two demons and were killed by the Lord and were in a kind of deep sleep of one yuga, almost two million years until their next body. They came as Ravan and Kumbakaran and were killed by the Lord and it took them about one million years to get another body then they came as Shishupal and Dandavakra. No specific time. Nature makes arrangements. Whereas when one is very pious then straight away, he is elevated to the heavenly planets without any delay.
Q: Sometimes the soul does not want to leave the body at the time of death is this true?
A: Not only true that’s the case of most of the people. If someone tells you, “You have to die” how many of you will say I am ready? Those who are situated in knowledge are ready but, in most cases, they will say no I don’t want to die. There is a wonderful arrangement a demi-god called Yamaraja is the supreme judge. As in the legal system you have the police there are Yamaduttas. When the time is up then the Yamaduttas come. If you resist then the Yamadutas force living entity to leave the body and he will be judged in the court and rewarded according to your action for the next body.
Q: What can we do to change past and present karma?
A: Surrender to Krishna and be free from all your karmic reaction.
Q: Does harinaam sankirtan remove all bad karma in previous birth and purify the soul?
A: Yes. The way to pray to the Lord in this age is to chant the holy name that is why we chant all the time and ask others to chant the holy name. Not only will it purify us when someone hears they will also get benefit. Loud chanting and inviting everyone to come and participate and up to the extent the sound vibration goes to that extent sins will get purified. The atmosphere gets purified of adverse effects.
Q: I am trying to chant and my mind troubles me so much what can I do to improve chanting?
A: Chanting has three phases namely:
- Practising;
- Tasting; and
- Perfecting.
Firstly, we are not perfect so we have difficulties. It is like riding a bike you have to practice and you fall and thought of giving up but one fine morning you were riding perfectly. By practice only you get perfection. Even if you not chanting perfectly keep on chanting. When the mind drifts and you are concerned about it bring the mind back. Where should the mind be when chanting? Chanting is the sound and the Lord is present in the sound and you receive sound by hearing so mind should be in hearing. Sravanam, kirtanam. Hear and chant, chant and hear. Make it a point to hear attentively and bring the mind back. Attentive hearing.
2. SRILA PRABHUPADA'S APPRECIATION
“When Srila Prabhupada had returned to India from the West and had come to Mayapur to see the land that had been procured to build the temple, he had not stopped at the Samadhi (tomb) of his spiritual master on the way, and some of his godbrothers had criticized him for that. When Srila Prabhupada had heard of their disapproval, he responded, “Do they think that I am ever separated from my spiritual master? No, he is always with me and I am always with him. I am not separated from him even for a moment.”
(Extract from “Ocean of Mercy” by HH Bhakti Charu Swami)
3.GURU MAHARAJA’S INSTRUCTIONS
- Holy name alone is sufficient to take back home back to Godhead. However, to cultivate the mood of surrender You need a Guru.
(The content of this E-magazine is based on various questions and answers given by HH Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja.)
(Compiled and Edited by Hemavati Radhika Devi Dasi)