Stages of spiritual development. Lecture 2
Bhakti Vijnana Goswami · Muscat · 2019
Chapters
Allegory of bhakti seed and weeds
And as we said in the first first day, first evening, please take this down. This is the seed of the plant.
Svarūpa Gosvāmī says. Svarūpa Gosvāmī says that this plant which is sown in the soil of our heart is supposed to grow. And ultimately it will grow to the spiritual world.
It basically means that the constitution of our heart will be completely changed and we will be transferred to spiritual world.
But for that the seed should be proper because sometimes we know that instead of the real seeds some wheats are growing. And sometimes these weeds may look like the real seed.
Especially if you don't know how the real seed and the real plant looks like. And we sometimes don't know how the plant of bhakti, the bhakti-latā, should look like.
I sometimes tell this funny story from my early days in Krishna consciousness when we were completely underground and there was no of course
Tulasī and we didn't know what Tulasī is, we only heard about Tulasī. And we knew that we were supposed to do this Tulasī-pūjā, and we were doing Tulasī-pūjā without Tulasī, you know.
Yāni kānī ca pāpāni, you know, we were going around to you know a chair, Yāni kānī ca pāpāni. And then one lady devotee sent by Kīrtirāja from Sweden, she brought seven seeds of Tulasī plant. It was a very rare commodity.
In the whole of Russia, there was not a single Tulasī. So we got the first seven seeds of Tulasī. And we put these seeds in the soil, and then
after a few days, there were two plants. Out of the seven seeds, two plants were there. But they were somewhat different. And you know, by the time it was going on, you know, they were more and more different.
And we didn't know, you know, what is Tulasī. We assumed that both are Tulasī, but they were completely different. So anyway, it was myself and my friend, and we divided this between ourselves.
You know, I kept one plant and he kept another plant. And we were watering these plants very diligently and going around them. Yāni kānī ca pāpāni and you know after months
you know that it so happened that my was real Tulasī And his was a very strange sort of like a cabbage plant. But he was completely convinced that this is real Tulasī. Because we've never seen to lose.
So he moved to another city in the mountains, you know, and I came to visit him and there was this very strange strange plan. And um you know Yani Kani Chapapani were
going around it and I kind of you know I was little doubtful and I said it looks really strange. But he was so offended, he said, no, no, this is really real to see.
And I I didn't want to go around it, but he he basically forced me. And then we went out, uh, and we were walking, and I saw so many tulasis growing in the mountains, because you very strange. Det. Stuls sigv sam.
Vås and det var sam, sam plers. And then det var samju. Somfrem flyting in the air. And first I saw that there is a lot of things flying in the air, the same stuff. And then I saw, look, this is the same stuff.
So that was the illustration of Caitanya-caritāmṛta metaphor: that there are sometimes sweets growing together with the real plant.
Scriptural inquiry into types of faith
And therefore, we have to know what is real plant, what is not real plant. And in our case, the seed is Shradha. And what I want to talk today about the quality of the seed.
Because depending on the seed, what is sown in our heart, you know, the plant will grow, and it may bring us to Goloka, it may not bring us to Goloka. It may bring us to heavenly planets.
If it's a good weed, it may it may not bring us anywhere.
So therefore I will I will read the first verse of the 17th chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, which is the question of Arjuna. Arjuna very intelligently asked this question. Arjun very intelligently asked this question.
The 17th chapter is called Divisions of Faith. And Arjuna is asking this question. Teṣāṃ niṣṭhā tu kā kṛṣṇa sattvam aho rajas tamah.
Arjuna inquired, "O Krishna, what is the situation of those who do not follow the principles of Scripture but worship according to their own imagination.
Even though with faith, śraddhānvitāḥ, they are anvitaḥ, śraddhānvitāḥ, they are full of faith."
In the fourth chapter, thirty ninth verse it is said that a person faithful to a particular type of worship gradually becomes elevated to the stage of knowledge and attains the highest perfectional stage of peace and prosperity.
In the 16th chapter, the previous chapter, it is concluded that one who does not follow the principles laid down in the scriptures is called an asurah demon. And one who follows the scriptural injunctions faithfully is called a dev or demigod.
Now, if one with faith follows some rules which are not mentioned in the scriptural injunctions, what is his position? This doubt of Arjuna is to be cleared by Krishna.
Are those who create some sort of God by selecting a human being and placing their faith in Him, worshiping in goodness, passion, or ignorance. Do such persons attain the perfectional stage of life?
Is it possible for them to be situated in real knowledge and elevate themselves to the highest perfectional stage?
Do those who do not follow the rules and regulations of the scriptures, but who have faith in something and worship gods and demigods and men attain success in their effort? Arjuna is putting these questions to Krishna.
So Arjuna very intelligently puts these questions to Krishna because it's indeed. When we look around, everyone is worshipping somebody, everyone is believing in something.
You know, in Russia they put Lenin in the in a tomb in Samadhi. And to prove that he is still in Samadhi, they maintain his dead body. There is the whole institution. Few hundred people work to maintain this body intact.
Just to show that he's there.
And you know, I remember it's not there anymore, but before that there was a huge cue before entering the mausoleum, at least for two hours, two, three hours, people to have darshan of the dead body of Lenin.
They would stand in queue for two, three hours under severe cold or you know, heat, or whatever. And this is worship, this is religion. And people then they people they have faith.
You know, people had tremendous faith in Lenin, people had tremendous faith in Hitler, uh people had tremendous faith in Say Sati Baba. People have tremendous faith in anyone, you know, basically.
Because we are all believers. By nature we are believers. So what is our faith? Where is our faith? Is our faith proper or not?
And the last chapter, the 16th chapter, the previous chapter is you know, was the concluding verse, uh, oh, the not the very last.
Nasa Siddhi Mawapnati Nasukamna Paramgatiam. Those who are rejecting the injunctions of the Shastras, Shastra Vidhi Mutrija, Vartate Kama Karataha, but taking their own kama, their own desire as the main, as the supreme,
uh, they will never attain success. Krishna is very clear, na saukhyam, they will never become happy, na param gatim. They will never attain the supreme destination, the supreme goal.
Sastriya sraddha versus laukika sraddha
So therefore, basically, Arjuna is asking here, you know, how what what is the situation of people who are not following Shastras? And I wanted to speak about these two different kinds of faiths.
Śāstrīyā śraddhā and laukika-śraddhā. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī calls first śāstrīyā śraddhā and he explains what śāstrīyā śraddhā is. Śāstrīyā śraddhā doesn't mean that I believe in śāstra.
Because you know, I may say I believe in Bhagavad-gītā. Or I may say I believe in Bible, I may say I believe in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Does it mean it's śāstrīyā śraddhā? No.
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī makes a very important More important formula he gives. Śāstrārtha-viśvāsa. Viśvāsa means the trust. And not in śāstra, in the meaning of śāstra.
Because we may believe in śāstra and follow very religiously or mechanically śāstric rules. There are so many fanatics. And they don't know the art, the meaning of these rules.
I'm following the, you know, uh externally I'm following the rules, but I don't know the meaning. What is the meaning of this rule, how I should follow, which consciousness I should follow.
Therefore, this definition is very important. Śāstrīyā śraddhā or prabala śraddhā means faith in the meaning of śāstra. Śāstrārtha-viśvāsa. And not even faith, but trust. Trust is also a very important word here.
It's basically that I have to, you know, to have trust that ultimately śāstra, even if I don't understand everything, but ultimately that śāstra brings me to higher destination.
That's very important because we may understand something, we may not understand something.
But the ultimate meaning of śāstra is, and this is what our ācāryas they prove very scientifically that the ultimate meaning of śāstra is love of God. That's śāstrārtha.
And I have to believe in this goal, that I have to achieve love of God. That all the scriptures is about this. And if I'm not achieving love of God by following the scriptures, something is wrong.
If I'm killing other people on the pretext of following scriptures, my scriptures, or you know, whatever it is, uh, there's something wrong. If I hate other people because they believe differently than myself. Something is wrong.
I don't understand the meaning of Shastra. The meaning of Shastra is to make my heart clean and soft and nice so that Krishna may enter my heart. God may enter my heart.
If this doesn't happen, then I don't understand the meaning of Shastra. And my goal is different. I don't believe in this goal of love.
Every scripture, whether we take Koran or Bible or Vedic scriptures, they ultimately talk about unity and unity means love. Love of God. It may be explicit and maybe implicit, but still it's there.
So this definition is very important, śāstra-jña viśvāsa for śāstrīya śraddhā.
But Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī also gives a very important definition of laukika-śraddhā. Laukika śraddhā he gives definition: loka-parampara-prāpta.
Loka-parampara-prāpta means this is the faith which you received from the social, from the society, from the people in the society, Loka Parampara Prapta.
You don't get it from the Shastra, you don't get it from Guru, you don't get it from really studying the Shastra under the proper guidance of spiritual master, you get it from somebody, you know, somebody told me something.
You know, and this is very common. This is uh one pramāṇa which is very common in ISKCON. How do you know one Mataji told me?
You know, there are so many so many rules and regulations which are told by one Mataji in the kitchen. Somewhere. You know. That's basically the meaning.
Loka-parampara-prāpta means you're getting it from you you're overheard it somewhere.
You know, there are basically, what Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī means by saying loka- -paramparā-prāpta is that it's some sort of superstition. And we know this is all the time going on, you know, superstition, somebody said this, and you know, this interpretation becomes the rule, and somebody repeats this, and you know it's it's going on.
Why do we follow Ekādaśī? You know so many strange stories are there. So what I want for us tonight to compare these
two kinds of faith because you know this logical sraddha is not bad. When you don't have any sraddha it's it's not so good.
Later Śrīla Prabhupāda will say in the third, in the commentary of the third verse, he will say something very important. He will say that any strong faith is coming from the mode of goodness.
It should be understood that if one's heart is in the mode of goodness, his faith is in the mode of goodness. No, where is it? Anyway, he says this in the commentary of the third verse.
He said that the strong faith is coming. Yeah. The word sraddha or faith is very significant in this verse. Sraddha or faith originally comes out from the mode of goodness.
So originally, the very notion, the very idea of sraddha or belief is coming from mode of goodness. So sraddha is not bad. And even laukika sraddha is not bad.
But in the beginning it's our faith uh will inevitably have some some element of this laukika sraddha because we don't have too much you know conviction inside.
Dependence on miracles and mystical powers
Therefore, the tendency will be to seal the gaps in our faith by all these superstitions, by this, you know, overheard notions, by some miracles. One of the most important quality or the
sign of laukika sraddha is your belief, your not belief, not even belief, the thirst for miracles. You know you you your faith is so is so weak that you need miracles to confirm this faith.
Why such people like you know there are so many miracle miracle making sadhus. You know. Well, just you know, creating faith by by making miracles.
In uh Śrīla Rsi Ratanath Maharaj's book, there is a very beautiful story about one yogi who who gathered many many people and he you know he created a Shivalingam out of his palm.
And you know he really created the Shivalingam and then he put his palm like this, and Vibhuti started flowing from his palm, and the whole Shivalingam was covered. And then when he finished this and he said he
said something to the effect that I'm doing this because I know some magical trick, but I'm not God. Don't believe anyone who says that by doing this he becomes God. God is not so cheap.
So there are some honest people who have some mystical power and they they use it to create honest faith in people, not in this mystical, not in these miracles, not in these trifle things.
You know, because there are so many magicians who also, you know. I went to a circus, and a magician can put a rabbit out of head. And you you know it's really the rabbit is there in the head. And before it was no rabbit.
And he takes rabbit. So does it mean that he's God? I have to believe in him. So, but honest people, they they don't create this artificial sort of face. Prabhupada was very particular about this.
He was he was really hammering his disciples Shastra, Shastra, Shastra, Shastra. Real sadhu always says from Shastra. Mukunda Maharaja, he remembers a funny story. He came to Prabhupada.
He only met him a couple of times and he had some ideas, you know, about India, mystical India, Sanskrit. And he said, Swamiji, can you teach me Sanskrit? And Prabhupada says, Yes, why no? I can teach you Sanskrit.
So, yeah, point of time, and that time nobody was there, just you know, Prabhupada was mostly alone.
So this Michael Grant, uh in future, Mukunda Goswami came to Prabhupada and said, You know, Swami, you will teach me Sanskrit? Prabhupada says, sure, I will teach you Sanskrit.
And then he recited the verse, Īśvaraḥ Paramaḥ Kṛṣṇaḥ, Saccidānanda Vigrahaḥ. And for two hours he was speaking about Krishna and how you know how he is the source of everything the he doesn't
have any beginning and this and that and you know and then Mukunda Maharaja just you know what about Sanskrit?
Prabhupada said that's not so important I didn't learn much Sanskrit, but I really was convinced that Krishna is something special. So Prabhupada was giving this śāstri-śraddhā. He was stressing this point, you know.
Not these mystic sayings, you know, Shastra. You have to have this basis in śāstra.
So what I uh I'm saying is that inevitably in the beginning some element of laukika-śraddhā will be because uh we will not have complete conviction in in the words of śraddhā in the beginning.
But still, we have to know very clearly where this śāstra śraddhā is, how it looks like, and how the laukika-śraddhā looks like, and what is the difference between the two.
So I want to describe a few signs of Loki Kashra and Shastri Shraddha so that we can also measure ourselves. And the meaning of this discussion or description is for us to understand what is lacking in our faith.
Not to make us desperate, not to put us into some sort of guilt trip. We will have some element of luki śraddhā, loka paramparā śraddhā. But we also have to be very conscious about not promoting this luki śraddhā.
To have some luki element in our śraddhā or some superstitious element in our shraddha is not bad. But if we promote it, that's bad. And sometimes we consciously or unconsciously promote it.
I know one Sannyasi, I mean I will not tell his name. He always, you know, he wants to create faith in his followers. How he creates this? He says: My Govardhana śilā makes always such miracles.
Today I offered him three dates and I came and there was only two dates. He ate one date and you know it's not good. It's not good. Because you put the wrong foundation. This is wrong seed.
This is uh you know, you may be well-intentioned, but this sort of faith will not bring you too high. You will always look for miracles, you know.
You will next time you will offer three dates to the śālagrāma-śilā, and then you will wait when the third one will disappear.
And if it will not disappear, you know you will you will lose your faith. Because the foundation is wrong. This is not the correct foundation. So uh so let's talk a little bit about this if you don't mind.
If if if you uh have some you know desire. No, that's the day after tomorrow overnight.
Mechanical rituals versus goal-oriented practice
Today we should have nice nice sleep. The day after tomorrow is leaving the after morning.
So the the first the most important distinction on the most important uh quality of both faith is that luki śraddhā is inevitably mechanical. It's it's it's external.
People who have this luki śraddhā do everything as a magical ritual. You know, why do we chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra? Because it will bring you it will it will help you to find a good husband.
It's it's very relevant in Russia because we have majority of unmarried women. They chant Hare Kṛṣṇa very religiously.
But the idea is you know it's some ritual, some magical ritual. There is this element of mysterious magical ritual, you know it should always be there. And it will be mechanical because it's ritual. You just have to very religiously do everything.
And we can see that in religions where laukika-śraddhā is very prominent, they have such a stress in all these details of the ritual.
Before entering the you know the temple or whatever, you have to wash your hands seven and a half times. And then you have to wash your feet and then you have to wash your left ear or whatever it is.
You know, that all these little small details, and they think if I if I miss one detail, so the magic will not work. So there is no meaning of Arta.
You don't understand the meaning of the ritual, you don't understand the internal mechanism, how it works, how it works on your consciousness. And you try to do all the details of the ritual quite mechanically.
So and uh Shastriasrada, as opposed to it, always, you know, uh the Shastriasrada always brings you to the essence. You know the goal of what you're doing, why you're doing what you're doing.
In regards to the goal, you know, you're not doing it mechanically as a ritual, but you know that this is something which should bring me to this particular goal and you know how you will reach this goal.
So you're doing it consciously, and if you have real faith, then this understanding that it should bring me to this goal will be very prominent.
You will not do it just to, you know, just because we have such religion, therefore, everyone is doing this, and therefore I'm doing this. So many people just doing it because my father did it, and my grandfather did it.
And there is this famous story about the cat in the basket. You know, and there are different varieties of the story, but one variety is that, you know, one pujari was there and he was doing his puja and the cat was wandering around and you know when he would make offering the cat would come and take the offering. And Pujari was intelligent enough to understand that this is not a miracle, but the cat ate the offering. So he didn't like it.
So for the time, you know of his puja, he would put his cat, you know, the black cat, it happened to be the black cat which was living there in the temple, in a basket, and he was doing his puja, ringing his bells and everything.
You know, and then Pujari died, but you know, his uh successor, he knew that, you know, then uh the cat should be in the basket during the offering, you know.
So then the the cat died, and you know the offering is not completed if the cat is not in the basket. So they brought a new cat and we put the cat in the basket.
And then somebody else came and they saw the process of puja then the cat is in the basket and they said this is very important to have cat, otherwise the deity will not accept the offerings.
So very soon the whole state, you know, in every temple there was a cat in the basket during puja. Because this is, this is loka-paramparā-prāpta. This is how it so it works. This is loka-paramparā.
You know, and you know, and then and then there was, you know, somebody came and wrote a PhD, you0 know, the meaning of the cat in the basket for Hindu rituals. Hindu rituals. So there are so many stuff like this.
So this is the first distinguishing factor of lūkika-śraddhā. You know the goal and you know how to reach the goal if it's śāstriya-śraddhā.
And for, uh, laukika-śraddhā you just do it because your father did it and your grandfather did it and you know everyone is doing it therefore I'm doing this. So then the next distinguishing factor is
that usually laukika-śraddhā is sentimental. It's quite weak and it's uh it's very pliable, it's not really stable.
Whereas, uh, śāstriya-śraddhā, you really have the compelling reasons to believe you're not believing because everyone else is believing but you have internal reasons to believe.
Basically, the basic distinguishing factor is that laukika-śraddhā is external, but śāstriya-śraddhā is internal. It's your internal conviction. And because laukika-śraddhā is external, it's somewhat forced upon you.
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura uses different nomenclature for this laukika-śraddhā. He says bala-dāḍhyādi-śraddhā means it's bala-dāḍhyādi. It arises from bala, from force. It's forced upon you.
You know, we have this social pressure. And everyone believes, and everyone, you know, Prabhu, did you chant this 16 rounds? You didn't chant 16 rounds. Very bad, very bad.
You know, and then everyone chants 16 rounds and then very soon nobody will know why 16 rounds, why only 16 rounds? You know.
Sometimes when I give initiation, people come to me and I ask, please tell me how many rounds you will chant every day.
And they say, I promise, Guru Maharaj, I promise to you that I will chant 16 rounds every day of my life. And I said, and what if you by mistake chance seventeen rounds? Does it mean that you will break your vow?
So the main point is that something uh when the face is and and you we got the face from somebody, but it's very important to make it our own, the reality of our heart. It should be internal.
If it's not internal, then we uh believe or we follow something, but we follow because everyone is following and when we are on our own, we don't follow it. Because nobody sees it.
You know, uh because there is no again, there is no uh compelling reasons for us to follow. We don't understand why do we follow? It has not become really our face. It's still social phase.
It's just social, you know, event. Somebody else needs it that I chant 16 rounds and so on and so forth. So therefore, this logic is usually very sentimental and it's very pliable, you know.
Somebody tells something and you immediately believe something. And you don't even ask whether it's according to Shastras or not. Somebody comes with some new ideas and you immediately go for it. You're easily influenced.
Whereas if you have uh and and there are so many things you know uh which we kind of blindly accept.
Whereas Shastra, we have to understand that Shastra, you know, there are so many strange statements in the Shastra, and we usually accept them blindly. But we have to understand that all the statements they have meaning.
Like especially when we take this Fifth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. There is very far out description of this universe.
And usually people don't even, you know, they say, okay, if there is mountain marrow in the universe, okay, it's fine.
But I have a very good friend, very nice devotee, Prem Gauranga Prabhu. And he told me about his approach.
He said, «I started reading this fifth canto, and of course it's mysterious, but he said I was trying to understand how does it match with reality.
When something doesn't match with reality and we see it in the Shastra, if we have faith in Shastra, we will be bold enough to try to understand how does it match with reality?
If we have logical strata, we say, okay, yeah, right, okay, okay, okay, maybe it's like this, let's not touch it.
So the real Shraddan means that it will it will it will not be difficult for it to undergå the test of reality check.
So he said that Śukadeva Gosvāmī in the fifth canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in three verses which are very close to each other, gives the speed of the sun differently. Different measurement of the speed of the sun.
And he said: «I started thinking about it: how is it?
Śukadeva Gosvāmī, you know, he c— it cannot be a mistake. You know, if he would say this in the second canto and then in the tenth canto, maybe he would forget something, you know, and then he would say differently. But uh, you know, he says something so there must be some purpose.
Why he gives the different measurement of the speed of the sun uh in the same fifth scanto. Why? And he started thinking and thinking and thinking and figure it out.
He said, «No, I understand that this is according to the zodiac, this and that. And he more or less by using this lead, he deciphered deciphered or how to say this, the whole fifth scanto.
He said everything matches with the observable reality.
I can prove to anyone that the picture which Śukadeva Gosvāmī is describing in the fifth canto is totally matches with the reality, observable reality which is there. Why?
Because he didn't have logical Shraddha, he had Shastriya Shradha. He believed in Shradha. He believed in Shastra. And therefore he he started thinking, how is it? And Shastra revealed it to him. So this is how it happens.
Some strange statements are there in the Shastra, but this strange statement is not to turn off our intelligence. Not to turn us into blind believers. The strange statements are the test of our faith.
We should think and ponder over these statements again and again and again, and ultimately the meaning of it will be revealed. Especially if we have bhakti, you know the devotion to God and devotion to Guru.
And then Prakashante Mahatmanaha for those great souls who have devotion to Shastra to Guru to Sadhus, uh, Shastra reveals itself. So this is what it is.
And uh, but for those who have laukika śraddhā, it's very weak and very sentimental, and you know, people they they don't even know, they say, uh this is, you know, I don't understand, this is far out, and you know what it is.
Misinterpreting scripture to excuse misbehavior
So that's another thing. And the third element or the third quality is very interesting.
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains this third quality by quoting this famous verse, api cet sudurācāro bhajate mām ananya-bhāk, sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ samyag vyavasito hi saḥ. Krishna glorifies somebody.
You know, even if he is doing the most abominable things. Api cet sudurācāra, sudurācāra. Not just durācāra, sudurācāra. He's doing really bad things. But still he worships me.
Sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ. He should be considered as a sadhu. So Jīva Gosvāmī takes this verse and he says, uh, this person has laukika śraddhā. He has very strong faith.
Bhajate mām ananya-bhāk, he is very determined, he is fanatical, but still he is doing bad things. What does it mean?
It means that he doesn't have śāstrīya śraddhā. If you have śāstrīya śraddhā, you will never do abominable things. You will never do bad things.
Because first of all, it's forbidden in the shastra, and you have trust in the shastra. And so it's not compatible.
So this description which sometimes we glorify, Krishna says he is sadhu, yes, he's sadhu, but he is a he is a very beginning sadhu.
Because he doesn't have the strong faith and he doesn't understand the meaning of the shastra. And therefore, he breaks the shastra. And sometimes people say, you know, and I have seen it, you know,
that they they use it they use this verse as as a justification to break the rules of the Shastra. You know, I believe in Krishna. And therefore I can steal for Krishna. Of course for Krishna.
No, but Krishna doesn't want you to steal for him. Of course Krishna steals himself, but that's another story. But the point is that Krishna says in the Shastra: don't steal. You're not supposed to steal.
So, and people misuse this. Why? Because they don't know Shastra, they don't follow Shastra. And uh they, their faith is not properly situated.
Therefore Krishna says, "Kshipram bhavati dharmatma" in the next verse, very quickly, you know, if this faith is proper, if this faith is in Krishna, it's somewhat proper, but very quickly it should become completely proper.
Kshipram bhavati dharmatma, he becomes very, you know, very dharmic, very pious very soon. Why? Because he believes in Shastra, you know, and he starts following the Shastra. And then of course one is dogmatic,
the, this faith is just dogma, you follow dogma, I already said. And the śāstrīya-śraddhā is very rational. Those who have śāstrīya-śraddhā can explain so much. They know the meaning of the Shastra.
They can reveal the meaning of the Shastra.
Pride in superficial faith versus humility
And it's actually very interesting. So, one very interesting quality of these two kinds of faith is that inevitably laukika śraddhā makes one proud. I am a selected one. Only my face is real.
We have the real faith, and everyone else is just, they will all go to hell. But we are very very selected club of very special people. Only we, only here. Everyone else is not real. Not proper. We are good.
Everyone else is not good. So that's a very strong element of laukika-śraddhā. We're special, everyone doesn't know the truth. Whereas the śāstrīya-śraddhā, it makes one humble, you know. I'm not following, you know.
Well, you know, all these people, they have such a strong faith, and I know so much, but I don't follow it so properly. You don't become proud.
The pride is the sign of laukika-śraddhā. You only believe that only I'm right, everyone else is wrong. So this is laukika-śraddhā.
Because you need to protect your Shraddha. You're not so sure about your Shraddha. So pride is the protective mechanism.
All these fanatics, if you think that fanatics have strong face, you're wrong. Fanatics have very weak face. To protect their weak faith, they put a very strong external appearance externally,
you know, and uh they always say, "Only us, only we, everyone else is wrong. You you take any big religion, and when Krishna consciousness will become big, uh I'm very afraid of this.
Because you know the bigger the more bigger organization becomes, the more element of this laukika-śraddhā will become ingrained into the fabric of the organization.
The organization, because it's very easy to produce laukika-śraddhā. Very easy. People are prone to have this laukika-śraddhā, superstitious śraddhā. It's not difficult to produce it.
We are special, everyone else is better. Okay, fine. You know, "I will become and I will go to Goloka." How are you going to Goloka? No, somehow or other, Prabhupāda said, "I will go to Goloka."
You know, Prabhupāda said so many things, but you know, he also explained the conditions of how you go to Goloka. No, no, no. I paid my, you know, my little dakṣiṇā to my Guru Mahārāja, and therefore I go to Goloka.
Not necessarily. So So this is all this is all so if we take if we take all these uh big religions, they only protect uh their constituencies by this mechanism of laukika-śraddhā. They are good, everyone else is bad. Why?
By definition, by default. They have some rationale behind it, this and that. But you know, it's usually not really deep. And it actually creates pride. What I want to say is that laukika-śraddhā creates pride.
The real śraddhā creates humility. That's what we have to understand. If we have laukika-śraddhā, we have this ideal of śāstra. If we have Shastri Shradha, we know this ideal of Shra Shastra and we know where we are.
Where we are? Nowhere. So why should we become proud? Our only hope is humility, you know. I'm a mercy case.
Narottama Dāsa Ṭhākura says, I'm the most fallen. You came to save the fallen, so my turn is the first. Please take me. That's that's the that's the humility of somebody who has uh śāstrīya-śraddhā.
Whereas laukika-śraddhā always creates pride. You know, this Yeah, and I've seen it, you know. Only book distributors will go back home to back to God, right?
Only Sankirtan devotees, only Bhaktivriaks, only this, only that. You know, but the this is all all mechanisms, you know. We have to be on guard of this. It should not be, you know, we should not promote this sort of ideas.
Those who have real love uh to God in their heart, they will go back to Godhead. Everything else is not proper, is not, it should not be stated like this.
External validation and superficial social status
That's we have to be very clear and not promote this wrong kind of faith.
So and then of course another characteristic which is very important is that when we have this laukika-śraddhā, weak faith, we very much depend on the opinions of others about us.
First of all, we those who don't have strong śāstrī- śraddhā, śāstrī - śāstrīc faith in their heart. First of all, they're not so much concerned about their own spiritual progress, they're always concerned about the spiritual progress of everyone else.
They're always judging, you know. How is he doing? Okay. Instead of looking inside, they are looking outside. And at the same time, they are very much dependent on the opinion of others about themselves.
They have to create some artificial status. I am this, I am that, I'm this, I am that. And they always try to get these affirmations coming from outside.
Because again, the roots of their faith is not internal, is not in the heart. They need this affirmation. They really require this affirmation.
Yes, I'm good, I'm pure devotee, please tell me that I'm pure devotee, you know. That that's that's an internal sort of need requirement uh and uh uh because again the face is not so strongly established inside and therefore those people they they will have tendency to insult other people to make offenses.
Because it's again very much about the social status. This whole laukika-śraddhā is a social event. It's conventional phase. It's something which is happening in the society, not happening inside our heart.
The real faith is happening internally inside our heart. And therefore, we're not so much dependent on the opinion of others. Why do I care what others think about me?
I care what Krishna thinks about me, what my spiritual master thinks about me, you know, and I know very well my frailties and my status. I know that I'm not so advanced.
But I I I don't need uh these affirmations coming from outside and therefore I'm humble. So, and then you know the last characteristics I I didn't mention everything.
There's one more very important characteristic is that śāstra-śraddhā, one who has śāstra-śraddhā, one who has laukika-śraddhā, he's complacent. He's self-complacent. I'm already there.
I already paid my dakṣiṇā. I already got my you know para-guru name, Paramahaṁsa das, you know. So what else is there? Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says that one who has śāstra-śraddhā it's somebody who wants to get the real gold.
He always goes deeper and deeper and deeper and digs and digs and digs unless he finds the real gold. Whereas somebody who has laukika-śraddhā, he's complacent. I'm okay.
And yeah, I'll do this once once a week I will come religiously, I will uh you know attend my service in the church or I will uh pay this little donation to this or whatever. They do minimum.
Whereas those who have śāstra-śraddhā they really want to go you know deep unless they find the real truth.
And then the ultimate uh ultimate sign is that laukika śraddhā makes your heart very hard. So it's an opposite effect. The real śraddhā softens your heart. The real śraddhā makes your heart soft.
You know, because you know, I'm I'm not very successful devotee. I'm trying and trying and trying. And you cry sometimes, you're desperate, you have this crisis,
why it is, but because lousikā śraddhā is based on this pride, you know, the heart becomes very hard. It's very difficult to penetrate this heart. It's very interesting.
In the beginning, we come, and we're coming usually to Krishna consciousness with open heart, but sometimes during the practice of Krishna consciousness in the society of devotees, when the society is not really properly tuned, the heart closes down.
Some unnecessary qualities will develop in our heart and therefore this is again, a very important element.
So basically, this is what I wanted to say about these two types, two varieties of faith, two varieties of śraddhā. One is good, another one is also not bad if it's believing Krishna in the process of Krishna consciousness and chanting of Hare Krishna.
But we should not, if we see that there is some element of this logical śraddhā within our heart, we should we should try to deal with it and should try to weed it out because this is all elements, this is the weeds around the plant of our bhakti.
The real bhakti is uh internal, deep internal faith in the scriptures, in the meaning of the scriptures, which is very much based on our internal conviction and understanding and of course, revelation of God, revelation of scriptures which is coming to us through our service attitude.
So that's that's very important uh to understand and I'm just trying to see if I miss something or not, but uh I guess that's basically enough.
Personal experience and proper preaching standards
Uh but um yeah. And ultimately, what is very important is that my faith should be based on my experience. Whereas, when we have this laukika śraddhā, it's based on the experience of some authority.
He tells me how to believe, and I believe.
But in the beginning, we may not have experience, but if we practice Krishna consciousness properly with proper faith, we will get the experience, we will get the positive experience.
And this experience will become the foundation of our spiritual advancement, which is very important. So therefore, again, even though laukika śraddhā is not bad, I don't say it's bad, but it's just beginning thing.
And the as I said in our first class is that it's the duty of a sādhu preacher to create the proper kind of faith. And not proliferate or not to promote this wrong kind of faith.
So the preacher has to create faith, he has to know Shastra himself. He has to practice according to Shastra. He has to have some spiritual experience which he will have to transmit to others.
But he has to teach from the Shastra, strictly from the Shastra, not from his concoction or imagination or anything else. And if he sees some manifestation of Loki Kashradha in his followers, he has to correct it.
And Śrīla Prabhupāda was very strict. In ISKCON society there is a very peculiar element of laukika-śraddhā or very peculiar type of laukika-śraddhā. The formula is, «Prabhupāda said».
And Prabhupāda himself said, you know, so many people say, «Prabhupāda said this, Prabhupāda said this». «I never said this». Even during Prabhupāda's time, you know.
«Prabhupāda said, Prabhupāda said, Prabhupāda said», so Prabhupāda himself was fighting with it.
He came to one temple and somebody asked, «Prabhupāda, is it true that you said that one has to eat four chickpeas every breakfast?»
You know, and then well already theories. Somebody said four chickpeas, somebody said not ten chickpeas, somebody said never chickpeas, somebody said, and everyone said «Prabhupāda said, Prabhupāda said, Prabhupāda said».
You know, this is this is typical laukika-paramparā-śraddhā, coming from this laukika paramparā, from this, from the society. So Prabhupāda knew the danger of it.
And we have to understand that the more devotees, you know, more devotees, happier devotees, but what is the quality of these devotees?
If there is more devotees, even if they are happier devotees, they may be happy because there are so many superstitions are floating around and they invest uh their faith into these superstitions and uh instead of investing it in Prabhupāda's books and in oureach of Vedic literature.
And therefore Prabhupāda was quoting again and again and again: if we take his books, what he's talking about? Śāstra, only śāstra. And this culture of śāstra, quoting śāstra, referring to śāstra, basing our beliefs in śāstra is very important.
Anyway, this is what I want to say. Any questions? Or shall we finish? Because it's late.
In India there are a lot of channels which should relocate to shut the room. Mostly when the religion becomes big religion, it's just it's only superstitions, nothing else. Nothing else. It's interesting.
I once came to the parish of the Russian Orthodox Church in London. And I spoke with the head of this parish. He was very nice, very intelligent man, Englishman. It's interesting.
And he said to me, and of course, Russian Orthodox Church is not really, you know, native or not traditional in England. And he said to me, in our congregation, we have many Russians and Ukrainians.
They come once a year to get some holy water on their heads. But the real uh the real pillars of our congregation are Englishmen who became believers in Russian Orthodox faith.
When the faith becomes traditional, it just turns into circus, which is called lokācāra. You know, because my father believed and the father of my father believed. So I'm Ukrainian, therefore I'm Orthodox.
Put some holy water on my head and I will be saved. He said we have very nice people, they're all Englishmen. Not all, he said, but majority of them are British. And many Russians and Ukrainians who are like this.
And the same thing we see in India, and the same thing and Prabhupāda, he, he created this miracle, he created this Krishna consciousness which is based on śāstra.
There are so many, so many gurus, so many famous gurus, and they promote this logic rather. They promote some belief in somebody in some concocted God or something.
You know, very successful organizations which promote this. It's it's strange. But Prabhupāda was adamant, he said, Bhagavad-gītā as it is. As it is. Okay, thank you very much. Śrīla Prabhupāda keeps it.