This transcription is by Uddhava Priya Prabhu, used with permission from lecture folio that you can download HERE

January 5, 2009

Maharaja: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.2.32 describes this impure state of consciousness as follows:

[Someone may say that aside from devotees, who always seek shelter at the Lord's lotus feet, there are those who are not devotees but who have accepted different processes for attaining salvation. What happens to them? In answer to this question, Lord Brahmā and the other demigods said:] O lotus-eyed Lord, although nondevotees who accept severe austerities and penances to achieve the highest position may think themselves liberated, their intelligence is impure. They fall down from their position of imagined superiority because they have no regard for Your lotus feet.

We are dealing with this īśāvāsya principle that everything is connected to Krsna. We will be thinking in the way that if I have stuff then I have to connect that to Krsna, I have my house, my family whatever I may have that is connected to Krsna, that is the quota given to me. But when it comes to knowledge then we may just think, well this is just something that we can do, that is just a natural unalienable right that we have. But unfortuntately this element also comes into the context of this isavasya principle. If that knowledge is not connected to Krsna then it also is basically useless as has been pointed out.  

So those people who without going to Krsna think they are liberated they never are, they are not liberated. Only those who understand the Lord are liberated, one may ask about what about the Brahmavadis who are absorbed in Brahman? But Krsna is Brahman so they are accepting Brahman, so they may be on that platform but infortunately from that platform they still come down. But the Mayavadis they don’t see anything in connection with the Lord or transcendence, so they are not actually understanding Brahman, because Brahman is an aspect of the Lord. So they in their pride they never get…imagined superiority, because someone on the actual Brahman-platform doesn’t feel himself superior. Only those who have regard for the Lord and for His worship they will get benefit, because whether one is in the material world or not in the material world. It still is not up to us, it is up to the Lord, it is His control. So we can’t think that we will control and give up the material world and that is within our right. We can enjoy the material world that we have to go through someone else, but to give it up we can do on our own. No, to enjoy it to give it up, whatever is the position it must be done with the Lord’s grace.

Mantra 10

Mantra 9 described the results of indulging in ignorance and developing false knowledge.

Mantra 10 declares that that real knowledge is different then either of these.

You have ignorance and then you have that false knowledge not connected to the Lord. Let us say leaders and dictators like Stalin or Hitler, some like these personalities. If you are saying that they are bad then that already includes idiomen and the local guy down at the banana republic. So when we go after the impersonalists, or jnanis that means we have gone after everybody else who is fancying himself smart because they have stuck their nose in a book. It is not that this is all those dirty stinky Mayavadis in Varanasi and Hrsikesa, it is directed at them. But what they know is way beyond what anybody else knows, still they missed the point because they haven’t connected it to Krsna. 

That means anybody else who is some kind of scholar, academic or religionist, anybody like that who is basing their life on the superiority based on knowledge. If it is not connected to Krsna they are in the same boat. We also have to remember this, that is the part of the discussion that nobody likes. It is not politically correct, everyone likes to stick to niceties, stick to the third person as far away as possible, that is ok as long as we take that and apply into our life. 

That is the position of the Upanisads, they give you knowledge by which you apply it, they give you the knowledge of it and then you are supposed to apply it. To make it easier therefore this knowledge has come to us in the form of a purana, because then you can see people in these various categories: not doing things in connection with Krsna and having trouble and those who are doing in connection with Krsna and then it works very nicely for them. Already one step of the application has been taken care of by the sastra itself, now it is just a matter that you can relate to that. Rather than Yudhisthira everything went nice for him and Duryodhana it didn’t go so good for him, but I don’t walk around with a crown and wear a sword even though I am an administrator and do all that. Whatever it was that happened to them it doesn’t apply to me, that would be a mistake

Devotee (1): Some of the Mayavadis are quite learned and intelligent when coming in contact with Krsna consciousness what keeps them away from taking it up? Is it that they are just following the party line so it’s pride or it’s their so-called faithfulness to their party flag?

Maharaja: If it was faithfulness they would accept if there is good argument, it has to be based on pride, because the bottom line at least for the Mayavadis is that they want to be God. A Brahmavadi is not going to have any problem because they accept that there is transcendence. A Mayavadi says that everything you see is illusion and then there is transcendence. A Brahmavadi says everything you see is transcendence, there is nothing else other than transcendence, they say the illusion is that you don’t understand that it is transcendence. Actually they are closer to the truth, but they only know the first level of truth, they don’t know paramatma and Bhagavan, with them you can discuss. Someone who is sincerely thinking that this path is going to get me benefit, then there is some possibility of discussion. But those who out of pride, they want to be God and they are very proud of the scholarship and all that then their intelligence will be blocked, that is why it is called mayayapahrta-jnana. Maya just steals their intelligence so they can’t see 

Devotee (1): So the yata mata tata patha would be the Mayavadi not the Brahmavadi

Maharaja: That would be a Mayavadi. Brahmavadi is Sukadeva, 4 Kumaras, few people like that, Brahmavadis, everything is Brahman, that’s why you don’t need to preach. 

Devotee (1): A few Brahmavadis who are established in the mode of goodness when faced with Krsna consciousness then they say that is fine for you and this is fine for me. 

Maharaja: That is at least nice, at least they acknowledge and accept that it is valid. But a proper Mayavadi wouldn’t, they don’t want to think about it and they don’t want to be bothered, you don’t bring it up they won’t discuss it. Sit down and have some lunch, something more easy to deal with, that would be typical more common they don’t want any confrontation. Basically it is the pride, lack of understanding, especially if they are very mature in their field. That’s why it is so special. Prakasananda Sarasvati, he has 10000 sannyasa disciples, not other disciples, and he when he was convinced by Lord Caitanya the philosophy he was able to surrender along with his disciples, that is very rare. Or Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, he was considered the top scholar in India in the impersonal and he surrendered, that kind of thing is more rare, that they can actually understand that. They are actually on that position because they are true seekers. But otherwise most people aren’t because of pride. 

Like when Prabhupada is giving recommendations, you go into a new town or city. You don’t know anybody there or anything, he says you start going to people and find out who is the richest person, the most famous for their religious acts. So you get the first three people, the names who are the top three, he says the first two you leave, you visit the third one. He said the first two will be too proud. The first one is in the first position and the second one is thinking I’ll get into the first position but the third knows he is not up for that so he is just pious, so you go to him and stay in his house and not bother with the other two.

The Vedic knowledge is two types, parā vidyā (transcendental knowledge), and aparā vidya (material knowledge connected with the Lord and thus spiritualized). 

Material knowledge that is connected with the Lord that is apara vidya, if it is not connected it is avidya, the same knowledge. Like the potato, it is cooked for Krsna then it becomes transcendental, is it not cooked for Krsna but for yourself it is material. It is the same thing, it is not that it is a different branch of knowledge. If you take the astrology book and use it for Krsna it becomes apara-vidya, you don’t use it for Krsna then it is avidya. It is not that car and driver that is avidya. It all depends on whether it is connected to Krsna or not. Vedanta-Sutra, Bhagavatam. You accept it don’t accept it it is still transcendental, but these other books it depends upon you and your dealing with it whether it is transcendental or not.

Disconnected from its spiritual dimension material knowledge becomes useless and even dangerous.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Thākura, a great ācārya, maintained that all forms of material knowledge are merely external features of the illusory energy and that by culturing them one becomes no better than an ass. This same principle is found here in Śrī Éçopaniñad. By advancement of material knowledge, modern man is simply being converted into an ass.  (Śrī Éçopaniñad , mantra 10, purport)

If it is not connected to Krsna by cultivating it then one becomes an ass. Why they use the example of an ass: Because the donkey is someone who carries around a burden that it itself can’t take advantage of. It carries stuff all day for someone else, but it itself never gets the advantage of what it carries. So these scholars that cultivate material knowledge they are carrying around this load or weight of material knowledge, but they as the soul can’t use it because it is not connected to Krsna, therefore they are compared to donkeys

The modern education has no value because it does not give actual knowledge. As a result in the contemporary society there are anomalies such as nationalism, religious fanaticism and lack of culture.

Genuine knowledge is acquired from a dhéra (one who is not disturbed by material illusion):

So people are searching, asking what is God. Searching, searching, searching, but they fail. They say, "Oh, there is no God. I am God." Finished. You see? This is not possible. Here it is said, iti susruma. This is Vedic knowledge. Heard, susruma. From where does susruma come? From the storekeeper? No. Dhéranam susruma. Iti susruma dhéranam. What is dhéranam? It comes from the sober sect. Not this fanatic sect, but the sober sect, dhéra. Dhéra means whose senses are not agitated by material influence, or svāmé or gosvāmé. (Śrīla Prabhupāda lecture on Śrī Éçopaniñad, mantra 10, LA 1970)

It is not actual knowledge because of the element that it is not connected to Krsna. One may say, well it gets you a job this and that, that is what the knowledge is useful for: it gets you a job. But it won’t further your spiritual life, so it will get you some money. Or may get you into a door somewhere. Some people have a key, and you have letters after your name so they let you into the door, or they are willing to pay attention to you because you have those letters after your name, but that is where it ends, one should always remember.

One says even if it is for preaching, great, that aspect is for preaching, everything else about it is not. One has to be vary careful about this, otherwise there will be this veda-darpa, or pride of one’s knowledge, that is the problem that comes up here: Because of the pride they never attain the lotus feet of the Lord, one has to be able to distinguish these points here very carefully. One may have studied and spent so many years getting one’s degree, that’s nice and good, if you can use it very good. You can take care of himself and his family, or even being able to use it as an element in Krsna consciousness for his preaching. But the knowledge one has gained that you have to be very careful about to understand it is not transcendental, one has to be very careful in the application of that into one’s own personal life and into others’ lives.

We notice varna, occupation, is separate than asrama, they go together, they work together. But varna is considered social because you have your economics and everything else there, the asrama that is considered spiritual. Because you have a degree and from that you are able to maintain your family, but the knowledge of that degree is not what makes asrama work. A ksatriya knows his duties but when it comes to asrama then its brahminical culture and knowledge that makes it work. The vaisya he makes his money and he has the knowledge of economics but that is not what makes asrama work, asrama works on brahminical standards and qualities. One has to be very careful, if one can’t distinguish this one will have a problem, because then one will bring that into one’s life and try to control others’ life with that knowledge and try to make your standing based on that, social standing maybe but spiritual standing it has nothing to do with it.

You have the story of Bharatavaja’s son. Bharatavaja and himself they were just performing austerity and studying the Vedas. Ribi Muni he was, he and his sons were great scholars of the Vedas. Then it was perceived by Bharatavaja’s son that Ribi’s sons were thinking less of him and his father because they didn’t know anything really, then he decided I will do austerity and get knowledge. Then he is doing severe austerity but then Indra comes to him and says that this is not the method. You want knowledge then you go to a teacher, you serve a teacher, otherwise you get knowledge by austerity then you will be destroyed because you will be proud, and if you are proud then you never use it properly. 

He gave the example of someone else who had learned the Vedas and who was so proud that he would disregard the other Munis and Rsis. His father got the benediction that his son would be immortal, but then the demigods says that we can’t make him immortal because he is a human being but you can base his immortality on some other object. Then he says this big mountain here, as long as it is my son will live, they agreed to that. As long as that mountain is there then he will be alive, this mountain is not there then he wil die. Then he insulted some sages and these sages became annoyed, and because he acted with such impunity because he would live forever and if they cursed him then the curse wouldn’t work because he was given that benediction. So they understood that he would live as long as that mountain lives, so then the sage by his potency created these huge buffalos who then went and started to break the mountain down until it was just dust, and as soon as it was dust he died. 

That was given as example to Bharadvaja’s son but he still continued and then finally they could see that he is not going to give up so they gave him that knowledge, but then from this he got himself killed because then he was like that other brahmana and became very proud and go harass the other brahmanas, and his father saud don’t go Ribi Muni’s asrama. But he did anyway and started to talk to Ribi Muni’s sons’ wife, then Ribi Muni made an arrangement that a nice-looking lady demon and a Raksasa. Then the lady demon went up and talked to him while she is talking stole his water pot and then the Raksasa comes to kill him and he has no water to chant his mantras, so in this way he gets killed. 

This pride where you bring your academic knowledge into the asrama that doesn’t work, because the asrama is made of good qualities: respect for authority, studying the scriptures. Performing these activities as vrata, as your spiritual duties, your sadhana. So it is two different things, they are basically connected but we understand that varna’s knowledge is connected because it is Vedic, therefore the Vedic knowledge coming into the asrama works very nice but still you have to apply the qualities of the asrama on it. Otherwise it is not going to work in your personal life, it may work as a varna, as a method of making money. But it won’t work in such a way for your own personal benefit, very important to make this distinction. 

Otherwise you become proud and think that I have this knowledge I am special, I am advanced. No, you are not, you just have a good position for getting some facility in the material world. But as far as personal advancement goes it has nothing to do with it. Why does it have something to do with it? I have a car so that makes me a great cook. What has it got to do with each other? The car has wheels and the… is round that is the connection, but it doesn’t work like that. Just because that is knowledge and we study scriptures in here so therefore they both came out of a book therefore it is the same. I got letters after my name because I am good at sticking my nose in a book, no. The other thing is you are good at personal development, service attitude, submission, respect, cleanliness, that’s what it is about. Then it happens to be for some reason or another you need to do these other things and get these degrees. Great, do it, but know it is varna, it is not asrama. Otherwise we make the mistake: someone is an art teacher, he is a teacher therefore a brahmana. No, an artist teaches art. Sometimes you get brahmana’s who teach art but generally artists teach art. You have a musician, you want to learn music you go to a musician 

Devotee (2): For a brahmana his varna is his asrama 

Maharaja: Yes.

Devotee (2): How much time do the others put into their varna?

Maharaja: Prabhupada mentions 8 hours a day is a proper amount of time for occupation, and the rest of the time should be spent of sadhana and other things. More than 8 hours then you are working beyond what you actually should in the way of making money, means for economics you won’t work more than 8 hours. That is the general rule, like you take sannyasa at 50, maybe a few years this way or that way, so 8 hours is the standard so it might be a little less or a little more. 

I saw one guy his complany makes the bodies on buses. He would do all his work in 40-45 minutes in a day. How, I don’t know.We joke about people talking on two phones at once he would actually do it, and then  after that he had the rest of the day free. He worked an hour a day on his business and has one of the biggest companies in East India, so that is another extreme. 

The ideal is that you don’t spend any more than that, otherwise there is no time for sadhana and that. So whatever you can get in 8 hours you should be satisfied with, you make your endeavor and whatever you get. This guy in 40 minutes makes krors of rupees, someone else in 8 hours only gets 80 rupees, so depending upon what it is you adjust your life. But you shouldn’t work more than that otherwise you are taking time out of your sadhana, time with your family and other things like that that are important. 

Devotee (3): Does this apply the same way to community service? 

Maharaja: What do you mean by community service? 

Devotee (3): Not money making, but the 8 hours for a devotee in the temple

Maharaja: No, because that is their lifestyle. If they are living in the temple it depends if they are brahmacaris then it is just part of their sadhana, because all they are doing is basically sadhana, they don’t have an occupation 

Devotee (3): Didn’t we differentiate between active service and class and rounds?

Maharaja: No it is all part of the same process, in worship of the diety there has to be something that you do specifically for the Deity. Means everybody is going to get up, take their bath, chant Gayatris, do their japa, attend mangala-aratika, worship Tulasi, hear Bhagavatam class, associate with devotees, take darsana, take caranamrta, take prasada. These are all standard that everybody does, then there will be the specific what is your specific service for the Deity. But generally that you’d have to just see, but that would also depend on the occasion, like if it festivals there will be more, anyway, it is more. 

At that point in the Pancaratra there is not so much of a distinction because the Pancaratra doesn’t work really on varna and asrama, varna and asrama can connect to it very nicely. 

But the point is it should be balanced that service and… it is only a consideration really for a family person, a family person then has to just see that that balance in the temple service, their sadhana and their home works nicely. The idea is that one is fully absorbed that is the main thing. Someone in the community who is living outside taking care of themselves then ideally they don’t spend any more than 8 hours on economics, because they then still have their sadhana, temple programs, their family, their own study. 

Someone who is not fanatic, in other words, one who is able to see the balance in the whole thing. Then you can understand what is there, otherwise if you are not dealing with the principles that are there then one will get caught in the detail, because you get fanatic up details, you don’t get fanatic about principles. Means you can be very strong on principles because that is why it works, but the point is the principle always does work. So it is not a matter of if it is a problem of application, the problem of application is the detail. If one is attached to a certain detail then one will have difficulty in application. If one can work with the principle and from there apply it to all different varieties of detail that is the best. The dhiras are able to give that kind of understanding. 

Like Sanatana Goswami whether you were discussing with him some fine point of the Gaudiya philosophy or you are just asking him what should I do about getting my daughter married. Then he can give nice advice on both, to the point that when Sanatana Goswami left his body. So many people in Vraja shaved their heads because he was like their father had died, that is the meaning of dhira

Devotee (4): In the devotional community in devotional education people are using modern techniques of education and they are saying that we are using the same Vedic principles but the methods may be more sophisticated and more adjusted to the…

Maharaja: Better use the word adjusted, don’t use sophisticated, they can say complicated but they shouldn’t use the word sophisticated. You can’t get more sophisticated than the Vedas, that would be pure arrogance to say that. You can say that it is more complex, it fits… 

The point is the VTE courses were designed for those who had spent basically their life, it is designed for first generation, that they have spent their life going to the modern educational systems. So they are working on the principles that as adults you will be going on a college or university, and in the university they have a few classes, they have some lectures and you do a lot of homework, and they take zero responsibility for your personal development, so based on that that is what people are used to. 

So they wanted to make an educational system that those devotees who wanted to study, especially since most of them only have a very short time, in between their services or family life or other things, that they can get away. So they wanted to make a system that was very short and at the same time very familiar, so that is why they developed that system. But to call it more sophisticated than the Vedic that you have to be an idiot to say that, because there is nothing more sophisticated than the Vedic. 

Because you are dealing with subtleties of understanding how two contradictory things work very nicely together, which they don’t bother with. Therefore they can say complicated to match the modern person’s complicated lifestyle, but they shouldn’t say more sophisticated. They can say it is a sophisticated system that is fine but they should never say more sophisticated than the Vedas, otherwise then they have completely missed the point. 

The purpose for which it is conceived is valid, because for others to get used to the language and methods that are used and all that that may take longer than the three months of your Bhaktisastri course is lasting. We have had people come and sit for some time at the classes and can’t understand what we are saying and then they go away and then next year they come, then either it is soaked in a bit or something like that and then they can understand, because the approach is so different therefore it is longer term. That’s why you see the courses like the Bhaktisastri, our Bhaktisastri is 3 years, but then it is 3 years also for Bhaktivaibhava, Bhaktivedanta and Bhaktisarvabhauma. So even though you are dealing with more deep and more volume of material, because you are more adjusted with these traditional methods and vocabularies that you can do more in less time. So it is understood that it will take about 3 years to actually really be able to see everything through this kind of knowledge. That is why this course is called sastra-caksus, what you look at you can see it according to what is being said here. In other words, is it connected to Krsna? How is it connected to Krsna? Technically how does it work? 

Because what they will be dealing with is basically the transcendental through generally physical methods and examples. While in this system you use the physical but you put a lot more emphasis on the metaphysical, because that is where the confusion comes up. How to tell if something is a principle or detail? How to tell if the detail you are applying… if you understood the principle, if you have understood how to apply the detail in your situation, basically there you are dealing with a lot of metaphysics: the mind, the intelligence, the workings of the senses, rasa, how relationships function. That is the hard part. 

The philosophy is very straight-forward. Using these other kind of tricks, they catch your attention quickly. You stand there and without looking you have to fall backwards and someone else catches you, things like that it immediately catches your attention and brings you to that physical platform and the trust on that physical, so it does that very quickly. But as far as understanding metaphysics it doesn’t do anything for you. You understand metaphysics by discussing it. In other words, you understand philosophy by discussing philosophy, you understand the physical nature by discussing physical nature, you understand metaphysics by discussing it. 

Because it is subtle and therefore for many they consider it not even practical, but what they don’t understand is that the practical person is understanding some of the metaphysical aspect. 

The person expert in economics actually understands the nature of economics and can apply it most successfully in a broader range of situations therefore they are very successful economically. But they don’t understand that that is actually the cause of their success. They just think I did this and I did that, no the reason that you are doing this or that worked because you actually understood the principles that were there but it is not necessarily enunciated in your mind. It just happens, like you breathe, the reason you are alive is because you breathe. You say the reason why I am alive is because I am climbing mountains and I do something exciting. No, you are alive because you breathe you stop breathing you can’t climb the mountains, that is a detail. Because of these things then they actually don’t understand how it works. Someone who is good at management or good at anything it is because they actually start to understand the science behind it though it is unspoken, those who can speak it they write books and make millions of dollars. Still no one understands it, because they don’t really understand it. Unless you understand God you can’t really understand it. Unless you understand the Vedic literature you can’t really understand it, you get a good glimpse but that’s where it ends. 

All these different methods or focuses that are there are all bona bide, it is just a matter of making it clear that this is what you are doing. We are saying here that using these systems of material knowledge not connected with Krsna that is useless. If it works for some people to use those material methods of knowledge in connection with Krsna that is fine if you like that taste, that is the whole point, it is a matter of taste. Someone puts more salt on something and someone puts less, someone puts pepper and someone not, someone likes chilly and not, that is taste. 

But the point is that the Vedic knowledge must be given in such a way that you can practically apply it in your life, that is education. Otherwise if you can’t apply it in your life then that is called sravana, or hearing. It is the first stage of learning, but it should come to the point where there is hearing, then there is practice. If you can practice it in your life then it comes to the second stage manana. The modern context doesn’t deal with that at all zero unless you are going to medical school, music school, or law school, then you have to do practical. But still it is up to the individual whether you come to nidhidhyasana, realize it and take it up, value it. Basically your general modern academic is only dealing with sravana, that is as far as it goes. That is as far as they want to go, because to take it to the other levels means more commitment on the part of the teacher also. 

Otherwise why is it here Isopanisad we had half a page on mantra 10 here. How many pages do you have to read normally to do an essay in these modern educational things, sometimes books, but why can you go through it? Today we are going to do mantra 10 and tomorrow we do mantra 11, that is very nice if everybody understands the knowledge. If you understand it where you don’t have any doubts on it, then that is nice and we can go through it that quick, but we are expecting that will happen when we get to the Bhaktivaibhava level. What we spend here days to discuss should be 5 minutes of just reference in the Bhaktivaibhava. We should be able to just say that the mistake here is because the emphasis is on the Sankarsana instead of the Pradyumna aspect in the sambandha that is why the rasa is not working, that’s all we have to say, and then they understand it, and then they saw, oh that is what happened here in the application. But if you don’t understand those terms, all that the concept of sanbandha, abhidheya and prayojana. 

Then you spend days discussing it, that’s why this moves very slow. The idea is that everybody should understand it so that they can apply. That’s why when we finish something means if we haven’t finished something we start again back at a point and go again. So sometimes two or three days we do the same point and we never get out of the same paragraph, because there is something more to bring out. You see some days there are so many questions and discussion and other days everybody understands. 

We have no problem with any variety of educational system, we find it very absurd that they say that theirs is the only system and the Vedic system doesn’t work. That is the time we get a little nasty and say that’s because they don’t know what the Vedic system is or never even used it, they thought they were using it. Like Dronacarya’s son drinking chalk in water and saying, oh I drank milk, so we try to avoid that kind of situation. 

The point of that education is in as user-friendly way as possible, in the shortest amount of time, the most efficient way you get them through these courses that Prabhupada wanted them to study. Then you have other schools that deal specifically in some other method, so if it is clear it is there. You have the Sanskrit school and they are just trying to teach you Sanskrit and good philosophy so that you can translate, that is the whole purpose of the school, it is not something else. When they teach the philosophy it is in relationship to if you don’t know the philosophy then how are you going to translate? And you need to know the grammar because you are translating from Sanskrit, so they put together their courses. So they may have the same courses that everybody else has, but their thrust is to translate. Another school, their only purpose previously was to get you a karmi degree to get you a job, that was all they were trying to do, nothing else, and then they do well all that. If that is what someone wants then that is the school you go to. 

We don’t have a problem with the other schools, but the difficulty is that many have a problem with us, because they idea is that if you can’t do Vedic then all these other things are fine, but they should be able to stand on their own good qualities. It is not that we have to use modern education because the Vedic doesn’t work, that is stupid. No, we are using modern education because we feel it works better for the situation we are trying to generate 

Devotee (4): What is the solution for devotees who have no time to come here?

Maharaja: Then they can do by correspondence, they fit it in when they can how they can. Basically they just have to read the material, study the books, listen to the lectures and write their essays. When they do it, how they do it that is up to them, they will work in it, someone does it at night, someone in the morning, someone in the day, someone in the weekends, it doesn’t matter. Someone reads the material in two days and writes 3 essays, that is fine and then for the rest of the week they have to work that is okay, that is what it is there for. That’s why the system is like that, it is very loosely woven, so it can be applied in all those ways. 

Devotee (4): How can you motivate them to go deeper into the metaphysics… 

Maharaja: It is the material itself, either they figure it out or they get really bored. Someone is only going to continue with this kind of study if it means something to them, because there has to be a motive. You want to get the degree that’s why you do something or this and that, but this one it too lengthy and too technical that they are not going to do that if it doesn’t make sense to them. If it makes sense to them then the knowledge itself will be inspiring, so they move forward, but otherwise it is not. 

Like our previous Bhaktisastri course was written by the person writing it would read each of Srila Prabhupada’s purport 6 times, and it is actually an interesting thing if you have ever done it. You read the first time you catch a few points, you read it the second time right after that then you start to see very clearly points. You read the third time then you start to see that each sentence has something going on, you read it the forth time then words start popping out, you keep going until it is almost down to syllables. So the person wrote the course based on that understanding. Then the problem was that in the beginning everyone took it up with enthusiasm because you are dealing with such amazing stuff but no one made it more than half way through because after a point they couldn’t figure it out because they weren’t reading the purports 6 times, so the thing has to be readjusted that it is more obvious the points being made so that people can make the connection. 

Devotee (5): When practicing knowledge why does it take more commitment from the teacher?

Maharaja: Because when someone goes to apply it that is when the most questions come up. Like if I just tell you you take a pot and put some ghee in it, you out in the spices and cook them until they are this color, then you out in these other spices and cook them until the ghee separates from the stuff, then you put in the vegetables that are already precooked, mix them around put some water, bring it to a boil when it is kind of a nice sauce and then you add these other few spices and then take it off. Straight forward, so you think I can cook it. 

But when you go there then you go: how hot is that ghee, how much exactly is the ghee, what does brown mean, brown is a pretty broad range of color, if it is not jetblack someone would consider it brown. The cumin seeds is already brownish to begin with, does it get cooked at all. What does it mean it separates from the ghee, it goes into crunchy crystals, what is a nice sauce, ketchup? That’s what happens is that to say it it is easy, to say it very clearly that is more difficult. To say that it is very clever that you give people things to grasp on to is even more clever, you have your 4 quadrons… that is even more clever. But to actually deal with them as they apply it that takes more, because then they go to apply it and questions come up, because they don’t see any application. Then it is easy if you are not dealing with ego, if you are dealing with ego then that is a problem. If there is a reason that you need to deal with the ego then you have the position. If you are not in a position to deal with the ego then you just have to kind a smile and say that you are doing a great job. (end of lecture) (end)

(5th Jan 2009, Śrī Īśopaniṣad Lecture #26, Bhaktivedānta Academy, Śrīdhāma Māyāpura)

This transcription is by Uddhava Priya Prabhu, used with permission from lecture folio that you can download HERE

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