Over the next few days we’ll be discussing, you know, various aspects of Krishna consciousness. The main point is that one is trying to get back to Godhead. And so it’s a very plausible act, I mean, you know, how you say, goal. But one has to be very realistic. Realistic meaning you’re dealing with the present. Realism doesn’t mean the past, right?
We learn from the past, but we are not the past, right? We’re no more the past than we are this body, right? Well, we do with the body, but it doesn’t mean that we are that. It’s the same we do with the past, but it doesn’t mean that we are that. So if you can deal with that, then you can go back to Godhead. Because going back to Godhead is forward.
So in this, then, we’ll discuss a lot on the metaphysics of things that you’re very familiar with. Because you have the physical, you have the spiritual, but in between is the metaphysical. Because that’s technically why it’s working. And many times we get stuck because intellectually we don’t accept something, or emotionally we can’t accept something. So if things don’t come to the heart naturally, then the key is the intelligence. Through the intelligence, you can make adjustments to the values of the mind.
And therefore, if we know why things are working, then that makes it work better. The history of it is also important. But history means all the way back. It means how Krishna practices things by his natural, spontaneous nature, and how the devotees respond to that. And then there’s how the acharyas have found best to apply these principles according to the material situation. So ultimately what we get down to is relationship. Relationship establishes knowledge, but relationship also establishes experience. Generally we’re quite good at relationship based, I mean, the element of knowledge.
But relationship, meaning the experience between individuals, that we may or may not be so good at. So a relationship means, tattva is the knowledge by which we get out of the material relationship and establish ourselves in the spiritual relationship. It’s a bridge. But the point is, is we’re going from material relationship to spiritual. So intelligence is how to be able to tell the difference between the two. If it comes easy, good. If not, that’s what the tattva is for. And specifically the metaphysics. Does that make sense? I haven’t given an example, so it will be a bit esoteric. Another element is that in the Vedic, I mean, so when we take a topic, it’s being based on that we’re only interested in Krishna consciousness. Can you hear in the back? So, yeah, we’re talking about the Vedic.
So the whole point is, is whatever points are being made, it’s based on the principle that we’re going to be applying it in Krishna consciousness and the Krishna consciousness gives the goal. But now, how many of you here, let’s say, are either married or planning to get married?
How many of you are not married and never plan to be married?
And of those who just raised their hands, how many have no difficulty dealing with past material relationships?
So the reality is, we have to deal with the mundane. The spiritual means that you’re taking mundane and connecting it to Krishna. Because material energy is just one of Krishna’s energy. Inferior energy, but it’s Krishna’s energy. So, taking it and using it for ourselves, that’s illusion.
So, therefore, dealing with material life in such a way that you can maintain Krishna consciousness is also part of Krishna consciousness. At least the group sitting here. If after the last question you raised your hand also, then these discussions, you know, are not specifically for you. Just like, let us say, we have, I don’t know, let’s say we have a computer. So, we look at the computer and if it looks nice, it looks attractive. But you’d be surprised how much people actually buy the computer because it looks good. It means if it has some, you know, nice other qualities, then that’s also appreciated.
But still, even though it has all the different qualifications you want, you still want it to look nice. I knew one person that he made his own computer and he made it out of wood.
So, only a real hardcore nerd could appreciate that. So, the point is, is the computer looks nice, but if we take it apart, down to its last screw and lay it out on the table, are you attracted?
Think about it. Would you be attracted? No. That’s what metaphysics is for. You take the thing completely apart down to the last screw and then you see there’s actually nothing here to be attracted to. The philosophy does that, the metaphysics does that.
Then, if you’re able to actually take it apart like that and put it back together, then one, you’re going to be less attached to it than you were before, which is very important. But also as important is now that you know exactly how it’s put together, you will be actually more expert in dealing with it and using it properly. Does that make sense? So, this concept that ignorance is bliss doesn’t necessarily get very long lasting or very substantial bliss.
Another element, see what we’re doing is we’re bringing around logically presenting things so intellectually you can see that it’s correct. Because when we pull it down into reality of your life, we don’t want the mind reacting. Saying, oh, this doesn’t make sense or this is not logical or not practical. Another principle that we’ll be dealing with from the Vedic academy is that you explain a particular topic in context where it has the greatest and the greatest, widest, deepest application. Just like, let’s say, if we wanted to explain driving a vehicle, would we use a tricycle or a skateboard or a bicycle or would we use a car? So, like that, then you will find a lot. It means so, since we’re dealing with philosophy, then you’re going to be seeing a lot of the technicalities, a lot of shankhyas. That’s taking it apart. But in relationship, that’s the experience.
Then, of all the five rasas, which rasa includes everything?
Yeah, madhurya.
And so, that specifically means the relationship between the masculine principle and the feminine principle. We’re not talking about the physical interaction, right? We’re talking about the principle of masculinity, the principle of femininity. Does that make sense? So, you may hear that a lot. So, and then, the central theme will always be the elements of sambandha, abhidheya, and prayojna. Everyone here, anyone not familiar with sambandha, abhidheya, and prayojna?
I’m not familiar. No, no, I’m just joking. I’m just going by your t-shirt.
Means, sambandha means relationship. Abhidheya means process. And prayojna means goal. Sambandha has two major parts. The field of activities and the desire to interact with that field of activities.
There’s a difference between desire and need, right? Does that make sense? How many things would you want, right? How many things do you actually need? So, which ones do you actually endeavor for? In other words, what you feel you need. So, there’s a difference. Need is prayojna. Desire, that’s still sambandha. Okay, here we go.
If a boy is attracted to a girl, that’s only attraction, there’s no need, right? And so he just sits there and looks. When there’s a need, he goes up and talks to her. See the difference? Important.
Okay, and another thing that we’ll be referring to a lot is the four deities.
Sankarsana, Prajumna, Aniruddha, and Vasudeva. Sankarsana means the field. It means over a line, it means, okay. It’s the field, it’s the definition of things, it’s the technical relationship between things, it’s the results that you can get, or let’s say their purposes in gaining a result in operating the different elements of a field. Does that make sense? You know, we have a car, right? This car, so the car is the field. So there’s the car, there’s the road, there’s the driver. If you don’t have these three, nothing happens. So a field means it has the possibility to perform an action and get a result. Does that make sense? That’s a field, right? If there’s not enough there, you know, then you have a glass, and that’s it. It’s not a field, right? There has to be a glass, there has to be liquids in the glass, there has to be some use for the liquids in that glass, right? So the field contains everything, right? Results that can be gotten, processes that can be used, but they’re inactive.
Then, when there’s attraction to a result, I mean to, yeah, to an activity that can be performed with that field, that’s prajumna. Prajumna is attraction, prajumna is cupid. Does that make sense? Then, when there’s a desire to therefore obtain the result that’s being gotten from operating that field, that’s aniruddha.
Aniruddha is the moon, is the mind, the emotions, right, the experience. Does that make sense? If you get a result, but the experience is not good, would you call that a good activity?
No. So that’s why it’s not actually adding to the field or extending the field that we’re looking for in relationship. We’re looking for the experience gained by what expands the field. You understand what I mean by expanding the field? It means, okay, you have a person, you have a job, right? By now operating that job, you get money. Now money now becomes, it was your goal of the job, but it becomes now part of your field. So now there’s you and money. Now you can use money to therefore get something. You use this money therefore to buy something. So buying the thing was your goal. But having bought it, now it becomes your field. So that’s aniruddha. Vasudeva then means the activity itself. So technically speaking, sankarsana, prajumna and ariruddha are preliminaries and conclusions of an activity.
Because the point is, the activity is where relationship happens. Think about it. Is a lazy person appreciated?
Or is it the active person that is appreciated? Because you can have a relationship with an active person. An inactive person, you cannot have a relationship. That means you can’t have a dynamic relationship. Does that make sense? So therefore, the qualities of sankarsana, prajumna and ariruddha are found in Vasudeva. Vasudeva is the origin, right? Do you understand? You’re starting to see? Okay. And so Vasudeva is the origin. From him expands sankarsana.
And from sankarsana, then you get prajumna, and then expands aniruddha. So the field is not actually the origin. In one sense, yes. You see, many times when we discuss expansions of the Lord, everything is expanding from sankarsana. Even Vasudeva. When you’re discussing tatva, yes, that’s what happens. But actually, when you’re discussing rasa, it’s Vasudeva who’s first. Because rasa can only exist if there’s interaction, if there’s abhidheya. Tatva exists whether there’s an action or not. Right? God is God. Material world is material world. The jiva is the jiva. The spiritual world is the spiritual world. Does that make sense? But unless there’s interaction, where is the rasa? Right? You have you, and you have a gulabjamun. Okay? Existence is there. But unless the gulabjamun goes in the mouth, where is the rasa?
Does that make sense? Yeah? So that’s why our deity is Govinda. Right? The Lord of abhidheya. Does that make sense? Because that’s where everything happens. Okay? So did you see now there in that discussion, the connection between philosophy and metaphysics? The philosophy, once we got to discussing the chatra-vyuha when it came to, you know, who is expanding from who, and what’s the position, that we’re familiar with. But the others, who is the deity of who, how they relate to each other, that’s the technicalities that we’re talking about. So that means, I can’t tell you what they are, but Sankarsan has two qualities by which he acts. Pradyumna has two qualities. Aniruddha has two qualities. So there’s six kalyanagunas.
Vasudeva has all six. You think that?
Sankarsan, there’s six kalyanagunas. Okay. Right? Because in the activity, that’s where the qualities of all six are tasted. So that means in the activity, unless you… So this is what we’re talking about, if you’re able to take it apart, and put it back together, you can operate it better. Because unless you know the field, you know the attraction, you know the attachment, you actually will not really know how to operate it.
If you know… It means, in other words, we discussed before about the computer. If you can take it apart and put it back together, then one, you become more detached from it, because you see it for what it is, but at the same time, you know how to better operate it. Yeah. Now you get it. Okay, just like this.
If a man doesn’t know what a woman is, and a woman doesn’t know what a man is, how they will actually interact? Maybe some habit you picked up from your parents, they made it work, so yours is working. The Vedic literature tells you what is male, what is female, what is their needs, what is their interrelationship. If you know that, then it works better, whether you want to stay with it, or you want to stay away from it.
Because how do you stay away from something, if you don’t know what you’re staying away from? How do you stay with something, unless you know what it is you’re staying with?
Okay, so then, taking this a step further in relationship, then we see, basically speaking, sambandha is masculine, prayojana is feminine, and abhidheya is where the two meet. In other words, if there’s an action, there has to be something that accommodates that action. Interesting. Or is the active principle in the action. Masculine is active, feminine is passive. So, yeah.
Does that make sense?
Because much of what will be discussed will be brought back to these kinds of principles. Now the origin of this, the history of this, why we make the distinction, and why it’s necessary to be able to make the distinction. Krishna, Kaviraj Goswami, then describes that Krishna is one, then he becomes two. In other words, he is everything. He is existence. Existence is sambandha. But he expands the creation to interact with the creation. The creation is feminine. So interaction is where the masculine meets the feminine. So this principle applies in everything. You know what I’m saying? You want to play the harmonium. You’re sitting there, the harmonium’s sitting there. But unless you play the harmonium, there is no sound. So that’s the point. Everything works off of this male-female principle. Does that make sense? So you can apply it to anything. Right? Driving your car. The masculine element, which is active, is then moving the different elements within the car, which is feminine, and makes it move around. But now also in the Vedic, you have to be able to switch viewpoints depending upon what you’re emphasizing. Because when you switch it, I mean when you adjust the emphasis, it may adjust the example. We could take the car as the field, and the driver therefore is feminine because they’re only moving within the facilities offered by the field. The car only can go so fast, it doesn’t fly, it doesn’t swim. It only runs a bit better. You have to adjust for that. But the action is the action of the driver on the car. But the field is the car, and then what is operating or moving within that field is the driver. So that proper balance or proper understanding makes it work. So we make this distinction between male and female for Rasa. Because technically there is no difference, because Krishna is his creation. Any questions on this? So does that mean everybody understands, or it went right over your head, or you lost track about an hour ago when we said Hari-Bal, and you’ve just been sitting there and smiling because you’re all cultured and don’t want to make us feel bad.
Just because of this example of driving a car, is it more difficult for a female driver to drive a car because she represents the feminine principle, and is it easier for the man? And she has to operate so many things in the field, and is it easier for the man because it’s just natural for him to follow the road and be in the car and move the car?
It depends what your purpose is. If your purpose is to get from point A to B, then probably the masculine may have the upper hand. But if the point is to get from point A to B, take care of the baby, talk on the phone, and discuss with your friend in the seat, then the women are at greater advantage. But if the man is not fixed on the field, then the woman will probably do better. In other words, focus is what gets you results. So if there’s lack of focus, it doesn’t matter if it’s male or female. The difference here would come from a different example. These are sub-points that we’ll get into with time, but this is a very important point. Masculine because his field then considers something solid is something… means an activity that generates something solid or observable is substance.
Feminine because they are in the realm of priogena, which means the experience.
For them, the experience is substance and the observable is not important. It means these two principles are very well interwoven. One may think, no, but the result is more important to women. That’s why they have more stuff. But it’s the experience gained from that stuff that’s important, not the stuff itself. Your mother still has in some drawer somewhere in your house that picture that you drew in the first grade, you know, with your crayons and the house and the little river and the bird and the sun with a big smile and, you know, the cloud and the house with the little smoke coming out of the chimney, right? Now, if she’s keeping it because this is definitely a Rembrandt and it’s worth some serious money, or is she keeping it because of the emotions that are generated from it? Okay, now let us say you have a friend. Now, we take a man, and a friend has given him something that he likes and it’s very useful in his life. So he uses it. Man, his friend gave it to him. Let’s say the relationship breaks down with that friend. There’s a good chance the man will still keep that item and use it because it’s very useful, you know? Now, would the woman keep the item if the relationship broke down with that friend and they didn’t want to see them, talk to them, smell them, touch them, taste them? Nothing.
No, that’s the point.
So, things mean experience for women. Therefore, the more things, the more experience. It’s not the things that are important, it’s the experience that you can generate from them. This is the meaning if you know what you’re dealing with, you know how to behave. Otherwise, the man, why do you have all this stuff, why do you need this stuff, what’s wrong with this stuff or that stuff? The woman throws something out, the man goes, no, this is valuable. Valuable means this can be traded for money or another item. In other words, this observable item can be traded for another observable item, therefore it has value. And the woman is saying, no, there’s no emotional content I can gain from this item, therefore it’s useless. But you notice I turn it around.
Action on, I push this, it has to go somewhere. The finger is masculine, the microphone is feminine. That’s just the way it works. But at the same time, it’s when you have a field. The field is inactive. It sits on the couch and reads the newspaper. The feminine then takes the house that the couch potato arranged and does things with it.
Does that make sense? That’s what I say, depending on the perspective. Easiest means I can give this example here because you actually have a language that has grammar, so I can very happily give. That’s another thing you’ll end up with is a lot of grammatical explanation. Say these things to those that speak English, doesn’t make much sense. But some do, but most don’t. In a sentence, you have a subject and an object. Who’s doing the activity? The subject or the object? Subject. So the subject is masculine, the object is feminine. The result is something else. The result’s the data. You understand? Does that make sense? So the subject is dealing with the verb for the accomplishment.
The verb has three parts. Time, mood, and accomplishment.
Right? Yeah? Okay? Mm-hmm. Approved by Nicodemus.
Okay? Does that make sense? Therefore, if the time’s not right, the mood’s not right, and the accomplishment is not obtainable or is wrongly perceived, action does not take place. All three have to be in line. Then the verb works. Now, the subject is interested in the data. That will be obtained by applying the verb on the object. The feminine is interested in the experience gained by the verb. Couldn’t care less about the data.
Very important.
You sit down to watch a movie. That means get up, walk over, sit down, turn it on, start staring at it for two hours, and at the end of two hours, it’s over. Finished. Job well done. So the man thinks.
He can’t figure out why they’re going to watch a movie, then she goes off to do this, do that, call this one on the phone, get something to eat, do all these other things. Then, just at the most intense point in the movie, then the lady starts talking. What did you think of this? Are you hungry? You know. And the man’s thinking, I thought we were watching.
A movie is an activity that generates a shared experience.
It’s not something that gets a result. Does that make sense? Result will come. End of the movie is there. Credits are there. Yes.
That’s the metaphysics behind your bewildered look every time you’re in this situation. Does that make sense?
Does it make sense or not? If you guys don’t understand this, then good luck. You’ve got to live with this every day, every moment of your life, this is reality. So do you understand it or not?
Kind of. And from this side, do you understand why it is they don’t understand?
Now notice on this side, it’s 100% understanding. On this side, it’s kind of like, what was that? Do you understand? Why would that be? Soul by nature is feminine. So feminine understands feminine. Soul is not by nature masculine. So if you want to be masculine, you have to learn how to be masculine. Otherwise, you’re just going to act like a nasty lady.
Does that make sense?
Yes.
See, masculine exists.
There are two states of that existence, active and passive. Right? Because Krishna exists before the creation. So atmarama, he’s existence. He is everything. So when he expands the field, then his masculinity is expressed through interacting with that field. Therefore, the man can function alone or with women. Because Krishna can be alone, or he can expand the creation and interact with them. In either case, existence is not a problem for him. Right? So gaining things, the masculine is the field anyway. But now, when you expand the creation, that’s feminine. It’s dependent upon the masculine. It doesn’t exist without the masculine. Right? Yes.
So now, when the feminine…
Therefore, the masculine is complete in itself, but by interacting with the feminine, there is rasa. There’s a taste of rasa. Does that make sense? Interdependent.
But the feminine is dependent on the masculine for existence. Therefore, the feminine, the most essential point in any relationship is security. Because if security is not there, where is the relationship? So from this, we can see… I mean, there’s a bigger explanation that just came to mind. A man becomes angry when he’s frustrated in gaining a result.
The feminine gets angry when there’s any apparent compromise in security.
Does that make sense? Yes. Therefore, that’s why just a wrong tone of voice or wrong word can create, you know, three days worth of fighting. Because what has been obscured is the security. Does that make sense?
So I have noticed that male-female conflict is within every person. The male-female conflict is within a man. The male-female conflict is within a woman as well.
Because the soul is feminine at the same time as the soul thinks they’re masculine. As the controller and enjoyer of material energy. So the problem comes up is when the men are acting like women and the women are acting like men. If men act like men, women like women, then socially there’s no problem. Male-female is a bodily concept or a mental concept?
It’s mental, it’s conscious.
Because physical is then what is expressed through. And that expands from there. From the body it goes into the house and possessions and this and that. So, in other words, it’s like this.
That because we identify with it, this brings it back to the very beginning. That because we identify with the conditioned nature, therefore we analyze it, understand what it actually is.
In this way we become detached from it and more expert at using it in Krishna’s service. Let us say somebody is still here. We’ll take a situation that’s not necessarily real.
Is there a name for that?
You project something that could happen. Imaginary. Is there a name? Hypothetical. Let’s just take a hypothetical situation. That you happen to have, let’s say, a living entity that is stuck in the material world because they have particular material attachments. We’re not talking about any particular, but we’re just giving a hypothetical situation that possibly this could happen. Right? Does that make sense? So then, let us take that the hypothetical attachment happens to be the interaction between male and female. So, now, let us say that that desire is there to interact, but one actually doesn’t really know the field and how the field would actually interact to get the results you want. So then, one is interacting with the field based on how you think it should work, not necessarily how it does work. So then, one becomes frustrated. And looking for answers, let us also hypothetically just say, one takes up spiritual life. And one is frustrated with material life, so one takes very seriously the sadhana and direct spiritual activities of the spiritual life. So one chants, one follows the program, one preaches, one does all that kind of stuff. And of course, because we’re speaking hypothetically here, then one takes that up and one does that until the end of life and goes back to Godhead. Right? Because there’s no other considerations, because one is completely frustrated with material life, so material life doesn’t even come into the picture. But now, we’re frustrated with material energy because it doesn’t work right, but did that actually get rid of the desire to interact with that material energy? Good chance that’ll be a problem. So after many years of this very strict sadhana, then one decides, well, maybe we should be married and be responsible and all these nice, good, how you say, different things we might say to convince ourselves that it’s okay and so our brahmachari friends won’t laugh at us too much. So now, you’re back, now spiritually you have answers, you have sadhana, you have the holy name, you have everything. But now that one is dealing again in the material field, you don’t know anything more about it than the day you walked in the door of the temple. What are you going to do? So now, how is that being engaged in Krishna service? No. So you’ll still have the same frustration running side by side with what you get in Krishna consciousness. And let’s say you’re being a good boy. You’re in the temple program for four hours in the morning, but what are you doing for the rest of the 20 hours? So with time, which possibly might start taking the prominence? The 20 hours or the four hours? So unless you can turn that 20 hours to be supportive of those four hours, then how are we going to get out? So unless you can uproot something, how are you going to do that? Anybody’s been sent out into the garden by their mommy to pull out weed? Yeah? Okay. Going out into the garden, the kid, what’s he going to do? He would just pull the top off the weed, right? And job done. Cool. Right? Isn’t it? Yeah. And then your mommy comes out and says, no, you’ve got to dig down and pull out the root. But if you don’t know what a root is, you don’t know what the implement is that you’re using to dig the root out, you don’t know how to do that, is it going to happen? Does that make sense?
Therefore, in the science of Krishna consciousness, the whole social structure and etiquette, everything comes along with the philosophy and sadhana.
So that’s why the technical approach. If it’s working for you without the technical approach, great. So much easier. The gopis saw Krishna, thought he was a great-looking boy, decided to give their heart and soul to him, job done. Right? Three nanoseconds, pure, unalloyed, devoted. Can’t get better than that. But if that didn’t work for you, then Krishna recommends you take up sadhana bhakti. That means 24-7, following the pancharatric and bhagavata systems of our regulated lifestyle and preaching. Still quite straightforward. Of course, the temple commander is a bit of a problem, but other than that, if that doesn’t work, then you work for Krishna. But how do you work for Krishna if you don’t know how the work works? Cook for Krishna. I don’t know how to cook. Last time I tried boiling water, I burned it.
So it’s like, how are you going to cook for Krishna? So you have to know the field, right? But still, this is touching Varanashram, but it’s still naishkamya. The main point is understanding it, dealing with it with the purpose to please Krishna. If that doesn’t work, then you go to the next level, which is, okay, it’s yours. But once you get your result, then give your result to Krishna. But still, if you don’t know what you’re doing, then how will you get a result? Give it to Krishna.
If you can’t do that, be a nice, pious guy. It means you have to have plenty of money to give in charity, so you’d better be pretty good at that. If you can’t do that, then you’d be an impersonalist, but then you have to be pretty good in knowledge. You’re not going to get away from this knowledge. Armed with a sword of knowledge, then that’s how you’re going to get out. Armed with a sword of knowledge, then you stand and fight, or you cook, or you operate your family life, or your business, or whatever it is. Without knowledge, it’s not going to work very good. So, the whole idea is to give an idea of what is going on, so you know how to deal with it, so the success is there. But one thing that’s very important in this is that balance is the only thing that’s sustainable. Right? So, if one is too far one side, then shoving it all the way to the other side is not the solution. Bringing it to the middle is the solution, because wherever you stand, there’s some element of it that is of use, but it’s overbalanced one way. Taking the opposite position, it’s just a reflection of the same position you’re in now, but it’s overbalanced the other way. So, it will give different results, but it won’t give any actually better results. The potato is overcooked and burnt, or it’s raw and not cooked. Both of them are inedible. Right? The middle is the right place. That’s edible. Applying the cooking process that created the overcooking, cooking is important, but you overapplied the cooking. Undercooking means you’re being very careful not to misapply the cooking process, but it’s overdone where the cooking process doesn’t happen. The solution is in the middle. Does that make sense? Does this mean that I have to learn to what extent I am a woman and to what extent I am a man, because the middle means that I am neither a woman, neither a man, or both.
Does that make sense? Yes.
Within oneself, yes, one has to get that balance. It’s fairly straightforward. The soul is the woman, and the paramatma is the man. Like that. So, one gets the balance that way. And then in role-playing, then husband has to act like a man, and wife will… If the husband… Here, let’s put it this way. If the husband acts like a man, the wife will act like a woman. But if the soul wants to control the world or create something in the world, then the soul acts as a man.
So even the woman acts like a man when she wants to control the field or achieve something in the field. Acts like a man in that she’s trying to control the field, but the method she’ll use will be feminine.
That’s the point.
It still will be feminine.
Because it’s still based on dependency.
The man goes out, gets a job, buys himself a house, buys himself a car, buys himself some furniture. He has a car, he has a house, he has the furniture. And he himself is still himself. It’s not his security. It’s feminine. They have no man, they get a job, they get their money, they get a house, they get their car, they get their furniture, but they’re dependent still upon that house, that car and that furniture for their identity. So there’s a difference. That’s why, yeah, there’s a difference.
Does that make sense? So in making the balance, the balance comes with the masculine principle where Krishna describes nice karma. You perform the activity without the desire for the result. You perform the activity because that’s the proper thing for you to do in interacting in that situation or with those personalities.
Do you understand?
So that’s because that’s how Krishna works.
Everything is his, so he doesn’t have to act to get something. He acts to interact with his creation. Does that make sense?
So that’s then his result, is the pleasure of the creation. And you deal with the creation, how it can be dealt with. Water, you can boil a potato. You don’t use water to put a nail into the wall. So therefore, the creation is complete because it’s him.
And Krishna always remains the complete.
But what expands from him is a portion of him. It’s not completely him. The hubcap is non-different from the car, but it’s not the car. Does that make sense? Therefore, the hubcap will only hide the lug nuts. You put it on there to hide all those bolts. It is round, but if you sit there and go like this, your car is not going to change direction. Do you understand? So you have to deal with it as it can deal with you. This is masculine. Masculine means they deal with the feminine according to the nature of the feminine and what the feminine can do and what state the feminine is at present and how the feminine is interacting with you. That’s masculine. Anything else is feminine. So if you’re not doing that, then you have your answer to what your problems are. So the famous, what is it, machismo magyar male is actually just an overly, how do you say, overly muscular woman. Right?
Because that macho man is dependent upon women to tell him that he’s so cool. If he’s actually male, no one has to tell him he’s fine because he is fine. But if he wants to interact with people, he’s got to do something. Therefore, the high divorce rate of couch potatoes.
Does that make sense? Did it come across? Do you have a similar term here? Couch potato is a guy who sits on the couch eating a bag of chips with a remote all day. Sometimes no chips, but at least the couch is there. Sometimes it’s a newspaper. But in that state, he’s not interacting. So that means there’s no relationship. Therefore, there’s insecurity. Therefore, the lady is suggesting that you do various activities. And the man is thinking, hey, I was busy all day making money for you. But that’s just the field. It’s purely masculine. Where does the woman fit in? So the point is, the man creates the field, but the woman operates it.
You’ve brought home so many things to eat, but they decide what they’re going to cook.
So that’s the relationship.
So therefore, the only way a living entity can take the masculine role and survive is if he follows four eternal, indestructible rules.
And to be able to follow these rules, that’s masculine. But when you hear them, you’ll go, no, no, that’s feminine. That’s why most men fail at being men. They don’t know what masculine is. And amazingly enough, you probably even say these four rules every day. And a good chance to even say them in Sanskrit. Rule number one, humility. Rule number two, tolerance. Rule number three, respecting the other party. Rule number four, not expecting any respect back. And to be able to do that and maintain your identity, that’s masculine. Unless you can… If you have to express your ego, you can’t tolerate things, you have to be respected, you may or may not respect back, that’s feminine. Because you see, they’re dependent upon the other party. So masculine is independent.
You get no respect, nothing works the way you want, but you’re still who you are. You’re not disturbed. If it doesn’t work the way you want, you can’t tolerate it not being the way you want. It’s got to work the way you want. That’s dependent. So now do you understand how the two fit together? But if a woman realizes this principle of Trinidad and Tobago, then within the role play, she assumes the role of a man.
No. You’re tired. The point is, she can only assume it if the husband assumes it. Because we go into a different perspective. Who did it first? They do something, the other responds. Who leads is the masculine, who responds is the feminine. You’re humble, they’ll be humble. You’re tolerant, they’ll become tolerant. You’re respectful, they’ll be respectful.
Masculine means they lead. So when the man is sitting there and going, she’s wrong in this argument, I’m not backing down, I’m holding my ground, that’s feminine. Because you’re depending upon them to make the first move. They gotta be humble, they gotta be respectful. You understand? From that perspective. From another perspective, then you take it as that if the man wants the woman to see where she’s wrong, he has to be able to see where he was wrong. Right? Because we discussed before, what the men are looking for in an activity is different than what the woman is looking for. So a man gets angry with a woman because the activity she’s doing will not get a tangible result. It’s not an efficient operation of the material energy. But for the woman, it’s the experience gained from it. Therefore, when the woman does something wrong, and the man gets upset, it’s not that she did something wrong and he got upset that disturbs her. Not that he’s gotten upset that she’s not operating material energy perfectly. What upsets her is the mood in which he said it. Because the mood is the experience. Does that make sense? Therefore, the woman is right in her being angry because the man didn’t behave properly. And the woman is wrong and she’s dealt with it wrongly. Okay. So, then they both hold their ground. You have a stalemate.
So, then the masculine thing to do is come forward first. You want to lead. Lead means you do it first. You come and say, I’m sorry for this. And if you’ve been sincere enough, then you might get a good response. You know what I’m saying? In other words, you only get a response based on what you do first. So the women always follow the men. You just have to know what leading is. Does that make sense? So, that’s the principle.
Humility is there. Humility is there. Tolerance is there. Because once they start to tell you what you’re doing wrong, this, that, yes, there’s tolerance. Or there’s seeming non-response to things that they didn’t feel you actually did nicely. Technically, it was done right. It was said wrong. The mood was wrong. Or the time was wrong. Does that make sense? That’s the verb. So the man looked only at the accomplishment. Or time and mood only for accomplishment. But the woman looked at the mood.
You know what I’m saying? So, that’s the thing. These things are understood, then it becomes much easier. That’s why it says a first-class brahmachari makes a first-class jihadi. Because he has knowledge, he has sense control, he has humility. Therefore, he can continue that practice in his home. Because if you thought the temple commander was tough, and you wanted to get out of the temple into your own house to exercise your, quote-unquote, freedom and independence, multiply it by ten. The temple commander there is a little bit more exacting and strict.
So, in any way, you’re going to learn to be humble. So, it’s either the temple commander made you humble, or your partner is going to make you humble. You know what I’m saying? With tolerance, with respect, that selfless service. You understand? That’s why in the Varna Ashram, in Daiva Varna Ashram, in devotional service, there’s no difference in what ashram you’re in. It doesn’t matter. Because each one can take you back to Godhead. Just some are a little easier, some are a little more tough. So, the Grihastha Ashram is tougher. That’s why Grihasthas are considered more respectable than Brahmacharis. Does that make sense? Because they’re responsible. They are having to work with a much more serious temple commander. So, the principles are the same. It doesn’t matter which ashram, Varna you’re in, what you have to learn to go back to Godhead is exactly the same. As far as the culture goes, the third verse of Shikshastika is what makes any rule of etiquette or dharma, artha, kama, moksha, work. And if you can do all that, then you can chant Hare Krishna 24 hours a day. Right? Because that’s what we’re trying to get to. Does that make sense? So, it’s just different ways. You wouldn’t learn it in the temple, therefore you learn it at the house. It doesn’t matter. The point is to learn it. You know, it’s nice. Okay, you have the free time. There’s no pressure. You can go to classes, learn to cook. Great.
But, if you don’t have that option, you know, you’re the only one in the temple and you got to cook, you got to learn real fast. More difficult.
But, also, how you say, on-the-job learning experience. So, that’s the whole point. It doesn’t matter where you are. You just have to figure out where you are and then figure out how to get from that point to Krishna. Shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Isn’t it? So, that’s the idea. Wherever you’re at right now, if you can understand what that actually is, then you can connect it to Krishna. But, if you don’t know who you are, how can you connect yourself to Krishna?
That’s it. So, following the same logic, that a man has to be humble, a woman will follow a community. My nature is, I’m female by nature, I’m still a soul. Doesn’t Krishna have to be a humble person that will follow a community?
Krishna… We want to be God. Krishna created the material world that we could do it. Krishna comes in your heart. He goes with you everywhere. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing. Even you’re ignoring Him, even you’re saying bad things about Him, He still sits there.
And, any time… How do you say? Any way you want to relate to Him, He relates back. That’s on the Vishaya Ashraya principle. Vishaya means He has all the elements. The Ashraya then relates to a particular aspect of that element. You know what I’m saying? It means the house is the field. It has everything, but the woman wants to relate to food now or to recreation or to sitting with friends. You know what I’m saying? So, it reciprocates with that. So, therefore, we go… It’s like this. When we go into the temple and we see the deity, we expect the deity to be smiling. Would you be smiling if one of your good friends hasn’t called you, seen you, spoke to you for eons and then just suddenly shows up one day and then you’re supposed to be in a great mood. And, not only that, they’ve been ignoring you, they’ve been up to all kinds of nonsense that they know that you just don’t like. But, as soon as they walk in the door, can He expect you to just smile?
Yeah, and ask you for something. So, that’s what God’s doing as a male.
So, He’s just waiting for us to respond. He’s taken the lead. He’s made all the arrangements, but still we have to respond. You understand? When you interact with somebody, the most annoying thing is if they don’t respond. No? So, you’d have to be pretty tolerant to put up with that.
Yeah.
What’s that? You had something? So, it’s in connection with balance. Balance, or, in other words, the middle, the golden middle. Does it mean that the devotee keeps a distance all the time? So, he’s kind of aloof from everything? No. A distance means that a distance, the aloofness that a devotee keeps is in the proprietorship over the result. Right? But, otherwise, if you don’t interact, where’s the relationship? Right? But, it doesn’t mean you need to compromise yourself. Salad Maharaj would interact with his demon father. He never agreed with his demon father, but he never didn’t follow etiquette. So, father-to-son relationship was going on fine. The guru-disciple relationship, that was having a bit of a problem. Somehow or another, Hiranyakashyapu didn’t understand that he was the disciple, and Salad Maharaj was the guru. But, father-son, that went on fine. Security. Salad Maharaj is secure in his relationship with Krishna. Therefore, other things aren’t going to disturb him. Okay. Any other questions?
Last point, then. So, these seals of lectures coming, would they have the same purpose as what Krishna said to Uddhava in the Eleventh Canto? It means it’ll be based on a lot of those technicalities. It means you have the same. In the Gita, then, the first, basically, twelve chapters are explaining the whole devotional service and its application. The last six chapters tell you all the technicalities that go on in applying those first six chapters. The Eleventh Canto explains all the technicalities that are explained in the first nine cantos. That was our point. If you can operate it without the technical points, great. But if it’s not successful, then you might want to check your technique. If you’re cooking and it always comes out bad, you might want to start looking at your talent. Seven?
What time did we start?
It’s a good introduction. So, then, as we continue discussing, it’ll be what we say to our guests.
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! Ramavetta Vaksavinda ki jaya! Jaya!