JAPA INSPIRATION
Śrī Prem Prayojan Prabhu
Kathā directly after japa meditation early in the morning,
15 March 2022, Vṛndāvana
Very good—sādhu, sādhu! All of you are still here. It is essential to chant japa every day with discipline.
If there is some special occasion like parikramā for six days or so, of course we are chanting without sitting in one place in such a concentrated manner, because we are moving around so much. On parikramā there is a lot of very loud Harināma-saṅkīrtana and dancing together, which is also extremely powerful. And from the parikramā one receives profound impressions of the dhāma, of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Their associates. However, outside of those occasions, one should sit and chant very peacefully for many hours every day so that the deep impressions we have received from sādhu-sanga will rise up in our hearts, and we can have anubhūti (realization).
Realization will not come as long as one is in bodily consciousness. The identification with this physical body is one type of vikalpa (creation of the mind, non-correlated thought construct). These vikalpas come from rajo-guṇa, the mode of passion. Even in a conventional sense, everyone feels as if ‘I am this body’, but this is vikalpa. It is completely a creation of the rājasika buddhi, impassioned intelligence.
By deeply hearing the Holy Name, the citta becomes steady and the influence of rājasa (and thereby the influence of vikalpa) begins to subside. Then automatically the bodily identification will dissolve; it will be gone completely. And in that state of pure consciousness, the realization of Kṛṣṇa will come.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa is that divine transcendental being who is the cause of all existence. His form is sat cid ānanda, the embodiment of condensed eternity, consciousness and bliss. That form appears in the purified citta. And worship of that form which appears in the purified citta is called bhakti.
Unless and until one has the darśana of Kṛṣṇa in the heart, one is not actually worshipping Kṛṣṇa because one is worshipping one's material idea of Kṛṣṇa. The worship of a material object is idolatry.
Prabhupāda Bhakisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura said, ‘There are so many people worshipping Gaurāṅga but their Gaurāṅga is not Gaurāṅga. Their Gaurāṅga is a material idol.’ There is a school of art in Kolkata where they made so many paintings of Mahāprabhu. Prabhupāda said, ‘The Gaurāṅga of the Kolkata School of Art is an idol because those who have painted have not had the darśana of Mahāprabhu in their heart.’
If a person thinks, ‘I have heard about Kṛṣṇa. He is very nice. I have affection for Kṛṣṇa’, but they have no realization of Kṛṣṇa, then that Kṛṣṇa they are thinking of is a material idol. And the proof is that they cannot give up sense gratification. They are always thinking of their own comfort. They see duality in the world and experience fear and anxiety. They have worry about their financial situation. These are all evidence that the consciousness is situated in duality. One is not experiencing the presence of Kṛṣṇa everywhere and in everything.
Hence, Śrīlā Bhakisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura is saying, ‘The Gaurāṅga of the pure devotee and the Gaurāṅga of the prākṛta-bhakta are completely different.’
So it is not in our self-interest to remain on the platform of the prākṛta-bhakta (materialistic devotee). We will have to become actual devotees of Mahāprabhu and Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and for that, one will have to rise above the vikalpa, the intellectual concoction.
Oṁ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ: in the Veda-mātā (the mother of the Vedas, the Gāyatrī-mantra), the different levels of the planetary systems—the earth (Bhūrloka), the heavenly planets (Svarloka), and Bhuvarloka (between the earth and the heavenly planets) are described. This also refers to the planes of our consciousness: bhūr means the plane of sense perception in this earthly plane, bhuvaḥ—the mental plane, and svaḥ—the intellectual plane. But Śrī Kṛṣṇa lies beyond the sensory plane, beyond the mental plane and beyond the intellectual plane. So when we chant the Holy Name, at that time we are surrendering to that Kṛṣṇa who is adhokṣaja, aprākṛta, beyond even the adhokṣaja, beyond the senses, beyond the mind, beyond the intelligence.
We cannot see Him but He can see us, and we will require His mercy to come to His plane. This elevation is very gradual, but if a devotee is only chanting 16 rounds or 32 rounds, yet the rest of the time their mind is in a state of turbulence, then, even after years and years and years, they are still in the stage of idolatry. So a point has to come in our life when we say, ‘Okay, enough!’ And make a vow to really take full shelter of the Holy Name, letting go of all external attachment, completely forgetting who am I, where am I, what am I—and take one-pointed shelter of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
Even though it may be difficult because the body and senses and mind pose so much resistance, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has said, ‘You have to be a hero! When a hero goes into battle he is there to win, and he will face very obstinate difficulties but he will never give up.’ Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura said that no one will pass through the stage of nāmāparādha and nāmābhāsa and come to śuddha-nāma without a colossal struggle. So we have to take that responsibility to make that colossal struggle every day of our life!
Don't panic! That struggle doesn't last forever because, once the citta becomes clear and the darśana of Kṛṣṇa comes in the stages of ruci, āsakti and bhāva, then it's not a struggle anymore: only sweetness and nectar! But to come to that point, one will have to be very, very determined.
end of speech
