{"id":97068,"date":"2022-04-01T12:55:23","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T10:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=97068"},"modified":"2022-04-01T12:55:23","modified_gmt":"2022-04-01T10:55:23","slug":"a-simple-explanation-convinces-a-young-man-to-dedicate-himself-to-a-life-centred-around-chanting-the-names-of-and-serving-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=97068","title":{"rendered":"A simple explanation convinces a young man to dedicate himself to a life centred around chanting the names of and serving God"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

Giriraja Swami<\/h1>\n
\n <\/i>\n <\/div>\n


\n<\/header>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Starting To See The Center Of Things<\/h1>\n
A simple explanation convines a young man to dedicate himself to a life centred around chanting the names of and serving God.<\/em><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Giriraja<\/p>\n

\u201cEver since the Stone Age, people have come up with so many nonsensical ideas to explain the forces of nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what my father, a Chicago lawyer, would tell me when I was growing up. \u201cThe idea of a God may give peace and inspire morality, but scientifically minded people are beyond all that.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
My seventh grade teacher showed me a different angle. He reasoned, \u201cThere are so many things we can\u2019t see. We can\u2019t see atoms or air or our own minds. Does that mean they don\u2019t exist? Just because we can\u2019t see God, does that mean He doesn\u2019t exist?\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
That made sense to me, and I had a change of heart. I didn\u2019t exactly know who God was, but somehow I knew He was at the center of things.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Then, four years later (in my junior year of high school) , a close friend laughed at my ideas. \u201cThe wonders of nature are just coincidences. You\u2019re just imagining that a God is doing these things.\u201d His strong personality and arguments persuaded me to set aside my belief for the time being.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Still, I wanted some kind of perfection in my life, and I thought I could find it by studying psychology. I read books like Eric Fromm\u2019s The Art of Loving, and finally I enrolled in Brandeis University\u2019s psychology department so that I could learn how to help people get along better. But soon it became clear that most psychiatrists were themselves disturbed, and that their rate of suicide was surprisingly high. Besides, all the \u201cexperts\u201d had different theories and rarely agreed on anything.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
SEEKING THE EAST<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Dismayed at not being able to find any peace of mind, I turned to the East for spiritual wisdom and looked for a spiritual teacher. For a start, I read about Zen Buddhism and also attended a weekend meditation led by a well known American Zen master. What an experience that was. All of us had to sit straight and stiff and play all kinds of mental games to empty our minds. We had to meditate on riddles like, \u201cWhat is the sound of one hand clapping!\u201d At times} when I fell asleep, a monitor would swat me on the shoulder with a stick. Needless to say, I felt uncomfortable. After the meditation, someone asked the master about Vedanta philosophy. He replied, \u201cI have enough trouble keeping up with Zen. How can I think about Vedanta?\u201d It seemed to me that a real spiritual teacher should know everything about spiritual life. So right then I knew that this man wasn\u2019t the teacher I was looking for.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Later, I studied the writings of a famous Indian whom many people had called an incarnation of God. I asked one of my friends how I could study under him, but my friend told me that he didn\u2019t accept any students. I thought, \u201cWhat kind of master is this? Without accepting students, how can he benefit anyone? So that he can be detached he\u2019s denying others the opportunity to be enlightened?\u201d This didn\u2019t make much sense to me, so I gave upon him.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Next, I became interested in a group that offered a popular version of meditation. Their leading American representative had rented a big hall in Cambridge to demonstrate the technique. But when I went there I found out that I\u2019d have to pay an initiation fee of thirty five dollars and give up some kind of sense pleasure for one week. I wondered, \u201cThirty five dollars this is spiritual life? And if sense pleasure is bad, then why give it up for only one week?\u201d It all sounded a little strange.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
So it went. Whenever I found that a \u201cswami\u201d or \u201cyogi\u201d or \u201cperfect master\u201d or \u201crealized soul\u201d was anywhere within a thousand miles, I would rush to meet him. \u2018\u201dThis ananda,\u201d \u201cThat ananda\u201d -so many anandas I met, but I always came away disgusted.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
MEETING MY MASTER<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Then, on April 18, 1969, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada came to the Brandeis campus to speak on the Bhagavad gita. My girl friend tried to persuade me not to go. \u201cWhy can\u2019t we be like other couples?\u201d she asked tearfully. \u201cWhy do you always have to run to these swamis and yogis? Why can\u2019t we be like everyone else?\u201d I didn\u2019t want to disappoint her, and I actually tried to forget about the lecture, but from within I felt I had to go. Not wanting to hurt my girl friend\u2019s feelings, I reassured her, \u201cLet me go to this one lecture, and this will be the last swami I visit.\u201d<\/div>\n

\"Giriraja<\/p>\n

When one of my classmates and I entered the hall, the lecture had just ended. We saw Srila Prabhupada sitting on a magnificent chair in the middle of the stage.He was surrounded by chanting and dancing devotees. Satsvarupa Dasa, (now Satsvarupa Goswami) the president of Boston\u2019s Krishna temple, led the enthusiastic chanting. As the sound system boomed the transcendental vibrations off the bare brick walls, I felt like jumping up and joining in. When the chanting ended, the devotees bowed to offer their respects to Srila Prabhupada. Then he left the stage, and a few disciples followed him.<\/p>\n

Some of the devotees needed a ride to Harvard Square, so I gave them a lift in my station wagon. As we rode along, I mentioned that I\u2019d been looking into Zen. \u201cAccording to the Buddhists,\u201d I said, \u201cthis world is just an image; it\u2019s like a movie. And behind it all is nothing.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
A devotee commented, \u201cSure, this world is like a movie. But when you\u2019re watching a movie, you know that there\u2019s someone behind the whole show: a projectionist. So there\u2019s also someone behind this world Krishna.\u201d The more I listened to the devotees, the more I wanted to hear their guru. When Idropped them off in Harvard Square I asked a devotee named Patita pavana where the temple was. He told me how to find it and said that Srila Prabhupada would be speaking there the next evening. I decided to go.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I spent the next day anticipating my visit to the Krishna temple. Finally, about 6 p.m., I set out. The temple was in an out of the way but pleasant part of Boston called Allston. At the given address, 95 Glenville Avenue, I found a small storefront. With anxiety and eagerness I rang the doorbell, and a pleasant young man opened the door and welcomed me in. The room was thick with the smoke and fragrance of incense. It was a smallish room, crowded and warm. I saw Srila Prabhupada seated on the same chair as at the auditorium on campus. He was speaking, but I could hardly hear him. Yet I did catch one thing he said. He quoted a verse from the Bhagavad gita: \u201cOut of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth\u201d (Bg. 7.3).<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
That struck me. I thought, \u201cSpiritual life isn\u2019t cheap. That\u2019s one thing I\u2019ve learned already.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
After he finished speaking, Srila Prabhupada asked for questions. A nicely dressed young man in the back of the room raised his hand. \u201cSwamiji ,\u201d he said, \u201cHow has Krishna created maya [illusion, or forgetfulness of Krishna] ?\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Srila Prabhupada gave a beautiful answer. He began, \u201cMaya is just like a cloud. Isn\u2019t the cloud produced by the sun?\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cAnd doesn\u2019t the cloud also cover the sun?\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cIn this way Krishna is also creating maya, and due to maya, Krishna becomes covered. Actually Krishna is not covered, but our vision is covered, so we are not able to see Krishna.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Then I asked my question: \u201cThere are so many different processes of self realization, like Zen Buddhism, kriya-yoga, and others, and so many different teachers, with each one advocating his process as the best. How can we actually know what is the proper way?\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Srila Prabhupada then questioned me. \u201cFirst of all , what is your goal? Do you want to serve God, or do you want to become God?\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I didn\u2019t know what to say.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cIf you want to become God, that means that you are not God now. But how can somebody who is not God become God? God is God. He never has to become God by any mystic yoga process. He already is God. Krishna is God when He is on the lap of His mother, Yasoda; He is God when he is tending the cows with His friends; He is God when He is speaking the Bhagavad gita on the Battlefield of Kurukeetra. God is always God. Not that by some mystic yoga process He becomes God. You are not God, nor can you become God. God is in your heart, and if you surrender to Him you can become godly. He is ready to help you, but if you try to become God you are only cheating yourself. If you want to become God then why should God help the competition? But if you want to serve God then God will give you all facility. So what do you think do you want to become God or do you want to serve God?\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
ILLUSION SHATTERED<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
As Srila Prabhupada was speaking, I realized that actually I had wanted to become God. In fact, in my apartment I had painted a sign in bright, fancy letters; it said, \u201cYou Are God.\u201d Another thing I realized as he was speaking was that Srila Prabhupada was the spiritual teacher I\u2019d been looking for, and that he could see right into my heart. I became ashamed, because I knew that Srila Prabhupada was seeing all of my foolishness. Then he repeated, \u201cWhat do you think do you want to serve God, or do you want to become God?\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I hesitated. I had some inclination to serve God, but I admitted, \u201cActually, I see that I wanted to become God.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201d Srila Prabhupada said emphatically, \u201cYes, that is right! But how can you become God? You cannot. God is in your heart, and if you water the seed of devotion by chanting Hare Krishna, He will give you all the sunshine to make it grow.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Every vibration in Srila Prabhupada\u2019s voice struck my ear and entered my heart. Meanwhile, Srila Prabhupada asked the devotees to distribute prasada (spiritual food, offered to Krishna) to everyone. Earlier in the evening Srila Prabhupada had initiated several new devotees, and now a feast would complete the occasion. One devotee brought a large platter with many varieties of prasada and offered it to Srila Prabhupada, who quipped, \u201cI am not God; I cannot eat all this. Distribute it.\u201d Then one joyful devotee approached me. \u201cIf you like,\u201d she said, \u201cyou can help distribute the prasada.\u201d I was thankful for the chance to do some service.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
After everyone else had begun eating, I sat down and looked at my plate. There were so many preparations that I\u2019d never seen before; I didn\u2019t know which one to try first. I bit into a pakora (a breaded cauliflower chunk, zestfully spiced and deep fried in pure butter). In all my life I had never tasted food so delicious. I looked at the devotees around me relishing their prasada, and then I tried a puri (a light pastry, puffed in pure butter) and some eggplant and tomato with curd. Again the taste was extraordinary. One by one I tasted all the preparations, and each one was more wonderful than the last. I\u2019d never experienced such pleasure in eating. I reflected that everything in Krishna consciousness was that way. The philosophy, the prasada, the chanting, the temple, the devotees, and their spiritual master all were on a superior level.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The next evening I visited again. On alternate nights, instead of speaking at the temple, Srila Prabhupada would speak at one of the nearby universities, and that night he was going to speak at Boston University. I came early so that I could drive the devotees to the program in my station wagon. Srila Prabhupada spoke clearly and simply and then opened the floor to questions. One person asked, \u201cWhat can this movement do for the hungry people of the world?\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Srila Prabhupada replied, \u201cIf you give a bag of rice to the pigeons, one pigeon will take some grains and go away, another pigeon will take some grains and go away, and in this way all the pigeons will have enough. But if you put a bag of rice in a busy marketplace, the first man who sees it will take the whole bag and hoard it. So the real solution to the food problem is to change the greedy mentality in human society. Actually, there is no scarcity of anything; there is only a scarcity of Krishna consciousness. God has provided for everybody. We simply have to accept what He has given and distribute it equally. That is Krishna consciousness.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
After the questions and answers, with Srila Prabhupada looking on, the devotees danced in a circle and chanted Hare Krishna. When I joined them I began to sense that Lord Krishna actually is present, as He says in Bhagavad gita, \u201cwithin the hearts of all living beings.\u201d It was a bright moment in my spiritual life.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The next night, after Srila Prabhupada\u2019s lecture at the temple, I asked a question (each time Prabhupada spoke I would limit myself to just one carefully thought out question): \u201cWhat is the relationship between service to man and service to God?\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Srila Prabhupada replied, \u201cIf a hungry man comes to you and you feed him, in a few hours his hunger will return and he will have the same problem all over again. But if you give him Krishna consciousness, all his problems will be solved permanently. If you give a man a million dollars, all of his ten dollar problems will be solved. Similarly, if you give a man Krishna consciousness, all of his little problems will be solved, including eating. And his problems will be solved permanently. He\u2019ll become completely satisfied .\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
WITH SRILA PRABHUPADA IN EARLY DAYS<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
A few nights later, after a lecture at Harvard, the students asked Srila Prabhupada many challenging questions, but he easily answered all of them. One student said, \u201cYou\u2019re chanting Hare Krishna, but couldn\u2019t you just as well count from one to ten over and over again, and wouldn\u2019t that have the same results?\u201d Srila Prabhupada replied, \u201cYes, you can try counting, and when you finish counting, you can try chanting.\u201d Everyone laughed.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Another boy rambled on about how we need revolution. \u201cThis chanting has been going on for many years,\u201d he said. \u201cBut now we have to take action, just like the Russian Revolution.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Srila Prabhupada inquired, \u201cNow you\u2019ve had your Russian Revolution, but are the people in Russia happy?\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The boy replied, \u201cWell, no.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Then Srila Prabhupada said, \u201cThen what is the value of this revolution? And even if the situation has improved, again it will get worse. Better to chant Hare Krishna and get the permanent solution.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
After the question and answer period, the devotees chanted Hare Krishna. Later, I lingered among the audience, noting how they\u2019d appreciated Srila Prabhupada and the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra. A disciple told me what I\u2019d already gathered: Krishna\u2019s pure devotee can never be defeated.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I kept coming to hear Srila Prabhupada speak, either at the temple or at a university. One night he said something that I found especially illuminating: \u201cOur whole life is simply wasted in these two activities hankering and lamenting. Either we are hankering after what we don\u2019t have, or we are lamenting over what we\u2019ve lost.\u201d That pretty much summed up my life. Prabhupada added, \u201cThe peace we are hankering for, life after life, moment after moment we\u2019ll get it when our desires are purified and dovetailed with the Lord\u2019s desires.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The next day Srila Prabhupada gave a moving lecture at the Harvard University International Students Association. He said, \u201cOur radius of love is always expanding. If you give a baby some food, he\u2019ll simply put it in his mouth; he thinks only of himself. But when he gets a little older, he may think of sharing the food with his mother, then with his father, and then with his brothers and sisters. If you give him food when he is still older, he might share it with his friends. When he is a youngman, he may think of his community\u2019s welfare, and when still more mature he may think in terms of serving the society or the country, until finally he might come to the point of serving all humanity. But still his love is not all encompassing. What about the cows? Are they not also sensitive living beings? Then why should we kill them? And what about the plants? We are cutting down so many trees and killing so many cows and other animals. Why should we not love all living entities?\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Srila Prabhupada then gave a nice example. What he said cleared things up for me. \u201cThis is our defect: our love is not perfect. I have my area of interest, and you have your area of interest, but mine overlaps and conflicts with yours. If I throw a handful of stones into the water, the circles they make will overlap and clash. But if I could throw the stones all at one center point, the circles would never clash. In the same way, if I have my center of interest and you have your center of interest, our interests will clash. But if we find the perfect center, we\u2019ll have perfect harmony. And what is that perfect center? That perfect center is God Krishna.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Although I was still living at my apartment, I liked the idea of working with Prabhupada\u2019s disciples. But I was in doubt about whether I should move into the temple or stay where I was. One night, I got th e opportunity to drive Srila Prabhupada back to the temple after his lecture. Here was the chance to ask him something that had been on my mind for some time. \u201cSrila Prabhupada, what should I do with the rest of my life?\u201d I was anxious, because I expected that he would ask me to move into the temple right away. But he replied, \u201cJust study our books very thoroughly and chant Hare Krishna.\u201d I was relieved that Srila Prabhupada was so understanding. He\u2019d already helped me to see that Krishna is the center of things, and I could see that the rest would come naturally.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
At the end of 1970, Giriraja Swami went along on Srila Prabhupada\u2019s well received return tour of India. Later, while he was the president of ISKCON\u2019s Mumbai branch, among his other responsibilities, Giriraja Swami helped coordinate the Indian affairs of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust and ISKCON\u2019s life membership program. After that he extensively preached all over the world and now lives in the USA.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\"Giriraja Swami Starting To See The Center Of Things A simple explanation convines a young man to dedicate himself to a life centred around chanting the names of and serving God.   \u201cEver since the Stone Age, people have come up with so many nonsensical ideas to explain the forces of nature.\u201d That\u2019s what my<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-testing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=97068"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97069,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97068\/revisions\/97069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=97068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=97068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=97068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}