In2-MeC

ISKCON Salem, Tamil Nadu, India
18 March 2004

Quite hot here in South India at this time. . . but not as hot as it is going to get in a couple months. Maintaining steady activity throughout the day is a challenge. The torpor can be overwhelming.

The devotees at the Salem temple have been observing condolences for the departure of HH Sridhara Swami. In a letter, Srila Prabhupada explained that the observances for the departure of a Vaisnava should be held for 3 days; on the last day a feast should be offered. Since Ekadasi fell on the 3rd day (Wednesday), the feast was moved to today.

Since 11 March I've been giving the philosophy seminar each day from 10:00AM-12:30PM. The devotees are very stimulated by it and ask many questions. Today, though, it will be interrupted.

The seminar, combined with the departure of Sridhara Maharaja, has provoked some introspection in me about manomaya, "the life of the mind" as it is known in its Western conceptual version. In Chapter 86 of Krsna, Srila Prabhupada writes:

The materialistic civilization is primarily situated in these three stages, annamaya, pranamaya and manomaya. The first concern of civilized persons is economic development, the next concern is defense against being annihilated, and the next consciousness is mental speculation, the philosophical approach to the values of life.

The position of the soul is vijnanamaya. Paramatma is anandamaya. In conventional life, everyone--devotees included--must engage in the first three kosas. The cultivation of Krsna-bhakti situates consciousness in self- and God-realization in the midst of practical affairs. But just as we experience here in Salem that hot weather can make it harder to stay aloof from the bodily conception, so involvement with the annamaya, pranamaya and manomaya levels--and such is unavoidable for embodied souls--can entice consciousness to shift from the spiritual plane to the mental plane.

As an example of how that shift can be so subtle that we don't even see it, consider the mind's ability to rationalize and justify anything. The assurance our mind gives us that we understand something clearly can easily be founded upon an inner prejudice more than upon verifiable evidence. Richard Milton, author of Forbidden Science--supressed research that could change our lives (1994), explains.

. . . our perception--and hence what appears obvious--is to some extent determined by our beliefs. It means that all observers, scientists as well as savages, employ a kind of mental inertial guidance navigation system which takes over our routine mental processing; an intellectual autopilot whose perpetual heading is the star of our convictions, and which filters our perceptions to ensure that they conform to those convictions. This mechanism has been graphically described by Arthur Koestler in his book The Ghost in the Machine.

I can speak . . . with first-hand experience, based on seven years of membership in the Communist Party during Stalin's terror regime. In writing about that period, I have described the operations of the deluded mind in terms of elaborate manoeuvrings to defend the citadel of faith against the hostile incursions of doubt.

Travelling through Russia, Koestler writes that he saw the results of forced collectivisation of the land.

I reacted to the brutal impact of reality on illusion in a manner typical of a true believer. I was surprised and bewildered--but the elastic shock absorbers of my party training began to operate at once. I had eyes to see and a mind conditioned to explain away what they saw. This 'inner censor' is more reliable and effective than any official censorship. . . it helped me overcome my doubts and to rearrange my impressions in the desired pattern. I learnt to classify automatically everything that shocked me as the 'heritage of the past' and everything that I liked as the 'seeds of the future'. By setting up this automatic sorting machine in his mind, it was still possible in 1933 for a European to live in Russia and yet remain a communist.

One hears complaints about an inner censor that functions within the minds of ISKCON devotees. Well, like everybody else, devotees use their minds. What is described above is the way the mind works. I get letters inquiring into my opinion about Gaudiya Vaisnava institutions apart from ISKCON. My reply is that my spiritual master requested me--and all his disciples, actually--not to associate closely with other institutions, for example by hearing lectures from them. Therefore I have no inclination to do that. That's my inner censor. I admit freely that I have one.

But everybody with a mind has an inner censor.

I heard from several sannyasi Godbrothers that a God-nephew of Srila Prabhupada, who in the last ten years has gained a following of former ISKCON devotees, requested his ex-ISKCONians not to attend the recent Pancha Tattva installation at ISKCON's Mayapur Candrodaya Mandira. Well, I was there. It was a wonderful transcendental festival. I saw no objective reason why any follower of Lord Caitanya's movement should avoid it. Ah, but inner convictions guide external perceptions and actions.

So this is the first item of consideration in our effort to understand what it means to be on the platform of the material mind: that simply because one is using the mind isn't sufficient grounds for accusing that person of being on the mental plane. The argument--"ISKCON people think they are so exclusive, but actually they're just narrow- minded, actually they are sectarean, actually they are on the platform of the material mind"--is just such a superficial point-the-index-finger type of accusation. When you point your index finger at another, accusing him of being narrow-minded or whatever, three of your fingers are pointing back at you. It is the business of buddhi (intellect) to discriminate. It is the business of manah (mind) to accept and reject. If you have buddhi and manah, you'll discriminate and you'll accept and reject. To praise oneself as being impartial while accusing others of partiality because they discriminate and accept and reject is hardly an astute standpoint. To do that is in itself is an exercise in discrimination, acceptance and rejection.

The second item of consideration is values (artha). Since buddhi and manah are not going to stop being buddhi and manah as long as we have to utilize them, the real issue to discuss--in our attempt to understand how one may shift from the spiritual platform to the mental platform--is the value system under which our buddhi and manah function. In philosophy, values are a big subject. But in this journal entry I'll "cut to the chase" at the risk of sounding simplistic by proposing that values are of two categories: mundane and transcendental. Mundane values are called purusartha. ("Purusartha means material religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and, at the end, the attempt to become one with the Supreme. " Bg 6. 20-23p). Transcendental values are called paramartha. (". . . the one significance of this body is arthadam. Arthadam means you can derive the greatest value in this life. Arthadam. Artha means money, and paramartha means spiritial consciousness. That is also artha. So one should be engaged for earning money because the body requires material necessities. That's all right. But his real attention should be how to achieve spiritual consciousness, or Krsna consciousness. " SB class, 15 March 1968 in San Francisco).

Purusartha values are what I want. Paramartha values are what Krsna wants. It is recorded that when a South African devotee came to Sridham Mayapur to austerly chant many rounds daily in pursuance of the way of the babajis, Srila Prabhupada was at first noncommital. Then as he heard that the South African was increasing his austerities, Prabhupada dismissed his efforts as "all nonsense," pointing out that his program was based on his own wants, not on what Krsna wants. It is also recorded that Srila Prabhupada said that to achieve the transcendental platform one must be ruled by his spiritual master.

The third item of consideration is manoratha. While on a morning walk on 9 January 1974, Srila Prabhupada explained,

Manoratha, when you drive on the chariot of mind, you cannot get any fixed idea. Because mind is flickering. Sankalpa-vikalpa. Mind's business is "Accept this, and again reject it. " So all these speculators are doing. Somebody is putting forward some theory, and after some years he will himself reject or somebody else will reject. So manorathena, by mental speculation, you remain on the material platform. You cannot get any spiritual idea.

There is an Internet site where a young man posted the many phone messages that a girlfriend left as voice mail after he told her that he didn't care to see her anymore. In some messages she angrily berates him for cruelly mistreating her, and mocks him as overweight, and snidely hints that she already has another boyfriend. In other messages she condescendingly tells him he is a foolish boy who doesn't know what's good for him; by breaking their relationship he'll be the loser; but she'll be merciful and give him one more chance. In yet other messages she apologizes for the mean things she said in previous voice mails. Sobbing that everything is her fault, she begs him to be kind, to forgive her and to accept her back. Hearing all this, one has to agree with the young man who posted these messages that his ex-girlfriend is a madwoman. In fact, she even refers to herself several times as a madwoman. This is manoratha, and it is produced out of strong attachment to matter.

The materially-attached mind is guna-prabhava (see Bhag. 5. 11. 5), constantly agitated by the modes of nature. In goodness we feel satisfied and serene, but mundane sattva is impregnated with passion and ignorance. Just as a pregnant woman's belly gradually swells, making her condition obvious to everyone, in time the lower modes make their presence obvious in the material mind.

When the mode of passion takes over, our attachments step forward and make themselves evident in our behavior. Mental speculation is also prominent in the mode of passion (see Bg 18. 23p). To prove to ourselves and others that our attachments are perfectly justified, we resort to speculation. For example, that girl who left all the mad messages on her ex-boyfriend's voice mail gave him so many reasons why she was phoning him again and again, sometimes every five or ten minutes. "I need to drop off the apartment key. " "I need to pick up my cat. " "You promised to show me how my new cell phone works, and you didn't. " "I'm worried about you because I know you have serious problems. We need to talk about them. " "I know you didn't really mean that our relationship is over. I'm coming back so that we can start again. "

When the mode of ignorance takes over, self-destructive anger and then hopelessness sets in. At the end one is simply bewildered and doesn't know where to turn. One resorts to "escape through inertia" by giving up his duties, sleeping long hours, and taking shelter of dreams and intoxication.

Manoratha means to follow the mind again and again through the states induced by the three modes. A neophyte devotee whose mind is guna-pravaha feels advanced when in the mode of goodness. But because his "advancement" is materially based (i. e. selfishly based, upon "what I want"), he is not satisfied. Due to boredom he may be lose enthusiasm for his sadhana. Or he may be swept up by demands and pressures of family, economy and society. In the name of "engaging my nature" and "meeting my responsibilities" his activities take on a passionate color. Now his work is very energetic but at the same time it is more desperate, since he is less satisfied than when he was in the mode of goodness. The mode of passion is also divisive. Thus he may find himself in friction with other devotees. And because of the speculative function of rajo-guna, of course there are so many doctrinal issues that justify this friction. And with the appearance of so many doctrines and points of view, the person on the mental plane feels obliged to investigate them all. . . thus as Srila Prabhupada explained above, by following newer and newer speculations as they present themselves, "you cannot get any spiritual idea. " Without a genuine spiritual conception, a collision with the tamo-guna is inevitable. One becomes mad or as sad as hell and can't take it anymore. After bottoming out at last, he may again become a little humble and seek the mode of goodness once more. But until he is ruled by what Krsna wants, he'll pass through the same cycle of three modes again. . . and again. . . and again. . .

The fourth item of consideration is mundane religiousity. In his purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 1. 1. 10, Srila Prabhupada writes:

. . . in the name of religion so many sinful acts are being carried on that the people in general have neither peace of mind nor health of body. The student (brahmacari) communities are no longer being maintained, and householders do not observe the rules and regulations of the grhastha-asrama. Consequently, the so-called vanaprasthas and sannyasis who come out of such grhastha-asramas are easily deviated from the rigid path. In the Kali-yuga the whole atmosphere is surcharged with faithlessness.

For example, Hinduism is a religion of Bhagavad-gita as we are, not as it is. Hinduism permits people to accept a life of manoratha--of never rising above the mental platform--under the illusion that this is what Krsna wants them to do. Where Krsna asks Arjuna "what can repression accomplish?"--by which he means that Arjuna should accept his dharmic duty as ksatriya and not artificially try to be a sannyasi--Hindus take it to mean that one should not try too hard to repress one's attraction to adharmic sinful activities.

While there is much fighting going on between the different sects of mundane religions, they all agree on one basic principle: that God put us into this world to enjoy. This attitude of enjoyment is that very guna-pravaha state in which the mind is always agitated.

In that state one is a regular victim of vasanas, of strong urges for sinful and pious sense gratification that flow into the surface mind from the alaya, the stock of desires hidden under the primordial avidya (ignorance) of the subconscious mind. The mundane religionist often regrets the impulsive acts of his uncontrolled senses. But since he is absorbed in the mental plane, unable to distinguish between the mind and his self or soul, he has no faith that the vasanas can be permanently stopped. And so in mundane religions we see the fallen conditions that Srila Prabhupada describes above.

The mundane religionist seeks assurance from priests and gurus that everything will be OK in the end, even though he cannot conquer his urges. Thus institutions of mundane religion are geared to "what I want. " The Hindu version of this is, "I want to be known as a devotee of Krsna, but at the same time I want to live 'normally' in this world. I want to be inspired in my worldly affairs. I want to hear preaching about prema. I don't want to hear preaching about surrender. I want to hear nice lilas. I don't want to hear Vedanta philosophy. I want to be reassured that I am OK as I am. I don't want to be challenged. "

This is less intelligent.

The Bhagavad-gita is spoken by Sri Krsna personally. Who is the intended audience for the Lord's own book? The royal order: leaders of men capable of ruling the world righteously--the intelligent and powerful class. Now, in instructing one such man, Arjuna, does Krsna permit him to submit to the urge of leaving the battlefield? Srila Prabhupada points out that this urge is, so to speak, 'normal' in that it is supported by many mundane thinkers. The politician Gandhi, for example, thought that the Indian government should adhere to nonviolence. But from the standpoint of the Gita Gandhi's doctrine is absurd. Thus Krsna orders Arjuna to stand fast and fight, even though he doesn't want to. Does Krsna preach to Arjuna to surrender? Clearly He does. His call to surrender is held by our acaryas to be the caran-sloki, the topmost verse of the whole book. Does Krsna fill Arjuna's ears with the nectar of prema-lila? Nowhere in the Bhagavad-gita, that's for sure. Does He speak Vedanta philosophy? See Bg 13. 4 and 5 for the answer. Krsna does reassure Arjuna that he is OK. NOT! The Lord calls him a fool, compares him to a eunuch, and challenges his position as anarya, non-Vedic.

Here Srila Prabhupada nicely sums up life on the mental plane, and the cure for it.

As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam, kamam hrd-rogam. Materialistic life means that one is afflicted by a formidable disease called lusty desire. Liberation means freedom from lusty desires because it is only due to such desires that one must accept repeated birth and death. As long as one's lusty desires are unfulfilled, one must take birth after birth to fulfill them. Because of material desires, therefore, one performs various types of activities and receives various types of bodies with which to try to fulfill desires that are never satisfied. The only remedy is to take to devotional service, which begins when one is free from all material desires. Anyabhilasita-sunyam. Anya-abhilasita means "material desire," and sunyam means "free from. " The spiritual soul has spiritual activities and spiritual desires, as described by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu: mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi. Unalloyed devotion to the service of the Lord is the only spiritual desire. To fulfill this spiritual desire, however, one must be free from all material desires. Desirelessness means freedom from material desires. This is described by Srila Rupa Gosvami as anyabhilasita-sunyam. As soon as one has material desires, one loses his spiritual identity. Then all the paraphernalia of one's life, including one's senses, body, religion, patience and intelligence, are deviated from one's original Krsna consciousness. As soon as one has material desires, one cannot properly use his senses, intelligence, mind and so on for the satisfaction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. [Srimad-Bhagavatam 7. 8. 10p]

Well-lll, as I wrote in an entry this past February, there are not few persons in and around ISKCON who find Prabhupada's prescription a tall order: "Unalloyed devotion to the service of the Lord is the only spiritual desire. To fulfill this spiritual desire, however, one must be free from all material desires. " In the early 1990's I met a gentleman who lived in Bucharest, Rumania, who was very interested in Krsna consciousness. But after a while he returned to Orthodox Christianity with great enthusiasm. Explaining why, he said to me about Srila Prabhupada's teachings: "They are too high. Too high. "

Srila Prabhupada acknowledges that not everyone can take to the pure prescription immediately. But that fact does not leave them with no hope at all.

In Bhagavad-gita (10. 8), the Lord says, aham sarvasya prabhavo: "I am the origin of everything. " Mattah sarvam pravartate: "whatever exists in the creation emanates from Me. " Iti matva bhajante mam budha bhava-saman-vitah: "When one fully understands that I create everything by My omnipotence, one becomes firmly situated in devotional service and fully surrenders at My lotus feet. " Unfortunately, the unintelligent cannot immediately understand Krsna's supremacy. Nonetheless, if they associate with devotees and read authorized books, they may gradually come to the proper understanding, although this may take many, many births. (Bhag. 6. 1. 4-5p)

It doesn't have to take many, many births. Even if we are not able to understand the philosophy in depth, we don't have to remain stuck on the mental platform, chasing the three modes around in endless circles like dogs chasing our tails.

Why you are inventing so strenuous work and spoil time, valuable time of human life? This we want to preach. Save time, be spiritually advanced, and other necessities, make it gentlemanly short-cut. If you save time, you can read all these literatures, understand what is value of life. Therefore, the literature here. Not for all. The brahmanas, educated. And they'll distribute the knowledge by speaking. Others, those who are less intelligent, simply by hearing, they will be guided. Just be convinced what kind of civilization we are trying to introduce. (Roof conversation, 14 February in Mayapur)

"Others who are less intelligent, simply by hearing, they will be guided. " Such is what Lord Krsna Himself tells Arjuna in Bhagavad-gita 13. 26, guaranteeing such hearers liberation from birth and death. But if one thinks that the Gita is "only on a lower platform," he will find it difficult to respect those who surrender to hearing it in regular classes in the temple, even though they don't seem to have deep realizations. He will think they are shallow and narrow-minded. He will think broad-mindedness and depth requires hearing different books taught by different teachers from different institutions, especially the books and teachers that present "the higher platform. "

Of course if one is on the platform of Sukadeva Gosvami, one can walk away from the institution of his own guru after hearing him just once, and then go anywhere in the world. But if one is not on that level, then one is advised to accept the regulated process that is yet described by Srila Prabhupada as a "gentlemanly short-cut. "

The problem is for those who find it intolerable to be among persons whose path is "just" surrendered hearing and service. That path Srila Prabhupada called "the gentlemanly short-cut"; in defiance of this, the ungentlemanly short-cut is the sahajiya path. "Free" of strict regulation, "free" of strict adherance to one prescribed path of service in one institution, "free" of having to associate with disciples in that institution who hear and follow with simple faith, "free" of having to follow orders that most people in this world consider unnatural, "free" of having to hear the word "surrender" all the time, "free" to chant whatever few daily number of rounds I can manage, "free" to similarly follow only those principals that I feel are reasonable for me, "free" to explore the confidential pastimes of Sri-Sri Radha-Krsna. . . ah, this is the real way to get free of the guna-pravaha mind and the powerful vasanas that rise up into the mind from all the desires buried in the subconscious that are not engaged in Krsna's service.

NOT!

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