We may have external strength, he said, but success will only come if we have spiritual strength
On their preaching tour in the South, Acyutananda and Yasodanandana Swamis have met an assortment of spiritual practitioners who have their own interpretations and twists on traditional Vedic siddhanta. Now they are taking full advantage of Prabhupada's association to get definitive answers to the challenges they regularly face.
On the walk this morning they played the role of impersonalists and challenged Prabhupada with a barrage of Mayavadi arguments. Yet, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't defeat the Vaishnava exegesis with which Prabhupada countered all their arguments.
Sri G. Gopala Reddy, the president of the local Rotary Club, also accompanied Srila Prabhupada on the morning walk. He is the secretary of a committee that Mahamsa Swami has formed for the new temple. The committee has been very active in making new ISKCON life members and obtaining pledges for construction work. Prabhupada was happy to see him and thanked him for his efforts. Upon noticing a colony of bhangis, or "untouchables," Mr. Reddy mentioned that the government was distributing land to them. He asked whether ISKCON was engaged in any sort of social welfare work, because many people have asked him what our Society did to benefit others.
Prabhupada replied by asking him what he considered the best social welfare.
When Mr. Reddy said serving the poor and the natives, Prabhupada told him, "Everyone is poor. Who is rich? First of all find out: Who is rich?" Srila Prabhupada went on to explain how everyone is poor because each of us must suffer disease, old age, and death. Adjustment of a person's material condition can be done by anyone, but ISKCON was established for a different purpose. "These things are being done by so many other people, and we are doing something which is ultimate. The hospital gives some medicine when there is some disease, but that does not mean there will be no disease. Can they guarantee that, 'I give you this medicine no more disease?' We are giving that medicine that no more disease. That is the best social work. As soon as you give up this body tyaktva deham punar janma naiti you'll have no more birth. And if you have no more birth, there will be no more death. And if you have no more birth, then there will be no more disease. This is our prescription. Tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti. Not that he is finished; he goes back to home, back to Godhead. This is our program."
On the way back to the house a companion of Mr. Reddy asked Srila Prabhupada how to meditate. Although most people in India are familiar with the concept of mediation, or have even practiced some form of it themselves, the actual purpose of meditation is rarely understood. The man's lack of knowledge became apparent when he explained that he thought the goal of meditation was to make the mind silent.
Prabhupada immediately corrected him, saying that it is not possible to silence the mind. He recounted a recent Back to Godhead article where a woman disciple had analyzed the fallacy of the idea. Prabhupada had greatly enjoyed the article in which the girl described how she had read in a book that meditation means "to free the mind of all thoughts." So she considered, "How can I be without thoughts? I will think of being 'without thoughts,' and that is a thought." Therefore she concluded it was bogus, and she threw away the meditation book.
Prabhupada said the point is to think of God. This alone is the real goal of meditation there is nothing higher. If one is a rascal and has nothing beneficial to say, then it is good if he is silent. Otherwise the Bhagavad-gita never advises silent meditation. Krishna says, satatam kirta yanto mam. He never said that 'You become silent.' Where is? Can you show me any verse in the Bhagavad-gita? Can you show me any verse where Krishna has advised that you become silent? Or the mind is vacant? Where are these things?
"Man-mana bhava mad-bhakto: 'The mind should be absorbed in My thought,' man-mana. That is recommended. Where does He say that 'Make your mind vacant and think of nonsense'? He never says. And where does He say that you become silent? He never says. Ya idam paramam guhyam mad-bhakteshv abhidhasyati; na ca tasman manushyeshu kascin me priya-krittamah [Bg. 18.68-69]: 'Anyone who speaks about this Bhagavad-gita, he is my dearmost friend,' He said. So why one should be silent? Our ultimate aim is how to become dearmost to Krishna, and He never says that 'You become silent.' Rather, He recommends that 'You always be engaged in glorifying Me.' Where is the 'silent'? These are all manufactured by these rascals. Meditation and silence, these are not recommended in the Bhagavad-gita."
After the morning walk the sannyasis have been coming into Prabhupada's room for a few minutes, eager for as much association with him as they can get. As he relaxed behind his desk waiting for breakfast he told them our preaching will go on only if we have spiritual strength. "We may have external strength," he said, "but success will only come if we have spiritual strength. Preaching programs will work only if there is purity." Citing the example of one of his leading Godbrothers in the Gaudiya Matha, he pointed out that he had all kinds of material facility money, mathas, etc. But what had he done for spreading Krishna consciousness? He explained that simply amassing material wealth will not bring spiritual success, nor does it signify success. He gave the example of milk touched by a serpent: It looks like milk, but it is spoiled.
"How do we keep our spiritual strength?" Prabhupada asked. We can keep our spiritual strength by being very strict Vaishnavas, he told us: by strictly following the principles and not giving any consideration whatsoever to maya's allurements. Maya is always trying to weaken us, he said, but if we think only of Krishna we will have spiritual strength; if we think of something else then we will have no transcendental potency. As always, Srila Prabhupada emphasized that we must remain strictly regulated and chant all our rounds every day.
Reference: Transcendental Diary Volume 1 by Hari Sauri Dasa
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