"Quest" Bhagavat Vani 2013

BY HDG B.S. TIRTHA MAHARAJ

Quest is a search, a pursuit, the mental process by which knowledge is acquired. GVA Founder Acharya His Divine Grace Shrila B. S. Tirtha Maharaja resolves the quest of seekers by responding to the issues that confront them.

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Q. Why all spiritual persons wear saffron colour clothes?
A. It is a symbol of renunciation. Merely accepting external behavioural codes and dress does not, however, make a person renounced because that is only a ‘surface shift’ or outward display. Inner acceptance and change can happen only on true realization.

Q. When can one see God?
A. To the extent one has entered into the devotional service of Krishna or the proportion to which one is freed from sins can one perceive the Lord’s presence everywhere.

Q. What is the difference between spirituality and religion?
A. Spirituality is God-given and religion (faith) is man-made.

Q. I like this world of pleasures and detest spirituality.
A. You are like a hostage who begins to love his captors after prolonged incarceration. The poor chap does not know that he will ultimately be killed. Similarly, you will have to ultimately die and all your enjoyments will come to a stop.

Q. What is the cause of our bondage?
A. Under the false impression that body is the self, people engage in various material activities not understanding the pernicious implications and thus relate to many false attachments. This gross misconception is the root cause for continued material entanglement resulting in perpetual bondage.

Q. How do you define austerity and renunciation?
A. Austerity means remaining fixed in Krishna consciousness despite irrational impulses of the mind. Renunciation means abandonment of all things that are irrelevant to spiritual advancement.

Q. Why is sense enjoyment always decried?
A. Regulated sense enjoyment is never belittled. What is denounced is unrestricted enjoyment engendered by physical stimulus because it obscures the clear perception of one’s actual self. Non-enduring nature of happiness arising out of sensory transaction, by itself, should be an eye opener to a man of average intelligence.

Q. Why is a devotee advised against materialistic association?
A. Sensual topics engaged in bad association serve as an impetus for the seed of lust still retained by an endeavouring devotee, although apparently subdued, to emerge again thereby causing deviation from the determined pursuit of path of devotion. Hence, one should discretely avoid serious or intimate material connection.

Q. Although a practicing Krishna devotee for long, sometimes, I don’t even feel like chanting the holy names? Why is it?
A. Occasional despondency and sporadic monotony in devotional service is due to conditioning of millions of lifetimes in the material world. Therefore, determination to pursue despite any perceived hindrances is required. The patience always pays.

Q. What is Maya?
A. Everyone thinks he or she is fine. This is Maya. The pig eats human stool and thinks he is happy. Man eats nice cakes and says he is happy. This is Maya. Donkey sleeps on the footpath and thinks he is happy. Man sleeps in the comfort of an airconditioned house and claims he is happy. This is Maya. Both men and donkeys toil throughout the day and imagine they are happy. This is Maya.

Q. Scriptures always advocate spiritual life. Why?
A. No matter how much time one can devote, one must practise spiritual life on a regular or even daily basis if possible. It is because fulfilling demands of the body is animal life and satisfying the requirement of the spirit soul is human life.

Q. Don’t you think social welfare work to be superior to spiritual activity?
A. No, because social activism though may appear to be selfless action, it still may suffer from an imperceptible trace of a desire to gain social recognition. This kind of subtle body sense gratificatory attitude is also materialistic. Such actions merely promote one to the celestial abode within this cosmos whereas spiritual or rather God conscious activities lead one to the attainment of spiritual abode.

Q. Why do we see these days hardly anyone pay heed to religious instructions?
A. Religious bigots give literalist dictates because of their narrow dogmatism that is repulsive to today’s generations, especially to the youthful psychology. Such philosophical obduracy will only lead to alienation in today’s modern world. A mature understanding as well as helpful approach and not estrangement is the solution. An analytical scholarly discourse on the actual purport of scriptures is required. Religious subject matter requires rational debate and not derogatory comments.

Q. Why are spiritualists compulsive antagonists to scientific approach?
A. Spiritualists are also scientists. They are also practitioners of science of higher dimensions. The benefit of material science is exaggerated and distorted. It merely increases a sense of estrangement and insecurity. Incorrect assertions and overzealous rhetorical articulations only mislead the society. Actually, it is only the upstarts in the scientific community that contemptuously reject any and every spiritual proposition. This malignant virus has affected the psychology of current generations. Spiritualists, on the contrary, are very willing to help and co-operate.

Q. What is false ego?
A. The illusory identification of consciousness with matter is called false ego and is the cause of one’s material existence. In other words, to think, “I am the body,” is false ego.

Q. Do you agree, one day the scientists will be able to establish the highest spiritual truth?
A. Anything expressed by material vibrations, ascertained by material intelligence, experienced by material senses and concocted by material mind has to be material and not spiritual. The Supreme Lord Krishna is transcendental to all material endeavours. Only by the mercy of the Lord can a fortunate person among the scientists realise that Krishna is the Absolute Spiritual Truth and not otherwise.

Q. Why do you deride the authentic Vedic principles of Purushartha, Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha?
A. It is because the brief span of life in Kali Yuga is the biggest disadvantage that vitiates the possibility of one’s gradual progress on the spiritual path by this process which is a general prescription described in the Vedas for a conditioned soul. Moreover, moksha can mean both impersonal liberation as well as attainment of Shri Vaikuntha, the spiritual planet. However, the parama purushartha, supreme spiritual goal is to develop prema, love of God, which is the fifth and final objective. Anyone can take to it directly and this enables one to gain engagement in the loving service of Krishna, the Supreme Lord, in the highest transcendental abode, Shri Goloka Vrindavana.

Q. At what age one should accept a guru?
A. Age does not matter. One is advised to approach a guru, a spiritual teacher, only when he or she is actually inclined to enquire from an elevated platform of spiritual understanding.

Q. What is mukti?
A. We are by nature servants of God, Krishna. But artificially, we are trying to become masters. Therefore, mukti means to revive our servant consciousness and give up the boss mindset.

Q. When does God appear here?
A. When religion becomes perverted, irreligion becomes prominent and the devotees are persecuted by demons, God descends to this earth planet.

Q. Why does one find it difficult to cultivate faith in God?
A. Because of our conditioned nature, consideration of blood kinship outweighs the rationale contained in the information with regard to one’s relationship with God. One can develop faith through association of genuine saintly devotees.

Q. Why worship God?
A. No one wants to die but die one must. This existential incompatibility vindicates the possible presence of a superior person possessing inconceivable power whose dictates no mortals of
this world can defy. Hence, we must worship this Superior Person, God.

Q. What is a mantra?
A. Mantra is a verbal embodiment of spiritual power. While this will relieve you of mental stress and resuscitate healthy emotional vibrancy apparently, the final effect of constant focused chanting of the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra will unlock your true spiritual potential, the inner reserves of your real vitality.

Q. Very often I lose faith in spiritual activities - why?
A. Even for a formally initiated person who lacks scriptural understanding, the spiritual benefit might seem intangible during the initial period of endeavour and hence an impatient aspirant, at that time, may become convinced of instantly perceivable results of material sense enjoying attempts. This is certainly unfortunate. Steadfast perseverance always pays.

Q. Can anyone practice yoga?
A. Yes. Why not? You must, however, understand that yoga is not meant for merely gaining physical vitality and extraordinary longevity. It is meant for realizing the ultimate reality. Hence, the Supreme Lord Krishna recommends in the Gita, Bhakti Yoga to attain liberation. Yoga is certainly not meant for developing aerodynamically contoured physique.

Q. Can we really see God?
A. Yes. Why Not? But not with our current impure optical sense. Through non-hypocritical service to a god-realised devotee all our senses gradually become purified and spiritualised. These spiritualised senses are then empowered to perceive God.

Q. We find of late, religious persons are of questionable conduct, why?
A. This is because many have taken to it merely as a profession coming through communal or family tradition without a mature understanding of positive value of spiritual culture. Thorough understanding of spiritual basis is more important than perfunctory performance of scripturally directed rituals. The behaviour of a religionist, once deemed to be model rectitude worthy of emulation, has gradually become tainted due to deviation from strict adherence to regulative principles couched in scriptural mandates.

Q. What need is there to follow scriptural dictates?
A. Scriptures give practical directions to all aspirants based on individual psyche that makes spiritual advancement possible. Scriptures are compared to the Sun and our ability to see is useless unless there is sunlight.

Q. Why mental control is the core of your lectures?
A. Because physical vitality depends upon inner serenity whether one is materially active or spiritually engaged.

Q. What is the main cause of bondage?
A. Delirious material activities propelled by enjoying propensity gradually trap a person into the vicious cycle of birth and death.

Q. When is a seeker born?
A. According to the Gita, when one is extremely distressed or frustrated in economic improvement or very inquisitive about the absolute truth or purely philosophical in outlook, he or she becomes a seeker and takes to the path of spiritual pursuit.

Q. They say speech is silver and silence is gold. What do you say?
A. Chanting Hare Krishna Mahamantra is diamond.

Q. Is failure essential to success?
A. Some say, “Failure is stepping stone to success” and others opine, “Success begets success.” From the spiritual point of view, both are useless since death makes these totally meaningless. Hence, in the Gita, Lord Krishna advises Arjuna to become nir-dwandwa, that is, to transcend all kinds of dualities of this world and perform all activities without selfish motive and offer them unto Him. This qualifies one to enter into the spiritual realm of Vaikuntha.

Q. Does silence help one advance spiritually? How does one execute mauna vrata?
A. Silence means ‘not talking nonsense’. This means one should stop unnecessary gossiping about all worldly matters and glorify the greatness of the Supreme Lord Krishna. This is the true mauna vrata. This is how one advances spiritually.