Sam D. Smith

"Don't approach the cheater guru, bluffer guru, and be cheated. Stop this business. This has spoiled the whole spiritual atmosphere of the world. Take guru, the supreme guru, Krishna.
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Tehran, March…"

"CC Antya 3.60
nāmaikaṁ yasya vāci smaraṇa-patha-gataṁ śrotra-mūlaṁ gataṁ vāśuddhaṁ vāśuddha-varṇaṁ vyavahita-rahitaṁ tārayaty eva satyamtac ced deha-draviṇa-janatā-lobha-pāṣaṇḍa-madhyenikṣiptaṁ syān na phala-janakaṁ śīghram evātra vipra
…"

"SB 6.2.49
म्रियमाणो हरेर्नाम गृणन् पुत्रोपचारितम् ।अजामिलोऽप्यगाद्धाम किमुत श्रद्धया गृणन् ॥ ४९ ॥
mriyamāṇo harer nāmagṛṇan putropacāritamajāmilo ’py agād dhāmakim uta śraddhayā gṛṇan
While suffering at the time of death, Ajāmila chanted the holy…"

CC Antya 3.60

nāmaikaṁ yasya vāci smaraṇa-patha-gataṁ śrotra-mūlaṁ gataṁ vā
śuddhaṁ vāśuddha-varṇaṁ vyavahita-rahitaṁ tārayaty eva satyam
tac ced deha-draviṇa-janatā-lobha-pāṣaṇḍa-madhye
nikṣiptaṁ syān na phala-janakaṁ śīghram evātra vipra

Translation

‘If a devotee once utters the holy name of the Lord, or if it penetrates his mind or enters his ear, which is the channel of aural reception, that holy name will certainly deliver him from material bondage, whether vibrated properly or improperly, with correct or incorrect grammar, or properly joined or vibrated in separate parts. O brāhmaṇa, the potency of the holy name is therefore certainly great. However, if one uses the vibration of the holy name for the benefit of the material body, for material wealth and followers, or under the influence of greed or atheism — in other words, if one utters the name with offenses — such chanting will not produce the desired result very soon. Therefore one should diligently avoid offenses in chanting the holy name of the Lord.’ ”

https://vedabase.io/en/library/cc/antya/3/60/

Sometimes somebody takes his bird in the field and lets him loose, out of the cage, and the bird goes and then again comes into the cage. This human form of body is just like being let loose. Now you get the freedom of flying away from this cage of birth and death, but that we'll not do. We'll enter again. We are not interested how to get out of the cage. We are again and again coming back to the cage.

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Founder-Acarya of ISKCON

Calcutta, March 9, 1972

Srila Prabhupada very nicely describes this habit of ours, and the material world. This material world, which is mrityuloka [mrityu - death, loka - world], we remain in. When we come back up to human life, from aquatics, to trees and plants, to birds, animals, and then finally this human form of life, we have intelligence. With that intelligence we can engage in loving devotional service of the Lord, and thus liberate ourselves to the spiritual platform, and at the moment of death, we return back home, back to Godhead, in the Lord's eternal abode. However, none of us are interested in doing this. From hundreds of thousands of possibly millions of lifetimes, transmigrating, as the soul, from one body to the next, we have entirely forgotten the real goal of life, and so, in this ignorance, as Krishna states in Bhagavad-gita, we think the goal of life is to engage in sense enjoyment, and that life has no meaning, and everything comes from matter.

asatyam apratiṣṭhaṁ te jagad āhur anīśvaram
aparaspara-sambhūtaṁ kim anyat kāma-haitukam

"They say that this world is unreal, with no foundation, no God in control. They say it is produced of sex desire and has no cause other than lust." (Bg. 16.8) https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/8/

cintām aparimeyāṁ ca pralayāntām upāśritāḥ
kāmopabhoga-paramā etāvad iti niścitāḥ

āśā-pāśa-śatair baddhāḥ kāma-krodha-parāyaṇāḥ
īhante kāma-bhogārtham anyāyenārtha-sañcayān

"They believe that to gratify the senses is the prime necessity of human civilization. Thus until the end of life their anxiety is immeasurable. Bound by a network of hundreds of thousands of desires and absorbed in lust and anger, they secure money by illegal means for sense gratification." (Bg. 16.12-12) https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/11-12/

We are so much attached to this material existence, to our material possessions; family, money, beauty, power, fame, etc., and we believe that these are the goal of happiness, to satisfaction with oneself.

We see clearly that this is untrue, because everyone is duḥkham, unhappy. We are so full of frustration and anger, which stresses us deeply. These things resort from false prestige, pride. We are so proud in ourselves. If we were not proud, we would tolerate any and every offense made to us, or any problem we encounter. Krishna states in Bhagavad-gita:

mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ
āgamāpāyino ’nityās tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata

"O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed." (Bg. 2.14) https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/14/

However, because we are not in knowledge, we have no clue as to how we learn to tolerate the temporary manifestations of happiness and distress. This is because there is no installation of varnashrama-dharma, spiritual society. There is no real religion either. What has become known as religion is "Oh, I follow God, but I do not follow of His rules or regulations." Many people proclaim they are Christian, yet have never touched a Bible or go to church. And because this is the majority of people, such people have created this misleading fact that this is religion, that "Oh you can follow God, but not follow His rules, and just do whatever you wish." Krishna describes such rascal cheaters in Bhagavad-gita:

yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya vartate kāma-kārataḥ
na sa siddhim avāpnoti na sukhaṁ na parāṁ gatim

"He who discards scriptural injunctions and acts according to his own whims attains neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the supreme destination." (Bg. 16.23) https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/23/

However, due to so much misleading, this has become known as religion. Such people who add to this illusion are certainly the greatest cheaters.
So, how we become actually suhkham, happy, is to engage in the devotional service of the Lord, for that is our original intent; to serve, not to serve ourselves. This does not make us happy, because nothing can satisfy the blazing fire of lust for material enjoyment. At first we are satisfied, but ultimately, we are never satisfied. If that were so, we would not continue to engage in such fruitive activities. We are not happy by serving ourselves. We are actually happy by serving others, specifically Krishna. We see, even in this material world, that we are far more satisfied by serving and trying to please others. Specifically when we do not expect anything in return. This service is unfruitive, is solely done out of kindness and love.

A mother of a household, she is so dedicated to serving. She does her daily household chores, keeping everything nice and clean. When her children come home, she embraces them with unmotivated, selfless love and affection. She does not expect anything from them. And she gives them nice treats and lets them play, simply out of her love. When her husband comes home, she welcomes him home, makes him comfortable and serves him nicely out of unalloyed love. She does not expect anything from him. She prepares food for all her children and her husband for them to maintain their bodies and to enjoy after a long day. She does all these things out of unmotivated love. She expects nothing in return. Even if they are ungrateful, and beat her, she does not think "Oh, they are beating me and treating me unfairly. I will not serve them anymore until they treat me properly." No, she does not think this. Rather, she innocently becomes confused and upset as to why her family is mistreating her, even after her loving service unto them. She becomes so upset and confused.
This is the closest thing to pure devotion in this material world
Especially the love a mother has for her son
even if her son is a murderer, or an arsonist, or a rapist, which are the most abominable of crimes, and are punishable by death, she will still love her son. The closest thing to this love is devotional service unto the Lord which is transcendental. It is beyond any love of this material world, and is eternal and blissfully executed As Lord Caitanya prays..

ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ
śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam
ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ
sarvātma-snapanaṁ paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam

"Glory to the Sri-Krsna-Sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious." https://vedabase.io/en/library/cc/antya/20/12/

"For which we are always anxious." These words are significant. We are always anxious for some pleasure, of which the material world does not supply. However, this chanting of the Lord's holy names - Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare - aloud with music (saṅkīrtana), or quietly (japa,) fills that void, that anxiety. It supplies the nectar for which we are always anxious. We are also instructed to engage in devotional service, of which how to execute said service is described in literatures such as Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (Nectar of Devotion), and many other authoratitive scriptures explain how one can execute this devotional service. The foremost of these scriptures being Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The Gītā explains God and devotional service, and the Bhāgavatam explains how to execute this bhakti-yoga, devotional service. These two literatures are read every day in all ISKCON temples, simply due to their significance and importance. So please read Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, chant Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, and be happy. If you do not have time to read, then please chant. The beauty of the Hare Krishna mantra is that it can be chanted anywhere at any time. This is the divine beauty and mercy of the maha-mantra (great mantra for liberation.) Chant Hare Krishna and be happy. Thank you very much.

An elaboration on the divine words of Srila Prabhupada by Sam D. Smith

Hare Krishna

"We are not interested how to get out of the cage."

You can chant aloud with music (saṅkīrtana)

Image may contain: 14 people, people standing, wedding and outdoor

Or can chant quietly on beads (japa), or whilst we are engaging in other activities

Image may contain: one or more people, indoor and food

Please read what His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada has so kindly given us by the order of his spiritual master

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)

Presenter, translator, and commentator on Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, and many other great literatures

Comments

Sam D. Smith March 13, 2020 at 10:42pm

Don't approach the cheater guru, bluffer guru, and be cheated. Stop this business. This has spoiled the whole spiritual atmosphere of the world. Take guru, the supreme guru, Krishna.

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Tehran, March 13, 1975

Arjuna succumbs to greif, and surrenders unto Krishna and asks for His guidance, to act as His guru.

"Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of miserly weakness. In this condition I am asking You to tell me for certain what is best for me. Now I am Your disciple, and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me." (Bg. 2.7)
Sam D. Smith March 13, 2020 at 10:37pm

CC Antya 3.60

nāmaikaṁ yasya vāci smaraṇa-patha-gataṁ śrotra-mūlaṁ gataṁ vā
śuddhaṁ vāśuddha-varṇaṁ vyavahita-rahitaṁ tārayaty eva satyam
tac ced deha-draviṇa-janatā-lobha-pāṣaṇḍa-madhye
nikṣiptaṁ syān na phala-janakaṁ śīghram evātra vipra

Translation

‘If a devotee once utters the holy name of the Lord, or if it penetrates his mind or enters his ear, which is the channel of aural reception, that holy name will certainly deliver him from material bondage, whether vibrated properly or improperly, with correct or incorrect grammar, or properly joined or vibrated in separate parts. O brāhmaṇa, the potency of the holy name is therefore certainly great. However, if one uses the vibration of the holy name for the benefit of the material body, for material wealth and followers, or under the influence of greed or atheism — in other words, if one utters the name with offenses — such chanting will not produce the desired result very soon. Therefore one should diligently avoid offenses in chanting the holy name of the Lord.’ ”

https://vedabase.io/en/library/cc/antya/3/60/

CC Antya 3.60
Sam D. Smith March 13, 2020 at 10:30pm

SB 6.2.49

म्रियमाणो हरेर्नाम गृणन् पुत्रोपचारितम् ।
अजामिलोऽप्यगाद्धाम किमुत श्रद्धया गृणन् ॥ ४९ ॥

mriyamāṇo harer nāma
gṛṇan putropacāritam
ajāmilo ’py agād dhāma
kim uta śraddhayā gṛṇan

While suffering at the time of death, Ajāmila chanted the holy name of the Lord, and although the chanting was directed toward his son, he nevertheless returned home, back to Godhead. Therefore if one faithfully and inoffensively chants the holy name of the Lord, where is the doubt that he will return to Godhead?

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/6/2/49/

ŚB 6.2.49
Sam D. Smith March 12, 2020 at 7:46am

Sometimes somebody takes his bird in the field and lets him loose, out of the cage, and the bird goes and then again comes into the cage. This human form of body is just like being let loose. Now you get the freedom of flying away from this cage of birth and death, but that we'll not do. We'll enter again. We are not interested how to get out of the cage. We are again and again coming back to the cage.

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Founder-Acarya of ISKCON

Calcutta, March 9, 1972

Srila Prabhupada very nicely describes this habit of ours, and the material world. This material world, which is mrityuloka [mrityu - death, loka - world], we remain in. When we come back up to human life, from aquatics, to trees and plants, to birds, animals, and then finally this human form of life, we have intelligence. With that intelligence we can engage in loving devotional service of the Lord, and thus liberate ourselves to the spiritual platform, and at the moment of death, we return back home, back to Godhead, in the Lord's eternal abode. However, none of us are interested in doing this. From hundreds of thousands of possibly millions of lifetimes, transmigrating, as the soul, from one body to the next, we have entirely forgotten the real goal of life, and so, in this ignorance, as Krishna states in Bhagavad-gita, we think the goal of life is to engage in sense enjoyment, and that life has no meaning, and everything comes from matter.

asatyam apratiṣṭhaṁ te jagad āhur anīśvaram
aparaspara-sambhūtaṁ kim anyat kāma-haitukam

"They say that this world is unreal, with no foundation, no God in control. They say it is produced of sex desire and has no cause other than lust." (Bg. 16.8) https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/8/

cintām aparimeyāṁ ca pralayāntām upāśritāḥ
kāmopabhoga-paramā etāvad iti niścitāḥ

āśā-pāśa-śatair baddhāḥ kāma-krodha-parāyaṇāḥ
īhante kāma-bhogārtham anyāyenārtha-sañcayān

"They believe that to gratify the senses is the prime necessity of human civilization. Thus until the end of life their anxiety is immeasurable. Bound by a network of hundreds of thousands of desires and absorbed in lust and anger, they secure money by illegal means for sense gratification." (Bg. 16.12-12) https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/11-12/

We are so much attached to this material existence, to our material possessions; family, money, beauty, power, fame, etc., and we believe that these are the goal of happiness, to satisfaction with oneself.

We see clearly that this is untrue, because everyone is duḥkham, unhappy. We are so full of frustration and anger, which stresses us deeply. These things resort from false prestige, pride. We are so proud in ourselves. If we were not proud, we would tolerate any and every offense made to us, or any problem we encounter. Krishna states in Bhagavad-gita:

mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ
āgamāpāyino ’nityās tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata

"O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed." (Bg. 2.14) https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/14/

However, because we are not in knowledge, we have no clue as to how we learn to tolerate the temporary manifestations of happiness and distress. This is because there is no installation of varnashrama-dharma, spiritual society. There is no real religion either. What has become known as religion is "Oh, I follow God, but I do not follow of His rules or regulations." Many people proclaim they are Christian, yet have never touched a Bible or go to church. And because this is the majority of people, such people have created this misleading fact that this is religion, that "Oh you can follow God, but not follow His rules, and just do whatever you wish." Krishna describes such rascal cheaters in Bhagavad-gita:

yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya vartate kāma-kārataḥ
na sa siddhim avāpnoti na sukhaṁ na parāṁ gatim

"He who discards scriptural injunctions and acts according to his own whims attains neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the supreme destination." (Bg. 16.23) https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/23/

However, due to so much misleading, this has become known as religion. Such people who add to this illusion are certainly the greatest cheaters.
So, how we become actually suhkham, happy, is to engage in the devotional service of the Lord, for that is our original intent; to serve, not to serve ourselves. This does not make us happy, because nothing can satisfy the blazing fire of lust for material enjoyment. At first we are satisfied, but ultimately, we are never satisfied. If that were so, we would not continue to engage in such fruitive activities. We are not happy by serving ourselves. We are actually happy by serving others, specifically Krishna. We see, even in this material world, that we are far more satisfied by serving and trying to please others. Specifically when we do not expect anything in return. This service is unfruitive, is solely done out of kindness and love.

A mother of a household, she is so dedicated to serving. She does her daily household chores, keeping everything nice and clean. When her children come home, she embraces them with unmotivated, selfless love and affection. She does not expect anything from them. And she gives them nice treats and lets them play, simply out of her love. When her husband comes home, she welcomes him home, makes him comfortable and serves him nicely out of unalloyed love. She does not expect anything from him. She prepares food for all her children and her husband for them to maintain their bodies and to enjoy after a long day. She does all these things out of unmotivated love. She expects nothing in return. Even if they are ungrateful, and beat her, she does not think "Oh, they are beating me and treating me unfairly. I will not serve them anymore until they treat me properly." No, she does not think this. Rather, she innocently becomes confused and upset as to why her family is mistreating her, even after her loving service unto them. She becomes so upset and confused.
This is the closest thing to pure devotion in this material world
Especially the love a mother has for her son
even if her son is a murderer, or an arsonist, or a rapist, which are the most abominable of crimes, and are punishable by death, she will still love her son. The closest thing to this love is devotional service unto the Lord which is transcendental. It is beyond any love of this material world, and is eternal and blissfully executed As Lord Caitanya prays..

ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ
śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam
ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ
sarvātma-snapanaṁ paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam

"Glory to the Sri-Krsna-Sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious." https://vedabase.io/en/library/cc/antya/20/12/

"For which we are always anxious." These words are significant. We are always anxious for some pleasure, of which the material world does not supply. However, this chanting of the Lord's holy names - Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare - aloud with music (saṅkīrtana), or quietly (japa,) fills that void, that anxiety. It supplies the nectar for which we are always anxious. We are also instructed to engage in devotional service, of which how to execute said service is described in literatures such as Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (Nectar of Devotion), and many other authoratitive scriptures explain how one can execute this devotional service. The foremost of these scriptures being Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The Gītā explains God and devotional service, and the Bhāgavatam explains how to execute this bhakti-yoga, devotional service. These two literatures are read every day in all ISKCON temples, simply due to their significance and importance. So please read Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, chant Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, and be happy. If you do not have time to read, then please chant. The beauty of the Hare Krishna mantra is that it can be chanted anywhere at any time. This is the divine beauty and mercy of the maha-mantra (great mantra for liberation.) Chant Hare Krishna and be happy. Thank you very much.

An elaboration on the divine words of Srila Prabhupada by Sam D. Smith

Hare Krishna

"We are not interested how to get out of the cage."

You can chant aloud with music (saṅkīrtana)

Or can chant quietly on beads (japa), or whilst we are engaging in other activities

Please read what His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada has so kindly given us by the order of his spiritual master

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)

Presenter, translator, and commentator on Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, and many other great literatures
Volunteer

Ram Charan Das August 2, 2018 at 4:49pm

Hare Krishna dandvats, Prabhuji. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I do hereby wish you all the best in Krishna consciousness, Gauranga, Radhe Radhe, Hari Bol! Hare Krishna.

This reply was deleted.