Sankarshan Das: So today we're reading from Srimad Bhagavatam, 4th Canto, 23 chapter, Text 14.

sampīḍya pāyuṁ pārṣṇibhyāṁ
vāyum utsārayañ chanaiḥ
nābhyāṁ koṣṭheṣv avasthāpya
hṛd-uraḥ-kaṇṭha-śīrṣaṇi

Synonyms

sampīḍya — by blocking; pāyum — the door of the anus; pārṣṇibhyām — by the calves; vāyum — the air which goes up; utsārayan — pushing upward; śanaiḥ — gradually; nābhyām — by the navel; koṣṭheṣu — in the heart and in the throat; avasthāpya — fixing; hṛt — in the heart; uraḥ — upward; kaṇṭha — throat; śīrṣaṇi — between the two eyebrows.

Translation and Purport by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada.

Translation

“When Mahārāja Pṛthu practiced a particular yogic sitting posture, he blocked the door of his anus with his ankles, pressed his right and left calves and gradually raised his life air upward, passing it on to the circle of his navel, up to his heart and throat, and finally pushed it upward to the central position between his two eyebrows.”

Purport

The sitting posture described herein is called muktāsana. In the yoga process, after following the strict regulative principles controlling sleeping, eating and mating, one is allowed to practice the different sitting postures. The ultimate aim of yoga is to enable one to give up this body according to his own free will. One who has attained the ultimate summit of yoga practice can live in the body as long as he likes or, as long as he is not completely perfect, leave the body to go anywhere within or outside the universe. Some yogīs leave their bodies to go to the higher planetary systems and enjoy the material facilities therein. However, intelligent yogīs do not wish to waste their time within this material world at all; they do not care for the material facilities in higher planetary systems, but are interested in going directly to the spiritual sky, back home, back to Godhead.

From the description in this verse, it appears that Mahārāja Pṛthu had no desire to promote himself to the higher planetary systems. He wanted to return home immediately, back to Godhead. Although Mahārāja Pṛthu stopped all practice of mystic yoga after realizing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he took advantage of his previous practice and immediately placed himself on the brahma-bhūta platform in order to accelerate his return to Godhead. The aim of this particular system of āsana, known as the sitting posture for liberation, or muktāsana, is to attain success in kuṇḍalinī-cakra and gradually raise the life from the mūlādhāra-cakra to the svādhiṣṭhāna-cakra, then to the maṇipūra-cakra, the anāhata-cakra, the viśuddha-cakra, and finally to the ājñā-cakra. When the yogī reaches the ājñā-cakra, between the two eyebrows, he is able to penetrate the brahma-randhra, or the hole in his skull, and go to any planet he desires, up to the spiritual kingdom of Vaikuṇṭha, or Kṛṣṇaloka. The conclusion is that one has to come to the brahma-bhūta stage for going back to Godhead. However, those who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or who are practicing bhakti-yoga (śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam), can return to Godhead without even practicing the muktāsana process. The purpose of muktāsana practice is to come to the brahma-bhūta stage, for without being on the brahma-bhūta stage, one cannot be promoted to the spiritual sky. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (14.26):

māṁ ca yo ’vyabhicāreṇa
bhakti-yogena sevate
sa guṇān samatītyaitān
brahma-bhūyāya kalpate

The bhakti-yogī, practicing bhakti-yoga, is always situated on the brahma-bhūta stage (brahma-bhūyāya kalpate). If a devotee is able to continue on the brahma-bhūta platform, he enters the spiritual sky automatically after death and returns to Godhead. Consequently a devotee need not feel sorry for not having practiced the kuṇḍalinī-cakra, or not penetrating the six cakras one after another. As far as Mahārāja Pṛthu was concerned, he had already practiced this process, and since he did not want to wait for the time when his death would occur naturally, he took advantage of the ṣaṭ-cakra penetration process and thus gave up the body according to his own free will and immediately entered the spiritual sky.

vande ’haṁ śrī-guroḥ śrī-yuta-pada-kamalaṁ

śrī-gurūn vaiṣṇavāṁś ca

śrī-rūpaṁ sāgrajātaṁ saha-gaṇa-raghunāthānvitaṁ taṁ sa-jīvam

sādvaitaṁ sāvadhūtaṁ parijana-sahitaṁ kṛṣṇa-caitanya-devaṁ

śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pādān saha-gaṇa-lalitā-śrī-viśākhānvitāṁś ca

nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale

śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine

namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe

nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe

So, here we can get some idea of what is the actual practice of yoga. The modern day ‘yogis’ go to some yoga studio and they sit in some postures for so-called health. Yoga for health. It is completely bogus. Yoga is meant for raising the life air to the various chakras up to then be able to penetrate the brahma randhra, the hole on top of the skull, so boom, leaving the body at the time one desires. That's the actual, even this other process of developing mystic powers is not the real purpose of yoga. The advanced yogis, they can develop all kinds of mystic powers but that's also not the purpose of yoga. That's simply a spin-off.

So the real purpose of yoga is to go through, is to raise the life enter of all these chakras, to be able to penetrate the brahma randhra, opening in the top of the skull so one can choose when he wants to die. For us normal person, people who are not advanced in this process, we have to die according to our karma. When it's time to die, you have to die. Like it or not, it's your time to die. Of course the average age right now, here in the US is 79. But you could die at the age of 20 or 85.

The average doesn't mean you're going to live to be 79 because that's the average. So, but the yogi he doesn't depend on the average, the average time, the average lifespan. He can live to 700 years if he wants to. He is completely under control of when he dies. So one could think, why does he not want to die then? He can stay here forever, for as long as you want. Why do would you want to die? Well, this material world is not a very nice place actually. It's a place of birth, death, old age, and disease, adhyātmika, adhibautika and adhidaivika miseries.

So to have the privilege of being to leave whenever you want to do, it is actually a great blessing. It's like you can buy an airline ticket and you can choose when you want to fly to a certain destination. It's your choice. I want to fly on you know, September 13th to a certain destination. You can choose your time and you want to fly. So the yogi has that privilege. He gets to fly on the airplane, the yogic airplane, wherever he chooses to go.

When he wants to book his ticket, you see. When he wants to penetrate the Brahma-randhra, boom, and go back to the either material planet, the higher planetary systems to enjoy heavenly pleasures in the heavenly regions that's less intelligent yogis. But Prabhupada points out those who are actually intelligent, they don’t want to mess around the higher planets.

The higher planets are also a place of misery because even on the higher planets you have to die. You may enjoy all kinds of celestial pleasures but still you have to die. So what's the use of going to the heavenly planets? So those who are actually intelligent they want nothing to do with this material. Get out of this damn nasty place. They want nothing to do with it. It's actually a very nasty place. You may try to do good here but you get so many... You may try to be a good person here but you get so many... You deal with so many bad things. You might try to be an honest person but everybody's trying to cheat you. Try to be honest to everyone, friend of everyone, but you see you get so many enemies, so this is a nasty place, especially now in the Kali Yuga it's very very, very nasty.

In the Satya Yuga it was almost completely pious, almost 100% piety. Tretā yuga is 75% piety, 25% impiety. Dvāpara yuga 50-50. In Kali yuga 75% impiety, 25% piety and going down 25, 24, 23. Prabhupada mentioned a time that gets so bad. Right now we're in great anxiety about the drought isn't it? We don't see any rain here and everything's drying up, the water supply is going down and telling us we can't water very much our lawns like we used to. It could get so bad that you can only take drinking water. It's so bad. Actually, Prabhupada points out a time when the whole ocean will dry up. The Pacific Ocean. There won't be a Pacific Ocean anymore, Prabhupada said. They will come to that point. No oceans anymore, no water anywhere. Everybody’s finished. That's where we're heading in this Kali Yuga, all these sinful reactions of all the sinful activities, abortion clinics, the slaughterhouses. I mean, we're getting heavy, heavy, heavy reactions, right against the laws of nature. And these rascals, they're murdering babies, they say, pro-choice like it's some very virtuous thing to have a choice whether I let my kid live or murder him. It's supposed to be a virtuous thing. They're very proud. I have pro-choice. They go with their signs. Pro-choice, pro-choice, pro-choice. This is more intelligent than being pro-life. There are the pro-lifers and the pro-choices. They think pro-choice is better than pro-life. I mean it's just such a crazy mentality.

I can't imagine how sick they're getting. Now they have the thing you can change your gender. You can do surgery and change your gender. You have artificial manipulation of your bodily organs so you can appear like a female or a male. I mean it's so absolutely ridiculous what's going on now. Absolutely insane what's going on. I mean it's shocking to think how degraded it has become, it’s absolutely shocking how degraded it has become.

So there's no hope except for this movement of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, this is the only hope for the suffering of humanity, the Only hope. There is no hope other than this.

Other than this is somebody down, down, down. They actually become lower than animals, these rascals. Lower than animals. The animals have some sanity. They act according to the laws of nature. But these so-called human beings are acting against the laws of nature. Show me many animals that act against the laws of nature. Every animal strictly abides by the laws of nature. So these human beings are not even on level of animals. They're lower than animals. It's disgusting. It's repulsive. It's absolutely insane how they're living nowadays. The philosophy they're espousing is absolutely insane what's going on this planet. It all happened because Shringi cursed Maharaja Parikshit. Maharaja Parikshit was out hunting and he was a little thirsty he went to the head of the sage to get some water but the sage neglected him as he was absorbed deep in meditation. So Maharaja Parikshit being a little bit disturbed why he's not giving me any and he got on him with a snake. He shouldn't have done that but still the sage was tolerant. He didn't mind, the sage was tolerant. But his son, a little unintelligent Brahmin boy, he was disturbed. Oh my, the father's been insulted by the king. Therefore I curse the king, he will die in 7 days. The father was so disturbed, you just see the Brahminical power, how did they had so much power, even a little boy could curse the king to die in 7 days.

The Brahmins formerly had so much power, even the little son of a Brahmin could curse the king. So it was a big, big mistake he made. But the curse was given and had to happen. But that was the opportunity for Bhagavatam to be spoken.

Because of that, the whole Vedic civilization collapsed. Up until that point the whole world was ruled by a Vedic king. This whole world was like a paradise ruled by Vedic kings. There was peace and happiness all over the whole planet. There was no different nations. The whole planet was one nation. Vedic civilization under one Vedic king, the whole planet. Bharat-Varsha. Now they call India Bharat. But formerly India was the Bharat culture, the Indian culture of this entire planet. And these foolish rascals, they teach in the universities. I took a course when I was in college. They taught that the first cities on this planet were the Tigris and Euphrates civilizations. That was the original cities on this planet. They have no idea of the Vedic culture. They completely block Vedic culture out of their history books. They're such demons and Asuras. There was the Tagus and Euphrates cultures and the Greek cultures and the Roman cultures. They had no idea of the Vedic culture. They completely turned it away from their history books, these fools and rascles.

So Prabhupada is bringing it back, bringing it back, bringing it back. Let these fools and rascles put the Bhagavatam in every university. Let it be a required study. It's like we have our courses called basic studies in our universities. This should be the basic study in every university. Prabhupada's books should be the basic study. Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-Gita, this should be taught in every college, every university throughout the whole world. This is our goal. We want to make Prabhupada's books, the guiding principle in every town, in every village, in every home throughout the world. That's our goal here in this Krishna Conscious movement. We want to bring Krishna back to the center of the human civilization, not this rakshasa, sense gratification, you know, go ahead and gratify my general civilization, it's completely nonsense.

So how are we going to do it? Well, we have to be pure, that's all!

The trouble is we're contaminating ourselves with so many material desires, lust, anger, greed, madness, illusion and envy.

We're covered by these these, here we are neophyte devotees starting to get out of our own material desires. That's the problem. If we were free of all these material desires we could make the whole world Krishna conscious. Because we have all these material desires sitting in our hearts, we're not successful in our preaching. Our own, our own anarthas are holding back pushing forward this movement. Our own anarthas are, we are holding on to our own dirt in our hearts, and therefore this movement is not spreading. Prabhupada explains in his purport, if one can chant the holy name without offense, he becomes a Jagad Guru, and under his influence the whole world becomes Krishna conscious. So we can understand, we are committing so many nama aparadhas. Therefore the world is not becoming Krishna conscious.

Therefore we should beg every day, my dear Krishna, my dear Srila Prabhupada, my dear Lord Caitanya, please bless me now I can chant these holy names without any offense. If we Vaisnava, if we neophyte devotees can learn how to chant without offence, we'll see that the whole world becomes Krishna conscious, whole. Vedic civilization will come back to this planet once again. You may say, well how is that possible in the Kali yuga! But it's predicted, my dear devotees. You can't say it can't happen in the Kali yuga, because it's predicted in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta CC Ādi 7.26

saj-jana, durjana, paṅgu, jaḍa, andha-gaṇa

prema-vanyāya ḍubāila jagatera jana

The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement will inundate the entire world and drown everyone, whether one is pious, impious or even lame, invalid or blind.

So in this Caitanya era which started 500 years ago, a huge revolution is going to take place. It's predicted in the scriptures. It's not just some poetic simile to encourage this. No, it's a scientific fact. This Krishna Consciousness Movement will inundate the entire world, making everyone Krishna Conscious. It's going to happen. So those devotees who can learn how to chant purely without offense, by their pure chanting, it's going to happen. It will happen. So unfortunately I'm not such a devotee.

I'm full of so many offenses myself. But I'm praying that day will come when I become free of all these offenses. I'm just praying to that day I can give up all my offenses so I can act as a pure conduit of Srila Prabhupada's mercy and get out of all my lust, my anger, my greed, my madness, illusion, envy. I'm praying to that day. I'm begging Prabhupada to please bless me for that day when I can become a pure devotee and actually do my service to make this world Krishna conscious.

Let's see if we have any questions. There's no questions, any questions coming in.

Okay, let's see a question.

Devotee: What is the best method to spread Krishna consciousness?

Sankarshan Das: It's our own purity actually. As Prabhupada explained, I quoted, it's actually our own purity. Of course, Prabhupada always said book distribution. So, Harinaam, book distribution, prasadam distribution, these are the primary means that Prabhupada gave us but our own purity has to be there and they have to, They may read our books and go, wow, this is wonderful. They come to the temple, they see the devotees quarrelling and arguing. They don’t see a nice relation between the devotees and go, what is this? I don't see it in this movement, but I read in the books. What is the good of this movement? I read in the books about wonderful cooperation and loving relations between devotees. I come to the temple and I see anger and I see quarrelling going on. What's the use? So we have to be living examples of what Prabhupada is saying.

If we ourselves are full of anarthas and dirt and quarrelling and anger. How can this movement be successful? We have to be ideal examples. We have to be living examples of what is there in Prabhupada's books. If we can be living examples, then all these things, the book distribution, the Harinaam, the prasadam distribution cultivation programs, and we are ideal living examples of what we read in the books, and this movement has become very successful to take over the whole world. The problem is we're not ideal examples. We're not showing the example by our own relationships that we have. We're not showing the example. That's the problem.

Okay, let's see.

Lila Manjiri Devi Dasi: These impurities, lust, anger, greed, etc., are so deep it seems lifelong task to get rid of them.

Sankarshan Das: Yeah, it's difficult. Lila Manjiri, you're right. We've been polluted by lust, anger, greed, madness, illusion, and envy from thousands and millions of lifetimes. It's a very, very difficult thing to get rid of them. Very, very difficult. We've been serving the tongue, belly, and genitals for millions and millions of lifetimes. So how to get out of this syndrome. That's why we need a special mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Especially Lord Nityananda.

He's even more merciful. That's why Narottama prays,

ha ha prabhu nityananda, premananda sukhi

kripabalokana koro ami boro duhkhi

My dear Lord Nityananda, dear Lord Nityananda, I see you're always happy for the spiritual bliss. I'm the most unhappy, miserable person in the whole world, so kindly cast your glance of mercy upon me, my dear Lord Nityananda, so I can also become happy.

Now we're suffering souls, we're suffering in this lust, anger, greed, madness, illusion, envy because of a very miserable action. But if we can beg Lord Nityananda, that's why we always chant

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda

Nityananda especially, he's the most merciful. He's actually Lord Balaram coming in a more merciful form. If we can get that mercy of Lord Nityananda, then it's possible to get rid of our lust, our anger, our greed, our madness, illusion, envy. So we should specially beg Lord Nityananda to save us from this horrible syndrome, all these lusty, angry, greedy, ridiculous desires that are polluting our hearts.

Okay, let's see what else we've got here.

Devotee: Many souls are coming to the temples, shall the preacher try to evoke their voluntary service? Matter to the one, or?

Sankarshan Das: Absolutely, we should be an example of someone who is enlivened to do devotional service so they'll be inspired by our example to do devotional service. If we ourselves don't want to do devotional service because we want to eat, sleep, mate and defend, how can we inspire anybody else to do devotional service.

Okay.

Abhay Charan Das: Chanting is the best process to achieve the highest affection. Easily what is the purpose of so many processes given even in the Bhagavatam?

Sankarshan Das: Well, chanting, hearing, remembering, there's a whole 9 system, processes. The other processes whether it's cleaning the dishes or sweeping the floor or whatever it may be. All these other processes are there to help bring us to the point of pure chanting. Pure chanting is the essence and everything else is there to bring us to the point of pure chanting. Pure chanting is the essence and everything else is there to bring us to the point of pure chanting. Chanting is enchanting but we're not enchanted, we're enchanted by maya, that's the problem. I'm still asking for lust, anger, greed, madness, illusion and envy. That's the difficulty.

But all these activities, offering an arati, taking prasadam, everything we do is actually there to bring us to the point of shuddha naam, pure chanting.

See, oh here we go, Rob.

Bhakta Rob: Hare Krishna Gurudeva, Are being pure devotee and having a loving relationship with Krishna the same?

Sankarshan Das: Yes. See, right now, instead of loving Krishna, we want Krishna to serve us. Give me this, give me that, give me, give me, give me. They come to the temple, the shopping was, okay Krishna I need a new job, I need a new house, I need a wife, I need a car, please give me, they come to the temple, give me a Cadillac, a brand new Cadillac, replete with Michelin tires, give my wife a new silk sari, give my kids a Harvard education, Give me a house by the sea. Om Jaya Jagdisha Hare!

The trouble is we are coming to the temple with our shopping list. So instead of loving Krishna, we want Krishna. Krishna, you better love me. You better love me by showing me how much you love me by giving me this, this, this, this, this and this. But to love means to surrender, my dear Krishna, I now give myself fully to you. So pure devotion and love are the same thing. Devotion and love are the same thing. See now they call love something different. Love means I love you, I want to have a sex relationship with you, I love you. You see this is, they've converted the word love. They even have a little manic heart equal to love. But you know It's all lust. I want to have a sexual relationship with you. I love you. I love you. I love you. It's going on. Bogus thing. They polluted the meaning of love.

Love means selflessness, pure giving to the beloved. Doesn't mean coming to you to how you can gratify me. That's not love. That's sense gratification, lust. There's love and there's lust. Love means satisfying the senses of Krishna and lust means how can I get my senses satisfied?

So let's see what else we have rolling in here.

Akuti Devi Dasi:

Hare Krishna Srila Gurudeva and Srimati Gurumataji, Please accept my humble obesainces,

If anyone wants to take to Krishna Consciousness but has material desires as well, but still,How to guide them?

Sankarshan Das: I'll take the Krishna consciousness if I can get what I want. If Krishna gives me this and that, then I'll take the Krishna consciousness. How to guide me?

Well, you can explain to them, even if you get that thing, you'll still not be satisfied. I want to get a job, so I've come to the temple, so Krishna will give me a job. But I guarantee you if your motive is selfish to come to the temple, even if you get that thing you'll not be satisfied. Because material desires means one material desire, another, it's an endless fire.

Material desires are fire. Now how much food you feed the fire gets hotter and hotter, more demanding, more demanding, more demanding. So you know they get the material desires to fill but you still not be satisfied. So when they give up material desires, they say, oh Krishna, now I give myself to you, whatever you want, I'm willing to give you, then I actually achieve satisfaction. Why? Because that is your constitutional position. The fish cannot be satisfied in the land, it can only be satisfied in the water. The water, for us, the water is pure devotional service and material desires is the land. I don't care how much facility you give the fish on the beach, the flapping on the beach.

My dear fish, I see you're flapping on the beach. Maybe if you give an umbrella you'd be happy. Or how about a nice wife? A Hollywood movie star would be your wife, my dear fish.

Or how about a nice mansion here on the beach, Or how about you know, a million dollars. You can give the fish all kinds of facilities in the land but it will never be satisfied but you just toss it back in the water it will give it bliss.

So we're trying to be satisfied away from Krishna, that's the problem. Away from our national constitutional position of the pure devotional service, we're trying to be satisfied, and we can never be satisfied in such a position. So get back, get back, get back to where you once belonged. That is our philosophy.

Get back to pure devotional service. That is the natural constitution of every single living entity.

Pañca -tattva Das: How to consider us low profile when each time our false ego comes in front of each conversation with senior or junior devotees?

Srila Gurudeva: That's the problem, our false ego gets in the way. How to get rid of that false ego in our relationships? It's a very, very tricky thing for us puffed up snakes in this Kali yuga.

How to get, we try to have a nice loving relationship, my false ego keeps jumping in, jumping in, jumping in the way. That's a very important question you ask. Very important question.

How do we get rid of that false ego in our relationships?

It's a very, very important thing.

That's why every day we offer obesainces.

vāñchā-kalpa-tarubhyaś ca

kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca

patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo

vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ

And I remember Vishnujana Swami and my Vartma pradarsaka guru, he said, always be in an embracing mood. That doesn't mean between men and women. But it means the mood that we embrace the women between men and women, that incites lust. But it means that always be in an embracing mood, always in the mood of giving service, giving loving service. That's the embracing mood that we can have with all devotees.

That means always in the mood of loving service to this Vaishnavas. If we have that mood everything will be perfect.

Sharada Devi Dasi: Practicing to be conscious of the spiritual master's instructions with cool head and to practice bhakti with intensity is the same thing?

Sankarshan Das: Yes. Spiritual master's instructions are not different from Krishna's instructions. If the spiritual master is bona fide. A bona fide spiritual master, just like the postman, he brings you the mail, he didn't write the letter but he's giving it to you, delivering it to you as it is.

Now a bogus postal deliverer, person who opens the letter, he'll add something or subtract something from the letter. He's a bogus postman, he should be fired. He opens the letter and changes it. But a bona fide postal worker will deliver the letter as it is without addition or subtraction. So the bona fide spiritual master will give you exactly what Krishna says. It's like somebody asked me in an email tonight. Can I have Krishna as my guru? And I said yes, but you have to follow his instructions.

tad viddhi praṇipātena

paripraśnena sevayā

upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ

jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ

(BG 4.34)

Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.

One may argue that Krishna is talking about himself and the spiritual master. If that was the truth, why did he not say, just try to learn the truth by approaching me? Why did he say the spiritual master? If he's saying, Oh, I'm the spiritual master, learn the truth by approaching me. No, Krishna made it very clear he's talking to somebody other than himself. His pure representative.

Okay, let's see here.

Govardhana das: How to improve chanting, attentively? Finding it very difficult.

Sankarshan Das: Early morning chanting helps a lot or before sunrise. Very helpful, early morning chanting when the mode of goodness is predominant. And of course chanting the pañca-tattva, mark first, begging for the mercy of Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityananda,

jaya śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda

śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

Very feelingly call out to the pañca-tattva because, they will, you feelingly call out to their mercy, and you beg with pure chanting, then they will help.

Attentive chanting, beg to the make the pañca-tattva to help you.

Bhakta Rob: I don't hear the chakra spoken about much in these classes but the New Age spiritual systems emphasize them a lot.

Sankarshan Das: The New Age systems don't have any idea, as Prabhupada points out very clearly here, following the strict regulative principles of controlling sleeping, eating, mating, and defending is allowed, one is allowed to practice a different sitting posture. Now, will they tell you sex is only for procreation? Actually they go to the yoga studio, they find a girlfriend, they go home and have sex with the girl. That's what you go to the yoga studio for. There's some girl I can invite home after the yoga session. They can have sex. But eating means eating, taking only prasadam. After yoga, they go for a hamburger, you see. So these new age spiritualists they are into all kinds of sinful things.

They are not qualified to even think about the chakras and they don't even, where do they tell about penetrating the brahma-randhra, the top of the skull. What are these yogis talking about chakras? Any of them talking about the brahma-randhra penetrating the the living life air to the hole of the skull? Did any of them talk about that? I've never heard any of them talk about it. But that's the whole point of the chakras. They don't talk about it. They don't understand the real point of the chakras. They'll raise the life there to the various chakras and penetrate the brahma randhra. What do they talk about that in the chakras? The chakras are important for one who is doing the aṣṭāṅga yoga system. But this is not practical in this age, Bhakta Rob. This system was practiced in the Satya Yuga when people lived for a hundred thousand years it would take them 60,000 years to perfect the system.

Now how many of us have a 60,000 years and they weren't going to the job or going to the grocery store or here and that. They would sit for 60,000 years. That was their only business for 60,000 years. So where do they have that facility to raise their head to the chakras now? Even for 60 years they can't sit in one position.

They had to go here, get in the car, go here, go there, blah blah blah blah blah, on and on and on. Catch a movie, do this and go bowling. It's one thing. They're not qualified to even talk about chakras.

Okay.

Parashakti-Devi-Dasi. What is the definition of Brahma Bhuta stage for devotee?

Sankarshan Das:

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā

na śocati na kāṅkṣati

samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu

mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām

(BG 18.54)

One is always joyful, whether there is happiness or distress, he is joyful in every situation. See normally if things are very nice, they get elated, if they are very bad, they get depressed, they are up and down.

But brahma bhuta, you are equipoised, happiness and distress are the same thing. They're all the mercy of Krishna coming, Thank you Krishna for giving me this happiness, now you're giving me this distress. He's equipoised in every situation. That's brtahma bhuta for the Vaishnavas.

Sharada Devi Dasi: Then the intensity is not necessarily if one is honest to the spiritual master?

Sankarshan Das: The intensity? I don't know what she's talking about. Very difficult to me to call the right intensity. Intensity means focus that's all.

Doesn't mean you have to be, doesn't mean you have to be, it means you're fixed. Doesn't mean you have to be like some lens, some fine focused lens, zooming, zooming, intensifying, intensifying. You're focused on some pinhead or something. No. You don't need intensity. You just need sincerity.

Sincerity means you're always trying to do the right thing. You're trying to always do the right thing and avoid the bad thing. That's all that's required. All that's required is sincerity. Don't worry about intensity. Just be sincere. That's all. Just be sincere.

Okay, that's it. Questions are up. Any questions coming in to the locals? The Lithuanians?

Gurumataji you want to add some points?

Visnu-Priya Devi Dasi: we are not qualified..

Sankarshan Das:

That's our qualification. We think we're not qualified, is our qualification. That is our qualification. The more I feel unqualified that is my qualification.

Okay there's nothing else. We thank you all for tuning in.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare,

Hare Rama Hare Rama,  Rama Rama Hare Hare

Srimad Bhagavatam ki Jaya!

Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki Jaya!