What is Good in Our Disappointment?

Devotee: Our faithful follower of Theistic Studio, sent us a question. His name is Eleno Yongzon, and he's from the Philippines. So, his question saying, “What's good in our disappointment?”

Goswāmī Mahāraj: What is good about being disappointed?

Devotee: Right

Goswāmī Mahāraj: Is that it can be a catalyst for detachment. Just as in one place, Śrīla Prabupād says, in a purport in the Bhagavad-gītā. I'm paraphrasing, but he says, when one realizes that material existence is a constant source of perplexity, at every step. He said, it behooves such a person to approach a spiritual master. And, I've appended to that, not only realize as a constant source of perplexity, but a never ending series of humiliations. So, at the root cause of material existence is the 'reign in heaven' mania. What Guru Mahārāj referring to Milton's Paradise Lost as, “Satanic mania.”

That I will realize myself, achieve self-fulfillment, self-realization, in the master position. When Humanism is... they're sloganeering, which permeates advertising, they're dealing with this principle also. But, giving affirmations that this sort of achievement is almost —it's within reach. So, as I mentioned before, in New Age philosophy, which was prominent in the 1980s in America, when they go, 'Creative Visualization.'

If, you visualize an outcome, you can achieve that. And, athletes use this. Everything has some utility. But, their underline this, is that, if you just visualize this. and it's almost... It's interesting, in that, it's a inadvertent reference to subjective evolution. Where a suggestive proof, because they're saying, if you conceive this, it can go from the subjective plane into the objective, and become an objective outcome. And, we can think. “Well, don't we do that all the time?” Like, we're here, we're talking about when we make the buildings, the studio, the temple; we're envisioning something subjectively. And, we're envisioning an outcome.

And sometimes for that, we like to show pictures or aids. Because, when we discuss things, what image you have in your mind and what image I have in my mind, they may not be the same. So, we have a visual aid. Today we're looking at flags. We say, “Here, this red color, this shape, this size.” And then, we can all have some consensus. And, going a little deeper with this kind of thought, is the great poet T. S. Eliot, in his theory of poetry. He has a term that he calls 'objective correlative.' And, what he means by that, is, as a poet, you're trying to convey a concept or a feeling to another person; and through the medium of sound or words.

You want them to really, not to just visualize things, but to feel something or be sympathetic to a particular point of view; angle of vision, or, humanity, as it might be. So, in his theory of the 'objective correlative' he's saying, “There's a way that you can assemble words, in any language.” And not like, as an algorithm, like that a computer or a robot could do this. But, an interpreter; poets, the arbiters of reality, will assemble the words in such a way to, and we assume in an inspired state. So, that when you hear them or consider them, a particular feeling, mood, empathy, will come to you.

So, he's saying, “We're seeking that. The 'objective correlative,' what are the things that we will say that will get that outcome?” That's interesting. But, another thing that comes to mind, just for the sake of, you know... tort/retort... argument/counter argument, is Wittgenstein. The... you can almost say bastard disciple of Bertrand Russell, but I mean that in the literary sense of the word. Like, an offspring who... how do you say? Put it this way, Bertrand Russell realized, in Wittgenstein, that he had a problem. [laughing] So... and, Wittgenstein who is arguably the greatest linguistic philosopher of the 20th century. Said once... He lived on a petrol station; above one.

And, every day the men in the station, they would make coffee. So, he would be above there, working on his almost indecipherable works for most. And, the aroma of the coffee would come wafting upstairs. And, he would smell that coffee. And, it would... there'd be some reaction, maybe awaken some desire for a cup of coffee or mood enhancement. But, then he realized, and said, “With all my linguistic skills, my ability, expertise with words, I can't use them to convey to you the aroma of coffee.” You understand. “There's no words that I can arrange, in such a way, that you'll actually smell coffee,” is what he's saying.

“I can describe it in various ways, compare it to things, but I can't make you smell it, experience that aroma.” Which in one sense, I think, you know, was a statement of humility. But, to stay on theme, so, when we realize whatever it is we're meditating on subjectively, internally. And, we're envisioning an objective outcome, and by this, we would say, what is the opposite of disappointment —is fulfillment. So, we're thinking that, “This person, place, or thing, coming in connection with them, I will achieve fulfillment. I'll be happy and fulfilled.” It's a... we do this every... it's not limited to thinking, like, “Who's my life partner, my better-half, my soul-mate, you know, my complimentary aspect.”

Not just that, we... we do it everyday for so many times daily. But, Humanism... Humanistic sloganeering is all similar, thematically in it's appeal. And, where it's most prominent is in modern advertising. As the great playwright, Arthur Miller; most famous work Death of a Salesman, when he was interviewed in the latter part of his life. Because, there was a time, I mentioned, in England they called poets 'The Arbiters of Reality.' They were considered the interpreters. You have the King, the government, you know, so many Lords, but to the poets they looked for, like, “Give us some direction, give some meaning to our lives, what we should aspire for.”

So, they're called the 'Arbiters of Reality.' They'll decide this is a noble pursuit, this is less than noble. Such a high position they occupied, particularly the one called 'The Poet Laureate of England,' was highly respected and their opinion was valued, in a sense, above all others. And, as a footnote or sidebar, that tells us that really, they want to defer to those who spend the vast majority of their lives in subjective cultivation. It's an indirect way of acknowledging that real substantial thing is located in the subjective plane, and not in the objective world.

These people; Kings, Queens, Lords, they already possess what one could want, objectively. Yet, they're looking to these poets for some guidance to go internal. In Guru Mahārāj's words, “To dive deep into reality.” That, they want to know. That, their lives are not a useless “malengagement,” to quote term Guru Mahārāj uses. [chuckling] So, Arthur Miller... that was England, the Victorian age, you can say. But, as the Romantics, Victorians, Modernist, a shift took place where coinciding with external events, like, World War I. Remember, it's called 'The Great War.' And, sometimes called 'The War to End All Wars.'

They thought this was so devastating, so many... millions of people died. Even, in the last two months, millions of people died from disease. So, it was so horrible that people thought, “This is so bad.” Certainly, we all, don't we all agree, all the nations on either side who were involved, saying, “They'll never... this is it. This is the end of all of that.” Not so. But... and, at that time, in the aftermath; that was in 1917 or so... In the aftermath, came a time —in America they called it the roaring '20s, also sometimes referred as the Jazz age. And this, we'll see this happened cyclicly. When people are on the verge of death; when death is a real possibility, they either go internally; engage in deep spiritual culture.

Or, go outward in the hedonistic. Thinking like, you know, 'carpe diem,' seize the day, “We can be dead tomorrow, let's enjoy as much as we can tonight.” That's 'carpe diem,' seize the day. And, poets were always great seducers of women, using this... this is the oldest pick-up line in poetry, is that, “You will never look more beautiful then you look now, who knows what will happen tomorrow, so, therefore...” [laughing] So, the poets, [laughing] that's where they're using those words to get a particular objective outcome. [laughing] We know what their 'objective correlative' is, in this sense. So, that age comes in the aftermath of the Great War.

And, interestingly, the artist René Magritte, he has a painting of the famous man in the bowler hat; wearing a bowler and there's an apple in front of his face. And, the title of it is The Great War. He's one of the most philosophical of painters. And, I would suggest, what he's saying is, the great war is between the subjective and the objective world. That's the great war, that we're always involved in. But, at any rate, in the aftermath there, and you'll see some poets in England, again who may have had some insight where things where going. Matthew Arnold; Dover Beach, saying, “The sea of faith was once... you know... the world was once enshrouded in the sea of faith and now it's all I see here.” He's seeing the ocean go in and out, and the sound of the gravel and coming...

And he said, “Now that sea of faith, I only hear it's long withdrawing roar.” What he means to say is, this war, it damaged the faith of the people; their believe in God or Divinity, their believe in humanity. They were damaged, so much so, that Gertrude Stein called Hemingway, Picasso, Joyce, and all of those great writers, artists, thinkers assembled at her salon in Paris 'The Génération Perdue;' The Lost Generation. You're lost; their faith had been damaged. They were followed by the Beats, who, they said, “Yes, we're beaten down to the point of there's nothing left. But, we want to believe again.”

So, this subjective/objective... how do you say?.. alternating current of seeking one's fulfillment in a subjective plane/objective world, where people who want to make a compromise of the two. So, I'm going the long way. So, when they asked Arthur Miller, by the time he came around... it was playwrights... it went from poets to playwrights as the arbiters of reality, we'll say. And, they would look to them, like, “So, in your play, you're dealing with the human condition. And what we learn from you about what are the possibilities of life, family, relationships, existence.”

But, that began to wane in the late '50s, early '60s. Giving way to movies, television, computer, game boy playstation. We've gone a long way from all these poets and all this stuff to this. [chuckling] So, when, in his final days they asked him, “Did he have any observations to share about what happened; from the poet to the playwright to the present position.” And, he said something I find very interesting. He said, “Today...” He said, “Most people, they get their concepts from advertising.” [laughing]

And, we know the advertisers, particularly in America, they —around this time of year, actually— they go to the better Universities and interview students from Psychology departments. Who they see as potential... how do you say?.. employees; students in their advertising culture. Which is to do what? We say, “To address unfulfilled desire.” That will never end. We know that in the Bhagavad-gītā. No matter how much... that will... that'll be a constant. Other things can be fulfilled, but 'unfulfilled desire' is an endless source of seductive possibility.

So, he said, “Most people get their concepts today from advertising.” And, we observe that Humanistic sloganeering is all pervasive in advertising. And, what do I mean by that? Master Card; master the possibilities. That's their campaign view, “You! See yourself as a master, not as a slave of circumstance, of karmic destiny. When you've got our card, you will master all possibilities. You will master those circumstances. You need to be somewhere else, you pull out your card, and give it to them, and then you'll go there. You need to eat something, pull this card out. You'll get food beyond your imagination.” … You know... so get them...

No one wants, like a servant card; [laughing] want the Master Card. What... Nike; “Just Do It!” What is the implication of that? Is that, you know, that little voice you have inside your conscience that says, “Maybe you shouldn't be doing this.” They go, “Just Do It! Just go ahead and do it, you can do it.” Creative visualization. There was an Australian company, they even used these words, they said —it was about their products, their food products they were selling, they said, “You know that little voice inside that says, maybe you should restrain yourself and refrain,..” No '1we don't either; We don't have that voice of self-restraint.”

What, Solzhenitsyn called... serene... voluntary serene self-restraint, to deal with human nature. That's akin to what is prescribed in the Veda client. Not freedom for the senses; freedom from the senses. There're really only two possibilities: You're a slave of Māyā or slave of Yoga-māyā. Freedom for the senses, freedom from the senses. Freedom from the senses is liberation. Not that liberation means unbridled, unrestrained, sense... sensuality.

So, “Just Do It!” “Master the Possibilities.” I mentioned, when I went to Russia. I'd been there in 1978 and, then I came back again in 2000. In '78, you went to the store, there was a brown paper bag with a kilo of sugar or … and, it said on it, in a stencil... what's the word for sugar?

Devotee: Sakhar (Cахар).

Goswāmī Mahārāj: Sakhar (Caxap), with an 'X' right.

Devotee: Yes.

Goswāmī Mahārāj: That's what it said. [Goswāmī Mahārāj: clapping hands saying, sheww, you know] Came back... that was in 1978... came back in the year 2000, from Sheremetyevo the airport to, you know, the Kremlin... or... I must have seen, and I'm not exaggerating, actually, 100 L'Oréal ads. Every street a banner across every block a L'Oréal ad. All the way back to the city.

And, what is their slogan, you know, “L'Oréal...” And, they say, “Why? Because, I'm worth it!” [laughing] Again, their appealing that, you're worth it, you're number one, you're the best, you rule. All appealing to that master ego. And, one company went so far, we can say they were being somewhat facetious, or... But, still, their slogan was “Total Indulgence, Zero Guilt.” That was their slogan. It happened to be, for like, weight reduction. But, still they said, “Total Indulgence, Zero Guilt.” These are the message, and what did Miller say? “Most people in the modern world get their concepts about self, identity, prospect, potential, from advertising.”

And, it's all saturated, permeated, by Humanistic sloganeering. They're saying, “If you will only believe in yourself and envision what your desired outcome, you will achieve that.” That's all you need. Self belief, envision the desired outcome, and we can help you do that for 9.99 monthly subscription, or we have different... what do you say, when you have different models?.. You know what I'm saying, you have like a... one membership, a higher lever membership... [Inaudible word/s from devotee in audience] Huh?

Devotee: Plans.

Goswāmī Mahārāj: Plans, tier, plans, I'm being facetious.

So, one kind of person seduced by this satanic mania; to reign in hell. I remember as children, when there would be like, you talk about bringing in the soil. And, the dump truck would come and dump a bunch of soil. And, then the kids would come, before they used, would come and play a came called, 'I'm King of the Hill.' And, some would be on the top, and others try and pull them down. But, they would go to the top and say, “I'm King of the hill.” It's the same thing. But, what we might add to that, what hill? What is that hill made of that you're King or Queen of?

There's a popular emoticon that would symbolize that. Sorry to bring that imagery into your mind. What I mean, King of the hill of stool, right. It means, of what is excrement; to be eliminated, actually. That, it has be sapped of it's vitality, punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām, (SB: 7.5.30.4). Prahlāda Mahārāj says, “Chewing the chewed.” Already, what ever little juice was there... And, Philip Roth, who died recently, in one of his books a character says about this world. What's his realization? “You never get more then a taste.” That's all you're given in anything, is just a little taste of that possible happiness. But, you'll never get more then that.

But, just that taste alone is enough to keep seducing someone again, and again, to try and achieve that. But, if they come to the point, as Prabupād said, “They realize material existence is a constant source of perplexity at every stage.” Addended, a never ending series of humiliations, and your attempt to find self-fulfillment, self-realization, actualization, realize your potential; by acquiring, controlling, and consuming things that are lower than you. If, you become disappointed enough, if your disappointment reaches utter frustration, then you may seek your prospect elsewhere. Then we can say, brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva (Cc: Madhya-līlā, 19.151.1), the bhāgyavān, the fortunate ones, then they come in connection with an agent of reality.

Who comes with the message, that, like Prahlād we're saying, na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ, durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ (SB: 7.5.31.1−2), bahir-artha means, your focus is misdirected and should be inverted. You're looking for the substantial thing in the cover. Like, in the breast obsessed world that we live in... The... now that I'm mentioning, right —Jonathan Swift, in Gulliver's Travels. You know Gulliver's... that's famous, right, everyone has heard of that. Most people know one of the... there's four travels. One travel is, he goes to the land of the Lilliputians, where he's giant, and their all tiny. And, there's a fire and he extinguishes the fire. We'll leave that to your imagination, how he did that.

But, in another land, he's very tiny and their giants. And, he's so... they think he's so cute and charming, this little miniature... that he's given to a girl for like, her 16th birthday or, something like that. And, she thinks, it's like a cute toy and she sometimes keeps him on her breast. And, then he has a description in there, what a, like, 30 meter diameter breast looks like, [laughing] from that microscopic view. And, of course, this is meant to be humorous. But, what he's also telling you, is like, if you magnify this, up close. It's not going to be so appealing. That's what he's saying. Which is interesting, that what Śaṅkarācārya says, in the Moha Mudgara Stotram, nārīstanabhara nābhīdeśaṁ 
dṛṣṭvā māgāmohāveśam (Moha Mudgara: 3.1−2).

So, they're saying, “What you're seeking fulfillment in the shell, in the skin. In the outer part, when the substantial thing is within.” That's in the teachings of Prahlād Mahāṛāj. How consistent it is. From one point of view we can say, “What Prahlād is saying, maybe he said it 150 million years ago.” And, it's still relevant. How many things were said 150 million years ago that are still relevant? Everything Prahlād said. So, it shows a consistent assessment of what are the flaws of material existence and seeking fulfillment outwardly, in the objective world.

So, if one becomes disappointed with that, they say, “I've tried everything, in so many different ways.” That's what brahmāṇḍa bhramite means. Brahmāṇḍa means the universe, so... and it said, wandering the universe. We think... we might think, “Oh, like in a sci-fi movie, you know, they went from one planet to another planet. There's different conditions.” Like that. But... it's … a vedic understanding's a little different. It's not just, like... ex... like, in the external world. This place is hot, this place is cold, this place has a nice temperate climate. That's very superficial and external. What... back to the 'objective correlative,' the objective world is constituted of deluded aspirations.

It's based on delusion. As the body is the biological expression of the soul's delusion, the universe is the deluded playground of condition souls. So, om bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ means, from gross exploitation, or gross misunderstanding toward subtle exploitation; subtle misunderstanding. But, still misunderstanding. In Charitāmṛtam... what is that śloka, you know,

‘dvaite’ bhadrābhadra-jñāna, saba — ‘manodharma’
‘ei bhāla, ei manda’, — ei saba ‘bhrama’
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Antya-līlā, 4.176)

So they say, saba — ‘manodharma’, this whole world is just, like a dream, in that, there's nothing substantial here, really, in the objective world. If we did time lapse photography, we would... like, in the time machine —and this a literature class. And, you see very quickly someone go through the stages of aging or... Weṛe actually doing that right now. But we're not... and we're seeing it in real time, but if we recorded this and sped it up fast. You'll see, since I started speaking, we've aged somewhat. So, why did I say that? Because... oh... talking about misconception, Bhūr, Bhuvar, Satya, Svara loka, the whole objective world.

It... oh... That it's based on misconception; that is the point. Varieties of misconception. It's a misconceived world. We have misconceived identity in a misconceived world. So, when one reaches the point of being frustrated by repeated attempts to establish oneself as a... how do you say?.. to egocentrism. To establish yourself as a center of exploiting capacity, and trying to expand the circumference of that. And, you realize it's not working. It's not happening. Even, if you get everything your way, at last you have to die. This is definitely a literature poetry class. What Gurudev liked and Guru Maharaj quote, Gray's Elegy.

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Awaits alike th' inevitable hour.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
(Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, verse 9, Thomas Gray)

Thomas Nashe, A Litany in Time of Plague, what does he say. Beauty is but a flower, (Which) wrinkles will devour; Brightness falls from the air; Queens have died young and fair. Everyday I see those champak flowers. And, they're so beautiful in the morning. The texture, their shape, their form, the aroma; everything. And, by the end of the day, they start wilting and wrinkling. And, the next morning they're brown and wrinkled and... It's easy to observe in a flower, because it happens in one... one day. That's what happens in this world. But, when you're in the nice flower stage, you think, “Oh, well nice, still look pretty good.” [laughing] Holding out for that prospect. But, with intelligence, spiritual intelligence awaken were proved to see, oh, look how the...

What happened, Beauty is but a flower, wrinkles will devour; Brightness falls from the air; Queens have died both young and fair. (A Litany in Time of Plague, Thomas Nashe). 'Memento mori,' death reminders. It's a healthy thing to be aware of that. And, in terms of egocentrism and establishing yourself as a absolute center, and trying to expand one's exploiting; the circumference of one's exploiting capacity from there. We have Shelley and Ozymandias. Where the narrator of the poem says, “I met a traveller from an ancient land, who told me something interesting he saw out in the desert.” He said, “There was a statue,” but broken, like, say from the waste down.

But, chest broken, head over here —the head's like tilted in the sand. And, there's an inscription at the base, and says, “I am Ozymandias, king of kings: Look upon my kingdom, ye Mighty, and despair!” He said, that... whoever the sculptor was, he said, if you look at the face, over in the sand tilted. He really captured this man's arrogance in the face. Couldn't... A good portrait artist you can't hide from them. He said, it was there in the face... and then look this statement, “I am Ozymandias, king of kings.” I'm king of the hill. “Look on my kingdom, ye Mighty, and despair!” He said, and when you look all you see are sand dunes and desert sands, no kingdom; nothing.

But, there was a time when he had a kingdom. And, it was made of stone and so many things, and now it's just desert sand. How many times have we been Ozymandias and everything in between? When you come to the point of realizing, this program of trying to fulfill myself, achieve my reality potential, being outwardly directed, is not only disappointing, but endlessly frustrating. And, leading me to the point of feeling helpless, hopeless. Which is a good thing. The Humanist would say, “Haaaaa!! How dare you say this. We've come... we stand against this kind of thing. We're here to tell everybody, you know, everyone is beautiful in their own way.” [laughing]

It's not untrue, but physically speaking it's not true. So, dainya, ātma-nivedana, goptṛtve varaṇa (Śa: 1.3.1). The Śaraṇāgati, The Six Limbs, they're sometimes mentioned in a different order. But, interestingly here, in Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur's song, he begins with dainya. And, we can take that to mean, just like, hopeless, helpless. When you reached that point, you realize, not only can I not help others, I can't help myself. That is not cowardice. It takes courage to admit that. The Humanist will say, “That's a cowardly act.”

No, it... an go on boasting Humanistic slogans. Which, the ultimate, who takes it beyond them? The Brahmāvādīs, ahaṁ brahmāsmī. I'm not only great. I'm not only number one and Instagram or Facebook, I'm the supreme Brahman, how about that. [laughing] Like, Guru Mahārāj said, “These Brahmāvādīs; Māyāvādis particular.” He said, “They cannot... they can give up everything.” We've seen them. Gopal you've seen them, not any clothes they wear —the Nagabhabas; nothing, wearing some ash, walking around like that. See, they give up everything including their name. I met one on the way to Badrinath. I said, “What is your name?” “Tyāgī baba.” “Where you from?” “Nowhere.” He's eliminated, like remembering any town... “My name, I'm just tyāgī,” means, you know —I reject everything.

When I was walking in San Jose once. And, during the... when punk rock was very prominent. And, these two punks, they saw me with a shaved head and they where like, shaved. And, they... but then the saffron dress, and they came up to me. And, they said, “What's this all about? What's this suppose to mean?” And, I said to them, “Total rejection of everything.” And, they said, “Cool!” [laughing] But, what are you accepting? Yes, we agree... yeah, this is all... reject it all. And, accept what? “Oh, nobody knows.” Nobody you know. “Nobody knows.” No, nobody you know.

So, when you reach this stage and have the courage to admit you're hopeless. It's odd, the Humanist, they don't berate addicts and alcoholics, but rather say, “Oh, what courage it takes for them to acknowledge it.” Yes. And, then you see a transformation can take place. In a similar way, it takes courage to recognize what the human situation is. Not only can you not help others in any truly lasting sense, you cannot even help yourself. That's the fact... the facts of the matter. And, we don't want... we don't mean temporary help, we're taking about permanent, lasting. So, dainya, when you can admit that, then you can...

That disappointment with your mundane prospect, leads you to seek your reality potential. And, not in the Humanistic sense, but in the spiritual sense. When Śrīla Guru Mahārāj was sent to merely collect a donation. The donation was already considered given, they said, “Go to this man.” —This is India, so even the government they set aside some money for spiritual things— “Go there, just pick up the check. Basically, say a few kind words, or a little hari-kathā, or something, get the check. We want to build a Maṭh.” But, that man who had promised that before, he was removed. And, there was a new man there. So, when Guru Mahārāj comes, that man said, “If there're... are any surplus funds, the last thing we would give it for is a Maṭh.”

“We will help the people with food distribution or shelter. That is, if there were any surplus funds. Not for your Maṭh. Your spiritual temple, aśram, No.” And, Guru Mahārāj started thinking, he was told he would just collect. Now, he's going to go back with nothing. And, they're expecting big amount. And, he thinking, “What to do?” And, he felt hopeless, actually. Helpless, hopeless, like, “What, what is this situation I find myself in.” And, he's praying to the Lord for some inspiration. And, the inspiration, because Guru Mahārāj... Guru Mahārāj is so [chuckling] unique. And, his quality of his sincerity, what it will bring. This śloka came to him.

vikrīḍitaṁ vraja-vadhūbhir idaṁ ca viṣṇoḥ
śraddhānvito ’nuśṛṇuyād atha varṇayed yaḥ
bhaktiṁ parāṁ bhagavati pratilabhya kāmaṁ
hṛd-rogam āśv apahinoty acireṇa dhīraḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.33.39)

So, it's the śloka where Śukadev Goswāmī's been... just described the rāsa-līlā, with Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs. And, some of these sages are [aaaah sound] mouths open in disbelief. You told them in the beginning, jugupsitaṁ dharma-kṛte ’nuśāsataḥ (SB: 1.5.15.1). Like, religion is what's ruined the world. And, now you're saying, you know, that these apparently immoral acts... not only is God a man, but He's an immoral man. His not only human-like, but He's like, an immoral human. That's the highest religion. Regular religion is a menace to the people, but this new religion here —Kṛṣṇa culture— the pastimes of this immoral human-like being. That's the highest religion.

Prabhu! [laughing] It's all there for a reason, everyone's playing a part, a role, to bring out... And Parīkṣit Mahārāj sees the looks on the looks on their faces, he can sense their... what's the word?.. reticence. But there's another word; apprehension. And, then ask Śukadev, “In the beginning you told us this and now your saying this. How should we understand?” And this verse comes, these pastimes, krīḍā, we were talking about that the other day, play. But, vikrīḍitaṁ... vikrīḍitaṁ vraja-vadhūbhir idaṁ ca viṣṇoḥ, it means this Divine, we'll just say sweet pastimes of Rādhā, Kṛṣṇa, and vraja-gopīs.

That, hearing about this from Kṛṣṇa loving qualified people, will actually cure the heart of lust, of the desire, of the unfulfilled desires that we're trying to quench in the objective world. Hṛd-rogam is identified; heart disease. We're told in the beginning, tene brahma hṛdā, it's a heart to heart transaction. But, at present, the heart is knotted; it's lust, desire has a strangle hold on the heart. So, it's not truly expressing itself, with the book called The Deep Hearts Core is not being express. So, the Bhāgavatam says,

bhidyate hṛdaya-granthiś
chidyante sarva-saṁśayāḥ
kṣīyante cāsya karmāṇi
mayi dṛṣṭe ’khilātmani
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.20.30)

Hearing about Kṛṣna, the knots, the strangle hold that lust has on heart, will be relief. Then, the real heart flow will come. So, at present, the heart; heart disease, hṛd-rogam. And, then Guru Mahārāj got some inspiration, and we only say this because it's what he said. But, he said to that man in a very moving way about desire and it being unsatisfied, disappointed, unfulfilled. He said, “When I was in the body of an elephant — including transmigration of the soul— when I was in the body of an elephant, I ate jungles and my hunger was not satisfied.” There's elephant camp near hear... how... we've seen... how much do they eat a day? Hundred kilos? Three hundred kilos, and not satisfied.

And, when he said, “When I was in a body of a stool eating pig, I ate hills of stool and my hunger wasn't satisfied.” And, that man began to cry. And, he said, “Swamijī, I believe in God.” Guru Mahārāj got through, and Guru Mahārāj said, “Your tears are the evidence of that.” And, so Guru Mahārāj continued by saying, “So, what, by establishing a food distribution center, that's not going to relieve the suffering condition of a soul plagued by unfulfilled desires, that are plaguing the heart. But, in the Maṭh, in the temple where you can hear about Kṛṣṇa, Madan-mohan Kṛṣṇa.”

Everyone in this world is Madan, has been hit by the arrow of kandarpa... of Madan... Eros, the arrow of Eros. And, what is Kṛṣṇa... how is Kṛṣṇa described by Brahmā?, kandarpa-koṭi-kamanīya-viśeṣa-śobhaṁ (Bs: 5.30.3), yaṁ śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpaṁ (Bs: 5.38.3). The acintya-guṇa-svarūpaṁ of Kṛṣṇa is like, kandarpa-koṭi-kam-śobhaṁ, the beauty, seductive charm of ten million cupids personified in one. You think, “Oh, that's poetry, it sounds very beautiful and hyperbolic.”

No. What it means is... so then... oh... if... attraction towards Kṛṣṇa can be awakened, then it can cut the knots of the strangle hold that cupid has on the heart. That's what it means. That's the beauty of Kṛṣṇa conception. These things have to be connected in a practical, realizable way. So, you think, “Oh, what can give me relief from this?” Something infinitely more beautiful and superior, rasa-varjaṁ raso ’py asya, paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate (Bg: 2.59.3−4). Not just taking something away. You see the baby... you take something away from the baby and [baby crying sounds]. But, if you go. “No, look, try this, this is even better.” They drop that thing [ahhh, hahaha], then their happy. Experience a higher taste, deeper experience, means in the subjective world dive deep into reality.

So, if this world, brahmāṇḍa bhramite, from it's all just misconceived; misconceived identity in the misconceived world. If, we become so disappointed that we feel utterly helpless and hopeless, that puts us in a ripe position for receiving some mercy, guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja (Cc: Madhya-līlā, 19.151.2). Then the soil's ready for the implantation of Kṛṣṇa conception.

praviṣṭaḥ karṇa-randhreṇa
svānāṁ bhāva-saroruham
dhunoti śamalaṁ kṛṣṇaḥ
salilasya yathā śarat
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.8.5)

When does śarat season start?

Devotee: Before winter, after...

Goswāmī Mahārāj: Autumn. Yeah. Because, you know, after the rain. Then everything becomes clear.

Devotee: Yeah...

Goswāmī Mahārāj: That's why it's in... so, it's saying like, all these things, this cloudiness, the layers of like... um... There's no polite word for what floats on the top of the water. Sometimes, algae, scum it's called, becomes clear, praviṣṭaḥ karṇa-randhreṇa (SB: 2.8.5.1). Kṛṣṇa-karnāmṛtam means nectar for the ear and heart —enters the ear and cleanses the heart. So, Guru Mahārāj's saying, “What the world needs, hari-kathā durvika” There's a famine of this thing. There's enough of everything else. The only famine short of there is... is of... Kṛṣ... substantial kṛṣṇa-kathā. Hearing about Him.

So, this is how our disappointment can lead us to something substantial; to become detached from the mundane and send us in the direction of becoming attached to what is genuinely spiritual. And, just to conclude, Kṛṣṇa tells Uddhava,

jāta-śraddho mat-kathāsu
nirviṇṇaḥ sarva-karmasu
veda duḥkhātmakān kāmān
parityāge ’py anīśvaraḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.20.27)

He said, “My devotee; aspiring servitor, devotee, they have faith in hearing about Me. They like that. Some taste is developing in them, some inclination for that. But, still there maybe some lingering remembrance or mundane hankering, lingering still. And, sometimes it overwhelms them; and pulls them, and they're seeking fulfillment; sensual fulfillment in the objective world.” And, He said, “But, they like hearing about Me being associating with My... Kṛṣṇa loving people engaged in service.” He's saying, “Gradually, my conception will spread it's influence on them. And, that lingering hankering will diminish to the point of vanishing altogether.”

So, it's something very hopeful. He's saying, “So, go on continuing hearing about Me, and associating with the Kṛṣṇa loving people, and doing sevā. And, gradually any lingering mundane hankering will vanish.” And, then we'll realize that oh... Not... and I will say this too, to include. In Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, what we... one thing we can extract from this śloka is to understand that... lat... oh... Because He's saying, “They repent.” There's repentance; garhayan of lingering attraction for the mundane; so, lamentation.

So, in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, to lament one's lack of Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, or lack of achievement, is a good thing, is a substantial thing. Lamentation finds it's value when express toward Kṛṣṇa conception. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Bs: Brahma-saṁhitā
Cc: Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta
Śa: Śaraṇāgati
SB: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam