Find that Deep Part Inside of You
Devotees can be thought of in three categories according to their advancement – conventional, committed and confidential. These categories have been presented by His Holiness Keshava Swami and I want to elaborate on this.
A very important point is the attitude of these different devotees. The conventional devotee is usually found to ask something of Krsna. One time, I met with such devotees and they said to me, ”O Maharaja we are building a house, but there are many obstacles. We have prayed to Krsna to overcome them, and we want to ask for your blessings as well so we can build the house.” I replied, ”Perhaps you have those obstacles, because you are poor and the house costs much more than you can afford. Perhaps you should not go to God with such unrealistic expectations, but instead scale down your material desires.” That was not a nice comment to hear for a conventional devotee. I knew that, but I wanted to see their reaction, and yes, it was predictable.
The attitude of a committed devotee is different. He or she does not just want to get something from Krsna, but they try to surrender as much time and service as possible. Such a devotee will say: ”It’s not about me, it’s about Krsna.” I believe Prabhupada is definitely a confidential devotee, but sometimes when he preached to us, he spoke in the voice of a committed devotee: ”Everything for Krsna, and nothing for me.” Wow! This is different from a conventional devotee, isn’t it? In contrast to this a conventional devotee tends to think, ”Everything for me, and two cents for Krsna.”
The confidential devotee has a still different attitude. They want to have intimacy with Krsna. They place Krsna’s desires above themselves at all times, and become what is called in Sanskrit kinkaris. The word kinkari means assuming a stance or position of asking ”kinkaro?” Kin means ‘what’ and karo ‘can I do’. It is coming to the master and asking ”What can I do today? Please tell me.” It is in this mood that chanting of the Holy Names most quickly brings results. You know the word kinkari from verse five of Sri Siksastakam:
ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram patitam mam visame bhavambudhau
krpaya tava pada-pankaja- sthita-dhuli-sadrsam vicintaya
The beautiful poetry expresses that Krsna’s feet are like a lotus, they are always standing above the material world and we are like its pollen – they belong to the lotus flower. In the same way Mahaprabhu says, ”I belong to You, it’s unnatural that the dust is somewhere else than stuck to the lotus, in the same way it is an unnatural situation for me to be to be separated from You and struggle for existence in this huge ocean of nescience. Now you please take me to You”.
This is called longing. Everyone has many longings within, you just need to look at Maslow’s pyramid of needs to identify them. The first level of longing is for food, shelter and sexual gratification. Then we want to have the feeling that we are secure, appreciated and connected to others. Now, when we go deeper, there’s also a part in us that has very spiritual longings and that turns to God. Sometimes these longings come out when we are in shock. My father told me that when the Nazis were in the trenches before Stalingrad and they where being overpowered by the Red Army, every one of them started to pray due to the shock. Yes, even Nazis prayed, because in every one of us there is this deeper side which is unfortunately so terribly covered in our lives that we just can’t access it. We have no access, since we are always busy. ”O what’s there to eat today?” ”And how do we look?” ”Beard, yes or no?” ”Do they still like me?” ”I don’t think I found my community yet.” And so on. We are caught up in this body and mind. However, when we can access the deeper part in us, you will see – we want Krsna very much. Very, very, much. And this part in us sometimes speaks especially when things don’t go the way we wish. That part wants to close this chapter of being interested in beards and likes and being on the bodily and mental level. There is a part in us which, believe it or not, is able to cry spiritual tears for Krsna.
On Nov. 4, 1969, Prabhupada instructed the devotees to cry prayerfully while chanting Krsna’s names. ”So we are addressing: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna: O the energy of the Lord, O the Lord, please accept me. That’s all. Please accept me. We have no other prayer. Please accept me. Lord Caitanya taught that we should simply cry, and we shall simply pray for accepting us. That’s all. So this vibration is simply a cry for addressing the Supreme Lord, requesting Him, please accept me. Please accept me.”
If you want bhakti, devotion for Krsna, this is the method. You will chant in that mood.
Now there are four different types of crying. The first type of tears are the tears of the saṃsarika. That is someone who is caught in the wheel of birth and death and cries out of frustration. Perhaps because of physical pain or when we really felt betrayed, disappointed, hurt or hopeless. I think saṃsarika tears are unavoidable, they are what material life means. The Bhagavatam actually points out that there is an ocean of tears from all the conditioned souls.
The second form of tears come from the prakrta-sahajiya, a purposeful pretender. They think, “When I cry the association of people think that I’m very advanced in love of Godhead.”
The third category of tears are the tears of the sadhaka. It’s a practitioner who comes to a state where he or she is disillusioned with mixed forms of bhakti which they still allow themselves to do and they think: ”I must close this embarrassing chapter of being in between devotee and materialist.” And he cries to Krsna, “Oh Krsna, I missed the point for so long. I’m really not on track after all these years. My chanting requires an urgent overhaul.” This is the third form of tears.
And the fourth form of tears are those of the perfected soul. I have seen Srila Prabhupada crying, and my dear devotees, that was so moving and so impactful. When he sang Radha-Madhava he was overcome with the meaning of what he was singing.
So we want to progress from tears for worldly things towards tears for Krsna. ”How can we cry for someone we’ve never known?” you may ask. ”How do you expect us to imbue our chanting with emotions? This does not work. It has not worked. It is not working. It will not work.” This is what I often hear. The minds of my listeners scream this. Minds of those who do not know the power of a very important tool in Krsna Consciousness. It is called Krsna katha. As we listen about Krsna’s form, His qualities, His pastimes, and especially His love for His devotees and the love of the devotees for Krsna, even a stone-like heart will develop good emotions, spiritual emotions for Krsna.
So, find those places where you can hear about Krsna. Find those books where you can read about Krsna. Because all this will fan your flames. It will fan those desires which are a part of everyone. It’s innate. It’s inside, it’s a desire, but not on the surface-level of our personality. You do have to find that deeper part and then sing with longing for Krsna. Let us not sing and chant with the voice of the body because the body will become tired. Let us not even sing with the voice of the mind because the mind will become distracted. Let us find that deeper part in us, let us sing with the voice of the soul, because the soul does not become tired and the soul does not become distracted. The voice of the soul is, “Oh Krsna, I really miss you. I’m crying for so many things but behind all my tears there is only one motive. I cry for you.”
Form a lecture by Sacinandana Swami at Radhadesh, Sep. 15, 2023
Srila Prabhupada: One Merely Has to Become Sincere
As stated in Bhagavad-gita (10.10), the Lord gives intelligence to the pure devotees so that they may be elevated to the highest perfectional stage. It is confirmed herein that a pure devotee, who constantly engages in the loving service of the Lord, is awarded all knowledge necessary to reach the Supreme Personality of Godhead. For such a devotee there is nothing valuable to be achieved but the Lord’s service. If one serves faithfully, there is no possibility of frustration because the Lord Himself takes charge of the devotee’s advancement. The Lord is seated in everyone’s heart, and He knows the devotee’s motive and arranges everything achievable. In other words, the pseudo devotee, who is anxious to achieve material gains, cannot attain the highest perfectional stage because the Lord is in knowledge of his motive. One merely has to become sincere in his purpose, and then the Lord is there to help in every way
From Srila Prabhupada’s purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.13.49
From Srila Prabhupada’s purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.9