Let’s solve the root of all problems – Part 3
“Sometimes in life we make the mistake of hearing valuable information
without listening.” – Angel Moreira
After a class in Tokyo, Japan, on the sixteenth chapter of Bhagavad
Gita where Krishna speaks about the demoniac nature, Srila Prabhupada
paused and invited the audience to ask questions. There was a silence
in the room. Srila Prabhupada smiled and with a mild laughter, again
asked, “Does anyone want to ask questions on behalf of the demons?”
Again no response. Srila Prabhupada then said, “Do any of our Japanese
friends want to ask questions?” After a few moments of silence, a
murmur followed, and somebody asked about the car analogy that Srila
Prabhupada had spoken in the class. Srila Prabhupada replied, “Yes, I
said, you may hear the screeching sound of a car while being inside
the room, and you know, even before you see it, that it’s the vehicle
driving. It’s the sound of the locomotive that first reveals to you
the car. Then you see it. Likewise, in this world, we first hear God
when we hear the chanting of Hare Krishna. This hearing is our
introduction to the form of God.” Srila Prabhupada explained that in
this material world, regarding subject matters of God, hearing
precedes seeing. If we cultivate a practise of hearing God’s pastimes
and His Holy Names, then we become qualified to see God.
Unfortunately we trust our eyes too much. But if we go the sonic way-
hearing sacred sounds, we’d purify our conscience, and that would help
us connect to God better. And then as our enjoyment tendency makes way
for a service attitude, we’d attract the grace of Lord, and also
better relationships with fellow human beings, the other children of
the same God!
Srila Prabhupada’s quote:
“The transcendental vibration established by the chanting of Hare
Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare, is the sublime method for reviving our
transcendental consciousness As living spiritual souls, we are all
originally Krishna conscious entities, but due to our association with
matter from time immemorial, our consciousness is now adulterated by
the material atmosphere. The material atmosphere, in which we are now
living, is called Maya, or illusion. Maya means that which is not. And
what is this illusion? The illusion is that we are all trying to be
lords of material nature, while actually we are under the grip of her
stringent laws. When a servant artificially tries to imitate the
all-powerful master, it is called illusion. We are trying to exploit
the resources of material nature, but actually we are becoming more
and more entangled in her complexities. Therefore, although we are
engaged in a hard struggle to conquer nature, we are ever more
dependent on her. This illusory struggle against material nature can
be stopped at once by revival of our eternal Krishna consciousness.”
