Many types of sacrifice are given in the Vedas. Knowing that liberation is possible, after knowing real knowledge one will never fall into delusion, but will see all beings in the Self and in the Lord. We meet people who say that, according to the Vedas, they have to do a specific kind of pooja (ritual prayer). Many kinds of action have been prescribed through the sacred texts of Hinduism, and by performing them you can be liberated. But what is Krishna's definition of liberation? It is when we are able to see Him in all beings, and all beings in Him. Then we are liberated. Therefore, doubts that are born of ignorance should be removed with the sword of this knowledge. Once you have such knowledge you should not have any doubt.But doubt seems to be our biggest problem. As you sit there, some of you are thinking. “This Bhagavad Gita ... is it really such a great book? This guru sitting here blabbering away … is he telling us the truth?” As long as we have doubt we cannot be liberated because doubt is one of the greatest factors in obstructing, in restricting, our upliftment on this spiritual journey. Arjuna goes further to say, “Oh Lord, tell me about yoga,” and Krishna continues, explaining that after attaining success in yoga, tranquility is the support.
Realisation is difficult work for somebody whose Self is not in control. Which self do we refer to here? The mind self. If your mind self is running havoc – and most of you have such active minds if mind was a factor in the olmpics you'd come first – it can destroy you. Let the mind remain a servant. Never give it promotion to be your master. Once you do that, you're in trouble. You'll always be in trouble. Have control of the mind, says Krishna. He also says that we must not wait for the fruits of our action, “surpassing the fruits of merit, performing sacrifice, austerity ... you will attain supreme peace”. We must do charity and perform sacrifice.
But what is sacrifice? Sacrifice is when you give somebody else something that you see they need more than you do. You have it and need it, but not as much as somebody else does. And I'm not referring to thirteen black chickens and two goats. Don't interpret sacrifice as slaughter. There's a big difference. Sacrifice is a very good word for what it's supposed to and slaughter is a very good word for what it's supposed to do. Don't mix them. Many years ago I heard a well-educated spiritual being say that Krishna propogated sacrifice in the Bhagavad Gita, and that was the reason this person sacrificed. Right now he doesn't have either of his feet – they were amputated – so what did the prayer do for him? He created his own sacrifice. When krishna talks about sacrifice, he's not talking about slaughter.
When I first came to Verulam, a bus owner came to me and said he was doing Kali Pooja and that he sacrifices two goats. He said that when his father started the bus business, as long as he was performing 'sacrifice', there were no accidents. I told him that his father's bus was the only bus on the road at that time, so the chances of him having an accident were so low. Nowadays there are so many vehicles on the road, there are a lot more accidents. Some of you are thinking, “This guru is putting us off...” I'll tell you, my mother did all of that – slaughtering - and she was blind for fifteen years. I'm telling you from my experience. So don't confuse sacrifice with slaughter.
Krishna says that He will accept anything offered with love and devotion, even a leaf, fruit, flower or water, but it must be surrendered to the Lord. That means that when you prepare food, you should take some out and leave it for the Lord. The Hare Krishnas take their food and leave it at the altar before they partake of it. Many of us seated here think that we're Krishna so we take the food instead.
Hari Om.
