Hari Om.
No matter your religion, whether you're Islamic, Christian, or Hindu, there's one thing that everyone says: 'When are you going to tie the knot?' The only people who literally 'tie the knot' nowadays are the South Indians. But we've moved away from that. In Phoenix and Chatsworth they no longer have a thali, They have a gold thali. So that's where 'tying the knot' comes from. The mantras were recited silently while I was doing the prayer because it's a special mantra. I was asking the Mother for permission to do this. The mother accepted, and that's when I went around and got all your blessings. So don't feel that we did something new, and because Radhika is wearing a blue sari that she's Krishna. Nothing like that.
So today is Krisnhna Janasthami, and many of us understand it differently. My understanding is very simple. If Shiva didn't have a birth, if Vishu and Brahma didn't have births, did Krishna really have a birth? That is my understanding. So Krishna Janasthami is the appearance day of Lord Krishna – in the Bhagavad Gita, when he appeared in his Vishwarupa form, that form was janasthami which means appearance – in the form of God, not in the form of Krishna. Many say he was born in Mathura, but it is not that way. Someone said to me yesterday that Krishna's house is in Mathura. Very good for them if they believe that. Krishna, in the Bhagavad Gita talks about two things: dharmashaktra and kurushaktra. Those are references to this physical body. Sanjaya talks to the blind king – the mind, which is always blind. And he talks about his thousand sons. Those are brutality, violence, lust greed, everything attached to the mind are sons of the mind. Krishna is within each one of you. Each of you is a Krishna in your own way. You are that light, that spark. So today is Krishna's appearance day. In one temple they say it's Krishna's birthday. We have birthdays. We are human forms, not manifestations. Supreme personalities do not have births. Jesus was the only personality who had a birthday, but his was unique and divine. Krishna is that which is within each one of us.
In the Bible, Jesus says 'the Kingdom of God is within (Luke 17.21). In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says 'I am that which is within' (10.20). He's saying the same thing but in a different way. What does 'Krishna' mean? Does it mean 'God'? It means 'black', or 'deep blue'. That was his colour. We have a South African apartheid Krishna – he's white. But he's supposed to be very dark in colour. What does it signify? It signifies depth in divinity, in spirituality. Through the Bhagavad Gita, the 'song of God', we can attain the state of Krishna-consciousness, not how they do in Hare Krishna temples, but in self-consciousness. We can attain that just by following the DIY given to man by God which we call the Bhagavad Gita. It is a very important manual, and very significant for this life, this kali yuga. Krishna, in the Bhagavad Gita tells Arjuna more than a thousand times, to surrender. Surrender what? Surrender yourself. He also uses the word 'sacrifice'. That does not mean you must do Kali pooja with a goat, or Amman pooja with a chicken. It means you must sacrifice yourself, your bad habits. Sacrifice them at the feet of Krishna and surrender totally to him. Once you surrender totally to God, everything you do in this life will be divine. You don't ever think about what you do, it will automatically be divine – because your general is God. How else can you surrender? By reciting the Gayathri mantra. Krishna says 'Of all the metres I am Gayathri' (10.35); the Gayathri mantra is written in the gayathri metre – 3 lines.
So Krishna claims in the Bhagavad Gita to be everything that we know. 'Of all the light I am the sun' (10.21). We know the sun. He says, 'Whatever you do, do not do it for the fruit of your action, but do it for me' (2.47) . Do not do it for the fruits. Don't do something and wait for a handout. Just do it in the name of Krishna. All work we do must be done for him. Whether you're helping your husband build a house, or digging a trench, you are not doing it for your husband or yourself, you're doing it for Krishna. If we work like that our work becomes divine. Not, 'I go to work every day but when I go to work I don't feel like working'. When you get up in the morning, offer your work to Krishna, place it at the feet of Krishna. The great Mahavatar Babaji says that Krishna is the ever light – a light that does not dim or go out. And that is why you'll find that at Self-Realization Fellowship, together with their photo of Mahavatar Babaji, they have a picture of Krisha. He is everywhere, in everything, outside, inside, above, below. 'In the depth of the ocean I am there, in space I am there'.
If Krishna is such a unique, powerful energy of God, why do we only observe Krishna Janasthami, and not think of Krishna 24/7. That's what we should do. But if I told you that tomorrow is also Krishna Janasthami, no one will come. When Krishna says we must surrender, he means that we must think of him, surrender to him, pray to him, pray with him 24/7. And if you do that - you can remove the name 'Krishna' and replace it with 'God' – then you will attain. Today is Krishna Janasthami so we're using the name of Krishna. It's only a name and in that name we'll find some solace, joy, happiness; and some of us find states of bliss just by saying 'hare krishna'. Caitania Mahaprabhu was an example of states of ecstasy. The only mantra he knew was 'hare krishna, hare krishna, hare rama, hare rama,…'. We've heard of people who've had great states of ecstasy and solace. Why can't we? Because we are caught in this material junction in front of us. We want to go to Gateway, to Sibaya, Suncoast; we will spend hours there, and in that time are you thinking of God? Not unless you want to win. But nobody can tell me you are thinking in a favourable way – only so you can gain some money, saying, 'Oh Rama, Krishna, I'm pulling the one-arm bandit now, I want all sevens'. And when Krishna doesn't come, you think he's not listening. He's not for that. You need to call his name continuously - Just the name 'Krishna'.
When we look at the Ramayan, if you call Ram, before Ram comes Hanuman is there. Just the name of Ram is enough to excite Hanuman. In the same way with Caitania Mahaprabhu, 'hare krishna' was enough to get him to states of ecstasy. For you, Suncoast is enough to give you states of ecstasy. But we should be getting ecstasy from God's name. So we need to rethink our lives, to sit back and say, 'Where have we gone wrong in the worship of God? Has God become part-time? For many of us God is part time. Once a week on a Friday; once a week on a Sunday, or twice a week. But when we've done our twice a week, our quota, we don't come again.
So on this day, in the radiance of Babaji, the glory of Christ, and light of my gurus, I pray sincerely that each one of you can find in your heart, in your being, to have God reside there, and for you to be conscious of that. If you can do that you'll come back here in two month's time, and tell me, 'I feel so good', and that is called the state of bliss.
No matter your religion, whether you're Islamic, Christian, or Hindu, there's one thing that everyone says: 'When are you going to tie the knot?' The only people who literally 'tie the knot' nowadays are the South Indians. But we've moved away from that. In Phoenix and Chatsworth they no longer have a thali, They have a gold thali. So that's where 'tying the knot' comes from. The mantras were recited silently while I was doing the prayer because it's a special mantra. I was asking the Mother for permission to do this. The mother accepted, and that's when I went around and got all your blessings. So don't feel that we did something new, and because Radhika is wearing a blue sari that she's Krishna. Nothing like that.
So today is Krisnhna Janasthami, and many of us understand it differently. My understanding is very simple. If Shiva didn't have a birth, if Vishu and Brahma didn't have births, did Krishna really have a birth? That is my understanding. So Krishna Janasthami is the appearance day of Lord Krishna – in the Bhagavad Gita, when he appeared in his Vishwarupa form, that form was janasthami which means appearance – in the form of God, not in the form of Krishna. Many say he was born in Mathura, but it is not that way. Someone said to me yesterday that Krishna's house is in Mathura. Very good for them if they believe that. Krishna, in the Bhagavad Gita talks about two things: dharmashaktra and kurushaktra. Those are references to this physical body. Sanjaya talks to the blind king – the mind, which is always blind. And he talks about his thousand sons. Those are brutality, violence, lust greed, everything attached to the mind are sons of the mind. Krishna is within each one of you. Each of you is a Krishna in your own way. You are that light, that spark. So today is Krishna's appearance day. In one temple they say it's Krishna's birthday. We have birthdays. We are human forms, not manifestations. Supreme personalities do not have births. Jesus was the only personality who had a birthday, but his was unique and divine. Krishna is that which is within each one of us.
In the Bible, Jesus says 'the Kingdom of God is within (Luke 17.21). In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says 'I am that which is within' (10.20). He's saying the same thing but in a different way. What does 'Krishna' mean? Does it mean 'God'? It means 'black', or 'deep blue'. That was his colour. We have a South African apartheid Krishna – he's white. But he's supposed to be very dark in colour. What does it signify? It signifies depth in divinity, in spirituality. Through the Bhagavad Gita, the 'song of God', we can attain the state of Krishna-consciousness, not how they do in Hare Krishna temples, but in self-consciousness. We can attain that just by following the DIY given to man by God which we call the Bhagavad Gita. It is a very important manual, and very significant for this life, this kali yuga. Krishna, in the Bhagavad Gita tells Arjuna more than a thousand times, to surrender. Surrender what? Surrender yourself. He also uses the word 'sacrifice'. That does not mean you must do Kali pooja with a goat, or Amman pooja with a chicken. It means you must sacrifice yourself, your bad habits. Sacrifice them at the feet of Krishna and surrender totally to him. Once you surrender totally to God, everything you do in this life will be divine. You don't ever think about what you do, it will automatically be divine – because your general is God. How else can you surrender? By reciting the Gayathri mantra. Krishna says 'Of all the metres I am Gayathri' (10.35); the Gayathri mantra is written in the gayathri metre – 3 lines.
So Krishna claims in the Bhagavad Gita to be everything that we know. 'Of all the light I am the sun' (10.21). We know the sun. He says, 'Whatever you do, do not do it for the fruit of your action, but do it for me' (2.47) . Do not do it for the fruits. Don't do something and wait for a handout. Just do it in the name of Krishna. All work we do must be done for him. Whether you're helping your husband build a house, or digging a trench, you are not doing it for your husband or yourself, you're doing it for Krishna. If we work like that our work becomes divine. Not, 'I go to work every day but when I go to work I don't feel like working'. When you get up in the morning, offer your work to Krishna, place it at the feet of Krishna. The great Mahavatar Babaji says that Krishna is the ever light – a light that does not dim or go out. And that is why you'll find that at Self-Realization Fellowship, together with their photo of Mahavatar Babaji, they have a picture of Krisha. He is everywhere, in everything, outside, inside, above, below. 'In the depth of the ocean I am there, in space I am there'.
If Krishna is such a unique, powerful energy of God, why do we only observe Krishna Janasthami, and not think of Krishna 24/7. That's what we should do. But if I told you that tomorrow is also Krishna Janasthami, no one will come. When Krishna says we must surrender, he means that we must think of him, surrender to him, pray to him, pray with him 24/7. And if you do that - you can remove the name 'Krishna' and replace it with 'God' – then you will attain. Today is Krishna Janasthami so we're using the name of Krishna. It's only a name and in that name we'll find some solace, joy, happiness; and some of us find states of bliss just by saying 'hare krishna'. Caitania Mahaprabhu was an example of states of ecstasy. The only mantra he knew was 'hare krishna, hare krishna, hare rama, hare rama,…'. We've heard of people who've had great states of ecstasy and solace. Why can't we? Because we are caught in this material junction in front of us. We want to go to Gateway, to Sibaya, Suncoast; we will spend hours there, and in that time are you thinking of God? Not unless you want to win. But nobody can tell me you are thinking in a favourable way – only so you can gain some money, saying, 'Oh Rama, Krishna, I'm pulling the one-arm bandit now, I want all sevens'. And when Krishna doesn't come, you think he's not listening. He's not for that. You need to call his name continuously - Just the name 'Krishna'.
When we look at the Ramayan, if you call Ram, before Ram comes Hanuman is there. Just the name of Ram is enough to excite Hanuman. In the same way with Caitania Mahaprabhu, 'hare krishna' was enough to get him to states of ecstasy. For you, Suncoast is enough to give you states of ecstasy. But we should be getting ecstasy from God's name. So we need to rethink our lives, to sit back and say, 'Where have we gone wrong in the worship of God? Has God become part-time? For many of us God is part time. Once a week on a Friday; once a week on a Sunday, or twice a week. But when we've done our twice a week, our quota, we don't come again.
So on this day, in the radiance of Babaji, the glory of Christ, and light of my gurus, I pray sincerely that each one of you can find in your heart, in your being, to have God reside there, and for you to be conscious of that. If you can do that you'll come back here in two month's time, and tell me, 'I feel so good', and that is called the state of bliss.
Hari Om. Shanti.
