Kṛṣṇa Consciousness: Right Now and Right Here

Too Much to Know

It doesn’t take much to become disturbed by the constant flow of information cyberspace on the internet is filled with. As a matter of fact, there are so many things we become informed about that we don’t need to know.

To know what is needed to be known and to do what is needed to be done was Śrīla Prabhupāda’s policy. His unparalleled sense of spiritual pragmatism was, even by his godbrothers, occasionally defined as “non-brāhminical”, as in the days of Kali-yuga, a man who knows and teaches all that which does not need to be known—or even worse, teaches pure lies—is defined as a man of intellect. Those who are truly intelligent don’t have to be learnt in the academic sense; they just need to be honest with themselves and with the public as well.

News is arriving all the time from “the big world out there” as we sit somewhere, often alone, in our chair, in our room, possibly with closed curtains, unaware of what is happening even in the next room. Some cannot even do that while being constantly absorbed in providing for themselves and their family members in terms of eating, sleeping, and defending. Sometimes their struggle for the necessities of life is so intense that they are unable to even have sex, seeking the help of a psychiatrist (who may be so traumatised by the stories he hears daily that he cannot have sex himself :-) ).

Such is the life of a standard Kali-yuga citizen—a man who is informed as never before, by operating technology which has never been operated before. As a matter of fact, there was never a time when so many could know so much about nothing. Gizmos we carry in our hands become our constant companions, telling us all the time what we don’t need to know, filling our minds with agitation and anxiety.

Too much talk

Śrīla Prabhupāda came to make our lives simple and possibly peaceful. He spread Kṛṣṇa Consciousness all over the world even without the help of a stationary telephone. When seeing the first installed telefax machine, he commented, “This machine is simply going to create gossip.” He opposed even an internal ISKCON newsletter, saying, “What is the use of such a publication? We do the same everywhere.” He advocated his Back to Godhead magazine to be our communication newsletter, as it carried only updated spiritual news. He even dismissed communication that didn’t carry spiritual news for our enlightenment by saying, “What is the use of so much talk? Simply creating enemies.”

Indeed, this genius observation sums it up: the more we talk in a mundane way, the more possibilities arise that we may disagree and argue—often for no reason. Communication on a spiritual level, being about unity of purpose and inspiration, addresses the needs of the soul – us – and not just merely addresses the never-satisfied body.

Right Here

Seeing me travelling all the time, devotees often ask, “What is happening in the other places?”
My answer is, “I don’t know. I am right here.”
Living in a country far from Māyāpur, they discuss what is going on in Māyāpur.
Living in a country on the opposite side of the globe, they discuss what happened elsewhere, often depending on information from dubious sources.
Could they stop what happened? No.
Can they change it now? No.
Finally becoming disturbed about the “bad news”, they cannot focus on their local pressing issues, which are, after all, one way or another, their priority.

It is like driving a car, dreaming about the global traffic situation, and forgetting to pay attention to the road we are driving on or the traffic we are currently a part of.
Surely, such a dreaming driver is likely to cause an accident.

This doesn’t mean we should be blind. Surely it is inspirational to learn from the mistakes of others... but for that, we don’t have to go far. Devotees today travel vast distances to collect spiritual inspiration elsewhere, forgetting that our main challenge is waiting for us “at home”, in front of our own door—the place where we face daily the challenges material nature is exposing us to. What will a place do for us, located thousands of kilometres away?
Nothing.

You Don't Have to Go Anywhere

Even many of the illustrious spiritual giants being worshipped by thousands of followers elsewhere will not necessarily come to our place, as they are always busy somewhere else, doing something so big that we, the little devotees, cannot understand or grasp its dimension. Such mystified saints are available in considerably great numbers, but they have little to do with our daily lives.

Vedic culture provided spiritual counselling on location. Even the great spiritual giants, like Śrīla Prabhupāda, were constantly engaged in travelling, aware that most of the pious souls are trapped in their local places. As a matter of fact, in Vedic culture—besides preachers for the cause of preaching and kṣatriyas for the cause of management, being in charge of vast areas—the rest of the population didn’t go much anywhere, growing their food locally and trading their commodities locally.

Even economically speaking, the disastrous situation of today’s worldwide economy came about largely due to greedy businessmen selling and buying from areas and countries that had nothing to do with the people’s needs and products in a particular country. No wonder there are customs and tax wars going on globally, as everybody is mixing with everybody, violating the law and order established by the Supreme Lord.

There is no chance that we are born somewhere by accident, and there is no need to try to change it. Kṛṣṇa is indeed present everywhere, ready to supply and provide for everyone locally—once we are in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. Kṛṣṇa Consciousness does not depend on geographical locations or their changes; it can be practised everywhere, according to the time and circumstances in which the conditioned souls are living.

And so, my ongoing answer to devotees asking me, “What is happening in ISKCON?” is always the same: What is happening in ISKCON is what is happening in your place. And what is happening in your place depends on your enthusiasm to practise Kṛṣṇa Consciousness and share it with others.

This concept of local self-sufficiency was much preached and advocated by Śrīla Prabhupāda. The more locally Kṛṣṇa conscious we become, the more Kṛṣṇa conscious we will be together.

Surely, travelling for festivals and pilgrimages to holy places is inspirational. But finally, we must return to our local places—and it is there where we can be most effective. To start this movement, Śrīla Prabhupāda sent his preachers all over the globe, travelling extensively himself. But his vision was that, finally, in order to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, “you don’t have to go anywhere” (a quote in reference to one of his farms).

It is this local stability which then collectively creates a worldwide stable movement, providing shelter for unstable and always agitated conditioned souls.
If we ourselves are constantly on the move and constantly agitated, what shelter can we offer to others?

And so, one should learn to be satisfied with what Kṛṣṇa gave locally and not expect to be “enlightened elsewhere”. Those preachers who expect that, after an extensive preaching tour, the whole world will finally come to them (to Māyāpur?) are deluded.

The world will not come to us—we have to reach out to the world, and that is to be done by providing stable local shelters for conditioned souls in the area we are living in. Most devotees living today in gṛhastha āśrama will confirm that their travels are limited.

So it is here and now that we can make a contribution to Śrīla Prabhupāda’s movement—being united globally by the instructions of His Divine Grace, which should be the ultimate global link among us as we practise Kṛṣṇa Consciousness locally.

Nobody will put their faith into a randomly collected crowd of constantly changing and moving individuals. Nobody will truly be able to relate to leaders who cannot be addressed or cannot be contacted while being always “somewhere else doing something else”.

As one of the successful leaders in ISKCON stated:
“If you want a project to thrive, you have to live in it.”
Leaders reduced to a picture hanging on the wall will simply become decorative paraphernalia, with little impact on the daily lives of their followers. Some may like it that way, but serious devotees seek serious guidance and advice—offered on location, addressing the needs and issues they face daily.

In this way, we can be one and different simultaneously—offering real shelter to others.