Beginning of Lecture
 
I am very grateful to everyone for coming today. We heard from His Holiness Devamrita Swami Mahraja and His Holiness Bhakti sundar Goswami Maharaja about this great treasure of life in the form of opportunity to serve. I will just speak few minutes on this subject.
 
Interestingly when we speak about transcendental life there are so many apparent contradictions. Because in order to be servant you have to be a master and in order to be a real master you have to be a servant. Is that makes sense? In conditioned life we are all serving the demands of the senses and the demands of the mind. We are walking down the streets we see something, the eyes are attracted or actually the eyes are do not get attracted. The eyes just see it then the impulse goes to the mind and the mind is attracted and immediately the mind responds by the accepting or rejecting, either I want this or I do not want this. Then the intelligence comes in, the power of discrimination. The intelligence can decide it is good for me or it is not good for me. If it is not good for me, the intelligence will tell the mind and the senses, no. Do not do it, go some where else. If the intelligence is attracted or the intelligence discriminates something is good then no matter how difficult it is, you should work and you do it.
 
Nature of Mind
 
Let us take an example. You are waking in the street and you smell something very nice and your nose just registers it and goes to the mind and the mind says, “Ah, I have to have it. I have to have this. It is just smalls so good and it is a bakery with nice sweets. Then you intelligence tells you, ‘Prabhu you have diabetes. You should not eat these sweets’”. This is the intelligence. But the mind says, I want it and because of the mind the senses are saying I need it. Then the intelligence says no do not do it. Now good intelligence takes the mind and the senses and directs it away from that situation and to eat some “Karela” somewhere else. It is good for diabetes. But if the intelligence comes under the influence of the mind and the sense then there is intelligence flow figure out the way to get it. You will discriminate and then figure out the way to get it.
 
Real Intelligence
 
Real intelligence is according to Bhagavad-Gita is, “Intelligence that follows the dictation of the atma or the soul. The real needs of you and me”. You have a car and the car needs oil in gasoline and if you really identified with the car you think let me drink oil in gasoline, your intelligence tells you no, you need a different type of food. The atma the soul is thirsting for pleasure, why because it is sachidananda, its nature is eternal full of knowledge and full of pleasure. But when we forget the inner pleasure of the heart that treasure that the two goswamis were talking about. Then we search for that pleasure through the mind and the senses.
 
As Devamrita Maharaja was saying everything that we experience through the mind and the senses is do “duhkhalayam asasvatam”. It is temporary. It will be destroyed. It will be end in course of time. All these things we are attached to. Being attached to people means being attached to the source of life the soul. Being attached to bodies or being attached to things. We may think, “I am in love with someone”. But are you in love with something or are you love in someone. The mind is thing. The body is a thing. Because at the time of death where are they. They are just things. It is the life force. The source of life. The atma the soul the Jiva that is the one the person. So to love someone really means to love the soul in that person and it is practical. Even your mother and your father, if they die, there is no much love for the dead corps. There is love for the person that has left that body. What are the needs of the souls? The soul is hungry for pleasure. Why? Because it is sachidananda, it is eternal, full of knowledge and full of bliss and what is that pleasure. The pleasure of prema or love. That is the only food that actually gives satisfaction to the heart to love and to be loved.
 
So when our intelligence is being guided by the actually needs and the wants of the soul then our life is directed toward the highest liberation. But when our intelligence is being guided by the mind and the senses against the actual wants and the needs of the soul, it leads us to so many karmic situations and the perpetuations of illusion.
 
So Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu explained as the Maharaja told, “jivera svarupa haya krsnera nitya dasa”. That greatest treasure of all treasures is to serve on the transcendental platform but in order to actually serve with love, in order to be servant (a das), you have to become a master over your mind and senses. So you have to be a master to be a real servant.
 
At the same time in order to master your senses and mind, it is through service. This what Yoga is. Really Yoga means in essence to reconnect our consciousness back to its original spiritual nature. To clean the mind and to clean the senses and bring them in harmony again with the atma or the soul. But in order to do so. It is very important to be convinced of what real wealth is. Things are not real wealth. Divine experience, that’s the real wealth because it brings fulfillment.
 
Krishna tells in Bhagavad-Gita, “A real intelligent person is someone who is illumined within, who rejoices within, who finds unlimited satisfaction within, and we find the greatest people because wealth means happiness”. Is it not? If you have billions or even have trillions of rupees or Dollars or Euros and if you are not happy, are you a wealthy person? You might be in the cover of fortune magazine but are you a healthy person, anxiety, frustration, identity crisis, and ultimately either through an economic crisis or through death, you cannot keep a single penny. But the wealth of the eternal soul is ever lasting and it is unlimited and it brings happiness.
 
Real Wealth
 
So this prema dhana, the great treasure of loving god, the great treasure of serving with love because love means to serve, the difference between kama, prema and material passion and spiritual love, one is selfish and one is selfless. One is for the shake of the objects of our love and the other is to satisfy my own egoistic conceptions.
 
How Srila Narottam Das Thakur met Lokanaht Goswami
Yesterday was the appearance day of a great saint, Srila Narottam Das Thakur. I’ll tell one story, which so beautifully gives real historical contacts to this message. Narottam Das Thakur was the only son of a extremely wealthy land owner, named Krishnananda Majumdar and he lived like those days was about 450 years ago in Bengal. He lived like a king. In fact all the people in the area, he owned the land which was thousands and the thousands of people in many villages, they considered him the king. And his only son was Narottam. That means Narottam was meant to inherit everything. He had so much home, cloths, fine foods everything as well as popularity and power.
 
When he was a little boy, somebody would tell him about Krishna and Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and different devotees of the Lord and just by hearing these stories, he became so much attracted. He wanted this love of god and he wanted devotion. Then he had a calling. It is a long story. One day Nityananda Prabhu appeared to him and told him that you should go to the Padma river because Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu has actually entrusted the love of His heart for you in the Padma River because of your sincerity and after receiving that Narottam became so intoxicated with devotion and then he had the vision of the lord who told him to go to Vrindavana and become the disciple of Lokonath Goswami.
 
So Narottam left home secretly. He was only about 15 years or something. In those days, he had to walk to Vrindavana, through Jharakhanda forest and it was very dangerous walking, may be almost thousands kilometers, just a boy all alone. His father, when he found that his son has left was so disturbed. He paid a lot of money and higher detectives to find his son and bring him home by any means. So they found in jungles and they said, we are going to take you home by force for many of them. Norottam was so sincerely, he explained to them, the nature of his longing and to love and serve Krishna and gave them some beautiful examples. His sincerity move their hearts so deeply that they give him their money and they said, “We hope that this way we will help you on your truth and we will tell you father that we never saw you”.
 
So when he went to Vrindavana, he met Jiva Goswami and Jiva Goswami brought him to Lokanath Goswami. Lokanaht Goswami said, “Please tell me about your life”. He told him. Lokanath Goswami said, “How could I be your guru? There are two problems. One is I never initiated a disciple in my life and after my two dearest friends, Rupa Goswami and Sanatana Goswami passed away from this world to join Krishna’s eternal lila. I am feeling so much separation and love for them. That is impossible for me take responsibility of anyone’s guru. I’ll not and I cannot, impossible. Besides that you have already love Krishna. You have already saw Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. You did not need a guru. Just be happy.
 
Narottam, he said, “Actually lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu may have come and may have come and give me something but I am so undeserving and I am so unqualified. If I do not have your guidance, if I do not have your blessings then I am lost in this world and besides that the lord told me to accept you as my guru. Even the lord accepts guru when He comes to this world. So it is necessary for me to do so”.
 
Lokanath Goswami said, “This is not possible but for one year I’ll examine you and for one year you can examine me and today, I am not your guru but I am giving you some instructions. Today you start chanting 200000 names a day that means 128 rounds everyday. So Narottam started chanting hundred and twenty eight rounds a day. How long will that take you? He was serious. Narottam, he did not want to disturb, he was not pressing because you are supposed to please your guru. You are not supposed to press your guru and pressurize your guru. Call and cause him misery, its not the real relationship, “yasya prasädäd bhagavat-prasädo”. You have force you guru to initiate you, then it is probably better not to initiate because pleasing him is more important than the formalities. So Narottam did not pray, he just in a very humble way, he just presented his case and then he left and did service
 
Qualification Of A Disciple
 
Every morning Lokanath Goswami would bathe in the Yamuna river, very early when it was still dark. But he was noticing something really strange because before he would bathe he would respond to natures call. That’s the saddhus in India explains the passing stool or urine to respond to natures calls. It sounds very nice. And he would always do it around the same place before going in the Yamuna. But he noticed it was perfectly clean and it was always so nice this area and the way they would wash their hands because they did not have soap this yogis in Vrindavana in those days, they just used shifted dirt and there was always a file of finely shifted dirt with a little part of water for him to wash before going in and Lokanath Goswami was thinking, what about the day before and the day before that and that stuff stool should be here, where is it? What is happening here? One year passed and Lokanath Goswami was asking several people, who is cleaning this area everyday? He was Narottam, he never told anyone. It is not like put it on his website, so see how humble I am. No body knows but I am going at 2 O’ clock in the morning before anyone wakes up and I am cleaning stool and urine with my own hands and making it nice to please my guru maharaja.
 
He did not do it for any ulterior motive, he just did it because he wanted to serve that’s all. He was hopping nobody would ever find out, not even his guru. But Lokanath Goswami was really, why somebody doing this? Who could it be? One day he decided, he was going to ask Narottam Das thakur. But then he became embarrassed. Lokanath Goswami was embarrassed to ask “Narottam, are you cleaning my urine and stool”. He just asked, what are you doing all day? Narottam Das said, “I am chanting 200000 names a day”. Then as far as that interrogation went.
 
So time went on and whole year passed. Lokanath Goswami thought, “I have to find out, who and why anybody is doing like this”? So Lokanath woke up really really early in the morning, earlier than ever before. He probably did not sleep that much any way but he went to that place earlier than ever before and he hide behind before the trees and waited. Then he saw the form of somebody, but it was so dark. He just saw like a shadowy person coming with hard broom in his hand and for those of you in the west they do not have brooms with handles in India. You get on your hands and knees and you sweep and he saw somebody sweeping and care fully collecting the urine and stool and putting it somewhere else and moving it to another place and sweeping the whole area. But Lokanatha Goswami could not see who he was. So he came out from his hiding place and said, “Who are you”. Suddenly that shadowy form offered his prostrated obeisances and Lokanath Goswami said, “Who are you? What are you doing here? Why are you doing this?”
 
Then he got up with folded palms and said, “Gurudeva, it is me Narottam”. Lokanath Goswami saw him and began to cry. He cried out loudly, “Narottam, why are you doing this? You are coming from a royal family. You are a prince, meant to be king. You are meant to be living with fine silks and fine foods with many servants doing anything at you back and call. Why? Why such a learned scholar, such a highly enlightened being is you. You have seen god. Why you are in your hands and knees, cleaning someone’s stool and urine, their excrements. Why, why are you doing? Narottam with tears rollingin his eyes and spoke from the very core of his heart what he really felt. He said, “My gurudeva, I left behind, all of these insignificant things of this world to attain the most precious valuable treasure of all treasures. The opportunity to perform this menial service for my gurudeva. This is my treasure. This is my wealth. When Lokanath Goswami heard this, his heart melted. He said, “Narottam you conquered my heart. Come with me I’ll initiate you”. That humble service attitude conquers Krishna.
 
Devotional Service as a means to capture the Lord
 
We are speaking yesterday. Krishna is Achyuta. He is inconceivable and unconquerable, but his greatest pleasure is to be conquered by the love of His devotees. The greatest happiness is not to conquer but to be conquered and bhakti is that theology that science, where god is conquered by the love of his devotee and the devotee is conquered by Krishna’s love and the expression of the gratitude of that situation is to serve. So yes, the greatest all treasures is the opportunity to serve and we see the world today, where there is in the cinema or in the movies or in a drama or in a book. If somebody is willing to make great sacrifices for the welfare of other people, it touches our heart. If somebody just gain so many things, it may impress our mind but it does not touch the heart, does not connect to the soul and the highest extension of this principle is explained Srimad Bhagavatam. When you water the root of the tree it nourishes every part of the tree. When we serve god because we love god, because every living being is part of god, “mamaiväàço jéva-loke jéva-bhütaù sanätanaù” When we love god, we naturally love every living being, all categories of human civilization or even all categories of in human lack of civilization, all categories of animals and reptiles, fish and birds, even mother earth and the trees, it is the spontaneous love because we see the presence of god, a part of god, a child of god in everyone. What is our nature, when we have that? We want to serve.
 
Glories Of HH Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaj
 
Srila Prabhupada, our guru deva. How much risk he took to serve? He was the guru or why he is the guru? Because he had the purest desire to serve. He served his disciples. He gave his life and soul and sacrifice everything and for all living beings. One of his most exulted intimate dedicated disciples, he wrote a book and it was entitled “Servant of the servant”. That was His Holiness Srila Tamala Krishna Goswami Maharaja. Srila Tamala Krishna, what a service attitude he had? How much love within his heart? How much gratitude? He became a devotee in the 1960s, I think around 1967 or 68 and just understanding Srila Prabhupada’s spirit of service, he embraced in the core of his heart.
 
Srila Prabhupada sat in Goldengate park in San Francisco, playing on a little bango drum chanting Krishna’s names. Before he played on the Banjo drum in Tompkins square park in the lorry side of New York. Wherever he did, so many people were coming and just by his kind, he would cooked for them, he would explain nice philosophy of prema or love of god to them. He would solve their problems in so many levels. He would give them shelter.
 
Recently I was in London, with Shyamsundar Guru das, Yamuna, and Malati prabhus and they were talking about, when they met Srila Prabhupada in San Francisco. His philosophy, that they put gradually understanding it. But he was just the kindest most compassionate, most careing person they ever met in their life. They just wanted to be with him. Now please understand, this is the 1960s in America, where the philosophy among my generation, never trust anyone over 30. This is different than Indian philosophy, where love your mother and father and serve them and honor your mother and father. It is the tem commandments. Here is Srila Prabhupada, he was older than their grand parents because, they would do anything for him. Because, of his desire to serve everyone and anyone by giving them God’s love in every possible way through every gesture of kindness.
 
Tamal Krishna Goswami was one of those people who came at that time and Srila Prabhupada wanted chanting, so Tamal Krishna Goswami, he personally was the first one to organize Kirtan on the streets, actually organize it systematically and made a wonderful and wherever there was any temples of Krishna in the world, there was to few them, he was the first one that established it. Then Srila Prabhupada came out with his little back to godhead magazine and he was the first one to really get devotees to distribute it. Then Srila Prabhupada started writing books and then there was being published that he was the one, who more than anyone else in the world at that time for years and years was inspiring parties to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books.
 
Srila Prabhupada sent some of his peoples to London. Tamala Krishna Goswami from San Francisco, he went to Los Angelus, he was something like the temple president, there and established temple there. Then he went to London, Srila Prabhupada said, “show them how to organize a proper temple and proper relationships. Practically anything Srila Prabhupada was doing, he brought Tamala Krishna Goswami as his right hand man to establish it. Why, because he had such complete trust in his unmotivated service attitude. Srila Prabhupada sent him to Germany. This was in the 1960s and the early early 1970s. In 1970 Srila Prabhupada wanted to establish back in Inida and he put Tamal Krishna Goswami as the GBC in charge of the whole country of India under Srila Prabhupada and what amazing service as he did, by inconceivable circumstances.
 
One day Srila Prabhupada said to Tamal Krishna Goswami “Go to China”. It is like the last frontier for bhakti. So he went to China and even has with – who is his disciple with us today. Throughout China and now there devotees everywhere. This is his spirit as he realized the great treasure, the great wealth in the opportunity to serve to enlighten and illuminate people’s hearts and bring them shelter in happiness in the love of god.
 
Book Launch On HH Tamal Krishna Goswami
 
So today, we are lunching a brand new book about Tamal Krishna Maharaja. That is actually the purpose of this program, as far as I understand and I’ll speak a few more minutes, according to the schedule of about the book, now we would like to introduce Radha Charana prabhu, who is one of Tamal Krishna Goswami’s very very intimate loving disciples, one of the leaders among his disciples. Of course we know Tamal Krishna we know Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaja passed away from this world a few years ago and his wonderful disciples are carrying on his spirit of loving service within this world. Let us welcome Radhacharan prabhu and all the disciples of Tamal Krishna Goswami, who have gathered here today by loudly chanting Hari bol.
 
About 30 hours before Tamal Krishna Goswami left this world, we would together for about four hours speaking and at one point, His Holiness Niranjan Swami, who was in the down stair in the temple leading the kirtan and Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaja stopped talking and listen for about 30 seconds and He said, “He is singing with such deep devotion, just listen”. I would like to honor of Tamal Krishna Goswami make some feeble attempt to chant in the melody that Niranajan Swami was chanting that day.