Feb 2008
A Newsletter from His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami
1 The Devotee Is Unaffected by Calamities
by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
2 Going Beyond the False Ego
by His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami
3 The Inferiority Complex of False Prestige
by Bhuta Bhavana dasa
4 Devotee Spotlight: Balarama Candra dasa
by the Editors
Prahlad Maharaja remaining fixed in meditation on the Lord.
A Devotee Is Unaffected by Calamities
by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
This material world is certified by the Lord in the Bhagavad-
gita as a dangerous place full of calamities. Less intelligent
persons prepare plans to adjust to those calamities, without
knowing that the nature of this place is to be full of calamities.
They have no information of the abode of the Lord, which is
full of bliss and without trace of calamity. The duty of the sane
person, therefore, is to be undisturbed by worldly calamities,
which are sure to happen in all circumstances. Suffering all
sorts of unavoidable misfortunes, one should make progress
in spiritual realization, because that is the mission of human
life. The spirit soul is transcendental to all material calamities;
therefore, the so-called calamities are called false. A man may
see a tiger swallowing him in a dream, and he may cry for this
calamity. Actually there is no tiger and there is no suffering;
it is simply a case of dreams. In the same way, all calamities
of life are said to be dreams. If someone is lucky enough to
get in contact with the Lord by devotional service, it is all
gain. Contact with the Lord by any one of the nine devotional
services is always a forward step on the path going back to
Godhead.
Teachings of Queen Kunti: Chapter 8
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Going Beyond the False Ego
by His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami
So many people on the spiritual path never go beyond
the false ego and, therefore, they can only access a certain
level of God consciousness. The false ego is still a part of the
mahat-tattva, a part of the imprisonment, and it prevents a
person from really experiencing their highest manifestation.
The false ego has so much to do with misidentification and
selfishness. It deals with aham mameti—what I desire, what I
want, what I feel I should experience. In its essence, false ego
is unequivocally the most difficult problem for any spiritual
seeker. To the degree that one transcends false ego, to that
same degree one will develop awareness of their divine,
original nature.
False ego is so difficult that most spiritualists do not
break through. If they did, then we would not see so much
falling down, regardless of the tradition. If you look closely,
you will find that there are more deviants than those who
genuinely honor their theology—even amongst leadership.
It is not that they do not know or understand; rather, it is a
matter of how much they have broken through those particular
barriers.
vihaya kaman yah sarvan
pumams carati nihsprhah
nirmamo nirahankarah
sa santim adhigacchati
A person who has given up all desires for sense gratification,
who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of
proprietorship and is devoid of false ego—he alone can
attain real peace.
Bhagavad-gita 2.71
Srila Prabhupada writes in the purport to this verse:
To become desireless means not to desire anything for
sense gratification. In other words, desire for becoming
Krsna conscious is actually desirelessness. To understand
one’s actual position as the eternal servitor of Krsna,
without falsely claiming this material body to be oneself
and without falsely claiming proprietorship over anything
in the world, is the perfect stage of Krsna consciousness…
Real desirelessness is desire for the satisfaction of Krsna,
not an artificial attempt to abolish desires. The living
entity cannot be desireless or senseless, but he does have
to change the quality of the desires. A materially desireless
person certainly knows that everything belongs to Krsna
(isavasyam idam sarvam), and therefore he does not falsely
claim proprietorship over anything.
Bhagavad-gita 2.71, Purport
Srila Prabhupada explains above that we do not become
desireless or free of identity, but it is a matter of reclaiming our
actual, genuine identity. However, to claim our real identity,
we have to lose our false identity. These false identifications
distract us from claiming our real identity. Along these lines, I
would like to discuss the importance of losing oneself to gain
oneself or acting with the end in mind as a way to address the
false ego. It is not such an unusual notion because, if we look
closely, we will see that we do this for our own priorities, but
we have difficultly doing it for the Lord.
Consider the behavior of a musician. If such a person is
just caught up in thinking about what other people are thinking,
about how he looks, about every single note or finger, he will
not be able to perform properly. However, as such a person
gives up his identity and instead identifies with the music as a
whole, he can then perform and absorb himself in the music.
Later he may come back to his own self-centered identity,
but while performing, he will simply become confused if he
thinks about each note and each chord individually. He will
cause a problem for himself and for others. Rather, he must
visualize the success and merge himself in that experience.
By losing his identity, he will ultimately gain the victory of a
higher identity.
In our spiritual acceleration, it is so important that
we move away from the insignificant details of being a man,
being a woman, being an American, being an Indian, being an
African, being a doctor, being a child, being an adult, etc. We
have to give up some of that stuff in order to develop a sense
of who we really are—not as a form of denial, but as a way to
see all of those details as a part of something much greater.
So, as the musician becomes a part of something greater, he
is not just thinking of each note or beat even though those
aspects are a part of the reality and the experience; rather, he is
thinking of the whole picture. Therefore, he offers something
of depth. The spiritualist may be involved in all types of work,
all types of professions, all types of political considerations,
and even in all types of religiosity, but he or she has to move
higher than that and grasp the deeper sense of identification,
of reality.
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 As we do that, we then begin to move away from the
false ego. People may see me or address me according to how
they knew me in the past or know me in the present—John,
Johnny Boy, Shamby, Ghanasyama, Swami Krishnapada, or
Bhakti Tirtha but, at the end of the day, I must step out of
that. People may address me as a spiritual mentor, but, at the
end of the day, I have to move out of that as well. People may
address you as such and such a person who is expert in this
profession or who is good at that activity, but you must lose
that to acquire a higher sense of your true identity. Otherwise,
the ego settles in different ways and begins to imbibe so much
of that temporary stuff that causes one to have to come back
into the material universes and into material bodies. However,
as we realize that we are beyond that, we will realize that we
are all eternal residents of the spiritual world and that we have
eternal relationships in dynamic spiritual association with the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna.
We want to keep that eternal identity in mind and
begin to reflect on the people who have risen out of their false
identity. What do they do and how do they act? We want to
begin to tune into such personalities, identifying more with
the great acaryas and prophets. We want to move outside of
our temporary identities while simultaneously doing what
we have to do in these bodies with expertise so that we do
not have to be distracted by our duty. It doesn’t mean that
we begin to act on the physical level according to our higher
reality because we do have these physical bodies and we do
have a certain profession, gender, race, and place of residence.
But just as we do have a car, we do have a house, we do wear
black or brown pants, none of these are our identity! If we
don’t take care of the externals, that is just negligence, but if
we embrace or put all or most of our energy into such, then
that false ego will manifest in so many different ways.
There cannot be serious love coming from people who
are thinking too much about themselves and others based on
what they can get from other people and other environments.
But as we lose ourselves in thinking so intensely about our
beloved, less and less of what is for ourselves becomes
important. It is very powerful when there is reciprocation. Yes,
people are afraid to love deeply and they are not so sure that
the other person is going to reciprocate, or they are afraid that
they might get exploited. Consequently, people are a little shy
about the degree to which they lose themselves in such ways.
However, by not losing ourselves, we cheat ourselves. The
more we hold onto the temporary identity, the more we cheat
ourselves from our higher expressions and pleasures, and from
our chance to have a deeper sense of union and dedication.
The Inferiority Complex of False Prestige
by Bhuta Bhavana dasa
I once had a friend who always wanted to be “someone”.
He wanted to augment his identity
by achievements that would boost
his sense of self-worth. I always
saw him as someone who was
suffering due to trying too hard
to prove himself. I felt he also
internally resented having to
achieve to be accepted, and deeply
wanted to be accepted as he was,
for who he was, unconditionally.
His desire for false prestige was
based upon suffering, neediness,
and was a bitter burden to carry. But are we any different?
In the classic story of the ugly duckling, we hear of a so-called
ugly duck who is forever trying to be accepted by the other
ducks. He is constantly being rejected. One day he finds out
that he is a swan, elegantly superior to the very ducks who
constantly rejected him. Likewise we are constantly trying to
be accepted by the material standards of society, taking our
worth based upon what we have rather than what we are, a far
more important factor. Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita:
“O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy
of Mine, which comprises the living entities who are
exploiting the resources of this material, inferior nature.”
Unfortunately, it’s worse than that. We don’t simply
want to exploit material nature. We identify with that inferior
nature, and just like the so-called “ugly duck”, we therefore
feel rejected.
The devotee is to be free of false prestige! Srila Bhakti
Tirtha Maharaja once spoke on leadership saying that as one
becomes more influential, one must become more and more
humble, or they’ll start to think themselves the doer. When this
happens, Krishna will step away and let them take the karmic
burden of their so-called achievements…which is a burden no
one but the Lord can handle! In one lecture, he spoke of how
he would wash the clothes of the other brahmacaris he was
serving with as a way to remind and fix him in the mood and
consciousness of a servant even in spite of such high results
he was achieving in book distribution.
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This statement got me thinking about the dynamics of false
prestige. The devotee is free of this false sense of taking the
credit for Krishna’s achievements that He mercifully manifests
through others. Why do we claim so many achievements as
our own? The fundamental dynamic of the conditioned soul
is towards insecurity. We try to hide our vulnerability with
material shields that are all to be destroyed in time. They give
us no protection. We also feel attraction to the things of this
world, a natural phenomenon. We forget however that the
things that attract us are attractive because Krishna’s potency
is in them. The beauty of the sunset is only attractive because
Krishna’s potency is in it, making it attractive. The elegance
of nature is only elegant due to the potency of the Lord within
nature. In other words, it is Krishna within anything that
makes that thing work and attractive. We think it’s the material
possession or achievement, but really, we want Krishna.
Prestige is defined as illusion brought about by magic.
Illusions means it’s not real, or substantial. Therefore, when
we see a magic trick, it is interesting until we know how it
is unreal. Then it is just a trick, something to captivate the
uninformed.
How do we give up the burden of false prestige, the
burden of false love? By cultivating real prestige. Real prestige,
which can never be taken away from us, is the understanding
that we are eternal servants of the Greatest, and the activity of
serving that Supreme Person. All things come and go, except
the eternal value of being the servant of the Supreme Lovable.
In that service, we are no longer vulnerable to the rejection of
our beloved. This is the certain, strong, and unconditional love
we all seek. Hare Krishna.
Devotee Spotlight: Balaramacandra dasa
by the Editors
Those of you who know Balaramacandra dasa must
certainly have come to appreciate his natural humility and
sincerity in devotional service. He is a simple brahmacari who
does not draw attention to himself, but his devotional qualities
naturally endear him to others.
Balaramacandra first met the devotees in the Winter of 2000.
He tells his story below:
During that winter, I went to the Govinda’s restaurant in
Tucson, Arizona and received Srila Prabhupada’s mercy
through his book, Raja Vidya, or The King of Knowledge.
I went home, sat on my front porch, and read the entire
book in one sitting. I agreed with everything Srila
Prabhupada had to say. He said that one should chant
Hare Krishna, so I wrote the mantra on my hand and
started to chant. Soon after, I purchased the Bhagavad-
gita. The first time I went to the temple, Indradyumna
Swami was there with Sri Prahlada prabhu. After
meeting the two of them, I was convinced that I should
dedicate myself to the practice of bhakti. Everything in
my world naturally shifted to focus on Krishna. Soon
I finished reading the Bhagavad-gita, started to chant
sixteen rounds, and moved into the asrama. All of these
events happened within six months.
Since that time, Balaramacandra’s life has revolved
around service to his spiritual master, His Holiness
Radhanatha Swami, and service to the New Vrindavana farm
community in West Virginia where he has lived since 2002.
During the months of June to August every year, he travels
with Radhanatha Maharaja as his servant. From September to
November and again from January to May, Balaramacandra
engages in college outreach programs at Ohio University
during the week and temple service on weekends.
Balaramacandra leads a very successful preaching
program at Ohio University, which can provide each one of us
with new and innovative ways to reach the youth, especially
those in university settings. Balaramacandra leads many
programs during the week while at the university, but the
Vegan Cooking Workshop is undoubtedly the most dynamic:
We arrive Tuesday evening after a two and a half hour
drive from New Vrindavana to facilitate the Vegan
Cooking Workshop (VCW). This workshop is a
dynamic event that has developed a strong community
of participants. Each week, approximately 120 students,
professors, and community members come together to
prepare, cook, and serve each other an amazing organic,
vegan meal. We meet there at 7 pm and return to our
student center by 10:30 pm to take rest around 11 pm.
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Local university students even filmed a video on the Vegan
Cooking Workshop due to its popularity. Please visit http://
www.krishna.com/node/1246 to view more details about the
weekly program that attracts so many visitors. Perhaps others
with the interest and proximity to a university could also
implement similar programs.
Balaramacandra concludes with his humble
realizations that have developed during the course of his
services:
We stay enlivened by associating with sincere devotees
and just performing our services. Our service is what
gives life! When we serve others, Sri Guru becomes most
present. When we serve the Deities, we do so on behalf
of Sri Guru. Worshiping the Deities and speaking about
Krishna are two potent ways to always see Sri Guru in your
life. Without the guidance and blessings of Sri Guru, we
could not do either.

We have been blessed by the Lord’s most merciful

incarnation Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Somehow or
another we now have Krishna and His associates in our
lives. There is nothing else to be achieved or sought after.
We can only grow to appreciate what we have been blessed
with. There is no way to repay back something as great as
this gift of Krishna consciousness. All we can do is try to
share Krishna’s love with others.

Copyright © 2007 Hari-Nama Press

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Hari-Nama Press gratefully acknowledges the BBT for the use of verses, purports and photos from Srila
Prabhupada’s books. All such material are © Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.

Designed by Tamal Krsna dasa

Edited by Lila Katha devi dasi

Photo of Bhakti Tirtha Swami: © 2005 Lawson Knight/Laksmivan dasa ACBSP