(H H Kadamba Kanana Swami, 27th March 2012, Cape Town, South Africa) Lecture: B.G. 2.17

Yesterday I was reading all kinds of quotes of different personalities. One poet said:

‘As we are getting older, we realise that we are still children.’

I was thinking about this and I woke up this morning thinking:

‘Yes you are still a child, and you never will grow up as long as you want to play with the material energy, then you will always be a child! You will never grow up. So you will just stay as a child.’

This means that we should forget it, since it is foolishness and it is a waste of time! When we see children we think that they are cute and nice, and that there is nothing wrong with them. The children are the biggest time wasters in the universe! They do all kinds of things, such as nonsense things and ridiculous things. What a waste of energy. Sometimes you look at a kid a think:

‘If I would have the energy like that kid has then I could do things endlessly! Such as running up and running down for nothing.’

They are the biggest time wasters, so playing is a way of wasting time! Building sandcastles is a waste of time. So playing with the material energy is a waste of time. Getting richer and richer and then poorer and poorer, it goes like that, what goes up must come down. So it is a waste of time in trying to manipulate the material energy, whether it is for the body or not. Or whether we are playing with our object by trying to enjoy them or we are playing with our material body through sexual activities (then we play with our bodies) then we are actally playing with the material energy, which is a waste of time! It’s childish. So when one becomes mature one day, then we stop playing and then we spend all our time in serving Krishna, then we really come forward, but these childish tendencies are very deep.

As we play with the material energy it creates an attachment in our heart. That attachment creates an empty spot in our heart. All these material attachments carry a space where Krishna doesn’t enter, and the more material things are there, then the more our heart becomes occupied by material attachments (thousand and so many more material attachments) and as a result the more empty we will feel. But the more we just get rid of these attachments and go for Krishna, then the more our heart just fills up, and therefore the more service we do for Krishna. This is the trick actually, since it’s not about a technique:

‘Do you think that I am okay? Oh, I mean I have got to get more fired up. I’m into japa retreat, and it’s like I’m born again! The old Kadamba Kanana Swami is dead! You think that he is still the same person from the last time you saw him, then you are wrong. He has been reincarnated, as a newborn Hare Krishna!’

So it’s difficult to just say:

‘I want to go and get fired up in Krishna Consciousness. I want go and to be totally full of attachment to Krishna! I am going to be attached to Krishna. Attached to Hare Krishna, and do nothing else with the material energy!’

Then one day you have a hard day, and the mind just snaps, if we go to that route. So it is actually the matter of serving, just doing service such as attentive chanting which is very important!

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