“Giving class”
Durban, South Africa
It was my turn to give a discourse from the Bhagavatam book. Today’s Eleventh Canto section honed on the subject matters of guru or teacher through natures representative. The bird, the dog, the bee etc, all demonstrate some message of principle and of truth. From a bird, one learns frugality amongst other things. From a dog, loyalty comes. From a bee, you focus on the essence of something which translates as concentration on the Almighty’s lotus feet.
Before beginning a talk, I always carry a concern of whether I’ll keep the audience’s attention or not. It can be disheartening to see a hood or two bob up and down due to sleepy condition. It is possible for such things to happen in the case of some monks who may have been putting in an awful lot of hours in preparing for the upcoming festival.
Fortunately, I saw before me perked up attentive faces throughout the hour and more sessions. When ascending to the vyasasana, the speakers seat, the approach is to ask for blessings from the deceased but still very alive acaryas (teachers) that you, the speakers, will function through a via medium to the messages. After all, can anything be accomplished on one’s own strength? No! Our ability to achieve is always dependent on others. It’s what people refer to as “empowerment.”
It is understood from the teachings of our gurus, Srila Prabhupada (what to speak of Krsna) that even the great demigods cannot operate without this empowerment. In other words, rain does not fall from the sky without this empowerment or the sun does not shine without being endowed with a power from above.
4 KM
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