August 2006 Zushi Retreat
The Message of Krishna
A Talk by Swami Vagishananda, President, Ramakrishna Math, Mumbai

The Vedanta Society of Japan was honored to receive Revered Swami Vagishanandaji, President, Ramakrishna Math, Mumbai, as special guest and speaker for the August Zushi Retreat was held on Sunday, August 20. The topic of the swami's talk was The Message of Sri Krishna, to commemorate the birth of Sri Krishna, celebrated annually as Janmashtami in India on 15 August of this year.

After being introduced by the Society's Secretary, Mr. Osonoi, Swami Vagishananda thanked all who had assembled on the hot August day and also offered the greetings and good wishes of all the devotees and monks of the the Ramakrishna Math at Mumbai. He also thanked Mr. Ito for translating the talk.

"I am also very grateful to Swami Medhasananda for calling on me to visit Japan," he continued. "I would have really missed something in my life had I not visited this very beautiful country." The swami went on to explain that from his childhood he had heard much about Japan; a progressive country, a very disciplined country, where all were literate. Having heard those things, as a student in 1945 he then heard about the "tragic incidents" of Nagasaki and Hiroshima as well. Then in college from 1947- 49 his fellow students had also learned that those devastated areas were already indistinguishable as new cities and a whole nation had arisen from the ashes. "I come to pay my respects to you this morning, and to discuss the life and teachings of Bhagavan Sri Krishna," he said.

Swami then launched into his talk with stanzas from the Bhagavad Gita in both Sanskrit and English: "Whenever there is a decline of Dharma and an ascendence of Adharma, then, O scion of Bharata, I manifest Myself in a body. For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked, and for the establishment of Dharma, I am born from age to age."

"This is why Sri Krishna had to be born. When the people become wicked, when adharma prevails, meaning injustice and unrighteousness, and common people suffer, God descends in a human form and reestablishes Dharma. We forget our religion, we forget our own traditions. When we stray too far from Dharma, we are too materialistic, our minds are too engrossed in gross matter, and we forget our true nature. For this reason we become a materialistic person, a selfish person. We become so selfish, we destroy each other. So God comes to show us the righteous path."

Reciting from the booklet, Thus Spake Sri Krisha, the swami continued, "O You, God Supreme, I bow down to You. You are the highest of the highest. Who can see Your infinite glory? You are the innermost ruler of every heart. Your paths are mysterious. Your ways are blessed. You wipe away tears of Your devotees. You destroy the wickedness of the wicked. What sweetness is in remembering you. You are the Lord Supreme. Your are indeed the Vedas. You are the Truth. You are the goal of all disciplines. Your lovers meditate on Your blissful form and become lost in the joy thereof. Shower Your grace upon me, O Lord, in Your mercy look upon me."

The swami then read the brief life story of Sri Krishna outlined in the same booklet. "As I mentioned before, when God takes a human body, He comes with a mission, a purpose. That purpose is to make us know, to realize, who we are. We, the human being, have forgotten our own nature, our own identity, We are all God. Swamiji (Swami Vivekananda) gave a wonderful definition of our Self: 'We are all God. The Divinity is already within us. We have to manifest it either by karma yoga, or by bhakti yoga, or by raja yoga, or by jnana yoga, whichever method I like or suits me. Each soul is potentially divine. Whether I am a sinner or a saint, it doesn't matter. These are all outer coatings. Within me there is immortal bliss, peace; this thing we have forgotten of our own nature.' Swamiji is urging us to find our own identity."

"People, whether from a highly developed country, a developing country or a poor country, are all imperfect. What is the meaning of imperfection? We are all led by our own impulses; our eyes, our nose, our ears, our tongue, our hand, they are always causing our mind to drift toward sense objects. We have no control over our mind with which to control the senses. This is called imperfection. This imperfection leads to anger, hatred, jealousy, aversion, and what not. And for this reason, we encroach upon other's territory, or we make atom bombs, and we destroy our whole universe. All this is coming because we have all forgotten that come from the same source. Whether I may be in Japan or India or England or Russia or the USA, it doesn't matter. We have all come from God, we have to go back to God, and that thing we have forgotten. It is for this reason They come, They have to come, in a human form to give this eternal message. That you are all divine, find your divinity by any means."

"How can an imperfect man be ascended to perfection? It is the God-man who comes ages after ages. They come to show us that chastity, purity, truthfulness, fearlessness, childlike simplicity is our birthright. This is the main thing you find in all great men, all great men who have gone beyond the senses and beyond all our shortcomings and have become our liberators. They have shown us the light.

"In Japan also we find many enlightened souls were born. In Zen Buddhist culture, for example, we find many enlightened souls to show us the righteous path. Because when we have forgotten our own nature, we become slaves to our own senses. So we must re-cultivate those traits of chastity, purity, truthfulness, fearless and a childlike simplicity as these God-men show us."

Swami Vagishananda then quoted some of Sri Krishna's teachings from Thus Spake Sri Krishna regarding the path of knowledge. He continued, "Knowledge removes the darkness. What is the darkness within me? That I am Mr. or Mrs. So and So, I have got my family, this business, this duty, all these things. And it makes me selfish to think of my own and not of others. But knowledge reveals that we are all one. You must feel oneness with the whole universe. You must feel that myself, with the whole of the Japan community, with the whole community of the universe, and the Creator of the whole universe are One. This is greatest message found everywhere in the Upanishads and the Gita."

"Though we in Japan and India are physically separate by many thousand miles; though physically we are all different, within ourselves we all have the same divine spark because God dwells in every heart. Your misery is my misery. Your happiness is my happiness. It is the great motto of all the saints who have preached throughout the centuries. They all tell us this same thing, so try to feel that we are all one."
Swami then quoted selections from the text regarding the path of devotion to realize God and ended his talk with the verse: 'Take refuge in Him with all your heart, O Arjuna, by His grace you will attain supreme peace and the eternal abode! ･