EUROPE
June 29, 2002 VNN7408
A Message Of True Catholicism
BY GOKUL
 ENGLAND, Jun 29 (VNN) — An intimate meeting with HDG Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj On the morning of Friday 24 May 2002, Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj, accompanied by Srila Bhakti Vicar Vishnu Maharaj, Sriman Ananta Ram das Brahmacari, Sriman Srikant das Brahmacari and Sriman Sudarshan das Adhikari, alighted at London Heathrow Airport, commencing the 2002 preaching tour of the UK and European countries. Devotees from the US, Holland and other parts of the UK came to join the entourage, as they toured England through 2 June. After that, Maharaj and the other devotees continued the European tour in France, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Slovenia, which is still underway as of this writing.
This year, the UK itinerary was diverse, including public programs at the Seekers' Trust in Kent, The London Theosophical Society, The De Nobili Interfaith Centre, Borders Books and Music in Central London and Gaur Govinda Gaudiya Math in Birmingham. There were also many wonderful home programs held in all four directions in Bromley, Slough, Brighton and Leicester. The devotees were blessed to have Maharaj's divine association during many auspicious days, including Nrsimha caturdasi on 25 May, where Srila Tirtha Maharaj led a hair-raising Nrsimha kirtan, culminating in the enthusiatic chanting of "Jaya Dao! Jaya Dao!"
While every program was certainly memorable, there was one particular event that deserves special mention. On the morning of Monday 26 June, Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj had a meeting with Father Alfred Agius, a Jesuit priest, who serves as head of the Westminster Interfaith group, throughout the Catholic diocese of Westminster (greater London). Father Agius, an amicable person of genteel character, had been a missionary in India for many years and can speak fluent Hindi and Bengali. He is also familiar with Vedic literature and has a great respect for Indian theological schools of thought. This meeting, held in the Westminster Interfaith Office, located in a tidy and tastefully landscaped complex in Central London, was intimate, with only Maharaj, Father Agius and a few other devotees present.
After exchanging introductions, Father Agius showed the devotees a number of nice publications he had assembled for the Westminster Interfaith, demonstrating his sincere dedication to presenting religious perspectives from various faiths. Maharaj perused these materials for some time while the other devotees engaged in conversation with Father Agius.
After a few minutes, Maharaj suddenly began to speak. He seemed nearly trancelike, focusing his eyes straight ahead of him. Everyone else in the room, including Father Agius, immediately became silent and listened with rapt attention. First, Maharaj addressed the "Interfaith" theme of the day by defining the word "Hinduism".
"If you look up the word 'Hinduism' in the Oxford dictionary," he said, "you will find this definition: 'religious system practiced by a Hindu'."
Everyone laughed at this.
"So," he continued, "if you look up the word 'Hindu', the Oxford Dictionary says, 'One who practices a system of faith involving the worship of many gods and goddesses and belief in the caste system."
Maharaj went on to explain the vital difference between the idea of modern 'caste system', which is based upon birth, and the varnasrama system, which is based upon the character of a person. He showed how the varnasrama system is a natural thing. He said, "If someone has the tendency to worship and study scripture, he is a brahmana; if he has the tendency to rule, then he is a ksatriya. It does not matter if you use a different word, in your own language. The word is not important, but the concept is universal." Father Agius agreed whole-heartedly with this explanation.
Maharaj then went on to explain the misconception that Hinduism involves the worship of many gods and goddesses. He explained how the Vedas are designed to appeal to every type of human being, all of whom are influenced by the various modes of material nature. There has to be some system by which even those who are in ignorance may make advancement. Thusly, those who are addicted to eating flesh and consuming intoxicants can be gradually elevated to a higher level by worshipping the goddess, Durga, who is the embodiment of the illusory energy of the Supreme Lord. By this gradual process, even the lowest of human beings can come to the higher platform, to rajo-guna, then to sattva-guna and eventually to nirguna, or transcendence. Maharaj clearly explained how this method was in no way 'polytheistic', as the ultimate goal was always devotion to the One Supreme Lord.
Father Agius and the other devotees listened most attentively as Maharaj went on to describe the nature of the soul, atma, and how it differed from the body. Next, he described dharma and was particularly emphatic as he differentiated it from the word "religion". In great detail, he described the ten Vedic dharmas, explaining how they "hold society together". One by one, Maharaj explained the efficacy of these dharmas, including celibacy, truthfulness, charitableness and non-violence.
When Maharaj came to describing non-violence, he gave a clear explanation of how violence always comes back to the person who projects it. He slapped the tabletop with his hand. He said, "If I hit this table, what happens? The result is that I hurt my own hand. Similarly, if we perform any act of violence, it will immediately come back to us. This shows us, logically, that violence cannot sustain society; only the practice of non-violence can." Maharaj went on to describe sanatana-dharma, and Mahaprabhu's formula for World Peace, in which God must be at the center of all thought and action. He used the analogy of many circles with differing centers. "At some point, their circumferences will cross, indicating conflict," he said. "Only when their centers are focused on the same point will the circumferences stop crossing each other. Some may be larger, some smaller, some will perform a little service, while others will perform a lot; but all will fall around the same central point." This, he said, was the only actual formula for World Peace.
Then Maharaj went on to describe how the teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu contained the tools to activate that formula. He beautifully began to describe the lovely kirtan of Sri Krishnachaitanya, especially in His pastimes during His pada-yatra through the jungles of India. "When Mahaprabhu chanted to the animals, the tiger and the deer were kissing! How is such a thing possible? Because the Holy Name awakened their true nature." Maharaj described how they are not tigers and deer; they are not enemies; they are not hunter and hunted. These are all illusory attributes-they are actually part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. The Holy Name has the power to awaken the true self in all living beings. In a trancelike state, Maharaj chanted, "Hari o' rama rama, hari o' rama rama!" (Caitanya Bhagavata, Madhya-lila, 23.92).
Everyone was quiet for a few moments as Maharaj continued to gaze straight ahead, as if he were looking at his beloved Gurudeva. After this silence, Father Agius finally said, "Well, I have to thank you so much for that beautiful explanation of...of...well-reality!" He then humbly submitted to Maharaj that there were some branches of Catholicism, the Eastern Orthodox Church in particular, who share the view of the potency of chanting the Holy Name. He recited a prayer that he called the "Jesus Prayer", which, he said, is recited repeatedly by adherents to the Eastern Orthodox Church. Repetition of the Name of Jesus was its focus. Maharaj then mentioned to Father Agius that he had been to the Vatican on a previous European preaching tour. He described how he found it odd that the devotees there did not take off their shoes before they entered sacred places. "Perhaps it is because it is a cold climate?" Maharaj offered. "Then perhaps, when it is warm weather, they might be encouraged to take off their shoes?" Father Agius smiled at this, understanding the point.
Maharaj then went on to describe his impressions when he had viewed the "Pieta" of Michelangelo. The "Pieta" is a marble sculpture of the body of Jesus lying in the arms of his mother Mary, after His crucifixion.
Maharaj said, with extreme emphasis, "When I saw this statue, frankly I was shocked!"
"Shocked?" we asked.
"Yes! I was so shocked to see how Jesus died! And for the sake of the living beings!" Maharaj's face showed genuine compassion when he spoke about this. Father Agius seemed clearly touched by the experience of that meeting with Srila Tirtha Maharaj.
As we got up to go, Father Agius offered the devotees a little cultural exchange, and he began to sing a Bengali song by Rabindranath Tagore, much to the amusement of Sriman Ananta Ram das. It was a sweet and light-hearted end to an inspirational morning.
To conclude in a manner in keeping with Maharaj's teachings, we note that the English dictionary defines the word "Catholic" as "wide-ranging", "broad" and "all-embracing". Our sampradaya, descending form Sriman Mahaprabhu is often also referring to the "all-embracing doctrine of Divine Love". This memorable meeting between His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj and His Grace Father Alfred Agius elucidated the true meaning of the word "Catholic", of "Interfaith" and of "Divine Love" for all sentient beings and their Ultimate Source, the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna.
For morearticlesby and about Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj, kindly visit the GOKUL website at
http://www.gokul.org or write to usat bhakti@gokul.org
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