BHARATI PAWASKAR
Q: With degrees like MBA in Finance and masters in International Finance, you have enjoyed an illustrious corporate career. What made you give it up and become a monk?
Vraja Bihari Das (Venugopal Acharya): Well it wasn’t a dramatic turning point. It’s just that the spiritual process and the prospect of teaching Bhagavad Gita resonated with me so much that I made the switch. I guess some past inclination was leading me and I got excited to follow my heart. And I am glad I heard my calling.
Q: How was this journey on the spiritual path?
VBD: My journey so far has essentially been of prayer and service. I had my share of challenges and obstacles. But what really helped me sail through them is my quality ‘me time’, good friends and support system in our monastery. Besides, my spiritual master His Holiness Radhanath Swami’s wisdom and care filled me with an inspiration to serve.
Q: Your responsibilities in ISKCON
VBD: I render various services in ISKCON like worship of deities, rendering care for ashram members, teaching scriptures, and counselling young men and families on integrating spiritual values into their day to day lives. Around 150 members attend my weekly class on Bhagavad Gita where I also interact with the participants after the class and help them find a balance to their professional and personal lives. I share simple tools like breathing exercises, journal writing, japa meditation, etc.
Q: How can today’s youth be guided? What do they lack and what are their strengths?
VBD: The biggest strength of today’s youth is their open mindedness to learn and access to unlimited and high quality information. They are sharp, educated and smart. The challenge I see for most of them is they are a distracted lot. The overdose of social media and the virtual world could potentially throttle their own individuality and creativity. An inordinate time on the electronic world tends to disconnect one from his or her feelings and needs. Therefore the youth need to pause, disengage from the loudness of it all, and look at the vast expanse of the sky above their heads, explore nature and connect deeper to their own inner selves.
Q: Your goal in life “ what do you wish to achieve, with regards to your multiple roles “ as a monk, counselor, self-help author and teacher?
VBD: I have simplified my life to a three word mission: connect and contribute. I seek to ‘connect’ to myself through prayer, study of scriptures, introspection, and journaling. I then seek to give back to the world through writing, teaching, care and friendships.
Q: What is happiness?
VBD: At the overall social level, harmony and happiness is utopia, especially in a world characterized by constant duality. What we could instead reasonably achieve is individual peace which could go a long way to add to the society’s well-being as well. Today, unfortunately happiness has become a goal; it’s no longer a by-product of a purposeful life. Therefore to achieve sanity at the social level, we need to encourage men and women to pursue a goal higher than themselves; to live for a cause beyond the self, to serve and contribute. Happiness then is irrelevant. After all, we are reaping the benefits of the sacrifice and toil of our ancestors. So let’s also leave behind a legacy and help our future generations inherit a safe planet. If we chose to live by authentic principles of service, we’d discover happiness beyond our body, senses and mind - That’s called spiritual happiness.
