The Bhagavad-gita (16.2) mentions aversion to faultfinding as a characteristic of the godly-minded. The godly know that all faults originate in godless behavior; they are spiritually astute enough to recognize that their own godliness will be diminished if they dwell on the godlessness of others. They realize that eagerness to find faults is a symptom of the ungodly mentality that sees the godless faulty side of others and not the godly virtuous side. Knowing that such an ungodly mentality will sabotage their own godliness, they avoid the temptation of faultfinding as much as possible.
When real-life situations necessitate that they point out the faults of others, they begin by praying for them instead ofpreying on them. Rather than mentally delighting in faultfinding, they offer mental prayers for higher powers to aid others in the challenging journey to self-improvement. After cultivating this godly, compassionate attitude, they then do the needful to deal with the situation.
Here is her free offer for you, given in a letter to me:
Dear Akrura,
As I mentioned to you, I am working on a project I call "Give it Back", this is a service I am very happy to be engaged in, as it has already helped several young and talented individuals from different countries, who would otherwise not think about the benefits that coaching has to offer them.
I am excited about this project because I am thoroughly inspired to help others live the fullest expression of who they really are. Helping people find their wings and watch them soar makes me come alive. It is amazing to see how even one powerful coaching session can ignite clarity, strength and creativity and motivate individuals to take steps to live their lives to the fullest.
Within the "Give it Back" project, I am offering a limited number of free coaching sessions to a limited number of people until December of this year. One conversation is already enough to bring people's current reality in alignment with their own vision of their best life.
The minimum time my clients commit to working with me for is 6 months. This is an opportunity for someone to reap benefits in only one conversation with me.
If you know of someone who would benefit from having a conversation with a coach who will support them by working with their fears and obstacles to allow transformation to happen, please let them know of this service work I am offering.
Love,
Elena Anargyrou, MBA
Personal & Business Coach
Certified by ICF Approved
& EMCC Accredited School
"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved." W.J.B.
Once upon a time, there lived a Brahman by the name of Deva Sharma with his wife. His wife delivered a son and they were happy to have their first child. The Brahmin wanted to have a pet animal to protect the child which would also be a companion to the child. The Brahmin kept his proposal before the Brahmani. She found the proposal acceptable and the Brahmin went to bring a pet.
Deva Sharma went round the village and after much toil, got a mongoose as an escort to his child. Brahmani didn’t like the idea to keep a mongoose for her child. But as the pet was already brought, so she accepted it. Now, both of them started loving the mongoose as their own child. Yet, the Brahmani never left her son alone because she did not trust the mongoose, fearing that it could harm her son.
One day, the farmer and his wife had to go out of the house leaving the child at home. The farmer confirmed that the mongoose would take care of the child while they would be away. So, they left the mongoose and the child at home and went out. Soon after they left, a cobra entered the home. Finding danger to the son of the Brahmin, the mongoose attacked the cobra. They had a bloody combat and the mongoose succeeded in killing the cobra.
After this, mongoose heard the footfalls of Brahmin’s wife and went at the door to greet her. Brahmani was trembled to see the blood stained mouth of the mongoose. She inferred that the mongoose had killed the child. Without a second thought, she threw a heavy box on mongoose and the mongoose died at the spot. Brahmani quickly entered the house to see her child and to her great surprise, she found her child sleeping quietly in the cradle.
As soon as, she saw a snake bitten into pieces lying near the cradle, she realized that the mongoose had saved her child. The Brahmani was struck by grief that she had killed the mongoose that was like a sibling to her son. She cried loud at her hasty action.
(Kadamba Kanana Swami Govinda Valley, Austrailia, 2011) Lecture – Caitanya-caritāmṛta
When I was in Amsterdam in the early seventies, I saw the Hare Krishnas. I saw them for the first time in Dams Square. They were singing and dancing, and were really enthusiastic……and there were a group of them who were chanting very fast:
“Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”.
They were jumping up and down like mad!I was looking at them and thinking:
“Total religious fanatics!”
I never ever thought to myself:
“Such religious extremity as this.”
And I just looked at them……it was just something extraordinary, and it seemed like the ultimate emblem of other worldliness. It seemed that these people had totally lost touch with reality, and the way they dressed sort of confirmed it! Because there was a red sock on one foot and a green sock on another, which makes you think that:
“They kind of lost it in their Hare Krishna cloud, by just chanting”.
So I wanted to establish today that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s movement is not at all worldly, and not at all just taking us to very ethereal dimensions. I wanted to establish that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s movement is very practical and dealing with the practical reality of everyday, because rather then taking us away from this world, it simply points out that:
“Everything by nature has a connection with the Supreme Lord, and therefore, everything should simply be used for the service to Him”.
And that’s the whole idea. So in that way, one doesn’t need to turn away from the world. One doesn’t need to live in a cave, or give up everything. One can simply live in the world, but use it in a different way and that made a lot of sense. And that not only makes a lot of sense but that puts the Hare Krishna movement (which was started by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu) in the middle of the world! It puts it in the middle of life! It doesn’t put it in the forest, or the cave, or the monasteries, or in hiding since it puts it simply in everyday dealings…..and it purifies the everyday dealings which is very necessary, because at this point everyone thinks that it is they who are in the centre of the universe – yes:
“Accidentally I happened to be in the centre of the universe. What do you mean? No, I am in the centre of the universe!”
Everyone is thinking that:
“Everything is for my pleasure. Everything is for my purposes, for my comfort, for my protection, for my profits, for me!”
Yes – everything and everyone………….and if we changed that mood, then we will know that we are all here, and everything is here for the one purpose – to serve the Supreme Lord. Suddenly, then the world instead of being divided, becomes united. Suddenly, we become harmonious. If we recognise that all this energy – all the trees, all the grass, and all the animals are part of Krishna’s creation, then automatically our energy changes! If this is Krishna’s property, then one who is the servant of Krishna cannot treat it like a rubbish bin! That is automatically taken care of. Automatically there is respect…..automatically we won’t go just with the chainsaw in the forest to see how many trees we can cut down in an hour………….So, no we are respecting the creation. Srila Prabhupada quoted in the Bhagavad Gita:
‘ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo
mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate
iti matvā bhajante māṁ
budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ’, (B.G.10.8).
“I am the original of all the spiritual and all the material worlds. One who understands this properly worships me with love”
So Prabhupada said:
“This means that if you love Krishna, then you also love His creation!”
So in other words, by loving Krishna, then one loves Krishna’s creation. Prabhupada also said:
“If you love the body, then you will also love the finger!”
So this is very nice, and therefore Krishna Consciousness is not just taking place on the material platform, and not something that is very abstract, but it is also something very practical. And yet it also takes us above this practical level. It makes us understand deeper parts of ourselves – that we are eternal spiritual beings, and that we actually do not belong in the material world, but that we belong in the eternal spiritual world.
In this way Krishna Consciousness gives us not only promises for the afterlife; being a good devotee and being on your knees throughout your life….and we have to pray a lot and in the end you get your reward – No, that is not Krishna Consciousness. Krishna Consciousness is to improve the quality of your life right now, and while you are doing it at the same time start progressing to a eternal destination. Therefore Krishna Consciousness is complete!
There are so many spiritual processes that promises you a reward in the end, but Krishna Consciousness promises us improvement every step of the way. And that is what Sri Caitanya Mahaprabu gave. Therefore this is a complete process of what He gave!
Below is a link for you to download the lecture given by Kadamba Kanana Swami, in Brlin, Germany earlier this year. The lecture was based from the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 7 – Knowledge of the Absolute Truth, Verse 7
‘mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat
kiñcid asti dhanañjaya
mayi sarvam idaṁ protaṁ
sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva’
Translation:
‘O conquerer of wealth [Arjuna], there is no Truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread’.
Just click below to hear more of this transcedental vibration.
1969 December 8: "So you have seen, they have no fixed income, but as they serve the Lord, the Lord arranges everything. Therefore, our principle should be to serve nicely, and everything will be arranged by the Lord."
1969 December 8: "Make further improvements and magazine sales will also improve. From 5,000 copies we have increased to 25,000 copies per month, and now we are going to increase the number of pages from 32 to 40 pages."
1971 December 8: "So far your Central Account idea, I don't think there is any advantage. It simply means more complication. Best thing is if each Temple transfers money directly."
1971 December 8: "Due to war in India, our programs here have been reduced, and there is every night black-out, so our future plans here are not settled up at present."
1974 December 8: "The sketch of the Six Goswamis is some imagination. Too much imagination is not good. It is better not to go beyond what is described in the Sastras. So do not do this idea."
1974 December 8: "There were mleccha activities and they were creating a very dangerous situation. It is Krsna's mercy how easily they were purged out. I am simply surprised how he became so influenced."
1974 December 8: "I am glad the situation is now proper again. Now keep everything purified. Satyam saucam is the first brahminical qualification. Therefore truthfulness and cleanliness is the first duty of those initiated by brahminical thread."
1975 December 8: "The mercy of the Spiritual Master is always there, but we have to take it. Like the sun, it is there for everyone, but at least we have to stand in a receptive place to get the benefit."
"We come like a baby and we go out like a baby," said the voice of an elderly man. I was in the palliative care unit of the Burnaby General Hospital when the comment came out from behind the bed curtains as he was speaking to the nurse.
I suppose it's one of those comments that is heard by those who tend to patients in thier last days. So I, making that pastoral visit, which goes with the brahmin's territory, also hear such truthful remarks.
Kapil, aka, Keith Neale, was a patient I had come to visit. It was only today that the doctor informed him that a few days remained for him. Kapil said to me that he was shocked that his time was soon coming. Yet, he didn't show it, I knew so little of him, only that he was a very steady pujari (priest) at the local Krishna temple. He gave me some biographical details about himself. He gave up an executive life for a devotional one. A lump recently started forming behind his ear and he was diagnosed with cancer.
I was impressed with how he's handling this turn of events, taking it like a hero at 63.
I was also moved by the spirit of Michelle, 70, who is also a member of our community in Burnaby, and whose waning days on this planet are a reality. She is one floor up from Kapil. She was speaking with some spunk about her happy days of serving and visiting the temple. The major theme of our topic at the hospital could be titled, 'Enough'. Enough meaning she wanted to go. She wished that patients could graciously leave this world, to not prolong their stay through modern technical hookups or any other superficial means. Her point was "Let the next life open up to you." It was not totally clear to me that she was in such anguish as to leave her body now, but she was certainly speaking on behalf of thousands, perhaps millions of people whose stay in this world has been prolonged. When in fact, they wish to die and depart for greater hopes.
This concept of life after life is something that gives that extra drive, especially if it promises an improved situation.
Michelle chose a big topic that warrants such big talks and thoughts. I thought about it more as I walked from the hospital back to my guest accommodation. In the Gita Sri Krsna explains, "As the embodied soul continually passes in this life from childhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at the time of death. One who is self realized (spiritual) is not bewildered by such a change." Bhagavad-gita 2.13
(Sent from Gainesville, Florida, on December 7, 2011)
To help me go on the Vaishnava Youth Bus Tour to Mexico on Dec. 15, click here.
Where I Went and What I Did
After leaving Philadelphia I went to Albany for a few days to visit my mother, sister, and Victor, my sister’s boyfriend. Then I spent a day visiting and serving my spiritual master, Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, in Stuyvesant Falls. I went to New York City, and did an experimental harinama on the High Line and went to the Doughnut Plant, the Hare Krishna doughnut shop with my nieces, Fern and Gwen. Then I did a harinama and Saturday feast program in Queens, and harinama for several days in Manhattan while living at the Bhakti Center, including a harinama at Occupy Wall Street. I include videos of several of these harinamas. At the end of the second week of October, I left for the New Vrndavan 24-hour kirtan on my way to my winter residence at Gainesville’s Krishna House.
Upstate New York Visit to My Family
And Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami
I shared prasadam sweets at my mom’s Quaker meeting as usual, and I cooked lots of meals for the family. I also brought them some great maha-prasadam burfi from Philadelphia. I chanted a little japa at my mom’s peace vigil after helping her unload the signs and park the car. For decades, every Wednesday for an hour at noon in front of the New York State Capitol in Albany she and her friends have stood with signs and banners protesting the U.S. Involvement in the latest demoniac war. My mother is in the center of the picture below.
I spent a day with my diksa-guru (initiating spiritual master) Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, going with him on his walk, reading to him, and cooking lunch so his servant had time to arrange a lamp for their tulasi plant. It was nice to see him fixed in his daily chanting and writing about Krishna. My Godbrother Narayana Kavaca Prabhu kindly gave me different practical gifts and a donation to help me with my travels.
Chanting in New York
I was incredibly fortunate to have the association of Ekalavya Prabhu, a very sweet brahmacari who loves to chant and to share the chanting with others. He was in the New York area as his mother had cancer and was soon to pass away. We chanted at Union Square, Adi Purusa Prabhu’s food distribution program in Tompkins Square Park, and at the Wall Street occupation. Uttamasloka Prabhu, a disciple of Indradyumna Swami, who also has a fondness for kirtana and encouraging people to chant also joined us. One nice Vaisnava youth girl, Prema Bhakti, daughter of Ranjit Prabhu, came once and played the drum with us as Adi Purusa Prabhu and his employees and volunteers distributed food. It is good to see the youth contributing to the sankirtana mission. Vani Dasi contributed by playing the karatalas for an hour, also at the food distribution.
In this video you will see a Brooklyn Sunday feast kirtan, a Queens harinama, a Tompkins Square Park harinama, a First Avenue harinama, and a Union Square harinama, the last two with devotee musician Ekalavya Prabhu leading:
Once at Union Square, chanting with Uttamasloka and Bhakta Jason, I had the best day in recent memory as far as book distribution and collections during a harinama were concerned. We sold one Bhagavad-gita, three Perfection of Yogas and two On Chanting Hare Krishnas. Because of the hundred dollar donation of a former Mumbai resident, now living in Oman but in New York to visit his daughter, the total collection was $118.70 for the three-hour experience. The last time someone gave me one hundred dollars on harinama was in San Diego in 1988. In both cases, I gave the money to the temple, as I was maintained by the temple and was representing the temple.
Once a vendor of photos, who also sells candles, gave us in charity a photo she was selling of Yajna Purusa Prabhu, Ghanasyama Prabhu, and Gauranga Kisora Prabhu chanting at Union Square.
When I was in Albany my sister told me that a former elevated railway line in Manhattan, known as the High Line, had been converted to a park which runs from 20th Street to 30th Street along 10th Avenue. As she described its pleasant atmosphere, I developed the idea of doing harinama there. While in New York City I failed to convince anyone else to go there with me onharinama, but the day I arrived from Upstate, I had some free time and chanted there myself. There are many people. I would say mostly middle class and tourists, and it was a pleasant surrounding. No one, including the patrolmen, were disturbed by my chanting and occasionally someone took pictures. I hope someday to do harinama there with many devotees. I think if it is tastefully done it will be accepted and appreciated.
The chanting at Wall Street was a great experience. Many people were glad we were there. Ekalavya Prabhu, an expert musician, chanted kirtana to the beating of the many drums at the occupation site. Uttamasloka Prabhu distributed almost all my mantra cards, giving personal instruction in the Hare Krishna mantra to several people who actually began to chant with us and who did so for some time. When Uttamasloka was leading kirtana, sometimes he let others take the lead for one mantra, and it was wonderful to see the new people take part in this. One jovial, chubby man with Buddhist sign did a particularly good job. See these videos, one taken by me of my friends and another taken of me and my friends:
I went to New Vrindavan for the Karttika 24-hour kirtana, but Ekalavya Prabhu and devotees in New York City chanted at Occupy Wall Street the following weekend. One man from the audience was so impressed he took two videos and uploaded them to YouTube along with his appreciation of the experience:
“I've never seen the Hare Krishna sing the mantra in person before. I was particularly intrigued having just watched the documentary ‘George Harrison: Living In The Material World’ on HBO. George spoke of how he could repeat mantras for hours & hours. I see what he meant. I got lost in it for a half hour easy.”
Here are the two videos, totaling 18:27 minutes! The second begins with some awesome dancing! It is like the sixties all over again.
Insight from Lectures
Candrasekhara Swami [Brooklyn Sunday Feast]:
Chanting Hare Krishna is the most effective way to cleanse our consciousness.
If we had a deep, all-consuming love of God, we would find that everything else is adjusted automatically.
Without this love, we find we act in a very superficial way, and the only recourse is to gradually try to develop our love for God in the recommended way.
If you are actually spiritually advanced, then you think that you are not spiritually advanced, and if you think you are spiritually advanced then you most likely are not spiritually advanced. It is of course possible to think that you are not spiritually advanced and to be not spiritually advanced.
Most people do not understand love of God is the goal of life. We are not taught about it in grade school.
It does not matter your occupation is as long as you try to purify your consciousness by chanting Hare Krishna.
Lord Caitanya was that kind of person that upon meeting Him one would want to give up everything and follow Him. In most cases, He did not encourage the people to act like that.
Sometimes people who appear to be very devoted to God within their hearts want to merge into God’s existence or to become God.
If your heart is in the mood of serving, it does not matter if the Lord is present or not.
Srimad-Bhagavatam is the supreme scripture because it does not beat around the bush but stresses that human life is meant for developing love of God, and it tells how to do so.
Tattva-sandarbha [translation and commentary by Gopiparanadhana Prabhu]:
From the glossary:
bhasya. A first commentary on a sastra text or other major scripture. A bhasya is usually written by the founder of asampradaya [spiritual lineage].
Itihasas. Epic histories, including the Mahabharata and Ramayana. In contrast to the more encyclopedic Puranas, eachItihasa usually tells one heroic story.
When Krishna descended to earth, Yogamaya appeared as His sister, Subhadra. Mahamaya, the material energy of illusion, is her partial expansion.
Uttamasloka Prabhu [from Russia, at Bhakti Center]:
When you present Krishna consciousness it immediately polarizes people. Those with godly qualities are attracted while those who are demoniac want it stopped.
When I was becoming interested in Krishna consciousness in Russia, the person who showed Bhagavad-gita to me would not sell it to me although I offered to pay any price because he was afraid of punishment. At those times, possession of aBhagavad-gita got you a minimum of three years in jail.
In 1989 when Soviet authorities in the transitional government did not allow distribution of the newly printed Russian books, the leaders of the Hare Krishna in the Soviet states got together and organized harinama [public chanting] for at least eight hours a day for several days in protest. One day the police watched the devotees, and the next they tried to arrest them, but the devotees nonviolently resisted in many creative ways like smashing the whompers [cymbals] in their faces and taking their hats and throwing them. The crowd protested about the unfair arresting of the devotees. The police desisted and sent riot police who used rubber clubs and eventually arrested half the devotees. The devotees who went through that experience consider that although externally those were the worst times, because they brought the devotees together in one big family, they were actually the best times, and they can understand how Queen Kunti could pray to Krishna for calamities.
Gadadhara Pandit Prabhu [Bhakti Center, Manhattan]:
Karttika is Krishna’s favorite month.
Radhika is the presiding deity of the month of Karttika.
There is a famous story in the Skanda Purana about a mouse who accidentally tried to eat a burning ghee wick. Lord Vishnu accepted the mouse’s dancing in pain with the ghee wick in His mouth as an offering of arati (worship) and so mouse ultimately attained the spiritual world.
When we do outreach, we must remember that we do not need to get anything from the people we contact for we are already getting the topmost benefit by pleasing Krishna by sharing His knowledge with others.
To allow Yasoda to do service for Him, Krishna allowed Yasoda to tie Him up.
We are a mercy based movement.
Nic Prabhu [Bhakti Center, Manhattan]:
My father was Jewish and my mother was Catholic, so I did not know what to think. We just celebrated Hanukah and Christmas, and both of them were about getting presents.
The first time I remember praying to God was when I got into an argument with my parents, and I was was crying so much I could not sleep. I felt relieved as a result.
I read a book about spiritualizing your life which had forty chapters, and you were supposed to read a chapter a day. I got to about day sixteen, and there was a powerful prayer of dedication of one’s life to Christ. I said that prayer, and it made me cry which I guess was a spiritual experience.
I did not maintain that interest and took religion more seriously again only when I had a girlfriend who brought me to church with her family. When I broke up with her for two weeks, I stopped going to church, and then recommenced when we got together again. Then when finally broke up for good, I stopped for a while. But after some time, I went to church with my ex-girlfriend’s family, even though she had stopped going. Then I was more serious about religion as it was my own choice.
Prabhupada considers praying to God in distress as foolish because God already knows our problems.
Father Joseph [Ukrainian Orthodox priest, from a conversation]:
I showed up to do my service of food distribution with Adi [Purusa Prabhu] once when I was dressed as an Eastern Orthodox priest. The people who saw me were confused seeing a Eastern Orthodox priest helping a Hare Krishna with food distribution. I explained that we may have our differences in the theology, but helping hungry people is something we can all appreciate.
Dauji Prabhu [Bhakti Center, Manhattan]:
We cannot surrender to someone who cannot maintain us, thus Krishna explains how He is maintaining everyone.
If we see we get angry in the course of devotional service, we should introspect and see what is wrong.
Krishna says to offer leaves and flowers to him. It sounds simple, but it is not as simple as you think. One devotee who is now initiated, previously for many years would offer marijuana to Krishna and enjoy the remnants.
Sometimes the actions of pure devotees are bewildering. According to Rupa Goswami, devotional service must be favorable to Krishna, but Bhisma was fighting against Krishna on the battlefield. Why did he fight Krishna? Krishna wanted to show that even if you are the greatest warrior in the world, if you fight against the Lord and his pure devotees, you will lose.
If you act according to the line of spiritual teachers, you are protected from sinful reactions.
Anonymous lecturer:
There is one saint to prays to Krishna in a humorous mood. “Why should I deal with You? You are so troublesome. Simply I will chant Your holy name, and I will attain all satisfaction.”
Chris Fici Prabhu [NYU Cooking Class]:
Processed meats are too dangerous for human consumption, increasing risks of colon cancer.
While medical researchers find meat to be a health risk, President Obama posed for pictures with guests he was entertaining eating meat. An official from responsible medicine advises the President to lead America in a healthy diet.
-----
ataeva saba phala deha’ yare tare
khaiya ha-uk loka ajara amare
jagat vyapiya mora habe punya khyati
sukhi ha-iya loka mora gahibeka kirti
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, “Distribute this Krishna consciousness movement all over the world. Let people eat these fruits and ultimately become free from old age and death. If the fruits are distributed all over the world, My reputation as a pious man will be known everywhere, and thus all people will glorify My name with great pleasure. (Caitanya-caritamrita Adi9.39–40)
Tusta Krsna: The robes make people uncomfortable, Prabhupada. They see you as different and can’t relate. They won’t relax enough to listen when I wear robes.
Prabhupada: But sannyasis must dress in saffron with robes and shaved head.
Tusta Krsna: I am following all the principles, but the dress is external and superficial. Why should we let it hamper the preaching?
Prabhupada: If the dress is superficial, why should you change your dress to please people who are so serious about the superficial? [Pause.] You understand my point? Superficial people become controlled by superficial and external things. Why do you dress to please superficial people? You should dress to please Krsna.
Tusta Krsna: So you would like me wear saffron and shave up?
Prabhupada: Yes, I want you to promise this. Only wear saffron and keep your head shaved. This is sannyäsi dress. You should promise.
Caturatma Prabhu performing the Initiation Fire Sacrifice at the Initiation ceremony at the "Festival of the Holy Name" held here in Dallas on May 2011 with Indradyumna Swami and Giriraj Swami.
The exact meaning of the word sattvena is given by Sridhara Svami as being synonymous with dhairyena, or patience. One must perform devotional service with great patience. One should not give up the execution of devotional service because one or two attempts have not been successful. One must continue. Sri Rupa Gosvami also confirms that one should be very enthusiastic and execute devotional service with patience and confidence. Patience is necessary for developing the confidence that "Krsna will certainly accept me because I am engaging in devotional service." One has only to execute service according to the rules and regulations to insure success.
What Pariksit Maharaja could do 5000 years ago – keep Kali at bay – can now only be done if people in general keep Kali out of their lives by chanting Hare Krsna.
THE FOLLOWING LECTURE ON SRIMAD-BHAGAVATAM, CANTO 3, CHAPTER 1, QUESTIONS BY VIDURA, TEXT 1, WAS GIVEN BY HIS HOLINESS BHAKTI CARU SWAMI IN ISKCON UJJAIN ON 16 MARCH 2008.. Click on the pictures to discover the Treasure House Of India’s Spiritual Wisdom as presented by ISKCON Founder Acharya A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. Transcription : [...]
Kadamba Kanana Swami held a 2 day retreat in Govinda Valley, Australia at the very beginning of October 2011. We have submitted an essay about that earlier (please read again by clicking here) and have also offered you readers the audio recordings and pictures (to be found here).
Now thanks to the dedicated service of bhakta Russell, all the videos of that wonderful event are available as well. Please follow this link to the Youtube playlist.
It is a great pleasure to announce that the Mayapur.com team has released our first edition of a new monthly newsletter entitled “Mayapur Sanga”. It is our desire to regularly update our guests and well wishers, pilgrims and devotees of the many ongoing projects and devotional festivals that take place in this magical land called Mayapur.
It's quite natural for those of faith to turn towards God during difficult times. Even if one has a regular spiritual practice, their practice can increase and improve during times of difficulty. After the events of September 11 for example, churches in New York City had some of their largest attendance in quite some time. Why is it that a lot of us have to come to a point of utter hopelessness and desperation before we call out to God? Why is it that even if one doesn't have faith, one may make a last ditch effort to call out to God as well?
When life is treating us good and all is going well, we often don't feel a need for God in our lives. Our material acquisitions -- money, property, friends and family -- become our crutch. As long as we have these things in place, we feel comfortable and don't have a strong need for a spiritual practice.
However, when these things start to fade, we feel a sense of fear and panic come over us.
As a society, we have become so dependent on material things for our happiness that our lives would become completely disrupted without them. When things are on shaky ground, we pray to God to protect what we have. We reach out to God and expect Him to keep things as they are or fix them and make everything all right. God becomes our plumber who's supposed to fix things when they go wrong. This need-based spirituality is all right, but it's a bit superficial.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna (God) lists four basic types of people that turn towards Him. Number one on the list is the "distressed." In case you're wondering, the other three are those that need money, the philosophically inquisitive, and the wise or those who don't want anything from God, except a loving relationship. In the Gita Krishna explains that He welcomes all four types that approach Him, but the one who approaches Him without material motivation is the most dear.
We can tend to use spirituality like medicine or a hospital. We utilize it only when things aren't going right or when we're suffering financially, emotionally or relationally. Our pain and suffering, however, can be a path to transcending this selfish conception of spirituality into something more. It can make us ask the questions we normally wouldn't ask, and can lead us to bigger and broader questions, such "what's really the purpose of life?" and "how can we avoid suffering?"
Unless one starts to ask these questions, one can never truly understand the purpose of life. Even if one does understand philosophically that there's a higher purpose to life, without some suffering, one may not feel the impetus to implement some spiritual practice into their life.
Suffering doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. It can help us grow and mature in ways we can't even imagine. It can give us realizations about life which otherwise would be difficult to acquire. I'm not suggesting we go out and look for suffering. Rest assured, it will find its way into our life.
There's a beautiful verse in the Gita, chapter 2 verse 14:
"...the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons...and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed."
Difficulties teach us patience, tolerance, acceptance, and ultimately that we're not in complete control of our lives. We can do everything perfectly and things might still not go our way. Some of the greatest teachers within Hinduism demonstrated by their own example that our soul can experience the greatest spiritual growth during challenging times, and they also demonstrated that we can actually thank God for the difficulty.
While undergoing a difficulty one may not be able to fully understand how this is supposed to be beneficial. However, as Steve Jobs said in his commencement speech, you can only connect the dots looking back.
The Vedic texts explain that the soul is a part and parcel of the Supreme. It is qualitatively one but quantitatively different from God, like a spark of fire which has similar qualities to the larger fire, but is insignificant in size compared to the actual fire. Because the soul has this eternal connection to God, it has a natural tendency to reach out to God during difficult times. These opportunities provide the soul, which is stuck in a material body, to again reach out to God and rekindle that relationship.
The help will definitely come, but not always in the ways we expect it to. If the soul can remain faithful even if it appears that God isn't sending the help one is asking for, the soul's union with God is almost guaranteed even within this life.
These are the last four of a total of thirteen lectures of Kadamba Kanana Maharaja’s seminar about the Caitanya-caritamrta, given from the 7th to the 23rd of November 2011 in Mayapur, India.
In this course, Maharaja explains the book from different angles, while approaching it through overviews of personalities, pictures, quotes and slokas.
Part I and Part II of this seminar are also available on the blog.
You can click on each title to download the lectures.
Click on the pictures to discover the Treasure House Of India’s Spiritual Wisdom as presented by ISKCON Founder Acharya A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. Reply Letter By Her Grace Chitrangada Devi Dasi Dear God-Brothers and Sisters, Hare Krishna. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All Glories to beloved Guru Maharaja, whose [...]
A daily broadcast of the Ultimate Self Realization Course Thursday 8 December 2011 The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna, and His eternal consort, Srimati Radharani are enjoying transcendental pastimes in the topmost planet of the spiritual world, Sri Goloka Vrindavan. They are beckoning us to rejoin them. (Click on photo to see a larger image.) Our Mission: To help everyone awaken their original Krishna consciousness, which is eternal, full of knowledge and full of bliss. Such a global awakening will, in one stroke, solve all the problems of the world society bringing in a new era of unprecedented peace and prosperity for all. May that day, which the world so desperately needs, come very soon. We request you to participate in this mission by reviving your dormant Krishna consciousness and assisting us in spreading this science all over the world. Dedicated with love to ISKCON Founder-Acharya: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, our beloved spiritual master, and to you, our dear readers. For Transcendental Association Connect With Other Members of this Course. Join this Conference: http://groups.google.com/group/sda_students Help Popularize Our Message By Liking Today's Thought on Facebook: Today's Thought: Don't Be a Rascal. Come Back to Krishna uploaded from Bhaktivedanta Ashram--Austin, Texas USA For countless lifetimes we have been acting as rascals by defying the authority of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because of our foolish rascal mentality we have needlessly suffered in the cycle of birth and death. So instead of punishing ourselves, we should be kind to ourselves by returning to our original, healthy, innate state of consciousness. In other words, we should give up our rascaldom and come back to Krishna consciousness. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Krishna is Inviting You to Come Home http://www.backtohome.com/images/Krishna/Krishna_wth_Flute.JPG Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: How Can We Not Merge Back into God? How is it possible that when Lord mentions he is the Source of everything, that I can be part and parcel of him and still be separate from Him? If He is the source, we were all in Him at some point and thus at some point will merge back with Him. In this way, the vasishtadvaita philosophy of Ramanuja looks logically correct! Thanks for your time and efforts in sending the daily mails. regards Prasad Answer: We Were Never Merged and Will Never Merge Just as the center of a circle and all other points on the circle are inseparably one because they are all part of the same circle, but at the same time are distinctly different because of their varying locations on the circle, in a similar way the Lord and the living beings are inseparably one and at the same time distinctly different. The circle must have a central point. It cannot be without a central point. And all points on the circle besides the central point are distinctly different from the central point, even though they are all one because they are all part of the circle. They all have locations in the circle relative to the central point. Even though Krishna is the source of everything, this does mean that we were originally merged in Him and then became unmerged when He decided to emanate us from Himself. This is so because we are eternally being emanated from Him. There was never a time that we did not exist as His emanated separated expansions. Nor will there ever be a time in the future when we will not exist as Krishna-emanated individuals. This point is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita 2:12. You have misunderstood Sri Ramanujacharya's philosophy known as Visitadvaita. According to his teaching although the Lord and His energies are one, each keeps his individuality. The Sanskrit word vasistya means individuality. A nice example in this connection is the sun and sunshine. The sunshine is nothing but the sun. But at the same time it is different. When the sunshine enters our room, we may say the sun has come. But if the sun planet had entered, we would be burned to a crisp immediately. So the sun and the sunshine, although one, are different. Just as the sunshine, although also sun, is the sun's separated energy, in a similar way the living beings are non-different from God because they are nothing but His energy, and at the same time they are different because they cannot emanate everything from themselves as God is able to emanate everything from Himself. I hope this clears up your understanding. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Transcendental Resources: Receive the Special Blessings of Krishna Now you too can render the greatest service to the suffering humanity and attract the all-auspicious blessings of Lord Sri Krishna upon yourself and your family by assisting our mission. Lectures and Kirtans in Audio and Video: Link to High Definition Videos Link to Over 1,000 Lecture Audios Lecture-Travel Schedule for 2011 http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com/schedule
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What Pariksit Maharaja could do 5000 years ago – keep Kali at bay – can now only be done if people in general keep Kali out of their lives by chanting Hare Krsna.
