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Bhakti Yoga-Devotional Service to the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna

Bhakti Yoga-Devotional Service to the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna
Gopis performing Devotional Service to the Lordships Sri Sri Radha Krishna

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No perfect match

No perfect match

04 Apr 2014 by  Leave a Comment

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 20 March 2013, Cape Town, South Africa, Srimad Bhagavatam 8.12.6)

kks_euPure devotees of the Lord are only interested in satisfying the senses of the Supreme Lord,hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate(Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.1.2). They are not concerned with the material world because they appreciate that in the material world, everything is only temporary and therefore any relationship that we have with the material energy, will not endure and therefore it will be painful.

Whatever we have, we become attached to and then it will disintegrate in the course of time. That's the nature of anything material, so what is the point? "I love my beautiful sandcastle; it is so wonderful. But it will not last; it will be destroyed; so many dreams."

But the love for these dreams comes from the heart because there is a natural need within the living being for happiness and fulfillment. In this material world, we are always experiencing some emptiness within the heart, always experiencing some yearning, some longing for something, some hope that maybe it will happen. Whatever it is, whatever we want, "Maybe I'll become rich… maybe I'll become famous… or rich and famous! Maybe one day I'll wake up and I'll be beautiful… it's doubtful but maybe somehow or other, a miracle will happen, you never know! It could happen, therefore, just wait, just in case. Hold onto to that little straw because maybe it will happen and I so much want it to happen. Oh yes, maybe my love will appear. Yes, the one that is my perfect match, the one that is designed for me, that one!'

Of course, that one doesn't exist; there is no perfect match, it doesn't exist! It becomes a boxing match sooner or later. It's not a perfect match, it is not like that. It's hard work to make relationships work. You cannot say that there is a marriage that just works. No, you have to work for it. It's hard for relationships to work and then still you don't really get what you were dreaming of. That's the material world!

perfect matchAnyway some say, "Yes, but better a blind uncle than none. Better something than nothing at all!"Okay yes, we want something after all. Alright have it, if you want to settle for something but let that something that you want out of the material world not interfere with your eternal progress! So it cannot be sinful because when we fulfill our desires in a sinful way, then we become bound up by the laws of material nature.

na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ
durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ
andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās
te 'pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ, (SB 7.5.31)

"Come one, don't be a square! Yeah, it's okay, everybody's doing it, everybody."

Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānāsand the blind are leading the blind. Te 'pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ, and the result is that we remain bound up in chains. The whole world is doing it and they all just remain bound up in chains, in this material world. The three gunas, sometimes known as the three qualities of material nature, other times known as the three ropes that bind us; that is what will happen.

So the pure devotee doesn't even bother with such things. The pure devotee is thinking about Krsna. Krsna is important, Krsna's desires are important, Krsna's glory is important, Krsna's service is important, Krsna's name is important, tadīyānāṁ samarcanam (CC Madhya-lila 11.31); anything related to Krsna is important. Tadīyā, anything related to Krsna. The Ganga because of the dust of Krsna's lotus feet. Tulasi Devi is related to Krsna, 'tulasī kṛṣṇa-preyasi,' anything related to Krsna.

'ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ
viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param
tasmāt parataraṁ devi
tadīyānāṁ samarcanam,' (Padma Purana, quoted in CC Madhya-lila 11.31).

Lord Siva said to Parvarti in the Padma Purana, "Of all that are worshipable, the Supreme Lord Visnu is the ultimate worshipable entity. But greater still are those personalities and things that are related to him in service.' That is wonderful!


--
Yours
Dinesh

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Seeking protection

Seeking protection

14 Apr 2014 by  Leave a Comment

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 08 March 2014, Sydney, Australia, Bhagavad-gita 13.3)

readingIn spiritual life, we need to keep ourselves safe. We have to think, ”I am not very powerful spiritually. I am weak and I’m surrounded by maya (the material energy), and maya is very strong.” So I need to look for all kinds of protection – devotees protect, Bhagavad-gitaprotects, prasadam protects, chanting protects. So we must take shelter of all these things that offer protection.

Actually, a devotee is always looking for protection and this is the way to get it – cheaply! To tell you the truth, if we just carry on with chanting and following the principles, it will happen automatically. Success guaranteed!



--
Yours
Dinesh

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Out of control

Out of control

22 Apr 2014 by  Leave a Comment

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 10 October 2013, Melbourne, Australia, Srimad Bhagavatam 2.3.14)

This movement of Caitanya Mahaprabhu is a mercy movement but we have to take it seriously; we have to take responsibility. A devotee has to take responsibility for what he does wrong and then correct it. We can’t just say, ‘Oh, these things are just happening to me, what can I do? I mean, I am trying so much but it’s just not working, it’s out of control!’

KKS_Dbn_RY_2014No, IT is not out of control – YOU are out of control! We say, ‘My mind is out of control!’ No, it’s not your mind that is out of control, you are out of control – you see the point? But we tend to just shift responsibility away from ourselves, ‘My mind is out of control, kali-yuga is out of control, everything is out of control – what can I do? There is nothing I can do, it’s all out of control. If things were more in control then I will chant Hare Krsna! I would… I want to be a devotee, I really want to.’ No, nothing is out of control, except you!

So begin to get yourself under control – maybe you cannot conquer everything within one day, but do something. Start to do the things that you can do. Some people lament about what they cannot do, ‘I really want to chant sixteen rounds but I cannot!!’

Bengali_potsNo problem, do what you can first. What can you do? Can you do some service, can you clean? Okay, then clean! Can you wash pots? Yes, come and wash pots, wash sixteen pots! After washing sixteen pots for a while, then try it again – maybe you would be able to chant sixteen rounds.

It works like this, while doing the things you can do, you get purified and after a while you can start doing things you could not do before.Take responsibility for what you are not doing right and correct it step-by-step. Don’t do it again, stop it and correct it. For example, ‘How can I stop smoking?’ By stopping! When you drive a car you simply push the brakes and stop.

But we are not used to taking responsibility and we have excuses – millions of excuses. ‘It’s my mom, it’s my dad, it’s my big brother – because of them I am not doing these things. Because of what they did to me, now I am doing all this nonsense.’ Endless excuses to justify and to shift our responsibility away.

But we must take responsibility because Hari-katha is not just some automatic thing. Sometimes in India, people consider it to be. Some of these pandits give very dry lectures; they sound like a door squeaking and everyone is in deep sleep but they go anyway because sat-sanga is considered a religious thing. Even if it is very painful, still we must do it. They take it that you just do these things and then you get the blessings – some automatic ritual and you get the blessing.

No! It is not like that! Through hearing we get knowledge and then WE have to make arrangements to change. We, us! We have to do it, change ourselves. But we say, ‘Oh, but I cannot change.’ Who says you cannot change? You changed a lot so far but now you have to change in a certain direction, in the direction of Krsna rather than change in the direction of maya. So one has to take responsibility – with intelligence.


--
Yours
Dinesh

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Not this body


Not this body

19 Apr 2014 by  

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 15 March 2014, Melbourne, Australia, Srimad Bhagavatam 2.7.47)

moleculeWhen Krsna appears in the material world, he appears in his own original form, and not a temporary form that is accepted of the material nature. Like these bodies we have, they have nothing to do with us. These bodies are simply made of material elements and we are separate from these bodies; therefore the body has nothing to do with us. Only temporarily are we together with these atoms, with these molecules, but we don’t remain there – it is only for a short while. So why do we think we have any more relation with the molecules and atoms in our body than the molecules and atoms in this seat?(pointing to his seat) I am seating on this seat now and I am very intimate with these molecules – nice molecules, kind of soft, I appreciate them, for a while, but for how long? Soon I will leave them. So what is my true relationship?

Same thing – molecules in this body, how long, how long will we be together? For a short while only. So what does it have to do with me? Nothing! This is not me. It is a machine and I am inside. Like when you go in the car; are you the car? Some people, if you hit their car say, “You hit me!” No, I did not hit you, I hit your car. So the body is a car and you are inside. In that way we understand we are not the body.

--
Yours
Dinesh

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Focus is important

Focus is important

14 May 2014 by  

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 24 April 2014, Radhadesh, Belgium, CC Katha Lecture)

 

radha krsna'We have our nature and our nature cannot just be ignored. So part of our focus should be to accommodate what our essential needs are. But then, we also have to bring in an element of going towards the ideal.

Nature granted! Provision for the nature, granted! So I’m not against anyone’s nature or speaking out against anyone’s needs, but what is our focus!? To become a pure devotee of Krsna. It has to be that! What is our plan!? To become a pure devotee. That is what we somehow or the other have to develop in this lifetime. So focus is important.

--
Yours
Dinesh

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Best of the best

Best of the best

13 May 2014 by  

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 29 April 2014, Radhadesh, Belgium, Srimad Bhagavatam 6.4.49-50)

final-final-6We see that Srila Prabhupada also had a positive outlook. He was seeing how nice it is that there are devotees who are chanting. How nice that we have the deities. How nice is it, this spiritual life. Prabhupada asked, "What is better? Who has a better way of life than the devotees?" He said, "The devotees, they have the best of everything." They live in the best places. It is true. Who lives in a castle?

You know, "Where do you live?"

"Oh, I live in a castle." (laughing) "You know, marble floors that are heated as well!"

Right, and who eats like we do? So many preparations, you don't get that everywhere. So Prabhupada said we have the best of everything. Best place to stay, best, you know, best food, best clothes. You know, with dressing up, look at those borders (pointing at a devotees dhoti), fancy designs everywhere. Best! Best clothes… best food! Prabhupada said best of everything.

And Prabhupada said if you want to get married, if a man wants to be married, oh, from the male perspective, then you get the best wife, best! Because we get the very best! (laughing) Because they have good qualities. Because yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā (Srimad Bhagavatam 5.18.12), through devotional service, one develops good qualities. So Prabhupada said material fortune is rolling at our feet, rolling at our feet.


--
Yours
Dinesh

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Some good advice


Some good advice

23 May 2014 by 

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 08 April 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Rama Naumi Initiation Lecture)

kks_radhdesh_2013Initiation is not only about the ceremony but afterwards, success in spiritual life always depends on blessings. So, always look for blessings – blessings of the Supreme Lord and blessings of great devotees, either from the past or from the present. By always seeking blessings, we will make it and we will be successful!

My role is to give you good advice now and after the initiation to continue to guide you. Also, I am suppose to pray for you, for your benefit. On the strength of whatever service I have done, I pray that Krsna may accept your service! So my prayer is there, that Krsna will take you back to Godhead at the end of this life. All that is there but at the same time though, I cannot be there always.

In the Chandogya Upanishad, three types of spiritual masters are described. One is like the bird who feed their young constantly, endlessly. The other one is like the fish who supervises but lets its young go on its own but at the time of danger, the fish is there. The third type of spiritual master is like the tortoise who places the eggs in the sand on the beach and waits for the sun to create heat and then the eggs germinate – he meditates on them. So, this relationship is going to be a bit of all three.

Sometimes, I am really ready to come in and give lots of personal attention and at other times, it is going to be really as cold as a fish. Or even worse, the tortoise mediating at a distance for the well-being of the disciple. But do not forget that the spiritual master is our ever well-wisher and we should not think, ‘Oh, he has not answered my mail!’  We should not think, ‘I do not have a relationship with him.’

If we think that we do not have a relationship with our spiritual master then it means that the fault is placed with us – it means we are not coming forward in service; it means that something is lacking in our service attitude! Because when we think that the spiritual master is the one who has to do all these things, ‘He has to come and inspire me. He has to say deep things. He has to do psychoanalysis on me and fully understand me better than I understand myself, then he has to enlighten me in that. So, I have to be able to feel that. So, he says things that are deep and profound and go really deep like that.’ No, he may or he may not.

Srila Prabhupada said, ‘I am instructing my disciples intimately in public!’ I really like that – intimately in public, so much is said in public. We must keep that in mind that the onus is on us, as disciples, to dedicate ourselves. We should understand that the spiritual master is always dedicated even if he does not give much attention, still his well-wishes and his prayers for us are there and he is always thinking of us. He may have so many disciples and he may not have the time to speak to each one of them but still, for each of these disciples, his prayer to Krsna is there that the mercy may come and he is meditating like that. So, we should not under estimate what is really going on behind the scenes.

--
Yours
Dinesh

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Give your heart even when it hurts


Give your heart even when it hurts

18 May 2014 by  Leave a Comment

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 30 March 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday Lecture)

love-heart-clockGive your heart to everyone, even if they don’t give anything back. It hurts sometimes when people are hard-hearted and not responding properly but take that pain with patience and carry on. Somehow, keep on chiseling at stone. Get through that barrier. In the Netherlands, we say that some people have a block of concrete in front of their head. Just chisel right through! Give your heart. That is a vaishnav - we give our hearts.

The heart is involved in being merciful to the conditioned souls. The heart is involved, it is not just, “Yeah, I’m having a great time here with my pakoras and so on …” No! How can I have my pakoras when people are suffering in the world? How can I sleep when there is still even one person who is caught in the cycle of birth and death? How can I sleep?

This is how Krsna feels. Krsna is emotionally involved. He is thinking, “How can I enjoy unlimited pleasure in an ocean of transcendental bliss if there is still one person missing?” 

Of course, he is enjoying in an ocean of transcendental bliss at every moment but he wants that one person also to be a part of it – that is Krsna. So, if even Krsna is emotionally involved, how can the devotee not be? We are emotionally involved with everyone, not only our own little circle. Open the heart to everyone!


Yours
Dinesh

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I depend on You

I depend on You

27 Dec 2010 by 

In my life many times I have been in extreme circumstances – many times. We were driving in the car between Mayapur and Calcutta. I told the driver: 
“Aasthe, Aasthe” which means slow. 
“ Dheerae, Dheerae” 
I told him because he had the tendency to speed up in the villages. I don’t know but some drivers do that, whenever there are people they try to drive faster(laughter). I don’t know what it is but they do that. So he was one of those and so I told him to slow down in the villages.

But suddenly, a cyclist who was also not slowing down, and got in the middle of the road and right in front of our car and, ‘Bang!’ we hit him and then our car flew off the road – and it rolled! In the next moment I was flying! I didn’t know that I could fly, but I could! (laughter). I was flying and then I had a landing on the grass – which I guess was good – on the part that we usually sit on! I was not sitting for a long time! 
You can understand that, that was definitely a situation and what do we do at such moments?

I was lying at the side of the road, and the people who were Bengalis were angry…


Someone in their village had been injured, but still alive, and they thought that I was responsible. So there was a whole angry crowd that were around me. I learned Bengali on the spot on that day! (laughter). I didn’t speak Bengali but I learnt it right there and then and managed to say to them;

“Did you get the driver?”

They said; “Driver?…driver?”

“Did you get him? He must be getting away”

So all the men said, “Yes let’s go, and get the driver!”

So that was good. So we get in very difficult situations, and of course we have to do something practical at the time of death! But we also have to remember Krsna! Ultimately we take shelter of Krsna! I was there and I realised;

“Krsna I’m in big trouble…Krsna I mean I cannot runaway now…Krsna I depend on You and whatever you want, but it’s up to You”.

Then I became peaceful, and could accept: “Alright whatever Krsna desires”
That is transcendence. Transcendence is not that we pray on our knees;

“Oh Lord, oh Lord! Please save me! Please save me Lord !” – No that is not transcendence.

Transcendence is; “My Lord I’m placing myself in your hands. You know what is best, and I’m leaving it up to you.” 
I mean the situation got out of control – not just a little bit, but totally. 
“Now there is nothing I can do anymore. Now all I can do is leave it up to You.” This is the transcendental state of consciousness, where one stops trying to be the controller!

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Chowpatty, 12th December 2010)


--
Yours
Dinesh

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Words of arrows can kill the heart


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