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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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From shallow to profound!






(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 04 January 2018, Brisbane, Australia, Govinda’s Program Lecture)
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
This mahamantra is our best friend. In fact, it is a very close friend of all living entities. The mantra is always there for us, whereby whoever wants it is able to turn to it wherever they are and whenever they want to. It does not discriminate. It is always available at our command and it does not cost anything either. So if we desire, we always have our friend, the mahamantra. And if we do not desire, the mantra will still come anyway. Sometimes the mantra rolls through the streets and some people cover their ears but then we sing even louder!
Sometimes when we are out on harinama, there are a lot of positive reactions but every once in a while, there may be a really negative/aggressive reaction, and we wonder, “Why? What is the problem? We are just singing this nice mantra.” Maybe it is because those people associate the mantra with an angry and punishing God, one who is up there, ready to send down thunderbolts, “Thou sinners shalt repent!” No! Our mantra is joyful, it is blissful, it is meant to be fun and happy, something good that brings out the best of everything. This mantra is not just a sound or some words. It is a manifestation of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and in this way, we are never alone. Through this mahamantra, Krsna is always with us and in this way the mahamantra is our best friend as it is non-different from Krsna. This may be difficult to understand initially but it pulls you in, it starts to all make sense and this way, the mantra will bless us.
Through this mantra, everything starts to become clear. For instance, there is nothing wrong with alcohol, it is a perfectly okay substance. The only thing is that it is meant for the outside, not the inside! Once we start to understand that it is to be used as a disinfectant instead of drinking it, it all starts to make sense how we are supposed to use alcohol! (laughter) By chanting the mantra, we get the intelligence and the understanding of the purpose behind everything. Like it is said in the Srimad Bhagavatam, the purpose of everything is to be understood in respect to its relationship with Krsna. So in this way, through the mahamantra, it all starts to become crystal clear little by little. Without the mahamantra, everything is shallow but with the mahamantra, a shallow life becomes profound! 
What do you do when your loved one dies or leaves you? It is totally heart-breaking and rips you apart. Where is your shelter then? It is the mahamantra.
What do you do when you are in your car and suddenly the tyre squeaks and you can see the wall coming towards you? You know there is trouble coming, so where do you go? You go to the mahamantra.
What do you do at the end of your life, when you know and feel that life is slipping away? There is the mahamantra.
So in such ways, the mahamantra is always there for us whenever we call for it, and that is wonderful!



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Love follows


(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 13 May 2015, Melbourne, Australia, Lecture: Mindfulness and Meditation)

SP

Love will follow when we are attracted; when we admire; when we see amazing qualities; when we see a wonderful nature; when we see mercy, kindness and compassion; when we see strength; when we see beauty… Love will follow. Love will follow naturally. Love cannot be pushed, "You have to love!" You have to love your country. Well I don't, I am sorry, I like it but I don't love it. In Sydney there is this plaque and it says, "The greatest good a man can do is to give his life for his country." Well I don't think so; I am not convinced about that.

Yes, so love, love will go where there is admiration; where we see great qualities; where we see great kindness, great compassion, mercy, determination; where we see an incredible example, where we see someone who is just greater than we are… then love will automatically awaken, it is not difficult! Then love will come there.


--
Best Regards,
Dinesh

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Defining love

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 03 May 2016, Vrndavana, India, Bhagavad-gita 3.34)

It is interesting that when speaking of prema (pure love for Krsna) in the Srimad Bhagavatam, the example is given of the intermediate devotee, the madhyama-adhikārī. Not the kanishta-adhikārī (the neophyte), but of the madhyama, someone a bit more advanced, a devotee who has shown determination. It is provided: īśvare tad-adhīneṣu bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca prema-maitrī-kṛpopekṣā yaḥ karoti sa madhyamaḥ (Srimad Bhagavatam 11.2.46). This says that for the madhyama-adhikārī, he has prema for isvara (Lord), friendship for the devotees and indifference for the envious. So it is interesting that the word prema has been used for the madhyama-adhikārī. Now, prema comes at the end of the ladder of the nine stages of bhakti, from sraddha (faith) to prema (pure love for Krsna). So how is it that the madhyama-adhikārī can already have prema, considering it is the uttama-adhikārī who is the advanced devotee. This is because prema is not like flicking a light switch that can suddenly be changed from the darkness of ignorance to "I love Krsna"! There is a lot in between where that Krsna prema is developing and growing.

So our movement is operating on this goal of attaining love for Krsna. Prabhupada was very generous in that regard. For instance, we may remember the famous story that Srutakirti prabhu told us about massaging Prabhupada. It started with a large group of devotees receiving Prabhupada at the airport. Since they had not seen Prabhupada in a very long time, everyone was crying when Prabhupada arrived, except for Srutakirti. He had dry eyes with not a single tear. So when he was massaging Prabhupada later that day, he expressed to Prabhupada, "I am such a fallen soul Prabhupada. Everyone was crying at the airport when they saw you, because they were full of love for you. But I am just cold, and I have no feeling in my heart. No love at all. What do I do?" Prabhupada responded with absolutely nothing. The next day however when it was time for the same massage, Prabhupada finally gave the answer to Srutakirti, "This is love. This service that you are doing, this is also love."

Therefore, Prabhupada was very generous in such ways. There are other pastimes of intimate servants of Prabhupada whose minds were still not always aligned, and wanted to do something else, even while they were serving Prabhupada, a pure devotee. Now we can say things like, "Prabhupada is a unique personality who did the greatest work of bringing this movement forward for all of us."But his servants, meanwhile, were also after a while, ready to do something else. So imagine how this point counts for all of us. We are engaging in devotional service and yet our mind may sometimes desire some other activity. This is possible. We may think to ourselves while chanting, "Do I really have to do it again? This is not even pure love." But Prabhupada did not look at it in that strict sense, because even if it is not manifesting as pure love, regardless, it is still love.



--
Best Regards,
Dinesh

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I love you, today

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 07 September 2003, Radhadesh, Belgium, Lecture)

In this material world, everything is so gross and cheap. Here, when there is a meeting between lovers then within no time, it is the full embrace – that is what it is all about… Right down to the action! The main thing! Let us not waste any time! Acceleration from zero to a hundred in two seconds, right!? That is the material experience. Very quick and very shallow and with strong exchanges.

But in spiritual loving exchanges, things are very different. In spiritual loving exchanges, everything is so meaningful that slight little exchanges are performed again and again, and give so much satisfaction.

When Srimati Radharani becomes aware that Krsna has left, has left her alone and that she is faced with separation then she faints… boom! She falls unconscious and as she hits the ground, just there on the ground, there are flowers of which the scent reminds her of Krsna. Krsna wears those flowers on his garland. The scent enters her nostrils and immediately she jumps off the ground in ecstasy! So, again, inconceivable! Inconceivable intensity!

So here, we have our dull loving exchanges in the material world, "Yes, I love you…" This is our level of material exchange. I love you today, and tomorrow I love someone else, because how deep is the loving experience in this world? Very shallow!



--
Best Regards,
Dinesh

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Real father is God!






Prabhupāda: Yes. Just like every spirit soul is son of God, but materially we think that some..., somebody as father. But real father is God. That is stated in the 
sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya
sambhavanti mūrtayaḥ yāḥ
tāsāṁ yonir brahma mahad
ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā
This mahat-tattva, this material world, just like a child, a child is born, the father gives the seed and mother develops the body. The child's body is developed... Actually all, all of us, we have got this body from mother. Therefore we have got very natural affinity with mother. The child can forget his father, but he cannot forget his mother. Mother's relationship is so intimate.
Lecture on BG 1.44 -- London, July 31, 1973: Actually, everyone is our svajanam, because if God is father, as Kṛṣṇa claims, ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā, if He is the supreme father... Not only He claims, at least, any fine religious system claims, "God is the original father." That's a fact. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvam pravartate (BG 10.8). Everything has come from Him. He is the supreme father. So if Kṛṣṇa is the supreme father, He is father of everyone. Sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya (BG 14.4). In all species of life, in all forms of life, they are all our svajana, kinsmen. How it cannot be? Because Kṛṣṇa is the original father. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore a devotee of Kṛṣṇa does not want to commit a little harm to any living entity. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

The living entities are combinations of the material nature and the spiritual nature. Such living entities are seen not only on this planet but on every planet, even on the highest, where Brahmā is situated. Everywhere there are living entities; within the earth there are living entities, even within water and within fire. All these appearances are due to the mother, material nature, and Kṛṣṇa's seed-giving process. The purport is that the material world is impregnated with living entities, who come out in various forms at the time of creation according to their past deeds.

From prakṛti, or material nature, come so many varieties of living entities, including aquatics, plants, trees, insects, birds, animals, human beings and demigods. prakṛti is the mother, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the father (ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā (BG 14.4)).

The different forms of these living entities are only their external dresses. Every living being is actually a spirit soul, a part and parcel of God.

The conditioned souls, who are residents of the material world, are put in the womb of mother earth in the same way the seed of a child is put by the father in the womb of the mother. This conception of the Lord and the earth as father and mother is explained in Bhagavad-gītā (14.4). Conditioned souls are devoted to the motherland in which they take their birth, but they do not know their father. The mother is not independent in producing children. Similarly, material nature cannot produce living creatures unless in contact with the supreme father, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In Bhagavad-gītā (14.4) material nature is clearly mentioned as sarva-yoniṣu. This means that of all varieties of species—demigods, human beings, animals, birds and beasts (whatever is manifested)—material nature is the mother, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the seed-giving father.

Plants, trees, insects, aquatics, demigods, beasts, birds and all other living entities are sons or parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, but because they are struggling with different mentalities, they have been given different types of bodies (manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati (BG 15.7)).

in the form of Mahā-Viṣṇu that the Lord manifests the material universes. Just as a husband and wife combine to beget offspring, Mahā-Viṣṇu combines with His wife māyā, or material nature. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (14.4), where Kṛṣṇa states:
sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya mūrtayaḥ sambhavanti yāḥ
tāsāṁ brahma mahad yonir ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā
"It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kuntī, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father." 

Viṣṇu impregnates māyā, the material nature, simply by glancing at her. This is the spiritual method. Materially we are limited to impregnating by only one particular part of our body, but the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa or Mahā-Viṣṇu, can impregnate by any part. Simply by glancing, the Lord can conceive countless living entities in the womb of material nature.


No one but the Supreme Personality of Godhead can be kind to everyone. Therefore the Lord's name is Kṛṣṇa, "all-attractive." As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (14.4), Kṛṣṇa is the kind father of everyone. In every species of life (sarva-yoniṣu), He is the original father, the seed-giver (bīja-pradaḥ pitā). How, then, can He be unkind to any living entity? One may be a man, an animal or even a tree, but the Lord is kind to everyone. That is God's qualification.


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People who are too full of themselves are empty

Egoistic people think and talk only about themselves: “I went here, I achieved this, I experienced this, I am so great.” Even if others talk about something else, that just activates their autobiography narration mode, and they start speaking about themselves, on and on. They think, consciously or subconsciously, that others exist primarily for serving as their receptive, admiring audiences. By their self-centeredness, they annoy and alienate others, though others may conceal such emotions as long as the egoists have power.
The Bhagavad-gita (16.04) states that such self-obsession characterizes the ungodly.
Their arrogance keeps them in ignorance – they are so full of themselves that they can’t think of anything bigger than themselves, leave alone focus on that higher reality. Thus, they stay unaware and deprived of the sublime joy of connecting with the ultimate reality, Krishna, the reservoir of all happiness.
However much they inflate their ego, their heart remains empty, bereft of fulfilling reciprocation with both Krishna and others. Sooner or later, as time’s inexorable force starts taking away the things that fueled their egomania, their inner emptiness starts becoming undeniable and unbearable.
How can we avoid such a fate? By changing the basis of our fullness – instead of being full of ourselves, we can strive to become full of Krishna. Rather than delighting in our own glories, we can learn to delight in Krishna’s glories. Whereas our glories are temporary and finite, his glories are eternal and infinite. How do we taste Krishna’s glories? By practicing bhakti-yoga which trains and equips us to focus on Krishna, instead of on ourselves. Moreover, bhakti wisdom helps us to re-envision whatever good we have: it has come from Krishna and is meant to take us towards him.
By steady bhakti practice, when we become full of Krishna, we become joyful, eternally joyful.


Read more http://www.gitadaily.com/people-who-are-too-full-of-themselves-are-empty/

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Special mercy



Latest news - week 17 / 2018
KKSBlog Newsletter
The latest news articles

Special mercy

By KKSBlog on Apr 22, 2018 06:29 pm

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 26 December 2017, Govinda Valley, Australia, Initiation Lecture)

The essence of the process that we are following in this movement is the chanting of the holy name. This process is the yuga dharma – the dharma (religion) for this age of Kali. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has made this chanting of the holy name widely available to us and also added his extra mercy. The holy name has been chanted widely throughout the millennia but in this particular millennia, there is the added mercy of the Lord himself. Therefore, now it is very easy and quick for us to chant Krsna's name and attain the results.

It is described by Rupa Goswami that in other kali yugas, there are also incarnations of Vishnu who teach harinam sankirtan. But because Vishnu is not the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, he cannot invest the name with the special mercy by which prema (love) is very quickly attained. So in those yugas, the chanting is going on, but it is difficult; the progress is slow. But now, the progress is very quick as the added mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is rapidly invoking Krsna prema.

In the first initiation, the main focus is the holy name – that is the essence! The spiritual master chants on the beads first to invest them with his blessings and the blessings of the entire parampara (disciplic succession), coming from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. It is then that he invests his special mercy on us. Therefore, even though one has been chanting before, where the mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu is still available to all, the spiritual master invokes the entire parampara's prayers during an initiation, which is very powerful!

The article " Special mercy " was published on KKSBlog.




Spontaneous devotional service

By KKSBlog on Apr 20, 2018 07:49 am

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 25 January 2018, Radhadesh, Belgium, Srimad Bhagavatam 8.12.23-24)

Our first Ratha Yatra in Jaipur was a humble attempt. The devotees had just recently opened a small little centre. It was not much but they still wanted to have Ratha Yatra so we decided to keep it simple.

They had one chariot. A life member made a little stage and in India, it is quite common that the stage is built to the height of the chariot. When the chariot stops people go to the stage and make offerings to the deity. So they had one such stage at the end of the procession.

But as the parade started, the local people of Jaipur got interested, "Hey, what is that? You are having a festival? Oh, we are joining in!" Further along, a drum band appeared out of nowhere and joined the parade. At the end, there were elephants marching as well! As it was getting dark, a group of men came carrying lights on their head and all this was not organised. It just happened! The people of Jaipur welcomed Ratha Yatra. There was just spontaneous devotional service. That is the result of chanting Hare Krsna. There will be spontaneous devotional service and then it will spread.

The article " Spontaneous devotional service " was published on KKSBlog.




Planting pearls

By KKSBlog on Apr 17, 2018 02:00 pm

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 26 December 2017, Govinda Valley, Australia, Initiation Lecture)

We should understand that we are always accepted by Krsna through the prayer of our spiritual master. Therefore, we continue to remain indebted to our spiritual master. How often emails are exchanged between the Guru and the disciple does not define the relationship. We are living in a crazy world where the communication is bizarre – never have people tried to communicate through telecommunications as much as now – it is just insane! Sometimes I am asked, "Why did you not answer my email?" I could give different answers to that. An answer I sometimes give, "Well, I was chanting Hare Krsna!" If I don't answer your email, at least know that I was chanting my rounds. The relationship between a Guru and his disciple is very different to all this constant communication!

It is an eternal relationship that can never be broken. Nothing can break it, not even us. One can walk away from it but still we cannot break it. The relationship will always stay! It is a lasting bond that is created between the Guru and disciple where the Guru is the representative of Krsna. When we take the vows to the Guru, remember that we are actually making the vows to Lord Krsna. The spiritual master accepts the vows on behalf of Krsna and supervises them on behalf of Krsna. One might be able to run away from the Guru in keeping these vows but one cannot run away from Krsna!

Krsna once wanted to plant pearls. His parents told him, "What are you doing Krsna? You cannot plant pearls. They do not sprout or produce plants." But Krsna convinced them that they do! He planted the pearls, watered them with milk and sure enough, these pearls sprouted and produced many bushes that produced many more pearls. Therefore, the vows of initiation are like such pearls. We are getting a great gift. The vows are very valuable and one must do something with them. One cannot just keep the gift, "Yep, got that, initiation done! Now I will just do my rounds and fulfill the daily quota." No! We must take the vows, take the pearls, plant them and water them with hearing, chanting, devotional service and making sacrifices for Krsna – doing something extraordinary with the vows! If we do, then the vows will produce amazing results – that is the idea! It is a great treasure that we must take advantage of. The job is not done. We got the pearls, now we must plant and water them!

The article " Planting pearls " was published on KKSBlog.




Combatting anxiety

By KKSBlog on Apr 16, 2018 02:09 pm

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 24 December 2017, Sydney, Australia, Bhagavad-gita 1.1)

It is said in the scriptures that when we have a goal which is other than satisfying the senses of Krsna, then we will remain in anxiety. When our goal is to control, then anxiety will follow – "Will I get it? What do I do? I hope nothing will go wrong! Is it going to work or not? Let me cross my fingers, cross everything, even my toes!" Everything is crossed in the hope that it will go according to our wishes, but there is no guarantee, none at all. This is because the protection of Krsna is the only thing that can give us continuous success. Temporary success without Krsna can be attained, but then one might start to think, "I am a self-made man. I started with nothing, but by hard labour, I built up this entire business empire. It was all my own strength". Self-made man, huh? So they did not have a father or a mother? One simply takes advantage of the material opportunities available to them, and it is Krsna who presents the results to them.

In India, almost every shop owner starts the day by performing a puja of Goddess Lakshmi – "Lakshmi Lakshmi Lakshmi!". All everyone wants is Lakshmi. But there is still no guarantee, because even after one performs such puja of Lakshmi, it does not mean that Lakshmi will stay. This is because Lakshmi is cancalam ('fickle').

So then we are restless, like a child going from a book to an iPad to sitting down to jumping; constantly changing. That is the nature of material existence – to have a flickering mind. So we must try to fix our mind on Krsna, because that is the only place where the mind can remain fixed. Everything else we want for ourselves, but even when we attain that material goal of ours, we will still not feel satisfaction, because our desire for wanting more will always remain.

The article " Combatting anxiety " was published on KKSBlog.




Previous published articles


Your mercy case
Embracing restrictions
Such a vision
Our natural position
To accept guidance from others is true humility
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