"Before giving up this present body, if one is able to tolerate the urges of the material senses and check the force of desire and anger, he is well situated and is happy in this world"- BG#5.23
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Best Regards
Bhakti Yoga - The Topmost Yogic Practice!
"Before giving up this present body, if one is able to tolerate the urges of the material senses and check the force of desire and anger, he is well situated and is happy in this world"- BG#5.23
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50 yrs later!
Direct service or Directed service?
SB 3.25.11: Devahuti continued: I have taken shelter of Your lotus feet because You are the only person of whom to take shelter. You are the ax which can cut the tree of material existence. I therefore offer my obeisances unto You, who are the greatest of all transcendentalists, and I inquire from You as to the relationship between man and woman and between spirit and matter.
Lawyer lawbook and judge would always be in alignment
Our dealings with the materialistic minded people should be as limited as possible.Because we absorb our consciousness on things around us like a gemstone that absorbs light from outside and stores within.We automatically start imitating things around us even without our knowledge, thats the nature of the mind. When a person is diseasedwith a highly contagious disease, that person is usually quarantined to prevent the spreading of the disease to those around.Similarly the pure devotees of the Lord do not take bliss in the association of materially motivated people.The pure devotees of the Lord keep themselves aloof from the association of materialists just like, we stay away from the diseased.This Sankirtan movement of Lord Caitanya is also very contagious but in a good sense.The association of the followers of Lord Caitanya brings all auspiciousness and it doesn't stop withone person, the person who got it has to spread, otherwise he can't relish the nectar he is providedwith.In this regard we have two types of devotees. Gostanandi (serves the Lord via Preaching the Gloriesof the Lord where ever he goes or where ever the Lord sends him)and Bhajanandi(Bhajanandi serves the Lords abode/dham,meditates on the Lord within). Gostanandi is already a Bhajanandi. Most of the devotees in the movement ofLord Caitanya are Gostanandis.If Srila Prabhupada didn't come to America, I will not be here to write this article, rather would have beenlost elsewhere in easing out the contact of sense objects with the senses predominantly.A supporting article, Quotes start here.." Preaching is the EssenceHis Divine Grace A.C. Bhakti Vedanta Swami Prabhupada
Lord Caitanya wants His followers to preach all over the world:
"Dear Lord, Your personal associates, devotees, wander all over the world to purify even the holy places of pilgrimage. Is not such activity pleasing to those who are actually afraid of material existence?"
There are two kinds of devotees.One is called gosthy –anandi and the other bhajanandi. The word bhajanandi refers to the devotee who dos not move but remains in one place. Such a devotee is always engaged in the devotional service of the Lord. He chants the Mahamantra staught by many acaryas and sometimes goes out for preaching work.
The gosthy-anandi is one who desires to increase the number of devotees all over the world. He travels all over the world just to purify the world and the people residing in it.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu advised: prithvi ache yata nagaradi gram / sarvatra pracara haibemora nama. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu wanted His followers to move all over the world and preach in every town and village.
In the Chaitanya – sampradaya those who strictly follow the the principles of Lord Chaitanya must travel all over the world to preach the message of Lord Chaitanya, which is the same as preaching the words of Krsna- Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam. The more the devotees preach the principles of Krsna katha, the more the people throughout the world will benefit.
Devotees like the great sage Narada who travel all over to preach are called gosti-anandi.Narada Muni is always wandering throughout the universe just to create different types of devotees. Narada even made a hunter a devotee. He also made Dhruve Maharja and Prahlada devotees. Actually all devotees are indebted to the great sage Narada, for he has wandered both in heaven and in hell. A devotee of the Lord is not even afraid of hell. He goes to preach the glories of the Lord everywhere-even in hell- because there is no distinction between heaven and hell for a devotee.
Narayana –parah sarve
Na kutascana bibhyati
Svargapavarga-narakesv
Ap tulyartha- darsinah
"A pure devotee of Narayana is never afraid of going anywhere and everywhere . For him heaven and hell are one and the same." (Bhag. 6.17.28) Such devotees , wandering all over the world, deliver those ho are actually afraid of this material existence.
Bhag. 4.30.37"
Association
Raga-Dvesha, The Cause Of Bondage
Raga (attraction), Dvesha (repulsion) and Tatastha Vritti (indifference) are the three important Vrittis of the mind. Raga and Dvesha (like and dislike or love and hatred or attraction and repulsion) are the two currents in the mind which bind a man to the Samsaric wheel of birth and death. Raga and Dvesha are the two Doshas or faults in the mind that have brought you to this world. The Svarupa of Bandha (bondage) is Raga and Dvesha. The Svarupa of Ajnana is Raga and Dvesha. All the emotions come under the category of Raga-Dvesha. These two currents are the Dharma (characteristics) of the mind and not of the spirit. Pleasure and pain, Harsha and Soka, exhilaration and depression are due to Raga-Dvesha. If Raga and Dvesha vanish from the mind, Harsha-Soka also will disappear.
- Swami Sivananda
Best Regards
Dinesh
Material emotions originate from Raga-Dvesha it's useless, perverted unless dovetailed with devotion to the Lord
Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,Please accept my humble obeisances! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev!This is in continuation of the previous offering, "Anxiety to See Krishna", which is a humble effort to transcribe a part of the discussion between our beloved Gurudev HH Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj and his disciples. Here Maharaj is referring to Srimad Bhagavatam verse 6.11.26.ajaata-pakshaa iva maataram khagaahstanyam yathaa vatsataraah kshudh-aartaahpriyam priyeva vyushitam vishannaamano 'ravindaaksha didrkshate tvaam"O lotus-eyed Lord, as baby birds that have not yet developed their wings always look for their mother to return and feed them, as small calves tied with ropes await anxiously the time of milking, when they will be allowed to drink the milk of their mothers, or as a morose wife whose husband is away from home, always longs for him to return and satisfy her in all respects, I always yearn for the opportunity to render direct service unto You."Just as the young birds, they are waiting for the mother very anxiously, because their life depends upon it, so we also very anxiously wait for Krishna. Then the second example is best. Calf and the cow. In the cow protection center in India, there may be 500 cows, but you take one calf, he will definitely go to his mother. He will find out his mother. They know that knack. They will straightway go to the mother. That is how, we may do our karmic activities, you have to go to the office, you have to take education, you have to find out a job, these things will go on, but as soon as you are free from these things, you should straightaway run to Bhagavatam. There should not be any impediment then. What we do? Under the burden of the karmic activity, we waste the rest of the time also. "Oh! I am tired! I must lie down." We do this or that under so many arguments. The mind is very clever to present the arguments. We should not give into the mind. Mind is rascal really. It will present arguments which are very suitable to you. "Again tomorrow, you have to go to office, you have to prepare, you better take rest now nicely and sleep." It will never tell you that you go to Srimad Bhagavatam.But one argument will really scare the mind and that is "How many times you are going to be born again and do you want the difficulty of the birth? Do you want to undergo the same misery of death? Do you want to become old again and again? Do you want to become sick? If not, you just get out and go to Bhagavatam." Then mind will tell, "We don't want to suffer in the next birth, we don't want to suffer next death. So please get up and sit there in the table to study Bhagavatam."This is how the mind will guide you then. These three examples give the idea how anxiously they wait. So we should have the same sincerity and anxiety to see Krishna. Otherwise we cannot do the devotional service. This is nice way. You had so many difficulties and bitter experiences, but the end result is very good when we remember Krishna. And that is why Krishna gives us the difficulties and real devotee asks for the difficulties. Kunti prays, "vipadah santu taah sashvat - please give me all difficulties", because in difficulty we feelingly appeal to Krishna, we feelingly pray to Krishna. So don't be afraid of the difficulties.Thank you very much.Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev,Vaijayanti mala devi dasi,Abu dhabi.__
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[granthraj] Anxiety to See Krishna- Part 2
Wealth & Material comforts alone can't satisfy us
Missing.....
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 2 June 2012, Lecture SB 5.13.5)
Worms are eating your insides, right now! You feel the pains here and there. Worms are eating your liver. Worms are eating your heart. They eat your heart out while you sit there. There are even worms living in your brain, I read about this!
It's not that we are enjoying. We just accept the suffering when we are in these bodies as normal. It's normal that I'm sweating right now, it's just normal because it's warm. It's normal that I have a headache leftover from all the travels that had over the last years. It's normal that I have some pain between my shoulder blades because I'm 60 years old. It's normal that I have an in-growing toenail, it's completely normal. As I'm talking to you, I was just mentioning the toe because the sock is causing pressure on my toenail. I'm tolerating it but I suffer and so do you. If you carefully investigate our existence, we are all suffering.
From a philosophical point of view, we are always suffering. Sometimes we are aware of it and sometimes we are not, you know what I'm saying!? It's like we're suffering but sometimes we are not aware of it. Now, I'm experiencing this suffering, I'm not going to dwell on it – my toe, my sock, my toe, my sock. I'm dwelling on Krsna, I'm dwelling on the soul. I'm dwelling on the relationship that we have with the soul. But we are not in denial of the fact that the bodily existence is offering us suffering, it is, and therefore we want to get out of here!
A lesson on life
Hare Krishna Prabhujis amd Matajis,
Please accept my humble obeisances! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.
This is in continuation of the previous offering titled, "Do not Neglect" wherein we are discussing on the consequences of neglecting Krishna and His pure devotees as detailed in the pastime of Jaya and Vijaya being cursed by the Sanatkumaras. So let us try to meditate on this lesson in this offering.
1. We offend others when we fail to see Krishna in them.
a) Ignoring Krishna and His devotees means arrogant behaviour: Krishna is present as Paramatma in everyone's heart. Since Jaya and Vijaya, in this instance failed to see Krishna in the heart of the sages, they ended up offending them. We remember how our beloved spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj, seeing Krishna in everyone, would render obeisances even to the disciples. Maharaj in one of his classes spoke wonderfully about how to see Krishna in every being and to be careful in our behaviour so that we don't cross the border of offense.
"amaaninaa maanadena- Mahaprabhu was very clever, extra clever. He knew our weaknesses. That is why He has advised us amaaninaa maanadenaa. 'Amaani' means - do not expect any respect for yourself. Maanadenaa - you give respect to others. This is very difficult because we want respect, but we do not care for others. And then we do not know who is coming to us. We have to remember one thing very clearly that during our life, Krishna can come anytime in front of us. If, we just behave arrogantly with everybody and then He comes and sees our reaction and vanishes. And that will be repaid when we are dead so that we have to answer that why we behaved like that. This is without fail. Krishna appears in front of us and that is why a sane person has to follow this instruction amaaninaa maanadena. Whoever comes to your door, we think that Krishna has come and we behave very well with him. Whoever is around us, is also Krishna; whoever meets us, he is also Krishna; whoever will meet us, he is also Krishna and so we are very humble with him. We are very respectful to him. Whatever help we can do, we do. There is no arrogant attitude."
b. Ignoring devotional service means ignoring Krishna: Maharaj says that if we ignore chanting, chanting will ignore us. If we ignore Srimad Bhagavatam then Srimad Bhagavatam will ignore us. If we ignore devotional service then devotional service ignores us. Devotee means who is devoted to Krishna, pure devotees and devotional service. He never ignores any one of them or none of them. He takes it very seriously. But how to develop this quality? Srila Prabhupada very nicely says in the purport to Srimad Bhagavatam verse 1.3.44, "One should hear with rapt attention from the real person, and then he can at once realize the presence of Lord Krishna in every page. The secret of knowing Bhagavatam is mentioned here. But somehow or other if someone hears with rapt attention from the right person, at the very beginning one can assuredly see Lord Sri Krishna in person in the pages of Bhagavatam."
Once we see the Lord in every page of Srimad Bhagavatam we automatically cultivate this habit of seeing Krishna in every being and in every circumstances. This is the highest stage but we can make a small step towards that objective of seeing Krishna in everybody and Krishna will mercifully help in purifying us.
Thank you very much.
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva,
Sajjanapriya Krishna das
Abudhabi
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granthraj] Do not Neglect - Part 2
Hare Krishna Prabhujis amd Matajis,
Please accept my humble obeisances! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.
In our life it is always emphasized and reemphasized by the shastras that Krishna should be the centre of our activities and all other activities should be dovetailed in such a way that Krishna is not ignored, at any phase of our activity. But in this material world we are flooded with so much of material miseries that eventually we tend to ignore Krishna and we try to solve the miseries on our own endeavour. Our beloved spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj says that we put everything else first and last is Krishna. That is the difficulty. What are the consequences of ignoring Krishna is nicely described by the Lord Himself in the pages of Srimad Bhagavatam in the pastime of Jaya and Vijaya being cursed by the Sanatkumara munis.
One time Sanat kumaras who were perfectly situated in Brahman had the desire of having darshan of the Supreme Lord Krishna. They travelled over the material and spiritual skies and then came to Vaikunta planets and they crossed 6 doors and they were at the last door to enter into to have the wonderful darshan of the Lord. They were stopped at the seventh gate by the two door keepers there, Jaya and Vijaya. The Sanatkumaras become surprised at the behaviour of the two doorkeepers and decided to curse them as they have exhibited their discordant mentality in the spiritual world and were to be called as imposters. They have to be punished and sent out of the spiritual world. Hearing this doorkeepers fell at the feet of the Sanatkumaras and asked for forgiveness .They also prayed that eventhough they may fall into the material world, they should be blessed in such a way, not to forget the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The moment Jaya and Vijaya becomes repentant and asked for forgiveness from Sanat kumaras, the Lord immediately appeared in front of kumaras and the doorkeepers. Sanat kumaras by the dint of their spiritual power nicely glorified the Lord with choicest prayers. The Supreme Lord being pleased with their prayers and started thanking them for the prayers and started speaking with them with nectarean words. The Lord did not blindly support His door-keepers. He accepts the offence committed by the doorkeepers even before He starts to defend them. The Lord spoke with so much of gravity and eloquence in Srimad Bhagavatam 3.16.2
shri bhagavaan uvaaca
etau tau paarshadau mahyam / jayo vijaya eva ca
kadarthi krtya maam yad vo / bahv akraataam atikramam
The Personality of Godhead said: "These attendants of Mine, Jaya and Vijaya by name, have committed a great offense against you because of ignoring Me."
From the above pastime we learn
1. We offend others when we fail to see Krishna in them. This is what it means by ignoring Krishna (kadarthi krtya).
2. Suffering the reactions of the offence is inevitable, even if one is in Vaikuntha.
3. However when devotees engaged in service of the Lord commits mistakes by chance, they are protected by the Lord.
Krishna willing we shall discuss the above points in the subsequent offerings.
Thank you very much.
Your humble servant,
Sajjanapriya Krishna das,
Abudhabi.
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[granthraj] Do Not Neglect - Part 1
Knowledge Vs Ignorance
The perfect soul mate!?
He’s the one!
He’s the one!
Bhava Grahi Janardana
I am right, and you are wrong!
Spirit/Matter - What are you made of?
Varnashrama notes
Fear of material existence is required
Householder life is a big responsibility
Inviting Writers For Krishna - Smaranam
The Ocean & the Sun are functioning properly due to fear of God