Ads

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

Pride takes away love

It is our false pride that keeps Krishna and other living entities far from us. We have not only false ego but also egotism(pride in having accomplished something).

When we were new to Krishna consciousness we were sooooo blissful because we were humble and never wanted to take any credit for ourself nor took pride in our accomplishments. Over a period of time we gained a lot of knowledge all from other Vaishnavas and Prabhupada and Guru. Later we thought now I know everything and started becoming complacent. This is when we loose ecstasy in spiritual life. As long as we have our false pride in our heart, Krishna never comes closer to us.

He has His own ways to shatter this thick wall of false pride in our heart to make us better devotees with more humility and love for Krishna and His devotees.

The moment we start thinking, "oh I have been in the movement for so and so long and serving nicely, accomplished such and such things. I am the best and others are neophytes", it's actually we who are neophytes to think so. The best attitude towards being humble is to think that I am a new Bhakta everyday.

Forget all the past and Krishna remembers His devotees' every single service and we don't have to worry about recognition or cheap adoration which is shallow and at the utmost pleasing for the material element our false ego. At one point Krishna will allow Himself to be conquered by our love, and gives Himself but it's not so easy to get to that point without unalloyed pure constant devotional service to Him. The price to pay is very high but is possible.

Yours
Dinesh
Share/Bookmark

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google
  • Furl
  • Reddit
  • Spurl
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati

Srila Prabhupada Samsara Davanala Sri Gurv astakam

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://youtu.be/WMiyGh2elHU


Yours
Dinesh
Share/Bookmark

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google
  • Furl
  • Reddit
  • Spurl
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati

Krishna Is Behind Everything

Krishna Is Behind Everything

19 Apr 2010 by  Leave a Comment

Srimad Bhagavatam is designed to help us see how Krishna is close to us. Bhagavatam begins to explain, how the creation is emanating from Krishna and how everything in this world is depending on Krishna. It says that, without Krishna, we cannot see and without Krishna we cannot hear… 
He controls all our essential functions. So in this way, everything relates to Krishna…
We see that the Supreme Lord is ultimately behind the sun. He supplies that unlimited energy! How can a thing be possible for the sun to keep on shining, shining, shining, shining, shining? and it never becomes diminished! and it’s heat – How’s it possible? 
It is the unlimited energy of the Supreme Lord!

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 05/04/2010)


--
Yours
Dinesh

Share/Bookmark

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google
  • Furl
  • Reddit
  • Spurl
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati

Amazing mercy!


Amazing mercy!

01 Aug 2014 by  Leave a Comment

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 27 June 2014, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Srimad Bhagavatam 5.13.17)

lord-jagannathIn my travels, I visited a devotee’s house and he had quite an amazing altar. On his altar, he had deities of Radha Krsna which were from Vrindavan and 250 years old. In those days, there were a lot of details in the deities – they were very beautiful, they were very ecstatic. They were like in some sort of dancing pose but that was not everything. This devotee he had gone to India, and he had done some service in some of the places where Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu had performed his pastimes and some families in India, they still have some things that were used by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu directly.

He helped those families to clean these things and to make arrangements to preserve them better. As a result, they gave him little pieces; a piece of a the chadhaar of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, a piece of a kaupinaof Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and a little chip off the shoes from Lord Caitanya which are in the temple inDhameswara. In Navadvip, there is a temple and we know that when Caitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyas, he left his shoes for Visnupriya, his wife. She worshiped those shoes and those shoes are still there. The shoes are made of wood and they are in a silver casing. In order to preserve the shoes, they took them out of the silver casing and there were a few tiny pieces of the wood and this devotee got some of those. So he has all kinds of things like that – paraphernalia that were directly used by Caitanya Mahaprabhu and a piece of a turban of Lord Nityananda, directly Nityananda’s turban.

book distribution_durbanIn Jaipur, there is a jacket of Madhu Pandit which made up of tulasi beads, it is very famous. This devotee has a little piece of it. This devotee has some shakti (power) to collect all these things. What an amazingamount of mercy is there on his altar! In this way, coming closer to Krsna. When we are eager to collect mercy, then we are eager in spiritual life. Everyone has some ability, someshakti – something that they can do. Some people distribute books. Some may say, ‘Ah, what will my seven books do?’ But it is not just about the seven books. We go out every day and because the books are distributed through personal contact, a person gets touched by that book and that is meaningful!

In the beginning of spiritual life, we get a little taste and then when we build it up more and more with service; and then Krsna, who is otherwise invisible to us, becomes more visible. If you make such an altar and you have so many holy places, Krsna becomes more manifest. So this is our business, to somehow or other, make arrangements through service – by serving Krsna to make him more manifest in our life then everything becomes meaningful! Otherwise it is difficult you know. Otherwise people look at us and think,‘Look at them, they give up everything.’ Then we ourselves feel, ‘Look at ourselves. We are giving up everything.’ And all our focus is about giving up, then it is very difficult, how could we give up everything, for how long? But, if we are actually getting absorbed in serving Krsna and we discover more and more about Krsna, then everything gets quite amazing! 

Also on this altar, this devotee had a deity of Lord Jagannatha, just Jagannatha. In Jagannatha Puri, they worshiped Lord Jagannatha in quite a special way – very elaborately! Lord Jagannatha is made of wood and in India there are termites which eat the wood. So anything made of wood is difficult to keep over the years as it just gets destroyed. So, deities of wood are more temporary than deities of stone, obviously. Therefore, there is a practice that approximately almost every nineteen years, a new deity of Jagannatha is carved which replaces the old deity and the old deity is put to rest in the ground by performing a ceremony. And what they do, is that inside Lord Jagannatha, in the region of the heart, somewhere in the trunk, there is a space, a hole, and inside there is what they call a brahma padartha. The brahma padarthais actually a salagram sila which is inside the deity. When the new deity is re-carved, the brahma padarthafrom the old deity is put inside the new deity.

kks_radhadeshSo then this devotee had Jagannatha and inside there, was this Govardhana sila. So it was quite an altar. Not just some pictures of Krsna and everything is fine to offer something! No, everything was quite filled with special mercy and with special arrangements. That kind of effort is what makes the difference. When we do that then we live with Krsna. It is said in theUpadesamrta or The Nectar of Instruction, that the devotee must always live in Vrindavan by hearing, chanting, remembering and being constantly engaged! In that way, we are entering deeper into the spiritual realm until that becomes our reality and only then can we be peaceful in devotional service, when we live in the spiritual world!

As long as we live in the material world and are practicing a spiritual life, then it will be a struggle. But, we should try to live in a spiritual world and try to serve Krsna nicely there. Like the altar is the spiritual world, so when we serve on the altar, we are serving in the spiritual world. The Bhagavatam is Krsna and when we are reading the Bhagavatam then we are in the spiritual world. The name of Krsna is non-different from Krsna so when we chant the name then we are with Krsna. So, all these things are giving us access to the spiritual world. Sri Vrindavan Dham is the spiritual world. The essence is that we must somehow or other live in the spiritual world and then this Krsna consciousness will be blissful. Then our renunciation, our so called renunciation, will be no renunciation at all it is simply a means of staying free from material entanglement so that the material energy does not take too much of our time!

--
Yours
Dinesh

Share/Bookmark

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google
  • Furl
  • Reddit
  • Spurl
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati

The glories of Srimad Bhagavatam

The glories of Srimad Bhagavatam

08 Apr 2014 by  Leave a Comment

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, December 2013, Pretoria, South Africa, Caitanya Caritamrta Lecture)

bhagavatam_bigThe nature of Srimad Bhagavatam is that it is ever fresh. It is never old; it is never stale but ever fresh! It is going on right now – Bhagavatam. There is no limit to the Bhagavatam. The demigods have a Bhagavatam of 100 000 verses. We have 18 000 verses and they have a 100 000. There is more and more… and more will be revealed. Bhagavatam will be revealed from within the heart because dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ (Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya 25.57) – true religious principles are not found within the scripture alone but they are hidden within the heart. Within the heart these things will be revealed.

So we read Srimad Bhagavatam and then we live by Srimad Bhagavatam and then Srimad Bhagavatam becomes revealed to us, gradually. This is the system of how to change our lives. That is the idea. Only then will we know Srimad Bhagavatam. You cannot know the Bhagavatam just by reading. By reading, you scratch the surface but you cannot know; just as you cannot know Vrndavan by just buying a ticket, going there and walking around. One may say, "Radhe Radhe," but we cannot know. We cannot penetrate into Vrndavan unless we live like the eternal residents of Vrndavan, unless we become pure devotees then we can perceive Vrndavan.



--
Yours
Dinesh

Share/Bookmark

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google
  • Furl
  • Reddit
  • Spurl
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati