YOU HAVE TO FLY

via Gita Coaching by akrura@gmail.com on 11/3/10

Many times, devotees who join the ISKCON society think, "Oh, I am now in a successful group of spiritualists," and after some time they become a little spiritually lazy because they think that the group will take care of them.

But spiritual life and spiritual advancement is always something very individual.

You have to find your own way in spiritual life.

Prabhupada always gave the example of birds that fly together.

Have you seen those birds that fly in a V-formation?

It is certainly true, there is a strong leader and the other birds follow.

It is easier if you fly in the flock because you don't get so much wind.

You get a little less wind because the others share the wind.

But if you stop flying, you will fall.

You have to fly on your own even if you fly in a group of birds.

The false promise of institutional religions is:

"You just join us, and everything is clear for you. You will automatically make advancement."

Be careful with this illusion.

It is not what Srila Prabhupada said, not what the acaryas say, and certainly not what Krsna says.

He wants that we all individually surrender unto Him.

Our individual surrender will always look different from our neighbor's, because we are different — it's our life.

For this we need a little bit sraddha — faith, that Krsna is there and will accept us if we surrender our life unto Him and invite Him into our life.

- Sacinandana Swami

YOU HAVE TO FLY

To become individually self-sufficient to fly

BIRDS

via Gita Coaching by akrura@gmail.com on 11/3/10

Just like when a bird flies in the sky, so he has to leave behind him everything, and he has to fly in the sky on his own strength.

There is no other help.

Why bird?

Take these airplanes, jet planes.

When we get on the sky, leaving this land, no more we can depend on our strength on the land.

If the plane is sufficiently strong, then we can fly; otherwise there is danger.

***

Just like a flock of birds -- although very intimately related, everyone of them has to fly in the sky by individual strength.

If one is less strong, the other cannot keep him in the sky.

That is the law of nature.

So long everyone of us is strong in Krishna Consciousness, there is no doubt, you can fly in the spiritual sky and meet together without failure.

Therefore, individual strength is most important.

And that individual strength is achieved in the association of devotees also.

***

We are thinking, "My family, my wife, my children, my society men, my nation will give me protection."

No.

Nobody can give you protection.

It is false hope.

Just like the birds, when they fly in the sky, everyone has to take his own care.

Nobody can help anyone.

One can help only in Krsna consciousness.

Not in the material way.

- Srila Prabhupada

Birds

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jyoti Pahuja <radhashyamsunder19@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2010 12:19:15 +0400
Subject: Reviving the pure consciousness
To: opriti <opriti@gmail.com>
Cc: Meena Masi <mreejsinghani@qlimg.com>

śrī-śuka uvāca
ātma-māyām ṛte rājan
parasyānubhavātmanaḥ
na ghaṭetārtha-sambandhaḥ
svapna-draṣṭur ivāñjasā
[Srimad Bhagavatam 2.9.1]

Sri Sukadeva Goswami said: O King, unless one is influenced by the
energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there is no meaning to
the relationship of the pure soul in pure consciousness with the
material body. That relationship is just like a dreamer's seeing his
own body working.

Purport by Srila Prabhupada

Maharaja Pariksit's question as to how a living entity began his
material life, although he is apart from the material body and mind,
is perfectly answered.

The spirit soul is distinct from the material conception of his life,
but he is absorbed in such a material conception because of being
influenced by the external energy of the Lord, called atma-maya.

The external energy is controlled by the Lord, and the living entities
are controlled by the external energy — by the will of the Lord.
Therefore, although the living entity is purely conscious in his pure
state, he is subordinate to the will of the Lord in being influenced
by the external energy of the Lord. In the Bhagavad-gita (15.15) also
the same thing is confirmed; the Lord is present within the heart of
every living entity, and all the living entity's consciousness and
forgetfulness are influenced by the Lord.

Now the next question automatically made will be why the Lord
influences the living entity to such consciousness and forgetfulness?

The answer is that the Lord clearly wishes that every living entity be
in his pure consciousness as a part and parcel of the Lord and thus be
engaged in the loving service of the Lord as he is constitutionally
made; but because the living entity is partially independent also, he
may not be willing to serve the Lord, but may try to become as
independent as the Lord is. All the nondevotee living entities are
desirous of becoming equally as powerful as the Lord, although they
are not fit to become so. The living entities are illusioned by the
will of the Lord because they wanted to become like Him.

Like a person who thinks of becoming a king without possessing the
necessary qualification, when the living entity desires to become the
Lord Himself, he is put in a condition of dreaming that he is a king.
Therefore first the sinful will of the living entity is to become the
Lord, and the consequent will of the Lord is that the living entity
forget his factual life and thus dream of the land of utopia where he
may become one like the Lord.

The child cries to have the moon from the mother, and the mother gives
the child a mirror to satisfy the crying and disturbing child with the
reflection of the moon. All these stages are dreaming illusions only.
The fact is that as soon as he desired it, he was put under the
control of atma-maya by the direction of the Lord. Therefore the
living entity in his material condition is dreaming falsely that this
is "mine" and this is "I." The dream is that the conditioned soul
thinks of his material body as "I" or falsely thinks that he is the
Lord and that everything in connection with that material body is
"mine." This continues life after life, as long as the living entity
is not purely conscious of his identity as the subordinate part and
parcel of the Lord.

In his pure consciousness, however, there is no such misconceived
dream, and in that pure conscious state the living entity does not
forget that he is never the Lord, but that he is eternally the
servitor of the Lord in transcendental love.

In the one stage of human life the misconception is prominent in the
shape of "It is my body," "It is my house," "It is my family," "It is
my caste," "It is my nation," "It is my country,". And in another
stage of speculative knowledge, the same misconception of "mine" is
transformed into "I am," or "It is all I am," etc. But the real
significance of "I" can be realized only when one is situated in the
consciousness of "I am the eternal servitor of the Lord." This is pure
consciousness, and the whole Vedic literatures teach us this
conception of life.

So the science of bhakti-yoga, of worshiping the Lord, glorifying the
Lord, hearing the Srimad Bhagavatam from the right sources and being
always in the association of pure devotees, should be adopted in
earnestness to make one's life perfect.

--
The only way to counteract the effects of this age of Kali is chanting
the Holy Names of Lord Krsna. There is no other way. There is no other
way. There is no other way. (Brhan Naradiya Purana)
Chant and be happy - "Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare/
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare"

--
Yours
Dinesh

Reviving the pure consciousness

Focusing on Our fortune.
By Sri Srila B. R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj.
by Ananga Manjari Devi Dasi on Monday, November 1, 2010 at 10:14pm


Why is happiness eluding us? Because we are never satisfied. No matter how much we get, we always hanker for more. Such is the nature of every one of us in all fields and walks of life. How then could finite material objects and flickering bodily or intellectual pleasures satiate our infinite hankerings? For as long as we go on searching for happiness within the material plane, our efforts and endeavours are destined to be irrevocably frustrated. Due to their natural limitations, material objects and goals simply cannot satisfy our limitless hankerings. Only by seeking out the beauty and love of the unlimited spiritual realm can we hope to be successful in our common quest for lasting happiness.
Waiting to help us


The Lord is always there, even in the worst period of our lives. He is waiting, waiting to help us. We must only look up for His grace, with sincerity with all sincerity. He is everywhere, waiting; "My boy, look at Me. Don't make much of the external environment. I am here, very near to you. You have cast your focus aside, you have cast your consciousness outside. Make it internal and you will find Me here. Make it above. You are looking down to secure servants and comforts, but if you look up, for existence higher than you, you will find Me in that plane. Look up! Don't look down, searching for servants." You want to become a master and thus are searching for servants, hunting after things for your service. Take the opposite course, become a servant and search for your master, your Lord, then you will be uplifted, taken up to a higher domain. If you want to live in a higher domain you will have to serve. If you want to be a master, then you will have to come down in the lower zone, where you can be a master. This is neither exaggeration nor imagination, it is something scientific. You can enjoy only those that are of a lower position. So, by attempting to enjoy, mean association becomes inevitable. Only by preparing for higher service will you be able to come in contact with your soul's higher position. Sacrificeby sacrifice you go up; by enjoying spirit you will have to go down. We are to understand what is exploitation and enjoyment, and what is higher service. Divine service is pure, and in that service there is also a pure type of joy and ecstasy. By giving we become gainers and by extorting we become losers. This scientific truth should be understood.
Wealth in Giving


> By robbing things from others, someone can find superficial satisfaction, but underground there is some suspicion that the result won't be very good: "The reaction will come to attack me." To exploit by stealing provides some sort of enjoyment, but happiness is also enjoyed by big donors through their giving in chariy. There is a difference in quality between these two sorts of happiness, and we are to distinguish between them. In different planes there are different conceptions of happiness, and a comparison is to be drawn between the qualitative differences in the pleasure derived. We are to conceive of different planes of life. The life of higher service is divine life. The Absolute God is there. Everything is for Him. Everything here is for His pleasure. But, in which way can we attain divine life? What is mundane? And what is divine? We are to differentiate between them. We have to examine them in order to accept the divine life. What is God? God is not an order supplier. If I am sick, I am not to just ask, "Oh God, cure my sickness!" And if I am poor, I should not only pray, "Oh God, give me money!" Such mercenary connection is not very happy, but still it has some meaning because at least there is thought that there is some supernatural power and that He can do wonders. However, it is better to want God without expecting anything mundane from Him. We should want God who is the source of all this opulence the reservoir of all rasa, love, beauty, charm, affection, ecstasy and eternal fulfilment and we should not want anything else which we consider valuable. We are to depend on Him: "Oh Lord, give me what is good. I am an imperfect being, I do not know what is good and and what is bad. Please provide whatever You consider to be good for me." This is an improvement over praying to Him for mundane benefits. But best is to accept the creed of unalloyed service to the Highest: "I want You, my Lord, nothing else." And what will be our connection with Him? Service. "I want only Your service." At the beginning we might think we are being losers, but ultimately we will gain. Apparently we are giving ourselves, we are sacrificing our selfish interests, but in the subtle senses we gain thereby. This ontological truth should be appreciated. It is neither a dogma, nor blind faith. It is based on higher unprejudiced reasons.
The Key to Fulfilment


Our life is unfulfilled and we want fulfilment, there is no doubt. But, what type of fulfilment should we hanker for and search after? We know we are in want, and at the same time we feel that we yearn to remove our want and obtain satisfaction. No doubt this is so for everyone. But how to make progress from unfulfilled life towards fulfilment? To do that we are to search for God. We must search for Him —by Srila B. R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj
© Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Mission 2008

Focusing on our fortune-Worth Reading!

Kirtans of Mother Karnamrita
http://narottama.freeblog.hu/archives/2010/09/30/Music_music_music/

Song Name: Adharam Madhuram
Official Name: Śrī Śrī Madhurāṣṭakam
Author: Sri Vallabhacarya
(98)
ISKCON desire tree
(1)
adharaṁ madhuraṁ vadanaṁ madhuraṁ
nayanaṁ madhuraṁ hasitaṁ madhuraṁ
hṛdayaṁ madhuraṁ gamanaṁ madhuraṁ
madhurādhi-pater akhilaṁ madhuraṁ
(2)
vacanaṁ madhuraṁ caritaṁ madhuraṁ
vasanaṁ madhuraṁ valitaṁ madhuraṁ
calitaṁ madhuraṁ bhramitaṁ madhuraṁ
madhurādhi-pater akhilaṁ madhuraṁ
(3)
veṇur madhuro reṇur madhuraḥ
pāṇir madhuraḥ pādau madhurau
nṛtyaṁ madhuraṁ sakhyaṁ madhuraṁ
madhurādhi-pater akhilaṁ madhuraṁ
(4)
gītaṁ madhuraṁ pītaṁ madhuraṁ
bhuktaṁ madhuraṁ suptam madhuraṁ
rūpaṁ madhuraṁ tilakaṁ madhuraṁ
madhurādhi-pater akhilaṁ madhuraṁ
(5)
karaṇaṁ madhuraṁ taraṇaṁ madhuraṁ
haraṇaṁ madhuraṁ ramaṇaṁ madhuraṁ
vamitaṁ madhuraṁ śamitaṁ madhuraṁ
madhurādhi-pater akhilaṁ madhuraṁ
(6)
guñjā madhurā mālā madhurā
yamunā madhurā vīcī madhurā
salilaṁ madhuraṁ kamalaṁ madhuraṁ
madhurādhi-pater akhilaṁ madhuraṁ
(7)
gopī madhurā līlā madhurā
yuktaṁ madhuraṁ bhuktaṁ madhuraṁ
hṛṣṭaṁ madhuraṁ śiṣṭaṁ madhuraṁ
madhurādhi-pater akhilaṁ madhuraṁ
(8)
gopā madhurā gāvo madhurā
yaṣṭir madhurā sṛṣṭir madhurā
dalitaṁ madhuraṁ phalitaṁ madhuraṁ
madhurādhi-pater akhilaṁ madhuraṁ
TRANSLATION
1) His lips are sweet, His face is sweet His eyes are sweet, His smile is sweet His heart is sweet, His gait is sweet—Everything is sweet about the Emperor of sweetness!
2) His words are sweet, His character is sweet His dress is sweet, His belly-folds are sweet His movements are sweet, His wandering is sweet—Everything is sweet about the Emperor of sweetness!
3) His flute is sweet, His foot-dust is sweet His hands are sweet, His feet are sweet His dancing is sweet, His friendship is sweet—Everything is sweet about the Emperor of sweetness!
4) His singing is sweet, His yellow cloth is sweet His eating is sweet, His sleeping is sweet His beauty is sweet, His tilaka is sweet—Everything is sweet about the Emperor of sweetness!
5) His deeds are sweet, His liberating is sweet His stealing is sweet, His love-sports are sweet His oblations are sweet, His tranquility is sweet—Everything is sweet about the Emperor of sweetness!
6) His gunja-berry necklace is sweet, His flower garland is sweet His Yamuna river is sweet, His ripples are sweet His water is sweet, His lotuses are sweet—Everything is sweet about the Emperor of sweetness!
7) His gopis are sweet, His pastimes are sweet, His union is sweet, His food is sweet, His delight is sweet, His courtesy is sweet — Everything is sweet about the Emperor of sweetness!
8) His gopas are sweet, His cows are sweet His staff is sweet, His creation is sweet His trampling is sweet, His fruitfulness is sweet—Everything is sweet about the Emperor of sweetness!

Madhurastakam