[granthraj] Do Not be Callous about Bad-Habits

Posted by dinesh

From: Dr Satish Gosain (Sri Krishna Hari Das)

From: Abirami Nagalingam

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

The proverb "Practice makes it perfect", holds true for all habits - be it good or bad. So it is very important that we have a constant check on ourselves, on whatever things we see, hear and do in our day to day lives. Bad habits in particular enter very stealthily into our life and before we even realise the impact, they sometimes just become a part of our life and we become so addicted to it that later it becomes very difficult to give it up. Bad habits are like cancer. If detected at early stage, it is easy to get rid of them. If we detect them only at later stage, then by that time, they would have completely ruined our life. Looking at the degraded state of life that is existing now, our beloved spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj used to tell us how he used to feel that his childhood days (70 to 80 years ago) are like Satya yuga - free from polluted ideas and polluted atmosphere. He had such an innocent life that when he went to London at the age of forty years or so, he had to refer to dictionary to find out what is the meaning of 'illicit sex'. During our childhood, we should say atleast we were bit fortunate as the surroundings or circumstances which could make us cultivate bad habits were bit less. At the maximum, we could fall a prey to watching televisions or listening to mundane music. But nowadays we are more prone to bad habits through the forms of Kaliyuga advancements like mobiles and internets.

Formerly people were all well connected and leading peaceful, happy life even without phone and mobiles. But now-a-days we find that mobile has become as important as water or air and everyone owns it. As the saying goes, "utility is principle". But unfortunately people keep using them even when they are "mobile" (driving, crossing the road etc), and as a result cause great havoc to their own life as well as to other's lives. Same is true with internet. Every modern advancement or technology, really drags us away from Krishna if we are not alert or cautious enough. Nowadays social networking groups in internet have become so rampant that, it has directly and indirectly increased the urge of people to gossip, exhibitionism, curiosity to see and know other's comments, hankering for praise and ultimately wastage of time for self and others. We buy mobiles, computers, laptops etc initially in the pretext of doing our prescribed duties or for devotional service. But whether we are really using these things for the same, is a honest question which we need to ask ourselves. In fact knowing the alluring nature of these things and our weak mind, Maharaj used to insist that even when we are studying scriptures, we should as far as possible use the books and not use electronic items.

Once there was a wealthy man who requested an old sage to wean his son away from his bad habits. The sage took the boy for a stroll through a garden. Stopping suddenly he asked the boy to pull out a tiny plant growing there.The boy held the plant between his thumb and forefinger and pulled it out. The old man then asked him to pull out a slightly bigger plant. The boy pulled hard and the plant came out, roots and all. "Now pull out that one," said the old man pointing to a bush. The boy had to use all his strength to pull it out.

"Now take this one out", said the old man, indicating a guava tree. The boy grasped the trunk and tried to pull it out. But it would not budge. "It's impossible," said the boy, conceding defeat.

"So it is with bad habits," said the sage. "When they are young it is easy to pull them out but when they take hold, it becomes impossible to uproot them."

This meeting with the old man changed the boy's life.

Moral: Don't wait for bad habits to grow in you, drop them while you have control over it else they will get control you.

How to curb or wean away these bad habits? While offering the prayers to Supreme Lord, the personified Vedas say in Srimad Bhagavatam verse 10.87.16

iti tava surayas try adhipate 'khila loka mala
kshapana kathaamrtaabdhim avagaahya tapaamsi jahuh
kim uta punah sva dhaama vidhutaashaya kaala gunaah
parama bhajanti ye padam ajasra sukhaanubhaavam

"Therefore, O master of the three worlds, the wise get rid of all misery by diving deep into the nectarean ocean of topics about You, which washes away all the contamination of the universe. Then what to speak of those who, having by spiritual strength rid their minds of bad habits and freed themselves from time, are able to worship Your true nature, O supreme one, finding within it uninterrupted bliss?"

Names and topics of Krishna are "jagat pavitram" and only by taking shelter of these we will be able to get rid of all our bad habits. Many a times we have doubt whether it is possible for devotional service to wean out the bad habits from the root. The answer is that if we are careless about the bad habits, then we will not be able to get rid of it. But when we sincerely want to get rid of those habits, accept our inability and sincerely pray to Krishna and endeavour to get rid of them, then the all-merciful Lord, washes away all our sins and help us to experience uninterrupted bliss.

Krishna also assures in Bhagavad Gita verse 2.49 that only by devotional service we can keep the bad habits at bay.

durena hy avaram karma / buddhi yogaad dhananjaya

buddhau sharanam anviccha / krpanaaha phala hetavah

"O Dhananjaya, keep all abominable activities far distant by devotional service, and in that consciousness surrender unto the Lord. Those who want to enjoy the fruits of their work are misers."

I pray at the lotus feet of Srila Gurudeva, Srila Prabhupada and Sri Krishna so that I don't become callous to bad habits and use my senses honsetly in Their service, without misusing them.

Thank you very much.
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva,
Sudarshana devi dasi.

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KKSblog.com - Back to Godhead?

Posted by dinesh

Posted: 31 Jul 2011 02:05 PM PDT

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 2011)

I watched a seminar in 1999 which was called:

"From 66 to 99".

In the 66 we are all going back to the spiritual world and if you look at the 'Back to Godhead' magazine, and it's just one success after another….and here's our new temple in this country and that country…they are preaching everywhere…it is growing and growing! It's all blissful and Prabhupada is in the centre of it all.

So in '66' we are all going back to Godhead, then:

In 99 if your Guru is a parama-puruṣārtha then theoretically it is possible that you could go back to Godhead in this lifetime, although it never really happens. Therefore prepare yourself that it is going to take many many births. You know, you may as well therefore be honest…. Prabhu!

Well since '99' quite some years have passed. It is now 2011. We have seen that when we pursue too much; when we get too psychological; too much concerned with my nature, my needs…then at the end of the day what will still be done for Krishna? Then you get temples were there are more deities than devotees! Then you wonder:

"Well is this really how it was meant to be?"

So therefore the good old spirit of sacrifice….it's old fashioned… I know, since some may say:

" Old fashioned and old fascist".

Whatever it is, it works! It really does work. I think that we cannot make it any softer than it is. Without sacrifice it will not really be possible to break through to the more advanced stages of devotional service.

Not that it was done with harshness in the past. When leaders were calling for sacrifice in the mode of passion. They were in the mode of passion and were pushy and sometimes inconsiderate! They were driving people into sacrificing without considering that there were also personal needs – that is not good! Boundaries are required but if our mediation is not sacrificed then it will be hard to rise above these strong material desires, and then the question is:

"How do you conquer sex desire?"

Again and again the question comes up:

"What about sex desire? What about it?"

The only answer is:

"Get really absorbed in devotional service!"

That is the only answer…there is no other answer!

New lectures- Radhadesh

Posted: 31 Jul 2011 10:07 AM PDT

Here are the links to recent lectures given by Kadamba Kanana Maharaja in Radhadesh, Belgium:

Srimad Bhagavatam: 5.1.19- 30 July 2011
CC Madhya 20.60-64- 31 July 2011

(Go to www.radhadesh.com if link does not work)

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KKSblog.com - We Belong In The Holy Dham

Posted by dinesh

We Belong In The Holy Dham

Posted: 30 Jul 2011 12:33 PM PDT

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 2004)

I always tell devotees that we should understand that Vrindavan or Mayapur is our home! This is where we live, and now at one point when we go from here to some foreign country, then we are like tourists – we are only visitors there! Whether it's New Zealand or Spain…. I don't know where you are all from…Denmark…UK and so on.

Wherever we maybe, in all of these places, we should know that we are tourists. We live in Vrindavan or Mayapur…we live in the dham. It doesn't matter if you are only one day in a year in the dham – still that's home…that's where we belong, and this is the right consciousness! It says that:

"One should live in the dham or at least desire to live in the dham and mentally live in the dham".

So a devotee at least should mentally live in the dham………………………So here the mercy is very accessible and very available. Therefore when we come here to these holy dhams – we very quickly get the mercy!

Srila Prabhupada also made that point that devotees should go every year to the holy dham. That's why he started the Mayapur and Vrindavan dham festival, because he wanted all of the devotees to go to the dham. He said:

"To become purified of the possible contamination that one might get from the Western world".

There you see that although it is non different, but here the spiritual energy of the spiritual world is very manifest…very much manifest. One can very very quickly relate to it, and we are all experiencing that!

"An atom at Your Lotus Feet"

Posted: 30 Jul 2011 12:25 PM PDT

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Stockholm, June 2011)

A devotee is never desiring liberation. A devotee is simply desiring devotional service and he is just praying, (Sanskrit) "Life after life, please engage me in your devotional service."

Still, Krsna takes him back to Godhead. Because in his heart of hearts, he has a natural desire to be with Krsna, and therefore to be placed as an atom at the Lotus Feet of Krsna. He has a natural desire to be in the association of Krsna. He is so attracted to Krsna, how could he not desire to be in the association of Krsna?

And then Lord Caitanya is saying that, as that desire emerges out of his heart, he says, "But I am not qualified to be in the association of Krsna! I am so fallen! So what to do? But I still desire it so much! Then let me just pray to be an atom, to take the most insignificant position. I must pray to be in his association … I cannot avoid it … I am desiring it so much in my heart, but I can only ask for the lowest position – an atom at His Lotus Feet."

So it's very deep and very nice. We see on the one hand that there is a desire to just serve Krsna, but then because of the attraction to Krsna, the devotee still desires to go back to Godhead, and be in the association of Krsna.

But he is not going to desire that, 'I want to be a gopi or I want to be this or that …no, an atom!'
"I'm so fallen, I'm so insignificant. I just pray to be an atom at Your Lotus Feet."

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Viṣnujāna Swāmi ISKCON'S first Kirtan legend

Posted by dinesh

Viṣnujāna Swāmi ISKCON'S first Kirtan legend

Vishnujana Swami was one of the first sannyasi disciples of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada within the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. He is a famously known figure within ISKCON through his ecstatic singing voice and pure kirtans and his historical position as a preacher in the early days of the movement. He is also particularly well known for his intense unflinching enthusiasm in performing Harinama Sankirtan, often up to 8 hours or more a day and is also known as an important figure of the successful Radha Damodar Travelling Sankirtan Party (RDTSP) which was very pleasing to Srila Prabhupada.
His preaching efforts were very succesful and managed to convert many to Krishna Consciousness. Srila Prabhupada was said he sung like a "gandharva" (celestial musician), and that "he can make the whole world chant Hare Krishna". Srila Prabhupada loved his kirtans and often expressed appreciation for their purity and also his musical skill.
Vishnujana Swami left our mortal vision in 1976.

Born on June 2, 1948, in San Jose, California. At the age of seventeen he moved to San Francisco along with his long-term girlfriend, who he married in 1966. It was also in 1966 that Vishnujana first came into contact with the Hare Krishnas, and by 1968 he had received initiation from Srila Prabhupada and was a full-time member of the movement. On July 20, 1970, Srila Prabhupada had awarded Vishujana the order of sannyasa.

Vishnujana was especially well known within ISKCON for his singing voice, and skill at playing instruments, such as the Harmonium and Mrdanga. Musical recordings of Vishunjana would later be released in 1995 and are still popularly distributed within ISKCON today. Recordings of his lectures and singing are included in the official audio archive collection of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

In 1973, Vishnujana Swami headed up a team of devotees traveling on a bus across the USA which became famous within ISKCON as one of its most successful preaching parties. The team was named after the deities which travelled with them in the bus, called Radha-Damodara. This bus, filled with ISKCON devotees, would travel from city to city, performing sankirtan, and distributing Srila Prabhupada's books. Vishujana Swami continued, last year with his close associate Tamal Krishna Goswami travelling with the Sankirtan Party in this way until 1976.

In 1976, during the Gaura Purnima festival in India, Vishnujana Swami mysteriously disappeared. Some believe that he chose to leave his body at the confluence of several sacred rivers at the Ganges. During a walk some days earlier it is believed he had mis-heard a general statement by Prabhupada concerning the duty of a sannyasi which could have led to him taking his own life, but as Vishnujana is not recorded to have disclosed his thoughts to anyone before disappearing it is not known for certain if this was the case.

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Biography of HG.Padyavali Devi Dasi - Inspiring!!!

Posted by dinesh

About Padyavali

Starting chanting the Maha-mantra Hare Krsna on my own, (with no beads) and following the regulative principles because of a book I was given in a park at a very young age "The Teachings of Queen Kunti" what a marvelous way to surrender to complete dependence on the almighty! The perfection of poetic expression! I thought, and just the right book for me to be able to digest...
At this time I still didn't know that devotees had a center around there, actually very close to Chapultepec park and close to the zoo also where I was given the book. this great soul mataji, after learning I didn't have any money, she still let me have it.
(One section of Chapultepec park is now a holy dhama since Srila Prabhupada was there and devotees chant japa regularly there too)

Until one glorious day, when I finally met the devotees in Harinam... Me and my friends where hanging around in the streets, like most days, no particular place to go and not a productive thing to do really, just barely living and at the same time thinking what a great life this is!

It was mumbled at first, due to the everyday roar of downtown in the biggest city in the world (in that time) Mexico City... I kept on following this sound, thinking: 'I know I've heard this before somewhere' but still barely making out the words in the crowded streets... soon it began to make sense, little by little, yes, those were the words I have been chanting all along! only this time they were accompanied with a very particular and catchy tune... lala lala, lala lala etc... And then they were, flying sikhas in all their splendor! saffron robes, colorful saris, and mrdangas! Wow! what a sound!... I've always liked percussions, drums was my thing! (my sister is a concertist)

I immediately joined the party, before the bewildered eyes of my young friends that were hanging out with me... they surely thought I've had gone mad for sure this time, just by the look on their faces, and I'm thinking: "this is highly embarrassing for them" but since they've always thought I was a weirdo anyways, I knew I had nothing else to loose anymore...

Poor kids! They've been putting up with my eccentric personality for way to long: always reading 'weird' books instead of the usual: pop and magazines I supposed... countless hours secluded in a library while I see them playing outside and taping on my window so I can come out and play... and even tolerated my recently acquired habits: new diet, new philosophy, and the most unusual habit of all, the habit of always repeating this strange combination of foreign words: hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare. hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare... and now THIS!... it was to much to bare for their young minds... they were truly; mortified...

Seeing me jumping up and down in front of the "Palace of the Fine Arts" El Palacio de las Bellas Artes in Spanish (frequented mostly by intellectuals) in downtown Mexico City and surrounded by all these saffron sheet-wearing-weirdos putting on the most unique dance show and surrounded by all these people that by now they were already pointing at me, laughing at me (perhaps thinking I was high on something)... I had to admit; it was quite socking... and it was indeed to much, to much for them to bare!

So they inconspicuously tried their best to withdraw themselves from me as not to be identified or been alienated with me... to late... devotees stop them faster than they could run and started dancing around them too... it was quite a sight to see how their faces turned very rapidly from pale to red in a split second... they had their share of mercy too, only they didn't know it yet

After kirtan, I was invited to go visit the temple and since I didn't want to lose anymore time I handed out my bike to my friend and jumped in the Harinam van with my backpack, before the now bewildered devotees... they were just looking at each other not knowing what to do with me, and then I've noticed that at one point they all looked at a very tall figure holding a saffron stick... (I was hoping he won't beat me with it) but this very tall devotee (Guru Prasad Svami) simply smiled at me, and I knew then I got away with it... (GPS, I later found out, had just came back from Brazil where he had just taken sannyasi) something about him made me feel extremely comfortable and peaceful and I knew right away he was a very special person and that I was safe. (Later on, he became my well-wisher and the only father I've ever known, took me under his wing and played a big role in me staying in the ashram at such a young age)

So, at this point, I told my friends I was coming back soon (a white lie) but they knew me better than that, so they went and told I had 'run away with a bunch of shaved heads, (pelones in Spanish) wearing sheets.'

When I arrived at the temple, for the first time in my life! and I was able to see the magnificent beauty of Sri Sri Radha-Madana-Gopal; I knew right there and then, that I had found my real home... I stayed for the evening programs, ate prasadam, and remain in the temple room even after all other visitors were gone.
Brahmacaris didn't know what to do with me and directed me to the head Sankirtana mataji that was living for the ashram and she let me stay in the ashram that night - probably thinking I was a homeless child (there are plenty in such a big city as Mexico city.)

And I was indeed; literally homeless, I didn't have a home, I choose not to... I wasn't living with my family anymore, my situation at home was unbearable and recently run away, I stayed with different people that I found in different schools of thought, (I went to plenty) anywhere from spiritualism, mediums, healers, mysticism etc., that kind of thing...

That is why it was so easy for me to understand Srila Prabhupada's book of "The Teachings of Queen Kunti' because she describes so many pains and tribulations, indeed, my own language...

I stayed in the ashram that night... and the night after... and the next... and never left for the streets again or back home... I was fourteen at the time... young body, old soul...

I take the dust of the feet of all those Sankirtan and Harinam devotees that no matter what, always go out there and deliver these souls day after day with determination and full compassionate heart... I humble myself to these great souls.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!