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His prayers is with us!

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Leicester, UK, May 2011) Initiation Lecture

What the spiritual master really wants is that his disciples mature and not just wait for the spiritual master to bring the water, but that they learn to go to the well themselves! That's what he wants. Naturally, it is the same for the parent – okay when the child is very small, then you bring them everything, but at one point you want the child to grow up and get to the point of starting to bring it in by themselves. So spiritual life is exactly the same. It is exactly like that!

In the beginning, yes the spiritual master will nourish the disciple, like a bird who is taking care of its young, and you can see these birds flying up and down……and bringing more……..and the little birds just sits there with their mouths open…and that's it.

It is said that, one type of spiritual master is taking care of his disciples, like the bird taking care of its young. Another type of spiritual master is taking care of his disciples like a fish is taking care of its young. The fish is swimming in the water and is not really feeding its young in the same way as the bird. But the fish is keeping an eye (the fish has big eyes)…..so the fish is keeping an eye on the young and if there is any danger then suddenly that big fish will be there. So that is another level, not that we spoon feed the disciple, but there is supervision.

Finally, there is the third model, which is the model of the tortoise. The tortoise is laying its eggs in the sand. When the season is warm, the heat of the sun, heats up that sand and the eggs will come to the point where they break and the young little turtles come out in that way. So the turtle is just taking care of its young by meditation. So sometimes the spiritual master will take care of his disciples by meditation. Sometimes the disciples will say:

"Oh, I haven't seen my spiritual master for such a long time. He didn't send me any emails, and he didn't even reply to my last three emails. Oh, I don't think I have much of a relationship!"

No…no, the meditation is always there…his prayer is always there. He is always our well wisher, but how many emails can any human being answer? Even with a thousand arms, one could still not answer all the emails that one receives! These days it is impossible! So in this way, we understand that the spiritual master is our ever well wisher! He is always with us, because his prayer is with us!

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The beauty of the spiritual world part 1

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Radhadesh, Belgium, 2011) Lecture – BG.15.3-4

Krishna is extremely beautiful. It is a kind of beauty that reflects this purity. Generally speaking, beauty suggests purity. Even in the story of Putana who was a witch. Putana disguised herself as an extremely beautiful….almost like a goddess, and she just could do anything! She was so beautiful that everyone said:

"Oh, she must be a great personality!"

So even in this world, we associate beauty with a noble character. Of course, we see that Dasaratha got a little bit disillusioned with his beautiful Kaikeyi. Although she was beautiful on the outside, but she showed some envy in her character, that he was not expecting and it broke his heart.

So in the material world beauty is not always representing purity! But in the spiritual world it does, and therefore the beauty of the spiritual world is of another nature. So when we see Krishna's whole appearance, it is extremely beautiful and at the same time it is reflecting His noble character. It's different then the cold beauty of some sort of professional blonde who is being paid for endless photos and posing with different smiles and it looks like, she's seen it all, done it all, and heard it all and knows it all…..and lost her innocence.

So in Krishna there is innocence and there is purity, because there is no hidden agenda in Krishna's character. Krishna is a pure well wisher of all living beings, and His only interest is the wellbeing of all!

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The complete process

(Kadamba Kanana Swami Govinda Valley, Austrailia, 2011) Lecture – Caitanya-caritāmṛta

When I was in Amsterdam in the early seventies, I saw the Hare Krishnas. I saw them for the first time in Dams Square. They were singing and dancing, and were really enthusiastic……and there were a group of them who were chanting very fast:

"Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare".

They were jumping up and down like mad!I was looking at them and thinking:

"Total religious fanatics!"

I never ever thought to myself:

"Such religious extremity as this."

And I just looked at them……it was just something extraordinary, and it seemed like the ultimate emblem of other worldliness. It seemed that these people had totally lost touch with reality, and the way they dressed sort of confirmed it! Because there was a red sock on one foot and a green sock on another, which makes you think that:

"They kind of lost it in their Hare Krishna cloud, by just chanting".

So I wanted to establish today that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's movement is not at all worldly, and not at all just taking us to very ethereal dimensions. I wanted to establish that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's movement is very practical and dealing with the practical reality of everyday, because rather then taking us away from this world, it simply points out that:"Everything by nature has a connection with the Supreme Lord, and therefore, everything should simply be used for the service to Him".

And that's the whole idea. So in that way, one doesn't need to turn away from the world. One doesn't need to live in a cave, or give up everything. One can simply live in the world, but use it in a different way and that made a lot of sense. And that not only makes a lot of sense but that puts the Hare Krishna movement (which was started by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu) in the middle of the world! It puts it in the middle of life! It doesn't put it in the forest, or the cave, or the monasteries, or in hiding since it puts it simply in everyday dealings…..and it purifies the everyday dealings which is very necessary, because at this point everyone thinks that it is they who are in the centre of the universe – yes:

"Accidentally I happened to be in the centre of the universe. What do you mean? No, I am in the centre of the universe!"

Everyone is thinking that:

"Everything is for my pleasure. Everything is for my purposes, for my comfort, for my protection, for my profits, for me!"

Yes – everything and everyone………….and if we changed that mood, then we will know that we are all here, and everything is here for the one purpose – to serve the Supreme Lord. Suddenly, then the world instead of being divided, becomes united. Suddenly, we become harmonious. If we recognise that all this energy – all the trees, all the grass, and all the animals are part of Krishna's creation, then automatically our energy changes! If this is Krishna's property, then one who is the servant of Krishna cannot treat it like a rubbish bin! That is automatically taken care of. Automatically there is respect…..automatically we won't go just with the chainsaw in the forest to see how many trees we can cut down in an hour………….So, no we are respecting the creation. Srila Prabhupada quoted in the Bhagavad Gita:

'ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo
mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate
iti matvā bhajante māṁ
budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ', (B.G.10.8).

"I am the original of all the spiritual and all the material worlds. One who understands this properly worships me with love"

So Prabhupada said:

"This means that if you love Krishna, then you also love His creation!"

So in other words, by loving Krishna, then one loves Krishna's creation. Prabhupada also said:

"If you love the body, then you will also love the finger!"

So this is very nice, and therefore Krishna Consciousness is not just taking place on the material platform, and not something that is very abstract, but it is also something very practical. And yet it also takes us above this practical level. It makes us understand deeper parts of ourselves – that we are eternal spiritual beings, and that we actually do not belong in the material world, but that we belong in the eternal spiritual world.

In this way Krishna Consciousness gives us not only promises for the afterlife; being a good devotee and being on your knees throughout your life….and we have to pray a lot and in the end you get your reward – No, that is not Krishna Consciousness. Krishna Consciousness is to improve the quality of your life right now, and while you are doing it at the same time start progressing to a eternal destination. Therefore Krishna Consciousness is complete!

There are so many spiritual processes that promises you a reward in the end, but Krishna Consciousness promises us improvement every step of the way. And that is what Sri Caitanya Mahaprabu gave. Therefore this is a complete process of what He gave!

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Independent of Krishna

(Kadamba Kanana Swami Govinda Valley, Australia, 2011) Lecture – Caitanya-caritāmṛta

Srila Prahbupada explains that actually it's not the desire of Krishna, that this world was created. Krishna doesn't want to create this world. It is because we are desiring to be in a situation, where we are independent from Him! Then he has to create a situation which is covered over. It cannot be independent of Him, because nothing can be independent from Him! But it is covered over by illusion, which makes it look as if it is independent from Him.

So he doesn't enjoy that! He gets no pleasure out of that. It hurts His heart but it's inevitable, and of course, He builds in some elements that will indirectly bring back all the living beings back to Him. And that's the only pleasure He gets out of all the material creation. He inspires Brahma to create this world, and Brahma sometimes has to do things in the creation that he doesn't like! Like Brahma has to create influences of nescience, forgetfulness and he really doesn't feel good about that, but he has to do it to fulfil our desires!

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We have to be sober!

(Kadamba Kanana Swami Govinda Valley, Austrailia, 2011) Lecture – S.B.3.25.27

We have get sober. It's just like driving on the highway, and the music is playing…nice and gentle music and you are doing 140 km, and you are driving at a good speed, and it is all sweet and rosy………you kind of get into the illusion that it is very comfy there. You are very comfortable and it is nice in the car on a good soft seat.

But we forget that you are racing with what Prabhupada calls, 'Neck braking speed' over the road and you are sitting behind one metre away from an explosive motor which is at high temperature and is a highly explosive stuff! All the time it is getting hotter and hotter…… you are sitting very close to it form the nice little dashboard which looks very cool, and the whole thing creates an illusion of security.

So one has to be sober behind the wheel…and you get all kinds of signs from the cops to sober people up. Get out of the bubble and realise the serious risk that is there! Where at any moment it can suddenly turnaround with screaming rubber and steel!! With glass everywhere!! And if you have seen accidents then it gets intense!

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