From shallow to profound!

Posted by dinesh

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 04 January 2018, Brisbane, Australia, Govinda’s Program Lecture)

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

This mahamantra is our best friend. In fact, it is a very close friend of all living entities. The mantra is always there for us, whereby whoever wants it is able to turn to it wherever they are and whenever they want to. It does not discriminate. It is always available at our command and it does not cost anything either. So if we desire, we always have our friend, the mahamantra. And if we do not desire, the mantra will still come anyway. Sometimes the mantra rolls through the streets and some people cover their ears but then we sing even louder!

Sometimes when we are out on harinama, there are a lot of positive reactions but every once in a while, there may be a really negative/aggressive reaction, and we wonder, “Why? What is the problem? We are just singing this nice mantra.” Maybe it is because those people associate the mantra with an angry and punishing God, one who is up there, ready to send down thunderbolts, “Thou sinners shalt repent!” No! Our mantra is joyful, it is blissful, it is meant to be fun and happy, something good that brings out the best of everything. This mantra is not just a sound or some words. It is a manifestation of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and in this way, we are never alone. Through this mahamantra, Krsna is always with us and in this way the mahamantra is our best friend as it is non-different from Krsna. This may be difficult to understand initially but it pulls you in, it starts to all make sense and this way, the mantra will bless us.

Through this mantra, everything starts to become clear. For instance, there is nothing wrong with alcohol, it is a perfectly okay substance. The only thing is that it is meant for the outside, not the inside! Once we start to understand that it is to be used as a disinfectant instead of drinking it, it all starts to make sense how we are supposed to use alcohol! (laughter) By chanting the mantra, we get the intelligence and the understanding of the purpose behind everything. Like it is said in the Srimad Bhagavatam, the purpose of everything is to be understood in respect to its relationship with Krsna. So in this way, through the mahamantra, it all starts to become crystal clear little by little. Without the mahamantra, everything is shallow but with the mahamantra, a shallow life becomes profound!

What do you do when your loved one dies or leaves you? It is totally heart-breaking and rips you apart. Where is your shelter then? It is the mahamantra.

What do you do when you are in your car and suddenly the tyre squeaks and you can see the wall coming towards you? You know there is trouble coming, so where do you go? You go to the mahamantra.

What do you do at the end of your life, when you know and feel that life is slipping away? There is the mahamantra.

So in such ways, the mahamantra is always there for us whenever we call for it, and that is wonderful!

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Love follows

Posted by dinesh

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 13 May 2015, Melbourne, Australia, Lecture: Mindfulness and Meditation)

Love will follow when we are attracted; when we admire; when we see amazing qualities; when we see a wonderful nature; when we see mercy, kindness and compassion; when we see strength; when we see beauty… Love will follow. Love will follow naturally. Love cannot be pushed, "You have to love!" You have to love your country. Well I don't, I am sorry, I like it but I don't love it. In Sydney there is this plaque and it says, "The greatest good a man can do is to give his life for his country." Well I don't think so; I am not convinced about that.

Yes, so love, love will go where there is admiration; where we see great qualities; where we see great kindness, great compassion, mercy, determination; where we see an incredible example, where we see someone who is just greater than we are… then love will automatically awaken, it is not difficult! Then love will come there.

Best Regards,

Dinesh

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Defining love

Posted by dinesh

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 03 May 2016, Vrndavana, India, Bhagavad-gita 3.34)

It is interesting that when speaking of prema (pure love for Krsna) in the Srimad Bhagavatam, the example is given of the intermediate devotee, the madhyama-adhikārī. Not the kanishta-adhikārī (the neophyte), but of the madhyama, someone a bit more advanced, a devotee who has shown determination. It is provided: īśvare tad-adhīneṣu bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca prema-maitrī-kṛpopekṣā yaḥ karoti sa madhyamaḥ (Srimad Bhagavatam 11.2.46). This says that for the madhyama-adhikārī, he has prema for isvara (Lord), friendship for the devotees and indifference for the envious. So it is interesting that the word prema has been used for the madhyama-adhikārī. Now, prema comes at the end of the ladder of the nine stages of bhakti, from sraddha (faith) to prema (pure love for Krsna). So how is it that the madhyama-adhikārī can already have prema, considering it is the uttama-adhikārī who is the advanced devotee. This is because prema is not like flicking a light switch that can suddenly be changed from the darkness of ignorance to "I love Krsna"! There is a lot in between where that Krsna prema is developing and growing.

So our movement is operating on this goal of attaining love for Krsna. Prabhupada was very generous in that regard. For instance, we may remember the famous story that Srutakirti prabhu told us about massaging Prabhupada. It started with a large group of devotees receiving Prabhupada at the airport. Since they had not seen Prabhupada in a very long time, everyone was crying when Prabhupada arrived, except for Srutakirti. He had dry eyes with not a single tear. So when he was massaging Prabhupada later that day, he expressed to Prabhupada, "I am such a fallen soul Prabhupada. Everyone was crying at the airport when they saw you, because they were full of love for you. But I am just cold, and I have no feeling in my heart. No love at all. What do I do?" Prabhupada responded with absolutely nothing. The next day however when it was time for the same massage, Prabhupada finally gave the answer to Srutakirti, "This is love. This service that you are doing, this is also love."

Therefore, Prabhupada was very generous in such ways. There are other pastimes of intimate servants of Prabhupada whose minds were still not always aligned, and wanted to do something else, even while they were serving Prabhupada, a pure devotee. Now we can say things like, "Prabhupada is a unique personality who did the greatest work of bringing this movement forward for all of us."But his servants, meanwhile, were also after a while, ready to do something else. So imagine how this point counts for all of us. We are engaging in devotional service and yet our mind may sometimes desire some other activity. This is possible. We may think to ourselves while chanting, "Do I really have to do it again? This is not even pure love." But Prabhupada did not look at it in that strict sense, because even if it is not manifesting as pure love, regardless, it is still love.

Best Regards,

Dinesh

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I love you, today

Posted by dinesh

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 07 September 2003, Radhadesh, Belgium, Lecture)

In this material world, everything is so gross and cheap. Here, when there is a meeting between lovers then within no time, it is the full embrace – that is what it is all about… Right down to the action! The main thing! Let us not waste any time! Acceleration from zero to a hundred in two seconds, right!? That is the material experience. Very quick and very shallow and with strong exchanges.

But in spiritual loving exchanges, things are very different. In spiritual loving exchanges, everything is so meaningful that slight little exchanges are performed again and again, and give so much satisfaction.

When Srimati Radharani becomes aware that Krsna has left, has left her alone and that she is faced with separation then she faints… boom! She falls unconscious and as she hits the ground, just there on the ground, there are flowers of which the scent reminds her of Krsna. Krsna wears those flowers on his garland. The scent enters her nostrils and immediately she jumps off the ground in ecstasy! So, again, inconceivable! Inconceivable intensity!

So here, we have our dull loving exchanges in the material world, "Yes, I love you…" This is our level of material exchange. I love you today, and tomorrow I love someone else, because how deep is the loving experience in this world? Very shallow!

Best Regards,

Dinesh

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Real father is God!

Posted by dinesh

Prabhupāda: Yes. Just like every spirit soul is son of God, but materially we think that some..., somebody as father. But real father is God. That is stated in the

sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya

sambhavanti mūrtayaḥ yāḥ

tāsāṁ yonir brahma mahad

ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā

This mahat-tattva, this material world, just like a child, a child is born, the father gives the seed and mother develops the body. The child's body is developed... Actually all, all of us, we have got this body from mother. Therefore we have got very natural affinity with mother. The child can forget his father, but he cannot forget his mother. Mother's relationship is so intimate.

Lecture on BG 1.44 -- London, July 31, 1973: Actually, everyone is our svajanam, because if God is father, as Kṛṣṇa claims, ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā, if He is the supreme father... Not only He claims, at least, any fine religious system claims, "God is the original father." That's a fact. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvam pravartate (BG 10.8). Everything has come from Him. He is the supreme father. So if Kṛṣṇa is the supreme father, He is father of everyone. Sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya (BG 14.4). In all species of life, in all forms of life, they are all our svajana, kinsmen. How it cannot be? Because Kṛṣṇa is the original father. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore a devotee of Kṛṣṇa does not want to commit a little harm to any living entity. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

The living entities are combinations of the material nature and the spiritual nature. Such living entities are seen not only on this planet but on every planet, even on the highest, where Brahmā is situated. Everywhere there are living entities; within the earth there are living entities, even within water and within fire. All these appearances are due to the mother, material nature, and Kṛṣṇa's seed-giving process. The purport is that the material world is impregnated with living entities, who come out in various forms at the time of creation according to their past deeds.

From prakṛti, or material nature, come so many varieties of living entities, including aquatics, plants, trees, insects, birds, animals, human beings and demigods. prakṛti is the mother, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the father (ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā (BG 14.4)).

The different forms of these living entities are only their external dresses. Every living being is actually a spirit soul, a part and parcel of God.

The conditioned souls, who are residents of the material world, are put in the womb of mother earth in the same way the seed of a child is put by the father in the womb of the mother. This conception of the Lord and the earth as father and mother is explained in Bhagavad-gītā (14.4). Conditioned souls are devoted to the motherland in which they take their birth, but they do not know their father. The mother is not independent in producing children. Similarly, material nature cannot produce living creatures unless in contact with the supreme father, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In Bhagavad-gītā (14.4) material nature is clearly mentioned as sarva-yoniṣu. This means that of all varieties of species—demigods, human beings, animals, birds and beasts (whatever is manifested)—material nature is the mother, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the seed-giving father.

Plants, trees, insects, aquatics, demigods, beasts, birds and all other living entities are sons or parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, but because they are struggling with different mentalities, they have been given different types of bodies (manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati (BG 15.7)).

in the form of Mahā-Viṣṇu that the Lord manifests the material universes. Just as a husband and wife combine to beget offspring, Mahā-Viṣṇu combines with His wife māyā, or material nature. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (14.4), where Kṛṣṇa states:

sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya mūrtayaḥ sambhavanti yāḥ

tāsāṁ brahma mahad yonir ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā

"It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kuntī, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father."

Viṣṇu impregnates māyā, the material nature, simply by glancing at her. This is the spiritual method. Materially we are limited to impregnating by only one particular part of our body, but the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa or Mahā-Viṣṇu, can impregnate by any part. Simply by glancing, the Lord can conceive countless living entities in the womb of material nature.

No one but the Supreme Personality of Godhead can be kind to everyone. Therefore the Lord's name is Kṛṣṇa, "all-attractive." As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (14.4), Kṛṣṇa is the kind father of everyone. In every species of life (sarva-yoniṣu), He is the original father, the seed-giver (bīja-pradaḥ pitā). How, then, can He be unkind to any living entity? One may be a man, an animal or even a tree, but the Lord is kind to everyone. That is God's qualification.

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