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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

A lesson on life

via KKS Blog by hina on 12/27/12

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 2 June 2012, Lecture SB 5.13.5)

Worms are eating your insides, right now! You feel the pains here and there. Worms are eating your liver. Worms are eating your heart. They eat your heart out while you sit there. There are even worms living in your brain, I read about this!

It's not that we are enjoying. We just accept the suffering when we are in these bodies as normal. It's normal that I'm sweating right now, it's just normal because it's warm. It's normal that I have a headache leftover from all the travels that had over the last years. It's normal that I have some pain between my shoulder blades because I'm 60 years old. It's normal that I have an in-growing toenail, it's completely normal. As I'm talking to you, I was just mentioning the toe because the sock is causing pressure on my toenail. I'm tolerating it but I suffer and so do you. If you carefully investigate our existence, we are all suffering.

From a philosophical point of view, we are always suffering. Sometimes we are aware of it and sometimes we are not, you know what I'm saying!? It's like we're suffering but sometimes we are not aware of it. Now, I'm experiencing this suffering, I'm not going to dwell on it – my toe, my sock, my toe, my sock. I'm dwelling on Krsna, I'm dwelling on the soul. I'm dwelling on the relationship that we have with the soul. But we are not in denial of the fact that the bodily existence is offering us suffering, it is, and therefore we want to get out of here!



Best Regards
Dinesh

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granthraj] Do not Neglect - Part 2


 

Hare Krishna Prabhujis amd Matajis,

Please accept my humble obeisances! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

This is in continuation of the previous offering titled, "Do not Neglect" wherein we are discussing on the consequences of neglecting Krishna and His pure devotees as detailed in the pastime of Jaya and Vijaya being cursed by the Sanatkumaras. So let us try to meditate on this lesson in this offering.  

1. We offend others when we fail to see Krishna in them.  

a) Ignoring Krishna and His devotees means arrogant behaviour: Krishna is present as Paramatma in everyone's heart. Since Jaya and Vijaya, in this instance failed to see Krishna in the heart of the sages, they ended up offending them. We remember how our beloved spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj, seeing Krishna in everyone, would render obeisances even to the disciples. Maharaj in one of his classes spoke wonderfully about how to see Krishna in every being and to be careful in our behaviour so that we don't cross the border of offense.

"amaaninaa maanadena- Mahaprabhu was very clever, extra clever. He knew our weaknesses. That is why He has advised us amaaninaa maanadenaa. 'Amaani' means  - do not expect any respect for yourself. Maanadenaa - you give respect to others. This is very difficult because we want respect, but we do not care for others. And then we do not know who is coming to us. We have to remember one thing very clearly that during our life, Krishna can come anytime in front of us. If, we just behave arrogantly with everybody and then He comes and sees our reaction and vanishes. And that will be repaid when we are dead so that we have to answer that why we behaved like that. This is without fail. Krishna appears in front of us and that is why a sane person has to follow this instruction amaaninaa maanadena. Whoever comes to your door, we think that Krishna has come and we behave very well with him. Whoever is around us, is also Krishna; whoever meets us, he is also Krishna; whoever will meet us, he is also Krishna and so we are very humble with him. We are very respectful to him. Whatever help we can do, we do. There is no arrogant attitude."


b. Ignoring devotional service means ignoring Krishna: Maharaj says that if we ignore chanting, chanting will ignore us. If we ignore Srimad Bhagavatam then Srimad Bhagavatam will ignore us. If we ignore devotional service then devotional service ignores us. Devotee means who is devoted to Krishna, pure devotees and devotional service. He never ignores any one of them or none of them. He takes it very seriously. But how to develop this quality? Srila Prabhupada very nicely says in the purport to Srimad Bhagavatam verse 1.3.44, "One should hear with rapt attention from the real person, and then he can at once realize the presence of Lord Krishna in every page. The secret of knowing Bhagavatam is mentioned here.  But somehow or other if someone hears with rapt attention from the right person, at the very beginning one can assuredly see Lord Sri Krishna in person in the pages of Bhagavatam."

Once we see the Lord in every page of Srimad Bhagavatam we automatically cultivate this habit of seeing Krishna in every being and in every circumstances. This is the highest stage but we can make a small step towards that objective of seeing Krishna in everybody and Krishna will mercifully help in purifying us. 

Thank you very much.

Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva,

Sajjanapriya Krishna das

Abudhabi 


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[granthraj] Do Not Neglect - Part 1


 

Hare Krishna Prabhujis amd Matajis,

Please accept my humble obeisances! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

In our life it is always emphasized  and reemphasized by the shastras that Krishna should be the centre of our activities and all other activities should be dovetailed in such a way that Krishna is not ignored, at any phase of our activity. But in this material world we are flooded with so much of material miseries that eventually we tend to ignore Krishna and we try to solve the miseries on our own endeavour. Our beloved spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj says that we put everything else first and last is Krishna. That is the difficulty. What are the consequences of ignoring Krishna is nicely described by the Lord Himself in the pages of Srimad Bhagavatam in the pastime of Jaya and Vijaya being cursed by the Sanatkumara munis.  

One time Sanat kumaras who were perfectly situated in Brahman had the desire of having darshan of the Supreme Lord Krishna. They travelled over the material and spiritual skies and then came to Vaikunta planets and they crossed 6 doors and they were at the last door to enter into to have the wonderful darshan of the Lord. They were stopped at the seventh gate by the two door keepers there, Jaya and Vijaya. The Sanatkumaras become surprised at the behaviour of the two doorkeepers and decided to curse them as they have exhibited their discordant mentality in the spiritual world and were to be called as imposters. They have to be punished and sent out of the spiritual world. Hearing this doorkeepers fell at the feet of the Sanatkumaras and asked for forgiveness .They also prayed that eventhough they may fall into the material world, they should be blessed in such a way, not to forget the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The moment Jaya and Vijaya becomes repentant and asked for forgiveness from Sanat kumaras, the Lord immediately appeared in front of kumaras and the doorkeepers. Sanat kumaras by the dint of their spiritual power nicely glorified the Lord with choicest prayers. The Supreme Lord being pleased with their prayers and started thanking them for the prayers and started speaking with them with nectarean words. The Lord did not blindly support His door-keepers. He accepts the offence committed by the doorkeepers even before He starts to defend them. The Lord spoke with so much of gravity and eloquence in Srimad Bhagavatam 3.16.2

shri bhagavaan uvaaca

etau tau paarshadau mahyam / jayo vijaya eva ca

kadarthi krtya maam yad vo / bahv akraataam atikramam

  

The Personality of Godhead said: "These attendants of Mine, Jaya and Vijaya by name, have committed a great offense against you because of ignoring Me."

 From the above pastime we learn

1. We offend others when we fail to see Krishna in them. This is what it means by ignoring Krishna (kadarthi krtya).

2. Suffering the reactions of the offence is inevitable, even if one is in Vaikuntha.

3. However when devotees engaged in service of the Lord commits mistakes by chance, they are protected by the Lord.

Krishna willing we shall discuss the above points in the subsequent offerings.


Thank you very much.

Your humble servant,

Sajjanapriya Krishna das,

Abudhabi.


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Knowledge Vs Ignorance

Humility; pridelessness; nonviolence; tolerance; simplicity; approaching a bona fide spiritual master; cleanliness; steadiness; self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification; absence of false ego; the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; detachment; freedom from entanglement with children, wife, home and the rest; even-mindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me; aspiring to live in a solitary place; detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization; and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth — all these I declare to be knowledge, and besides this whatever there may be is ignorance.

Lord Sri Krishna in Bhagavad Gita As It Is 13.8-12
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The perfect soul mate!?

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 14 September 2012, Pretoria Arts Campus, South Africa, Lecture: The perfect soul mate)
kartik_2014 (98)Love and hate are kind of natural sentiments in this world; everyone has it. I hate Mondays, for example. I do not know what you think about Mondays but I hate them!  Like that, everyone has got something they hate and something they love and it is quite obvious. So that is the first principle – love is everywhere. People love things, they love places but more than that, they love other people, and they love other people the most. People get all sentimental when it is about mum and dad and things like that.
Love is here, in this world but is this love free from hatred? Does it even exist? Is there any relationship where there is some love but which is also free from hatred? That is not so easy, “Oh God, I just hate the way he leaves his socks lying around!” Or, “I hate the way she does this and that.”
So, in this world, love and hate come together and that is a point to consider in light of the perfect soul mate. If you think that somewhere around the corner there is a Cinderella or something… I never met Cinderella yet, I’m sorry. Or some prince on a white horse…. who has a horse these days? Who can even afford it? These things all exist on the level of our desire, since we desire it like that. We desire the fairytale, a perfection, but where is it in real life?  In real life, you have got to make do with the best there is, and that is more or less how it is.
So whenever I see something like the perfect soul mate and exploding hearts, then I think, ‘Yeah, today it is going to be all rosy and so on and tomorrow, it is going to be something else!’
It is said that when falling in love, you meet a new person and this person looks full of amazing qualities, entirely like an ocean. After a while, you walk around that ocean and find out that it is only a pond and you don’t bother seeing that person again! What can be said? A lot happens in the mind. We dream in the mind of what we want and then we project our dreams into reality but reality has nothing to do with that dream. Sometimes it looks like it is happening, and at other times it does not.
So, where to look for the perfect soul mate? And love, it is possible? Surely love is the best quality we have but can we develop it? Before we talk about relationships, what about us? It begins with ourselves. If we are not full of love, then how can we expect a relationship which is full of love? It will not work, it is not possible.Only those who are themselves full of love and free from hate, only they can become perfect soul mates, and no one else.
SwansSo you can look at the world and you may think, “Every pot has its lid, everyone has his perfect counterpart.There is one person in the world, just somewhere around there and that is the one for me.” That is rubbish! It does not exist. It is not like that at all. It is give and take. On a material plane, as the paper blows away, so does love –  it flies away in the wind! What to do?
Only when you are spiritually realized, can you have pure love. Only when you see that there is another world other than this world –  an eternal world where we belong and where everybody belongs, then you can develop loving relationships together. Then you can have a world free of hatred. Otherwise, what do you do in this world? Everybody has seen enough hatred.
So that is what we have to get rid of. Not, “I love my dog and I love my little turf and what is in between my wall, and the rest of the world I hate.” That is not love. No, love means all inclusive; it means we have to be all inclusive. When love goes together with hate then it is not love.
Today, you can have a relationship with someone and it will be all love and the hate is for the neighbours, but that will change.  One day, the love will be for the neighbours and the hate will be in your relationship, and that is when furniture starts flying… So true relationships begin when we ourselves become pure, free from hate!

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