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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

Special mercy



Latest news - week 17 / 2018
KKSBlog Newsletter
The latest news articles

Special mercy

By KKSBlog on Apr 22, 2018 06:29 pm

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 26 December 2017, Govinda Valley, Australia, Initiation Lecture)

The essence of the process that we are following in this movement is the chanting of the holy name. This process is the yuga dharma – the dharma (religion) for this age of Kali. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has made this chanting of the holy name widely available to us and also added his extra mercy. The holy name has been chanted widely throughout the millennia but in this particular millennia, there is the added mercy of the Lord himself. Therefore, now it is very easy and quick for us to chant Krsna's name and attain the results.

It is described by Rupa Goswami that in other kali yugas, there are also incarnations of Vishnu who teach harinam sankirtan. But because Vishnu is not the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, he cannot invest the name with the special mercy by which prema (love) is very quickly attained. So in those yugas, the chanting is going on, but it is difficult; the progress is slow. But now, the progress is very quick as the added mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is rapidly invoking Krsna prema.

In the first initiation, the main focus is the holy name – that is the essence! The spiritual master chants on the beads first to invest them with his blessings and the blessings of the entire parampara (disciplic succession), coming from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. It is then that he invests his special mercy on us. Therefore, even though one has been chanting before, where the mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu is still available to all, the spiritual master invokes the entire parampara's prayers during an initiation, which is very powerful!

The article " Special mercy " was published on KKSBlog.




Spontaneous devotional service

By KKSBlog on Apr 20, 2018 07:49 am

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 25 January 2018, Radhadesh, Belgium, Srimad Bhagavatam 8.12.23-24)

Our first Ratha Yatra in Jaipur was a humble attempt. The devotees had just recently opened a small little centre. It was not much but they still wanted to have Ratha Yatra so we decided to keep it simple.

They had one chariot. A life member made a little stage and in India, it is quite common that the stage is built to the height of the chariot. When the chariot stops people go to the stage and make offerings to the deity. So they had one such stage at the end of the procession.

But as the parade started, the local people of Jaipur got interested, "Hey, what is that? You are having a festival? Oh, we are joining in!" Further along, a drum band appeared out of nowhere and joined the parade. At the end, there were elephants marching as well! As it was getting dark, a group of men came carrying lights on their head and all this was not organised. It just happened! The people of Jaipur welcomed Ratha Yatra. There was just spontaneous devotional service. That is the result of chanting Hare Krsna. There will be spontaneous devotional service and then it will spread.

The article " Spontaneous devotional service " was published on KKSBlog.




Planting pearls

By KKSBlog on Apr 17, 2018 02:00 pm

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 26 December 2017, Govinda Valley, Australia, Initiation Lecture)

We should understand that we are always accepted by Krsna through the prayer of our spiritual master. Therefore, we continue to remain indebted to our spiritual master. How often emails are exchanged between the Guru and the disciple does not define the relationship. We are living in a crazy world where the communication is bizarre – never have people tried to communicate through telecommunications as much as now – it is just insane! Sometimes I am asked, "Why did you not answer my email?" I could give different answers to that. An answer I sometimes give, "Well, I was chanting Hare Krsna!" If I don't answer your email, at least know that I was chanting my rounds. The relationship between a Guru and his disciple is very different to all this constant communication!

It is an eternal relationship that can never be broken. Nothing can break it, not even us. One can walk away from it but still we cannot break it. The relationship will always stay! It is a lasting bond that is created between the Guru and disciple where the Guru is the representative of Krsna. When we take the vows to the Guru, remember that we are actually making the vows to Lord Krsna. The spiritual master accepts the vows on behalf of Krsna and supervises them on behalf of Krsna. One might be able to run away from the Guru in keeping these vows but one cannot run away from Krsna!

Krsna once wanted to plant pearls. His parents told him, "What are you doing Krsna? You cannot plant pearls. They do not sprout or produce plants." But Krsna convinced them that they do! He planted the pearls, watered them with milk and sure enough, these pearls sprouted and produced many bushes that produced many more pearls. Therefore, the vows of initiation are like such pearls. We are getting a great gift. The vows are very valuable and one must do something with them. One cannot just keep the gift, "Yep, got that, initiation done! Now I will just do my rounds and fulfill the daily quota." No! We must take the vows, take the pearls, plant them and water them with hearing, chanting, devotional service and making sacrifices for Krsna – doing something extraordinary with the vows! If we do, then the vows will produce amazing results – that is the idea! It is a great treasure that we must take advantage of. The job is not done. We got the pearls, now we must plant and water them!

The article " Planting pearls " was published on KKSBlog.




Combatting anxiety

By KKSBlog on Apr 16, 2018 02:09 pm

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 24 December 2017, Sydney, Australia, Bhagavad-gita 1.1)

It is said in the scriptures that when we have a goal which is other than satisfying the senses of Krsna, then we will remain in anxiety. When our goal is to control, then anxiety will follow – "Will I get it? What do I do? I hope nothing will go wrong! Is it going to work or not? Let me cross my fingers, cross everything, even my toes!" Everything is crossed in the hope that it will go according to our wishes, but there is no guarantee, none at all. This is because the protection of Krsna is the only thing that can give us continuous success. Temporary success without Krsna can be attained, but then one might start to think, "I am a self-made man. I started with nothing, but by hard labour, I built up this entire business empire. It was all my own strength". Self-made man, huh? So they did not have a father or a mother? One simply takes advantage of the material opportunities available to them, and it is Krsna who presents the results to them.

In India, almost every shop owner starts the day by performing a puja of Goddess Lakshmi – "Lakshmi Lakshmi Lakshmi!". All everyone wants is Lakshmi. But there is still no guarantee, because even after one performs such puja of Lakshmi, it does not mean that Lakshmi will stay. This is because Lakshmi is cancalam ('fickle').

So then we are restless, like a child going from a book to an iPad to sitting down to jumping; constantly changing. That is the nature of material existence – to have a flickering mind. So we must try to fix our mind on Krsna, because that is the only place where the mind can remain fixed. Everything else we want for ourselves, but even when we attain that material goal of ours, we will still not feel satisfaction, because our desire for wanting more will always remain.

The article " Combatting anxiety " was published on KKSBlog.




Previous published articles


Your mercy case
Embracing restrictions
Such a vision
Our natural position
To accept guidance from others is true humility
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Your Mercy Case



Latest news - week 16 / 2018
KKSBlog Newsletter
The latest news articles

Your mercy case

By KKSBlog on Apr 10, 2018 11:00 am

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 18 October 2017, Melbourne, Australia, Srimad Bhagavatam 4.3.17)

I have a disciple who always signs their letters with 'your mercy case' instead of the usual 'your servant'. It has been consistent over many years and it is nice. It sounds good to think with that mentality, 'I am your mercy case!'

Whatever reminds us of our humble position, that is an asset! When we are seeing ourselves as fallen, then we feel a need for shelter. As soon as we think, "Well I know it all. I have been around for a long time," then the difficulty begins. We immediately start to derive some status from our position but by taking birth in this age of Kali, we are actually all inherently weak. So we deal with such weaknesses by chanting, taking shelter, adopting Vaishnava etiquette and 'beating our mind'.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura advised that we must always 'beat the mind'. He did not just say that; he actually did it. Krsna consciousness is not just about reading the books, understanding them and getting some glories – "I have now thoroughly understood Srila Prabhupada's books in a way that they are very rarely understood." No, rather we have to reform ourselves again and again, except that is still not the main thing; it is only a catalyst. That conscious endeavour is only the catalyst. It is one of the factors that support the real purification that comes from devotional service because ultimately, mercy is more important than our endeavour.

It is good when a child is trying to do something independently. However, when an adult interferes and provides assistance, that is obviously more powerful than the child trying to do it all alone. Sometimes, we may also need a little help from someone who knows more. So in spiritual life, we need help. We should never think, "Now I have come to the point that I do not really need help from my spiritual master. He has helped me a lot, but now I am a teacher myself! So I do not need him anymore." Absolutely not. We always need the mercy of the spiritual master. We always need to have him to help with our attitude. We must always be at the feet of our spiritual master, talk to him, be open to him, consult him, share our lives with him and ask him for directions!

The article " Your mercy case " was published on KKSBlog.




Embracing restrictions

By KKSBlog on Apr 09, 2018 01:31 pm

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 25 January 2018, Radhadesh, Belgium, Srimad Bhagavatam 8.12.23-24)

The human form of life is very different from the animal form of life. In the human form, we have responsibility. An animal has no karma in whatever they do – karma-free! You want a karma-free life with no restrictions and the ability to do anything? No problem, here is a tail and a snout to go with it; become an animal! Here, all you get as an animal is your old karma from previous lives and you do not create any new karma. So isn't it great to be an animal? Not really, because then you do not proceed anywhere.

You may say, "Oh, I will do it. I will sign up for that. I will opt for an animal birth next time. Where do I sign up to be free from karma? Phew!" But what you may forget is that when the previous karma comes, so will happiness and distress, so it is not that good.

The other thing is that you will not go anywhere and make no progress. You are stuck here in the material world, chained by sex life. How long have we been locked away in this jail where the bars of this jail are sex life? These bars keep us here within the jail of the material body. We should not think that this body is for enjoyment. It is actually a cell within a jail. Some may have a big jail cell, whereas some may have a small jail cell, some may have a beautiful jail cell, whilst others may have an ugly jail cell. But which one is good? We may look at each other and think, "That one looks much better. I want to have what they have." We may look at others with envy, but there is no need to be envious as everyone is actually suffering within different cells of this jail.

When my spiritual master was in New York, a policeman approached him and asked, "What is it that you monks have to give up?" My spiritual master replied with, "Suffering!" The policeman said, "Well, that makes sense." This is because we can see all layers of society in a city like New York. We get a good overview of the varieties of the sense-gratification that are available to us and its results. But since the ultimate result is not happiness, we voluntarily embrace restrictions in our life.

 

The article " Embracing restrictions " was published on KKSBlog.




Previous published articles


Such a vision
Our natural position
Accept guidance from others, that is true humility.
Are you convinced!?
A lifelong commitment
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A humble beginning



by KKSBLOG on 20 MAR 2018  0 COMMENTS

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 18 October 2017, Melbourne, Australia, Srimad Bhagavatam 4.3.17)

As eternal servants of Krsna, our natural position is to render service. Our happiness lies not in any other endeavour, but only in service. As soon as we try to become the master ourselves, we are in an artificial position. Since we are not very good masters, we have to ‘pretend’ and start hiding our defects.
We start on the wrong footing. If we only started properly from an early stage in life, we would be strong. However, we do not. We pick up bad habits even before we are adults. Then, by the time we are grown up, we are thoroughly fixed in all kinds of nonsense.
Srila Prabhupada liked using the words ‘nonsense rascal.’ In India, this is a big thing to say this to someone. I saw a certain senior devotee once calling a bank manager ‘nonsense rascal’ and then that devotee had to change his bank – that was it and it could not be fixed. So, it is a big thing to call someone ‘nonsense rascal’ in India but it sums it up really nicely!
A rascal is inclined towards all kinds of activities that are not beneficial, inclined towards activities that will bring suffering upon themselves and others; therefore it is nonsense – his actions do not make sense.
So if one comes to the point where one can actually admit, “I am a nonsense rascal!” this is the beginning of becoming a devotee. I get the question asked a thousand times, “How do I become humble?” Well, today I am answering it in a way that I have never answered it before. I say, “Admit to yourself that you are a nonsense rascal.” Then it is up to us to also understand, “Yes, I have all these foolish attachments somehow. Foolish attachments I developed that I have no benefit for whatsoever.”
This is our situation – being addicted to many things that are in fact sinful; life after life this is our situation. It is not necessary to do anything in this life to develop this addiction to sinful activities; it is already there. Even children are not as innocent as they look and neither are we for that matter. Srila Prabhupada understood this and in one sense he was not shy to point it out by saying things like ‘nonsense rascal’. He was not shy to point out the defects and yet somehow, he was not rejecting anyone in the end. Rather, he was welcoming everyone. That is the essence of Lord Caitanya’s movement!


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I want you to hear Krishna Kirtan Madhava He on SoundCloud

Hey, check out this track on SoundCloud: Krishna Kirtan Madhava He!

https://soundcloud.com/krsnakirtan/madhava-he

Home à Song Lyrics à M

Song Name: Madhava Bahuta Minati Kari Toya

Official Name: None

Author: Vidyapati

Book Name: None

Language: Maithili

 

LYRICS:

(1)

mādhavabahuta minati kari toya

dei tulasī tiladeha samarpinu,

dayā jāni  chāḍabi moya

 

(2)

gaṇaite doṣaguṇaleśa  pāobi,

yab tuhuñ karabi vicāra

tuhuñ jagannāthjagate kahāosi

jag-bāhira nahi muñi chāra

 

(3)

kiye mānuṣa paśu pakhī ye janamiye,

athavā kīṭa patañge

karam vipākegatāgati punaḥ punaḥ

mati rahu tuyā parasañge

 

(4)

bhaṇaye vidyāpatiatiśaya kātara,

taraite iha bhava-sindhu

tuyā pada-pallavakari avalamban,

tila eka deha dīna-bandhu

 

TRANSLATION

1) Madhava, with this offering of a tulasi leaf and sesame seeds I beseech You and pledge my body in Your service. I know Your compassion is such that You will not reject me. 

 

2) While considering this appeal, You will only be able to count my faults. You will not find even a trace of good qualities in me. You are known throughout the creation as Jagannatha (master of the universe). Therefore do I, a worthless soul living within this universe, not have the right to accept You as my master?

 

3) Birth after birth, as a result of my karma, I repeatedly come and go, sometimes as a human, sometimes as an animal and sometimes as a bird, worm or insect. But in whatever birth I take may my mind always remain fixed on Your narrations.

 

4) With great remorse, the poet Vidyapati humbly prays, "O Madhava, O friend of the fallen, please give this insignificant person shelter at the tender leaf of Your lotus feet. In this way, I may cross over this ocean of material existence."




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