- When one finds happiness in taking shelter of Krishna then no matter what kind of conditioning one is accustomed to, it does not make any difference. Whether one is saintly or one is demoniac; as soon as one takes shelter of the Supreme Lord, it makes no difference what he is.
- Generally piety is very auspicious as through piety we come to the mode of goodness and it is easy to take shelter of the Lord in the mode of goodness. But sometimes people become proud of the mode of the goodness and they find no need to take shelter of the Supreme Lord. In that case, such piety is an impediment in Bhakti. Whereas, some people in a sinful condition give up shackles of sinful desires and cry out Hey Govinda; this way they surrender their lives to God. Such a condition is the perfection of life.
- The goal of spiritual life is coming to the point of humbling oneself and taking shelter of the Lord. Then the material world no longer exists.
- Actually we don't aim to give up this world; we aim to give up the illusion. The higher understanding is that this world is not false but it is temporary. Like a dream at night is not real. It is real because the thought process of that dream is taking place; but what is unreal is that we are identifying the dream body with ourselves. The example given by Sankaracarya of a snake and a rope is very appropriate. If we mistake a rope lying on the ground to be a snake and get all frightened and worried, we will be suffering because we are living in illusion.
- We are meant for the pleasure of God and everything we do belongs for the satisfaction of God. Someone may accuse that even the devotees are getting old, get diseased and are dying. But the fact is if we identify with this body then we will grow old, get diseased and die but if we know we are the soul then we become the observer of the body.
- As we approach Krishna, He rewards us accordingly. If we approach Him with a humble heart, then He will always protect and guide us to back to Him.
- Someone may say: I am reading scriptures, I am worshiping the deity, I serve the devotees, I am following the principles, I am chanting the Lord's Name; still I am suffering and I'm a victim of false ego, greed, envy, lust and abominable desires? The problem in this situation remains that we want God and saintly persons to immediately eradicate our contact of bondage with this material world. But it is not easy. Pure devotional service is the ultimate treasure and it is not given so easily. But.. It is given. We have to be willing to tolerate envy, greed and lust for the sake of service of God. We have to say no to these impulses and say yes to the will of God and Guru. When we keep performing this way then Krishna will see we are very sincere and He will help us through. We have to constantly keep trying to act this way through our words, acts and thoughts and by following the words of the great souls.
- For millions of births we have cultivated this abominable consciousness. If Krishna wants us to tolerate for 50-60 years more, what is it compared to what we have done in all our previous lives? We should not be impatient but have complete faith that if the blessings of the great souls are upon us; then we are under the shelter of Krishna.
- Sometimes before God reveals Himself, He puts us into more anxiety. There is a saying .. 'The darkest point of the night ushers in the light of dawn.' If we want to see the sun, we have to see all the darkness before dawn.
- Modern man says that why don't these saints do something tangible for society and be constructive otherwise they are useless parasites! This is the way ignorant people think. But great souls like Jagannath Mishra say that such great souls could be enjoying life like us with nice children, family and home; but they give up all this and take the occupation of begging in order to give God's grace to everyone. Actually we are parasites because we are constantly sucking God's energy for fulfilling our desires. A pure devotee's whole life is simply giving.
- HH Radhanath Swami
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