Being pure & steady by chanting Hare Krishna

There are so many dangers in this material world that one may fall down from an exalted position at any time. Yet if one keeps himself always pure and steady by chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, he will be safe without a doubt.

Srila Prabhupad (SB 6.1.63 Purport)

Meaning of depending on Krishna

Quote of the Day.

"We must utilize our intelligence fully for serving Krishna. Serving Krishna does not mean that we sit idly and say that Krishna will take care of all our business. That is not depending on the Lord; rather it is laziness. Depending on Krishna means to act always in Krishna Consciousness, realizing that Krishna is the Ultimate Controller of all results. I hope you understand this properly."

Srila Prabhupada --Letter to: Bhagavan-London 22 September, 1969

Deity Darshana from Sri Vrindavan Dhaam - May 01, 2013

Hearing from Devotees

Srimad Bhagavatam 4.20.25: 

My dear Lord, You are glorified by the selected verses uttered by great personalities. Such glorification of Your lotus feet is just like saffron particles. When the transcendental vibration from the mouths of great devotees carries the aroma of the saffron dust of Your lotus feet, the forgetful living entity gradually remembers his eternal relationship with You. Devotees thus gradually come to the right conclusion about the value of life. My dear Lord, I therefore do not need any other benediction but the opportunity to hear from the mouth of Your pure devotee.

PURPORT

It is explained in the previous verse that one has to hear glorification of the Lord from the mouth of a pure devotee. This is further explained here. The transcendental vibration from the mouth of a pure devotee is so powerful that it can revive the living entity's memory of his eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In our material existence, under the influence of illusorymāyā, we have almost forgotten our eternal relationship with the Lord, exactly like a man sleeping very deeply who forgets his duties. In the Vedas it is said that every one of us is sleeping under the influence of māyā. We must get up from this slumber and engage in the right service, for thus we can properly utilize the facility of this human form of life. As expressed in a song by ṬhākuraBhaktivinoda, Lord Caitanya says, jīva jāga, jīva jāga. The Lord asks every sleeping living entity to get up and engage in devotional service so that his mission in this human form of life may be fulfilled. This awakening voice comes through the mouth of a pure devotee.

A pure devotee always engages in the service of the Lord, taking shelter of His lotus feet, and therefore he has a direct connection with the saffron mercy-particles that are strewn over the lotus feet of the Lord. Although when a pure devotee speaks the articulation of his voice may resemble the sound of this material sky, the voice is spiritually very powerful because it touches the particles of saffron dust on the lotus feet of the Lord. As soon as a sleeping living entity hears the powerful voice emanating from the mouth of a pure devotee, he immediately remembers his eternal relationship with the Lord, although up until that moment he had forgotten everything.

For a conditioned soul, therefore, it is very important to hear from the mouth of a pure devotee, who is fully surrendered to the lotus feet of the Lord without any material desire, speculative knowledge or contamination of the modes of material nature. Every one of us is kuyogī because we have engaged in the service of this material world, forgetting our eternal relationship with the Lord as His eternal loving servants. It is our duty to rise from the kuyoga platform to become suyogīs, perfect mystics. The process of hearing from a pure devotee is recommended in all Vedic scriptures, especially by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. One may stay in his position of life — it does not matter what it is — but if one hears from the mouth of a pure devotee, he gradually comes to the understanding of his relationship with the Lord and thus engages in His loving service, and his life becomes completely perfect. Therefore, this process of hearing from the mouth of a pure devotee is very important for making progress in the line of spiritual understanding.

Nature of Human Ego

This is the nature of human ego: we become so filled with anxieties when we have expectations, because the nature of this world is that you always don't get what you expect.

 If we expect good weather and it is bad weather, it's very disturbing. If we expect respect from our husband, our wife, our friends, the world, we are not always going to get it. The more we expect the more we suffer when we don't get. And the more we get, the more we expect and when we don't get the more we suffer. This is human psychology.

Renunciation, detachment means to be self-satisfied. Doesn't matter. We don't need anything. When we are not self-satisfied, the soul tries to find it somewhere else. If we are not finding it in our love for God and our compassion for all living beings, we are going to expect it from somewhere else.

- Radhanath Swami

Perceive Everything in Truth and Reality

 ‘Avidya’ means ignorance, and this is the greatest disease on earth. Just as disease has its  symptoms,  ignorance has its symptoms: lust, anger, greed, illusion, pride and envy. And these things are filling our minds and filling our hearts because the disease of ignorance is covering the natural healthy condition of our self. So the process of self realization is to simply heal that diseased condition and come back to our natural original state–love of God. Love of all living beings is inherent within us. It is our original consciousness. By chanting the names of God, by avoiding those activities which further perpetuate this ignorance,  we are naturally healed.
If we have the disease of the body, the first thing the doctor will do is to give us the medicine that heals the disease; he will also tell us to refrain from those activities which further aggravate the disease. Similarly, for the disease of ignorance, the medicines are,
1. associating with saintly persons
2. performing puja with proper understanding of what we are doing and why we are doing
3. philosophical reflection on the real goal of life
4. and especially the chanting of God’s names.
And to cure ourselves from the disease of ignorance, we have to refrain ourselves from sinful activities.  There are four pillars of sinful life: intoxication, illicit sex, gambling and meat-eating. They destroy the qualities of truthfulness, cleanliness, self-control and mercy respectively.
In this way, by curing ourselves of ignorance, we literally awaken the original consciousness within us. And when we are purified, we can perceive everything in truth and reality.

Attracting Grace

For the treasure of divine love to awaken in our hearts,  to overcome the ahankar, the false ego, and to free ourselves from the shackles of endless selfish desires and fears, it’s only possible through grace. Why? Because there are powers beyond our intelligence, beyond our physical strength, beyond our will power that we are up against within this material manifestation.

This grace cannot be attained simply by our efforts. We could memorize entire scriptures, we could eat one grain of rice a day, we could sleep 5 min a day, we could build enormous temples, we could feed 1 million people, we could chant a billion names of God, but that doesn’t necessarily attract grace.

But when we are sincere, serious, humble and  are eager to serve the Supreme Lord and all living beings through Him, with no ulterior motives, then Krishna is eager; Srimati Radharani, the feminine potency, the source of all grace, is eager to deliver us.

You cannot digest food if you have no hunger. This is the principle of Ayurveda. Digestion is the key to good health and you can’t digest unless you are hungry. So similarly grace is everywhere. Grace is all-pervading, just like the sunlight is all-pervading, but we have become so habituated to live in dark places. In order to digest and assimilate that grace we have to be hungry for it. We are beggars for grace. We understand the need for grace.

- Radhanath Swami

SMILE with Krishna - Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Summary

Bhagavad-Gita Chapter 18 - Summary

S - Summary of Karma-yoga (Verses 1-18)

M - Modes of Nature (Verses 19 -40)

I - Ideal worker (Verses 41-55)

L- Love of God (Verses 56-66)

E - End Result (Verses 67-78)

What is Renunciation?

- Using our returns to serve (getting into the habit of giving) in the service of the Lord and the mission.

- Giving up ones likes and dislikes (I don't like this work&  I like that work because it is simpler is not renunciation)

- Change ones attitude (although the senses & body demand and we make all endeavors to achieve that, but the ultimate deciding factor is Paramatma. So we should write our plans in pencil and give God the eraser because everything is in God's hand)

- The lord is beyond all our desires, endeavors, body and soul so we should remember we are not the doer 

The Modes of Nature

Renunciation 

Mode of Goodness: doing the work in a sense of detachment.

Mode of Passion: giving up work due to the trouble caused due to work, family; 

Mode of Ignorance: giving up work out of illusion;

Determination

Mode of Goodness: determination for the right cause - serving God, devotees, people, society (never give up)

Mode of Passion:determined to get their desires fulfilled

Mode of Ignorance: determined by doing nothing - success in life depends on dreams - so they just sleep

Happiness

Goodness: poison in the beginning but nectar in the end (faithful to wife and family, stop bad habits, quitting things harmful to health, chanting) - no pain no gain

Passion: nectar in the beginning and ends with poison (sensual indulgence but leads to health issues, broken families)

Ignorance: poison in beginning and end (laziness)

How to be ideal worker?

1. Know who you are i.e your Varna

2. Minimize the malpractice/fault on the work you have to do - be regretful 

3. Use the results to serve Krishna

4. Always Chant the holy name which will purify us of the reactions of the things we hate to do

5. Be yourself and stop comparing and have the desire to want what others have

How to understand God?

- God can only be understood by devotion and not by analysis (only when you love Krishna, He is revealed)

What is surrender?

- I'm helpless Krishna and there are factors beyond my control

- To do all that is favorable to my spiritual practice and not do all that which is not favorable

We can understand God's will through Guru. How to identify Guru?

- It is not based on blind faith or mundane following. A balance of scriptural knowledge, worldly experience and connection to Krishna within the heart - He is Guru.

Who is dearest to Krishna?

Anyone who shares this message of the Gita to others, sponsoring Gita etc., (Krishna loves to be glorified because he knows that the message of the Gita will benefit others)

End Result:

1. Moving from my will to God's will: Gita began by saying that I want to do things my way and at the end Arjuna says that I will do what You want (God knows that is best for us more than we know what is good for us)

2. Spiritual joy

3. Opulence, victory, power and morality

[From a lecture by HG Gaur Gopal Prabhu at ISKCON Chowpatty on Jan 14, 2013 on Bhagavad Gita Ch 18]

Spiritual Culture - Common Factor for all Asramas

Śrīla Vyāsadeva was a householder, yet his residential place is called an āśrama. An āśrama is a place where spiritual culture is always foremost. It does not matter whether the place belongs to a householder or a mendicant. The whole varṇāśrama system is so designed that each and every status of life is called an āśrama. This means that spiritual culture is the common factor for all. The brahmacārīs, the gṛhasthas, the vānaprasthas and the sannyāsīs all belong to the same mission of life, namely, realization of the Supreme. Therefore none of them are less important as far as spiritual culture is concerned. The difference is a matter of formality on the strength of renunciation. The sannyāsīs are held in high estimation on the strength of practical renunciation.

[Srimad Bhagavatam Purport 1.7.2]

Srila Prabhupada's Assurance

"Do not be disturbed. There is no cause for anxiety. You are doing your best to serve Krishna, that is very much appreciated, so do not lose enthusiasm out of frustration, that will spoil everything. Krishna Consciousness means we should always be satisfied and happy, not that we must work something impossible, becoming overburdened, and then because we are unhappy by so much trouble we lose enthusiasm altogether and give up all hope. No, if too much endeavour is there, that is to be avoided. By all means we must preserve our spiritual status, that is the point, not that we are mad after big buildings, many devotees, life-members, this, that—no, these are only ways to engage the devotees so that they may apply the principles of devotional living to some kind of work for practical realization of these principles. It is not the result of the work we want. If only one person daily, if we sincerely preach to such one person in a day, that is sufficient, never mind big, big programmes. So my request to you is that you do not be bothered by these things, and I have instructed Tamala Krishna and Syamasundara to send you men, so they will do it, rest assured. Krishna does not like to see His sincere devotee suffer or become frustrated or depressed. He will not stand idly by in any such case, so do not fear on that account. Krishna has got some plan for you, always think in that way, and very soon He will provide everything to your heart's desire."


Srila Prabhupada letter to Tejyas, Dec. 19, 1972