i feel i'm the stupidiest one in this holy network of Krishna Conscious

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Sudheendra S January 2, 2012 at 10:12pm

Srila Prabhupada says that Human life begins when we begin to inquire about the absolute truth (God - Krishna). In vedanta suthra also its stated in the very beginning aththobrahama jignasa. You have started inquiring about what we do and why we do. This is very good. It clearly shows how interested you are to know about Lord. I pray to Lord that all your questions get answered and you take up the process of Bhakthi seriously.

Hari Bol!!!!
Bhawna Arora December 31, 2011 at 8:11pm

Hare Krishna...Haribol..

Thank u Sharnagat prabhuji..wat u explained helped a lot 2 realise so many things.. and nagraj prabhuji, as bhaktin marai ji and other devotees say keep on chanting the holy name of Krishna..

There's a tru saying that "CHANT AND BE HAPPY:)"

Radhey Radhey!!
Sharanagat December 30, 2011 at 10:19pm

Hare Krsna Prabhu jee! :-) I see myself in you - as I was two-three months back. And your devotion is much higher plane. I notice your pleasure in writing Hare Krsna! So, I will put a long answer to serve you.

Karma outcome:

When I started, I told myself - 'nah, I am doing it for just being a better person. There is good thing here, I need to learn. I will not be able to merge.' Slowly, it took over me.

Why is Gita important? It tells us that body does not belong to us. We are merely here to fulfill HIS work and Lila. In this body, if you think it is me, a self, you will suffocate immensely. You are sitting there - you are jiva, sure. That is your entity. But you cannot occupy someone's property and claim it yours. You know from inside, it is not yours. Right, Prabhu jee? :-)

Think it this way, few years later you will shed this body and get a new one. (so much mercy that you get a new body, even though you could not take care of previous one). Your this body will mix with dust. It was never yours and will never be yours. You will get next one on HIS mercy and your karma.

How to do right karma? For that you have to follow the words of Lord, as in scriptures. You need to be righteous. If you understand the dynamics of karma, free will and result, you will not suffocate at miseries or will not jump on happiness. You own your actions due to free will but when you surrender to your duty, you will be free of miseries. There comes the concept of following right path.

With the free will and Karma outcome in mind, you should see chanting.And also that you own your actions - right or wrong.

Chanting:

The MahaMantra, you are lucky to know it. When you start chanting, you will see things will start falling in place, the path opens up. Initially, you will beg and cry for mercy. You will seek material things. You will want to come out of distress. It will appear going nowhere. If you are lucky, your near and dear ones will desert you. Calamity will fall, making you even worse. You will ask end to miseries, but you will find you have calmed down too. Miseries may end or may not, but you will surely be pacified.

Just hold to HIM, do not let HIM go. HE cannot move if you hold HIM. HE is powerless in front of surrender. That is HIM. Just one thing, even if you die, hold HIM tight, do not say you are mine. Say I am yours. You are my father, my mother, my world. You will see HE cannot go, HE just cannot. HE is always there.

Remember, HE once gave curse to HIS own son, Samba? Samba made unpardonable mistake. But as Samba's mother wailed and Samba sought forgiveness, HE HIMSELF took care of the curse? What does it tell? To me, it tells, HE will not spare HIS own son(we all are most attached to our son), if Karma is wrong. But if you seek forgiveness, HE will provide respite. So surrender with MahaMantra. Surrender your ego which is seat of all tamas - ego fans lust, lust fans envy, envy fans anger and anger fans your actions. You become slave of your desires. Remove tamas and live a better life. Chanting will help you cross that mile.

Chanting will also help you see your ego clearly - ah, I am doing it because I feel like hurt, for example. And I am hurt because I am attached to this material stuff - abc.

Just sharing, I chant during commute time. Reason is that, that it helps me to avoid meaningless thoughts. You will melt down like butter.

Once you see your follies and ego behind it, next comes service.

Service:

Now you know karma and ego behind, time is for service. When you serve, who do you serve? You say - I serve my parents, actually not. You serve HIM only. You cannot serve a jiva, he has no body of his own. So, start with first thing in the morning, get up and think of HIM. Do a few Mahamantra, asking for the day to be clean and clear. Then offer the food you have for breakfast. Once offered, take it to serve HIM by feeding to the body given to you. Go to work, do all things with HIM in mind and come home, do chanting if you can, else listen to Bhajan.

Once you are past serving one body, you will aspire to serve other bodies HE made. Serve devotees. And thank them for allowing you to serve HIM.

Remember, no one can serve HIM directly. You serve HIM through HIS creations, serving actors and devotees in HIS lila. That brings us to association.

Association:

Best things are learned in association. If you study in IIT, it helps as you are associated with best brains. If you work in an ignorant environment, you will fall down. (that is what happened with me in last job I did. I had co-workers who were ignorant and racist and my boss, even though Indian used to make fun of scriptures and Krsna.) Guard your association well, do not mix with ignorants. You are as good as association. Remember as kid, if you are with bad ones, you pick wrong things? You learn cursing. But when you start going to temple, you forget it all. Your soul is like a slate and HE has made it such that anything can be wiped out by mere small effort. So right association helps.

I have few devotee association. I talk to them, find out my answers, meet them and learn from them. You can try some as well. If you do not find anything else, go to youtube and search. I found RadhaNath Swami's lectures very helpful. You can try them.

Now your questions, as much as I have information:

On item 6. Hara is the Shakti of Krsna. So you are praying to Radharani only.

On item 7. Paths are different but goal is same. What I realized in ISKCON is that they practice completeness. If you read Srila Prabhupada's literature, for example, he says - KC is the orginal conciousness of soul. What could that mean? That may mean - accept the master as master and serve HIM right. Learned people can answer better.

I find ISKCON complete. I have met devotess, several of them. All are so complete and so welcoming. Door is closed to no one. Path is clear - you serve and give up negativities sitting in sanskara, clean up chitta so your life becomes smooth and calm. This is big fulfillment to look back while alive for your jiva. Else you can do same without body, but won't it be even tough to do it when you have no body to fulfill anything and still be still in thoughts?

I am new too, without knowledge. But will try to share as much as I can on your questions:

In spiritual world, Krsna and Radha sit in the middle, playing Lila. Then there are eight sakhi of Radha. (Ahladini shakti of Prabhu). Think them (sakhi) in a circle, it helped me think this way. Then there are other sakhis who help these eight and Radha to serve Krsna. These are Manjari. Rupa Goswami is the prime devotee who connect us to HIM. Devotees are closest to HIM through Goswamis.

So we are servant of servant of servant of servant, if we are lucky. Else we are much below.

Now beyond this, there is Lila or Mahamaya, the interplay of AdiPurush (Krsna) and Prakriti (of which Radha is the pleasure part) and we souls(jiva) move in this Maya-land forever till we qualify for HIS blessing.

In Gaudiya Vishnavism, rasa part is prime manifestation of HIS appearance. This helps understand HIS leela better and our role fully. Compare it with Sunyavadi, where everything ends in zero. So, as a brother you play your role in rasa and as a son, you play your role. Just do not submerge in attachment and karma AND keep your goal right - you are serving HIM. Along with chanting and services (services allow you to clean up karma), you are set to see HIM purer than when you started journey this life.

Pretty long answer, hope I served you to find some. For expert advise, follow Maral Mata, she is evolved.

Your servant,

Sharanagat
- rk nagraj > Sharanagat January 2, 2012 at 8:45pm
  
  hare krishna,
  
  thank you Sharanagat prabhuji,
  
  thank you so much... for the guidance.."Best things are learned in association..You are as good as association. "
  
  as per ur suggestion prabhuji,
  
  on new year day i went to chowpatty iskcon temple and tried to associate with one prabhuji.. but wasn't helpful... so i tried with another Ashish prabhuji.. he askd me to contact with any devotee in saffron color dress as they would be best to guide me.
  
  so i contacted Gopinath chandra das prabhuji,
  
  i'm so greatful to him.he spared over an hour guiding me.
  
  he askd me what do u want to know and i said everything.
  
  he told me that inorder to control my mind while chanting i shud start using the beads mala/ jap mala
  
  he askd me to buy one along with the bag to hold the mala.
  
  he explained me that using jap mala wouldn't just fix my mind on lord krishna but to quite an extent i would be able to realise that my mind has wandered off, and with little efforts i can get it back to chanting mahamantra.
  
  so i bought one jap mala and prabhuji ... made me offer the japmala in krishna deity's feet and then gave it to me.
  
  he explained so many doubts.
  
  i also listened to radhanath swami's lecture (pravachan on bhagvatam verse 10.5.8) in the morning and wow he's fantastic speaker. i remember the last time i heard him he taught us about crab apples.
  
  yesterday he taught us that in order to nourish a tree we just need to water the roots... we need not nourish all branches, twigs, leaves.
  
  similarly in order for us to fix our lives... i mean for being happy we need not satisfy each and every sense organ, nor we need to satisfy our near, dear ones, rather satisfy lord krishna and everything would come in place... coz he's the roots.
  
  after that i had a wonderful prasadam breakfast. then the chat with gopinath prabhu
  
  then we had memorial service for Yamuna Devi mataji,
  
  i've never seen her nor did i ever hear her.
  
  but when all those prabhuji's and mataji's started telling about how she lived, how she was devoted to lord krishna, her pasttimes, her encouraging mails and speeches......
  
  they told she was filled with such compassion and was so humble to every one...
  
  i could literally see her or imagine her and tears filled my eyes.....
  
  one more prabhuji contacted me through sms asking me to meet me
  
  ashish prabhu forwarded my no. to him
  
  and to my surprise he too guided me on the path of krishna conscious
  
  he also gifted me with 3 books (self realisation, back to god head magazine, begineers guide for kc)
  
  bottom line.... Sharanagat prabhuji.....
  
  so much for one day... filled me with joy...
  
  n i realised the importance of association..
  
  and i started to belived that its true that
  
  "u take one step towards god and he would take 100 steps towards u...."
  
  as i told u i never interacted with anyone and with just one interaction i got to know so many prabhuji's
  
  and sumeet prabhuji who knew me for just few minutes gifted me with books... coz he wanted me to progress on the path of krishna bhakti.....
  
  it was too much for me.......
  
  i think the best way for me to thank him is to read and follow all the books he presented me.
  
  and i surely will
  
  hare krishna hare krishna...........!!!!
  - Sharanagat > rk nagraj January 2, 2012 at 9:52pm
    
    Hare Krsna Prabhu jee! I am happy for you that you could find solace. You will discover more and more as you go along.
    
    I will share a little of my own. I had personal issues in my family. I behaved like a teenager with my wife of 12 years, no seriousness in life, nothing. I am affectionate towards her now but that time, I was in worldly love.
    
    I visited temple, talked to devotees, learned the importance of speech and controlled, mature behavior. Learned to share about kids and how to work together in family, learned form readings (thanks to Bhakta Krishna Dass and Mata Shaibya) on what can be learnt from rasa to keep marriage and affection intact. How to treat kids and most of all, forgiveness with all in family. It is life style, it is not a dress - I learnt. I gave up non-veg and other stuff. I regulated my life, time to bed and time to get up. Work during work hours and fill all with bhajan, kirtan and service. You will learn a lot. I am lucky to find Prabhu jees who willingly guide me and Mata jees who feed me prasadam :-) It is a world of a new kind, keep going. If path is this beautiful, the palace will be magnificient.
    
    And keep chanting, it will fulfill all.
    
    Hari Bol!
- rk nagraj > Sharanagat December 31, 2011 at 11:33am
  
  hare krishna,
  
  a super thanks Sharanagat prabhuji,
  
  few of ur sentences were quite thought provoking.
  
  "so much You know from inside, it is not yours. Right, Prabhu jee? :-)"
  
  frankly speaking.. i think this body is mine..i'm the owner... hence i always try to satisfy it with good food,good rest, movies, and all good thing in nature.... but prabhuji... i'll try to think as its not mine and have to return it one day.
  
  "the dynamics of karma, free will and result"
  
  prabhuji... can u pls throw some more light on it.
  
  "If you are lucky, your near and dear ones will desert you."
  
  this sentence is quite ironic.
  
  i work hard and earn take all the pains n gain -just to satisy myself n my near and dear ones.
  
  to gain their respect,love. and ur sentence says just opposite......... i mean its hard to digest.
  
  "Chanting will help you cross that mile."
  
  thanks for the suggestion. i'll chant more often.. even i try chanting while i commute. but my mind keeps wandering to see all people around me.... n my thoughts wander off... but mouth is still chanting... is it still useful chanting.
  
  "thank them for allowing you to serve HIM."
  
  now this is the greatest of all...
  
  coz if i do a speck of help... i inflate with pride... that i did it for u..
  
  but its a great thought... to thank them for allowing me to help them..
  
  great prabhuji. i bow before u.
  
  "Association:"
  
  prabhuji... now i realised what is wrong with me..
  
  i've been to ISKCON Temples when i was still in school.. may be over a decade ago,
  
  but never interacted/associated with any one...
  
  i just see Krishna devotees there and wondered
  
  why they are dancing when krishna aarti is going on...
  
  why they apply such a big tilak
  
  why do they wear tulsi mala around their neck..
  
  i still don't know the answers.
  
  but i think i shud have asked some one...
  
  but was afraid or ashamed to ask them.
  
  but thanks to this platform where i'm putting my questions which i had in my mind from over a decade.
  
  i'm glad i can ask questions without loosing face..
  
  but i realised.. i never associated with any Krishna devotee till now.
  
  prabhuji i'm so glad i got so many krishna devotee friends like u....
  
  i feel my coming new year will be great filled with krishna conscious.
  
  n i wish u all the same.
  
  hare krishna ....!!
  - Sharanagat > rk nagraj December 31, 2011 at 7:13pm
    
    Hare Krsna! Hari Bol Prabhu jee!
    
    Glad the posting helped you. Follow advice of learned souls here.
    
    On few points, I will share thoughts as they come to me:
    
    First is that I own body. It is ignorance, you do not own it. If you owned it, where did you get it from? Can you make a new similar to this one? Or if you can, can you do it without using any substance from this universe? If yes, then it is your body, else it is body given by someone else and that is Master.
    
    Free will is what you can think of doing in a situation. It is not free will as in western philosophy of Sartre. It is free will tied in your present state or karmic cycle. You cannot think beyond. Example is that (and sorry if it hurts anyone) if you are willingly in bed with prostitute, you can not think of Lord and HIS mercy (barring if it was destiny for you to see her as Mata and come out). So your free will is limited by Karma and hence negates the western thought of real 'free' whatever it means. In this stage, you can either slowly climb ladder with fear of losing it or you can follow scriptures and climb up quickly. My answer was based on the slow acendence of free will, leading to karma and its results.
    
    The other way to handle result is through purification process (eliminate the imprint on chitta of ignorance, like anger, hatred, fear etc) or you may do chanting to be sthitapragya.
    
    Now on near and dear ones. When do they leave you? When you die. That is the time when you look back at your life and actions, once you come out of sorrow of abandonment. In Hindus, it is said to take one year for the step to complete. Let us say you are lucky to be abandoned and you are lucky yo step back and see your actions. Now, you have done some ground task and still got a body with memory intact to correct your actions. Is is not a great thing?
    
    Chanting: There are stages of chanting, as I know. Upansu is suggested as best, however chanting has one more facet to it (and it is irrespective of the path you follow). This facet is prakritik or meaning it will come to you as your nature. So, for example, you can chant in commute and your mind will divert, put it back again and see it wander. Put it back again. One stage you will see you can put it back and yet be mindful. That is natural process for mind. However, best thing to do is to start and let it lead you.(or seek help of your Guru). It should come naturally and without any effort.
    
    On tilak and mala, I myself do not know. I chant for repentence and cleansing of samskara and the depth of chanting helps me see my jiva's real self. You can ask this question to Maral Mata, she will surely guide you.
    
    Hari Bol!
aanal balram adhikari December 30, 2011 at 6:30pm

hare krishna,,,

all glories to shril prabhupad,,,

prabhuji ,, you cant eat onion and garlic also...

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for effective chanting you can pray to lord chaitanya and nityanand prabhu..

you have to chant panch tatva mantra before starting your chanting and concentrate your mind in krishna for few minutes.krishna will surely help you..

pls correct if i m wrong, bhaktin maral mataji..

hare krishna.

your servant
- rk nagraj > aanal balram adhikari December 30, 2011 at 7:11pm
  
  prabhuji..
  
  please share the panch tatva mantra with me....
  
  thanks
  
  hare krishna...
  - 0l2b509epm9um > rk nagraj December 30, 2011 at 10:58pm
    
    jaya sri-krishna-chaitanya
    prabhu nityananda
    sri-adwaita gadadhara
    shrivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda
    
    TRANSLATION:
    
    I offer my respectful obeisances unto Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Lord Nityananda, Sri Advaita, Gadadhara Pandit, Srivas Thakur, and all the devotees of Lord Caitanya.
    
    PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada
    
    Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is always accompanied by His plenary expansion Sri Nityananda Prabhu, His incarnation Sri Advaita Prabhu, His internal potency Sri Gadadhara Prabhu, and His marginal potency Srivasa Prabhu. He is in the midst of them as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One should know that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is always accompanied by these other tattvas. Therefore our obeisances to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu are complete when we say, sri-krishna-chaitanya prabhu nityananda sri-adwaita gadadhara shrivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda. As preachers of the Krsna consciousness movement, we first offer our obeisances to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu by chanting this Panca-tattva mantra; then we say, Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. There are ten offenses in the chanting of the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, but these are not considered in the chanting of the Païca-tattva mantra, namely, sri-krishna-chaitanya prabhu nityananda sri-adwaita gadadhara shrivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is known as maha-vadabtavatara, the most magnanimous incarnation, for He does not consider the offenses of the fallen souls. Thus to derive the full benefit of the chanting of the maha-mantra (Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare), we must first take shelter of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, learn the Panca-tattva mantra, and then chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. That will be very effective.

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