Hare Krishna,
Please accept my humble obeisance.. All glories to Srila Prabhupad..
If we are suffering right now because of our past sins, what can we do? Only chanting, eating prasadam.., or we have to follow some austerities to reduce the karma faster? we never know how much is our sin and how much time it takes for us to get out of sufferings.. so is there a faster way to breakdown our karma?
Thanking all
Yours servant
Replies
Hare Krishna Prabhu,
Just wanted to comment on the same point that doing regular services at local temple and assisting Srila Prabhupad in his preaching mission could be another best way to reduce our karma. When we do service, it brings us closer to their lordship and also purifies our soul by undergoing various austerities.
Also its about quality than quantity. Yes we are doing our rounds and taking prasadam but what is the quality? How good is the quality of our Japa? Are we taking prasadam to fill our belly or are we actually honoring prasadam? How are are we helping other come closer to Krishna. These are few things i think which please Guru and Gauranga and they will be able to our sins away.
Please correct me, if i m wrong anywhere.
Ys,
Balaram.
yes You are right Balram Prabhu!!! just today in his class HG Mahatma Prabhu told about a powerful austerity. Which is:
while chanting the Holy Names:
TO HEAR EACH SYLLABLE.
In this age this is the only way of elevating to the spiritual world.
Your servant,
in this way Kartik month is very powerful month. If we give vow to hear the Holy Names while chanting then it will be a great austerity. You asked this question right on time Sanjay Prabhu,
Your servant,
Thank you mataji.. I ll try to follow your words sincerely.. Right now im in some kind of stress... So pray for me.. so hope it ll help me..
if You are in stress Prabhu, please find nice fiends among sincere Devotees. And open Your heart to them. Each of us need very true friend in life. Other wise it is not possible to live.
And when You go to the Temple, attend Kirtans. When You attend Kirtans You just try to hear the Holy Names and enter into the tune by dancing.
Some consider dancing something simple but indeed it is not so. Dancing while chanting is very important. We chant loudly for the pleasure of Deities and we should dance also for Their pleasure...
And nice sadhana like waking up in brahma muhurta, going to bed on time, reading Srila Prabhupada's books are very important.
Stress is the attack of the mode of ignorance. And this happens to all of us. Because of that we should rise to the platform of goodness and in goodness one is happy and healthy.
---
Such like stress is good for spiritual life, because only those days we surrender to Krishna better. We will loose hope to our close people and will see Krishna as an only Shelter. So in Devotees' lives stress in there only to decrease the distance between us and Krishna.
i am not qualified to say to You-very intelligent doctor,to do this or that but consider it that i am doing it as a servant with the blessings of Guru and Gauranga.
Your servant,
im just an ordinary person mataji.. I need association of sincere devotees like you.. seeking your guidance and blessings of Guru and Gauranga
your servant
Hare Krishna dear Devotees, please accept my humble obeisances! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
very nice question which i also past or still passing in my life. Maybe i am not alone in this.
Yes, as Prabhuji told chanting is enough. Which is true.
But also if there is something beneficial for our devotional service then we have to accept that also immediately.
For example, in our Temple there was time when Devotees fought with each other because of many material problems, gossips, lack of material support, respect, ......and many more things.
When that situation reached it's pick it was impossible to perform our devotional service peacefully. Our ISKCON was in the pick of destruction ...finished! That time many Devotees gave strict vows to do particular austerities in order save ISKCON in our country.
And they were really serious about that.
Some of them took vow of fasting for a year with only milk, some for 10 days without any food :O
some increased their rounds up to 64 for a few months. Some did other things....and after 1-2 years Krishna responded and problems decreased...
In this way if we are suffering then we have to act. Because it is not our natural position to accept suffering and continue suffering. No!
If a person really in pain he will do austerities but according to shastras not harming the Temple of God - body, mind, soul.
For example, brahmacharis. What do they do?
Their whole life is an austerity. Because they are fed up with sufferings of materialistic life, material sense enjoyment...fed up of these all. And they are doing austerities in order to leave those sufferings not for one life time but forever.
Correct austerity gives strength and makes a brhamana happy. But the austerity, again, should be done in the mode of goodness. (please find about this in Bhagavad Gita about how grihasthas do austerity, brahmacharis...)
Even eating Prasadam should be controlled. Not every Devotee can eat all Prasadam. Some Devotees might find difficult to eat over spicy or with salt. Or they can not eat sugar or something like that. Or if they eat rice or other grain they sleep much ....these things should be taken into consideration.
Right food should make us happy and help us to save time and energy to render service to Guru and Gauranga.
-----------------------------
One more thing, when we are suffering it means we are not serving to some extent. Shrimati Radharani says in Chaitanya Charitaamrita that for Her it is painful to see Krishna in the company of other girls. But-She says. - I see He is happy. If He is happy then I will bring to Him unlimited quantity of girls and increase His pleasure even though it will increase my pain. If My pain makes Him happy let Him be happy. Indeed that pain will be my happiness because He is happy..
In this way, no matter we are suffering or not we should always try to make happy others. No Matter to Our OWN feelings. As like yesterday in the lecture HH Radhanath Swami Maharaja told that when we do not have selfish desire all our desires will be fulfilled. And we will be Vrindavan Dham which means eternally happy.
Your servant,
Very nice reply mataji.. many a times i find your replies most convincing.. thank you very much.. Haribol...
Yours servant
Thank You Siddhartha Prabhuji for Your valuable reply! especially about control of the senses.
Your servant,