I am a very fallen person. I don't have the rights to educate others but I am just humbly sharing my experience and realizations on this platform.
I have heard somewhere in a lecture that maintaining bhakti is more difficult than the initial stage of coming into bhakti or something like that.
Why do we fall after coming into Krishna consciousness? Isn't coming into Krishna consciousness the hardest platform to attain? Then, why does maintaining Krishna bhakti feels even harder?
Well, everyday, Maya is trying hard to test us if we are truly sincere and strong in Krishna consciousness. Maya is testing us whether we truly love Krishna or not. Maya is just doing her duty. Maya acts in all kinds of materialistic activities. Maya shows you all kind of worldly happiness. Out of our own will, although we know those things are unnecessary for our lives, we get indulge ourselves into them. Singers, film star heroes and heroines, internet full of obscene substances spoil our consciousness.
We would slowly begin thinking, "Arrey, looking at the 'real' world, it looks like Krishna is just a fictional character. Who cares about Krishna? These things give me more happiness than Krishna is giving me. Krishna never even bothered about me, yarr. Why is the prabhu giving classes telling materialistic activities bring us nowhere and it will not help us at the end of our life. Who cares about next life? I want to enjoy now."
These thoughts are the proof that Maya is actively acting on us. We know Krishna is God but we always forget our position. What should we do to maintain our Krishna bhakti? We should practice devotional service unto the Lord. But how? Prahlada Maharaj has stated this nicely in the Bhagavatam as follows.
SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM CANTO 7, CHAPTER 5, TEXTS 23–24
śrī-prahrāda uvāca
śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ
smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam
arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ
sakhyam ātma-nivedanam
iti puṁsārpitā viṣṇau
bhaktiś cen nava-lakṣaṇā
kriyeta bhagavaty addhā
tan manye ’dhītam uttamam
TRANSLATION
Prahlāda Mahārāja said: Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Viṣṇu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one’s best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words)—these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service. One who has dedicated his life to the service of Kṛṣṇa through these nine methods should be understood to be the most learned person, for he has acquired complete knowledge.
You should always listen to lectures on Iskcon Desire Tree's youtube channel. You should also read Prabhupad's books. If you have little brothers, children or very young cousins in your family, you can always tell them Krishna stories. In this way, you can relish the sweetness of Krishna. You will be able to strengthen your conviction on faith on Krishna.
In Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 8, Verse 15, Lord Krishna describes this material world as 'dukhalayam asasvatam', meaning temporary world which is full of miseries.
Any enjoyment carried out without Krishna in mind only gives you temporary happiness. The end result? You will be upset. There is no satisfaction.
So in a day of 24 hours, spend at least 5-10 minutes listening to lectures on Iskcon Desire Tree. If you are able to go to the temple, then listen to the lectures thoroughly and always review them afterwards.
In this way, we would be able to maintain our Krishna bhakti. It is impossible to love someone without knowing them so, to love Krishna, you need to know about Him. Slowly, we will lose interest in unnecessary material things and then, we will learn how to love Krishna.
Hare Krishna!
prahlada -- by Prahlada Maharaja -- Sanskrit Dictionary
The Lord fulfills all desires. He is like a desire tree. Souls in pure love for Krishna want only to be with Him, so that's where they are. Fallen souls desire enjoyment apart from Krishna, so Krishna allows them to try to be happy on their own. But we can't be happy without Krishna so he reminds us of this, and that's why the material world is so full of suffering.
NoI Text Two— One’s devotional service is spoiled when he becomes too entangled in the following six activities: (1) eating more than necessary or collecting more funds than required; (2) over-endeavoring for mundane things that are very difficult to obtain; (3) talking unnecessarily about mundane subject matters; (4) practicing the scriptural rules and regulations only for the sake of following them and not for the sake of spiritual advancement, or rejecting the rules and regulations of the scriptures and working independently or whimsically; (5) associating with worldly-minded persons who are not interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness; and (6) being greedy for mundane achievements.
The Lord dislikes proud, therefore all the effort of those proud ones toward waking bhakti is like putting water in the broken pot. You need to be up if you wanna fall down, but if you laying on the ground all the time, there is no question of the fall.
Besides that, its impossible to fall on the path of the bhakti, because even one step toward Him, makes thousand of His toward you. The person can forget Him, but He will never forget even smallest thing done for pleasing Him.
By the way, the path of the impersonalist absorbed in impersonal aspect of God dont have such priviledge.
Very nice examples Dean Prabhu. Yes, Lord Caitanya instructs devotees to be like a grass or a straw on the street. Only, on that state, one is able to chant Mahamantra constantly.
Replies
Haribol!
I am a very fallen person. I don't have the rights to educate others but I am just humbly sharing my experience and realizations on this platform.
I have heard somewhere in a lecture that maintaining bhakti is more difficult than the initial stage of coming into bhakti or something like that.
sakhyam ātma-nivedanam
In Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 8, Verse 15, Lord Krishna describes this material world as 'dukhalayam asasvatam', meaning temporary world which is full of miseries.
Any enjoyment carried out without Krishna in mind only gives you temporary happiness. The end result? You will be upset. There is no satisfaction.
So in a day of 24 hours, spend at least 5-10 minutes listening to lectures on Iskcon Desire Tree. If you are able to go to the temple, then listen to the lectures thoroughly and always review them afterwards.
In this way, we would be able to maintain our Krishna bhakti. It is impossible to love someone without knowing them so, to love Krishna, you need to know about Him. Slowly, we will lose interest in unnecessary material things and then, we will learn how to love Krishna.
Hare Krishna!
do we really need a reason.?
hare krsna..!
When the living entities forget their relationship with Krishna, immediately Krishna's illusory energies catch them at their neck as a hawk or eagle.
As stated in CCM,
"krishna bhuliya jiva bhoga bancha kare,
nikatastha maya tare jhapatiya dhare"
Hare krishna
PAMHO, AGTSP
NoI Text Two — One’s devotional service is spoiled when he becomes too entangled in the following six activities: (1) eating more than necessary or collecting more funds than required; (2) over-endeavoring for mundane things that are very difficult to obtain; (3) talking unnecessarily about mundane subject matters; (4) practicing the scriptural rules and regulations only for the sake of following them and not for the sake of spiritual advancement, or rejecting the rules and regulations of the scriptures and working independently or whimsically; (5) associating with worldly-minded persons who are not interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness; and (6) being greedy for mundane achievements.
Ys
The Lord dislikes proud, therefore all the effort of those proud ones toward waking bhakti is like putting water in the broken pot. You need to be up if you wanna fall down, but if you laying on the ground all the time, there is no question of the fall.
Besides that, its impossible to fall on the path of the bhakti, because even one step toward Him, makes thousand of His toward you. The person can forget Him, but He will never forget even smallest thing done for pleasing Him.
By the way, the path of the impersonalist absorbed in impersonal aspect of God dont have such priviledge.
Very nice examples Dean Prabhu. Yes, Lord Caitanya instructs devotees to be like a grass or a straw on the street. Only, on that state, one is able to chant Mahamantra constantly.
Trunad api sahi suna.......