“While teaching Rupa Gosvami, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija: one can achieve the seed of devotional service by the mercy of the guru, the spiritual master, and then by the mercy of Krsna. This is the secret of success. First one should try to please the spiritual master, and then one should attempt to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura also says, yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado. One should not attempt to please the S
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“A sleeping person imagines an alternative reality for himself and, seeing himself as having various names and forms, forgets his waking identity, which is distinct from the dream. Similarly, the senses of one whose consciousness is bewildered by illusion perceive only the names and forms of material objects. Thus such a person loses his memory and cannot know You.”
-Bhag. 10.84.24-25
These two beautiful passages from the Bhagavatam were the topic of our discussion this morning as our small g
Many people say “By your mercy, I will surrender” or “Give me your blessings so that I will surrender” or “When Krishna wants”. Srila Prabhupada says these are spoken under “FALSE PRETENSE”–These are just “PLEA’S” Not to Surrender.
Srila Prabhupada: Surrender is willing. If you don’t like to surrender who can make you obliged to surrender? Surrender is voluntary. “Yes I surrender.” Determination, “Yes I surrender.” Who can make you obliged to surrender? Nobody can make. Even Krsna can not work.
This essay is taken from the book “The Art of teaching” by Burijana dasa. It is written for gurukula teachers, but is equally applicable to all devotees.
Teachers wishing success in their service must cultivate the mode of goodness. But wait a minute! Am I hearing protests from hard-pressed devotees sincerely striving to serve their Lord with a passion? Are they not crying out from the distance that there’s no need for goodness? Are they not emphatically stating that devotees are transcendental
I was always intrigued with this verse and am often in my walks reminded of this tree of knowledge by reflections seen as an ordinary tree by a pond of water or an image of a double-up upright and upside-down pos
We have to conquer in relationships. We can never take them for granted and we can never think, “Now this person’s commitment is assured, so there is no need to put in effort.” When there is a marriage and the ring goes on the finger, it does not mean much; it is just a little piece of metal. Marriage actually means that one has to conquer. So we should not think that now that the ring is there, there is no need to conquer the other person.
This is the same in the relationship between a guru a
During our residence on this planet, humanity has experienced many horrors- slavery, apartheid, concentration camps and many other nasty histories. Many countries celebrate independence from foreign subjugation, which were in many cases far from peaceful. Thus we can see what can go wrong when we become dependent on selfish leaders- Exploitation. Exploitation may be gross or subtle. People fear exploitation, but in general, we find exploitation everywhere. Some people are exploited and these sa
Nick Vujicic was born without arms and legs. “Why me?” he always asked until he discovered that God had chosen him for a purpose. Because of his disability, he was able to reach out to people and give them courage. Nick’s zest for life and faith in God’s will drove him to learn to swim, surf, travel the world, and do things that even able-bodied people fail to do. He touched people with his conviction that God loves us unconditionally and that whatever He does is for our highest good. He exempl
The purpose of this paper is to both establish the importance of the seva of reading Srila Prabhupada’s books as well as understanding the essence of the message in Prabhupada’s books which is the performance of devotional service, regardless of one’s role or place in society.
Firstly I would like to present my own personal reading resume: I have read the Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta five times, the five-volume set of the unedited letters of Srila Prabhupada three times, the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is
I met up with Ajamila at the corner of Wellesley and Sherbourn. We hadn’t seen each other since the lockdown started although the occasional meet by phone. He’s doing well and is singing bhajans on-line.
Bhajans are songs expressing devotional sentiments, in this case, to honour Krishna.
I had a thought that before long we could possibly sing and play together at this very corner by the library. There is a nice flow of pedestrian traffic, a good intersection for exposing mantras where there
How many of you want to see Krishna and meet Him? Here is a good news - Krishna is more eager to show Himself to us than we are to see Him. We just need to be excited to want to see Him. Krishna is always somewhere around the corner waiting to reveal His darshan to us.
He could reveal Himself in any Mahamantra that we chant. He could pop out of any page of the Bhagavad-Gita or Srimad-Bhagvatam that we read. He can show Himself in any of His deity that we see. He could reveal Himself through a
There are many valuable lessons to be learned by leaders who want to resolve conflicts between two parties amicably. It requires a great deal of spiritual maturity, patience, respect for both parties, mode of goodness to deal with issue etc.
On being pleased with both parties
SP writes : “When the Lord came, He was pleased with everyone; therefore it is stated here, krtsna-prasada-sumukham. The Lord knew that even the offensive doormen were His pure devotees, although by chance they committed a
From Back to Godhead
Nowadays everyone knows what yoga is. Or do they?
In the West yoga is more popular than ever.
“It’s at the top of its game,” says Dan Gurlitz, general manager of Koch Vision, whose distribution of Yoga Zone DVDs and videos is a “serious seven-figure business.” According to Kimberly Leonard, writing in US News & Word Report, “During the last decade the number of Americans who report practicing yoga has nearly doubled to 21 million.” Other Western countries follow close
Or the downfall of Western civilization. The Manu-samhita (8.304-309) describes how a king or ruler of a country receives one sixth of the total karma of the subjects he rules. If the majority of people are pious and spiritually oriented, and the ruler protects those citizens to maintain a peaceful society in which such people can flourish, then the king will also share in the good activities and good karma of the citizens. Otherwise, if the ruler does not properly protect and maintain the citi
The place was the Weston Family Quarry Garden at the Evergreen Brickworks where two young boys were fishing for gold or catfish, whatever would go for the bait.
“What have you got there? Worms?” I asked.
“No, bread. We already caught 3 catfish but we threw them back in the pond. That’s what you’re supposed to do.”
I asked the boys if they would allow me to film them. They declined but still we consider each other friends.
“They (meaning the fish) are really enthusiastic (for the bre
The real point is that narayana-paranmukham. Without thinking of Narayana or Krsna or Visnu, no method will be able to purify you. Vita-raga-bhaya-krodha, mam upasritah… [Being freed from attachment, fear and anger, being fully absorbed in Me and taking refuge in Me, many, many persons in the past became purified by knowledge of Me – and thus they all attained transcendental love for Me. (Bhagavad-gita, 4.10.)] – the simple process to become purified. And that simple process is this chanting. Ch
Hare Krishna Vaishnavas! Dandavats Pranam! Jai Srila Prabhupad!
Many of you may not be aware that HG Govardhan Lila Mataji has been having severe health challenges.
She has survived 2 open heart surgeries because she is always very eager to continue serving their lordships here in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S.A.).
She will be going through a very risky and complex procedure for her heart on May 26 at 12:00 PM EST. This procedure will take approximately 3 hours at Emory hospital.
The procedure is calle
From Back to Godhead
By Cintamani Dhama Devi Dasi
“ONE WHO CANNOT deliver his dependents from the path of repeated birth and death should never become a spiritual master, a father, a husband, a mother, or a worshipable demigod” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.18).
As a parent I often wonder if I am up to the task. After all, full engagement in devotional service is the only way to become free from the cycle of birth and death. Prahlada Maharaja instructs us in nine methods of devotional service: “Hearin
From Back to Godhead
Being God, Krishna has no work to do and simply enjoys in His original abode, while His expansions and energies, such as time, take care of the material creation.
As working men and women we typically leave home in the early morning and spend eight or nine hours on the job. Life at work sustains life at home. Official dealings at work contrast with family intimacies at home. However diffuse and overlapping the boundaries between the two, our work persons differ from our h
Corrado and I and a new seeker, Abhijit, who works with healthcare workers, took to a walk on the shady side of the street. Eventually we found ourselves in a tree-bound neighbourhood, but before that we noticed and increased amount of traffic noise. Personally I was left to ask the question, “When will we ever sober up?” More particularly I’m seeing the display of testosterone male power in the form of revving up engines. They are noisy, loud and fast.
Since the global lockdown less traf
