New E - Course
Dear Devotees,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
This is an invitation to join our eCourse on The Nectar of Instruction, from July 9 - August 5, 2012.
The Nectar of Instruction is a guidebook specifically written for devotees, those desiring to live according to the teachings of Lord Caitanya.
Anyone following the way of life taught by Lord Caitanya must learn practical steps to further develop in Krsna consciousness: What are these steps? And what are the obstacles? How should we treat and relate to other devotees? What procedures should one follow on a daily basis to advance spiritually, to actually taste love for the Lord beyond mere sentiment? Where should one live, and what should one do or not do?
Answers to these questions and more are the practical teachings in The Nectar of Instruction. We invite you to learn these next steps in your spiritual evolution from the comfort of your own home on your own computer, and dive deeper into the science of Krsna consciousness.
The eCourse will be taught by two of Srila Prabhupada's disciples who have been practicing Krsna consciousness for more than 40 years, Dhruva Maharaja dasa and Samapriya dasi.
To learn more, or to enroll visit:
http://www.bhaktilife.org/content/upadesamrta-nectar-instruction
Below is a synopsis of Lord Caitanya's instructions to Rupa Gosvam, the author of The Nectar of Instruction, from the Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya 19:
CC Madhya 19.151 - “According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Krsna. By the mercy of both Krsna and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.
CC Madhya 19.152 - “When a person receives the seed of devotional service, he should take care of it by becoming a gardener and sowing the seed in his heart. If he waters the seed gradually by the process of sravana and kirtana [hearing and chanting], the seed will begin to sprout.
CC Madhya 19.153 - “As one waters the bhakti-lata-bija, the seed sprouts, and the creeper gradually grows to the point where it penetrates the walls of this universe and goes beyond the Viraja River, lying between the spiritual world and the material world. It attains brahma-loka, the Brahman effulgence, and penetrating through that stratum, it reaches the spiritual sky and the spiritual planet Goloka Vrndavana.
CC Madhya 19.154 - “Being situated in one’s heart and being watered by sravana-kirtana, the bhakti creeper grows more and more. In this way it attains the shelter of the desire tree of the lotus feet of Krsna, who is eternally situated in the planet known as Goloka Vrndavana, in the topmost region of the spiritual sky.
CC Madhya 19.155 - “The creeper greatly expands in the Goloka Vrndavana planet, and there it produces the fruit of love for Krsna. Although remaining in the material world, the gardener regularly sprinkles the creeper with the water of hearing and chanting.
CC Madhya 19.156 - “If the devotee commits an offense at the feet of a Vaisnava while cultivating the creeper of devotional service in the material world, his offense is compared to a mad elephant that uproots the creeper and breaks it. In this way the leaves of the creeper are dried up.
CC Madhya 19.157 - “The gardener must defend the creeper by fencing it all around so that the powerful elephant of offenses may not enter.
CC Madhya 19.158 - “Sometimes unwanted creepers, such as the creepers of desires for material enjoyment and liberation from the material world, grow along with the creeper of devotional service. The varieties of such unwanted creepers are unlimited.
CC Madhya 19.159 - “Some unnecessary creepers growing with the bhakti creeper are the creepers of behavior unacceptable for those trying to attain perfection, diplomatic behavior, animal-killing, mundane profiteering, mundane adoration and mundane importance. All these are unwanted creepers.
CC Madhya 19.160 - “If one does not distinguish between the bhakti creeper and the other creepers, the sprinkling of water is misused because the other creepers are nourished while the bhakti creeper is curtailed.
CC Madhya 19.161 - “As soon as an intelligent devotee sees an unwanted creeper growing beside the original creeper, he must cut it down instantly. Then the real creeper, the bhakti-lata, grows nicely, returns home, back to Godhead, and seeks shelter under the lotus feet of Krsna.
CC Madhya 19.162 - “When the fruit of devotional service becomes ripe and falls down, the gardener tastes the fruit and thus takes advantage of the creeper and reaches the desire tree of the lotus feet of Krsna in Goloka Vrndavana.
CC Madhya 19.163 - “There the devotee serves the lotus feet of the Lord, which are compared to a wish-fulfilling tree. With great bliss he tastes the juice of the fruit of love and becomes eternally happy.
Yours in the service of studying Srila Prabhupada's books,
Dhruva Maharaja dasa
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