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Hare Krsna!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada

How a soul becomes an evil spirit (Preta yoni)?
reasons are:
a) due to unnatural death ie. when someone commits suicide or living entities that die due to murder etc
.
b) In BG 9.25 Lord Krsna explains that those who worship demons and ghosts take birth after that among them.

c) in words of srlia prabhupad the position that Mayavadis attain is also similar to ghost or preta yoni

What happens to them?

Lord Shiva who takes care of the Mode of Ignorance...is the main diety (Ishtadeva) of the evil spirits, ghosts or demons. He is the incharge of such spirits. He out of mercy provides them the chance of taking birth as human. Just as we worship Lord Krsna the spirit and ghosts worship lord Shiva and then they are granted the human life. Such souls are transfered by Him in the womb of women who indulge in sex without thinking of place, time or situation. Srlia Prabhupad once quoted that "mayavadis want to attain the position of dissolving in Brahma which is the situation similar to Bhuta i.e Ghost or evil spirit (but he doesn't mention there what happens to mayavadis; somewhere again he says that Mayavadis after falling back to this worls take birth in rich families and do a lot of charitable works)"

How can we help?

Always remember the the question of Mahaprabhu to Haridas Thakur "What about the other living entities like trees, insects etc. How can they be delivered?" and in answer Haridas thakur replied "The Hare Krsna Mahamantra i.e Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare is so powerful that when it is chanted  due to the trancedental vibration all the living entities that feel that vibration are delivered. Hence Srila Prabhupad used to say that we should chant loudly (as much that it is audible in surrounding areas and also not disturbing to others who are chanting). So even the spirit souls who not visible to us hear this Mahamantra are delivered. So always chant Hare krsna mahamantra as it is the best service towards the living entities. No other charitable work can compare to it. "Jare dekho Tare Kaho Krsna Upadesa""


Regarding Gurvastaka

Guruvastaka is meant to offer prayer sto the spiritual master and after the prayer songs are over we offer vaishnav pranam "Vancha kalpataru ......." this prayer means that we are honouring all the acharyas as well as vaishnavas present at the moment. Hence no need to honour separately.

Yes you can offer obiesances to your spiritual master (who has given diksha or shiksha to you)  separately and to the Goswamis if they are present in the hall but please dont go to other vaishnavas and prostrate separately to them (as some people do by looking at the age of the devotee or out of closeness to them).... once offered pranam includes everyone

YS

Ashutosh

 

 

Why do ghosts and spirits trouble common people? See, ghost means a living entity who has a subtle body, but no gross body. In other words, such a living entity has mind, intelligence, and false ego, but not gross material body.

Conditioned living entities in the normal sense have subtle body, which is like the underwear worn by the soul, and the gross material body, which is like the outerwear.

When the gross material body is abnormally destroyed, as explained by Ashutosh Prabhu, then the living entity is not yet scheduled to get new gross material body, so the entity just hangs around.

That means that the ghost has the power for feeling, willing, and thinking, has all kinds of desires, BUT, no means to satisfy those desires. So therefore, such living entities, due to intense hankering, want to experience this desire... just imagine, if you had intense hankering to taste some sweet or savory item, but you had no tongue, no stomach to digest, no nose to smell to taste, but in your heart this intense hankering is there, then what will you do?

Some ghosts are benign, they are just living out their karmic reactions. Some are malicious, for example, someone who has done some crazy tantric ritual or worshiped ghosts and spirits...

In order to satisfy this hankering, the ghost must take control of another weaker living entity... so ghosts often take control of those in the mode of ignorance, such as those who are very very angry, or totally intoxicated, or someone who is mentally disturbed. Older people, pregnant women, and children are also susceptible, especially if not properly protected by the responsible people.

But if someone is very clean, in the mode of goodness, externally clean, and internally also clean, and connected to transcendence by chanting Hare Krishna, then ghost is not attracted, and if such a ghost is malicious, then they are repelled by devotional service.

But regardless, everyone benefits from chanting Hare Krishna Mahamantra, including all kinds of ghosts and spirits, benign or malicious.

One thing I would like to quote, please kindly listen... His Holiness Bhaktimarga Swami Maharaja has said, based on his own learning and what he has heard, and we can see that it is in agreement with Krishna's statements... whoever you talk about, or meditate upon, or remember, that personality gets attracted to you. So, if you meditate too much on this ghost, spirit, preta-atma etc., then such personalities will be attracted to you. Better to focus on instead remembering the sweet transcendental pastimes of Krishna, Krishna Katha, then Krishna will be attracted to you, and so will the Vaishnavas. So please kindly don't take such other discussions too far, for obvious reasons.

Your servant,
Mahabhagavat Das

 

 

 

 If all the persons present are initiated disciples of the same spiritual master, why not. But everyone must naturally feel a deep respect for the Vaishnava being glorified. Otherwise, as in most temple situations, you may glorify your shiksha and diksha guru silently in your mind.

I had asked this question to my spiritual master, and he said best not to get caught up in chanting too many mantras in prema dhvani... then I understood that "ananta koti vaishnava vrinda" includes them also, and also because rest of the program is going on also, and everyone else may not share your enthusiasm also. Best to stick to standard prema dhvani prayers... copied-pasted below from a reliable Internet source:

1. Jaya-nitya-lila-pravishta om Vishnu-pada paramahamsa parivrajakacharya ashtottara-shata Shri Srimad His Divine Grace Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja Prabhupada ki jaya.
2. Jaya om Vishnu-pada paramahamsa parivrajakacharya ashtottara-shata Shri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaja Prabhupada ki jaya.
3. Ananta-kotivaishnava-vrinda ki jaya.
4. Namacharya Haridasa Thakura ki jaya
5. Iskcon founder acharya Srila Prabhupada ki jaya.
6. Premse kaho Shri-Krishna-Caitanya, Prabhu Nityananda, jaya Advaita, Gadadhara, Shrivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda ki jaya.
7. Shri-Shri-Radha-Krishna Gopa-Gopinatha, Shyama Kund, Radha Kund, Girigovardhana ki jaya.
8. Vrindavana-dhama ki jaya.
9. Mathura-dhama ki jaya.
10. Navadvipa-dhama ki jaya.
11. Jagannatha-puri dhama ki jaya.
12. Ganga-mayi ki jaya
13. Yamuna-mayi ki jaya.
14. Tulasi-devi ki jaya.
15. Bhakti-devi ki jaya.
16. Sankirtana-yajna ki jaya.
17. Brihad-mridanga ki jaya.
18. Samaveta-bhakta-vrinda ki jaya.
19. Gaura-premananda Hari Hari bol,
20. All glories to the assembled devotees. (Hare Krishna) All glories to the assembled devotees. (Hare Krishna) All glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga.
When deity doors are open, then no one else can be offered respect and worship, when Tulasi Arati is going on, deity doors are closed, for example. BUT, if your personal initiating spiritual master is personally present in his vapuh (physical-looking forms), or in deity form, or any of his direct spiritual predecessors, such as A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada are present, even in deity forms, you may offer your obeisances to them while deity doors are open.

The understanding behind this is that without one's own spiritual master one cannot even know who is Krishna... if Krishna and the spiritual  master stand side-by-side, even then, spiritual master is to be offered respect first, and then spiritual master would say, my dear disciple, please meet Krishna, and then we know that the person is really Krishna.