Author Archives: Chaitanya Charan das

Gita verse-by-verse podcast

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Expression reflects and reinforces emotion. The celebration of Vyasa-puja is an expression of the gratitude that the disciple feels for the spiritual master. And that feeling becomes reinforced when a disciple expresses one’s own gratitude and hears other disciples’ express their gratitude.

The spiritual master’s guidance and grace are indispensable for elevating and liberating souls caught in this dangerous and treacherous material existence. The spiritual master is non-different from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as the sacred scriptures proclaim. In Srimad-Bhagavatam, in the Uddhava Gita (11.17.27: acaryam mam vijaniyam), Krishna himself declares that the acarya is nondifferent from him. This non-difference is not because of a merging of beings but because of a joining of hearts. The spiritual master is purely and selflessly surrendered to Krishna, as was Arjuna at the end of the Bhagavad-gita (18.73). The spiritual master is not just the conveyor of Krishna’s will – he is also the gateway to Krishna; on Krishna’s behalf, he receives the disciple’s service and bestows mercy.

yasya prasadad bhagavata prasado     yasya ‘prasadan na gatih kuto ‘pi

By the mercy of the spiritual master is the mercy of Krishna accessed. So potent and transformational is the spiritual master’s mercy that the sincere disciple feels and remains indebted, lifetime after lifetime. The disciple strives to express that gratitude by dedicating one’s life to the spiritual master’s service.

During the course of our life, Vyasapuja offers us a precious annual opportunity to meditate on and better appreciate our spiritual master’s gifts. In composing our offering to the spiritual master, we go deep into our heart. Going beyond the routines and superficialities that frequently crowd our consciousness, we focus on that which matters most – the supreme treasure of Krishna-bhakti with which the spiritual master has enriched our heart. And by hearing the offerings of other devotees, we see those devotees with greater appreciation – not just for their functional roles in this world, but also as devoted and exalted souls committed to the spiritual master’s service.

Vyasadeva is the quintessential spiritual master. He is the literary incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By rendering the Vedic message in written form, he preserves and propagates that timeless treasure of wisdom. Therein, he provides a comprehensive gamut of guidelines for elevating people at all levels. And he also gives in Srimad-Bhagavatam, the ripened fruit of the Vedic literature (Bhagavatam 1.1.3), the conclusive guidelines of pure devotion for those seeking life’s highest destination – eternal spiritual love for Krishna.

All spiritual masters follow in the footsteps of Vyasadeva and carry on his mission. Thus, the spiritual master represents Krishna, specifically Krishna in his manifestation as Vyasadeva. Through the numerous representatives of Vyasadeva over millennia culminating for us in our spiritual master, we receive the treasure of krishna-bhakti.

Among the many spiritual masters who have carried forward Vyasadeva’s legacy, the position of His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada is distinctive. Srila Prabhupada was the commander who fulfilled the prophecy of Lord Chaitanya that the holy names will be chanted […]

The post The Meaning of Vyasa Puja – “He came, he gave, he conquered” appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Gita verse-by-verse podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Seminar at ISKCON. Seshadripuram, Bangalore

Podcast

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Gita verse-by-verse podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Gita verse-by-verse podcast

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Recently a devotee told me that he had been fighting against a particular conditioning for a long time and was repeatedly relapsing into it despite having made many resolutions to give it up. He had become so disheartened that he said, “Maybe I should just stop practicing bhakti. What is the use of all my practicing and preaching if I can’t overcome such a basic anartha? And I have tried and failed so many times that I am sure I will never be able to give this up.”

“I don’t think you have a right to be so confidently pessimistic,” I told him. “To claim that something will never happen is to claim that even Krishna doesn’t have the power to make it happen.”
“But Srila Prabhupada says that even Krishna can’t help us if we are not determined,” he said despairingly. “And I can no longer be determined because I have lost my confidence.”

I reassured him. “You haven’t lost your confidence – you have just misplaced it. Instead of placing your confidence in Krishna, you are placing it in your conditioning. And that is making you confidently pessimistic. Instead if you place it in Krishna, you can become confidently optimistic.”

“But what is the basis for optimism when I am not able to overcome such a basic conditioning?”

“Don’t judge the progress of your bhakti only by your success in overcoming a particular conditioning. Bhakti practice is meant to increase our attraction to Krishna. And every single bhakti activity we do, it increases that attraction, even if infinitesimally. And that attraction will eventually erase our attraction to worldly things. Some conditionings may be very deep-rooted and may take time to go away. No matter how long our conditionings last, they can’t stop our bhakti practice – they can only interrupt it.

“And for resuming it after the interruption, we can base our optimism on Krishna’s unfailing love for us. He doesn’t disqualify us from bhakti practice, no matter what happens, as he indicates in Gita (09.30-31). The essential message of those verses is that we don’t have the power to do anything that can make Krishna stop loving us. Nothing we do can make Krishna as the Supersoul leave our heart and abandon us. Krishna waits for us because he is confident that one day we will turn towards him.”

I concluded, “Krishna has maintained his confidence in us despite not having much result to show. Why then should we give up our confidence in him just because we don’t have a particular result to show? If he has maintained his confidence in us for so many lifetimes, why can’t we maintain our confidence in him for this one lifetime?”

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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