Does being humble mean being indifferent towards honor or being absorbed in Krishna?
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From Stoka Krishna P:

In the purport of Gita 13.8-12, Srila Prabhupada explains humility as not being anxious to have the satisfaction of being honoured by others and you have explained it in one of your Gita daily articles as being Krishna Centered. How do we link up these two perspectives on HUMILITY.

Answer Podcast

Do householder devotees need to attend the temple morning program daily to be surrendered?
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From Avatari Chaitanya P:

Whenever I think of 18.66, the only worry I have is whether Krishna actually considers me surrendered. Devotional service is a vast unlimited ocean and because of so many limitations and conditionings, I am only able to go so far. I have to draw the line somewhere regarding how much I can do. In addition, I am visibly short on several counts expected of me. Srila Prabhupada expected his followers to attend mangala arotika at Bhramha Muhurta every day. That is far from feasible for me. SP expected us to attend Srimad Bhagavatam classes every day. Again a far cry for me. At the time of Srila Prabhupada, most of ISKCON was a fully engaged community family. As a person who has a full time job, I often get the question of how Krishna (and Srila Prabhupada who is non-different from his in intentions) must be thinking of me. Prabhu, it will be great if you address some of these doubts in some future articles.

 Answer Podcast

The Soul and the Supreme Soul
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Śrīmad Bhāgavatam Canto Two, Chapter Ten, Text Eight

yo ‘dhyātmiko ‘yaḿ puruṣaḥ so ‘sāv evādhidaivikaḥ |
yas tatrobhaya-vicchedaḥ puruṣo hy ādhibhautikaḥ || 8 ||

The key words in this śloka are: (1) adhyātmika, (2) adhidaivika, and (3) ādhibhautika. All three words basically start with “adhi” and end with “ika” – if we strip away these parts we can see the key parts more clearly: (1) ātma, (2) daiva, and (3) bhauta. These three are in a strengthened grammatical form. If we revert this, the three words will become very familiar: (1) ātma, (2) deva, and (3) bhūta.

So, the three key concepts in this text are:

  1. Individuality (ātma)
  2. Divinity (deva)
  3. Substance (bhūta)

The subject of this śloka is the word puruṣaḥ - a “person.” Every person has three aspects: individuality, divinity, and substance. This śloka explains the interrelationship of these three aspects of a person:

About individuality (ātma) the text says: yo ‘dhyātmiko ‘yaḿ puruṣaḥ - “Where there is individuality there is a person.”

About divinity (deva)so ‘sāv evādhidaivikaḥ - “And that person is also certainly divine.”

About substance (bhūta)yas tatrobhaya-vicchedaḥ puruṣo hy ādhibhautikaḥ - “But, the part of a person that stands between the two is the substance.”

“Substances” (solids, liquids, etc) can be unreal products of māyā or real products of yogamāyā. When considering substance as the unreal product of māyā, it refers to a material body. So the meaning of the śloka is - A person is a divine individual, but a body of unreal substances separates and cuts off the individuality off from divinity. This is the primary meaning. The secondary, or hidden, meaning emerges when we consider “substance” as the real products of yogamāyā. That meaning is - A person is a divine individual, and a body of true substances facilitates the relationship between the individual and the divinity.

Note: “Cuts off” dually means “Facilitates the connection” due to the dual nature of the prefix vi- in viccheda. However this is an uncommon, unconventional, hidden meaning.

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam Canto Two, Chapter Ten, Text Nine

ekam ekatarābhāve yadā nopalabhāmahe |
tritayaḿ tatra yo veda sa ātmā svāśrayāśrayaḥ || 9 ||

This verse continues talking about the three (tritayam) components of a person described in the previous verse: individuality (atma), divinity (deva), and materiality (bhūta). 

The first thing it says is ekam ekatara - the three components of a person are interdependent, that is, one depends upon the other. How so? ekam ekatarābhāve yadā na-upalabhāmahe - if one of them is not present, the other two cannot be tangible.

An divine (deva) individual (ātma) without a body (bhūta) cannot be tangibly experienced, for example. An individual body without a divine element is also not tangible, it quickly decays and disappears.  Etc. Śrīla Viśvanātha and his greatest modern follower Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swāmī Prabhupāda give another example by brilliantly extending the three keywords like this: deva is analogous to the (divine) power of perception, ātma to the consciousness, and bhūta to the physical organs of perception. In the absence of one, the others become intangible.

To review, the śloka so far says “These three components of a person are interdependent, if one is not present the other two seem to vanish also.”

The second half of the śloka says something revolutionary for us, in the sense that it points out a part of reality that is so close to us that we almost always see right through it, and thus forget about it. It says that these three components of personality are not the actual person itself. After all it has already said that these three are relative realities. Now it will point to the actual person, an absolute (non-relative) being. It says: tritayaḿ tatra yo veda sa ātmā - “The one who possesses all three, s/he is the true self.” In other words the true self (ātmā) has three intrinsic qualities: individuality, divinity, and substance. 

The śloka ends, thus ending the “paragraph” begun in the previous śloka by saying something deep in a very amazing way. It ends by saying svāśrayāśrayaḥ. This is a compound of three words: sva-āśraya-āśrayaḥ. The true self is the shelter of three amazing qualities (individuality, divinity, and substance), but the true self is not independent. Svāśrayāśrayaḥ means means that the true self is an entity sheltered (āśrayaḥ) by one who is his own shelter (sva-āśraya). In other words, the spiritual entity is sheltered by/ rooted in the Supreme Spiritual Entity, and the Supreme Spiritual Entity is self-sheltering / self-rooted.

Conclusion

Altogether, these two outstanding verses teach us this:

Where there is individuality there is a person, and that person is also certainly divine, but the part of a person that stands between its individuality and divinity is its substantiality.

These the three components of a person are interdependently relative. If one is not present, the other two cannot be manifest.  The entity who possesses all three of these is the true self, an entity sheltered by one who is his own shelter.

May we all take sincere shelter of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.

Mahaprabhu and associates hear Śrīmad Bhāgavatam from Gadādhara Pandit

Mahaprabhu and associates hear Śrīmad Bhāgavatam from Gadādhara Pandit


Becoming bound
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 03 November 2013, Vrindavan, India, Lecture: Damodar Lila)

Srila Prabhupada SamadhiPrabhupada’s preaching has not finished; it has not finished at all. As it continues to flood the entire world, more and more people will come. So, yes, let the new people come; let them go forward! Let them offer a lamp in the front of Krsna Balaram, Gaura Nitai, Radha Syamasundar. Let them offer so that they can also become bound up by Krsna, so that they also can never leave. In that way, wherever they go, they carry this place, Vrindavan, in their hearts and also become residents of Vrindavan.

As Mother Yasoda binds Lord Krsna, tricky Krsna binds Mother Yasoda! So, as we are meditating on this pastime, we become bound, more and more bound to Krsna through his pure devotee – HDG AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, at whose feet we all assemble here. So let us get spiritual strength here and then return to the West; let us go back there as true representatives of Srila Prabhupada in purity and service attitude.

 

 

Open Secret
→ Seed of Devotion

Today over lunch, my friend Amal Kirtan asked me how I'm finding his home country of Brazil.

"I am feeling so deeply fortunate." I replied. "Amazed. The devotees here seem to live with their hearts on their sleeves. They give their whole hearts in service. No walls."

"Indeed, Brazilians have very open hearts," Amal Kirtan agreed.

"Yes! But I am wondering, Prabhu - if their hearts are so open, don't their hearts also get hurt much more easily?"

Amal Kirtan shook his head, "Brazilians have very strong hearts. It's very hard to break a Brazilian heart,"

My eyes widened and I leaned forward in my seat. "But why? How come??"

"Brazilians give and love with all their hearts, and if it gets hurt they also let it go. They know how to let go."

I leaned back in my seat. "Wow. They don't get so bitter or angry,"

"No, that's American!" Amal Kirtan laughed, and I laughed, too.

Brazilians seem to live the open secret: let love flow.

Monday, November 11th, 2013
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What’s There To Worry About?

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Mariano and I were the first awake in the ashram.  With a spurt of claustrophobia, we decided to hit the main street nearby for a walk before brahma muhurta, predawn.

“We’ll have to be careful though!” he warned.

“Alright, so what’s there to worry about?” I challenged with a chuckle.  “No drug dealer’s going to sell us anything, and if a prostitute is at a street corner, we will say to her, ‘Hare Krishna, Mataji’.”  Mataji means ‘mother’ respectfully.  “If a group or a gang spots us, they won’t know what to do with a couple of guys in robes.  It’s beyond their scope of experience.  If someone wants our money, we can prove we are pennyless and say, ‘hey, we’re monks’.”  It appears Mariano’s fears were dispelled.

Of course, I live in no denial about the dark side of life.  “It is for real,” I thought, while we were walking and seeing graffiti caked on store fronts almost everywhere we roamed.  It’s the sign of the times.  Some people say this is the age of Aquarius.  From a Vedic perspective, this is the age of Kali, a time of spiritual sleepiness.   This is quite easy to see anywhere in the world.

There’s a diversity of shops, all closed at this hour, mind you – modern furniture places, confectionaries, banks, clothing stores, office buildings.  A woman was lying there in front of a store front.  She had a blanket partially covering herself, and as we passed by, she looked ashamed and covered her face.  A few blocks further on, and we saw a reclined fellow enjoying a cigarette.  He gave a wave with a complacent smile.  He seemed content enough in his pile of meagre belongings.  If anyone’s life is not safe, it’s these types of people who are homeless and are in a vulnerable situation.

Safety or guarding from suffering is a concern for everybody, and it is apparent that some people do take shelter of God for alleviating pain.  This is one of the motivations behind approaching a life of devotion.  At noon today, four young people accepted diksa, spiritual initiation, as a step toward a better quality of life.  Held at the local temple, Mariano received the Sanskrit name, ‘Gaura Dayanath’ by his guru, Virabahu.  Then I delivered the names Markandeya Rishi to Marcos, Sevakund to Sebastian, and Nitya Siddha to Nadia.  The community in Argentina has treated my monk assistant, Maha Mantra and I, with amazing warmth.  I won’t forget their send off chanting party, just like I won’t forget their greeting.  The food was sublimely digestible, and I couldn’t get enough out of peach juice and fresh basil leaves in the veggie dishes.

Adios!

May the Source be with you!

8 KM

Snakebites of Separation
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tvad-alokana-kalāhi-daṁśair eva mṛtaṁ janam
tvat-padāmbja-milal-lakṣa-bheṣajair devi jīvaya

Someone is so near death, from the bites of the black snake of not seeing you. O Goddess, revive that person with the antidote: a meeting with the red-lac that adorns your lotus-feet.

This exquisitely beautiful poem is the 9th verse of Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Goswāmī’s Vilāpa-kusumāñjali. The entire book is full of such beauty. Those who read and appreciate this book destroy the limits of their good fortune.

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