(this blog is recorded on the full page: quick time player needed; works best with Firefox or Explorer) Reflecting on my life and the lives of those I know and read about, I see how much we all struggle with our material natures and tendencies, and how these can negatively impact our relationships with others. Even though we suffer on account of identifying with our bodies and minds, we remain attached to our limited perspectives or biased lenses, finding it difficult to accept that our entire problem of life is physicality. Ignorance is bliss runs the material world, and since we have invested so much time and energy in trying to enjoy worldly happiness, we don’t want to admit our folly in its pursuit. This is why spiritual knowledge is so essential, and even more so, realization of these truths.
Stated another way, many people may casually understand that they “have” a soul, but few try to act as one, or make realizing their soul and its relationship with God their life’s true quest. Genuine spiritual paths are meant to give us tools to realize our spiritual nature. In Gaudiya Vaishnavism, chanting the holy name and engaging in pure devotion (shuddha bhakti) are the means to uncover our soul and let it shine in love of Krishna. Material consciousness is muddy consciousness, while soul consciousness is like pure mountain water. This is why we speak often of “purification” when speaking about the effect of spiritual practices. Purification means taking away the mud of matter from our consciousness, so our real nature as willing instruments for divine purpose will gradually manifest.
The basics of bhakti are frequently repeated since the fundamentals need to be mastered before higher stages are obtained. While devotees of Krishna accept the fact that the ABC’s of spiritual life involve realizing that “we are not the body,” this isn’t so easy, even after many years of practice.
(this blog is recorded on the full page: quick time player needed; works best with Firefox or Explorer) Reflecting on my life and the lives of those I know and read about, I see how much we all struggle with our material natures and tendencies, and how these can negatively impact our relationships with others. Even though we suffer on account of identifying with our bodies and minds, we remain attached to our limited perspectives or biased lenses, finding it difficult to accept that our entire problem of life is physicality. Ignorance is bliss runs the material world, and since we have invested so much time and energy in trying to enjoy worldly happiness, we don’t want to admit our folly in its pursuit. This is why spiritual knowledge is so essential, and even more so, realization of these truths.
Stated another way, many people may casually understand that they “have” a soul, but few try to act as one, or make realizing their soul and its relationship with God their life’s true quest. Genuine spiritual paths are meant to give us tools to realize our spiritual nature. In Gaudiya Vaishnavism, chanting the holy name and engaging in pure devotion (shuddha bhakti) are the means to uncover our soul and let it shine in love of Krishna. Material consciousness is muddy consciousness, while soul consciousness is like pure mountain water. This is why we speak often of “purification” when speaking about the effect of spiritual practices. Purification means taking away the mud of matter from our consciousness, so our real nature as willing instruments for divine purpose will gradually manifest.
The basics of bhakti are frequently repeated since the fundamentals need to be mastered before higher stages are obtained. While devotees of Krishna accept the fact that the ABC’s of spiritual life involve realizing that “we are not the body,” this isn’t so easy, even after many years of practice.
Fruška Gora is a mountain in north Syrmia. Most part of it is located within Vojvodina, Serbia, but a smaller part on its western side overlaps the territory of Croatia. Sometimes, it is also referred to as jewel of Serbia, due to its beautiful landscape protection area, nature and its picturesque countryside
1970 July 18: "World Sankirtana Party does not mean that we have to cover immediately the whole world. The program is that everywhere this Sankirtana Movement should be introduced." Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
1970 July 18: "If the temples are not properly maintained, then we should simply concentrate on Sankirtana outside. Temple opening is secondary, but we should concentrate on the outside Sankirtana." Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
1970 July 18: "We should concentrate our energy on constructive work. The constructive work is preaching. So his proposal for preaching from village to village in our own bus is very much appreciated by me." Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
1970 July 18: "I am very glad to know you have been staying at our London Temple. This is the most fortunate company because the most important thing for spiritual realization is the company of realized souls or pure devotees of the Lord." Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
1970 July 18: "Since the publication by MacMillan in 1968 which is now in its third printing, I have desired to publish my expanded version of Bhagavad-gita As It according to my original manuscript. I am confident my original manuscript will make a more successful book." Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
1970 July 18: "I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter informing me you have lost your original set of beads and requesting me to chant upon the new set sent by you. Now you are in very responsible position as president of our branch, so you should be more careful. Anyway, I have chanted duly the beads and they are herewith returned to you." Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
1975 July 18: "Chant Hare Krishna and read our books very carefully. Do not waste your time with this study of monkeys. What will you learn by this? Better to hear from Lord Krishna Himself in Bhagavad-gita." Prabhupada Letters :: 1975
1975 July 18: "Somehow or other they must be induced to take interest in spiritual life. Then it will be successful. You will get money and they will get spiritual profit. Both will be benefited by the grace of Krishna Balarama." Prabhupada Letters :: 1975
There will be a Barn Closure Ceremony at Bahulaban on Sat. Oct. 5, 2013.
Especially if you were born in the barn (pun intended) or lived there for any time, you will want to attend the ceremony.
In June of this year, the ECOV Board resolved to help improve the over-all appearance of New Vrindaban and, whenever possible, recycle/reuse the materials in various projects around the Community. So it was resolved that the Board approved up to $10K for clearing the Bahulaban barn site, to include dismantling of the barn, re-use of the timber, disposal of the remainder, and removal of the adjacent dung pit.
You can read more about the barn in the New Vrindaban Bloggers article below. http://walkingthefenceline.wordpress.com/2011/07/18/deconstructing-the-bahulaban-barn/
No other details about the ceremony are available at the present time.
We will keep you posted.
Hare Krsna.
So everyday I make a prayer for chanting better japa. I make this as my daily practice. Thus I have incorporated into my day the simple prayer, here is the prayer.
“Oh my dear Lord Krsna, I will always chant my rounds in a mood of surrender. Krsna please help me to chant this way in a mood of complete dependence and surrender to the holy name.”
From The Process of Improving Habits by Mahanidhi Swami
So everyday I make a prayer for chanting better japa. I make this as my daily practice. Thus I have incorporated into my day the simple prayer, here is the prayer.
“Oh my dear Lord Krsna, I will always chant my rounds in a mood of surrender. Krsna please help me to chant this way in a mood of complete dependence and surrender to the holy name.”
From The Process of Improving Habits by Mahanidhi Swami
A boat in an ocean keeps bobbing due to the unending waves. To stay steady, it needs an anchor.
Similarly, the waves of unending dualities – heat and cold; pleasure and pain; honor and dishonor – keep our mind perpetually restless. To steady it, we need an anchor.
The best anchor is Krishna. To understand why, let’s consider two related meanings of the word “anchor.” As a noun, it refers to the heavy object to which the boat is fixed. As a verb, it refers to the act of fixing a boat to a heavy object.
Krishna is the ultimate anchor in both senses of the word, as can be inferred from the Bhagavad-gita (09.13). Here’s how.
Krishna being the supreme unchanging reality is never affected by any material change, as indicated in the verse by the describers bhutadim (the source of everything) and avyayam (imperishable, unaffected by time). Thus, he is the best anchor to stabilize our mind.
Moreover, Krishna is not an insentient object or an indifferent principle; he is a living, caring person. When we try to fix the mind on him, he doesn’t passively watch us struggling to reach him. He extends himself towards us – and extends himself far more than we extend ourselves towards him. This he does through his internal potency which this verse refers to as daivim prakrtim (divine energy). Krishna is nondifferent from his energies – especially his internal energy which manifests the love and grace of his heart. Through this energy, he infuses us with devotion, thereby enabling our mind to naturally gravitate towards him (bhajanty ananya manaso).
Thus is Krishna the best anchor for the mind – as the best destination for thought and the best expressway to that destination.
***
O son of Prtha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.
As I sat gazing out of the window this morning, i saw a coffin being pulled out of a car and into a church. Friends, family and strangers looked on by the pavement.
"Japa is an important part of devotional life. If your japa is not up to standard, this is serious. You must reform. That is, out of your regret may come success. Prabhupada used to say, ‘Failure is the pillar of success.’ Assess yourself, and try to improve your chanting of Hare Krishna."
From Japa Reform Notebook by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
"Japa is an important part of devotional life. If your japa is not up to standard, this is serious. You must reform. That is, out of your regret may come success. Prabhupada used to say, ‘Failure is the pillar of success.’ Assess yourself, and try to improve your chanting of Hare Krishna."
From Japa Reform Notebook by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
Why this question is my last question, why I'm believing so much that all lectures seems right(what is said by isckon devotee) no question comes. Is it blind faith? Is it harmful for me or it is good only?
According to vedic culture we are not just body and mind but we are soul and we as a soul already a part of supreme soul(Krishna) and our main aim of life is to go back to the supreme soul. then why do take birth on the earth means why do we get indulge in birth and rebirth cycle?
wherever our intention is there then our attention goes there right? That means
senses goes to sense objects then we get
Desires ( here mind comes into picture? or Intelligence comes into picture?)
Thoughts( Thinking feeling Willing)?
words & actions?
Prabhuji , could you please explain above terminology ?? How do they come into action and in what sequence?I am very confused about it..
Prabhuji actually what is the role of mind and what is the role of Intelligence?
Can you clear my doubts with example?
Do we have to first purify our mind? and then Intelligence and finally our existence??? what is the sequence?
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 25 December 2012, Cape Town, South Africa, Srimad Bhagavatam 8.6.31)
Sometimes we have people who are so much into the rules and regulations but with that, they are not helping us because they make the process inaccessible to the general public. We see that Prabhupada didn’t do that. Therefore Prabhupada told us that in deity worship there are three principles which are important: cleanliness, punctuality and simplicity.
Simplicity is nice because it makes it accessible. It means that even if you are not a specialist, you can still do it – which is important. If we become so much wrapped up in so much rituals, so much rules… then only professional pujaris can manage it. So Krsna consciousness is simple for the simple.
I will end with a statement from Tribhuvanatha. It is not recorded anywhere in the vedabase but not everything Prabhupada said or did was recorded, believe it or not! There are some things that devotees just remember.
Satsvarupa Maharaja, when he was interviewing people for the Lilamrta, had a strict standard that he would not include stories that came from one person only. He would take only stories that were confirmed by a second person. I think that in general, it is a good policy but if the person is of a very high calibre, like Tribhuvanatha, then we will accept.
Tribhuvanatha said that Prabhupada made the statement once, in an arrival address, that Krsna consciousness is so simple, you might just miss it. I really find that a very profound statement.
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 25 December 2012, Cape Town, South Africa, Srimad Bhagavatam 8.6.31)
Sometimes we have people who are so much into the rules and regulations but with that, they are not helping us because they make the process inaccessible to the general public. We see that Prabhupada didn’t do that. Therefore Prabhupada told us that in deity worship there are three principles which are important: cleanliness, punctuality and simplicity.
Simplicity is nice because it makes it accessible. It means that even if you are not a specialist, you can still do it – which is important. If we become so much wrapped up in so much rituals, so much rules… then only professional pujaris can manage it. So Krsna consciousness is simple for the simple.
I will end with a statement from Tribhuvanatha. It is not recorded anywhere in the vedabase but not everything Prabhupada said or did was recorded, believe it or not! There are some things that devotees just remember.
Satsvarupa Maharaja, when he was interviewing people for the Lilamrta, had a strict standard that he would not include stories that came from one person only. He would take only stories that were confirmed by a second person. I think that in general, it is a good policy but if the person is of a very high calibre, like Tribhuvanatha, then we will accept.
Tribhuvanatha said that Prabhupada made the statement once, in an arrival address, that Krsna consciousness is so simple, you might just miss it. I really find that a very profound statement.
People love Ganesh, the elephant-headed god. He’s adorable, a little chubby, accessible, exotic and full of good luck. Luke was selling Ganesh in his figurine form off the table at a stall. The Krishna Culture Festival of India in its 4th year running is going down the trail of continued success. I had walked Cumberland Avenue from Victoria Avenue, the location of our new meditation room/Indian Store, Sanskriti, to destination Marina Park to attend the fest.
My only real obligation, an agreement made with organizer Prem Kishor was to start the event with lighting a dhiya, a cotton ghee wick before milling around in the crowd. The flame represents the presence of God. Dignitaries from the city councils and other various VIPs also lit their wicks and then spoke. When the mic passed over to me, I mentioned that this program is staged to lift the body, mind and spirit.
The emcee was Jordan as was the case last year. Since that time he has become a lawyer. He showed up in smart looking kurta and jeans. Last year it was a kurta and shorts. As we sat down for a minute or two, the jeans at the knee revealed a hole. He joked after this discovery that the hole makes it all the more chic, and that if he were to have a pair of pants with paint splashes on it, it would be commercially a piece of top dollar clothing.
People came to check out the food, samosas even outdid Ganesh in sales. Books were also picked up, Chant and Be Happy, a pocket sized BBT book has the Beatles on the cover, along with our guru Srila Prabhupada. That was selling along with Gitas and cookbooks.
The volunteers, numbering at least 50, are newly arrived Indian students who were doing just about everything to cater to a Canadian crowd of ancestry from Finland, Germany, Italy, Ukraine, England, Quebec, and First Nations. I spent a good hour with a couple who fore-parents hailed from the swamp and muskeg up North. They were intrigued with the dance and music on the stage – traditional story telling about the pastimes of Krishna. The park provides a natural beautiful background of the Earth’s largest body of water, Lake Superior, and there we find the Sleeping Giant, a massive rock formation, which is according to legend, a retiring native chief, there to rest for a while. To one couple I met, typical fair haired Thunder Bay residents, who know something about deities from India, I remarked, “You’ve got your very own reclining Vishnu here."
There was no beer served, no meat, and I don’t think anyone was missing what to some of us are taboos. All had a good time, all 5,000+, not bad for a city of 100,000 people. There seemed to be no obstacles. It is said that Ganesh removes hurdles on the path of devotion. That seemed to apply at the festival today.
People love Ganesh, the elephant-headed god. He’s adorable, a little chubby, accessible, exotic and full of good luck. Luke was selling Ganesh in his figurine form off the table at a stall. The Krishna Culture Festival of India in its 4th year running is going down the trail of continued success. I had walked Cumberland Avenue from Victoria Avenue, the location of our new meditation room/Indian Store, Sanskriti, to destination Marina Park to attend the fest.
My only real obligation, an agreement made with organizer Prem Kishor was to start the event with lighting a dhiya, a cotton ghee wick before milling around in the crowd. The flame represents the presence of God. Dignitaries from the city councils and other various VIPs also lit their wicks and then spoke. When the mic passed over to me, I mentioned that this program is staged to lift the body, mind and spirit.
The emcee was Jordan as was the case last year. Since that time he has become a lawyer. He showed up in smart looking kurta and jeans. Last year it was a kurta and shorts. As we sat down for a minute or two, the jeans at the knee revealed a hole. He joked after this discovery that the hole makes it all the more chic, and that if he were to have a pair of pants with paint splashes on it, it would be commercially a piece of top dollar clothing.
People came to check out the food, samosas even outdid Ganesh in sales. Books were also picked up, Chant and Be Happy, a pocket sized BBT book has the Beatles on the cover, along with our guru Srila Prabhupada. That was selling along with Gitas and cookbooks.
The volunteers, numbering at least 50, are newly arrived Indian students who were doing just about everything to cater to a Canadian crowd of ancestry from Finland, Germany, Italy, Ukraine, England, Quebec, and First Nations. I spent a good hour with a couple who fore-parents hailed from the swamp and muskeg up North. They were intrigued with the dance and music on the stage – traditional story telling about the pastimes of Krishna. The park provides a natural beautiful background of the Earth’s largest body of water, Lake Superior, and there we find the Sleeping Giant, a massive rock formation, which is according to legend, a retiring native chief, there to rest for a while. To one couple I met, typical fair haired Thunder Bay residents, who know something about deities from India, I remarked, “You’ve got your very own reclining Vishnu here."
There was no beer served, no meat, and I don’t think anyone was missing what to some of us are taboos. All had a good time, all 5,000+, not bad for a city of 100,000 people. There seemed to be no obstacles. It is said that Ganesh removes hurdles on the path of devotion. That seemed to apply at the festival today.
While we have all become accustomed to seeing the typical images that are conjured up when we think of yoga, it can be an heart-opening experience to learn of bhakti-yoga - the yoga of love.
We invite you to come and dive into an evening full of divine chants as you learn more about the ancient teachings of the yoga of the heart. The premise of the "Evening of Bhakti" is to hold a spiritually-soaked event for you. Whether you are completely new to the concept of bhakti-yoga or a seasoned veteran, you can expect an incredible evening of chanting, wisdom, dancing and more, followed by a vegan dinner.
Hosted at beautiful Govinda's Dining Hall in Toronto's historic Hare Krishna Centre (243 Avenue Road), we warmly invite your for an evening that will feed the mind, body and soul!
Free Admission - Donations Accepted.
PLEASE NOTE that the timings for this evening have changed to 7:30 P.M. Looking forward to meeting you on Saturday, July 27th, 2013 at 7:30 P.M.! See you there! :-)
