31 Mar 2017
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Quotes by Srila Prabhupada, Sahajiya, Spiritual Life
Tags: anartha nivrtti, devotional symptoms, imitation of God, love of Krsna, prakrta-sahajiyas, pure devotees, rasa-lila, Sahajiya, sarupa, transcendental ecstasy
click on image to enlarge
We Should Not Become Sahajiyās
Prabhupada Connection
This is a nice compalation of quotes by Srila Prabhupada on the class of devotee known as ‘ahajiya’.
“A class of so-called devotees known as prākṛta-sahajiyās sometimes display devotional symptoms to exhibit their good fortune. They are pretending, however, because these devotional features are only external. The prākṛta-sahajiyās exhibit these symptoms to advertise their so-called advancement in love of Kṛṣṇa, but instead of praising the prākṛta-sahajiyās for their symptoms of transcendental ecstasy, pure devotees do not like to associate with them. It is not advisable to equate the prākṛta-sahajiyās with pure devotees. When one is actually advanced in ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa, he does not try to advertise himself. Instead, he endeavors more and more to render service to the Lord.” (Caitanya-caritāmṛta Antya 20.28, Purport)
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16 Sep 2016
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Sannyasa, Spiritual Life, Spiritual Master, Srila Prabhupada
Tags: A.C. Bhaktiveanta Swami Prabhupada, bhakti Prajnana Kesava, family life, Guru Maharaja, Krishna, Muni Maharaja, sannyasa, sannyasa 1959, sanyasi, Spiritual Life, Sri Srimad Bhaktiprajnana Kesava Maharaja, Srila Prabhupada's acceptance of sannyasa 1959
(Muni Maharaja, Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Maharaja, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami)
Today marks Srila Prabhupada’s acceptance of Sannyasa. Thanks to Prabhupada Connect for so nicely putting together this list list of quotes by Srila Prabhupada on Sannyasa, which we have re-posted here.
Srila Prabhupada’s Sannyasa Initiation
Srila Prabhupada accepted the order of sannyasa from Sri Srimad Bhaktiprajnana Kesava Maharaja on September 17, 1959 at the Kesavaji Math in Mathura. Included below are some relevant quotes from Srila Prabhupada’s lectures and letters.
“When I was householder, several times there was indication given by my Guru Maharaja that I should give up family life and become a sannyasi and preach this Krishna consciousness movement. In several way there was hints from my spiritual master, but still, I was not willing. I was thinking, ‘If I go away, then my family, my sons, my daughters, they will suffer.’ But actually, I have left my family connection in 1950. Actually ’54, but introductory in ’50. For the last twenty years. But they are living; I am living. They are not dying in my absence, and I am not suffering without being in my family. On the other hand, by Krishna’s grace, I have got better family members. I have got nice children in a foreign country. They are taking so much care of me, I could not expect such care from my own children.
So this is God’s grace. We should depend on Krishna. If Krishna is kind, wherever we go, everyone will be pleased, everyone will be kind. And if Krishna is unpleased, even in your family life you’ll not be comfortable. Therefore, according to the Vedic system, at a certain age, it is indicated that one should retire from family life.” (Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Tittenhurst, London, September 12, 1969)
“The Krishna consciousness movement is not that we are asking everyone to become a sannyasi like me, and give up everything. No. That is not our program. You act as a brahmaṇa, as a ksatriya or a vaisya or a sudra. It doesn’t matter. But you try to satisfy Krishna. That is the program.” (Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Bombay, December 30, 1972)
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05 Sep 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Festivals, Krishna, KRSNA The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Spiritual Life
Tags: A. C. Bhakthvedanta Swami Prabhupada, apearance of Lord Krishna, Birth of Lord Krsna, Janmastami, Krishna Janmastami, Krsna Janamastmi, Krsna The Supreme Personality of Godhead, mother yashoda bathes lord Krsna
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Joyous Celebration at Krishna’s Birth
Today we celebrate the birth of Lord Krsna, or Krishna Janmastami, with a full day fast and a feast after his appearance at Midnight tonight. We honor this auspicious day with a post from the Krsna Book.
The joyous vibrations at Krsna’s birth ceremony could be heard in all the pasturing grounds and houses.
Full Chapter More
19 Jul 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, Krsna Consciousness, Spiritual Life
Tags: 8, A. C. Bhakthvedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bg 7.1-3, fish out of water, human form of life, Krsna consciousness movement, Krsna Consciousness the Topmost Yoga System, Lecture by Srila Prabhupada, material body, maya, sac-cid-ananda, soul, spiritual body, Spiritual Life
The other day I was talking with one guest, explaining that we are actually sac-cid-ānanda; (eternal, full of knowledge, and bliss), eternal spirit souls, but are, at the present moment, in a temporary position, just like a fish out of water. This is a very good analogy that Srila Prabhupada has used often in his preaching. I did a search this morning on Prabhupada Books.com and found a few references that I am posting here, as well as one very nice Bhagavad-gita Lecture wherein Srila Prabhupada is describing the nature of the soul.
Everyone in the material world is engaged in all kinds of political, philanthropic and humanitarian activities to make material life happy and prosperous, but this is not possible. One should understand that in the material world, however one may try to make adjustments, he cannot be happy. To cite an example I have given many times, if you take a fish out of water, you can give it a very comfortable velvet bedstead, but still the fish cannot be happy; it will die. Because the fish is an animal of the water, it cannot be happy without water. Similarly, we are all spirit soul; unless we are in spiritual life or in the spiritual world, we cannot be happy. That is our position. (Srila Prabhupada; Krsna Consciousness The Topmost Yoga System)
Śrīla Prabhupāda: The Vedic injunction is that people are searching after knowledge, and that when one understands the Absolute Truth, he understands everything. Yasmin vijñāte sarvam evaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati. People are trying to approach an objective, but they do not know that the final objective is Kṛṣṇa. They are simply trying to make adjustments with so many materialistic revolutions. They have no knowledge that they are spiritual beings and that unless they go back to the spiritual world and associate with the Supreme Spirit, God, there is no question of happiness. We are like fish out of water. Just as a fish cannot be happy unless he is in the water, we cannot be happy apart from the spiritual world. We are part and parcel of the Supreme Spirit, Kṛṣṇa, but we have left His association and fallen from the spiritual world because of our desire to enjoy this material world. So unless we reawaken the understanding of our spiritual position and go back home to the spiritual world, we can never be happy. We can go on theorizing for many lifetimes, but we will only see one revolution after another. The old order changes, yielding its place to the new. Or in other words, history repeats itself. (Srila Prabhupada; The Journey for Self Discovery)
A fish that is taken out of the water cannot be happy by any arrangement on land. He must be supplied with water. In the same way, the minute sac-cid-ānanda living entity cannot be really happy through any amount of planning conceived by his illusioned brain in this material universe. He must therefore be given a different type of happiness which is spiritual in essence. Our ambition should be aimed at enjoying spiritual bliss and not this temporary happiness. Some philosophers claim that spiritual bliss is attained by negating material happiness and material existence. Theoretical negation of material activities as propounded by Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya may be effective for an insignificant section of mankind, but the best and surest way for everyone to attain spiritual bliss was propounded by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu by means of devotional activities. These devotional activities can change the very face of material nature. (Srila Prabhupada; Elevation to Krsna Consciousness)
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14 May 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Songs of the Vaisnava Acaryas, Spiritual Life
Tags: A. C. Bhakthvedanta Swami Prabhupada, braja-jana-vallabha, gopis, kunja-vihari, lover of Radharani, purport to Jaya Radha Madhava, Radha-Madhava, songs of the vaisnava acharyas, Srila Prabhupada chanting jaya-radha-madhava, srila prabhupada playing kartals, Srimati Radharani
click on image to enlarge
Purport to Jaya Radha Madhava
By Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
(New York, July 20, 1971)
[Sings Jaya Radha-Madhava.]
Srila Prabhupada: So this is the original nature of Krsna, original nature of Krsna. He is Radha-Madhava. He is the lover of Srimati Radharani. And kunja-vihari, always enjoying the company of the gopis within the bushes of Vrdavana forest. Radha-madhava kunja-vihari. So He’s not only lover of Radharani, but braja-jana-vallabha. The whole residents of Vrndavana, they love Krsna. They do not know anything else. They do not know whether Krsna is God, or not; neither they are very much harassed, that “I shall love Krsna if He is God.” “He may be God or He may be whatever He is. It doesn’t matter, but we love God, Krsna.” That’s all. That is called unnalloyed love. “If Krsna is God, then I shall love Him” — this is conditional love. This is not pure love. Krsna may be God or whatever He may be, but by His wonderful acts, the Vrajavasi, they are thinking, “Oh Krsna, He is very wonderful child, maybe some demigod. Maybe some demigod.” Because people are generally under impression that the demigods are all-powerful.
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01 Apr 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, Spiritual Life
Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, as it is, Bg10.10, bhagavad-gita, devoted, scholarship, spiritual advancement, Spiritual Life, tesam satata-yuktanam
This morning I was reading from the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, the following verse;
teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
yena mām upayānti te
To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.
This is one of those verses that years ago I added to my repertoire of memorized slokas, and remains today one of my favorite verses. I have come to realize, that it is not by any great knowledge or scholarship, on my part, that I will make spiritual advancement, but rather, it is by faith and devotion, that I might be able to advance spiritually.
…A person may have a bona fide spiritual master and may be attached to a spiritual organization, but still, if he is not intelligent enough to make progress, then Kṛṣṇa from within gives him instructions so that he may ultimately come to Him without difficulty. The qualification is that a person always engage himself in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and with love and devotion render all kinds of services. He should perform some sort of work for Kṛṣṇa, and that work should be with love. If a devotee is intelligent enough, he will make progress on the path of self-realization. If one is sincere and devoted to the activities of devotional service, the Lord gives him a chance to make progress and ultimately attain to Him. (from purport to Bg. 10.10)
Full Text and purport More
18 Feb 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Kali Yuga, Spiritual Life, Srimad Bhagavatam
Tags: always disturbed, faithlessness, irregular habits, Kali, Kali-yuga, lazy, misguided, over-sense gratification, overdependence on another’s mercy, Overeating, quarrel, SB1.1.10, self realization, sense gratification, shortened lives, unlucky
Kali Yuga
O learned one, in this iron age of Kali men have but short lives. They are quarrelsome, lazy, misguided, unlucky and, above all, always disturbed. (SB 1.1.10)
This morning as I was reading from the Srimad Bhagavam, and Srila Prabhupada was describing the symptoms of this age.
…In Kali-yuga, the duration of life is shortened not so much because of insufficient food but because of irregular habits. By keeping regular habits and eating simple food, any man can maintain his health. Overeating, over-sense gratification, overdependence on another’s mercy, and artificial standards of living sap the very vitality of human energy. Therefore the duration of life is shortened.
The people of this age are also very lazy, not only materially but in the matter of self-realization.
In this age, men are victims not only of different political creeds and parties, but also of many different types of sense-gratificatory diversions, such as cinemas, sports, gambling, clubs, mundane libraries, bad association, smoking, drinking, cheating, pilfering, bickerings, and so on. Their minds are always disturbed and full of anxieties due to so many different engagements… In the Kali-yuga the whole atmosphere is surcharged with faithlessness. Men are no longer interested in spiritual values. Material sense gratification is now the standard of civilization.
Although it is indeed a difficult age to live in, still there is a solution. In this First Chapter of Srimad Bhagavatam;
…The sages of Naimiṣāraṇya are anxious to disentangle all fallen souls, and here they are seeking the remedy from Śrīla Sūta Gosvāmī.
Full Text and Purport More
13 Jan 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Cow Protection, Krishna, Krishna Consciousness, Krishna Nectar, Spiritual Life, Spiritual World
Tags: caste, cow protection, cowherd boys and calves, cowherding, forest of Vrndavan, Krsna, mercantile and agricultural community, Nanda Manaraja, river yamuna, SB3.2.27, SB3.2.28, SB3.2.29, vaisya
This morning I was reading from the Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 3, Chapter 2, and I just stopped and re-read the following three verses and purports a second time, as they were so visually attractive. Srila Prabhupada in his purport, was painting a beautiful picture of the spiritual world.
In His childhood, the Almighty Lord was surrounded by cowherd boys and calves, and thus He traveled on the shore of the Yamunā River, through gardens densely covered with trees and filled with vibrations of chirping birds. (SB 3.2.27)
…The forests on the shore of the Yamunā are all beautiful gardens full of trees of mango, jackfruit, apples, guava, oranges, grapes, berries, palmfruit and so many other plants and fragrant flowers. And because the forest was on the bank of the Yamunā, naturally there were ducks, cranes and peacocks on the branches of the trees. All these trees and birds and beasts were pious living entities born in the transcendental abode of Vṛndāvana just to give pleasure to the Lord and His eternal associates, the cowherd boys. (from purport)
Canto Three, Chapter 2, Text 27-29 More
24 Sep 2014
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Back to Godhead, Narahari das, Simple Living, Spiritual Life
Tags: Back to Godhead Magazine, bonafide religion, BTG, chant Hare Krsna, every town and village, God, Iskcon, Krsna, Narahari, narahari das, read Srila Prabhupada's books daily, Sailing Back to Godhead, Spiritual Life, spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, The Hare Krishna Movement, the hare krsna's, transcendental knowledge
Yesterday I was cleaning out the abandoned barn at Bahulavan, which is now being put back together again, and I found an old issue of Back to Godhead Magazine mixed in with so much debris. I pulled it out, cleaned it off, and added it to my collection of Back to Godhead Magazines. I had always heard of this famous sailing ship, and finally got a chance to see it.
Sailing Back to Godhead
Article excerpted from Back to Godhead Magazine Vol. 16, No. 6, 1981
A teakwood ketch and a devotee’s determination help bring Lord Krsna’s message to the Hawaiian Islands.
“…Krsna consciousness is the only established religion I know of that openly respects all other bonafide religions. My wife and I chant Hare Krsna and read Srila Prabhupada’s books daily. It’s added a dimension to my life that I feel is essential.”
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09 Sep 2014
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Back to Godhead, Soul, Spiritual Life
Tags: A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Pabhupada, Back to Godhead Magazine, Bhagavata-dharma, BTG, God, Krsna, part and parcel of God, relationship with God, sons of God, soul, Supreme Lord Krishna, wandering soul
Which Way Home for the Wandering Soul?
A lecture by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
Excerpted from Back to Godhead Magazine Vol. 18, No. 10, 1983
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for kindly participating in this Krsna consciousness movement, which is spreading bhagavata-dharma. Bhagavata-dharma means “the activities performed in relationship with the Supreme Lord.” The Lord is Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the devotee is bhagavata, one who acts in relationship with Bhagavan.
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09 Aug 2014
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Back to Godhead, Soul, Spiritual Life, The Hare Krishna Movement, Vishnujana Swami
Tags: Back to Godhead Magazine, Bhagavad-gita 2.59, BTG, His Holiness Visnujana Svami, illusion, illusory energy, mercy of the Lord, neophytes, regulative principles, soul, Spiritual Life, the Hare Krsna movement, vairagya, Visnujana Swami
Some Day the Tiny Soul Will Want to Get Out of Illusion
Instructions to the devotees of the Hare Krsna movement
given in New York City, March 31, 1974
by His Holiness Visnujana Svami
Excerpted from Back to Godhead Magazine 1974 Vol. 1, No. 65
…As soon as one gets the association of the bhakti-vedanta, the pure devotee or spiritual master, and hears from his lips the nectarean waves flowing just like the wonderful River Ganges, these waves enter his ears and his heart and purify him. Thus he is freed from the seeds of contaminated material desires. When he hears sufficiently, his intelligence becomes satisfied, and he agrees to act on the instructions of his bona fide spiritual master. The more he acts on these instructions, the more he becomes freed from past bad habits and the conditional responses of this material world. Thus his conditional association is completely vanquished. This, of course, is where he achieves a spiritual taste (ruci) and spiritual strength (vairagya).
full lecture More
09 Jun 2014
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, Devotional Service, Dharma, Spiritual Life
Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, active state, Bhagavad Gita, devotee as a conjugal lover, devotee as friend, devotee as parent, devotional service, eternal relationship with the Lord, passive state, relationship, svarupa, transcendental friendship
click on image to enlarge
I have always loved this picture since the first time I opened the Bhagavad-gita some 42 years ago. It is a beautiful image of life in the Spiritual Sky, and also, it is a nice graphic description of the 5 types of relationships one can have with the Supreme Lord. The following is a short description, from the Introduction to the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, about the eternal nature, and the 5 types of relationships on can have with the Lord.
…In this material world we find that everything is temporary. It comes into being, stays for some time, produces some by-products, dwindles and then vanishes. That is the law of the material world, whether we use as an example this body, or a piece of fruit or anything. But beyond this temporary world there is another world of which we have information. This world consists of another nature which is sanātana, eternal. Jīva is also described as sanātana, eternal, and the Lord is also described as sanātana in the Eleventh Chapter. We have an intimate relationship with the Lord, and because we are all qualitatively one—the sanātana-dhāma, or sky, the sanātana Supreme Personality and the sanātana living entities—the whole purpose of Bhagavad-gītā is to revive our sanātana occupation, or sanātana-dharma, which is the eternal occupation of the living entity. We are temporarily engaged in different activities, but all of these activities can be purified when we give up all these temporary activities and take up the activities which are prescribed by the Supreme Lord. That is called our pure life.
…That destination is called the sanātana sky, the eternal spiritual sky. (from Introduction to Bhagavad-gita As It Is)
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26 May 2014
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Krishna's flute, Radha Krishna, Radha Madhava, Spiritual Life, Srimati Radharani
Tags: 1975 edition, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, fifth note, flute, Krishna's Flute, Kuruksetra, Radha, Radharani, Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Vrndavan, Yamuna
[This is a verse spoken by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.] “My dear friend, now I have met My very old and dear friend Kṛṣṇa on this field of Kurukṣetra. I am the same Rādhārāṇī, and now We are meeting together. It is very pleasant, but still I would like to go to the bank of the Yamunā beneath the trees of the forest there. I wish to hear the vibration of His sweet flute playing the fifth note within that forest of Vṛndāvana.”
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31 Mar 2014
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Ecstasy, Spiritual Life, Spring, Srila Prabhupada's Books, Srimad Bhagavatam
Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, devotee, lotus feet of the Lord, material enjoyment, perfection in devotional service, pure devotional service, remembering Krishna, SB 1.5.19, spiritually relishable, spring break, Srila Prabhupada's books
I guess we all have our favorite verse or sloka from Srila Prabhupada’s books, and a favorite picture as well. This is probably my favorite verse from the Srimad Bhagavatam. It speaks to me, and I find that I quote this verse often when I am speaking with others about the joyous nature of Krishna consciousness.
I will be away from the computer for the next few weeks as we are taking a ‘spring break’, but I wanted our last post to be about Remembering Krishna.
My dear Vyāsa, even though a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa sometimes falls down somehow or other, he certainly does not undergo material existence like others [fruitive workers, etc.] because a person who has once relished the taste of the lotus feet of the Lord can do nothing but remember that ecstasy again and again. (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.5.19)
…Pure devotional service is so spiritually relishable that a devotee becomes automatically uninterested in material enjoyment. That is the sign of perfection in progressive devotional service. A pure devotee continuously remembers the lotus feet of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and does not forget Him even for a moment, not even in exchange for all the opulence of the three worlds. (from purport)
Full Verse and Purport More
03 Feb 2014
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Remembering Srila Prabhupada, Satsvarupa das Goswami, Spiritual Life, Spiritual Master, Spiritual World, Srila Prabhupada, Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta
Tags: Citsukhananda das, Cuernavaca, happies, hatha yoga, hippies, India personified, kirtan in mexico, Laksmi-priya dasi, mexico, Mexico City, prabhupada, Spiritual world, Srila Prabhupada, yoga, yoga in mexico
click on image to enlarge
I was talking with one devotee the other day about Puerto Vallarta Mexico. We both agreed that it was a very beautiful and magical place and the devotee informed me that Srila Prabhupada had once visited there, liked it very much and said it reminded him of the birth place of Bhaktivinoda Thakur. This prompted me to do a search on Srila Prabhupada’s visit to Mexico…
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20 Jan 2014
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Arts and Crafts, Brahma-samhita, Gopis, Spiritual Life, Srimati Radharani
Tags: ananda cinmaya, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, Brahma-samhita, ecstatic potency, Goloka, govindam adi-purusam, I worship Govinda, Radha, rasa, sixty four artistic activities, Sixty-four Activities in Fine Arts and Crafts, Sri Brahma-samhita
click on image to enlarge
In yesterdays post we listed the 64 Arts and Sciences that Krsna and Balarama learned from their spiritual master, today we list the The Sixty-four Activities in Fine Arts and Crafts, learned by Srimati Radharani and the gopis, as found in the Brahma-samhita text 37.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, residing in His own realm, Goloka, with Rādhā, resembling His own spiritual figure, the embodiment of the ecstatic potency possessed of the sixty-four artistic activities, in the company of Her confidantes [sakhīs], embodiments of the extensions of Her bodily form, permeated and vitalized by His ever-blissful spiritual rasa.
Full text and purport follow More
18 Jan 2014
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Qualities of a Devotee, Spiritual Life, Srila Prabhupada
Tags: A.C. Bhaktiveanta Swami Prabhupada, devotional service, free from false ego, friend to all living entities, non envious, perfectional stage of spiritual life, qualities of a devotee
As devotees, or rather as practitioners of bhakti-yoga, we should be aspiring to act in such a way that all of our actions and words will be an inspiration to others. We are representatives of our spiritual master and Krishna. And as such should try to act according to the instructions given in the Bhagavad-gita.
The perfectional stage of spiritual life which one can experience even while being in the material world is described in the Twelfth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā as follows:
“One who is not envious but who is a kind friend to all living entities, who does not think himself a proprietor, who is free from false ego and equal both in happiness and distress, who is always satisfied and engaged in devotional service with determination and whose mind and intelligence are in agreement with Me-he is very dear to Me. He for whom no one is put into difficulty and who is not disturbed by anxiety, who is steady in happiness and distress, is very dear to Me. A devotee who is not dependent on the ordinary course of activities, who is pure, expert, without cares, free from all pains, and who does not strive for some result, is very dear to Me. One who grasps neither pleasure or grief who neither laments nor desires, and who renounces both auspicious and inauspicious things, is very dear to Me. One who is equal to friends and enemies, who is equipoised in honor and dishonor, heat and cold, happiness and distress, fame and infamy, who is always free from contamination, always silent and satisfied with anything, who doesn’t care for any residence, who is fixed in knowledge and engaged in devotional service, is very dear to Me. He who follows this imperishable path of devotional service and who completely engages himself with faith, making Me the supreme goal, is very, very dear to Me.” (Bg. 12.13-20)
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09 Jan 2014
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Spiritual Life, Sri Caitanya-Caritamrta
Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, affection, devotional service, gopis, Lord Krsna, Lord's mercy, obliged by affection, service rendered in affection, special mercy, Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, veneration
click on image to enlarge
Two Ways to Approach the Lord; Affection & Veneration
“Lord Kṛṣṇa’s mercy is dependent only on affection. Being obliged only by affection, Lord Kṛṣṇa acts very independently. (Cc. Madya 10. 139)
I have been looking for this(above) verse for the longest time. I remember reading this verse and purport a couple of years ago, and could not remember which book of the Sri Caitanya-caritamrta it came from. But today by Krsna’s mercy, I found the verse and purport.
“…Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is merciful, but His mercy does not depend on mundane rules and regulations. He is dependent only on affection and nothing else. Service to Lord Kṛṣṇa can be rendered in two ways. One can serve the Lord in affection or in veneration. When service is rendered in affection, it is the Lord’s special mercy. When service is rendered in veneration, it is doubtful whether Kṛṣṇa’s mercy is actually involved.” (from purport Cc. Madya 10. 139)
Full text and purport More
08 Jan 2014
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, Letters by Srila Prabhupada, Spiritual Life
Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhagavad Gita, body mind and intelligence, conditioned soul, Krsna, Krsna conscious person, krsna consciousness, Letters by Srila Prabhupada, material contamination, purified activities, sadacara
…I wish everyone of my devotees may purify himself from all material contamination and thus be eligible for entering into the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Material life means indulging in sense gratification which diverts our attention from spiritual importance and thus we remain captive under the bewilderment of Maya. This is the most dangerous of our condition of life. Intelligent persons therefore try to avoid it under the protection of Krsna and the Spiritual Master. (from a letter by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Aug.25 1970)
…A conditioned soul, entangled in material contamination, is sure to act in the material atmosphere, and yet he has to get out of such an environment. The process by which the conditioned soul can get out of the material atmosphere is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. (purport Bg. 4.24)
…By acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness for the satisfaction of the senses of Kṛṣṇa, any action, whether of the body, mind, intelligence or even of the senses, is purified of material contamination. There are no material reactions resulting from the activities of a Kṛṣṇa conscious person. Therefore, purified activities, which are generally called sadācāra, can be easily performed by acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. (purport Bg. 5.11)
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23 Dec 2013
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Caaitanya-caritamrta, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Practicing Krishna Consciousness at Home, Spiritual Life, Sri Caitanya-Caritamrta
Tags: 1975 edition, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, devotee showbottle devotee, false renunciant, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, ocean of material existence, ordinary man, self realization, Spiritual Life, Sri Caitanya Caritamrta
“Be patient and return home. Don’t be a crazy fellow. By and by you will be able to cross the ocean of material existence. You should not make yourself a showbottle devotee and become a false renunciant. For the time being, enjoy the material world in a befitting way and do not become attached to it. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu continued: “Within your heart, you should keep yourself very faithful, but externally you may behave like an ordinary man. Thus Kṛṣṇa will soon be very pleased and deliver you from the clutches of māyā.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta: Madhya-lila Chapter 16, Text 237-239)
I have always liked this verse, it is sage advise for anyone practicing spiritual life (self-realization), in this age. “Within your heart, you should keep yourself very faithful, but externally you may behave like an ordinary man.” It is not that everyone who is interested in practicing Krishna Consciousness must artificially renounce the world, shave their head, put on robes, become a nun or monk, and live in a temple. No the instruction is here; “enjoy the material world in a befitting way and do not become attached to it.”
The peace and happiness for which we are all hankering for life after life, moment after moment, we will get when our desires become purified, and dovetailed with the Lord. One who desires sense gratification, the enjoyment of material satisfaction, will never be happy. That is not possible. If you want peace, if you want happiness, if you want perfection in your life, then just begin to dovetail your desires, activities, and potentials with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then you will see what real happiness is, and can tell who is really crazy.
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