Tag: mahamantra

Feasting on the Holy Name

Many spiritualists fast. Especially Vaishnavas on Ekadasi day… but Ekadasi is meant for feasting. So how is it that someone can be simultaneously fasting and feasting at the same time?

తెలుగు (Telugu) translation

In most religious traditions, there is a concept of fasting… whether it is fasting from vice, or fasting from food and water… For example, the Christians fast for 40 days during Lent. Muslims fast for a month during Ramadan/Ramzan… and many other traditions have similar fasts.

In the Vaishnava tradition which I practice, we fast once approximately every 14 days, on a day called Ekadasi or Ekadashi. Usually this is the eleventh day of the waxing or waning moon. Usually, because there are some details when the fasting is a day later, but we won’t get into all that right now.

However, some advanced Vaishnavas say that Ekadashi is meant to be a day of feasting, not fasting.

But…

One should fast on the two Ekādaśī days, which fall on the eleventh day of the waxing and waning moon, and on the birthdays of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Lord Rāma and Caitanya Mahāprabhu. There are many such fasting days.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/3/27/22/

Huh?

If Vaishnavas are fasting from grains, beans, and in some cases from all food, and from all water too for some… then what are they feasting on?

Well, new practitioners may find it hard to fast from food, being how intricately attached we are to our bodies, minds, and serving them constantly. For such Vaishnavas, it is advised that they can eat as much as they need to, except no grains and beans… and all that they eat must be first offered to Krishna. This helps them regulate their senses at least on that level.

But many Vaishnavas often fast from much more than just grains and beans, so how is it that they can feast?

Let us take the example of Rupa Goswami and Sanatana Goswami, great Goswamis of Vrindavan… they had obtained exalted birth, a very sharp intelligence and tremendous knowledge, and were serving as the ministers of the Nawab of Bengal. Rupa Goswami’s life savings in gold coins filled up an entire boat with gold!

But these same two brothers, when in Vrindavan, had no fixed residence, spending each night under a different tree, with barely enough clothing to cover themselves, and austere food, spent all their time hearing and chanting about Krishna. How could they do that?

tyaktva turnam asesha-mandala-pati-srenim sada tuccha-vat
bhutva dina-ganesakau karunaya kaupina-kanthasritau
gopi-bhava-rasamritabdhi-lahari-kallola-magnau muhur
vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau

I offer my respectful obeisances unto the six Gosvamis, namely Sri Rupa Gosvami, Sri Sanatana Gosvami,
Sri Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Sri Jiva Gosvami, and Sri Gopala Bhatta
Gosvami, who kicked off all association of aristocracy as insignificant. In order to deliver the poor
conditioned souls, they accepted loincloths, treating themselves as mendicants, but they are always merged in
the ecstatic ocean of the gopis’ love for Krishna and bathe always and repeatedly in the waves of that ocean.

Verse 4 https://iskcondesiretree.com/page/shad-goswamy-ashtakam

How is it possible for such persons accustomed to royal pleasures to give them up?

It understand by spiritualists that the objects of the senses, the experiences we chase, the possessions we crave, the sensory satisfaction we seek, are compared to toys and children… the child is attached to the toy, but can be induced to give up the toy if offered a higher and better experience.

What could be a higher and better experience than all the pleasures of material life? Especially, how can one give up that most basic of bodily needs – food?

What does food do for us?

  • Food satisfies the tongue – this hankering of the tongue is practically unconquerable, no matter if we need the food or not, the tongue will never say no.
  • Food nourishes the body – we feel strength from the food.
  • Food produces renunciation from food – as we get full, we hanker for food less and less.

भक्ति: परेशानुभवो विरक्ति-
रन्यत्र चैष त्रिक एककाल: ।
प्रपद्यमानस्य यथाश्न‍त: स्यु-
स्तुष्टि: पुष्टि: क्षुदपायोऽनुघासम् ॥ ४२ ॥

bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir
anyatra caiṣa trika eka-kālaḥ
prapadyamānasya yathāśnataḥ syus
tuṣṭiḥ puṣṭiḥ kṣud-apāyo ’nu-ghāsam

Devotion, direct experience of the Supreme Lord, and detachment from other things — these three occur simultaneously for one who has taken shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in the same way that pleasure, nourishment and relief from hunger come simultaneously and increasingly, with each bite, for a person engaged in eating.

So, if someone obtained an experience that fulfilled all three needs – satisifed the tongue, satisfied the bodily need for nourishment, and produced renunciation from the hankering for food, then that experience can replace food!

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/11/2/42/

Such is the chanting of the Holy Name of God.

This Hare Krishna Mahamantra

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare

The Hare Krishna Mahamantra

This Mahamantra, when chanted purely, produces such an experience and beyond.

In fact, advanced spiritualists have tried to describe the experience of chanting Hare Krishna…

tuṇḍe tāṇḍavinī ratiṁ vitanute tuṇḍāvalī-labdhaye
karṇa-kroḍa-kaḍambinī ghaṭayate karṇārbudebhyaḥ spṛhām
cetaḥ-prāṅgaṇa-saṅginī vijayate sarvendriyāṇāṁ kṛtiṁ
no jāne janitā kiyadbhir amṛtaiḥ kṛṣṇeti varṇa-dvayī

“I do not know how much nectar the two syllables ‘Kṛṣ-ṇa’ have produced. When the holy name of Kṛṣṇa is chanted, it appears to dance within the mouth. We then desire many, many mouths. When that name enters the holes of the ears, we desire many millions of ears. And when the holy name dances in the courtyard of the heart, it conquers the activities of the mind, and therefore all the senses become inert.”

Rupa Goswami https://vedabase.io/en/library/cc/antya/1/99/

Is it any wonder that if a Vaishnava experiences even a tiny drop of a fraction of the ecstasy that the Holy Name generates, that they can abstain from food?

So should the rest of us go and imitate these Vaishnavas and fast from food and water willy nilly, even if the body is hurting?

अशास्त्रविहितं घोरं तप्यन्ते ये तपो जना: ।
दम्भाहङ्कारसंयुक्ता: कामरागबलान्विता: ॥ ५ ॥
कर्षयन्त: शरीरस्थं भूतग्राममचेतस: ।
मां चैवान्त: शरीरस्थं तान्विद्ध्यासुरनिश्चयान् ॥ ६ ॥

aśāstra-vihitaṁ ghoraṁ
tapyante ye tapo janāḥ
dambhāhaṅkāra-saṁyuktāḥ
kāma-rāga-balānvitāḥ

karṣayantaḥ śarīra-sthaṁ
bhūta-grāmam acetasaḥ
māṁ caivāntaḥ śarīra-sthaṁ
tān viddhy āsura-niścayān

Those who undergo severe austerities and penances not recommended in the scriptures, performing them out of pride and egoism, who are impelled by lust and attachment, who are foolish and who torture the material elements of the body as well as the Supersoul dwelling within, are to be known as demons.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/5-6/

Of course, advanced Vaishnavas are not masochists or sadists, certainly not demons, and they don’t accept torturing their bodies, even if they have transcended the body… This is because the advanced Vaishnava sees the body as the property of Krishna.

In fact, when an advanced Vaishnava is seen by Krishna to be accepting too much austerity, Krishna gives that person more nourishment and opulence.

Take Krishna’s friend, the pure-hearted Brahmana named Sudama… Krishna gave him all opulence even though he didn’t ask for it!

This is one of Krishna’s most famous promises…

अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जना: पर्युपासते ।
तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम् ॥ २२ ॥

ananyāś cintayanto māṁ
ye janāḥ paryupāsate
teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ
yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham

But those who always worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form – to them I carry what they lack, and I preserve what they have.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/22/

So, coming back to our original question… when a Vaishnava fasts, how is it that they are still feasting while fasting?

Simple. They feast on the Holy Name of Krishna

(1)
Of sweet things, it’s the sweetest you will taste at any time;
Of things that bring good fortune, it’s good fortune’s paradigm;
Of things that purify, it purifies most powerf’lly;
The Holy Name of Sri Hari is surely all that be.
(2)
From Brahma’s realm atop the sky down to the lowly grass,
Illusion reigns in Maya-devi’s treacherous morass.
The truth, the truth, the only truth: the Name of Sri Hari.
The Holy Name of Sri Hari is surely all that be.
(3)
He’s the guru, he’s the father, he’s the friend most true,
And she’s the real mother who most kindly teaches you
To always chant and hear the Holy Name of Sri Hari.
The Holy Name of Sri Hari is surely all that be.
(4)
Remember that our final breath may come at any time,
No matter if we’re old and sick or in our youthful prime.
So young and old alike should chant the Name incessantly.
The Holy Name of Sri Hari is surely all that be.
(5)
Lord Sri Hari forever dwells wherever devotees
Whose hearts are fixed on Him and free of all impurities
Uplift their voices high and sing His Name in ecstasy.
The Holy Name of Sri Hari is surely all that be.
(6)
Alas! What sorrow! What great pain! The worst calamity-
For people to forget the Holy Name of Sri Hari!
Although the Name’s a priceless gem, mere broken glass they see.
The Holy Name of Sri Hari is surely all that be.
(7)
Just fill your ears, just fill them with the Name of Sri Hari!
Just chant the Name, just chant the Name with all sincerity!
Just sing the Name, just sing the Holy Name eternally!
The Holy Name of Sri Hari is surely all that be.
(8)
It makes this world appear like bits of straw upon the ground;
It splendorously reigns supreme-divinity in sound;
It’s filled with transcendental bliss and peerless purity;
The Holy Name of Sri Hari is surely all that be.
(9)
Inspired to glorify the Holy Name of Sri Hari,
A certain sage composed this hymn in Sanskrit poetry.
I pray that those who read this lowly version made by me
Will chant the Holy Name of Sri Hari in ecstasy.

His Grace Sriman Dravida Dasa ACBSP English rendering of Sri Kevalastakam of Sri Nilakanta Goswami

What to speak of food for a day, the advanced Vaishnava can give up this entire material world!

Killer Earthquakes – why do they happen?

Why do earthquakes occur? Yes, the scientists explain about sesimic faults, tectonic shifts, and so on, but why an earthquake at a particular place at a particular time that affects only a particular set of people? Have we forgotten the most fundamental law of nature?

As I write this, there have been a series of earthquakes that have rocked Turkiye and Syria since Feb 6, 2023.

It is a major humanitarian disaster, with thousands of people who are dead, and thousands more expected to lose their lives.

Thousands of families are shattered, livelihoods disrupted, and so many communities are altered for ever.

I am shocked, saddened and feel extreme sorrow for the tremendous loss.

As the world rushes to provide humanitarian relief, in the form of search, rescue, food, clothing, medical assistance and more, some are asking why this happened.

It seems that almost no one is doing anything to stop things like this.

After all, Turkiye is no stranger to earthquakes. The region is well-known to be situated in an area with a high risk for earthquakes. The scientists have studied and identified what is known as the North Anatolian Fault Line, which identifies a known feature of the earth’s surface that makes this region more prone to earthquakes.

In the recent past, there have been major earthquakes in 1903, 1912, 1914, 1939, 1998, 2003, and 2020. In fact, there have been over 97 sets of earthquakes in Turkiye since AD 1900!

Of course, earthquakes have occurred in other parts of the world too, and millions of people have been killed over the course of history.

While one can look at it from an analytical perspective and say something like “why do people live in earthquake prone areas anyways” or “why don’t governments do more to prevent deaths”… the fundamental question to ask is “why do earthquakes occur?”.

While scientists will launch into a long-winded technical explanation, I’d argue they don’t know what they’re talking about. Yes seismic faults, yes, volcanoes, yes tectonic plate shifts, but why a specific place and why a specific time, and why not some other place and why not some other time?

Why do some people escape an earthquake and why do some others not escape?

Why is it that only a specific group of people are affected by earthquakes and not some other specific group of people?

Why is it that some people whose ancestors lived (or died) in earthquake prone areas for hundreds or thousands of years suddenly escape an earthquake? Why is it that people whose ancestors never experienced a single earthquake suddenly find themselves in the wave of destruction of one?

Modern material scientists have no clue, because they have overlooked an important law of nature.

It’s called the Law of Karma.

According to the Law of Karma, every soul experiences exactly what it is due to experience, and the law of karma is infallible… in other words, once someone is slated to experience something, that cannot be avoided or prevented in the ordinary course.

Krishna introduces this concept in the Bhagavad Gita…

एषा तेऽभिहिता सांख्ये बुद्धिर्योगे त्विमां श‍ृणु ।
बुद्ध्या युक्तो यया पार्थ कर्मबन्धं प्रहास्यसि ॥ ३९ ॥

eṣā te ’bhihitā sāṅkhye
buddhir yoge tv imāṁ śṛṇu
buddhyā yukto yayā pārtha
karma-bandhaṁ prahāsyasi

Thus far I have described this knowledge to you through analytical study. Now listen as I explain it in terms of working without fruitive results. O son of Pṛthā, when you act in such knowledge you can free yourself from the bondage of works.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/39/

Krishna uses the words “karma bandham”, which is translated as “bondage of reaction to work”… in other words, whenever we do something in the material world, it causes a reaction.

Now, from a material perspective, this reaction can be a positive reaction, or a negative reaction, as in, either desirable outcome or undesirable outcome.

कर्मणो ह्यपि बोद्धव्यं बोद्धव्यं च विकर्मणः ।
अकर्मणश्च बोद्धव्यं गहना कर्मणो गतिः ॥ १७ ॥

karmaṇo hy api boddhavyaṁ
boddhavyaṁ ca vikarmaṇaḥ
akarmaṇaś ca boddhavyaṁ
gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ

The intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore one should know properly what action is, what forbidden action is and what inaction is.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/17/

In the material world, especially materialistic people teach us to act as we like, as long as we don’t get caught, or in the best case, as long as we don’t get into trouble with the local laws.

But the Laws of Karma are the Laws of God. You can’t escape them. It’s not a question of belief.

What if you don’t know the laws of karma? Just as in our world, ignorance of the law is no defense, similarly, while the reaction of an offense unknowingly committed might be less than the reaction of an offense knowingly committed, that is similar to the difference between manslaughter and first-degree murder… punishment may be less for one vs. the other, but punishment nevertheless.

So, one should take the trouble to understand that meat eating, intoxication, illicit sex, and gambling are the pillars of forbidden action.

Until we get out of the cycle of forbidden action, we cannot get out of the reactions of it.

As you sow, so shall you reap… as we slaughter, so shall we be slaughtered.

Collective Karma

There is such a thing as collective karmic debt… in other words, the laws of nature gather a certain set of people, small or big, to experience the pleasures and pains related to karmic reactions… certain nations are hot, others are cold, some have a shortage of water, others are prone to certain diseases… some cities are safer than others, some villages are next to horrendous pollutors and suffer from all sorts of untimely diseases. Some families are prone to certain disorders…

It is all related to the infallible law of karma, souls collected together to suffer and enjoy.

So, while we should feel compassion for all those caught in the cycle of birth and death, we should strive hard to bring them out of that cycle of birth and death, by helping ourselves and others purify our consciousness completely clean of all material contamination.

ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ
śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam
ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ
sarvātma-snapanaṁ paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam

“ ‘Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.’

https://vedabase.io/en/library/cc/antya/20/12/

So therefore, earthquakes, floods, fires, these things are unavoidable. We cannot change that. Our main business should be to exit this temporary world that is full of suffering. This we can do only if we attain spiritual perfection.

aprārabdha-phalaṁ pāpaṁ
kūṭaṁ bījaṁ phalonmukham
krameṇaiva pralīyeta
viṣṇu-bhakti-ratātmanām

For those who are engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all sinful reactions, whether fructified, in the stock, or in the form of a seed, gradually vanish. Therefore the purifying potency of devotional service is very strong, and it is called pavitram uttamam, the purest. Uttama means transcendental. Tamas means this material world or darkness, and uttama means that which is transcendental to material activities. Devotional activities are never to be considered material, although sometimes it appears that devotees are engaged just like ordinary men. One who can see and is familiar with devotional service will know that they are not material activities. They are all spiritual and devotional, uncontaminated by the material modes of nature.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/2/ purport by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

It is possible to pull souls out of the karma chakra, of endless action that produces endless reaction.

But it needs everyone to act in a spiritual way, right now.

Why do earthquakes happen? Because we’ve accumulated a lot of bad karmic reactions, and it’s payback time. What goes around, comes around.

And the solution?

We should act for the ultimate spiritual benefit, before it is too late.

Please be a part of the ultimate solution – the only solution.

If you want to benefit yourself and all the living entities who have lived, are living, and have lived, Please chant…

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare

The Hare Krishna Mahamantra, the great chant for deliverance

What does it mean to ignore your mind?

What does it mean to “ignore the mind”? Is this even possible? Why would I do that? And how can it be done?

Vishal, 23 February 2020

Hare Krishna,

Dandavats to everyone.

I have heard statements a lot of time, ignore your mind. Can we really ignore our mind and overcome issues like sadness, depression, laziness, confusion etc. Is it so easy to ignore ?

Please help me to understand what it means by ignoring the mind.

Hare Krishna 

Vishal

Nuria.k, 23 February 2020

Hare Krishna,

Please accept my humble obeisances 

All glories to Srila Prabhupada

In my humble understanding it means ignoring what is not good for Krsna consciousness because sometimes the mind is lamenting or putting obstacles like on the spiritual path. In that case it is better to strengthen our sadhana and move our attention to Maha mantra and spiritual master.

Nuria.k

Tapas Chakraborty, 24 February 2020

Hare Krishna 

All glories to Srila Prabhupada 

High regards for putting forward such an important subject around which revolves our resolves in our tune to consciousness. I hope a lot of debate and inputs from our learned disciples to shed enough of illuminations for others’ enlightenment.

As a novice in the subject, I am just attempting to put forth my understanding.

Mind is the most critical part of human intelligence, the control or discipline of which is the core to values in understanding of the truth or opening our intelligence to higher knowledge. Ignoring the mind is not a lasting solution to our spiritual journey for everlasting peace and ecstasy rather training it to be focused on our objectives of desires for higher realization in pursuit of excellence.

But the question remains how? In Bhagavad Gita this Subject has been dwelt in great details with 4 paths, viz Bhakti Jyana Raj and Karma yogas each of which deals with different aspects of training our mind. At ISKCON we are in the path of Bhakti Yoga in achieving the twin objectives of Krishna consciousness as well as controlled focus of mind as well as our senses. 

I wish to hear in detail from the disciples in this group whom I look upon as highly realized souls.

Hare Krishna 

From an endearing servant 

Tapas

Sacinandana Das, 25 February 2020

Hare Krishna.

Please accept my humble obeisances. 

All glories to Srila Gurudev and Srimati Gurumata ji. 

All glories to Srila Prabhupada. 

We should ignore the mind if it stops us to perform Krishna Service by intelligence as intelligence is higher than mind. 

Jivera swarupa hoye nitya Krishna Das. 

The constitutional position of the living entity is to serve Krishna. 

For example if we want to get up early and chant the holy names of the Lord but the mind may stay asleep for some more time but we should not listen to it. We should ignore it and wake and chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. 

Mind may give us hundreds of reasons not to chant. It may say oh you are so tired, please take a little more rest but Srila Gurudev says we should chastise the mind. We should tell the mind to get up. Our mind has kept us so long in the material world. We should stop listening to our mind and control it by intelligence. We should be heavy with our mind. Our mind is a rascal.

Mind is like a little child. We must have seen a small child troubling his or her mother but when the child does not listen to her mother, the mother sometimes becomes angry and chastises her child and the child immediately comes under control. 

Our mind is like that small child and intelligence is like a mother. Above the intelligence is the soul whose Constitutional position is to serve Krishna as we are not this body. 

Bhagavad Gita says that the mind can be our best friend or enemy. So how to make our mind our best friend by performing devotional service to our beloved Lord Sri Krishna. In case one does some crime and has to go to jail, will our best friend go to jail with us? No. But Lord Krishna is so kind that as a Paramatma He never leaves us. He follows us from one to another for 84 lakhs yonis waiting for us when this living entity will turn face towards me. Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita that He is the best friend of all living entities. He is like a loving father and we are like a rich man’s son who has left our father. If some body recognises us and tells oh you are the son of Mr. Such and such. That someone is the Spiritual Master. That is why the Spiritual Master is so dear to Krishna. 

So let us stop listening to our mind and make the whole world Krishna conscious. I hope it helps. Hare Krishna.

your servant, 

Sacinandana das. 

Shridhar Das, 25 February 2020,

Hare Krishna,

Dear Vishal,

Please accept my humble obeisance.

All Glories to Srila Gurudeva and Srimati Gurumata!

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Ignoring is one of the mind techniques to deal with the mind.

Srila Gurudeva tells in one lecture that ignoring someone is a very heavy way of chastising. Srila Prabhupada did so with his disciples on a few occasions. Any spiritual master does to train the disciple. On the other hand, a parent has to also apply the technique of neglect with their children who is restless by nature. Children speak many things which they do not mean/intend to. It’s just a monkey stunt. If one was to pay heed to each such action from the energetic child, one will have no time for personal life unless really expert.

In the same way, we are already having custody of our child “mind”. Of course it’s a nasty demon in most cases than a child. Therefore, there are many ways to deal with these different behaviors of the mind. The standard principle is:

1) To engage the mind in the lotus feet of the Lord. Since the mind controls the reigns of all 5 senses, the 5 senses also become engaged.

a. Since we are not there,

2) We engage the 5 senses to ensure the mind, whose focus lie on the senses also becomes busy in their engagements

a. This is why we should keep ourselves busy in services

b. That service gives a meaning to our existence and the mind becomes occupied in planning and executing it. Where then is the question for the mind to think otherwise? Besides, if it is service to Krishna, mind purifies. Otherwise, there are millions who are foaming, working hard 16 hours a day for earning some money and experience a drop of sense gratification, but are more entangled with the desires of mind and senses. And are still dissatisfied.

3) Besides engaging, we also restrain our mind and senses from their sense objects.

a. Just as a drunkard who trying to get rid of addiction to alcohol tries to maintain distance from such drinks and his booze circle, we have to distance our mind and senses from their material addictions

b. At the same time apply first 2 principles of engaging somewhere. We are not dry speculators or renunciants who are after giving up the world but we are to connect everything with Krishna through devotional service.

The above 2 are standard principles as per Bhagavad Gita (Engaging & Refraining). 

In our initial stages where we are cultivating the habit of above 2, mind will still sometimes take time out in midst of our engagements to ponder upon negative thoughts. Then we deal mind with the following weapons: (SS RBNJ – Sri Sri Radha Brindavan Nath Jee)

1) Daily Reading of Scriptures: By knowledge, intelligence sharpens and the sword of knowledge comes handy to  cut the illusions of mind.

2) Regular Hearing from Sadhus who are determined and taking their association from time to time!

3) Rosy Words: We console it with a Rosy Words: “My dear mind, let us engage yourself in the service of Guru & Vaishnavas. That will make us happy…” and so on.

4) Beat the Mind: If we get too mellow with the mind, chances are it will switch to the role of master from a friend. Then, we have to beat Hundred times with a broomstick “You rascal! Hypocrite! Cheater! Stop this Nonsense!…” and so on, whenever it blabbers something negative. Please note, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura prescribes, 100 in morning and 100 in night J. If we do daily, mind will be trained.

5) Simple Neglect: Still when we are busy, it will mutter and then we may Simply Neglect/Ignore it knowing it doesn’t carry any weight to whatever it blabbers. Srila Prabhupada often instructs this.

6) Japa: with full struggle to hear the Holy Names of Krishna is the most powerful technique, knowing the power of Holy Names.

So you were speaking of Neglect. Now you have so many instruments. Choose whichever handy and aim at the mind to curb its negativity and then engage in devotional service!

Also note, if you cannot remember these, I have made an Acronym SS RBNJ – Sri Sri Radha Brindavan Nath Jee, Deities of New Vrindavan, West Virginia.

your servant

Shridhar das

Selena Saar, 25 February 2020

Hare Krsna Matajis/Prabhus

Please accept my humble obeisances

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada

In the book written by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada ;

● The path of perfection, Chapter 2 page 13; Mastering the mind and senses.

Your answer must be found precisely here. 

The Path of Perfection

Radhe Radhe, 

your servant,

Selena Saar

Selena Saar, 25 February 2020

Hare Krsna Mataji/Prabhu

Please accept my humble obeisances

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada

A very good question.

Srila Prabhupada mentioned, to “hit your mind before sleep 100 times with a Chappal (sandal) and in the morning with a danda (stick)”. 

You should not ignore but try to correct your mind. 

Asking help from the Guru and SriKrsna is always recommended. Chant your rounds and read the Holy books given by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, listen to lectures. Follow Ekadashi as sincerely as possible. Do Seva. Have love for Godhead and be patient with the process. Have faith in the power of His name. Answers will come from within and without. We have to sharpen our radio-antenna of the mind to the right frequency, and remove the dust from our hearts by these processes.

If you sincerely surrender unto the Lotus Feet, there is no need to for extra worry. 

We first need to understand this concept of fully surrendering. 

Krsna states that those who have surrendered unto His lotus feet. Lamentation is not suitable and befitting.

*Kirtaniya Sada hari*

Radhe Radhe,

your servant

Selena Saar

Please subscribe to daily inspirational emails from His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari (Writings and lectures archived at www.ecstaticmedia.com ), written fresh every day from his travels around the world sharing the highest spiritual knowledge with everyone. Sign up now at www.joincourse.com

Questions On Nature Of Soul, and should we accept everything we hear?

What is the home of the soul? Why does it need to have a form? What is the evidence for the information we get from the scriptures?

Partha Das, 20 October 2019

Hare Krsna,

In chapter 2 of the Bhagvad Gita, we read that the soul is ten thousand part of the tip of a human hair. If this is the real nature of the soul, then logically is not our real home in the brahmajyoti? as this is the only place that a particle of this nature can dwell.

Why then do we say that our real home is the spiritual world where this miniscule soul takes up a spiritual body and does action.

Can the soul not just remain in it’s original form without artificially taking up a spiritual or material body.

Or is the soul so unstable in nature that it has to combine with either a spiritual or material.body to exist.Just like a single atom of oxygen is so unstable, it won’t rest till it combined with some other atom.

Dandavats,

Partha Das

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 25 October 2019

Dear Sriman Partha,

Hare Krishna!

The soul is non-material, please don’t mistake it like a single atom of oxygen.

budhyate sve na bhedena  vyakti-stha iva tad-gataḥ

lakṣyate sthūla-matibhir  ātmā cāvasthito ’rka-vat

Even when reflected in various objects, the sun is never divided, nor does it merge into its reflection. Only those with dull brains would consider the sun in this way. Similarly, although the soul is reflected through different material bodies, the soul remains undivided and nonmaterial.

https://www.vedabase.com/en/sb/11/7/51

Logically, the size of the soul has nothing to do with where it belongs, they are two separate attributes.

The spiritual body is not separate from the spirit soul. It is the material body both subtle and gross that is separate from the soul.

dehas tu sarva-saṅghāto jagat tasthur iti dvidhā

atraiva mṛgyaḥ puruṣo neti netīty atat tyajan

There are two kinds of bodies for every individual soul — a gross body made of five gross elements and a subtle body made of three subtle elements. Within these bodies, however, is the spirit soul. One must find the soul by analysis, saying, “This is not it. This is not it.” Thus one must separate spirit from matter.

https://www.vedabase.com/en/sb/7/7/23

Size is a limiting attribute only of matter. For the spiritual, there is no barrier of space or time, the spiritual can be bigger than the biggest or smaller than the smallest… Still this one ten thousandth part of the tip of the human hair size is a seed form of the soul – in the perfectional form, the soul blossoms into its eternal identity in the spiritual world.

You assume that the original form is as a particle in the Brahmajyoti effulgence, but actually the original form is in the spiritual world before the soul tried to compete with Krishna.

mad-bhaktaḥ pratibuddhārtho mat-prasādena bhūyasā

niḥśreyasaṁ sva-saṁsthānaṁ kaivalyākhyaṁ mad-āśrayam

prāpnotīhāñjasā dhīraḥ sva-dṛśā cchinna-saṁśayaḥ

yad gatvā na nivarteta yogī liṅgād vinirgame

My devotee actually becomes self-realized by My unlimited causeless mercy, and thus, when freed from all doubts, he steadily progresses towards his destined abode, which is directly under the protection of My spiritual energy of unadulterated bliss. That is the ultimate perfectional goal of the living entity. After giving up the present material body, the mystic devotee goes to that transcendental abode and never comes back.

https://www.vedabase.com/en/sb/3/27/28-29

In the above purport, Srila Prabhupada writes

quote

Niḥśreyasa means “the ultimate destination.” Sva-saṁsthāna indicates that the impersonalists have no particular place to stay. The impersonalists sacrifice their individuality so that the living spark can merge into the impersonal effulgence emanating from the transcendental body of the Lord, but the devotee has a specific abode. The planets rest in the sunshine, but the sunshine itself has no particular resting place. When one reaches a particular planet, then he has a resting place. The spiritual sky, which is known as kaivalya, is simply blissful light on all sides, and it is under the protection of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (14.27), brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham: the impersonal Brahman effulgence rests on the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In other words, the bodily effulgence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is kaivalya, or impersonal Brahman. In that impersonal effulgence there are spiritual planets, which are known as Vaikuṇṭhas, chief of which is Kṛṣṇaloka. Some devotees are elevated to the Vaikuṇṭha planets, and some are elevated to the planet Kṛṣṇaloka. According to the desire of the particular devotee, he is offered a particular abode, which is known as sva-saṁsthāna, his desired destination. By the grace of the Lord, the self-realized devotee engaged in devotional service understands his destination even while in the material body. He therefore performs his devotional activities steadily, without doubting, and after quitting his material body he at once reaches the destination for which he has prepared himself. After reaching that abode, he never comes back to this material world.

The words liṅgād vinirgame, which are used here, mean “after being freed from the two kinds of material bodies, subtle and gross.” The subtle body is made of mind, intelligence, false ego and contaminated consciousness, and the gross body is made of five elements — earth, water, fire, air and ether. When one is transferred to the spiritual world, he gives up both the subtle and gross bodies of this material world. He enters the spiritual sky in his pure, spiritual body and is stationed in one of the spiritual planets. Although the impersonalists also reach that spiritual sky after giving up the subtle and gross material bodies, they are not placed in the spiritual planets; as they desire, they are allowed to merge in the spiritual effulgence emanating from the transcendental body of the Lord. The word sva-saṁsthānam is also very significant. As a living entity prepares himself, so he attains his abode. The impersonal Brahman effulgence is offered to the impersonalists, but those who want to associate with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His transcendental form as Nārāyaṇa in the Vaikuṇṭhas, or with Kṛṣṇa in Kṛṣṇaloka, go to those abodes, wherefrom they never return.

https://www.vedabase.com/en/sb/3/27/28-29

unquote

The soul has 3 features, sat (eternal) chit (full of knowledge), and ananda (blissful). In the Brahmajyoti, only the sat (eternal) aspect is there, therefore, the spirit soul is not satisfied.

One who realizes Brahman has a perfect realization of the sat or eternity aspect of the Supreme. One realizes the Paramatma has a more perfect realization of the sat and cit (knowledge) features of the Supreme. And one who realizes Bhagavan has the most perfect realization of the sat, cit, and ananda (bliss) features of the Supreme.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari in Q&A of TTFD 9 May 2011

I beg you to carefully hear and read from Srila Gurudeva and Srila Prabhupada… at least every devotee should read all of Srila Prabhupada’s books and hear all of Srila Prabhupada’s lectures.

Mahabhagavat Das

Partha Das, 25 October 2019

Dandavats Prabhuji, 

Wonderful explanation.Thanks so much.

your Servant

Partha Das

Russell, 27 October 2019

I have a question : I am having problems with the Idea that we must except all that is taught. We don’t do this in real life, for example if you buy a car you don’t believe everything the car salesman tells you. You research for yourself so why must we believe everything in shastra as absolutely literally true, for example that the moon is further than the Sun or that Rahu exists when we have no proof of it neither by our Eyes or computer or risidual evidence, this troubles me.greatly and makes me think that we are laying aside our brains the only real tool we have to know anything even if it is not completely reliable it is all we have to understand by we cant even understand shastra without it ! Thank you for receiving my question 

Russell

Mahabhagavat Das SDA, 12 November 2019

Dear Russell,

Please forgive the delayed response to your question, which is quite reasonable and very intelligent.

No one is asking you to lay aside your intelligence. BTW, the brain is not your intelligence, your intelligence is a subtle material element that is manifested or linked to your body through your brain.  You are not this body, you are not your mind. And your mind is certainly not your brain.

In fact, we are asking you to surrender “with” your intelligence. We don’t want blind-following fools in the Krishna conscious movement. We don’t want fanatics. Neither do we want mental speculators. Both are quite dangerous. So we are asking you to please analyze, for example, can something come out of nothing? Can an explosion create order? But the modern world is running on this fairy tale that all this came out of nothing, at a certain point of singularity there was an explosion and time and everything we know was created at that point. How absurd!

We accept a lot of things at face value on a daily basis. We don’t question them at all.

Let us take an example of the things that most of us accept or at least don’t ordinarily verify…

1. Do we do a DNA test to prove that we are the children of our parents?

2. Do we personally assess the medical qualifications of a doctor before we take treatment from them?

3. Do we test the teachers before we go to school?

4. Do we test that the driver of a bus or taxi or train is sober and qualified before getting on that vehicle?

5. Have you ever seen your mind? Why do you believe it exists?

6. Can you see others’ emotions? How can we believe that emotions are real?

7. Before you take medication, do you lab-test it to prove that it is what the label says it is?

8. Before you take medication, do you fully understand how it works?

9. When you eat food, do you track the digestive process as it goes through the system?

10. When you look at materials under a microscope, as you go deeper and deeper, you see that there is more space than there is matter, but you don’t see the space with your eyes… so why do you believe that a solid is a solid and a liquid is a liquid?

11. Why do you accept paper money in exchange for your goods or services when it is really worthless?

We want you to use your intelligence, but we want you to know that your intelligence is quite limited, as is mine. You may certainly be more intelligent than me, but no matter how intelligent you are, you are not more intelligent than this Universe – so how can you figure it out? Plus you won’t live forever too in this body! If an ant were to want to map the world, we would laugh at it. We are like those ants. If I wanted to swim out of the middle of the ocean, I’d be dead before long, but if someone came with a big ship and pulled me out, I wouldn’t argue with that person “oh, but you are preventing me from freely swimming to the shore”. So the scripture is preventing us from drowning in that endless ocean of birth and death. But we argue against that scripture which is our savior!

The Vedic scripture says that on every planet there are living beings. The Vedic scripture says that the moon is a heavenly realm. If someone went somewhere and they didn’t find a heavenly realm, is it not that the simplest explanation is that they didn’t go to where the scriptures say is a heavely realm? Srila Prabhupada said that the astronauts went to the dark planet. Is that wrong? The astronauts went to the dark planet after all, and they didn’t meet anyone there too. So we say they went to Rahu, not the moon, because to us, the moon is a heavenly planet – if you didn’t go to a heavenly planet then you didn’t go to the moon!

We accept so many things at face value, but when it comes to the scripture, which is giving us information that is actually unverifiable by material means, we want proof of it? Everything that is in the scriptures can be personally realized, but the process of realization takes work, discipline, and patience. I know that some of my questions can only be answered by Krishna – but when I meet Krishna, will my questions even matter to me? Who cares, here’s Krishna! I’ve been waiting to meet Him for eons!

In the early days of my spiritual journey, my spiritual master repeatedly told me that I cannot taste the honey by licking the outside of the bottle. I had to dive in and put my tongue in contact with the honey.

So I began to chant

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare

and now, even though I’m far from perfect, still I just can’t get enough of it! But how can I convince someone who doesn’t chant?

if a man is blind and cannot see the sun, we can only be sympathetic towards them… but at least they can accept an eye witness account that there is such a thing as the sun.

But if the person is not blind, still one cannot show anything to a man who refuses to open his eyes! One cannot explain the taste of salt or sugar to a person who does  not agree to taste those substances by putting them on their tongue… Similarly Bhakti is a personal experience, the whole thing is experential. The instrument you can perceive the truth of the scripture is your own consciousness, that needs to be sharpened and purified and honed to a high degree of sensitivity.

Are you following the process to realize the scripture by yourself? Does this help you?

Mahabhagavat Das

Please subscribe to daily inspirational emails from His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari (Writings and lectures archived at sda-archives.com), written fresh every day from his travels around the world sharing the highest spiritual knowledge with everyone. Sign up now at www.joincourse.com

So you want to serve the needy?

Would you like to help others? How do you know you are actually helping them and not prolonging their misery? How do you know you are not getting entangled in an endless web of actions and reactions?

Some say “manava seve madhava seva“, which means “by serving the needy man, you serve God”. Let us examine this… if you feed the hungry, or clothe the naked, or try to heal the sick… will that actually help them? Sure, there is some temporary relief from the pangs of material suffering. If temporary relief is your goal, sure, but what if you want to really help them out of this mess they are in? You surely cannot feed, clothe, or shelter someone forever. Even if you did, you cannot protect them from old age, disease, and eventually death.

They are suffering primarily because they are spirit souls masquerading as material bodies. The material body gets hungry, gets sick, gets old, and dies, and this is the main cause of problems.

So yes, we can serve God by serving the souls, but how we serve them determines if we become the cause of their emancipation or the cause of their (and our own!) continued bondage.

The law of karma is very complicated, and impossible to trace out fully due to the immense complexity, but it is very very precise. It will surely pay back in just measure every single reaction to every single action.

So yes, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. Not to be administered by us, but we do become instruments of that, mostly unwittingly. What personal enmity did the soldiers from Nazi Germany have against the soldiers from America in the Second World War? Why did Guenter kill Billy? Why did Tommy kill Thorsten? They owed a debt to each other, one to kill, and one to be killed, and in that particular lifetime, one soul was born in Nazi Germany, and the other was born in America. Both were enlisted, and many souls’ karmic reactions came together and manifested as the Second World War.

Every single occurence in the world is simply an example of karmic debts… someone becomes a father, someone becomes a daughter, someone becomes the slaughtherer, someone becomes the slaughtered, and in this way, ad nauseum, someone becomes an exploiter, someone becomes the exploited.

Don’t believe me? OK, let us see, what could be the karmic reward for feeding a hungry man? To be fed yourself, maybe many times over, but being fed yourself primarily. And what does the person who was fed need to do? They need to repay their debt to you. This means that both to enjoy the benefit and to get paid back, both you and the person you fed need to take birth again. Birth again, old again, sick again, and surely death again.

Don’t forget that whatever you fed someone was also a living entity – whether seed, vegetable or animal. So, who pays the debt to that living entity. You both, benefactor and beneficiary.

Same with opening up hospitals – you will one day get free medical treatment yourself.

Opening up orphanages? You will be taken care of by benevolent strangers when you become an orphan yourself.

Any philanthropic activity on the material platform results in such karmic bondage, subtle or gross.

All this sounds depressing, no?

How to actually help someone? It is commonly understood that teaching someone to farm is far better than just feeding them a few meals. Knowing that each living entity is actually spiritual in nature wearing a material covering. It then stands to reason that teaching them to shed the material covering, or in other words, helping them be purely spiritual, that is the way to actually help someone.

Want to help someone? Help them be truly spiritual through your help, let them begin their journey back home. This starts with being purely spiritual yourself. If you cannot do this, then you can continue your philanthropy, don’t stop it, because one day you may progress further…

श्रेयो हि ज्ञानमभ्यासाज्ज्ञानाद्ध्यानं विशिष्यते ।
ध्यानात्कर्मफलत्यागस्त्यागाच्छान्तिरनन्तरम् ॥ १२ ॥

śreyo hi jñānam abhyāsāj
jñānād dhyānaṁ viśiṣyate
dhyānāt karma-phala-tyāgas
tyāgāc chāntir anantaram

If you cannot take to this practice, then engage yourself in the cultivation of knowledge. Better than knowledge, however, is meditation, and better than meditation is renunciation of the fruits of action, for by such renunciation one can attain peace of mind.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/12/12/

So if you want to renounce the fruits of action, that is OK, but know that there is more, such as cultivation of knowedge, but the real deal – realized knowledge, you need to live your knowledge. Even better than the cultivation of knowledge is meditation, and what is the highest?

Being purely conscious of Krishna is higher.

What is even still higher?

And even higher?

And the highest?

मय्येव मन आधत्स्व मयि बुद्धिं निवेशय ।
निवसिष्यसि मय्येव अत ऊर्ध्वं न संशय: ॥ ८ ॥

mayy eva mana ādhatsva
mayi buddhiṁ niveśaya
nivasiṣyasi mayy eva
ata ūrdhvaṁ na saṁśayaḥ

Just fix your mind upon Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and engage all your intelligence in Me. Thus you will live in Me always, without a doubt.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/12/8/

Ultimately however, this the way to please God the most…

Generally it is advised that Bhagavad-gītā be discussed amongst the devotees only, for those who are not devotees will understand neither Kṛṣṇa nor Bhagavad-gītā. Those who do not accept Kṛṣṇa as He is and Bhagavad-gītā as it is should not try to explain Bhagavad-gītā whimsically and become offenders. Bhagavad-gītā should be explained to persons who are ready to accept Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is a subject matter for the devotees only and not for philosophical speculators. Anyone, however, who tries sincerely to present Bhagavad-gītā as it is will advance in devotional activities and reach the pure devotional state of life. As a result of such pure devotion, he is sure to go back home, back to Godhead.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/68/

Want to read more? Try this.

Help others, truly help them, start by helping yourself first.

You can start by chanting this purely spiritual mantra, even if just once:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare

The Maha Mantra, the Great Mantra for Deliverance from Material Bondage and Development of Pure Spiritual Nature

Try it out. Help me help others. Please let me know I may serve you on your spiritual journey.

Serving those who serve the Supreme

Serving the servant of God is even more powerful than serving God directly…

This morning, very early, before 4AM, I was driving three souls to the Hare Krishna temple.

As I drove on the nearly empty roads, the car was filled with a buzz, and not just the hum of the tires cruising on the asphalt or the sound of the engine. It was my car-load of chanters…

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare

The Hare Krishna Maha Mantra

Three voices, chanting this mantra in their own cadence, with their own sweet lilting speciality chanted, some softer than others, some slower than others, but all chanted.

The words of one mantra being chanted by one soul blended with another, it was impossible to clearly tell where the mantra started and where the mantra ended. But I was very happy to hear the mantra in this way, like the buzzing of bees.

Even though I had sacrificed my own chanting to drive, I was very satisfied that I was serving three very exalted souls, while I drove, they could chant. They were all chanting very sincerely. They were tasting the sweetness of the Holy Names of God.

Just by hearing them all, I was feeling very happy. So I resolved to try and serve anyone who was serving the Supreme, in any possible way, small or big.

By serving those who serve the Supreme, we serve the Supreme also. But even more importantly, we serve the souls who are dear to the Supreme.

ye me bhakta-janāḥ pārtha
na me bhaktāś ca te janāḥ
mad-bhaktānāṁ ca ye bhaktās
te me bhakta-tamā matāḥ

“[Lord Kṛṣṇa told Arjuna:] ‘Those who are My direct devotees are actually not My devotees, but those who are the devotees of My servant are factually My devotees.’

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu quotes this verse from the Ādi Purāṇa. The verse is also included in the Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta (2.6).

https://vedabase.io/en/library/cc/madhya/11/28/

Simple formula, find a servant of God, be their servant. Your own service will be that much sweeter, and God will be pleased with you.

Try it. Even if for a little bit.

Intoxication – do it right

Do you or any one you know do intoxication? Learn to do it right!

I met a young man who “sometimes takes magic mushrooms” to help him “advance spiritually”.

I said to him “mushrooms are a material substance – the spiritual quest is non-material, how can you reach the spiritual dimension with a mere hallucinogen?”

Think about it, if you need a substance to get you in the spiritual mood, then how will you transcend the material? Is that all your “spiritual experience” is? A chemically induced high?

No, the spiritual high is different, potent, and there is no substance that can even come close to the real thing.

Do you or anyone you know like to drink alcohol? Or smoke a little Marijuana? Drugs? Prescription Medication? Or some other hallucinogen? Are you into tea or coffee? Or tobacco in any form? Chocolate anyone?

In human life, our most precious gift is our highly developed consciousness. In other species of life, there is ample facility for the primitive needs of eating, sleeping, mating, and defending, but no other species offers the specific gift of highly evolved consciousness.

In the cycle between birth and death, if a person strives to use their consciousness to transcend the misery of birth, death, old age, and disease, or in other words, rediscover their eternal spiritual nature, that is good use of human life.

The process of liberation is brahma jijñāsā, the search for the Absolute Truth.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/5/5/14/

When someone uses their human consciousness to strive to search for the Absolute Truth, then even if they do not attain to spiritual perfection in this life, they are sure to get another chance…

नेहाभिक्रमनाशोऽस्ति प्रत्यवायो न विद्यते ।
स्वल्पमप्यस्य धर्मस्य त्रायते महतो भयात् ॥ ४० ॥ nehābhikrama-nāśo ’sti
pratyavāyo na vidyate
sv-alpam apy asya dharmasya
trāyate mahato bhayāt

In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/40/

As Srila Prabhupada writes…

Or, as the Christians say, “What profiteth a man if he gain the whole world yet suffer the loss of his eternal soul?”

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/40/

Intoxication of any kind causes a degradation of the consciousness.

Intoxication does not take you higher, it drags you lower.

What happens to a person who takes intoxicants? They lose their sobriety. This loss of sobriety is gross in some cases, such as someone who is drunk, or subtle in others, such as someone who becomes materially attached.

Even the “benign” substances such as tea, coffee, and chocolate keep us bound up to the material world, by increasing our attachment to the material world.

Are you on a spiritual journey? Then intoxicants will act to dampen your enthusiasm for spiritual perfection. Dear fellow spiritualists, please avoid all material intoxicants, and ensure your smooth journey to pure spiritual consciousness.

However, know that there is a Supreme Intoxication, the transcendental sound of the Names of God. There are unlimited names of God. You can chant any of them, and each of them will intoxicate you.

However, if you haven’t tried these Supreme Combination of Syllables, try them now.

The Hare Krishna Maha Mantra, the Mother Mantra, the Source of All Spiritual Wisdom

If you want to know how to do intoxication right, please let me serve you!

What is the Vedic Significance of New Years’ eve?

Bhakta Sunil, 9th January 2017

Hare Krishna

Is there a significance of staying awake till midnight of 31st December , as i understand that this is factually English new year?so is it necessary to stay awake till midnight of 31st December?

Regards,
Sunil

Deepak,9th Jan 2017

As far as i understand there is no significance to awake all night, but if you want chant what can be best than that. we do it for our piece or i can say not to feel embarrassed in society, in other words where people are doing many illicit things on that day, we enjoy and relish it by chanting or by associating with devotees.

Sorry if something wrong I said

your servant
Deepak

Dhrishtadyumna Das, 9th January 2017

Hare krishna
Please accept my humble obesiance

Srila prabhupada told , For us everyday is new year because krishna is everfresh & evernew & we are celebrating him , but these materialist people need to drink this poison to forget all the frustrations, misgivings of past year , we dont need to celebrate by being intoxicated as that is pleasure in mode of ignorance, we can celebrate by being intoxicated in holyname.
Morever this is not new year according to vedic tradition, as per vedic calendar the new year comes on diwali where we light candles, do puja , distribute sweets , gifts, buy new clothes & celebrate on the other hand if u see the way nowadays the people celebrate by getting drunk , vomiting sleeping till next day thus they welcome the new year in hangover, bcos that is the western culture of celebrating things by getting drunk to forget all miseries, people celebrate new year according to english calendar bcos all countries were ruled by british, europeans , thus they passed on their dirty culture to us .
A vaisnava can meditate that i have got a limited time to fulfill my goal to achieve krsna & i am one year closer to death , i should become more serious, sincere , determined & bring urgency in my chanting, taking shelter of srila prabhupada books, , we can welcome the new year by attending mangal arati,chanting in association of devotees, visiting the nearest temple or hearing a tape of our guru maharaj or srila prabhupada.

your servant
Dhrishtadyumna Das

Dra Varni, 9th January 2017

Hello & Hare Krsna! The tradition of ringing in the new year is “eternal time at work” The idea is a cultural tradition born out off cultural satisfaction through participation.

Sincerely,
dra

Naresh Poondla, 9 January 2017

Hare Krishna,
Yes, there is significance of awakening on 31st Dec midnight only

  • if you go to Hare Krishna temple for midnight mangala arthi and listen to kirtans and to be associated with devotees. You whole year will be glorified with the mercy of sri krishna.

Thanks
Naresh

Hemanga Das, 10th January 2017

Hare Krishna !

Please accept my humble obeisances
All glories to Srila Gurudev
All glories to Srila Prabhupada

I am part of Toronto congregation, every year we go along with our own Bhakti Marga Swami to Toronto downtown at midnight to share the mercy of Holy names with locals.You will be surprised how many souls get attracted to Harinam! Some come to temple that night with us after their party, chant some rounds and go back home. Can you imagine how much benefit they might have made?

I was one among many lost souls aimless roaming on streets on Dec. 31st night. Vaishnava’s came and saved me. There are many like me just waiting for mercy! Please spread the mercy of Lord Chaitanya. Every town and village

your servant,
Hemanga Das

Dra Varni, 10th January 2017

Hare Krsna, Yes, importance can be a memory attachment to time and other significant action on that day. Chanting rounds on this day can be the best action.

Thank You dra

Bhakta Sunil, 12th January 2017

Thanks again and again to each one for conversing on this topic which i relished

your insignificant servant,
Bhakta Sunil

Please subscribe to daily inspirational emails from His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari (Writings and lectures archived at www.sda-archives.com), written fresh every day from his travels around the world sharing the highest spiritual knowledge with everyone. Sign up now at www.joincourse.com

Consciousness, Higher or Lower

The quality of our consciousness can be chosen, either actively or passively. Where do you want to take your consciousness today?

Everything we think, say, or do, affects our consciousness. Everything we eat or drink affects our consciousness. Everything we hear or see affects our consciousness too. Our consciousness is shaped by our experiences. Does that sound hopeless or hopeful to you? You can choose your consciousness!

Recently I met one young aspiring spiritualist who had once imbibed some intoxicating substance to “reach a higher plane of consciousness”. I told him that if attaining to a higher plane of consciousness was so cheap that a mere substance could take us there, then all the drug addicts of the world would be sages, great saintly souls who can see the past, present and future, act with perfect equanimity, and help everyone they meet. But this is not the case.

A drunk man may be entertaining or irritating, but a drunk man is a drunk man, not a sober human even.

When we are intoxicated, we hallucinate. Hallucination is not a “higher plane of consciousness”, no matter what the drug peddler might tell you. Hallucination is a lower form of consciousness. Don’t hallucinate with substances, you can reach a higher plane of consciousness by proper meditation.

Substances like tea, coffee, chocolate, alcohol, cannabis, opioids, and drugs, they are all intoxicants. They don’t take our consciousness to a higher level, but to a lower level.

These are, at a high-level, states of consciousness:

  • Unconscious
  • Sub-conscious
  • Conscious
  • Super-Conscious

When most of us are asleep, we’re mostly unconscious, though there are certain things that happen at a sub-conscious level also.

When we’re awake, we’re generally conscious, but there are certain things that happen at a sub-conscious level too.

At the sub-conscious level, usually it is instincts, but also other complex phenomena, like for example suggestions and advertisements that are on a subtle level, always playing with our consciousness, inserting suggestions into our consciousness… making us feel that it is us who want those things or experiences…

यथा प्रकाशयत्येक: कृत्स्‍नं लोकमिमं रवि: ।
क्षेत्रं क्षेत्री तथा कृत्स्‍नं प्रकाशयति भारत ॥ ३४ ॥ yathā prakāśayaty ekaḥ
kṛtsnaṁ lokam imaṁ raviḥ
kṣetraṁ kṣetrī tathā kṛtsnaṁ
prakāśayati bhārata

O son of Bharata, as the sun alone illuminates all this universe, so does the living entity, one within the body, illuminate the entire body by consciousness.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/34/

Because consciousness is the symptom of the soul, a symptom of life itself, all living entities are conscious. The quality, the fidelity of consciousness varies though. A plant is aware of very little, and hence conscious at a very low level, insect at a higher level, animal at an even higher level, and so on. Both a drunk human and a sober human are conscious, just that the drunk human’s consciousness is said to be closer to the consciousness of an animal than the sober human’s, in most cases anyways.

A soul in a dog’s body, even though conscious, can’t do much about it’s level of consciousness except accept whatever consciousness was imposed upon it by nature, viz, act like a dog.

Humans, on the other hand, possess a rare gift, in it that they can actively choose a state of consciousness. Consequently, humans can, if they choose to, act like animals or like trees or fish or birds or insects. That is a freedom afforded in human life.

However, only humans can actively choose a higher form of consciousness, super-consciousness. To be aware of what is going on, inside us at a spiritual level, inside our bodies and minds… to be able to see what consciousness someone else is at, and as this gets further developed, know more than can be afforded by the limits of space and time.

Every single thought, word, and deed we engage in, or are part of, for example, reading a novel or a newspaper, watching a movie or television, hanging out with a friend who loves politics or sports… each such experience shapes our consciousness.

When someone practices a genuine form of meditation that is centered around the Supreme Absolute Truth, such as, for example, the chanting of the Maha Mantra “the great chant”:

हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे |
हरे राम हरे राम राम राम हरे हरे ||

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare

When properly heard and chanted, this mantra lifts the consciousness of the chanter towards super-consciousness. Try it out. Just hear yourself saying this mantra, and let me know if I can help.

इदं ज्ञानमुपाश्रित्य मम साधर्म्यमागता: ।
सर्गेऽपि नोपजायन्ते प्रलये न व्यथन्ति च ॥ २ ॥ idaṁ jñānam upāśritya
mama sādharmyam āgatāḥ
sarge ’pi nopajāyante
pralaye na vyathanti ca

By becoming fixed in this knowledge, one can attain to the transcendental nature like My own. Thus established, one is not born at the time of creation or disturbed at the time of dissolution.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/2/

Where do you want to take your consciousness today?

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The Best Sacrifice / Yajna for this age

Deepak, 26th May 2015

Hare Krishna to all
Please accept my humble obeisances.
All Glories to GuruDev.
All Glories to Srila Prabhupada.

My question is :- which Yajnas should be perform in this Kaliyug and how to perform it

Hare Krishna

Rathin Mandal, 27th May 2015

Hare Krishna Deepak,

Please accept my humble obeisances,
All glories to Srila Gurudeva and Srimati Gurumataji,

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada.

For this age only Sankirtana Yajna is recommended. For doing the yajnas that were recommended in other ages, neither do we have that much of life span, nor physical strength and not enough resources. That is why other yajnas are not recommended.

your Servant
Rathin

Sridhar Das, 06th June 2015

Hare Krishna Deepak,

My humble obeisances to you,
All Glories to Srila Gurudeva and Srimati Gurumata!
All Glories to His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada!

You have correctly read that Sankirtan Yajna is the recommended Yajna for this age as confirmed below:

kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇuṁ
 tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ
dvāpare paricaryāyāṁ
 kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt

“Whatever result was obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Viṣṇu, in Tretā-yuga by performing sacrifices, and in Dvāpara-yuga by serving the Lord’s lotus feet can be obtained in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.” (SB 12.3.52)

It can be performed by anyone irrespective of any past qualifications, irrespective of family backgrounds and can be chanted anytime and any place (we don’t carry beads in the bathroom though).

your servant
Sridhar Das

Please subscribe to daily inspirational emails from His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari (Writings and lectures archived at sda-archives.com), written fresh every day from his travels around the world sharing the highest spiritual knowledge with everyone. Sign up now at www.joincourse.com



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