Kadamba Kanana Swami, a Special Benefactor
Sometimes I write some glorification of devotees I knew after they leave this world, but it occurred to me that is probably better to glorify people before they leave this world, so I decided to write something about Kadamba Kanana Swami now.
There are many inspiring devotees who give great lectures and lead wonderful kirtanas, but there are not so many who have given me opportunities in devotional service to the extent Kadamba Kanana Swami has. I met Kadamba Kanana Swami when I was taking the bhakti-sastri course in Mayapur. I remember that once he told us that now we had been living in the holy dhama of Mayapur for several weeks that we probably realized it was our real home. That was also my feeling, and I was encouraged to hear him express it. He led wonderful parikramas on many of the Saturdays while teaching in Mayapur, and we loved hearing his kirtanas and realizations.
Kadamba Kanana Swami was also one of my teachers for Bhaktivaibhava in Mayapur, and knowing I like harinama, he invited me to his Queen’s Day harinama back in 2008.
Each April he takes three busloads of devotees, numbering about two hundred, from his Vyasa-puja at Radhadesh to Amsterdam for Queen’s Day (now King’s Day) a national holiday in The Netherlands that transforms the entire city Amsterdam into a massive street party. Orange is the national color of the country, and many people wear garments of that color. The friends and followers of Kadamba Kanana Swami, a number of them orange-clad brahmacaris, do harinama through the streets of the city for eight hours, and many local partiers get caught up in the chanting and dancing. I was so inspired by it, that I decided to write about it for Back to Godhead, although I am not really a writer. Maharaja told me to come every year, and so I did until the event was canceled because of COVID. Here is a wonderful kirtan by Kadamba Kanana Swami the last year I went, 2019, which got so many people dancing (https://youtu.be/PSgDlS_0TGY):
I would have gone in 2022, but I was not sure it was happening and I was too distracted by other engagements to investigate. I would stay for a week or so before or after and do harinama in the Netherlands in different cities. In Amsterdam I met Janmastami Prabhu who plays accordion and loves harinama, and I still sing with him in Brussels sometimes.
Kadamba Kanana Swami encouraged me to preach in Zurich in 2009 as one of the leaders had recently left. I did that for a few years, enjoying meeting the devotees there and chanting Hare Krishna in public by the lake. In Zurich I learned from Madhava Prabhu of the Birmingham 24-Hour Kirtan, which also became a regular part of my life.
Also in 2009 Kadamba Kanana Swami bought me a ticket from Berlin to Johannesberg, so I could learn about and write for Back to Godhead about the outreach that was being done there, particularly in the townships surround that city. Thus on my fiftieth birthday, I found myself chanting on harinama in Pretoria, a new city, in South Africa, a new country, and in Africa, a new continent for me. I have always thought of that event as Krishna’s birthday present to me on my fiftieth birthday, when one is expected to renounce the world and exclusively pursue Krishna, and that was made possible by Kadamba Kanana Swami. I got to see the amazing temple Durban, and to attend the Vyasa-puja of Partha-sarati Goswami, an incredibly humble devotee who did lots of important service there.
Kadamba Kanana Swami told me to preach in the UK outside of London because all the swamis go to London. Thus for many years I would visit the temples and nama-hattas in the North of England, cities like Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Preston, Blackpool, Accrington, York, Scarborough, Sunderland, and Newcastle. While there I got to know Janananda Goswami, who became the person I worked under while there. In 2017, Janananda Goswami asked me to assist him in France by helping to increase harinama there, and thus for five of the last six summers, I have been doing harinama in Paris for six to nine weeks. I have also attended festivals at New Mayapur, where Kadamba Kanana Swami led this sweet kirtan in July 2021, which inspired so much dancing (https://youtu.be/eHM2-A5jsVA):
I was so happy that Kadamba Kanana Swami agreed to help develop New York City, because that is one of the places I regularly go, and thus I could have his association there. He told me that he vowed to come to New York City for four months a year for four years. His intense chanting of Hare Krishna kirtan is always welcome on our NYC Harinam party, where he also inspired participation as here in the Atlantic/Barclays subway station (https://youtu.be/9RgTXujQ2eY):
At Columbus Circle, showed himself to be a very lively dancer as well (https://youtu.be/3ey89nmXu_M):
And also at Union Square (https://youtube.com/shorts/Ns_52pJ2EOM):
He also brought many enthusiastic and qualified disciples from Europe to develop the New York project, and we are very indebted to him for that. Some he told at their initiations that they should dedicate themselves to serving in New York. He also asked me to help check the facts in a book Satyaraja Prabhu is writing about the Hare Krishna movement in New York City, and I was happy to have the chance to read that book before it came out. On his last visit to New York City, Kadamba Kanana Swami suggested that I make book out of my travel journal (https://krishnamonk.blogspot.com/), and I hope to do that someday.
I find Kadamba Kanana Swami completely dedicated to his spiritual practice and therefore able to inspire others. He is very practical and very friendly, and he has a strong desire to help others in Krishna consciousness.
Kadamba Kanana Swami accepted as his guru, Jayadvaita Swami (left), who took sannyasa from Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami (center), the author of Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita and over a hundred other books. Jayadvaita Swami’s thoughtful lectures on Srila Prabhupada’s books have inspired me since I met him in 1979. Jayadvaita Swami has been fixed in the simple life of a sadhu, characterized by renunciation and sharing transcendental wisdom, for decades, and he has served the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust with dedication. Thus I was inspired that Kadamba Kanana Swami accepted his guidance.
Many of Kadamba Kanana Swami’s disciples are completely dedicated to sadhana and outreach being inspired by their guru, and I enjoy having their association in my travels.
Syayam Bhagavan Keshav Swami, I met many times in his former ashram as Sutapa Prabhu, organizing the Bhaktivednata Manor brahmacaris, taking youthful devotees to cities in the North of England and Scotland for harinama, book distribution, and outreach programs, organizing UK Brahmacari conferences, etc.
Though a leader, in my photos he humbly played harmonium for newer devotees at a kirtan event in Edinburgh and on harinama in Liverpool.
Recently I found Tulasi Prabhu of Bulgaria, who I have known since before his initiation, was always enthusiastic to assist with my Sunday Brooklyn Bridge harinamas, this time along with his godbrother Matanga Prabhu (https://youtu.be/RlfYCDMbQeA):
Just this September in Tallahassee, I had the pleasure of chanting the Gaura Arati kirtan every evening with Kadamba Kanana Swami’s first disciple, Ranchor Prabhu of South Africa, the only person I have met in the over ten years I have been going to Tallahassee who was willing to sing with me every night!
I recall at one of Kadamba Kanana Swami’s Vyasa-pujas in Radhadesh, he encouraged his disciples who were having difficulty even to follow their basic vows to correspond with him, so he could help them to come to a higher level. That struck me as such a beautiful sentiment of Vaishnava compassion.
Kadamba Kanana Swami, considering me a friend, told me a week before his official announcement about the extent of his disease. I reflected on how Krishna saved Maharaja from a close call with death in Vrindavan, and I considered that he could do it again. I told him I wished that for him. He thanked me for my kindness.
I know Lord Caitanya can work miracles, as He did curing the sores of Sanatana Goswami or the leprosy of Vasudeva, and if he wants Kadamba Kanana Swami to stay in the world and continue benefiting us by his association He can make it happen, but perhaps He has another plan of service for him. We will see.
Kadamba Kanana Swami, all obeisances to you. Thank you for benefiting me in so many different ways and for acting as an exemplary follower of Srila Prabhupada. I will always remember you, especially your intensity in kirtan, and I will always look forward to the association of your enthusiastic disciples for the rest of my brief life.
I thought would include in this glorification, the notes I took on all the lectures I heard by Kadamba Kanana Swami, but there were so many I could not come to the end of them. Thus I give you a subset consisting of the first fifty pages I found when I searched my blog using Google for “Kadamba Kanana Swami”! Sharing his merciful words is thus the bulk of this glorification. Reviewing the inspiring words I heard from him is true joy. Included among them are an appreciation of Aindra Prabhu he spoke in Prague, when we learned that he unexpectedly left his body in July of 2010. I also include some appreciations of Kadamba Kanana Swami from his disciples, speaking at his Vyasa-puja at Radhadesh in April of 2012.
While proofreading these notes in the middle of Karttika, I found Kadamba Kanana Swami recommended reading Krishna book during that sacred month, and this year I finally decided to do it, completing all 90 chapters in 30 days. It was so blissful, I plan to do it every year.
The following lecture notes are in chronological order from 2008 to 2022.
June 2008 in Munich:
“Spiritual life is difficult, but material life is impossible.” [That came up more than once.]
“We see that Krishna puts the purification of an individual devotee ahead of using him as an instrument in His mission.”
“‘Sannyasi life is simple. Wherever the women go, go in the other direction.’
—Jayadvaita Swami”
“To go deep into our spiritual consciousness can help us benefit other people.”
“Krishna decides what your role will be, and you have to accept that.”
“Bhaktisiddhanta Saravati Thakura explains that true empowerment means to be empowered with both spiritual knowledge and spiritual happiness.”
“Krishna wants to benefit all living beings, and so if you want to please Krishna, you also have to want to benefit all living beings.”
[Kadamba Kanana Swami said he saw someone with a self-designed T-shirt, “I have heard it all, I have seen it all, and I have done it all. But I cannot remember it all.”]
That struck me as the epitome of this famous verse spoken by Prahlada Maharaja, “Because of their uncontrolled senses, persons too addicted to materialistic life make progress toward hellish conditions and repeatedly chew that which has already been chewed. Their inclinations toward Krishna are never aroused, either by the instructions of others, by their own efforts, or by a combination of both” (SB 7.5.30).
May 2009:
Should the spiritual master be just obeyed or be really satisfied in the heart? To catch his heart is something that is complete different from mere obedience. We have to do something more. And the same is true with Krishna. Krishna does not give the same to each one, but according to His mood. We have to individually satisfy the guru. It may not be enough to just to the standard duties. The guru may want more from us. The attitudes of the gopis and sakhas are all based on service, dasyam. Kinkara means personal servant of guru or Krishna. This means you do what he likes. Generally you offer anything vegetarian to Krishna, but practically to please Krishna we offer him certain foods at certain times. The mentality to personally serve is higher mentality. If you serve the guru in this way, you will please Krishna.
We make Krishna consciousness difficult for us by doing everything in the same way every day. Jagannatha has sixty festivals a year. That is more than once a week.
Krishna consciousness is a cultural conquest.
We talk about how all results of spiritual activities increase our spiritual bank account. This is based on Krishna’s statement nehabhikrama-naso ’sti . . . 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.” (Bg. 2.40) But I always wondered about the interest [on our spiritual bank account]. Then I read in The Nectar of Devotion that Krishna said, “When I was away from Draupadi, she cried with the words, ‘He Govinda!’ This call for Me has put Me in her debt, and that indebtedness is gradually increasing in My heart!” Then I thought, “Eureka! That’s the interest!” Now the question is, how much is the interest? The answer is infinite. That is because Krishna is eternal. Therefore, Krishna consciousness is the best investment, and therefore I am eager to invest. How about you?
How long can you maintain if Krishna consciousness is unnatural? With this large temple facility we can do so many things, dramas, retreats, etc. Our problem is that the Deity is transcendental, Srila Prabhupada is transcendental, the temple is transcendental, but unfortunately I am not transcendental, so I cannot appreciate! We have to find a situation in which we feel satisfied.
Personal darshan with Kadamba Kanana Swami:
Fifty years old means time to invest in the next life. Not this one. That is what vanaprastha life is all about. That makes perfect sense. There is no sense in getting married at fifty. That means you are still investing in this life.
Kadamba Kanana Swami in Zurich:
Q: If I want to invite to someone to my home, is there a good way to introduce Krishna consciousness to them?
A: Giving them prasadam is a good thing. Coming to a temple is a big thing for some person, but perhaps they will go to a restaurant. Sometimes, if someone is interested in you, they will become interested in Krishna consciousness because you are. Pictures in your home may be attractive. That we cannot do this and that, but we are still happy, that generates inquiry.
Q: A sannyasi, according to Srimad-Bhagavatam, stays at a householder for long enough to milk a cow. In ISKCON a sannyasi might rather read the Bhagavatam but some grhasthas are inviting him for pizza. What about this?
A: According to the sastra, the sannyasis have no such social obiligations, although due to affection for the householders, they may fulfill their desires in pursuit of developing spiritual relationships. It is important that we give sannyasis the time to really be sannyasis and not be entangled in management or social obligations.
It is more difficult to fix the mind on the holy name than to pick a bar of soap that slips out of hand in the shower. Many people propose different techniques, but my realization is that the more we hear about Krishna, the more we will feel like chanting his holy name.
Krishna is very pleasant in his dealings, even in His chastisement of Kaliya, He spoke so politely to him.
If we hear of the qualities of Krishna, we become attracted to Him, and then we will want chant His name.
How long can you hear? Therefore have to become creative. Sometimes Lord Caitanya and associates would have spontaneous plays, enacting Krishna’s pastimes. Culture is necessary.
Prahlada is famous for having attained perfection by remembering or constantly meditating on the pastimes the Lord. Prahlada, whose name means ‘form of complete happiness,’ regularly forgot himself in the overwhelming happiness of his devotional meditation. We call out to Nrsimhadeva for protection, but Prahlada never did that. Instead, he accepted whatever happened as the Lord’s mercy.
So soon as we speak of Krishna as all-attractive, the idea of relationship must be there. In the beginning, it is not clear what is our service in relationship with Krishna, but in the course of time, it becomes clear.
I have a very few disciples in Africa, and so one particular one I was telling that I wanted to be a preacher, and I sent him to Mayapur to study Bhakti-sastri. There he developed a desire to study Sanskrit. What was he going to do? Teach Sanskrit in Africa? After I while, I relented. While studying, he got involved in translating English into his local African language. Then I understood, knowledge of Sanskrit would help in translation work. He was destined to be a translator, and thus, a great asset to the preaching.
We meditate on the Lord, and Lord reciprocates. By committing to a particular service, we increase our meditation, and Krishna increases his reciprocation. Every moment we are experiencing Krishna in some way or other. Second initiation is the beginning of our serious meditation, thinking, “How can I be what the Lord and His devotees desire?”
In Jaiva Dharma, Bhaktivinoda Thakura mentions that Raghunatha Das followed the path of spontaneous revelation, and Gopal Guru followed the path of conscious contemplation, as far as attaining their eternal spiritual identities was concerned, and thus there is support for both paths. Srila Prabhupada taught us our spiritual identity would be revealed by Krishna in an advanced stage.
Real compassion can be there if one has a superior experience, and therefore to be compassionate, we actually have such an experience.
Q: How to determine our particular service for Krishna?
A: It is not all propensity or trying out different things. It comes automatically, but before that, one should cultivate a service attitude, otherwise we will end up cultivating material desires.
Q: How did you accept the position of guru?
A: Jayadvaita Swami thought of the idea that I could initiate disciples on his behalf, and yet take full responsibility for taking care of them. He argued that for pushing on this movement on, I should do it. It was tried in that “rtvik-like” way for six months, and the GBC decided that if one’s guru orders one to accept disciples then, although it is not permitted by etiquette that one initiate in one’s guru’s presence, that it would be acceptable.
December 2009 in Mayapur:
Never at any time is the living entity neglected by the Lord. We are not left to battle with maya on our own. That we remember Krishna is His gift, and we should be grateful.
In my family, I am very popular on the occasion of funerals. “Please speak,” they say, “you speak so nicely.” But the rest of the time, I am not so popular.
It is nice enough in the material world that we think it may be possible to be happy here.
We all believe that somewhere wandering in this world is a member of the opposite sex who is our ideal mate in every respect and who will satisfy all our desires, but that is a complete illusion. It is not in happiness that I destroy this illusion, but out of duty, so we can move on.
Srila Prabhupada said that we are between Hiranyakasipu [the greatest demon] and Prahlada [the greatest saint].
But we are sheltered by Krishna, as the caitya-guru, who gives inspiration in the heart, the spiritual masters, and the devotees of the Lord, and so we have to turn to the shelters the Lord has provided.
Durga’s trident is the three-fold miseries.
As the dhama, Krishna has given us the entire spiritual world within the material world.
Gradually we realize we cannot make it on our own. We are dependent on the mercy of the devotees. Krishna and his devotee can save us from our desires. Devotees inspire and correct. We must always stay near a temple. Srila Prabhupada said that 99% of our advancement is based on devotee association. Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that maya operates within us like spies in an army.
Q: Is it maya to want a good devotee partner?
A: Yes. But if you cannot give yourself completely to Krishna, then it is OK to have a good devotee partner.
It is wise to acquire the Vaishnava qualities, otherwise Krishna may make a situation where we are forced to acquire the Vaishnava qualities.
Q: How do I remember Krishna in difficult situations?
A: Have a regular program of hearing. The chanting we do because we have promised, but we have not promised to hear, so we don’t do it. Gajendra remembered due to his past practice—how important it is!
May 2010:
A good king gets 1/6 the pious result of citizens. A bad king loses his own pious activities and gains 1/6 the sinful reactions of his subjects.
In relationships between people we see there is a sharing of karma. Not only one must take care of family members, one is karmically responsible for their misbehavior if he makes no endeavor to rectify them. In the Puranas there is list of how much of a reaction different persons in positions of responsibility must accept in this way. Krishna, however, adjusts the reactions for His devotees, so you never know exactly how much it will be. Thus it is advised that a guru not accept too many disciples. We [initiating gurus] can simply pray to Lord Caitanya that we may somehow or other deal with these reactions.
We experience how hard it is to fix the mind and to control the senses. Why? Because we are sinful. Thus we need all the mercy we can get. And we have to come to the realization that we are simply mercy cases. Thus we can surrender to Lord Caitanya’s process.
When you lead people, you get a little energy. In that way, it is easier follow when we lead people, but we cannot be a true leader unless we follow.
In the Bhisma Parva of Mahabharata, one king in the heavenly planets was asked whether he ate flesh. He denied the charge, and then he fell from the heavens to earth. Then on earth, he was again asked if he ate flesh. Again he denied it, and the earth opened up and swallowed him.
As a leader, one cannot ask for more surrender than he has himself.
According to Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, initially our devotional service is localized and maya is all-pervading. At ruci, taste for devotional service spreads over the surface. At asakti, taste also spreads under the surface. At bhava there is a just a shadow of material desire, but at prema there is not even a shadow.
According to Bhakti-sandarbha, there are three categories of spiritual masters, those who can deliver others:
(1) One has two feet in the material world, but has his vision on the spiritual world, like Narada before he attained perfection.
(2) One has one foot in the material world and one foot in the spiritual world, such Sukadeva Goswami.
(3) One has both feet in the spiritual world like Narada after he attained perfection.
We are not preaching. Srila Prabhupada is preaching, and we preach by representing him.
One Indian man came up to Srila Prabhupada and pleaded “Only you can deliver me.” Srila Prabhupada told him that he must deliver himself. “I can repeat Krishna’s instructions, but you have to deliver yourself by following them.”
Everyone must be a leader. Wherever you are, whatever position you are in, there are people to lead.
Rather than creating a few superstars, we need everyone . . .
As soon as we begin caring about others, we stop thinking about ourselves, and we have no time to think about our petty material desires.
Q: Do you experience getting good reactions from others?
A: Yes, I must be, otherwise I would not still be around.
Our movement did well in the beginning with strictness but was sometimes lacking human kindness. Now in the ISKCON of the new millennium we have more kindness but have lost our strictness. Because of lack of kindness there was fanaticism, but now we are missing the strictness that will keep us away from maya and and keep us making progress, so we have to come to situation of strictness and kindness.
July 17, 2010 in Prague, Czech Republic on Disappearance of Aindra Prabhu:
We received news Aindra Prabhu unexpectedly and suddenly left his body in Vrindavana.
In Vrindavana, what happens is Krishna’s plan. Of course, the ideal way to leave one’s body is surrounded by loving devotees chanting the holy name, but that is not always the case. I was thinking of Lord Rsabhadeva, the divine incarnation who appeared to establish religious principles. After he became a mendicant, his body burned in a forest fire. It is not our Vaishnava practice to enter into the cause of death so much. Sometimes people speculate, like when Tamal Krishna Goswami left his body, that it must be some negative reaction. But that is not true, as with Rsabhadeva. Instead, we look at the positive.
Aindra Prabhu was allowed to do service in Vrindavana. When Krishna-Balarama temple was started in Vrindavana, Srila Prabhupada expressed a desire that 24-hour kirtana be organized. He wrote to Hamsaduta Prabhu suggesting how it could be done. I was part of the management from 1978 to 1984. We tried many times to establish it but did not have enough people. Practically from his first days in Krishna consciousness, Aindra was doing kirtana as his service. In New York City he would chant with other devotees on a flatbed truck. In 1986 he started the akhandita [uninterrupted] kirtana in Vrindavana. Before that, in ISKCON, we did not have a culture of just sitting down and chanting Hare Krishna for hours. It was not a particular kirtana style so much as a kirtana culture that he inspired. [Later Maharaja elaborated: Madhava Prabhu, from Switzerland, was inspired, then Sivarama Swami, B. B. Govinda Swami, and Sacinandana Swami. You can trace it all back to Aindra Prabhu.]
As many with musicians, Aindra was eccentric. His room had Vrindavana clay on the floor, 108 silas, Gaura-Nitai, depiction of rasa-lila, tamala tree remnants, etc. Every two months I would come from Mayapur to Vrindavana, and I would see him. At 1990 I became temple president in Vrindavana. The GBC asked me to ask him what his asrama is, and when I did, he looked at me with his piercing eyes, and said, “I am a brahmastha vannyasi.” His dress was also eccentric and some people complained. Many artists are eccentric, and I took it like that.
But there was a very serious side to Aindra Prabhu, chanting many rounds of the holy name and studying Prabhupada’s books and the books of the Goswamis. He would ask questions after Srimad-Bhagavatam class that were penetrating. He had a lot of inner strength and could live a life of great austerity. Although people complained about his personal dress, he excelled at dressing the Deities. Especially for the festivals, he would dress Them. He had a deep connection, which was a real thing. Imagine Aindra would have come to Prague. He would draw huge crowds. Wherever he would go, he would attract many people. But he did not want to leave Vrindavana. He was disturbed by once having to go to Nepal for visa issues. Thus he applied for citizenship, which was hard to get for one from the Vrindavana area. But he got it. The Deities were pleased with him because he sang for Them, and so They let him become a resident.
Once I was chanting my remaining rounds in the temple, and one Bengali devotee was making a lot of noise, so I advised him to be quiet, saying “The deities are resting.” Aindra Prabhu, who was also there, said, “No, He is not. That is what Mother Yasoda thinks.”
As a temple president, sometimes it gets tough. Sometimes you are on top of the elephant, and sometimes the elephant is on top of you. Once I had one of those intense days. I took rest, only to be awakened at 11:00 p.m. at night by Aindra, who said, “Come on. It is rasa purnima. Come let’s celebrate.” I came to his room, and in addition to other festivities, they had this incredible feast served at 11:00 p.m. at night.
Because he was serious about serious things, we took him seriously. He was serious about his chanting, japa and kirtana, and about his renunciation. He was not after fame. His dedication to the Deities was transcendental, day in, day out, year after year. That is perseverance. Srila Prabhupada says perseverance is source of faith. There is no doubt that Aindra sang for the pleasure of the Personality of Godhead, and there he stands out. Some imitated him, the same dress, the same style of bhajana, etc., but few showed the seriousness he showed in his dedication to Krishna consciousness.
His contribution to ISKCON is a lasting one. Before, kirtana was something wild. Ayodhya-pati Prabhu used to play the whompers on the ground and grab devotees by the kurta and swing them around. Srila Prabhupada had started with sitting and doing the swami step. But when one saintly lady from Vrindavana led kirtana, and Srila Prabhupada began jumping in the kirtana, from that day, kirtana was wild and full of enthusiasm, and that spread all over the world. And even when it was sitting down with the harmonium, it still had the rocking nature. But from Aindra Prabhu we learn to deeply meditate and an element of peaceful chanting. I say “an element” because he could also get wild. We learned something from Aindra about chanting the holy name and meditating on Krishna, and he has greatly contributed to the maturing process, because he taught so many along the way.
His leaving us was unexpected, but it is also a manifestation of grace, because he left this world in Vrindavana. It is not an ordinary departure but one earned by devotional service. The externals are insignificant. We are looking at how he pleased Radha-Shyamasundara.
When such news reaches us, there is shock, and for those who know him, there is sadness. But from the spiritual point of a view, it is a success story—that someone from New York took the devotional service seriously, and he fulfilled Srila Prabhupada’s desire to establish 24-hour kirtana in Vrindavana.
“He reasons ill that Vaishnavas die when thou art living still in sound. The Vaishnava dies to live, and living spreads the holy name around.” Through his recordings, he will remain with us.
Srila Prabhupada explained that if one lives the life of devotee in Vrindavana, he will go back to Godhead. However, if one lives a materialistic life in Vrindavana, he will become an animal in Vrindavana for one life, and then go back to Godhead.
Q: How can one be fixed like Aindra, disregarding external circumstances?
A: That one is so different as Aindra, but yet so fixed, indicates a benediction from the previous life. Those who can fix themselves on the eternal platform are highly advanced, and we take shelter of them. One may show great enthusiasm in service, but when it gets difficult, things change. That means the connection with Krishna is not so strong.
I have one young doctor disciple in South Africa. She has to see people dying every day. In this world, when things get serious, we say it is a matter of life or death. But for us, it is Krishna or maya. That is more important than life or death. Those who have fully accepted this are leaders, regardless of their position, because of their firm faith. We see that these people found some service for Krishna, and they did it. We may not be so advanced. But by their association, we can gain strength to do some service seriously for Krishna.
Aindra Prabhu’s most significant contribution is that he took a desire of Srila Prabhupada [to have 24-hour kirtana in Vrindavana] and he really developed it.
August 2010:
Why so much austerity? If we do not follow the austerities, we will act in ignorance and passion and suffer even more. In the animal kingdom, one animal eats another, and when we do not restrict ourselves, we live like an animal, with all the anxiety that comes with that kind of life.
In this world, Krishna, out of his kindness, is always with us in the heart.
Nietzsche said as humans we can achieve so little, and then with religion, we have to give that little bit up. God is watching this and enjoying it so much that he recreates the universe to do it again and again.
In dasyam, there is general service, and personal service (kinkara), where one considers the actual desire of the master.
“I am limited, but let me do as much as I can for Krishna”, can be our meditation.
These austerities of the body like celibacy are practical. If you have sex with a variety people your life becomes complicated. If you practice not having sex outside marriage, then a certain faith and trust develops that makes existence more palatable.
In my family we did water skiing for some time, and then we stopped doing it. In the beginning, there was some excitement, but that waned.
Bhakti liberates us and makes us free for Krishna.
Austerity is only austerity in the beginning. For example, no meat, fish, or eggs, is now not a difficulty. Similarly, giving up alcohol or smoking is not an austerity, if you consider all the unpalatable ramifications of these habits, the expense, the filth, the inconvenience. As far as the love in the material world, our beloveds are a very sad second to Krishna. The romance wears off, and even if it lasts to the end, we become like two skeletons. In reality we are together for a limited time only, and we cannot expect such relationships to provide all that we might hope.
In this world, people walk around in their bubbles, and sannyasis walk around with needles and pop them.
In this world as people trade in their cars or iPhones for new ones, too often we similarly trade in our husbands or wives for new models.
In any otherwise comfortable household life, without higher aspirations there is an emptiness. Like monkeys in the zoo that stay because there are well fed, the householder may feel inclined to stay in family life.
Our disease as a neophyte devotee is that we want God to catch us before we are willing to let go. A madhyama adhikari has faith that Krishna will reciprocate, and so he can act as Krishna desires.
By false ego we are absorbed in the distinctions based on the body, instead of seeing all beings as spiritual souls.
Yudhisthira was fighting but not seeing anyone has his enemy.
The main meditation for the Vaisnava is to see everyone as a devotee of the Lord. In truth, even demons are devotees of Lord Krishna because the eternal identity of all souls is that of servants of Krishna.
Actually the false ego is weak as it is comprised of the illusory energy. As long as we are serving the devotees, we are progressing.
If we see the Lord as always judging, people will not be attracted.
On harinama, we can see the variety of reactions of the people.
Some people say they do not believe in hell, but hell is around us.
If we see the various diseased conditions of the living beings are all curable by Krishna consciousness, our vision will be very optimistic.
We may not think we are so successful in our preaching, but actually many souls are becoming purified.
People needed to accumulate a lot of ajnata-sukrti so they can come to the point of desiring Krishna.
The Vedic culture is to treat your enemies in such a way that they forget their enmity.
In the West, we people tend to be inimical to people in general and have a few friends.
Our task is to become friends of everyone.
In the West, even if people get together, they still maintain a sense of their space around them, but in India it is not like that.
The demonic people like to be in ignorance, and they cannot hear about the Lord and His philosophy so they protest again it.
Our faith must develop into conviction.
We do not think of devotees as our enemies, but sometimes we do not think devotees are our friends. Some devotees have different ideas about serving Krishna. Those who have similar ideas can cooperate and serve together.
Once we had more aspiring devotees than we had rooms in Mayapur. I suggested we use some of the guesthouse rooms for bhaktas, and so there was some disagreement.
When the Ganges comes to the heavenly planets, the demigods become eager to carry her in different pots instead of letting her run her course, because they want to get her mercy.
It is said the speaker of the Bhagavatam benefits the most, then the inquirer, and the next those who listen passively, for they are less involved.
When Srila Prabhupada was taking rest, he would not mind hearing kirtana.
By hearing about Krishna we are associating with Him. Our worship of Krishna is not just some quick thing like an arati. This is nice but as time goes on we learn how to worship in the way that those who know how to please Krishna worship Him.
Srila Prabhupada said, “People always had to do what I said. Even my parents had to do what I said. My classmates had to do what I say.” And even now so many people are doing what Srila Prabhupada said. He was always a leader.
Our nature may also stay the same and that is alright. If we are stubborn, we can be stubborn for Krishna. When I was sent to Vrndavana, I had so many plans for what I wanted to do. But I found Krishna wanted me to use my stubbornness in His service. He wanted someone who would stay there no matter what and deal with all the problems. I did not want to use the quality of stubbornness in Krishna’s service, but it was His will.
Our program is to use what is favorable for Krishna’s service and to reject that which cannot be used to serve Krishna. In Bg. 18.66 says in the first half of the verse that we must surrender to him, and in the second half Krishna says that he will remove the sinful reactions—the negative things that do not help us.
Prithu Prabhu suggested in the Prabhupada Samadhi that we have an artistic panel which on the outside that says “Tell everyone you meet about Krishna” and on the inside “Krishna is the original Supreme Lord.—krishnas tu bhagavan svayam.”
Initiation lecture:
The holy name being Krishna Himself is sufficient to grant all perfection, what then is the need of initiation?
The difficulty is that we are very lazy and not determined, and therefore, accepting initiation is useful. We need to take shelter of the Vaishnava to progress.
If we give lust something it wants, it will still not be satisfied.
“Unless one is properly initiated, he can descend again into the animal species.”
In previous ages, they did not take vows—they were so responsible they did not need to.
The second initiation is not just a formality. We are expected to acquire the qualities of the brahmana.
Srila Prabhupada said in the material world one needs the qualification to attain a post, but in Krishna consciousness we attain the post and then acquire the qualifications.
Jananivasa Prabhu in Mayapur said, “It is very difficult to be a brahmana. I do not know whether I can do it this life.” If he cannot do it, what to speak of me.
After initiation one is never the same because he has a new responsibility. He may not take it seriously but the responsibility is there, nonetheless.
May 2011:
From an Initiation:
Gauranga, whose mother is a devotee and is present, becomes Gaur Mohan, which is the name of Srila Prabhupada’s father. Gaur Mohan means Lord Caitanya, who is so attractive that He bewilders the mind with his amazing transcendental nature. By meditating on and becoming agents of Lord Caitanya’s mercy, then we will experience the wonder of that mercy more and more.
Lord Nrsimha is the personification of soft-heartedness, because he assumed such a ferocious form for the protection of his pure devotee.
We may think, “Lord Nrsimha may protect His pure devotee, but what about me?” Because we have the divine and demoniac nature within us, we wonder, “How will Lord Nrsimha treat us?”
We see Lord Nrsimha protecting entire sankirtana movement.
Lord Nrsimha is especially kind and affectionate to His devotees.
The success of our movement does not depend on propaganda but how much we embody the prema the Lord Caitanya wanted us to distribute. Lord Nrsimha can help us remove the obstacles to developing this prema.
Ultimately, we are not praying for Lord Nrsihmadeva to protect our bodies but to protect our souls.
Prahlada Maharaja was the forerunner of the sankirtana devotees because of his concern to help the people of the world.
Sannyasa means “I am not just going to live for myself, but I am going to give myself for the welfare of others.” Of course, we have are looking for responsibility in whatever ashram one is in. The biggest problem in the marriages, in most cases, is that the men are irresponsible.
Sacinandana Swami says, “Listen my dear devotees very carefully, for I am going to tell you something very valuable.” And then he shares his deep thoughts.
The devotees make us want to do the sacrifice for Krishna.
From a Vyasa puja lecture:
Vyasa Puja is purification for all of us. By hearing your words of appreciation, I realize what I must be. We both reconfirm our commitment to the relationship.
I was a song writer, but my guru did not want me to use that skill in the Lord’s service.
Now I am happy to have a disciple who is a song writer.
I never graduated from high school, and now I have many disciples with advanced degrees.
I want to do many things through you, just like Lord Caitanya said to Sanatana Goswami, but I am not Lord Caitanya and you are not Sanatana Goswami. But we can play our small role in the mission in Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
We have duty, and I am trying to awaken the sense of duty within you. But if it is all duty, and no relish, how long will be last. We should try to go deep.
Jiva Goswami says all devotional service should be preceded and followed by the holy name. That is where we can relish. The secret for having time for hearing and chanting is to rise early and the secret to rising early is to go to sleep early.
Because I joined in the holy dhama and lived many years in the dhama, and because residence there is one of the five processes, I realized that is an important part of our spiritual life.
We must take time to relish and take time to give.
We have to take care of the spiritual life of others. To do this we have to take care of our own spiritual life. We cannot cheat.
We should not think, “What will ISKCON do for me?” We are making ISKCON. We have inherited ISKCON, and we can really develop it into something. We cannot sit and point at ISKCON. We are ISKCON, a part of ISKCON, and we can make our part very nice.
We can have our own nature, but we also have to sacrifice everything.
I am demanding and yet liberal. You can do the worst nonsense, and I will not reject you, but I will remind you of the qualification to actually to make it to the spiritual world.
There is a great opportunity. There is a raging age of Kali around us. You can express your individuality, but if you do it so much you lose the association of devotees, then you will make it very difficult for your spiritual life.
The whole world likes cheese, but until you meet a Dutchman, you will not see a real cheese lover. The world loves freedom, but until you meet a Dutchman, you have not seen a real freedom lover. And I love freedom even more than your average Dutchman, but still have I had to adjust to the needs of the institution.
It not everyone has to become a book distributor. But everyone does have to reach out.
I am glad you came, and I hope you keep coming. It is like a samskara. We take something with us that benefits us.
It is a fashion that “you have to find a life outside the temple,” it has not always been like that, and it will not always be like that.
Try to do something to make ISKCON better. By doing that Srila Prabhupada will smile and all blessings will be there.
The devotees who did a drama on attentive chanting from Sacinandana Swami's recent japa retreat shared the drama with attendees at the Vyasa Puja festival:
From an initiation lecture:
The initiation vows are investments like the pearls which Krishna planted and which bore fruit. The sixty-four items are to engage our senses in Krishna’s service. We must construct a shelter of these sixty-four items.
When we are tested, when things are taken away in our life, we can see how Krishna conscious we are.
At initiation there is no going back. We cannot walk away. We may not follow the vows, but if we do not they will beat our heart. At first initiation we begin to practice the brahminical life so we can ultimately take brahmana initiation in due course. By brahmana initiation we affirm our determination to go back to Godhead. The brahmana is generous, the opposite of miserly.
We may feel that our only impediment is our material desires. We feel doubt because we are attracted to both material and spiritual, and we may worry that we cannot make it. But by Krishna’s mercy, it is possible. Therefore material desires are not the problem. It is offenses. Offenses can create new material desires.
Only Vishnu can give liberation, and only Krishna can give love of God.
Srila Prabhupada wrote Gargamuni Prabhu a letter and signed it “your ever well wisher,” and for that, he said at one Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day in Vrndavana, he would never leave.
A few of the initiates:
Klausse became Ter Kadamba. He plans to attend the 12-year course by Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami in Mayapur.
As a devotee child, Nimai Caitanya, gradually decided he wanted to take initiation. As Lord Caitanya changed His name so I will change yours to Visvambhara Caitanya das.
One initiate he told, “You gradually came to understand the philosophy in the course of time. You did not passionately accept it, and this is auspicious. Thus I named you Prasannatma, one who is always satisfied.
Kumari is another Vaishnava youth who came to decide to accept the path of Krishna consciousness. I name her Kumari Kunti. Suzan from Slovakia became Seva-kunja Dasi. One lady became Gayatri Devi.
From a Cc class:
“The more they tasted it [love of Krishna], the more their thirst for it grew.”
Badrinarayana Prabhu decided to preach in some place there was no preaching going on. He looked at a map, and chose New Guinea. After a long flight from the West Coast he finally arrived there, and found at the hotel the man behind the reception desk was reading one of Srila Prabhupada’s books.
It is not possible to stay enlivened without the devotees, who are endowed with generosity. When I was new devotee I was happy to receive a feast of fifteen preparations, all you can eat for free, and I felt like reciprocating.
Without friendship, how can we stay on the path?
I have received many, many blessings from the Vaishnavas, especially Jayadvaita Swami, who encouraged me in taking up the renounced life.
Hanuman offered to kill the Raksasis who were torturing her. Sita declined and told the story of the hunter, the bear, and tiger. The hunter pursued a tiger, who ended up pursuing him. He ran up a tree, but discovered a bear higher in the tree. The tiger told the bear to kick down the hunter, a mutual enemy, but the bear declined, saying the hunter was a guest in his home, and he could not possibly do that. Then the man did something to mistreat the bear, and the tiger again appealed to him to kick down the man who proved himself disreputable, so he could kill him, but the bear again refused to harm the guest in his tree.
We have to become Vaishnavas of noble character.
My spiritual master [Jayadvaita Swami] is dedicated to being a man of ideal character.
Generosity means giving more than money, things like appreciation.
Do not worry about what you are getting. Start giving. Do that and you will find that you do not need the things you thought you did.
Our security is our purity. If our purity is there, Krishna and His devotees will take care of us.
One devotee was becoming a householder and was planning to become a professional. I said, “That is only one option.” You can go to a new city, rent a place, and start preaching. People will appreciate, and things will expand. He replied that he did not have enough faith. That is our problem.
There are many devotees in this movement who have not read Srimad-Bhagavatam. If you have not read Srimad-Bhagavatam, you are below the poverty line.
We are in need of spiritual nourishment. And we need to nourish others. To do this, we need to become Vaishnavas of noble character.
Q: How hard should we try to develop our love for Krishna?
A: We must try with all our heart. We must try with every cell in body, with every thought that comes into our mind. We must try completely. Of course, we do not do that. And so we should pray for mercy.
I want Krishna prema [love of Krishna], but I am not willing to pay the price for it.
Q: In Vrndavana, so many swamis came around. Why did you choose Jayadvaita Swami as your guru?
A: He always treated me as if he was completely in charge of me, so I just surrendered to it.
April 2012:
Things are usually less than one plans. That is the nature of this world. After great endeavor usually things do not come out as nicely as hoped.
One cannot stay one’s whole life in the grihastha ashrama. One may remain in the other ashramas, but the scripture says at age fifty one must leave grihastha life for the next stage.
We are situated in this material world according to how we deal with sex life. One engaged in illicit sex goes to the lower planets or the hellish worlds. Those inclined to passion and not inclined to dharma, exist on the earthly planets. One whose sex life is regulated by dharma can live in the heavenly planets. The Prajapatis, who use sex only to populate the universe, live on planets like Janaloka and Mahaloka. Tapaloka is the abode of the brahmacaris, like the Kumaras. Satyaloka is the abode of the sannyasis.
None of us is exempt from being dragged down from the spiritual platform due to attachment to sex life.
If we engage in hearing and chanting will get spiritual strength, and that spiritual strength is in spiritual happiness.
One who wears the shoes of satisfaction on his feet, is not disturbed by the thorns on the path.
Doing our best for Krishna brings satisfaction. Of course, what is our best cannot remain the same. It must increase. That is Krishna’s desire.
We may realize we cannot go as quickly forward as we desire, and then we may take smaller steps, but we should never take a step backwards.
Once I realized that my present service was always simply preparation for the next service.
I thought I would see others around me who are older who were more surrendered and they would inspire me, but then I saw that was not necessary.
If we take responsibility in devotional service, that will make all the difference.
Eight rounds is not good enough. It means another birth. We missed the boat. It is a good start. But we have to progress to sixteen.
We should accept what the Vaishnavas are offering. It is an opportunity.
You who are my disciples have a bond which is unbreakable. In a marriage you can have a divorce, but there is not a dissolution of the guru-disciple relationship. You can always walk away from it, but the vows still apply.
I met some primordial scream people who believe we each have our own scream, and when we find that scream and express it, we attain liberation. I said, “That is wonderful! We also understand that simply through sound vibration, one can attain liberation. We are all chanting the same sound, but each of us does it in his own way!” And they said, “Wow!”
No one can build our spiritual life for us. The guru and scriptures give us the blocks to use, but we have to do it ourselves.
We must try to increase our commitment. It does not have to be the most difficult thing, it can be an easy thing we add to our life. We can add many little things. By doing that we gain the strength to add bigger things.
We have our point of weakness. When we reach it, we will have to see how we can increase.
It is my desire that we all go back to Godhead at the end of this life. That is why I am sitting with you, singing with you, joking with you, and dancing with you.
‘“Cannot’ is dead and is lying in the cemetery. And ‘want not’ is lying with it.”—a Dutch saying
Marriage is not an eternal situation. It is a support situation. The marriage vow thus is not as important is the initiation vow.
Prabhupada wanted devotees that were independently thoughtful.
Some Memorable Points from the Disciples’ Offerings in 2012:
Bhagavati Devi:
Just by thinking of discussing a problem with him gives me clarity.
Sadbhuja Prabhu:
It is not easy to change one’s nature, that I realize more and more, so I ask for your mercy.
Tattvavadi Devi:
Years before someone asked if you if had any disciples and you said, “No, because disciples means trouble.”
One you said regarding my mother, “Oh she looks so young.” That really captured her heart, especially as you said it so spontaneously.
After a program in Heidelberg, we had too few devotees in those days, so you were cleaning the pots. I tried to arrange things to make it easier for you, and you said, “I am a grown up man, I can do it myself.”
Once Jayadvaita Swami had a feast for all the Prabhupada disciples in Mayapur. He had their feet washed, gave them sandalwood pulp, and garlands. He personally served the feast and talked sweetly with them. Everyone got a donation at the end. It was a wonderful demonstration of how to do a perfect feast.
Yudhisthira Dasa:
[He thanked Kadamba Kanana Swami for the name and briefly described the Pandava Yudhisthira’s life and prayed to him to imbibe his qualities.]
Ragalekha Devi [South Africa]:
Kadamda Kanana Swami was at home in South Africa: The Dutch descendants there speak Afrikaans, which Maharaja calls “Dutch without grammar.” From living in Indian, he found himself more Indian than the Indians there. And the blacks love to dance.
Nama Rupa Devi:
“I cannot even take prasadam, if I do not do it in service to you.”
Kadamba Kanana Swami did not want me to give him some electronic device I had that he liked. He said that he did not like to accept donations of electronics from his disciples for then he will always be thinking, “What can this person get for me?”
I could not understand why in Brhad-Bhagavatamrita, Hanuman and Prahlad say they did not get any of the Lord’s mercy, when I feel I have some of the Lord’s mercy. You explained that Hanuman and Prahlad felt they had some mercy, but practically none in comparison to the devotees they admired.
Bhakta Martin:
You encourage me like a father even though I have so much difficultly regularly chanting and following the four principles. You are fixed in your sadhana, and always give people what they need to progress. You are always able to see whatever good qualities they have.
Yamuna Devi:
[She has a hair salon with only spiritual magazines on the table and only devotional music playing.]
I am less happy because of not being able to come to you always. Thus I envision you and your programs of sharing.
Sutapa Prabhu:
There are themes in your instructions:
We have to become deeply spiritually nourished. Once I asked you a question, and you spent two hours and ten minutes answering it.
We should make a sacrifice. You went to Bangladesh, and every night you had a full-on program to benefit the people.
We should to develop saintly qualities. You once said, “A Vaishnava is not just someone who gets up very early or chants a lot. A Vaishnava is someone who has a heart.”
Not only do you teach these instructions, but you live them.
Once I did a search on all of Prabhupada’s books for “secret of success.” Practically every time Prabhupada said serving the spiritual master is secret of success.
Jananivasa Prabhu, personal servant of Kadamba Kanana Swami:
You once said it is the duty of the guru’s servant to tell stories.
You told me, “For you traveling is harder. For me it is just the body, but for you it is also the mind.”
You told me to get everything together and put it in the car, so we could go. I put it all in the elevator and then put it in a car and sent the elevator back to you. Just then you came down the stairs, and said, “What kind of servant are you? You use the elevator, and your guru has to use the stairs!”
One time you were late for the Caitanya-caritamrita class you were teaching in
Mayapur. You remembered I had a bike, and you asked if I could give you a ride on the bike, and so I happily got to do that service for you.
Ragalekha Devi:
Someone asked Kadamba Kanana Swami, “How do you please the guru?”
He once said, “You please him so deep in his heart he is satisfied.”
Uddhava Prabhu:
[He spoke nicely glorifying the line of teachers from Brahma to Kadamba Kananda Swami.]
Gopali Devi [Slovakia]:
I think every day how to glorify you. You are the most wonderful person I have ever gotten to know, along with Krishna, who is the friend of everyone. Everyone is suffering in this world, and so am I, but I become happy by your association. When you come, I serve you in different ways and do not talk to you very much. But I do felt changed for the better, more so than when I just hear advice of senior devotees and try to fulfill their instructions. There is no limit to my gratitude in you leading me back to Krishna.
Krishna Caitanya Prabhu [Berlin]:
You’re distributing medicine of Krishna’s names,
You’re extinguishing all material flames,
You’re taking risks for Guru’s pleasure,
You’re working without any leisure,
You’re serving with devotion steady,
You’re helping devotees, anytime ready,
You’re shining like the effulgent sun,
You’re never thinking, you’re done,
You’re a transcendental desire-tree,
You’re a nectar-hunting bumble-bee,
You’re indeed my life and soul,
You’re delivering so many to the supreme goal!
There is no end for me to say,
from my fallen heart I pray,
that I may remember You,
day by day, and not go again astray.
After many lifetimes, hassle and troubles,
You’ve rescued me atop the ocean bubbles,
from a dark place so far from home,
poisoned by illusory foam.
When I read my little rhyme,
I realize: I’ve got no time!
Better I surrender now and be clever,
only pleasing you, eternally and forever!
Kasturi Manjari Devi [wife of Madhu Pandit Prabhu, from CZ]:
The master can kick me or pet me. Both are manifestations of his mercy.
I pray to please you and do something useful for this Krishna consciousness movement:
Hrdaya Caitanya Prabhu:
The Queen’s Day mass harinama is like the cherry on your birthday cake.
Visvambhara Prabhu:
While I was just out of high school and I went to India, you even let me stay in your room, because of the prices at the Delhi temple.
Heidelberg TP:
Once you said, “In ISKCON 10% of the devotees do 90% of the work.”
Give me the strength to bring Heidelberg back to the former times in terms of the magnitude of our outreach.
Kadamba Kanana Swami:
By taking shelter of my spiritual master and Srila Prabhupada, I become surcharged with spiritual energy, and that is all I have to offer.
The key for all of us is taking shelter—the key for you, the key for me, and the key for all of us. To take shelter, we all have to stretch. And if we continue to do that, we mature. Miracles can happen, if we stretch, and to do that we must make an endeavor.
The spiritual master is dear to Krishna because he has sacrificed for Krishna and served Krishna. And so he has credit with Krishna, and he can use that credit for us.
When I accept someone, I really accept them on behalf of Krishna and do so in an ongoing way.
For fifteen years, I have done two lectures a day.
I will do less traveling and more writing, but do not take it as a lessening of commitment to our relationship.
Once Srila Prabhupada said, “I instruct my disciples intimately publicly.”
Srila Prabhupada once said, “The whole material world is a backdrop for sex life.” I brought it up to remind us, that we are all struggling together to transcend that influence.
You are all dear to me, although the formal aspect of the relationship is there.
The spiritual master–disciple relationship is always profound. Ever moment of the exchange is deep. One should be fully attentive to it. One should always take it seriously.
The spiritual master is not like a driving instructor.
When I took sannyasa, Jayadvaita Swami said to me, “Now that you have taken sannyasa, I do not know if I will ever see you. Sannyasis wave to each other from planes.”
What do you do when you are attacked by sex desire? The best thing is to do nothing.
I gave my “Yes. Yes. Yes.” class the other day
“Should I remain brahmacari?
“Yes.”
“Should I get married?”
“Yes.”
“Should I take sannyasa?”
“Yes.”
I expect everyone to chant sixteen rounds. If you have difficulty, then change your situation. For some people, they cannot make it unless they live in a devotee community. If that is your situation, then reside there. Be honest and find the best situation for yourself.
Go to Vrindavana. Go to Mayapur. It is not just a luxury. Go and bring some spiritual strength back.
If you feel you are distant from me. You have to cross the distance somehow or other.
Parmesvara and Gopali are getting second initiation because they are taking care of other devotees. Spiritual life gets better when you take care of other devotees. Then you find the fewer personal problems you have yourself.
Prabhupada said, “Take care of first health, then sadhana, then service.” For older people, health is more important.
The elders are to give knowledge in a concentrated form. When wisdom from a lifetime comes together with the scripture and personal realizations, that is strong. That is what we need.
I have 213 disciples, but I have lost a few people on the way. Let’s not have any more of that. There is a program for everyone, and we can and will make a program for anyone. We are not just alone with our mind and senses. The spiritual master and Krishna can and will help.
As you appreciate me, I appreciate you.
Jayadvaita Swami said, “We are the mutual appreciation society.”
Don’t take a step back. Go forward.
Jayadvaita Swami, as an early disciple of Srila Prabhupada, has been doing things like having feasts or reunions for Srila Prabhupada disciples. Attending such a feast for Prabhupada disciples, to see how substantial their attachment to Srila Prabhupada had become, was inspiring for all of us.
I think of Ramayana as all-devouring dharma—dharma at the expense of everything. I expressed this to Krishna Ksetra Prabhu, and he said, “Well, even Krishna said, ‘Abandon all varieties of dharma and just surrender unto me.’”
I have no other intention but to help you go back to Godhead.
The fact that you wanted to speak is appreciated by me.
Although I am informal in my dealings, we have to do the formal part because I am the representative of Krishna. I do not like this part because I feel like a deity just sitting there, but it is the dharma, and we have to have a little dharma.
from initiation lecture:
The presence of the devotees is auspicious because they can bless the initiates so that they can follow strictly.
The yajna solidifies the vows and invokes the blessings of previous spiritual teachers.
Initiation is a rite of passage.
After sannyasa initiation, the TV crew at the Manor asked if I felt any different. Of course, you do.
We must engage both the mind and senses in Krishna’s service. Then they become more attached to Krishna and less attached to other things.
By hearing about Krishna’s attractiveness, we become attached to Him.
Deity worship is nice because there is no room for speculation.
The moment we have taken the first initiation, we should consider second initiation.
We should always think the spiritual master is always there watching us.
If we offend the devotees, Krishna withdraws His mercy, and chanting becomes difficult.
Brahma and Shiva cannot give liberation. Vishnu can give liberation, but only Krishna can give the love of God.
Offenses create a distance between ourselves and Krishna and delay our progress.
The guru has more authority over us than anyone ever had.
If we are sinking in a swamp and some comes with a plank, and says grab this plank, we will not argue. Similar we should should not disobey the spiritual master.
Bhakivinoda Thakura said only 6% of the Vedic literature was still existing during his lifetime, what to speak of now.
When the acaryas quote a verse from a Vedic literature, it does not mean every statement from the literature is meant for us.
Spiritual life is a mix of liberality and strictness. We have to recognize even a hint of a good quality in others, but we have to be strict about making sure what we eat.
We should not think that chanting Hare Krishna will free us from all our material problems. That kind of thought is the eighth offense.
In a public forum, we read Bhagavad-gita and chant Hare Krishna.
Maintaining material desires is different from having material desires. Maintaining material desires means feeding them, like you might feed a pet.
June 2013: London UK Brahmacari Conference
I liked the spirit of the previous brahmacari conference.
Ashram life is difficult. You have the early risers and the late nighters. And then there are those people whose alarm clocks wake up everyone but themselves. The clocks go on beeping, while the people who set them go on sleeping.
For so many lives I have tried to enjoy my senses, and I am still not satisfied. I may as well forget about it. It does not work. This life I will focus on going back to Godhead. That is the brahmacari spirit.
There are other brahmacaris such as those who cannot get it together to be married.
In the lower types of brahmacarya, in which the aim is not going back to Godhead, the regulative principles will become unbearable to follow.
The focus of the brahmacari is:
a. going back to Godhead.
b. taking as many back with us possible.
It is not possible to separate the brahmacari ashram from preaching.
The dust at Krishna’s lotus feet is saffron. That is the best argument for saffron.
Dress can help one strengthen one’s identity.
There may be great cultivation, but if conviction is weak, that will not help.
Brahmacaris are like herd animals. The group dynamics help to encourage them.
Conviction comes from contemplation.
Brahmacari literally means acting on the platform of spirit.
We may want to go back to Godhead because the material world stinks or because the spiritual world is a wonderful place.
It is important for brahmacaris to understand the entangling nature of male-female relationships.
In the 1980s there were all those classes in which the speaker would say things like “What if you turn the body inside out?”
A brahmacari who denies that women are attractive will not last very long.
The brahmacari has to cut material contemplation before it gets out of hand.
We have to keep a balance between late night preaching programs and early morning sadhana.
It is fashionable to talk about Vraja and being absorbed in Krishna’s pastimes, and they are attractive, but then our glance falls on Bhaktin Susie and we notice we are still disturbed.
Nistha, the stage of steadiness, is not attained without sacrifice.
In bhava, there is just a shadow of material desire. Rupa Goswami says that is due to remnants of reactions to offenses to devotees. In prema, that is absent.
We have to protect ourselves in the early stages by sadhana and jnana (knowledge).
A group of brahmacaris is at their best when they have a common mission.
Dayananda Maharaja: Being part of a brahmacari book distribution party was the best part of my brahmacari experience. It was not necessarily the service, but just the relationships between the other brahmacaris.
Q (by Sutapa Prabhu): We try to engage new brahmacaris according to the psychophysical natures. How then can we have a common goal?
A (by Kadamba Kanana Swami): I do not recommend we engage people right in the beginning according to their psychophysical natures, but rather create a common goal for them.
A (by Dayananda Swami): As for me, book distribution was completely against my nature, but I quickly developed a taste for it. I think if we engage people according psychophysical natures in the beginning, they can become too independent.
I think we have to separate the brahmacaris, keeping those who are trying to make it a lifetime commitment separate to strengthen them.
comment by Dayananda Swami: Preaching means bringing everyone closer to going back to Godhead.
If the brahmacari ashram does not inspire society to go back to Godhead what is its value? It is meant to revitalize the idealism of the movement.
comment by Sunder Nitai Prabhu: One householder gave a van to use for a brahmacari book distribution party. We used it in that way, and we noticed that the householders who previously were members of such parties in the past relived those days and were personally inspired.
The sannyasi because of his unique commitment can inspire many householders. Similarly a group of renounced brahmacaris can also be inspirational.
Sridhar Swami had a hat with “Prabhupada’s dog” written on it. At the end of his life of service, he said with a smile, “I have been a good boy.”
May 2015:
Every action has future consequences, whether it is spiritual or material activity. The mind, however, focuses on one thing, and we think we must have this one thing.
Sex life is full of all kinds of consequences and thus the sages recommended it be eliminated or reduced to the minimum.
If devotees are too attached to sex life, they will find they have less energy for devotional service. When they increase their enthusiasm for different activities of devotional service, then they can naturally reduce absorption in sex life. If one tries to reduce sex life to follow scriptural injunctions or out of a sense of duty, it will not last. It will become a heavy duty.
Bhakti is described as loving devotional service, that we actually love to do the service. It is done with a sense of love, even before the stage of prema.
In the middle of the King’s Day kirtana, there is no chance for the people to do their nonsense. We have so many devotees, we create a transcendental atmosphere that affects the people. When we go in the tunnel it is amplified, and they come running into the kirtana. We can see from that how our devotion can be increased. [By immersing ourselves in a spiritual atmosphere.]
If we take our material desires and put them in a box and put them on a shelf, and just get absorbed in devotional service, we will find that when we have free time, and we take down the box, it is half empty. We may exclaim with alarm, “Who has stolen my material desires?” It is Krishna, who is a thief.
I do not know how much love I have for Krishna, but I cannot imagine a life without serving Krishna.
Being from Holland, I loved water and boats. When I became a devotee, we had a program on a boat, and it was nice but nothing special. The best part was the audience could not escape. Either they heard about Krishna from me, or they jumped in the water.
This practice is not boring. Not like we have to give up so many things. We have colorful personalities. We have a movement that is based on individualism. Everyone uses their individuality in serving Krishna, and that lifts us above the ordinary. It is not just devotion but service to Krishna.
In my youth, at King’s Day, I would play my guitar and sing, “It is a free day and in a free way, we are going to play.” But now I know what real freedom is.
Orange [the color worn by those in the renounced order of life], for me, means “I belong to Krishna.” The others wearing orange there at King’s Day do not know.
Bhakta Rick reserves our spot at King's Day. You do not just sign up at the city council. You have to tape it off, stay there the night before, and fight for it. But he has been doing that as a service for years.
Those who did not go to King's Day, what can I say, you missed something very, very special that could have given you a higher taste in your spiritual life.
Bhakti comes from bhakti. That is the secret.
If we make an effort to stay close with the other devotees, as at this festival, that will help us in a time of need.
Radhadesh is here because of sacrifice. It is not like one rich man donated the castle and everything else. Sacrifice for the glorification of Krishna is what will save us and what will save the world.
Because Prahlad Maharaj is a devotee, and we are aspiring devotees, his prayers to Lord Nrsimhadeva are very relevant.
The demigods were afraid to approach Lord Nrsimhadeva because of His angry mood. Lakshmi did not approach Him as a matter of chastity as she had never seen this form of the Lord before and had some doubt that He really was her Lord.
When we offer glorification to the Lord, we ourselves become glorified.
Although all animals are afraid of the lion, the lion cubs are not afraid but feel protection. Similarly although Lord Nrsimhadeva seems very fearful to all, Prahlad Maharaj was not afraid of Him but felt His protection.
When our bhakti falls short, if we have cultured the mode of goodness, we will still perform our prescribed duties.
“Oh Prahlad, What about the pit of snakes your were thrown in?”
“But my father, Narayana, rests on a bed of snakes. A son is comfortable on his father's bed.”
“What about that poison you drank?”
“But Lord Shiva drank an ocean of poison, and my father Narayana, is superior to Him. Why should I be afraid of poison?”
A disciple of mine said, “When I go back to my parents I see a museum of my old habits.”
Bhaktivinoda Thakura reminds us that we have to give up all our old attachments to progress spiritually.
In the West we are willing to spend millions of dollars to save a life. In India it is not like that.
In the Netherlands, you never see a body in the street. When I first went to India, I saw a dead body on the street in Benares. Then I recognized it. It was a beggar I had seen the day before. I saw people were throwing money on the body. Soon it was covered with coins. I inquired why. A person said when the soul leaves the body he hovers over the body wanting to reenter it but he cannot, thus they burn the body so the soul can continue on his journey. But the beggar had no money for the firewood to burn the body, so we are all giving something to help him out. To save his soul, they are willing to spend, but to save his body, they were not willing to give anything. In the West it is just the opposite. They just spend for the body, but for the soul they give nothing.
I saw in the beginning in Czech Republic the devotees were cooperating together on a bakery. But in Western Europe, they were not. They would get money from the government and live on their own. So material advancement is not necessarily favorable.
The more we can focus on Lord Nrsimhadeva on this day of Nrsimha Caturdasi, the more we will feel by the end of the day a real connection with Lord Nrsimhadeva.
Prahlad Maharaj considered how he was indebted to his guru, Narada Muni, and he did not want any other benediction than to be engaged in his service.
The guru is more than an official representative of the parampara (spiritual lineage).
Brahmananda Prabhu was glorifying Srila Prabhupada again and again. One devotee said, “I see for you that Srila Prabhupada is God.”
Brahmananda Prabhu replied, “No, no. I made that mistake in 1970. He is not God, but he is as good as God. Actually now I am thinking he is better than God because he came to the Lower East Side and saved me.”
Then tears came to his eyes.
Now that we have come to this temple of Lord Nrsimhadeva we should take advantage and pray for Him to remove all obstacles on our spiritual path, and who does not have obstacles?
May 2016:
From a class on the Seventh Canto:
There are demoniac ways of thinking and desires that we have to overcome.
No demon, no matter our proud, can stand up to the Supreme Lord.
We are gifted by Krishna by different abilities.
The mahajanas, including Prahlada Maharaja, are perfect role models.
Our spiritual life is not a matter of conquering lust and anger but being fully absorbed in Krishna’s service.
When we are feeling a lacking in our life, that is Krishna we are lacking.
We must make a conscious effort to build up our spiritual life by adding more spiritual elements to our lives. It starts as duty, but very soon it becomes attachment.
Srila Prabhupada was the only one awake when the old lady would bring the Yamuna water for the bathing of Radha-Damodara, and he would let her into the temple each morning. Thus he appreciated her steady service and said she would attain the spiritual world because of it.
One of the austerities of the mind is to be satisfied when we have all that we require spiritually.
If we cannot learn through hearing, we have to learn through suffering, and that is not fun, not fun at all.
Some people have never had any real suffering, just perhaps feeling some lacking, but it will happen at the time of death, and then they will be unprepared.
The beauty of the material world is hard to ignore, but if we focus on the deity, and we chant Hare Krishna, worship Krishna, and study and execute Krishna’s instructions, it is possible.
Invest. Invest. Invest now. Invest now in your spiritual practice. The service will accumulate, and it will pay off.
In Parividha Prabhu’s slideshow he expressed regret that although present during Srila Prabhupada’s time, he did not take full advantage of Srila Prabhupada’s presence.
Embrace Prahlada Maharaja’s positive attitude of being completely absorbed.
When we have trouble, it is only that we have not done enough devotional service.
We think erroneously “if I was inspired I would be more Krishna conscious,” but actually if we are more Krishna conscious, we will be more inspired. We have to give ourselves in service, and Krishna will give inspiration.
A kanistha [neophyte] thinks if Krishna gives me ecstasy, I will surrender to Krishna, but a madhyama [one in the middle position] thinks if I surrender to Krishna, Krishna will give me the ecstasy.
I had shingles and could only sleep an hour a night for a month. I tried to preach to myself, “You are Goswami. You should be more renounced. This is good.” But I could see I am not yet on that level.
Our main focus is not to deal with the Hiranyakasipu within us but to develop the absorption in Krishna of Prahlada. If we do this, the result will beyond what we can imagine.
Wherever Krishna is present, there can be no maya.
We have a taste for demoniac activities, but the result is suffering.
Material happiness is like this: I am having a party. At my party, all your hidden desires will be fulfilled, everything you always dreamed of will be there, but at the end, you will be shot. Will you be coming? If you are a fool, you will be coming.
Devotional service is wonderful. Whatever you do in devotional service brings you benediction after benediction.
We are all friends. Let us do wonderful things with our friendship in devotional service.
By serving the master, we develop the qualities of the master, and thus the qualities of Krishna manifest in His devotees, and from His devotees to other devotees.
It is the devotee who can light the fire of inspiration in our hearts.
The message of Bhagavad-gita is hard to understand, but when it is explained by a devotee, it is understandable.
When I first read Bhagavad-gita As It Is, the message I got from reading purport after purport was that these arguments are reasonable and we should accept them if we are sincere, and if we accept them, we should surrender our life, and if we are unwilling to surrender our life, then we are not sincere.
It takes the whole Bhagavad-gita to convince Arjuna to do his duty for Krishna.
In the Ramayana, we find endless dharma impressed upon us.
Every Rama Navami I read the entire Ramayana.
In Ramayana there is a pastime when some bees that are completely drunk are led home by one bee, who did not get so intoxicated. Rama pointed it out, and Sita thought it was a funny story. It shows how only one who is not intoxicated, the guru, can actually lead others.
I joined the Hare Krishna movement in Vrindavan and got the mercy of being in a place where Krishna is in the center.
To us who were serving in the dhama, it was clear that we should not obscure the nature of the dhama by giving into the false ego.
It is like we are stepping from the material world to the spiritual world, but in the beginning all our weight is on the material leg.
It is not a mystical thing. Being more absorbed in spiritual activities, we find we have no time for material activities.
It is not a long journey, rather we are already there. It is just an adjustment of consciousness.
Everyone is meant to contribute in his own individual way, to bring in spiritual elements.
Let us give to the community of the devotees. The community of the devotees is our wealth.
Early on, I had a sense that Krishna liked things done in a certain way and I burned out a few devotees, steamrolled them. Now I understand that this is the community of devotees in which I have to please Krishna. Disposable relationships are not part of Vaishnavism.
When we give something to the community of devotees, we give so much life.
Haven’t we all sometime received some maha-prasadam and taken it to our room and locked the door, and eaten it all?
In Jaipur, there is a little old woman who gives little binoculars to the pilgrims so they can see the deities. What a nice contribution! When I saw the deity close up, I saw He had a watch, because in India, if you do not have a watch, you are nobody.
For eighty years there was a war between Holland and Spain, William of Orange won the war for Holland, thus orange symbolizes freedom for the Dutch.
I am a bit of a rebel, and I think that you are somehow or other rebels, because rebels attracts rebels, and that you like your own personal space. I am here to provide that personal space for you in Lord Caitanya’s movement.
It is not my mission in life to be counted among the sheep.
If we are individualistic, then we have to take responsibility as individuals. Ultimately we want people to take individual responsibility.
We can be carried our whole life, but at the time of death, we have to face the final test alone. At the end, the ball is in your court only and nowhere else, and it is what you do with it that counts.
Although we wish the best for everyone, we win a few and we lose a few. Let us not become distracted by the petty little things of this world, like sex desire. Will sex fulfill us? We are here because we have some doubt. The world is oversexed. The world makes too much of it. Whatever place it has in your life, do not give it too much energy. There are more important things in life. Keep it in the boundaries. Being married to this one or being married to that one is not so different. The personalities are different, but the same scripts are there. The actors are different, but the script is the same. The sex desire will not satisfy us, only developing our relationship with Krishna will, so let us add Krishna to our other relationships.
My astrology is not good for a long life. But the many prayers of so many Vaishnavas I think are a lot stronger.
After the disappearance of the spiritual master, it is what we offer to him that is most important. Carry on in this mission. Create space for people to preserve their individuality and at the same time follow spiritual principles.
At King’s Day I am not just thinking about my own enjoyment. I think of all these intoxicated people, who are trying to have fun and not having fun, while we are having fun, and when they run into our kirtana and enjoy dancing in it, that is my happiness.
June 2018 at Bhaktivedanta Manor:
Lord Caitanya danced in front of the cart for the glorification of Lord Jagannatha, attracting everyone, and astonishing Lord Jagannatha as well.
In Satya-yuga King Indradyumna asked his pandita for the ultimate deity to worship. The pandita asked the sadhus, and one excited sadhu described Nilacala. Thus Ratha-yatra has been going on since Satya-yuga.
There had never been kirtan before Lord Jagannatha like that done by Lord Caitanya and His associates.
The London Ratha-yatra is immortalized being mentioned by Srila Prabhupada in his purport to Sri Caitanya-caritamrita.
Lord Jagannatha is the most merciful, because He can engage anyone in service.
According to Kavi Karnapura, at Ratha-yatra only one person was unhappy, King Prataparudra. Why? Because Kavi Karnapura was describing the Ratha-yatra after Lord Caitanya had disappeared, and it just was not the same without the ecstatic dancing of Lord Caitanya.
The queens had a special balcony where they would view the beginning of the Ratha-yatra, but during Lord Caitanya’s time, King Prataparudra gave that balcony to Lord Caitanya and His associates.
The Ratha-yatra is a victory for the gopis – to be pulling Krishna to back to Vrindavan thus ending an unbearable separation. When Srila Prabhupada was in London Ratha-yatra in 1973, it was also a victory for Krishna consciousness in the UK.
Trafalgar Square is perfectly designed for Ratha-yatra, with a platform just the size required for the three chariots. I have attended Ratha-yatras in Paris, New York, and many other cities, but I have never seen that.
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura got the Gaudiya sampradaya in shape, strengthening it, by eliminating this and emphasizing that, and then Srila Prabhupada spread it all over the world.
Ratha-yatra is an essential element of this movement. Even gross mundane people are a little bit impressed by it.
King Prataparudra took pleasure in serving Lord Jagannatha and even more pleasure in serving Lord Caitanya.
Now we are performing Ratha-yatra as did Lord Caitanya and as did Srila Prabhupada.
In Calcutta we had a truck of bananas following the Ratha-yatra cart, and we threw bananas to the crowd.
It is festival. Everyone is included. Everyone has to get the mercy today.
If they gave me a week to speak on Ratha-yatra, I probably would not run out of things to say.
If you are not there with kirtan, waiting for the Lord to arrive, you have missed something.
Comment by Janananda Goswami: In 1973 there were only 100 or 200 devotees, so most of the people in the Ratha-yatra procession were from the general public. Now, of course, it is mostly devotees.
May 2019:
Although Hiranyakasipu displays great affection for his son, as soon as his son was considering there was someone greater than himself, he was ready to kill him. This indicates that he was only concerned with his own honor.
Bhaktivinoda Thakura advised that we pull out the weeds of material desires that threaten our creeper of devotion, but here we are advocating worship Nrsimhadeva to destroy obstacles.
There is a difference between devotional service in bhava and in prema. In bhava there are still traces of suffering due to Vaishnava aparadha but not in prema.
There are six Puranas in ignorance and six in passion. There are five in goodness, and one amala Purana, Srimad-Bhagavatam. So we view Prahlada Maharaja as depicted in the pages of Srimad-Bhagavatam, the spotless Purana.
At the end of one’s fifth year, one begins to understand a little how things are working, and so it is the time to begin education. If we learn devotional service at that age, that will benefit our whole life.
Devotional service is the only occupation that can bring us satisfaction. All other engagements bring about suffering.
Demoniac people imagine they are being taught how to attain happiness when actually they are being taught how to suffer.
Children because of their inexperience can easily be misled into sense gratification bringing immediate happiness.
Once Srila Prabhupada said that the entire material world is anartha, unwanted. He liked the phrase “a fool’s paradise.”
How was Prahlada able to instruct his demoniac classmates? Although he was also a child, he was a self-realized child who was himself instructed by Narada Muni, who is considered empowered by the Lord with bhakti-shakti, and he transmitted that to Prahlada. Prahlada had such deep faith it was convincing them. He knew there was nothing of value in this material world and only devotional service was substantial.
There was a temple commander in Vrindavan who used to beat the dogs to keep them out of the ashram. Once after I had just taken rest, I heard this beaten dog crying. I came out of the ashram, grabbed the stick from the temple commander, and said, “If you do that again, I will break every bone in your body.”
I was on a flight where the plane was rocking the entire time. I was in such anxiety, I chanted sixteen rounds in a single hour. I have not been able to do that since.
If we are released from this unholy alliance with this body, we should be happy.
In addition to hearing, thinking about and assimilating the message is important. The body is secondary, and everything in relationship with the body is therefore also secondary.
Time is there in the spiritual world, in that things happen in a sequence and there are beginnings and endings, but time is not predominant as it is in the material world. In the spiritual world, rasa [the taste of spiritual relationships] predominates.
Schools that kill the natural urge of the soul to serve the Lord in great happiness are slaughterhouses.
We are damaged by our demoniac education. We have to repair so much damage.
We are teaching transcendental knowledge in a demoniac society so there will be challenges.
If you have strong sanga and strong kirtana, the kids will benefit, and we will be successful.
From a car conversation in Germany:
Jagadisa Prabhu (the driver): How do we stop being focused on just survival?
Kadamba Kanana Swami: At your meetings, limit your discussion of present operations to half an hour or forty-five minutes, and use the rest of the time for creativity and development.
Involve everyone in the discussion from the beginning so they will be behind what you ultimately decide to do.
I hope to arrange for accredited courses in the Brooklyn temple that will teach people Vedic knowledge that is of practical use in their lives. I also hope to have conferences there.
October 2019:
From a lecture on the first day of Karttika and the anniversary of the installation of Sri Gauracandra at the Bhakti Center:
Karttika is month when we can capture Krishna, and we can get spiritual mercy.
When we travel, we have to leave so many things behind, but when Krishna comes from the spiritual world to this material world, He brings everything with Him.
Who could understand the exalted love of God in Vrindavan? Although Krishna brought His pastimes from the spiritual world to the earthly Vrindavan, He kept them covered so only a very few could understand them.
Rukmini told Krishna, “There is one thing you cannot understand.”
Krishna was doubtful.
Rukmini explained, “You cannot understand the love that Your devotee feels for You.”
Krishna realized that was true, and thus He decided to come as a devotee, and not just any devotee, but the best devotee, Radharani. The blackish Krishna appeared in the color of the golden Radharani, Gaurangi.
According Caitanya Bhagavata, when Lord Caitanya returned to Jagannatha Puri, it was the time of the snana-yatra of Lord Jagannatha. Lots of water was poured on the Jagannatha Deity, but the most amazing thing was that that water was insignificant in comparison to the tears of ecstasy shooting out of the eyes of Lord Caitanya.
Nanda Prabhu said, “We feed this boy the cream of the cream and yet still He goes and steals from others’ houses.”
Yashoda personally churned the yogurt wanting to make sure Krishna had the very best.
The month when Krishna speaks Bhagavad-gita is Marga-sirsa and is known as the month of Krishna, and the month of Damodara is known as the month of Radharani.
Lord Caitanya is giving the greatest spiritual benefit to the most fallen. So we are in the right place. We can argue that New York City is the capital of maya. Any secret sinful desire you can fulfill in New York. It is significant that Lord Gauracandra appeared here in New York on the first day of Karttika, a month of special benefit.
I am attracted to the more positive vows like reciting verses or prayers or reading.
When love in this world is formalized by marriage it becomes mixed with obligations.
Radha cannot never take Krishna for granted. She always has to conquer Krishna again. Lord Caitanya teaches like that. We also can never take Krishna for granted. We also have to always conquer Krishna.
Lord Caitanya was so absorbed in complete dedication when He finally attained Vrindavan and the river Yamuna, He dove into the river and did not feel the need to come out. His servant had to pull Him out or He would have drowned.
By the mercy of Lord Caitanya, we can all experience spiritual ecstasy that is beyond religion.
From a morning class at the Yuga Dharma Ashram:
Kadamba Kanana Swami chants Hare Krishna at the Yuga Dharma Ashram in New York City before his morning class (https://youtu.be/TvTuPp29e1c):
Anna-maya deals with staying alive. Prana-maya involves enjoying life, interacting with the energies of the Lord. Mana-maya is the level of mental speculation.
It amazing that all these philosophers grasp something of the truth. Plato and Socrates explain that what we see in this world is a reflection of an ideal world. Dante understood there are levels of heaven and beyond a paradise with a rose surrounded by its petals, and on top a bright effulgence one could not see beyond.
In the more advanced stages of mana-maya one begins to focus on Brahman.
According the Srimad-Bhagavatam, those who are self-satisfied are not completely and permanently situated in self-satisfaction until they encounter Krishna.
At vijnana-maya we absorb our mind in Krishna as recommended in Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 7, “Now hear, O son of Pritha, how by practicing yoga in full consciousness of Me, with mind attached to Me, you can know Me in full, free from doubt.” (Bg. 7.1)
Ananda-maya is complete happiness derived from actual experience of Krishna, and there is no question of doing anything else.
When ruci begins to develop, laulyam [greed] arises. Samutkantha [complete eagerness] is an advanced stage of laulyam.
Initial faith is like a point of light in a room of the darkness of maya. At nistha, there is some distance from maya. That is the minimum requirement for a sannyasi. The senses are still attracted, but one does not desire to gratify them. At nistha, madhyama begins, thus one in anartha-nivritti is still a kanistha.
At ruci, maya is described to be 3/4 to the horizon of the consciousness.
At asakti there is attachment according to the five rasas.
At bhava, maya becomes like a shadow. There is a trace that something is not right which is caused by reactions to Vaishnava aparadha.
At prema, maya is absent.
Kavi-karnapura says in Kali-yuga a brahmacari is a man who could not get it together.
A shadow reflection, a spiritual emotion, is something, but it does not mean you have attained raganuga-bhakti.
When we are given the association of a sadhu, we should take advantage of his association.
Srila Prabhupada said himself that his chanting under that tree in Tompkins Square Park marked the beginning of his movement.
Kevala ananda-kanda is prema.
Bhava and prema are agreed by authorities to be uttama. Some would also include ruci and asakti in uttama because the focus is on Krishna.
At anartha-nivirtti sometimes maya is on top of you. You have throw maya off.
Kunti was so interested in Krishna she did not care about anything else. She said, “My Lord, Your Lordship can easily be approached, but only by those who are materially exhausted. One who is on the path of [material] progress, trying to improve himself with respectable parentage, great opulence, high education and bodily beauty, cannot approach You with sincere feeling.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.26)
As soon as we glorify the devotee, Krishna is immediately attracted.
Krishna comes from the word akarsna which means He is attractive, but Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura explains that akarsna also means that Krishna is attracted. What is He attracted by? Devotional service.
Karttika is a sale like Black Friday. Everything is given away for nothing.
Some people during Karttika take vows to do positive things, like reading a chapter of Krishna book. Imagine you do that for 30 days. You will be off the ground by the end of the month. You just read Krishna book, and you’re already back to Godhead.
Our present emotions give just a hint of genuine spiritual emotions. Krishna’s humanlike form can capture our emotions.
We take vows to develop attachment to Krishna. I embrace the positive vows because they awaken our love for Krishna.
Because as souls we are eternal, we want things to last.
This is the abode of ignorance. We do not know what will happen.
In the spiritual world there is no unknowing.
Do you think your family members will protect you? How can they protect you when they cannot protect themselves?
The soul cannot enjoy the material world, so it takes a dormant position, and the mind takes the position of enjoying the world, but if that very mind becomes attached to Krishna it can be the cause of one’s liberation.
Krishna steals from every house in Vrindavan to accept the offerings of His different devotees.
Thank you for coming here to spend Karttika with Radha Govinda in Vrindavan. This has nothing to do with New York. You did not notice it, but when you stepped into this temple room, you stepped into Vrindavan. This is because when Radha-Govinda come here, They bring Vrindavan with them.
In the atmarama verse all the other words refer back to atmarama which is the subject of the verse.
The soul can never be satisfied with anything which is not sac-cid-ananda [eternal, cognizant, and full of spiritual pleasure].
The endeavors for liberation and mystic perfection do not free one from material desire.
The sixty-one different explanations by Lord Caitanya and the nine other explanations by Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya have never been exactly enumerated. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati gives a lot of information in this regard, and Srila Prabhupada includes this in his purports to the Sri Caitanya-caritamrita.
The body and mind relate to the soul but are not the soul.
Brahmananda includes the happiness of liberation from the material world and the happiness of connecting with the Lord’s effulgence, the brahmajyoti.
If we thoroughly understand that we have absolutely nothing to do with our body, we become completely fearless.
The impersonalists say everything is illusion but brahman, and the Buddhists say that everything is illusion including brahman.
We agree with the impersonalists that we are spirit and not matter, but we have an additional understanding that matter engaged in the service of the Lord can be transformed into spirit.
There are two kind of yogis, those who realize that the Supersoul is different from themselves and those who think they are the Supersoul and become impersonalists.
In Vaikuntha there are 2½ rasas, neutrality, servitude, and reverential friendship.
The mood of the unalloyed love of the gopis is the core of the Lord Caitanya’s movement.
The idea of the Radha Kunda babajis that you are given your relationship with Krishna by your guru is not actually the Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy.
One yoga teacher was aghast when I mentioned I was a Hare Krishna. She explained that she was someone who could not say no, and a Hare Krishna devotee convinced her to buy an entire set of Bhagavatams, and everyone in her family teases her about it. I asked her if she read the books. She said no. I told her, “These books are actually very good. Why don’t you read the books? Then you could tell friends, ‘I did not get cheated. The books are actually very good.’”
She was very grateful for that advice saying, “You have given me a way out!”
Among other things, Arjuna was worried that so many elders would be killed in the Battle of Kurukshetra and that would not be good for society.
Chapter Three of Bhagavad-gita describes that the desire to enjoy our senses in this material world causes our consciousness become more and more covered, so that we cannot understand spiritual reality. That is what is going on today.
Yoga is regaining our spiritual consciousness by attaining transcendental knowledge.
We see form and personality in the creation. Why do we then suppose that the creator is devoid of these?
Chapter One is entitled Arjuna-visada-yoga, the yoga of Arjuna’s lamentation.
Compassion is required to perform yoga and that is why yoga is present in this chapter.
Chapter Two is sankhya-yoga. Three is karma-yoga, and Four is jnana-yoga.
Chapter Five is the yoga of renunciation.
Living simply keeps our consciousness free, and it gives us energy to pursue the spiritual.
Chapter Six is dhyana-yoga. The final verse of Chapter Six is the verse that speaks about meditation.
Yoga is not something you do for a while, but a way of life. That way of life frees one from the cycle of birth and death, which is not everything but is valuable.
Desire is like a spotlight, and wherever that spotlight is there we will go.
Chapter Seven is vijnana-yoga, the yoga of wisdom.
Srila Prabhupada’s titles of the Gita chapters are not always literal translations but capture the essence.
We think of karma in terms of action and reaction, but Krishna defines karma as action pertaining to the development of the material bodies of the living entities. If we are busy working to enjoy the material world, we will get another material body.
The suffering in old age is to remind us to focus on the Supreme Lord as there is not much time left.
The Ninth Chapter is the yoga of royal and hidden knowledge.
We learn that to get the most confidential knowledge we have to overcome envy.
If we are not free from envy, we have to try to control our envy with our intelligence.
We learn everything is controlled and connected to Krishna.
If the Lord did not appear in a human form how could we relate to Him? Arjuna has difficulty relating to Krishna when in Chapter Eleven He appears in His universal form.
Many verses in Chapter Nine warn us of distraction and misunderstanding, but 9.13, 9.14 and 9.34 tell about the most confidential knowledge.
We learn our complete focus should be on Krishna.
Chapter Ten shows how we can see Krishna in the manifestations of great power in this world.
It is not enough to understand Krishna is the Supreme Lord, but we also have to see Him everywhere.
There are four verses that are said to summarize the Bhagavad-gita. In this day and age people are always looking for brief expressions.
In Bg. 10.8, we learn that beyond seeing Him everywhere, we have to worship the Lord with all our hearts.
Because the heart is involved, the devotees derive bliss talking about Him.
Chapter Eleven is called visvarupa-darsana-yoga, and the important thing to learn here is that God is ultimately a person.
Chapter Twelve is bhakti-yoga.
Who can fix their mind on Krishna without deviation? Therefore we have to practice the regulations of bhakti-yoga.
The other options are like the slow boat to China, but they are there.
Chapter Twelve makes it clear that the essence of bhakti-yoga is to please Krishna. That is clear because the last eight verses describe the qualities of one who is dear to Krishna.
Chapter Thirteen is the yoga of distinguishing matter from spirit.
In this chapter we learn that we are not the proprietor of our own bodies.
Srila Prabhupada explained to one guest that the soul does not die because it is eternal, and the body does not die, because being matter, it is already dead.
The mode of goodness is more transparent to spirit.
It is difficult to try to act in goodness. It is easier to associate with goodness.
You could not catch Srila Prabhupada doing something that was unconnected to Krishna.
Q: What is the difference because love and attachment?
A: Love has a component of wanting to please the other person which may not be there in attachment.
A transcendental person has unconditional love. Parents love their child, but then they want him to be a doctor.
In Bhagavad-gita 2.7, Arjuna accepts Krishna has his guru, but he does not completely give up his own ideas till later in the book.
To be a disciple in this age is difficult because we are so independent.
To take birth in a wealthy family is good karma, but to take birth in a family where spiritual values are cultured is better karma.
Ultimately suffering is a blessing because it wakes you up.
Who in Kali-yuga has a good deal?
We stand before the deity with devotion, but we do not fall down in spiritual ecstasy like Lord Caitanya, so how much do we actually realize that the deity is Krishna Himself?
It described when the demon Putana fell down dead, her body destroyed Kamsa’s favorite orchard.
Putana represents the false teacher because the first guru is one’s mother, and though acting as if a mother, she betrayed Krishna.
Aghasura took the form of snake because he had absolutely no feeling for others.
Why did Krishna appear as a child? Somehow children have the ability to attract attention. If kids were not cute, why would you want to look after them?
When we see Krishna as a child, so many opportunities for service are there.
Although we value liking our job, if we like our job too much, our job could take our attention away from Krishna.
Krishna is one of those kids who likes to sleep in.
Krishna begins milking the cows even before his bath as their udders are quite full, and the cowherdmen will not begin their milking until Krishna starts.
The great dependence of Krishna upon devotees is unique to this tradition. Elsewhere we just see the dependence of the devotees on the Lord.
Krishna’s pastimes are so human and so within the range of human emotion that they are very attractive.
After Krishna and Balarama defeated Canura and Mustika, then They wrestled with some of the cowherd boys, and They were defeated, which did not make Kamsa feel very good.
The pastime of Nrsimha is finished very quickly, but Krishna’s pastimes are extensive and have many nuances.
One of the best things to read during Karttika is the Krishna book.
Although the residents of Vrindavan do not think of Krishna as God they see Him as the most wonderful person they have ever known and who has ever been in this world.
Krishna empowers yoga-maya to put a spell on Him. He can shake it off if He wants to, but He generally does not.
At times it dawns upon the residents of Vrindavan that Krishna is God but at most times not.
This month of Karttika is meant to meditate on Krishna’s pastimes.
What takes birth can be controlled by astrological influence, but that applies just to the body but not the soul. Likewise karma can affect only the body but not the soul. But as long as we identify with the body, we will be affected.
Although there is no reaction to sinful thoughts in this age of Kali, we if continue to meditate on sinful thoughts, some day will end up performing sinful actions.
Someone asked Srila Prabhupada about Freud’s idea of an Oedipus complex that every man has an idea of having sex with his mother. Srila Prabhupada said, “Maybe you but not me.” Srila Prabhupada came from a different realm.
Lord Caitanya could have accepted the most famous guru of his time, Madhavendra Puri, as his spiritual master, but instead he decided to accept the servant of Madhavendra Puri, Isvara Puri, as his spiritual master, thus highlighting the glory of the servant of the great personality.
Lord Caitanya writes the script of His own life, but as for ourselves we are not really sure about the script of our life, and sometimes we are not particularly happy about it.
The deity that we have served we experience to be the most beautiful deity.
We are very much conscious that the body is not the self but rather an awkward encasement that is embarrassing.
Bhakivinoda Thakura says we have to admit that we are ultimately defeated by materialistic life.
In the beginning we are too young for this and that, and then all of a sudden, we become too old for this and that.
In Krishna consciousness we realize the material body is simply to be used in devotional service.
We can work to maintain ourselves, but to maintain ourselves in Krishna consciousness.
Our main focus is not going back to Godhead but taking others back to Godhead. How can we take others back to Godhead if we are not sure we are going ourselves? By being messengers.
Whether we have material desires or we do not have material desires, we are meant to forcefully engage in devotional service.
In one Jesuit book it says that if you have a sinful thought you have to repent, and if you have the same thought again, you have to repent again and to also repent that your first repentance was not sincere. In reality, just by doing devotional service we will surpass all these sinful reactions.
This movement is ours to take care of, not ours to take advantage of.
Working to expand the movement gets us beyond the platform of the body.
Parasurama Prabhu asked me, “Where are you going?”
I said, “To a retreat.”
Parasurama Prabhu replied, “Don’t retreat. Go forward.”
We all have some special qualities. Someone threw a rock at a beehive, and all the bees came out and covered Jagadisa Prabhu. He remained silent for fifteen minutes, and the bees went away, and he did not have a single sting.
Ayurveda is the science that occupies itself with the machine.
Our body has certain advantages and disadvantages based on the consciousness we had at our previous death.
Ayurveda is not about curing diseases, but it is about maintaining health, which is a better strategy.
We keep the body healthy, and we engage the mind in spiritual activities. The mind must always be engaged in positive activities.
Luther was a monk who later gave it up and got married. He exposed a lot of corruption in the church, but he realized that he had a lot of corruption within himself. He came to the realization that only through grace could he surpass his internal corruption, and he taught that.
Twenty-six Second Avenue is a place of pilgrimage on the level of Vrindavan, where Krishna appeared, Navadvipa, where Lord Caitanya appeared, and Jagannatha Puri, where Lord Jagannatha appeared, because it is the place where Krishna appeared in the West in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
June 14, 2020: From a lecture at the Virtual New York City Ratha Yatra festival:
[See the whole lecture on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/kadamba.swami/videos/3959924457383476/]
Yamaraja has no jurisdiction in Jagannatha Puri. Everyone is judged for their piety and impiety by Krishna Himself.
Narada informed the residents of Vrindavan that the residents of Dvaraka including Krishna and Balarama were going to Kurukshetra during the eclipse. He said they were not invited. Nanda and Yashoda said they would go anyway because Krishna was their son and so it would be alright.
King Prataparudra in reciting the “Gopi Gita” was speaking of the exact topics that were on Lord Caitanya’s mind and thus it was so pleasing to the Lord.
November 2020 Srila Prabhupada’s Disappearance Day:
New York City is still meant to inspire the world in Krishna consciousness, and if we can do that, Srila Prabhupada will be pleased with us.
July 2021: Kirtan Mela in New Mayapur, France
Lord Caitanya wanted to spread love of Godhead through the medium of the holy name. Krishna is fully present in the form of His name, but we, due to our conditioning, can only partially appreciate it. You cannot have an ecstatic kirtan on demand. Even if you have a great singer and many amazing melodies, sometimes it happens and sometimes it does not happen, thus it is the mercy of the Lord. As sometimes there is a hole in the clouds and the sunlight pours through, sometimes in the middle of the kirtan, we experience some divine mercy.
Such festivals are an opportunity to focus.
The concept of love awakening is something we can remember.
Hearing helps us in chanting.
Hearing and chanting are core activities that rejuvenate our connection with Krishna.
Dealing with the material energy we become perplexed.
Before I met the devotees, I had a friend who was a piano player. I would play guitar. Once he suggested we play ragas. I had been to India, and I learned two ragas, so I played them. Then he suggested we chant mantras, and he began chanting Hare Krishna. Thus I was connected with spiritual sound before becoming acquainted with anything else about Krishna.
Of all the sixty-four aspects of devotional service the chanting of the holy name is topmost.
Krishna is attracted by hearing His holy name because of the love behind the chanting. Krishna is always associated with love.
In the ocean, there is water in all directions. Prema is described to be like an ocean. There are waves of different moods being tasted.
Gopa Kumar sees the residents of Goloka appearing absent-minded and looking all in one direction, the direction in which Krishna had left early in the day.
Each devotee has his individual idea how he wants to please Krishna.
Our deity dresser in Vrindavan was from France, Omkara Prabhu. He would dress all the deities himself, and every day was completely different. You never knew what to expect.
Once Radharani had both a bouquet for Krishna and a basket of flowers for Krishna, and why not? She is just overflowing with the desire to please Krishna.
The wood in the fire may have some cracks, but who cares because it is burning in the fire.
That is the love. It is voluntary. There is no payment.
There is a word akhanditotsavam which means an uninterrupted festival.
In the beginning how much we follow the regulative principles is an expression of our love.
How can we chant more attentively? By love! How else!
We can be empowered by knowledge and bliss.
Time exists in the spiritual world in that there is a sequence. In the spiritual world things last as long as the taste is present.
Not “Sixteen rounds again! I just finished them!”
Do you see how much Srila Prabhupada is present in New Mayapur. This is a real Prabhupada temple.
Switch off that analytic part of yourself. Do not think, “What am I doing here?” Just forget it, and go wild.
The holy name remained in the center. Krishna remained in the center, and we connected.
These festivals are not just temporary events and then we go home to a vacuum. There is eternal benefit. One benefit is we get the desire to do it again. It gets to be a very strong attachment, and that attachment will sustain us.
All activities related to Krishna are a festival. Let us see all our spiritual activities are a festival.
May 2022:
Lord Vishnu creates the material elements, and Lord Brahma assembles them into so many things.
The different sons of Brahma play different roles in the greater plan.
How much are we still calculating our advantage even in the course of performing devotional service? We have been doing that for a long time, and so we are very much conditioned in this way.
The earlier sons of Brahma perform austerities and engage in procreation with a desire for material activity. Narada, however, only cares about Krishna and delivering transcendental knowledge.
Sense enjoyment is not forbidden in Krishna consciousness. Only sinful sense gratification is.
In the end considerations of varna and asrama disappear, and there is only Krishna. Narada represents this stage.
The role of Rudra in destruction is very important. Everything is breaking down. Even our bodies break down as we are in them.
If we are always seeing everything is temporary, and therefore rejecting it, that is the path of the impersonalists. Our path is to engage the material energy for Krishna. Thus we can engage this tendency to control in Krishna’s service.
If we try too hard to be healthy, we will find that we get sick anyway, so we do something for health but do not endeavor too much.
Regardless of our asrama, most of our energy should be engaged in devotional service.
If you are plagued by dark samskaras, do whatever you can in devotional service, and look for mercy. Ultimately mercy is the cause of our success. Mercy will change our desires, and our desires are what counts.
It is easier to do spiritual activities with others so we have ashrams.
Jayadvaita Swami said as a devotee becomes more advanced his quirks become more charming.
Q: Is it bona fide to be married and not have children and instead agree to dedicate ourselves to the mission?
A: It is not that is not bona fide, but only very rare people can act on that platform.
Even mixed devotional is OK because devotional service is purifying.
For Rudra, destruction is His devotional service, but that should not be our devotional service!
Harinama-sankirtana is our devotional service. We are all here to increase the sankirtana. Become an agent of mercy. Then you fulfill your purpose in life. You may chant, distribute books, dance, give lectures, etc. If you do not become of agent of mercy, you are not living up to your potential.
I have been interested in music my whole life. I played an instrument ever since I was a kid, but now if the music has no relationship with Krishna, I do not care for it. I only like kirtan. Thus in time our attachments become purified.
June 2022:
When we bow down, we are admitting that the Lord is the supreme controller, supreme director, and He is omniscient. Because Lord has a heart, we can feel He will be merciful unto us.
We learn to see the Lord in His manifestations. Thus we learn to see deeper.
Even though Lord Brahma was bewildered by lusty desires, Lord Krishna made an arrangement to save him.
If we make everything favorable for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then we will find that we make a favorable situation for ourselves as well.
Our aspiration is to give up our personal agenda and do what the Lord wants us to do.
We want to be in the play but in the main role. But Krishna decides who will play which role.
Offense is our habit. We must try to minimize our offensiveness.
Krishna arranges we are very weak after we are born, and we have to be taken care of. Then we rise to the peak of our power. Then we are reduced, and we have to take shelter of others. Krishna set it up that way, and if we are fortunate we will take shelter of Krishna at the end.
At death everything is taken away, but what is everything? This insignificant body and some paltry possessions.
Never is there a time when we are abandoned.
We are trying to force destiny, but destiny is never under our control.
We are marionettes. We have a choice: Do we want the strings to be pulled by maya or do we want the strings to be pulled by Krishna?
It is easy to understand Krishna’s will. He wants to deliver all the living entities.
It is too much to be married, and it is too much not to be married. It is too much to be in the material world. But it is simpler to not be married because we have more time to do service to Krishna.
We want to go back to Godhead and take as many people back with us. There is nothing else to do.
At the end of life, we go to Krishna with our meager life as our offering.
Krishna heard every name we chanted. We didn’t, but Krishna did.
We ask the Vaishnavas, “Please save us. Please pray on our behalf.”
We are fortunate to be part of this movement which offers so much protection from maya.
We are injured by maya’s influence so we cannot walk on the spiritual path. The varnas and the asramas are like two crutches. In our injured condition they are required. Pure devotion to Krishna is our goal. Varnasrama is just a support structure, but if we do not take the varnasrama duties seriously we will be lost because our love for Krishna is not developed yet.
Q: How to become absorbed in devotional service?
A: By bhakti. Bhakti comes from bhakti.
Comment by Matanga Prabhu: Devaki Mataji says if you just try to serve the devotees, so many opportunities will come.
Kali is finished. He is out of business. He is trying hard. The sankirtana movement will prevail. Individuals may become distracted by Kali, so we should be careful, but the sankirtana movement cannot be stopped. Lord Caitanya is ruling this yuga. It is not Kali’s yuga.
Faith is a gift of those who have it. Srila Prabhupada created our faith. Reading the books creates faith. Everything is reconfirming our faith.
Read the books, chant deep rounds, fall flat before the deities and pray for faith and pray for service.
I find the holy name which is full of mercy is touching my life, giving me something to share. The more you give, you attain some real selflessness. It is a real liberation to be selfless rather than self-centered. In that way, the mantra brings diamonds.
I open my heart to everybody, but just to give. I do not want anything from anyone. Thus my opening of my heart is not a cause of disappointment.
If you get your loving propensity satisfied by loving the supreme, you will not have to look for love in so many places.
We are not the body. We are not the mind. We are just observers, so just be an observer. If the mind is full of negative emotions, just observe it. Realize it is not you, and you do not need to be absorbed in it. Fix yourself in positive spiritual engagement. But it does not happen in a day.
I tried to elevate myself through music, but it only worked to a point. When I got the association of spiritual people I became strong. I got inner strength.
If you feel really happy about something, you do not need all these things.
[He sings a little song:]
These old, old hungry eyes
have told me many lies,
but maybe this one time
I will be satisfied.
From an initiation lecture:
It is the extraordinary mercy of the Vaishnavas and Srila Prabhupada and the line of gurus that we are here.
It is the mercy of Srila Prabhupada that the books were there and the temples were there. Even if we from our culture knew that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we did not know exactly how to worship Him, but now it is clear.
The Vaishnavas are giving freely with their heart what they have received. We learn from giving out, we have more ourselves.
When there is no other way to become purified, we can become purified by the chanting of the holy name. However, if we commit offenses the result is delayed.
Cultivation of pure devotional service takes time.
It is helpful to read the first nineteen chapters of The Nectar of Devotion after initiation.
Lord Caitanya showed us absorption in love of Godhead.
We are fortunate to be part of a movement where these topics are discussed.
There is more distraction than ever in the world. Maya has a new tool, the internet in our pocket.
This is the domain of distraction. This world is meant to distract us.
We should never think we have so much time because death can come at any moment.
Today let us embrace this transcendental knowledge and where we are weak let us take association.
I imagine we are in a caravan. Pancatattva are chanting and dancing in front, then the Six Goswamis, etc., and then us, by unbelievable mercy.
It is up to us to turn to this mercy always.
We take our vows from Krishna via the disciplic succession.
Wherever the mercy flows, catch it. Catch it wherever you can find it. Then the desire to go back to Godhead will become strong in your heart.
The youngest Raval, Madhavendra Puri, vowed at chant 32 rounds on Janmastami.
I have my disciples vow no meat, no fish, and no eggs [not just no meat].
New York is a gateway to the world. Srila Prabhupada came here to give Krishna consciousness to the world. So stay here and help give Krishna consciousness to the world.
