Service to Vaishnavas reveals the highest truths

1993-168_Serving_Vaishnavas_With_Life_And_Soul_SB-10_47_54-56_Mumbai_-_Radhanath_Swami_1993-11-12_IDesireTree.mp3

SB 10.47.54 — Uddhava remained there for several months, dispelling the gopīs’ sorrow by chanting the topics of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes. Thus he brought joy to all the people of Gokula.

SB 10.47.55 — All the days that Uddhava dwelled in Nanda’s cowherd village seemed like a single moment to the residents of Vraja, for Uddhava was always discussing Kṛṣṇa.

SB 10.47.56 — That servant of Lord Hari, seeing the rivers, forests, mountains, valleys and flowering trees of Vraja, enjoyed inspiring the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana by reminding them of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture Transcript: not verbatim

SRila SG is herein giving us a beautiful description that how it was that Uddhava sought to give pleasure satisfaction to the residents of Vrindavan. so much is revealed to Uddhava the highest truths of the topmost subject matter of all religion and truth. The pure spontaneous and ecstatic love

of the Brijbasis and especailly the Supreme most perfection and source of all love Srimati Radharani was all witnessed and given to Uddhava. But it was given in reciprocation to his own humble consciousness- he came to Vrindavan for only one purpose to give pleasure to all Vrajvasis to give relief to them on the order of Lord Krishna.

Highest truths can only be revealed by service to devotees
Great personalities within their heart is the treasure of love of God. Such Krishna prema cannot be understood by study of any amount of scriptures by the memorization of sholkas and performance of terrible austerities. By performing sadhana vaidhi bhakti by great care and attention- but it is by pleasing the great devotees of the Lord, by satisfying them we satisfy Krishna. Satisfying Krishna by satisfying His devotees, He reveals the greatest of all blessings of the truth of Krishna prema - there is no other way.

Narottam Das Thakur's humble service to Lokanatha Goswami
NDT explains -chadiya vaishnava seva  no one in all history has ever obtained KC - love of Krishna without serving and pleasing great vaishnavas. Bec to serve means to please.It is not simply a mechanical process. In the beginning we may do our particular bhajan or seva bec it has to be done. It should be our growing aspiration that we perfomr our seva with the motivation and attitude of

pleasing great vaishnavas - bec when they are pleased Krishna is pleased and then only is that knowledge revealed to us. We read in the life of Lokanatah oswami- humble saint- living in Vrindavan a very secluede life . At a particular time when he was becoming old- he was living in the bank of Yamuna , now it is Sri Radha Gokulananada . He made a vow- will not accept disciples as he considered himself very fallen. After the departure of Lord CM, RG, SG, RDG- he was so much in the pain of separation of vaishnavas that he could not consider anything else in his life but in crying while taking the names of Rahd aKrishna. But NDT knew it was the will of Lord CM that he accept Lokanatah gosawami as hi SM. He requested LG, but he said it cannot be done- he said there are so many great Vaishnavas in Vrindavan- RDG, JG, why are you coming to me. Lokanatah refused, but then NDT so humble he was that he did not want to disturb his Guru's mind by askign again and gaain- whether he initiates me or not, I cna serve him sincerenly. BUT Lg would not take any service - NDT had to serve secretly. LG would go to bank of Yamuna to respond to nature's call and NDT in the night when nobody is around- he would secretly go to that place and wash it with his own hands. Not expecting any credit for his seva- not even expecting that anyone would ever know what he had done. HE knew LG would be pleased bec the area was clean even if he doesnt know its me - . LG was wondering who is doing this- how is this happening. So he personally hid secretly n the bushes that night and there he saw NDT completely unassuming just wanting to clean the place and do some seva. LG said NDT hy are you doing this- this is below you- you are a prince- you are the only son and a great wealthy powerful king- you should not be doing this work which is unfit- cleaning everyday the stool and urine of another. NDT he explained to LG that is the highest service- service to a Vaishnava- the highest thing- being a great prince is not the highest but pleasing Krishna and his devotees is the highest service . The greatest wealth can only come through such humility. LG began to cry seeing NDT humble desire to serve and ultimately gave him initiation but gave to no one else .

Haridas Thakur pleases' Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu
Through this story how the key secret to unlocking that great treasure from the heaqrat of Krishna and His devotees is to please His devotees then only everything is revealed. Therefore the utmost emphasis is on harinaam and Vaishnava seva. Simply reading Rasika Shastra's of Vrajabhumi - we can memorize it, discussit- but Krsna will not revela the true meaning of any of these subjects - but if we simply serve Vaishnavas , try to relieve them of stress and please them - Krsna will reveal

everything. Haridas Thakur- was an untouchanble but he had a burningdesire to serve Lord CM to relieve him of his stress - seeing the fallen people wasting their life in material enjoyment, how to give them love of God, they have no inclination, this is creating pain in my heart, birth and death and suffering. Here is the source of all bliss- rasaraj, atmarama- to see the pain of others in firgetfulness of Krishna. HDT said- bec you have come to spread the HN of Krishna all those people who are connected to you will be reliueved. Not only did he speak this but he acted on it as well- beated in 22 marketplaces, - HDT " If you can beat me, cut me, torture me, but you can neevr get me to stop from spreading the HN around because it pleases Krishna and His devotees. Death will come before I can stop this preachin. This is pleasign to Krsna and His devotees" His only Qfn- he was willing to give anything his own life to please the Lord and His devotees- He was made Namaacarya- empowered to do the greatest seva.All these realizations come to the humble devotee who simply wants to serve the devotees of the Lord.

Uddhava's service to the Brajawasis
Uddhava - Krishna felt compassion for the residents of Vrindavan- He promised that He would return but did not - He could understand the pains of separation of the Brijwasis- He sent Uddhava to please His devotees who dedicated hie life in the service of the Lord to please the Lord's devotees. Sometimes they were crying- Nanda Maharaja , Radharani, Gopis were chastizing him., but all the while he understood this is what is required to sevre them to please them. He remained in Vrindavan cfor 3 months and throughout - he as always discussing Krishna. Therefore he got them such joy, Xcendental ecstascy that those 3 months seemed like a moment - How he pleased them by reminding them about Krisnhna- greatest way to please devotees and all jivatamas. How to remind them of Krishna- srvanam , kirtanama. ? IN CC- all devotees would get together and discuss hari kirtana and kari katha. e are here to disciuss the beautoful SB- we are doing this to please the Vaishnavas- speaking to please the audience- speaker is doing it as a service for the pleasure of the Lord and the Vaishnavas.

Those who are coming to hear attentively because this is the order of Gurudeva- to hear the SB philosphy- 5 most important rules - hear SB daily. We are coming to please our Gurudeva- whatever Vaishnavas happens to be speaking- ultimately to please the Lord of the heart.

When Krishna sees that within our hearts we have this anxiousness to hear his Katha - he becomes pleased and removes all anarthas from our hearts.

How to please the devotees?
Uddhava sets the highest eg of how to please the devotees- by reminding them about Krishna.
We congregationally come together to chant the HNs and hear Hari Katha to please Guru, Krishna and Vaishnavas. Our motivation throughout the day should be - to truly satisfy the devotees- only then they will reveal the truth to us- inquire submissively and offer service to the great souls. Pari prashnena sevaya. Otherwise the so called information we get- it may appear to be the truth in form but in essence the truth is far away- truth is revealed by great souls when we offer service to them. Brijwasis were pleased by Uddhava and they revealed to him the highest levels of Soiritual consciousness. Uddhava said " You sent me under the illusion that I will give them something, but they gave me something so great" Krishna says elsewhere tro Uddhava mad bhakta puja adhika- to please my devotees is the greatest offering to me. Even Brahma, Shiva, Laskhmi are not so dear to me as you because you have given your life in service to me. Uddhava on recieveing the blessings of the VRajvasis and being in such an exalted posn - he prayed to be a blade of grass so that the vraja gopis might step of him and he will recieve their dust. To receive the blesisngs is the supreme religion, only means of understanding Krishna prema.

Mukatamnama api siddhanam naryana aparayanama sudurlabha prasannatma---- to attain liberation is not a very important accomplishment. to attain great powers, siddhis and ability to perform great miracles, is not a very impressive accomplishment. But narayana parayana to attain devotion to Krishna is so rare ec one who attains such devotion , the supreme master of all mystics Mukunda the giver or all liberation becomes sub ordinate to that love- that love can be attained only by pleasing all the devotees and recieing their blessings. Ishwatra puri cleaned the stool and urine of Madhavendra Puri got his blessings- through which he was given the highest levels of love of God and the empowerment to be Guru of Lord CM. This si what we are seeking in our life- humble service then everything will be revealed to us.
Simple way of pleasing a\we must approach advanced devotees- and without interpretation or speculation we must just do whatever has been told, with all our life and soul.

Questions and Answers?

Question? Aspire to be servant of servant - there maybe more people giving service then who to please?
Answer: Try to please everyone, but you must know what is your service. You may water the branches but miss the root- you must know what is your service- say if you have your project and ten other devotees are giving you other projects then you must do the project given to you- whatever spare time you have you can help other devotees without neglecting your service.

Question? Particular service may cause physical inconvenience?
What does service mean- its not physical. Bhakti is the offering of one';s heart, one's life. Hanuman was carrying huge mountain tops and squirrel was keeping dust. Hanuman wanted the squirrel to stand out of his way. Rama said his picking of a grain of sand is as pleasing to Me as you carrying mountaintops. There is no question of being fit or unfit for DS- simply our desire to please makes us fit or unfit.

One person maybe doing great service but his motive is pride and prestige, anotehr devotee maybe very old and sickly but his motive is to please Krishna and the devotees.

Old lady Radha Damodar would come everyday with bucket of Jamuna water and flowers- very difficult for her to carry- would bring this everyday for Radha Damodar- as she is going back to Godhead. SP said she will go BTG as she does this service with so much attention and faith. This little bucket was more pleasing to the Lord than wealthy people creating big temples to install the Deitires. She was doing everything she could to please Krishna.

Question? Is too much enthusiasm good or bad?
Depdends how you define Too much enthu- if it means you are following your own mental concoctions to serve then it is not good. You cannot have too much enthu if it is properly directed-If we understand the proper process of pleasing Krishna and devotees then we cannot have too much enthusiasm. But if with our enthusiasm we get carried away that that we do so many things that are not pleasing to Krishna and devotees- that is not too much enthusiasm - but it is misdirected enthusiasm on the basis of our own desires- that we want to do something in a particular way that pleases us. The problem is our desire is not being properly directed- the more enthusiastically you do it, the more trouble you get into.
If somebody wants to do something that is not right and is lazy it does not case so much problem.But if somebody wants to do something that is not right- what I want- not what Guru and Vaisnavas want and is enthusiastic to do it then it creates chaos. But if we understand what Guru wants, Krishna and  devotees want then the more enthusiastically we serve the more effulgent we become. We should be humble. We should be enthusiastic to perform what will please the great soul- enquire submissive and then perform service with great enthusiastically.

How Krishna inspires you from within may be misconceviedv with how my false ego inspires me from within- therefore we must be humble and if there is some correction we must simply accept it. We must not be attached how Krishna is inspiring me from within- we must be attached to pleasing those for whom we are doing it and that comes by hearing submissively. If we are sincere then Krishna will inspire us to do more and more but we must be careful to really strive to work under the guidance of devotees,

Question? No intention ot please, but Vaishnava is displeased
First we must carefuly calculate if we did ptoperly if there were mistakes, if that is then we must rectify it and ask for forgiveness. But if we tried sincerely and Vaishnava is displeased then we mjust take it as a purification- Krishna does not want you to proud .

HH Radhanath Swami Seattle June 20th 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEr8cACPhjM

Beauty is in its perfect setting when it is an offering to Supreme Lord Krishna- otherwise beautiful things distract us from the true purpose of life and implicate us in suffering. Krishna is all beautiful- all beautiful things are a spark of His splendour. Janam ady asya yatah- He is all attractive

Whatever comes in contact with Krishna becomes beautiful . When we offer nice architecture f the temple- offering to Krishna through such a pure devotee as Srila Prabhupada- it is Xcendentally beautiful. BSSt tell us do not see Krishna but try to serve Krishna in such a way that Krishna is pleased to see you.

As you grow older you are dependent on relatively unconditional love otherwise nones really cares much. Krishna is nava yauvanam- resplendent with beauty- when we offer our hearts, body mind and words then Krishna's beauty shines through us- then we have unlimited beauty. That is the greatest experience, when we accomplish something there is a fleeting sense of satisfaction- but when we genuinely humble ourselves and surrender our hearts to Krishna's will and we experience Krishna doing things through us- , SP doing things through us - that our beyond our capacity then that is real happiness. As long as we think we are the does the happiness we get from it, will be transformed to suffering in due course.

When we really accept that Krishna is the does and I am the instrument of His will- preserve/carry and we have so little to preserve and so much to carry- when Krishna manifests through us we can actually transform people's hearts , we can actually do wonderful things on a spiritual level. When you realize its not me then the more we realize its not me, the more humble we become- we realize I am not doing it- How great is Krishna and if we dont accomplish so much on a material level , we are trying to live in a spirit of seva Krishna sees - even the smallest thing as very great. When Hanuman is building the bridge across the ocean. The little spider with his little legs is kicking sand to build the bridge and he was in Hanuman's walkway- who was carrying mountains. Hanuman asked him to get out of the way. Ram enlightened Hanuman- He is doing as much as you. From a material perspective a mountain peak- million so kilos and wt of one of grain of sand - impossible to calculate- what is the space they both occupy?

Rama said " With unconditional love he is the best he can and with unconditional love you are doing the best you can" Srila Prabhupada writes in the CC " Krishna does not see the thing that you have offered, but Krishna accepts the intent purpose in which it has been offered That is Bhakti." Duryodhana and Arjuna doing the exact same thing - But D motivated by greed and envy, but ARjuna was motivated by love for Krishna dn compassion for others. Bhakti is the change of heart- from the desire to exploit to the desire to serve.becoming an instrument to execute His will.

Ramanujacarya living in Sri Rangam- giving classes everyday- what a wonderful experience to be hearing from him everyday. Had a group of very intimate disciples who were coming everyday for his classes- intimate circle of very many devotees- Explaining the glories of Tirupati- how Balaji is very pleased when he is offered flowers with devotion. Sripad Ramanujacarya - such humility to please Krishna or Vishnu. From his heart of hearts - at this time Balaji is living on top of hill extremely remote hardly anyone goes there- it is a jungle - anyone serving Balaji- Balaji likes flowers - no garden up there - I would be so grateful to anyone of you to live on top of the hill for the rest of your loives growing flowers for Balaji- Would anyone like to go- nobody wanted to go- For sevreal reasons:
It was dangerous place, hard to get to. Just to survive up there. Most of all- here in Sri Rangama they were with each other and with their Guru hearing instructions everyday- If you go there you would not see him or others for the rrest of your lvoes. On grhastha devotee ananthacraya  with all humility and folded palms said " Gurudev if it pleases you. I nwill go. Serious surrender. Ramanujacarya stood up and embraced him and called him is favorite most. Because he was willing to live to serve even in separation , in hardship


with a spade Ananthacray amade a little garden and grew flowers. That was his life- just somehow or other making the flowers grow- dealing with the seasons , too much rain , too little rain- nothing is easy in the world, whether we are living very close t nature - deal with sun ,rain, cold, frost, insect attacking crops- so many challenges. But then again we try to do it a modern way- with chemical pesticides and machinery we create so many problems we have to dealk with.

You cannot escape problems in this world- you cannot escape challenges in this world.Things will come in such a way that we dont expect them.

In that situation whats important is we live with integrity and character- highest character is Krishna is the Propreitor, enjoyer and my best friend- samsiddhir hari tosanam- do it in a way that Krishna is please.d

Rewind a couple yugas- there was Rama and sita living in Panchavati- 5 wonderful Banyan trees and Suparnaka waznted to enkoy Rama and in doing so wanted to kill Sita.............................

Rama embraced Jatayu as His dearmost loving friend and devotee. with His head in Rama's lap Jatayu chanted Rama Rama and Rama promised jhim that he would go to the spiritual world and liberated eternally as the friend.
The question is who won that war. Ravana or Jatayu- who wa sthe winner. By material stds Ravana won Jatayu won- Jatayu lost- The diff is Ravana motivated by greed, arrogance, envy,lust and ultimately he lost everything , but Jatayu may have lost the battle but he pleased Rama and  he attained the highest perfection of life. this si the basic teaching of Bg. We should not be attacehd to result of our actions- we perform our duty with integrity, duty and eveotion- Sanskrit it is called seva- Waitress gives you things - that is not seva . Seva means to act with character and integrity for the pleasure of Gyuru and Krishna= That consciousness is victory. Jatayu is glorified as one of the greatest devote of all times and he lost the fight . But he won , the Supreme ultimate goal of life and he wasnt even a human, he was a bird and Sri Rama Chandra - He was crying and embracing the corpse of Jatayau- Rama said there is none in this world I can love more than Jatayau- He gave everything for me., for my beloved Sita.

Nothing pleases the Lord more when we put ourselves out to help anotehr devoitee. Mad bhakti puja adhika- worship of devotees is more than worship of me- When we make sacrifices to worship and serve anotehr devotee that gives the greatest plasure to the Lord-. After George Harrsisson met SP- it was the Lord loves those who love those who love the Lord rock n roll way of saying servant of servant. Love means to serve - selfless service real victory is not in the material result but in the degree we please Krishna by our sincereity. SP wanted us to cooperate, to be an international society united on a higher principle- love Krishna dn share Krishna's love with the world.

If we are hurting each other creating divisions that is not pleasing SP. we are not making spiritual advancement- water on twig, brach it makes it look nice, but if we doi not water the root it is not substantial . What pleases Krishna who is the root of the true, what pleases SP who is the means by whom we can connect to tohe root of the tree. Sp warned us on many occassions BSST's movement there were divisions, competitions, broke things apart . Lack of that unity power of thwat his Guru had estb was not funcioning in a way that his Guru wanted to spread CM movement in the world. Sp was telling us what will actually pleae him- put aised our superficial sectarian tendencies and unite at a higher pricnple- to the degree we are united in the temple with all of its variegated people from India, Europe, males females, educated, not educated, wealthy, poor, grhasthas, sanyasis- whenever there is a difference we find so many reasosn to distrust and fight.

Some o\are book distributors, pujaris, GBc's - there can be competiions. X cendental competions is we are all trying to inspire each other to do their best and are happy seeing them do their best.

It is humbling and embarrassing to see someone practice this who does not have any idea of our philosophy.
Baseball Managers in history of Baseball manager of Ney York Yankies Joe Torray- He explaind how he brought his team to 4 world series winnersand entered into 8 playoffs. He said its very high level of competition. Whenever his team would lose- he would speak to them inspire them through the loss to deeply learn what we did wrong and what we do better. Beyond that do not feel bad about your losses feel good that the other team is so happy winning. Honoro and respect your opponents and feel happy thsat they won. Be happy in their happiness and learn from mistakes.

When we have all the Vedic Literatures to explain what is seva- then among devotees when somebody deoes something wonderful we should happy for them that Krishna is pleased - it is not about you it is about Krishna is pleased. If Krishna is pleased with what somebody else is doing then if I am happy and Krishna is pleased with me. But if I am envious, if I feel threatened by that then Krishna is displeased with us bec I have the worng attitude.Unity means to see everyone flourish around us and to be united . why? Because it will make SP happy. We are all here just to make SP happy. we may have families of Guru and disciples but we have broader family.

Jatayu lost and died but he was supremely victorious because he pleased Rama. Ravana displeased Rama supreme failure.

Anantacarya was growing flowers- simple service- pluck flowers , make garlands and ofer to Balaji- Balaji was very happy- in those days there was no fame in doing that- except for Krishna and Ramanujacarya who was 500 kms away nobody knew about it.He was willing to live his life in that situation . Ramanujacarya was so happy - He came all the way just to encourage Anantacarya. He walked from the bottom of the hill. Shailapurna he was living on the top of the Hill disciple of Yamunacarya. Anantacarya came down to see him . R and S giving class. R embraced A with great happiness. A said come and take darshan- R said I cannot - 7 hills body of anantasesa - I cannot walk on him. I will saty at bottom and offer obeisances.

But a wanted to show the garden and pond with same littl epond- kund water could be stored to water the garden.It was an offering to R but R would not go up. A said if you cannot go up how can I go up there what is my justification when you would not walk at all on the hill. R said I have given you the order , I have given you the seva. a told R if you do not go up the mountain nobody will go there. Balaji is there to liberate the whole world. Then r went up.

But when he was at a certain part not to far from the top of the hill- he was hungry- Shailapurna disciple of Yamunacarya , great knower of Vedas, learned came down personally from the hill to personally ive him prasad and water. R said why did you personally come down- you are an acarya, you could have send it down with somebody else. S yes I know that is the etiqutte i could send with someone who is my junior but I could not find anyone junior to me, that I wasnt the servant off- then I had to do it myself- he was speaking from the heart- this is Bhakti- they went up the hill together . R met A and saw the beautiful flowers growing, the garlands and how they were offered to Balaji. He pleased His Guru- what more could one possibly desire.

Just to show how happy he was with A , when R was going to leave ( after hearing Shailapurna for more weeks to hear a senuor vaishnava) A knew that he would probably neevr see his guru again because he could never leave that hill- flowers were waiting for him. R in his love before he left he had a deity made of himself - he embraced the deity and told A "I am in this deity" , it is not diffierent from me- any questions you cna ask and have my darshan everyda.

When we see A spade- it is a piece of iron just hanging there- but for 1000 years it has been honored and worshipped by millions of devotees because of what it represents the simple humble selfless spirit of seva. Lord CM taught is that it is that spirit of seva that makes our hearts fertile, when the heart is fertile when we water the seed of Bhakti by chnating the Holy Names our love for Krishna takes deep deep roots and grows higher and higher and higher and produces the fruits of prema. That is the purpose of our life.

I am going to end with one analogy that A give to one devotee . Devotee asked him what our the qualities of a true devotee- he gave several examples - he said a true devotee is like a crane bird.Cranes are usually white and stand on one leg.It will be in s tream of water standing on one leg looking down into the stream and so many small fish pass- carne just watches lets all the little fish pass- but as soon as he sees a big fish he goes down with his beak and eats him.

A was a vegetarian - its about a principle. Crane is not distracted by little fish, grabs the big. Devotee is sara grahi seeking the essence. So many little things that happen- so many mundane things that bother us- Oh I have to have this, have that- fliustered about what happnes in this world- we get so bent out of shape over teh eevnts- caused by providence weather, otehr people our own mind, but a devotee lets all the superficial things pass - always eager to catch what is really important big fish- what is really please Krishna- inspite of all the things that are happening I have the holy Name param vijayate Sri Krishna Sankirtanam. that is big the prime benediction for humanity at large- chance to serve read SB, serve who did what , said what- inspite of all things that nourish PDS they are all like small fish- we get so caught up- its not important. If you are KC taking shelter of big things really favorable to KC, then higher taste helps us see evrything in a perspective by which we can keep grwoing. Petty consciounsess sees pebbles to be an enormous mountain- because of the emptiness inside. When we are seeking the essence we see the pbble for what is and we seek out the real mountain Giriraj- Lord sri Krishna . A said that is the lesson of crane always looking for the opportunbities to serve - all the otehr things that happen let them pass- deal with detachment not to become obsessed with the,m. This principles is essential when it comes to our relationship with each other.
Thank you very much. Srila Prabhupada ki jai!

Moving Story of Sindhutai Sapkal

2013-06-04 Various - Moving story of Sindhutai Sapkal - Radhanath Swami Narayan Mandir

2 lessons:

One is she explained the most fulfilling she has ever done in her life, deepest experience in life and where she felt closest to God was in forgiving this man- that is the highlight of my life- by God's grace I had the strength to forgive him and serve him. Anyone can complain, criticize, could blame- it very well maybe true but we do not get anywhere- we cannot grow. When we see in whatever situation happens, an opportunity to come closer to God, an opportunity to love, to learn and to grow . That opportunity is always there. My life was a path full of thorns, but I made friends with those thorns and my life became beautiful and I have helped to make so many other lives beautiful.We should never give up and be discouraged.

When we take this lesson to a spiritual level in our loving service to the Lord and living in a spirit of being an instrument of Krishna's compassion we can find the deepest illumination and the ultimate goal and purpose of life. Because none of us can last very long in this world. padama padama yat - any moment anything can happen to anyone and it does happen.

Our life in the world is like  really sharp point on a long long line that goes into infinity. What is the significance of that point compared to the line. Na jayate mriyate - atma unborn undying, bodies are like vehicles, sets of clothes, atma takes on for sometime- we are born , we grow, we produce offspring, dwindle and then death. If we see this little pencil point as our all in all we get really disturbed and

confused about the circumstances that are happening to us ,then we get really entangled in the complexities of life. No matter who we are , what we can do we will get caught in the web of complexity somehow or the other, scholar or illiterate, billionaire or on the street and especially if you are a swami because you have to deal with so many people's complexities. Complexities come like the seasons- winter season and there is the summer season and we know the winter is coming. When we just get caught up- why is this happening to me- we maybe able to understand it from the perspective of karma , etc. But we take a step back and think- I am immortal, I am eternal and whatever is happening is an opportunity to move forward on that line and remove myself altogether from that line and be liberated. 

This is why we require Satsang associating with like minded and Holy people. Who like to reinforce this conviction is - we need each other and clarify the real purpose of our life. Your life is just a point on the line- it will perish. But the treasure of love for Krishna for every living being- that is our truest and greatest potential and that can never be taken away by anything. That is Yoga - to connect us to that. The reason we chant these beautiful kirtans or mantras - to reconnect our mind, senses, intelligence to our true eternal spiritual ego.In the bible Jesus says , in this world whateve rtreasure you have - will be stolen  by theives , rusted by rust or eaten by moths. He said make your treasure on the kingdom of God- which is within. This is the universal principle is within - that love for Krishna is within us, unselfish , unmotivated compassion for all living beings within us. If we can live in this world to connect to that- whether we are swamis,or swaminins, or we are in business, in entertainment, in education , farming, engineer, whatever we may be - if this is what we are living for to make that connection and to be an instrument of what we are connecting to- our life is ultimate fulfillment- an fulfilment and experience that even death cannot take away from us. My Guru SP, when he was 70 yearls old on that cargo ship, seasickness, heart attacks., he was now at boston harbor- he didn't know if anyone would be waiting for him-

He had no money. He wrote a beautiful prayer- he was praying not God let somebody be there for me- give me good health. His prayer was- Krishna give me the power to speak in such way that yYour message will enter their heart and make them happy- let me  be an instrument of your grace- to free them from the sufferings of this world to taste the sweetness of you love- let me be a puppet just a puppet and let me dance as you would like me to dance. When we connect to the infinite grace of God- Radha Krishna in our hearts there is no greater power and no greater gift- It is connecting to that grace that is the purpose the true spiritual purpose of chanting the kirtans of God's name and His glories. Its connecting to that grace thats the greatest opportunity for us in every situation. If we just learn the art - the art of seeing the opportunity and growing. Thank you very much.

Diversity a necessity for growth- Part 3

Diversity a necessity for growth

When the exile was over and it was time to return, Rama told Hanumana that Bharat has been ruling the kingdom for 14 years and now it is time for me to come back and reclaim the kingdom but I do not want to do that if Bharat wants to be the king. If from the core of his heart if he really wants me to be the king then I will go back to please him.

even among the great saints, and devotees- when you have so much you can become attached to it- even in the line of service there is a tendency to be attached - it is the nature of this world.

Rama said Bharata has been ruling for 14 years - if he has slightest speck of attachment to doing it then he must continue - unless his love for me to come back is totally unconditional and pure I will not come back.

How do you determine if a person has the slightest inkling of a  trace of such a desire in their heart? Rama knew that it takes one to know one, because Hanuman had a completely pure and unconditional heart he could detect if there was a trace in bharat. Rama told I am going on the pushpaka with Sita, Laxmana and Sita towards Ayodhya- you go before us to Nandigram to the straw hut where Bharat is living and you tell him that the exile is over and Rama is returning and if you detect through his facial expression, bodily movements, tone of his voice or your intuition that he has a trace of remorse that he is going to lose all the power he has then I will give him honor and respect and serve him as the king.

Ramayana the story of unconditional love
As soon as Hanuman met Bharat- he said When is Rama coming exile time is over- Hanuman said Rama is on his way- he was totally comprehensive in his analysis- from the core of his heart he examined

the reaction of Bharat- Bharata's hands went up, he started looking in the direction Rama was coming . Hanuman detected that his wealth and love was to serve Lord Rama- Hanuman felt humbled and insignificant in the presence of Bharat- they embraced each other and were crying and weeping in ecstasy-Finally hanuman his heart was exploded with bliss and he pointed his finger and said "Bharat look He has come" from a distant horizon they saw the pushpaka- both began to dance and celebrate. Rama came off the chariot and first thing He embraced Bharat.

 Ramayana  is the story of unconditional love,of  unity in diversity,of  real wealth. Unity in diversity- Hanuman a monkey-but they were unified by a higher principle- all interactions- the model we find here in the purest state we cannot imitate , but we should apply these principles in every single aspect of live- encounters with nature, with circumstances, with interactions with people- this is bhakti- to make that internal change within ourselves.

Sadbhuja Form
Sarva Bhauma Bhattacharya saw this incredible form of the Lord. Blue- Two arms of Krishna playing the flute, two were Rama - color of the Durbha grass with the bow and arrow- two were Lord Caitanya goldne arms holding danda and kanadalu.

Rmaa showed us the highest principles of love through His devotees- Guha Jatayau- Hanuman, Bharat, Kausalya.
Krishna manifested the highest reciprocation of love with the gopas, gopis Sri Radha., CM came to give entrance to the same realm of love to anyone and everyone- caste, sex, religion or animals- tigers, snakes insects of they opened their hearts to receive it.

Prime benediction of the chanting of the Lord's Holy Names. When we value this servitude and try to live in the footsteps of the great devotees and chant with sincerity, humility, attentively- transformation takes place- we discover the infinite wealth we all have- we gradually understand how Krishna loves us. His love is infinite.

Scientist was explaining concepts of scientific discovery- I do not have time or ability to explain it to you. But really what he was saying was how totally inconceivable matter is- creation is beyond the capacity of human intelligence- thats just how cells and atoms are working- Krishna made it that way- bigger perspective- how atomic particles are working and interacting with each other is amazing- we cannot even see it- cannot see the energies that are activating those neutrons, protons etc. A larger scale the sun is just floating in the sky- so much light and heat- its 1000s of times bigger than planet earth.

Doesn't matter if you have Phd, if you do not have gas the car doesn't move. In chicago winter without heat- what do you do- you freeze- heater, car incense- you have to have something to keep that energy alive. But the sun- its not like the demigods have solar pipes that go through the air to get oil, natural gases to keep the sun going- it keeps going for millions of years and does not get smaller- why doesn't it burn out- too close too far we all die. Just within tiny speck of our universe- inconceivable potency. Krishna just desires creation- exhales and cosmic manifestation comes as a fulfillment of His desires.

Love- The greatest of all of Krishna's opulences
The greatest of all the opulences of Krishna is the opulence of love- All attractive, the beauty and the sweetness of His love- He has infinite , unsurpassable, incomprehensible love for every living entity- for the soul in the mosquito- remember that when he is biting you- He has infinite love for that little soul in each and every one of us.This humbles us.When we are touched with the realization of How much Krishna loves us it doesn't matter what happens in this crazy world. Whatever happens beyond our control Krishna's love for us is beyond any of the things that happens to us beyond the short pencil dot of this little world we live in and beyond the lifetime. When we experience Krishna's love, infinite love for us, unlimited love for us-we understand , we realize and we taste it then we naturally reciprocate with unconditional infinite love for Krishna.

 In that state there is love and compassion in all circumstances for everyone- thats essence of religion,thats the purpose of life- when we experience that we do not become proud. On the material platform we compete- I have something, I do not want anyone to have anything more than me. Ego " I do not want anybody give as good classes as me"- Thats the nature of ego.I could dance - but it would really disturb me if somebody could dance as good as me. That is the ego.Because we are empty inside we need these things, useless things, fame adoration- stuff. Where there is love- when we taste Krishna's inifnite love for us we are satisfied - it humbles us as we know that Krishna has the same infinite love for everyone and everyone has the same potential to have the same infinite love for Krishna. That understanding is the Supreme unifying ingredient within a world of unlimited variations and so many dualities- this is the matchless gift which Srila Prabhupada was presenting to all of us and to the whole world. Properly understanding the goal of Bhakti and the chanting of the Holy Names.

Diversity a necessity for growth- Part 2

There is not only our own egos that create conflict, but there is all kinds of egos around us that can incite division. sometimes brother's wives do not like the husband's brother and they can easily get affected. People have very very sectarian egoistic views and they very much influence the way we think. Not only do we have the mind that is affected by the bad dog of egoism, lust, anger, envy, greed and illusion , but there are so many factors around us inciting us and creating divisions.

For Bharat it was his own mother- but she wanted Ram to be in the forest and Bharat to be the king.Everyone was trying to convince Rama to go back but his love for his brother was so deep that nothing could budge him. Higher principle.
Bharat at every single kingdom was ruling the kingdom from his little straw hut- sometimes just drinking cow urine as he did not want to enjoy what was meant for Rama, he did it all as an expression of Ram to serve and maintained Ayodhya in the most wonderful way for the pleasure of Rama.

Finding Real happiness
A little later in the story- Ravana- he was just thinking about me- did not know anything about love.Anything wrong he wanted to do he could justify it through scripture. He wanted Sita Rama's wife to enjoy for Himself. He stole Sita away. His entire city was made of solid gold.Still was not enough for Him- he was the wealthiest man on earth.He had so many ladies to enjoy- but he wanted Sita. SB tells this about Hiranyakasipu- he had conquered the entire universe but he could not find a moment of real happiness   because he had not been able to control his own mind and senses. The more you have the more you need. If you are not finding happiness within yourself you cannot find it anywhere.No matter what you have , what you cna achieve, what you can do. Love is about finding the wealth within ourselves and using our abilities to express that love. When we don't find that within, we are trying to fill that vacuum with stuff from outside- power, money, fame, incredible skills. All that stuff can't go beyond that sharp pointed dot on that infinite line. It can hardly be sustainable within that dot on that infinite line. Sita could have been the princess above all others but all she wanted was Rama. Hanumana was a brahmacari all he wanted was to serve. The dynamics of Hanuman's consciousness - lets try to analyze it very briefly- give every drop of his energy just to bring Sita back to Rama. As a Brahmacari he did not have any possessions- his only aspiration was to see Rama and Sita happy together- that is seva- unconditional love. That love wasn't just sitting peacefully in a shanti stage.- jumped across the ocean..

For a devotee who has discovered that transcendental love within herself and himself  , honor and dishonor really does not make much difference. It only really affects us- when our level of satisfaction or fulfilment is on such a superficial shallow level.Just like in a river, if you are on the surface of the river all the waves,  the rains and winds affect you, but if you are deep in the current of the river you do not even notice the rains or the winds.So we are only affected by the transformations in this world because we are so shallow in our realizations of life, who we are, who is God and what is real happiness. It doesn't matter how much knowledge we have in our brains,money, skills, power, followers- none of that bring us any deeper. You can have or not have it, but Hanuman was satisfied within. He stood fearlessly in front of Ravana and told him-  Ravana you are a coward.

This is how love transcends the dualities of nature- pleasure, pain, honor, dishonor(example of Hanuman's tail being lighted and him still being very happy)

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Ravana started the fire with enmity to another- that fire came to burn his own wealth. When we try to hurt others- when we have envy, enmity, hate towards another. Then like the tail of Hanuman the fire of that negative quality of going to burn us from within and karmically it is going to burn us from without. Very good message. He started the fire himself that will destroy his kingdom. That is the nature of envy.

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Real Wealth
He went to meet Ram in the cave in Kishikindha ksetra. Rama came out of the cave to meet Hanuman- he told the whole story Sita's message to Him and the extra services he did. Greatest treasure is the treasure of love and that love is expressed through service. Rama said I have nothing to give you as a reward ... all I have is my embrace , woith deep satisfaction and infinite transcendental love Rama embraced Hanuman- that was the only thing that Hanuman could want..


If you want to know how rich you are- find out how many things you have that money cannot buy. The things that money can buy is not wealth. Real wealth is the inner treasure- things that money cannot buy. Love, Grace when we have those things then we have true wealth. Then we can billionaires or monks living within a cave. Doesnt matter that wealth is there within the hearts of all of us. Then whatever position we are in - we can use it.

Eventually there was a great battle  as hanuman predicted Ravana and his entire dynasty was destroyed and his brother Vibhisihna was made the king- Rama , hanuman and Vibhishana did not want it- but Rama wanted vibhishana to do it as a service to him.

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