The Cultured Person

 

The Cultured Person, by Haripada dasa

By the mercy of Srila Prabhupada we understand and accept that the cultured person is identified because he has three basic qualities, these are: 1) he sees all women as mothers, except his own wife. There are seven mothers: the original mother, the priest's wife, the king's wife, the spiritual master's wife, the nurse, the cow, and the Earth. 2) See the properties of others as straw in the street, in other words, be satisfied with what you have and not want or envy the goods of others and 3) Do to others what you would like them to do to you and not to do to others what you would not like them to do to you. Can you imagine a society made up of people with these qualities? It would be a perfect partnership. We see how nowadays people consider all women as their wives and their wife does not pay attention to her. There is an inordinate competition to surpass others, both personally and between nations and no one thinks about the welfare of others. They are all politicians, a politician is one who makes plans to be happy without thinking about the welfare of others. Nowadays a cultured person is considered for his diplomas and degrees and not for his qualities. The spiritual culture of India was killed by people who invented or speculated that one can belong to the high class or be a priest by birth, but in the Holy Scriptures it is said that one belongs to the high class or priest by qualities, not his birth matters.

Srila Prabhupada was authorized and empowered by God or Krishna to revive the spiritual culture of India, by his mercy and his instructions he turned people from all over the world who were like crows into swans. There is a story related to this topic: The Himalayas were going to give birth, to have offspring, and all the most important people in the universe gathered there, and everyone was in great expectation. Timpani and other musical instruments sounded, and what did Himalaya give birth? A mouse. Everyone was very frustrated. Thus, nowadays, so many austerities and sacrifices that people make to get a career, and then when they obtain the diploma, they have to go with their curriculum, wagging their tail like a puppy, looking for a master. This is very unfortunate. And in schools, in the past it was considered something very punishing for a child to throw paper balls at another child in the class, or not to pay attention to the teacher; But nowadays, a young man goes with a machine gun and begins to kill his companions for no reason, my God! how things have changed for the worse.

Today chaos reigns, finding a balanced person is very difficult, what to say to find a pure devotee of God or Krishna, so that all this negativity does not affect you one must be very strong spiritually, it is as if it is very cold , one bundles up and that's it. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati always said that whatever else they do as they want, it doesn't concern me, I already have enough work chanting Hare Krishna and being happy and free.

Wood and Water

 Wood and Water

Hare Krishna, it is very interesting what it says in CC Madhya 15.134, there it says that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “In the age of Kali, Kṛiṣhṇa manifests Himself in two forms: wood and water. Thus, by giving the conditioned souls the possibility to see the wood and to bathe in the water, it helps them to liberate themselves. And in the next verse 135 it is said that “Lord Jagannātha is the Supreme Lord Himself in the form of wood, and the river Ganges is the Supreme Lord Himself in the form of water.

Meaning:

The Vedas order: sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma: Everything is the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Brahman, Parambrahma. Parasya brahmaṇaḥ śaktis tathedam akhilaṁ jagat: Everything is a manifestation of the energy of the Supreme Brahman. Since the energy and the source of the energy are identical, actually everything is Kṛiṣhṇa, Parambrahma. This is confirmed by Lord Kṛiṣhṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.4):

mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagad avyakta-mūrtinā

mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni na cāhaṁ teṣv avasthitaḥ

«I, in My unmanifested form, am present in the whole universe. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them ».

Kṛiṣhṇa, in His impersonal form, is spread throughout the universe. As everything is a manifestation of the Lord's energy, the Lord can manifest through any energy. In the present age, the Lord manifests Himself through wood in the form of Lord Jagannātha, and through water in the form of the river Ganges. For this reason, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu ordered the two brothers, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya and Vidyā-vācaspati, to worship Lord Jagannātha and the Ganges River.

With love and trust I share these beautiful prayers to Mother Ganga:

Sri Ganga Stotram: Prayer to Mother Ganga, By Adi Sankaracharya

1) Oh goddess Ganga! You are the divine river of heaven. You are the one who saves us from the three worlds. You are pure and restless. You adorn the head of Lord Shiva. Oh mother! may my mind always rest on your lotus feet.

2) Mother Bhagirathi! You give happiness to everyone. The meaning of your holy waters is praised in the Vedas. I am ignorant and I am not able to understand its importance. Oh Devi, you are full of mercy. Please protect me.

3) Oh Devi! Your waters are as sacred as Sri Hari's charanamrita. Your waves are white like snow, the moon and pearls. Please wash away all my sins and help me cross the ocean of samsara.

4) Oh, Mother !, those who participate in your pure waters, undoubtedly reach the highest state. O Mother Ganga, Yama, the Lord of death cannot harm your devotees.

5) Oh, Jahnavi! Your waters that flow through the Himalayas make them even more beautiful. You are the mother of Bhishma and the daughter of the sage Jahnu. You are the savior of the one who falls from his path, and that is why you are venerated in the three worlds.

6) Oh, Mother! You fulfill all the wishes of your devotees. Those who bow down to you don't have to suffer. Oh, Ganga! You are anxious to merge with the ocean, like a young man eager to meet his beloved.

7) Oh, Mother! Those who bathe in your waters do not have to be born again. Oh, Jahnavi! You are in the highest esteem. You destroy the sins of your devotees and save them from hell.

8) Oh, Jahnavi! You are full of compassion. You purify your devotees with your holy waters. Your feet are adorned with the crown jewels of Indra. Those who seek refuge in you get the blessing of happiness.

9) O Bhagavati! Take away my illnesses, sadness, difficulties, sins and bad attitudes. You are the essence of the three worlds and you are like a necklace around the Earth. Or Devi! You are the only refuge of mine in Samsara.

10) Oh, Bargain! Those who seek happiness adore you. You are the source of happiness for Alakapuri and the source of eternal bliss. Those who reside on its banks are as privileged as those who live on Vaikuntha.

11) Oh Devi! It is better to live in your waters, like turtles or fish, or on your shores like a poor chandala, than to live far from you like a rich king.

12) Oh, Goddess of the Universe! Purify us! O daughter of Jahnu muni! Whoever recites this Ganga Stotram every day certainly achieves success.

13) People who have devotion to Mother Ganga always achieve happiness and achieve liberation. This beautiful and lyrical Gangastuti is a source of supreme happiness.

14) This prayer, Sri Ganga Stotram, written by Sri Adi Shankaracharya, Lord Siva's devotee, purifies us and fulfills all our wishes.

Hare Krishna, this youtube link is a beautiful Artika or worship of Mother Ganga in Varanasi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An0e4v5Rb3w

Hare Krishna if you put on youtube to look for this link, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d20NhSifd7A

You will get the Ratha yatra of Puri, filmed by a TV in the USA, very beautiful.

The initiation

 

The initiation, by Haripada dasa

The process of Krishna consciousness or Bhakti-yoga is like a ladder that has nine steps, the first is faith, faith means having complete conviction that by chanting the Holy Name of God or Krishna you will automatically fulfill all spiritual duties and complete all pious activities. Those who do not have that faith are inept at chanting the Holy Name, the second step is the association with the devotees, the result of this is that faith increases, and the third step is the initiation, in the introduction to the Nectar of devotion. Srila Prabhupada says that the link with the spiritual master is called initiation. From the day the spiritual master initiates, the link between Kṛiṣhṇa and the person cultivating Kṛiṣhṇa consciousness is established. Without being initiated by a bona fide spiritual master, the true link to Kṛiṣhṇa consciousness never occurs.

On this point of initiation among the devotees of Krishna there is a schism, schism means different opinions in a group of people, some think that Srila Prabhupada authorized his disciples to be gurus in order to continue the guru parampara and others think that Srila Prabhupada On July 9, 1977, he sent a special letter to all the temples of his movement ordering his disciples to initiate in his name, the difference between these two groups is that those who say that Srila Prabhupada authorized his disciples to be gurus did not. They can show that Srila Prabhupada said that, and the other group that says that Srila Prabhupada sent on July 9, 1977 a special letter to all the temples of his movement ordering his disciples to initiate in his name, they can prove it because that letter it's there, this letter exists, and anyone can read it.

In 1986 I was initiated into Iskcon, that same year that guru fell, then in 1990 I was initiated with another guru, and when they informed me that Srila Prabhupada did not leave anyone as his successor but ordered his disciples to initiate In his name, in order not to be an accomplice in all the offenses that were being done to Srila Prabhupada, I left Iskcon, then in 2008 a disciple of Srila Prabhupada initiated me in the name of Srila Prabhupada, that has helped me a lot to feel the Srila Prabhupada's presence in my life and to purify myself from contamination by having been previously initiated by two false gurus. My humble opinion is that all the devotees who have been initiated by false gurus have never been connected to the guru parampara, a guru who is offending Srila Prabhupada because he does not want to obey the order to initiate in the name of Srila Prabhupada lives influenced by the modalities. Low from ignorance and passion, in that person there can be no goodness, that is why all those devotees must initiate with disciples of Srila Prabhupada who are obeying Srila Prabhupada's order to initiate in his name.

I share that a devotee sent me this about initiation: Lecture on SB 1.5.36 - Vrindavana, August 17, 1974: In many ways we can always remember Kṛiṣhṇa. That ... (Pause) ... if someone is chanting Hare Kṛiṣhṇa, that is fine, but chanting out of the need for initiation. Initiation means that the disciples accept the instruction of the spiritual master, and Kṛiṣhṇa accepts the disciple immediately to give him a spiritual body. This is the process. Otherwise, there is no need for initiation.

Humility, deception and tolerance

 Humility, deception and tolerance, by Haripada dasa

Humility, humility means feeling insignificant, and if we do something positive to help others to awaken their Krishna consciousness, it is by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and God or Krishna.

On deception, on a walk in Mayapur, India on March 14, 1976 Srila Prabhupada says that the whole world is a society of deceivers and deceived, that is my Gurudeva's version, so do not become a deceiver or allow them to fool you, that's intelligence.

All conditioned souls are born with 4 defects, 1, we make mistakes, to err is human, 2, we have imperfect senses, 3, we have the tendency to fall into ignorance and 4, we have the tendency to deceive ourselves and others .

In Srila Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami's book entitled mana-siksa or preaching to the mind, he says that the only medicine to cure deception is humility, humility means feeling insignificant, and if we do something positive to help others to awaken their Krishna consciousness, it is by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and God or Krishna.

On tolerance, Jesus Christ was made many offenses and crucified, but he prayed to God for his offenders. He was merciful and tolerant, it is said that a great personality is measured by his degree of tolerance, of course tolerance and mercy are two qualities that go together, a person is tolerant when he is very merciful, materialists are not even tolerant nor merciful, every day they send millions and millions of innocent animals to the slaughterhouse, and they are not tolerant, I saw how one person whistled at the car in front because the traffic light had turned green and the other got out of the car all annoyed and they finished punching each other.

Lead by example

 Lead by example, by Haripada dasa

I take this opportunity to thank all the people who send me donations, I pray to Srila Prabhupada and God or Krishna to always bless them.

Western educators say: “Don't follow me; follow my words ”; Or, put another way: "Do not do what I do, but what I say." Srila Prabhupada's life refutes this principle, as he applied all the instructions in his books in his own life and was a vivid example of them. There is not a single instruction in his books that he has not personally followed, and therefore there is no disparity between his writings and his life; between his actions and his words.

Srila Prabhupada taught us that a true spiritual master is one who preaches with his personal example, once Sanatana Goswami told Haridasa Thakura that you are the perfect devotee of God or Krishna, there are those who preach but do not practice and there are those who practice but not preach, but you practice everything you preach.

I share a beautiful verse from the Bhagavad gita, 3, 21, there it says that common men follow in the footsteps of a great man, whatever action he performs. And whatever guidelines he establishes through exemplary acts, the whole world follows them, and in the purport Srila Prabhupada says that the generality of people always requires a leader who can teach them through their behavior in practice. A leader cannot teach people to quit smoking if he smokes himself.

Srila Prabhupada always said that what people like the most is to be deceived and suffer, and he also said that one of the great impediments to expanding Krishna consciousness is the large number of deceivers there are, and how people She is so lazy to do the spiritual awakening they take advantage and tell people you give me 30 euros and I will give you a mantra and in six months you will be God, and people are so stupid that they believe it. That is why this society is one of deceivers and deceived.

The words convince, but the example drags. In the Jaiva dharma it is said that if someone gives religious advice without practicing it himself, it becomes a source of evil for the world.

Two thoughts to ponder:

1- Give good advice to a wise person and they will appreciate it and give good advice to a foolish person and they will get angry.

2- If you have nectar in your heart you will never give poison and if you have poison in your heart you will never give nectar.

Light and darkness

  Light and darkness, by Haripada dasa

I share this beautiful verse from Srimad Bhagavatam, 1, 3, 43, which says that this Bhāgavata Purāṇa is as bright as the Sun, and has arisen just after Lord Kṛiṣhṇa's departure to His own abode, accompanied by religion, the knowledge, etc. People who have lost their vision due to the dense darkness of the age of Kali will have to receive the light of this Purāṇa. The essence of all the instructions in Srila Prabhupada's books is to come out of the darkness and come to the Light, and also in The Chaitanya Charitamrita it is said that God or Krishna is like the Light and maya or ignorance is like the dark, where God or Krishna is there can be no darkness. Also in the Bhagavad Gita, God or Krishna says that this energy of Mine, maya or darkness, is very difficult to overcome, but those who surrender to Me can easily overcome it, in other words, maya is controlled by Krishna, and when a soul obeys the laws of God or Krishna, Krishna tells His energy not to influence His devotee, thus the devotee enjoys full and total freedom. In the process of surrendering to God or Krishna one must: (1) accept everything that is favorable for the performance of devotional service, (2) reject everything that is unfavorable for it, (3) firmly believe in the protection of the Lord , (4) feel that you depend exclusively on the Lord's mercy, (5) have no interest apart from the Lord's interest, and (6) always be meek and humble.

The biggest problem today is the hypocrisy in people, hypocritical people put a stamp on themselves and say that I am Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hare Krishna, etc., but those people have no interest in knowing God and love him, their only interest is to have many followers and live like kings and fight each other, that is called Kali-yuga the current era full of hypocrisy and quarrels. At the end of the preface to the Bhagavad Gita, Srila Prabhupada says that we therefore hope that people will gain the greatest benefit of all through studying the Bhagavad-gītā as it is in the way we have presented it here, and if If only a man becomes a pure devotee of the Lord, we will consider our effort a success. One of Srila Prabhupada's most devoted and beloved devotees named Jayananda prabhu left the body a few months before Srila Prabhupada entered his Samadhi-lila, and Srila Prabhupada said that he had gone to Goloka Vrindavana, to the spiritual world, so we concluded that Srila Prabhupada's mission has been a complete success.

Letter to Srila Prabhupada

  Letter to Srila Prabhupada, by Haripada dasa

Celebrate the Transcendental Appearance of Srila Prabhupada, all the devotees who serve and love Srila Prabhupada make a letter called the Vyasa Puja letter, Vyasadeva is a literary incarnation of God or Krishna, He wrote all the Vedic literature , The Bhagavad-gita, The Srimad-bhagavatam, The Mahabharata, etc., and the birthday of our spiritual master is called Vyasa Puja day, on this day the spiritual master is glorified and thanked for all his mercy All this spiritual knowledge that Vyasadeva gave us is transmitted from the guru to the disciple through the chain of disciplic succession, all those truths are eternal and never change, that is why Srila Prabhupada always said that the philosophy of Krishna consciousness is very easy. Because we don't have to invent anything, we just have to repeat what the previous spiritual teachers said.

Thanks to Srila Prabhupada we have found the Truth and the Truth will set you free. Thanks to Srila Prabhupada we have come out of ignorance, which is the cause of all suffering. Thanks to Srila Prabhupada we have understood the purpose of human life, understand and love God or Krishna, and since there is only God or Krishna and His energies, by doing this in a natural way one loves everyone and everything. Thanks to Srila Prabhupada we have understood that this material world is full of envy and is not a place for a gentleman, here there are only deceivers and deceived. Thanks to Srila Prabhupada we have hopes of going home to return to God and Krishna and His devotees, and the experience of having been in this material world will be a bad nightmare. Thanks to Srila Prabhupada we have understood that we are not the material body, but eternal spirit souls, eternal loving servants of God or Krishna and His devotees. Thanks to Srila Prabhupada we are no longer a ship without a rudder, now Srila Prabhupada is the person we trust the most and love the most. If Srila Prabupada hadn't come, what would have become of us.