lunes, 25 de septiembre de 2023

An ocean of mercy

 An ocean of mercy, by  Haripada dasa

Srila Prabhupada is an ocean of mercy. The spiritual master receives the blessing of the ocean of mercy. Just as a cloud pours water on a forest fire to put it out, the spiritual master releases the afflicted material world by extinguishing the blazing fire of material existence. I offer my respectful obeisances to the lotus feet of that spiritual master, who is an ocean of auspicious qualities.

I share a very moving story, we were in Vrindavana, India, in the house of some Italian devotees, we were respecting some maha-prasada pizzas, a very old disciple of Srila Prabhupada arrived, I don't remember her name, but I know she was Lohitaksa's wife , she told us that Srila Prabhupada was in the temple in New York and they were doing guru puja, suddenly a person with very long hair and a beard and very dirty entered the temple as if it were a dog on all fours. He headed towards Srila Prabhupada, Srila Prabhupada recognized him immediately, and crying at Srila Prabhupada's lotus feet told him several times that forgive me I have failed you, Srila Prabhupada crying was stroking his head, and all the devotees in the guru puja were crying, then that person left and no one ever heard from him.

A few years ago I was talking to an Iskcon guru in Vrindavana, India, he told me that Srila Prabhupada deviated from the guru-parampara by ordering his disciples to initiate in his name or the Ritvik philosophy, as this philosophy does not come in the Sastras or Scriptures, when I heard this I thought that this person has less intelligence than a mosquito, I told him that Srila Prabhupada distributes his mercy to everyone, but if you do not want to obtain it, the fault is yours, Srila Prabhupada ordered his disciples who initiated in his name, this is supported by a special document that Srila Prabhupada sent to all Iskcon from Vrindavana, India, on July 9, 1977, anyone can read this document, and if you do not want to obey this order, blame It is not from Srila Prabhupada but from you. I also told him that according to Harinama-chintamani, the result of offending the guru is that one becomes a mayavadi or atheist. Then some years passed and we also saw each other in Vrindavana, and he said sorry for what I told you several years ago, I replied that you should not ask forgiveness from me, but from Srila Prabhupada.

lunes, 18 de septiembre de 2023

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.

lunes, 11 de septiembre de 2023

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.

lunes, 4 de septiembre de 2023

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.