Lead by example

 

 Lead by example, by Haripada dasa

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.

The order of renunciation

 

The order of renunciation, by Haripada dasa

I share here another instruction of Srila Prabhupada that very few know and practice, in the Chaitanya Charitarita, Madhya lila, 25, 194, there Srila Prabhupada says that so it is mandatory to accept sannyasa or the order of renunciation at fifty years of age. The problem in Krishna consciousness is that there are no genuine renunciants, the sannyasis of now are only interested in offending Srila Prabhupada and his devotees, they deceive themselves and others and live as kings, the result of this is that all They go to hell.

Regarding this topic, the conversation between Lord Gauranga and his wife Visnupriya was very interesting, before Sri Gauranga took sannyasa.

In El Chaitanya Mangala, Lochana Dasa Thakura recounts hobbies that are not mentioned elsewhere. It tells the moving and last conversation that Lord Gauranga had with Vishnupriya Devi the night before taking sannyasa: "With a voice choked with emotion, said Vishnupriya, 'Tell me, 0 Prananatha (Lord of my life), is the rumor true that I heard that you will take sannyasa and leave me? If I lose His association, I will end my life drinking poison. ”Sri Gauranga replied with compassionate and soft words and told Vishnupriya that you are as dear to me as life itself, there is no need to worry, please listen to what I am going to tell you, because it will help you a lot, in this world only Bhagavan and the Vaisnavas or the pure devotees of God or Krishna are the only truth, everything else is illusion. Fathers, mothers, children, relationships between men and women they are illusory or temporary, Krishna is the master, the real husband of the whole world, do not lament, therefore, fulfill the true meaning of Vishnupriya and always think of Krishna within your cor azon

Krishna consciousness goes beyond the sannyasa order, so Sri Gauranga always said that I am not brahmachari, grihasta, vanaprasta or sannyasa, I am not brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya or sudra, I am aham brahmasmi, jivera svarupa haya , nitya krishna dasa, gopi kamalayor dasadasadasanudasa, this means that I am not the temporary material body, but eternal spiritual soul, I am the servant of the servant of the servant of the master of the gopis, of Krishna the Supreme personality of God.

Krishna and maya

 

Krishna and maya, by Haripada dasa

It is said in The Chaitanya Charitamrita that God or Krishna is compared to sunlight, and maya or ignorance is compared to darkness, wherever there is sunlight there can be no darkness. As soon as one embarks on the path of Krishna consciousness, the darkness of illusion, the influence of external energy, will immediately vanish. Also in The Bhagavad Gita Krishna says that this energy of Mine, maya, 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.

In relation to the subject Srila Prabhupada says in his meaning of the Hare Krishna Maha-Mantra that this atmosphere, in which we now live, is called maya, or illusion. Maya means "what is not". And what is this illusion? The illusion is that we try to be the lords of material nature, when the reality is that we are bound by the shackles of its strict laws. When a servant tries to artificially imitate his almighty master, this is called illusion. Contaminated by this concept of life, we all try to exploit the resources of material nature, but the reality is that we become more and more entangled in its complexities. Therefore, despite our arduous struggle to conquer nature, we depend more on it. This illusory struggle against material nature can be stopped immediately if we revive our Krishna consciousness. Srila Prabhupada always said that the problem with people is that they are not afraid of maya.