Most amazing

 

Most amazing, by Haripada dasa

Once a great sage asked King Maharaja Yudisthir what is the most amazing thing there is, and the King replied that you see that relatives, friends and other people die, but one thinks that I will never die.

Usually people do not like to talk about death because they are very afraid, it is said that the devotee of God or Krishna experiences God through devotional service and that materialists and atheists experience God at the time of death. I remember a video of Srila Prabhupada speaking with some theologians and Srila Prabhupada telling them that God will come like death, and all his money, his prestige, his family, etc. It will be taken away, do you understand God now? God or Krishna says in the Bhagavat gita that I am death, I remember that in the fourth song of Srimad Bhagavatam to Maharaja Dhruva a plane from the spiritual world came for him and taking advantage that the personification of death came, he put his feet on the head of death to get on the plane, so until death he takes pleasure in serving the devotee of God or Krishna.

It is very interesting that the personification of death is represented as a skeleton with a harvest, that is to remind us that what you sow, harvest, in other words each person is the architect of his destiny, each one has what he deserves. , and God or Krishna also says that this material world is a place of suffering and temporary, someone can argue that I have a lot of money, women, material enjoyment, yachts, etc., that you have because you deserve it because surely in your life In the past you did many pious activities, but do not forget that everything is temporary. God or Krishna has created everything, therefore everything belongs to God or Krishna, as Srila Prabhupada always said that a person is honest and honest when he uses everything to serve God or Krishna and His devotees.

The process of God or Krishna consciousness is a scientific process, and it is for very brave people who want to raise their consciousness to a higher state, unhappily nowadays people think that God or Krishna things have already gone out of style. , now we are going to live full of lust, anger, greed, envy, pride and ignorance, and we are going to suffer and be deceived, that is true happiness, and out of envy they criticize and say that the devotees of God or Krishna are parasites of society, they do nothing for the country, for the family, always chanting The Maha-Mantra Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare (the H is read as J de jota), it is said that in the paradise of the foolish and ignorant, being a wise man is great foolishness.

Extra education

 

 Extra education, by Haripada dasa

I share this beautiful verse from The Bhagavad Gita, 9, 2, there it says that this spiritual knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets, it is the purest knowledge, and because it gives perception of the self through enlightenment, it is the perfection of religion, it is eternal and it is joyfully executed. Following in the footsteps of our spiritual master Srila Prabhupada I try to state the facts very logically, nowadays finding a balanced person is very difficult to say that finding a pure devotee of God, usually people are so absorbed in life material that they forget to feed the soul, the result of this is that people live full of anxieties and disturbed, a person full of anxieties and disturbed will never experience peace or happiness.

The other day a friend told me that now in Spain they are introducing meditation in schools, they see that children so young are so full of anxieties and disturbed that meditation will at least calm their mind. But they don't know what true meditation is, true meditation means finding God who is in the heart and following his instructions, the result of this is that one becomes divine. We urgently need extra education, spiritual education, the first lesson is to understand and accept that we are not the material body, but eternal spirit souls, and that the relationship with the body is temporary, but the relationship with God or Krishna is eternal and full of bliss. and knowledge. In the spiritual world there are three things, there is God or Krishna, there are his devotees and there is the love relationship between God or Krishna and His devotees, the spiritual world is our natural environment, the material world is the perverted reflection of the spiritual world, therefore Because here people live full of anxieties and disturbed, it is as if you took a fish out of the water and gave it all the material facilities, the fish would never be happy since its environment is water. The goal of human life is to know and love God and go back home to God.

There is a big difference between a teacher and a spiritual master, the teacher is paid a salary to give certain information, but the spiritual master is empowered and authorized by God or Krishna to bring people back to Godhead, of course provided that the disciple obeys his instructions.

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.

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.

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.

Brahmana and Vaisnava

 

Brahmana and Vaisnava, by Haripada dasa

Srila Prabhupada always said that you have to be conscious first and then Krishna conscious. A conscientious person is one who lives in the mode of goodness, for a person to live in the mode of goodness they have to live a life without sins and strictly follow the 4 regulative principles: 1- Do not eat meat, fish or eggs , 2- No gambling, 3- No illicit sex, only sex with your own wife to procreate and 4- No intoxication, no tea, no coffee, no tobacco and no alcohol. By chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra one will have spiritual strength to follow these four rules and regulations, the first thing Srila Prabhupada did is to give the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, and by chanting it one obtains the necessary strength and purification to be able to lead a life sinless and follow the 4 rules and regulations above. When Srila Prabhupada performed the first initiations in New York, then he put a piece of paper written in his own handwriting in the temple, on the paper it was said that all initiates must follow these 4 rules and regulations, and the devotees asked Srila Prabhupada what is there to follow those 4 rules and regulations? and Srila Prabhupada very happily replied that it is good that they have asked me, yes, those 4 rules and regulations must be followed.

In the Bhagavatam, 7, 11, 14 the 6 brahminical activities are said, by practicing them one becomes a brahmana: 1- Study the Sacred Scriptures or sastras, 2- Teach the sastras to others, 3- Worship the Deities, 4 - Teach others to worship the Deities, 5- Receive charity, and 6- Give charity.

In the verses of Srimad Bhagavatam, first canto, chapter 2, verses 17 to 21, the entire process of Krishna consciousness is explained in a scientific way. By serving Srila Prabhupada with faith, love, attachment and gratitude one acquires the 26 qualities of a Vaisnava: 1) He is always kind to everyone, 2) He does not seek quarrels, 3) His interest lies in the essence of life , which is spiritual, 4) He is equal to everyone, 5) No one can find fault with him, 6) His mind is magnanimous, 7) His mind is always pure, 8) His mind is always sharp, 9) His mind He is always devoid of material obsessions, 10) He is a benefactor to all living entities, 11) He is peaceful, 12) He is always surrendered to Krishna, 13) He has no material desires, 14) He is very humble, 15) He is always fixed on his purpose, 16) He has triumphed over the six material qualities such as lust and anger, 17) He does not eat more than he needs, 18) He is always prudent, 19) He is always respectful to others, 20) He does not demand respect for himself, 21) He is serious, 22) He is merciful, 23) He is friendly, 24) He is poetic, 25) He is expert and 26) He is silent. (The teachings of Lord Chaitanya, chapter XII, The Devotee).

Love for God

 Love for God, for Haripada dasa

There is a spiritual book called the Madhurya Kadambini or the Nectar Clouds of Srila Visvanatha Chakravarti, there in a scientific way reveals all the experiences that we all must go through from faith to love for God, faith means that one obeys the instructions given in the holy scriptures, then one associates with the devotees, that increases the faith, then one is initiated by the authorized spiritual master, the initiation means that the disciples accept the instruction of the spiritual master and Kṛiṣhṇa accepts the disciple immediately to give him a spiritual body, the result of initiation is that one becomes purified of all the dirty things of the heart, such as lust, anger, greed, etc., then one becomes fixated on devotional service, then one likes the spiritual life, then one becomes attached to the spiritual life, then one experiences spiritual emotions and then one comes to love for God, and thus one fulfills the purpose of life Human love for God is eternally there in everyone's heart, and it is awakened when one practices Krishna consciousness. Ecstatic love for Kṛiṣhṇa (prema) is explained in the Bhakti-rasāmṛita-sindhu (1.41) with the following words: “When the heart has completely softened and is free from all material desires, and when emotional feelings become very strong, a person becomes very attached to Kṛiṣhṇa. This purified emotion is known by the name of pure love.

In the state of love for God or Krishna he considers his friends as useless as a desert, too big, and his home becomes like a thorn forest, the food becomes completely tasteless, the praise of other devotees seems to him like the bite of a snake, daily activities seem as painful as death. All the members of his body are like an unbearable burden, the consolation of his companions is like poison. Although he is constantly awake, he is awake. Like an ocean of penance, and if the dream comes it is seen as mortal (worldly) anguish. His body seems like the Lord's target of punishment. And breathing seems as sterile as sowing roasted grains. What else can be said? That what were always his favorite things are now abandoned as great calamities. Even thinking about the Lord is like tearing your body to pieces.

Cheers! Srila Prabhupada instructed us and said that everyone should follow Jayananda prabhu's example, let's all try to obey this instruction together and make Jagat-guru Srila Prabhupada Mahasaya happy, and not do anything that displeases him.