Love your enemies

 Love your enemies, by Haripada dasa

Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati always said that I love even my worst enemy and her Gurudeva Gaura Kisora ​​das babaji always said that all living entities are worthy of my veneration. What is an enemy? It is a person who insults, belittles, envies and humiliates us. It is said in verse 9 of chapter 6 of the Bhagavad Gita that a person is even more advanced when he considers everyone - the honest well-wisher, friends and enemies, the envious, the pious, the sinner and those who are indifferent and impartial. - with an even mind.

Jesus Christ always said that praying to God for friends is easy, but we must pray to God for our enemies. They made many offenses to Jesus Christ and crucified him, 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.

I am going to tell two true stories that illustrate love your enemies.

This story comes in the Bhagavatam, there was a great yogi named Durvasa Muni, once Durvasa Muni for no reason offended a great pure devotee of God or Krishna named Ambarisa Maharaja, God or Krishna never tolerate offenses to His devotees and sent his weapon personal name called the Sudarsana Chakra, when Durvasa Muni saw the Sudarsana Chakra that was going to punish him, he fled through all the planets, he even came to the spiritual world and threw himself at the lotus feet of God or Narayana and asked forgiveness for offending His devotee , God or Narayana told him to go and ask forgiveness from His devotee, not Him, Durvasa Muni went and asked Ambarisa Maharaja for forgiveness and saw that Ambarisa Maharaja was praying to God for the sake of the yogi, and Durvasa Muni said that now I have Understanding the glories of the pure devotees of God, I have offended you and in return you have prayed to God for my good fortune.

And the second story is very incredible, it is told in the Chaitanya Charitamrita, there were two terrible brothers named Jagai and Madai, they were drunkards, womanizers, etc., once Lord Nityananda was chanting Hare Krishna through the streets of Navadvuipa, and when they saw this The two brothers were angry, one of them grabbed a clay pot and broke it on Lord Nityananda's head and it started to bleed, and Lord Nityananda told him that you have hurt me, but in return I will give you love for God or Krishna, when the brothers saw Lord Nityananda's attitude they fell at his lotus feet asking for forgiveness, and Lord Nityananda forgave them, and then these two brothers became pure Krishna devotees, and all the people were very astonished .

Happiness is not there

 Happiness is not there, by Haripada dasa

In general, people think that happiness is in a life full of sense gratification and material comforts, and that I live to the bun and died to the hole, people who are attached to ignorance do not understand more than this, here I share the Bhagavatam, 5, 24, 8, there Srila Prabhupada says that according to the teachings of Prahlāda Mahārāja, material enjoyment is māyā-sukha, an illusory enjoyment. A Vaiṣṇava or devotee of God or Krishna has great anxieties to liberate all living entities from such false enjoyment.

Prahlāda Mahārāja says: māyā-sukhāya bharam udvahato vimūḍhān: Those fools (vimūḍhas) indulge in material happiness, which is undoubtedly temporary. Whether they belong to the heavenly planets or to the lower or terrestrial planets, people are absorbed in material happiness, which is temporary, and they forget that when the time comes, they will have to change bodies according to the laws of matter, and they will have to suffer again and again birth, death, old age and disease. The most attached materialists, without worrying about what will happen to them in their next life, are simply busy enjoying the brief period of their present life. The Vaiṣṇava is always willing to give these confused materialists true happiness, spiritual bliss.

And in the same chapter verse 14, Srila Prabhupada says that this is the defect of material existence. In the subterranean heavens everything is very pleasant; the living conditions are optimal, the atmosphere is pleasant, and there are no physical discomforts or mental anxieties; even so, the inhabitants of those places will have to be reborn, according to their karma. Dull-minded people cannot understand this defect of the materialistic civilization that aspires to material comforts. You can achieve very pleasant living conditions for the senses, but, however favorable those conditions are, when the time comes you have to face death. Members of demonic civilizations strive for a high level of comfort in life; but they cannot stop death. The influence of the Sudarśana cakra will not allow your supposed material happiness to last for long.

We are people

 We are people, by Haripada dasa

I share that I have always tried to be very personal with all the people, by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada I was from 1984 to 2011 distributing his books all over the world, I estimate that I have spoken face to face with at least four million people, and that has helped me a lot to be personal, I remember a class by Srila Prabhupada who said that we are all people, human beings, animals, ants, trees, there is nothing impersonal, even brahmajyoti is the effulgence of the personal body of God or Krishna.

Now to the devotees so that they know me I send a message entitled my devotional life, at the beginning of this message I say Hare Krishna, all glories to Srila Prabhupada, with love and trust I share my devotional life, so that you know me, and if you want can share yours with me. I have sent this message to more than a hundred devotees, and only two have reciprocated and told me about their devotional life, now the question I ask is why the devotees do not answer, they do not reciprocate, my humble opinion is because in the devotees there is much Impersonalism, in the mantra to Srila Prabhupada we say that you have come to the West to free us from impersonalism and nihilism, and because of impersonalism is that the devotees are not united, when one reads Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita there are such sweet relationships and loving among the devotees, at that time there was no television, no mobile phones, etc., the only thing that the devotees did is try to make Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu and His devotees happy, the great devotee and King of Puri Patraparudra Maharaja gave the order in the temple of Sri Jagannatha that for the devotees of Sri Gauranga all the maha-prasada for free, so the devotees all they did is chant Hare Krishna and dance in ecstasy, respect maha-prasada and talk about the glories of Krishna and His devotees, there was no place for impersonalism or doing things to waste time, that is Krishna consciousness in its pure state.

Another great impediment is pride, pride is the prelude to the fall, thinking that I am superior to others, that is pure ignorance, that I have lived in Iskcon, the supposed disciples of Srila Prabhupada look at others with contempt, in their ignorance they think that I am Srila Prabhupada's disciple and I am saved, and others who are not Srila Prabhupada's disciples are condemned, humility is very important, when Sri Gauranga's guru named Srila Isvara puri went to visit to Sri Advaita prabhu, the devotees there just seeing his effulgence all thought that this person must be a very high devotee, but Isvara puri said that I am lower than a sudra, that is humility.

Let's try to be people and establish relationships based on love and trust, let's try to be all united, if we do this, Srila Prabhupada will be very happy with us and will give us many blessings.

We are all servants

 We are all servants, by Haripada dasa

The essence of the philosophy of Krishna consciousness is in a verse from Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita that says that only God or Krishna is the master and all others are his servants, in relation to this it is very interesting what Srila Prabhupada says in the Gita, 6, 29, there it says that while the living entity is in the womb of material energy, he serves the material senses; and while in the bosom of spiritual energy, he serves the Supreme Lord directly. In either case, the living entity is the servant of God. This vision of equality is perfect for a person in Kṛiṣhṇa consciousness.

We are an energy of God or Krishna that is called marginal, marginal means that we have two tendencies, the original, pure and eternal tendency is that we are happy serving God or Krishna and His devotees, and the other tendency is that we misuse our free We think that we will be happy living independently of God or Krishna and His devotees, this point is explained very well by Srila Prabhupada in the meaning of the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra, there he says 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. Krishna consciousness cultivation is not an artificial imposition on the mind; this consciousness is the original energy of the living entity, which revives when we hear the transcendental vibration. And this is the process recommended by the authorities for this era. Also direct experience allows us to perceive that the chanting of this maha-mantra, this Great Song for Liberation, can make us feel an immediate transcendental ecstasy that comes from the spiritual plane. And when we are in fact on the plane of spiritual understanding, having transcended the levels of the senses, mind and intelligence, we are situated on the transcendental plane.

Here the point is to get rid of the false ego, I share that in The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Chapter Twenty-two, verse 39, where Sanat-kumāra says:

"My dear King, the false ego of the human being is so strong, that it maintains him in material existence as if he were tied by a very strong rope. Only devotees can cut the knot of that rope very easily, by dedicating themselves to the process of Kṛiṣhṇa consciousness. Others, who are not in Kṛiṣhṇa consciousness but are trying to become great mystics or great practitioners of ritual ceremonies, cannot advance like devotees. Therefore, it is everyone's duty to engage in the activities of the Kṛiṣhṇa consciousness process, to get rid of the tight knot of the false ego and the performance of material activities. "

Our well-wisher

 Our well-wisher, by Haripada dasa

Srila Prabhupada from 1966 to 1977 answered more than 7,000 letters from his disciples and admirers, and always put at the end your well-wisher Bhaktivedanta Swami, do not think that finding a representative of God or Krishna is an easy thing, the problem is that there are many deceivers Srila Prabhupada always said that what people like the most is suffering and being deceived, and another thing he always said is that people cannot understand the simplest things in life because they are full of sinful activities, people does not understand the difference between a materialistic and atheistic person and a true devotee of God or Krishna, the atheist and materialist does not have any good feelings for anyone, not for himself, and the devotee of Krishna is a person full of compassion, she does not can bear the afflictions of others and tries through Krishna consciousness preaching to make people chant Hare Krishna, lead a pure and sinless life and be happy, Srila Prabhupada He sacrificed his life for others, that is the practical proof that he is a representative of God or Krishna, and he is Acharya, which means one who preaches by his personal example.

Srila Prabhupada is saktyavesa avatara, the word avatara means one who descends from the spiritual world, and saktyavesa means the one that God or Krishna empowers him to be His representative, when Srila Prabhupada was born the astrologer said that this child when he is 70 years old will come out of the India to go to western countries to preach Krishna consciousness, will open more than a hundred Krishna temples, write 80 books, and these books will be the law books for the next 10,000 years for all mankind. To date, more than 500 million of his books have been distributed in all the languages ​​of the world. Srila Prabhupada did not come to make a new religion, but to preach concepts and truths that are eternal, as Jesus Christ said that I did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it.

Srila Prabhupada taught us that the real problems are to free ourselves from birth, death, old age and diseases, he taught us that the only spiritual process that exists in Kali yuga or the present age is to chant The Maha-Mantra Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare (H is read as J for j), and he taught us that the pure and intimate devotees of God or Krishna never die, they live eternally on his instructions , and those who obey their instructions live with them.

Srila Prabhupada taught us to love our enemies, I will tell a story that illustrates this, Srila Prabhupada bought a piece of land in Bombay, India, to make a Krishna temple, a Hotel, a Theater and a vegetarian Restaurant. It was bought from Nair by a very powerful character, President of the Supreme Court and Director of a newspaper. Nair before this sold that land to the C. Company, with tricks he took the land and money from them, the C. Company sued Nair, but Nair won the lawsuit. Srila Prabhupada knew it and thus and everything was risked. Nair and his lawyer wanted to do the same with Srila Prabhupada, Srila Prabhupada sued him in court, but Nair died of a heart attack. His mistress continued with the litigation and made a big mistake, bribing the City Hall officials to destroy the temple they were already building and to kick out all the Krishna devotees who lived on the land. He backfired, Krishna's devotees called all their Hindu friends and told them everything, all the most important people in Bombay condemned this act, and Mrs. Nair was devastated. Then Mrs. Nair all repentant went to see Srila Prabhupada and crying she threw herself at his feet to forgive her, Srila Prabhupada full of mercy told her that you are to me like my daughter, you will never lack anything in your life, I will I'll take care of you Now that temple is one of the most important temples in spiritual India.

We have to undress

 

We have to undress, by Haripada dasa

Our spiritual master Srila Prabhupada always said that when people want to enjoy sexual life they have to undress, likewise if we want to enjoy with God or Krishna we must undress of lust, anger, greed, envy, pride and the ignorance. God or Krishna is always pure and in pure goodness, so to associate with God or Krishna we must live in pure goodness and be pure. The big problem that people do not understand or accept the simpler truths in life because they are full of sinful activities. It is said in the Bhagavad gita, 7, 28, God or Krishna says that people who have acted piously in previous lives and in this one, whose sinful actions have been completely eradicated and who are free from illusory duality, engage in Me service with determination.

Of the four imperfections that we all have, that is, one is that we are always full of ignorance and envy, another is that we make mistakes, to err is human, another is that we have imperfect senses and the fourth is that we have the propensity to deceive ourselves. ourselves and others, the most difficult to eradicate or purify is that we have the propensity to deceive ourselves and others, people think that I can do what I want and nothing will happen to me, that is not Thus, it is said in Srimad Bhagavatam that every activity we do here is being seen by the 33 million demigods, the Sun, the Moon, and all the elements such as earth, water, fire, air and ether, as well that we are not alone, we are always very accompanied even though we do not know it.

Another point is the law of karma, this law of God or Krishna is called the infallible law, and it is very simple to understand and accept, the law of karma means that any pain that you do to others you will have to suffer in your own person, the boomerang and what you sow you harvest. The only activity that does not create karma but purifies your karma is to serve God or Krishna and His devotees with love, gratitude and humility.

Everyone's friend

Everyone's friend, by Haripada dasa

Hare Krishna, I lovingly and confidently share a paragraph from a small book by Srila Prabhupada entitled Meditation and Superconsciousness:

We are looking for a friend to provide us with peace and quiet. That friend is Krishna, God. Just befriend Him, and you will find that the whole world will become your friend. Since God is situated in everyone's heart, if you make friends with God, He will instruct everyone inwardly to be friendly with you. One who befriends the chief of police receives certain benefits. If you make friends with the president of the country, everyone will be your friend, since everyone is subordinate to the president. If you want something from an official, you just have to call the president and he will say: "Okay, help this man," and so everything is resolved. Just try to befriend God, and everyone else will become your friends. All people will become peaceful if they understand this beautiful truth, that God is everyone's friend and that He is the supreme owner. Lord Chaitanya also explains this.

By the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Krishna I have been from 1984 to 2011 distributing Srila Prabhupada's books, I will have spoken face to face with more than 4 million people, in this transcendental activity one experiences that Krishna is the supreme controller and that one is his loving servant, in Guatemala twice Lord Nrisimhadeva saved my life, Srila Prabhupada always said that we should pray to Lord Nrisimhadeva for protection and blessings to be able to preach. Wherever you go you will see selfishness, hypocrisy and fighting, but as Srila Prabhupada says in this paragraph that all people will become peaceful if they understand this beautiful truth, that God is the friend of all and that He is the supreme owner. Lord Chaitanya also explains this.

Patience, humility and respect

 

Patience, humility and respect, by Haripada dasa

Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Prabhupada always said that in this world of ignorance, which is contrary to serving God or Krishna, full of trials and tribulations, only patience, humility and respect for others are our friends to do devotional service to God or Krishna and His representatives.

Regarding patience, I am very clear that only people who live in the mode of goodness can have it, people who live in the modes of passion and ignorance cannot be patient. Also Srila Prabhupada talks about this quality in the Nectar of Instruction, verse 3.

On humility, Srila Prabhupada says in the Gita, 13, 8 that humility means that one should not be anxious to have the satisfaction of being honored by others. Another point is that although one can do wonderful things to please God or Krishna and Srila Prabhupada, one understands that that is all pure mercy of God or Krishna and Srila Prabhupada.

About respect there is a very beautiful verse in the Bhagavatam, 5, 5, 26, this verse was spoken by the incarnation of Krishna called Risabadeva to his children, there it says that my dear children, you should not feel envy of any living entity, or mobile nor immobile. Knowing that I am in them, you must offer respect to all of them at all times. In this way, you will offer respect to Me.