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.

How people generally are

 How people generally are, by Haripada dasa

I share this beautiful song of Bhaktivinoda Thakura, he is one of our spiritual teachers in disciplic succession, although he was a pure devotee of God or Krishna driven by his deep humility he puts himself in the position of an ordinary person, and says that I have always dedicated my life to commit sinful activities, you will not find in me even a trace of pious activities, only a life of sinful activities, I am always ready to cause problems for other living entities ...., that is my occupation, I want to see that others suffer , and, and when that happens, I enjoy. In order to obtain my own sensory gratification, I do not mind committing any sinful activity, I have no mercy, and I only pursue the satisfaction of my own interests, so when others suffer, I feel very happy ... I am used to telling lies , even in ordinary affairs, and when someone suffers, that is very pleasant to me, I have unlimited desires in my heart, and I am always disgusted and conceited with false prestige, envy and false pride are my ornaments, sleep and Laziness conquers me, I am always repulsed by pious activities, and I am very enthusiastic about doing impious activities, I always deceive others to gain prestige, I am subjugated by greed and I am always lustful, I am very fallen and never associate with the devotees of God or Krishna, I am an offender constantly, my mind is always attracted to morbid things, therefore, at the very end of my life, I am almost disabled due to to all these tribulations, now in my old age, I no longer have any other alternative ..., and therefore I have had to become very meek and humble, thus, Bhaktivinoda Thakura, offers the testimony of the activities of his life to the lotus feet of God or Krishna.

I remember in the book entitled Perfect Questions and Perfect Answers, Srila Prabhupada says that preaching Krishna consciousness is very difficult, because a preacher always has to go with the truth ahead, and people have so much false ego that they feel insulted, and sometimes they kill the preacher as in the case of Jesus Christ, they told Jesus if you say that you are the son of God we are going to crucify you, and he said do whatever you want, but I cannot change the philosophy. Today to be a true devotee of God you have to be very brave, because your so-called relatives, friends, and society are going to turn against you, Srila Prabhupada always said that this material world is like a madhouse, everyone is crazy , but the crazy people think that the crazy people are the doctors, and sometimes they convince them.

Share

 Share, by Haripada dasa

In relation to sharing there is a very interesting story, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada named Yamuna learned all the culinary art of India from Srila Prabhupada, his godbrothers told Yamuna to share everything he had learned with others, and Yamuna said no, that she had all rights reserved, then they went to see Srila Prabhupada to complain about Yamuna, and Srila Prabhupada called her and told her that if you don't share what you know with others you will become envious, so Yamuna like A good disciple wrote a book and revealed all the culinary secrets that she had learned from Srila Prabhupada.

Although I joined the Hare Krishna movement in 1984, I have had the great luck of having two very vivid dreams with Srila Prabhupada, one of them happened in a city in southern Spain called Seville, I was distributing Srila Prabhupada's books and all of them. People were very negative, I fought all day and ended up completely exhausted, and at night Srila Prabhupada appeared to me in my dreams, and I remember that he consoled me and encouraged me, and Haripada told me you are a fighter by nature, but I advise you that you never get attached to the result of your struggle, and I want you to know that I am very grateful for your service in the distribution of my books, when I got up the next day I was a new person, full of enthusiasm, and we went to another city ​​and we distributed many books, and the other dream was in a town in Mexico, I was distributing books and I was staying in a house of devotees, it was two in the morning and Srila Prabhupada appeared to me in dreams, I remember going to s walking with Srila Prabhupada on a beach, and Srila Prabhupada told me to bring me this, bring me that and I would serve him, there I understood that Srila Prabhupada was telling me in this dream that I should always be serving Srila Prabhupada, after the dream I woke up and I grabbed the japa or rosary and couldn't stop chanting the Hare Krishna maha mantra, from 2 to 6, 4 o'clock, these two transcendental experiences with Srila Prabhupada have helped me a lot to stay fixed in Krishna consciousness, and also It is good to share these experiences, I remember reading Srila Prabhupada's walk with his devotees and he asked a devotee if he was chanting in kirtana last night, and the devotee told Srila Prabhupada that when he sang he started crying, and so he stopped to sing so that the devotees would not think that I was doing a theater, and Srila Prabhupada told the devotee to sing and cry whatever he wanted, because the devotees will understand that you are crying for Krishna.

It would be a good idea for Srila Prabhupada's disciples and everyone else to share their experiences with Srila Prabhupada. In the Govardhana Hill pastime, Krishna tells his father Nanda Maharaja that there are no secrets among holy people.

Spiritual Science

 Spiritual Science, by Haripada dasa

Srila Prabhupada presented the process of Krishna consciousness as a spiritual science and also as a spiritual culture, in any science there are three aspects, 1, the theory, 2, the practice and 3, the result, the theory is the Scriptures, there tells you that in this age of hypocrisy and quarreling, the authorized process is to chant The Maha-Mantra Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, and the result of this The song is that your consciousness will be purified of lust, anger, greed, envy, ignorance and pride, the process of Krishna consciousness begins with faith, faith means having complete conviction that by chanting the Holy Name of God or Krishna automatically will fulfill all spiritual duties and complete all pious activities, faith also means that one obeys what the scriptures say, Srila Prabhupada told a devotee that I tell you to chant Hare Krishna and you obey, that means that you u have faith in me.

All this spiritual science is explained very well in the first chant of the Bhagavatam, second chapter, verses 17 to 21, there it is said that hearing what the Vedic literatures say about Kṛiṣhṇa or hearing Him directly through the Bhagavad-gītā, is virtuous activity itself. And for one who hears about Kṛiṣhṇa, Lord Kṛiṣhṇa, who dwells in everyone's heart, acts as a well-wisher friend, and purifies the devotee who is always engaged in hearing about Him. Thus, in the devotee He develops. in a natural way the transcendental knowledge that is latent. As he hears more of what the Bhāgavatam and the devotees speak of Kṛiṣhṇa, he becomes established in the devotional service of the Lord. Through the development of devotional service one is freed from the modes of passion and ignorance, and thus greed and material lusts diminish. When these impurities are cleansed, the candidate stands firm in his position of pure goodness, is encouraged through devotional service, and fully understands the science of God. Bhakti-yoga thus cuts the tight knot of material affection, and enables one to immediately reach the stage where the Supreme Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead or Krishna, is understood.

Cheers up! And let's all together try to make Jagat-guru Srila Prabhupada Mahasaya happy, and not do anything that displeases him.