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.

Brahmana and Vaisnava

Brahmana and Vaisnava, by Haripada dasa

Srila Prabhupada always said that you have to be Krishna conscious first and then Krishna conscious. A conscious person is one who lives in the mode of goodness, for a person to live in the mode of goodness has to live a life without sins and very 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 give the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, and by chanting it one obtains the necessary strength and purification to be able to lead a life free from sins and follow the 4 rules and regulations mentioned above. When Srila Prabhupada performed the first initiations in New York, then he put a paper written in his own hand 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 happy replied that they have asked me well, yes you have to follow those 4 rules and regulations.

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 is in the essence of life , which is spiritual, 4) He is fair 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 of 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).

Share, Part 2

 Share, Part 2, by Haripada dasa

I share that yesterday I saw a video of Srila Prabhupada that spoke of swans and crows, this is very interesting, pure devotees of God or Krishna are compared to swans, swans have the ability to extract from a mixture of milk and water only milk and leave the water, likewise the pure devotees of God or Krishna have the ability to extract the spiritual part of everything and leave the material part, swans like to live in clean places, with clear water full of lotus flowers, likewise pure devotees of God or Krishna like good philosophy, take food offered to God or Krishna, go to temples where there is a peaceful atmosphere with incense, crows do not like that, People who are like crows do not like that, they go to dirty places, where meat, fish and eggs are eaten, nightclubs, where there is alcohol and drugs, it is a practical fact that birds of the same plumage fly together, crows they don't go where the swans, they don't like it, and swans don't go where crows are, they don't like it, another difference between people who are like swans and those who are like crows is that pure devotees of God or Krishna are free from lust and of greed, and those who are like ravens, are full of lust and greed.

Once some reporters went to do an interview with Srila Prabhupada, one of them told him that all great spiritual personalities like you do great miracles, what miracles you have done, Srila Prabhupada was surrounded by his disciples and he replied that you see all these people Before coming to Krishna consciousness they were addicted to all kinds of sinful activities, they ate meat, fish and eggs, they were addicted to alcohol and drugs, they played games of chance and they also had illicit sex, they were like crows, now They are swans, now they only eat prasada or food offered to God or Krishna, they only drink pure water, they do not play games of chance because they are completely satisfied with what they have, and if they marry they only have sex to procreate and if not they practice celibacy, Turning crows into swans seems a little miracle.

The false ego

 The false ego, by Haripada dasa

When a soul does not surrender to God or Krishna, he lives full of ignorance and acts in the false ego possessed by the illusion of "I" and "mine". Such a person is considered a mean rogue because he is believing that he is the creator, that the world is his, that he is the creator of his destiny and the enjoyer of the fruits of his activities; that he is his own protector and maintainer; that these are his wife, brothers, son and daughters, and that by his own effort he will be able to achieve all perfection and glory. Such people are proud of the power of their knowledge; not considering the control of the Lord, they believe that by their own brain they can increase and expand the arts and science.

In Srimad Bhagavatam it is said not to be a father, mother, public leader and spiritual master if you are not able to free your dependents from the cycle of birth and death. The cause of all the violence in the world on a personal and collective level is the false ego.

These people, if they can hear the glories of the Name of God or Krishna, they do not believe them but they do so out of social custom. Being hypocrites and cheaters, they may chant the shadowed Name, but they will never attain prema or pure love for God or Krishna. This offense is due to being strongly attached to maya or ignorance, and liberation is very difficult.

Believe the creator, the giver, the protector; possessor of a body and a house, offspring and a wife; feeling like a brahmana or priest or sudra or worker, husband or wife, king or citizen, all these have to be rejected

Ego means identity or personality and when we identify with something that we are not, that is called a false ego. The false ego is what binds us to this material world, now one can ask how I detach myself from the false ego, when one serves a representative of God with faith, love, attachment and gratitude, the false ego disappears and one is situated in the true ego and becomes an expert in happiness. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura always said that the false ego is very subtle and the subtlest thing about the false ego is identification with religion, everyone says I am a Christian, I am a Muslim, I am a Jew, I am a Hindu, I am Hare Krishna , etc., but everything is pure hypocrisy, nobody practices anything, the true ego is that I am an eternal spiritual soul, eternal loving servant of God and His devotees and when one is situated in his constitutional position he is happy, if not one lives in sheer ignorance there will be much suffering. One's egoism must be aimed at going back to Godhead.