"And the first step in the process of realizing our true identity, also called self-realization, is to learn that we are not this body. With this information immediately the questions arise: so who are we? what is our real identity? The answer to these questions can be found in authorized Vedic scriptures such as the Bhagavad Gita: we are spirit souls. We are eternal, spiritual beings. But due to our material desires we had to take birth in the material world and we had to accept this material body. The Lord grants us a free will. So we are responsable for our actions and we decide whether we want to connect with the internal, spiritual energy of the Lord, or the external, material energy."
"The intention of Krishna consciousness is that everyone is well. Krsna is
the highest Lord and He wants all of us to be fine. That is why He always
gives us advice how all of us can become happy. He provides us with
guidelines telling us how to achieve this. And even better, he provides us
with communities of people who can help us to reach a virtuous attitude."
"Who invites somebody else to always think of him? You have to contemplate that. It doesn't happen in this world, but Krishna invites Arjuna to do that."
"A very loving attitude evolves from adoration. This attitude of adoration, of bhakti, is very beneficial."
"When a practitioner has a natural desire to be an instrument of Krishna's love, a spontaneous attitude becomes established in the heart by which one may become a spontaneous devotee of the Lord who is no longer dependent of all the rules and regulations but who is already dedicated to the essence of all. That is a great gift."
"In the Bhagavad-Gita (18.66) Krishna himself says: sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja, aham tvam sarva-papebhya, moksayisyami ma sucah - "Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear." So Krishna personally assures us that He will protect us, He will free us from all Karma. We just have to engage ourselves in His devotional service. That is the invitation of the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna speaks of prescribed duties and of personal loving invitations. He never mentioned that thinking of Him and becoming His devotee are prescribed duties. Those are confidential revelations for those who are very dear to Him."
"Nobody falls from the spiritual world unless the Lord makes such an arrangement as in the case of Jai and Vijai. The jivas come into existence from the marginal area of Krishna's energy. Nothing impersonal comes from Krishna. Thus every spark of the Brahmajyoti is a jiva with the potential to develop pure love for Krsna."
"Regarding whether jivas fall from the spiritual world into the material world or not, personally, due to the ambiguity of the interpretation given by many people, even some of my friends, I prefer to take the standpoint of Srila Prabhupada. He said: "If you fell into the ocean and someone comes to rescue you but you refuse the help and instead ask: "First explain to me how I fell into the water", it does not make any sense."
"The magazine of Srila Prabhupada is called BACK TO GODHEAD. That means for me that even the effulgence of the Lord belongs to Godhead and this time we have the chance, by the grace of Mahaprabhu and Srimati Radhika, to get so much closer to the Lord. And that is a reason to rejoice and to surrender."
"The supreme Lord, the personality of Godhead, can do whatever He wants. He is free to do anything, and on top of it, everything He does is good and beneficial. He is the only wellwisher of all living entities. He is not against any single one of them, but for Him to exhibit His various pastimes, it takes many different, delightful things to happen, which in the long run give incredible blessings to the people in this world."
"In the purport of the verse from the Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 3, chapter 16, verse 29 Srila Prabhupada mentions three times that a jiva that took birth in the spiritual world cannot fall down again, if not arranged and approved by the Lord himself. In this purport Srila Prabhupada says three times within half a page, that a living entitiy cannot fall from Vaikuntha, will not fall from Vaikuntha, never falls from Vaikuntha. Even though he says this so clear here, it happend later, that in the movement of my spiritual master - after his departure - interpretations were drawn from a few other indications, completely denying this puport and indirectly declaring that Srila Prabhupada is three times wrong; three times wrong in the same purport."
"The topic of the origin of the soul was not only millions of times discussed, but also millions of times misunderstood. To understand, or not to understand the Lord, is purely a question of grace. Logical sequences do not necessarily favour us in this respect. The speculators have not only said that the jiva falls from Vaikuntha, but they are also claiming that jivas fall from Krsnaloka – that means falling from the personal, direct association with the Supreme Lord; falling from the nitya-siddha position."
"This idea that the soul falls from Vaikuntha or Goloka is not at all backed up by sastra. Of course, if Krsna wants any of his associates to go somewhere and to do something on His behalf, He would have the free will to do so. We cannot say, that Krsna cannot do this but in no way we can come up with a theory and try to substantiate it by wild speculations, which claims that every living entity comes from a personal relationship with Krsna in Goloka Vrindavan and fell down to this world due to misbehaviour there. If this is the case, there would be plenty of misbehaviour in the spiritual world, wouldn´t it? Just imagine if amongst the cowhard boys, here and there, the one or the other ends up missing. What would his friends think about: “Oh were is Gopa?” Then the others would say: “Don't you know what he did yesterday? Krsna told him to get lost.” Their hearts would be crumbled continuously in Goloka Vrindavana. How could you call it the spiritual world? If somebody from our own lines falls down, we are suffering. It is such an painful experience. So I am amazed, what the mind is capable to produce such ideas."
"Well, sometimes Prabhupada may have mentioned in a letter to someone, that the idea, that we come from Brahman is rather impersonal. So he said, we do come from Krsna. We do not come from Brahman – because he could see, that their interpretation was: If I come from Brahman, then I better go back to Brahman again. They would not take Krsna in consideration as the supreme generating power."
"Last not least, the falldown of the soul, the return etc. is covered by a certain veil. By the sweet will of the Supreme it is covered by a certain uncertainty which devotees have penetrated here and there with their tikas by saying things like: there was some apathy towards service; there was some indifference towards the Lord, there was some desire to control the nature; there was a misuse of free will. We argue in one way or another and that is kind of reasonable because you see that we can be good or bad according to our capricious decisions. It is reasonable that this capacity caused us at some point to go the wrong way."
"So the veil is there, meaning you cannot see everything as clear as without the veil. The veil which is covering the relationship is a very sensible veil. There is a reason for that, because without that veil, there would be no question of free will. If everything would be crystal clear, our material existence would be a crystal clear nonsense and we would not have any choice to go on with our pleasure seeking mentality. It is very sad actually, people want the Vedas and Krsna to give things which Krsna prefers not to give, and due to that souls make concoctions, or even worse, they reject them all together. But it is not our right. We are simply meant to accept the guidance from the pure devotees, like Srila Prabhupada, who in a short purport emphaticly says, that nobody falls from Vaikuntha. Then we may speculate: “Oh, he means Vaikuntha, but from Goloka, yes we fall.”
"First of all Goloka is part of Vaikuntha and not only that, it is the top most part of Vaikuntha and those who cannot see that, they cannot recognize that. Well, maybe they are prefering the relationship in awe and reverence, like the aisvarya relationship with the Supreme Lord and thus they do not pay special attention to the Lord. Even though, who can do away with the sweetness?"
"These are not words taken out of someone's mind. All is described there: antaranga-, bahiranga-, tatastha-sakti; and the light, the brahmajyoti, the effulgance coming from the Lord in the form of sparks, which are just each and everyone part of His infinte energy. So potentiallity of individuality development by the sweet will of the Lord for raising in the soul the chance to come into a personal encounter with the origin of its existence. That is Krsna, the beloved of all souls."
"So, in this particular verse (SB,3.16.29) Srila Prabhupada makes it so clear that we will not fall down, when we reach Lord Krsna's abode. That means, nobody who has been there before fell down either. That is a logical sequence. But we did come from somewhere, and we did come from the Lord, because we did not invent ourselves. So there is an agency of eternal soul production, if you want to call it in that way. And they all get the chance to go there or to come here. It is up to him. It is behind that veil, because if we would remove that veil, nobody could be in maya for one second, because the crystal clear confrontation with the truth would make it impossible to go against the truth. So there would be no freedom. We would just be fabricated to fit in one single unit, which means submission, and then everybody in the spiritual world would be a naturally submissive devotee without any option; and that is too much robot like, it is too much zombie like, it is too mechanic and manipulated. So Krsna has not done it in that way. Everything He does is good. He does not make anything wrong. We do, He does not."
"Krishna is not seen, but Guru and Vaishnava can be seen. Of course you may
say: 'Why Krishna is not seen? He is there in the deity.' But can you see
the deity? The deity can see you, but you cannot see. You just go through
the altar to present yourself for examination, not to have an eye-excercise:
'Oh, I'm seeing Krishna, I'm seeing Krishna'. But when you are presenting
yourself humbly for daily examination at mangala-arati the Lord may bless
your heart with some separation feelings which means love in separation,
union in separation. When you really want to be with somebody, you feel like
you are with that person even though some pain still remains there lingering
in the heart, longing for even further communication. But their is without
doubt a presence in the separation, whereas without the feeling of
separation even in the physical presence there may not be much of a presence
and not much of an appreciation. Therefore, in the beginning of bhakti we
are approaching bhakti through separation in the line of the six goswamis of
Vrindavan. We are worshipping this wonderful surrender of the gopis to
Krishna. Despite Krishna's going to Mathura, they gave their heart and soul
to him and would never go against the lord of their heart. This is of course
very extreme. To sustain a lifelong separation of their beloved boyfriend
Sri Krishna when he has gone and he never returns. And this nostalgic
feeling of the gopis will not turn them into any mood of anger, but simply
remorse, longing for their lord. This type of feeling is so close. Krishna
never left Vrindavan, he always stayed in the hearts of the gopis, he was
always with them. But that glorious feeling of separation which they had,
that glorious feeling is really what makes them the most famous of all
vaishnavas of all times, in past, in the presence, in the time to come."
"There are many different types of sacrifices in this world. Some make sacrifices for sport and some for other things. But the sacrifice must be offered to Krsna. Only then it is what the soul needs and only then it holds some value for humanity."
"The word dharma refers to the eternal and unchangeable duty, the natural function of all living beings. Dharma cannot be seperated or extracted from the living entities. Just like heat cannot be taken from fire or liquidity cannot be taken from water. It is part of its nature. Thus it is also referred to as sanatana-dharma (sanatana = eternal, unchangeable)."
"It does not matter whether a Christian, a Muslim, a Hindu, any other person or even an animal possesses gold. Gold always remains gold. Similarly dharma is not a question of faith, as faith may change. Dharma is the duty of the living beings in relationship with the Supreme Lord. It cannot be limited by any sectarian or worldly concepts as it represents the prescribed duty of all living beings."
"We are not constantly happy because we do not know the needs of the soul. By rejecting and negating our constitutional nature it is not possible to become happy."
"If one cleanses only the bird cage, the bird will not be satisfied. One has to know the needs of the bird. In the same way one has to know the needs of the soul to satisfy the self, to become joyful. The need of the soul is to get out of the material imprisonment to fulfill the longing for complete freedom. This freedom is reached by getting to know the Supreme Personality of Godhead."
"The basis of life of every living being consists in connecting the activities with the eternal relationship with the Highest Lord, Sri Krsna. Krsna is the origin of all living beings. He is the all-attractive being."
"Krsna is the complete whole and everything else is part of him. Our relationship with him is the relationship of a servant to his master. This relationship is completely transcendental and totally distinct from worldly experiences. One can perceive this relation by progress in devotional service. Everyone should be actively engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, even in this present conditioned state of material existence. In this way we must become conscious about our constitutional position and the transcendental position of the Lord, to be able to execute our dharma to reestablish our eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality."
"The obstacles and difficulties sent by Sri Krishna present an opportunity for us to grow spiritually. Of course Krishna knows whether we are fit to pass a certain difficulty or not. But by our small independence as individuals, we are always free to decide whether we would like to follow the path of truth or choose sense gratification."
"Obstacles can be seen as a help to become more fixed on our spiritual path. It is like in school, if we pass an exam we will be allowed to take more advanced exams."
"Yes, Krsna knows what we have in our hearts. Therefore there is no reason to fear or hesitate. Just like Sri Krsna told Arjuna in the Bhagavad-Gita: "Surrender onto me. I will protect you. Do not fear." So we have to follow his loving invitation. The Bhagavad-Gita offers so many good advice for life, it is incredible. We have to open our hearts and confide in His words. Then all our doubts and fear will disappear and our spiritual life will really get started with full enthusiasm."
"So we should have confidence that if somebody takes shelter of Krsna but falls down, he may get up again and continue his spiritual life. That is actually good news because if we were not allowed to continue because of falling down, it would be pretty sad."
"In the famous verse of the Brahma Samhita that is sung in temples around the world for Govinda Arati Sri Krishna's color is described as the color of dark-blue or blackish clouds. With our material senses we cannot perceive the Supreme Personality of Godhead as He has no material body and thus is completeley transcendental to all material influences and examinations. Only when Sri Krishna wants to reveal Himself in our hearts we might be fortunate enough to take a glimpse of the supreme beauty of Sri Krishna's original form."
"When the Lord Sri Krishna descends to this world He accepts different colors according to the yuga (millennias) in which He appears. There are four yugas: Satya, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali. In the Satya-yuga the process of self-realization is meditation and the color of the principal incarnation is white. In the Treta-yuga the color is red and the recommended process for self-realization is the performance of sacrifice. In the Dvapara-yuga, Krsna was personally present, and the color was blackish or dark-blue (Krsna). In the Kali-yuga the color of the principal incarnation is yellow (Caitanya Mahaprabhu). In this incarnation the Lord teaches people love of God by chanting the names of Krsna. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu taught the chanting of the holy names as the yuga dharma, the prescribed duty for the present age of Kali, and the only way to see Krishna."
"What is the difference between Krishna's arrangements and Maya's tricks? Actually everything is Krishna's arrangement because Maya is also one of Krishna's energies. The Lord does not create a particular situation for any living being. But confused by the material energy and the wish to rule over maya, the living beings develop desires for specific conditions of life. That is how the chain of action and reaction, called Karma, begins."
"All jivas, or souls, are given the capacity to desire by their free will. And the Lord, situated in everyone's heart allows them to fulfill those desires. But the Lord is never responsible for the Karma, or actions and reactions, of the desired situations. The Lord is neutral to everyone and He does not want you to do something egotistically, but if you insist so the Lord will allow you to act in the desired way. Therefore it is said in the Bhagavad Gita (4.11) that everyone is rewarded according to what he deserves."
"By our nature we are always servants. But it is our decision whether we serve Krishna or Maya. Krishna does not cheat you. And it is impossible to cheat the Lord as He is omnipresent and omnipotent. But if you try to cheat the Lord, eg by making promises and not keeping them, His energy, called maya, will make arrangements so that you will be cheated."
"To speak of Krishna's arrangements or Maya's tricks is only possible if you see things in connection with Krishna, if you are at least somewhat Krishna conscious. Even as the Lord is neutral to everyone, He takes special care and gives inspiration to those who desire to live with Him and He removes the influence of Maya from that person."
"For devotees who want to get out of illusion Maya sometimes provides special tests and tricks to make sure that they really prefer Krsna to material opulence and sense gratification. But most of the time Maya does not have to test us very much because we are so bewildered by her opulences that we do not really desire to escape her clutches but quickly we are satisfied with our mediocrecy and do not make efforts to make constant spiritual progress."
"Unless we are very sincere in our desires to become a devotee we will not be able to escape maya. We have to understand that everything around us is perfect. We have to stop lamenting about all the things that do not fit our personal concept and face the reality, accept the things as they are. Because the way the world is, is the best it can be. In this way we can see that even Maya's tricks and tests are also to our favor. They are there to help us to progress on our path. To purify our consciousness and chant the Holy Names of the Lord without offenses."
"Krsna's arrangements are all good. They are on the absolute platform. So even if they are aparentely different from our personal understanding of "good", they are favorable. Krishna is the impartial ever well-wisher. He wants a nice relationship with all of his eternal children. So we should not worry about the results. Let Krishna be in charge of that part. If we just engage ourselves in the service of Krishna and the spiritual master and chant the Holy Names of the Lord it will make us happy and our lives will be a success."
"The samskara rituals accompany a devotees' life from the first day – ceremonies such as First Grain, initiation, marriage etc. They are parts of our life and cannot even be thought away. I received these ceremonies by the grace of my spiritual master and we are trying to keep them happily alive."
"Full surrender means to surrender with body, mind and words. The Bhagavad Gita tells us that our mind may be our friend, but can also be our enemy. This depends on our control over the mind. If we cannot control our mind, we will be dictated by lust, anger, avarice, illusion etc. But when we conquer our mind and when we are able to control it, one will be able to accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated in our heart. There are nine kinds of devotional service that help us to surrender. The first two, and most important ones, are to hear and to talk or sing about the glories of the Lord. The daily engagement in hearing and chanting of the Lord will clean our consciousness."
"There are six basic guidelines for surrender. The first is that one should accept everything that is favorable for the discharge of devotional service, and one should be determined to accept the process. The second is that one should give up everything that is unfavorable to the discharge of devotional service, and that one should be determined to give it all up. Thirdly, one should be convinced that only Krsna can protect him and should have full faith that the Lord will give that protection. An impersonalist thinks that his actual identity is in being one with Krsna, but a devotee does not destroy his identity in this way. He lives with full faith that Krsna will kindly protect him in all respects. Fourthly, a devotee should always accept Krsna as his maintainer. Those who are interested in the fruits of activities generally expect protection from the demigods, but a devotee of Krsna does not look to any demigod for protection. He is fully convinced that Krsna will protect him from all unfavorable circumstances. Fifth, a devotee is always conscious that his desires are not independent; unless Krsna fulfills them, they cannot be fulfilled. Lastly, one should always think of himself as the most fallen among souls so that Krsna will take care of him. Such a surrendered soul should take shelter of a holy place like Vrindavana, Mathura, Dvaraka, Mayapur, etc., and should surrender himself unto the Lord saying, "My Lord, from today I am Yours. You can protect me or kill me as You like." A pure devotee takes shelter of Krsna in such a way, and Krsna is so grateful that He accepts him and gives him all kinds of protection."
"First of all we have to see that God is the creator and maintainer of everything. Living beings, matter and everything else has its origin in the Supreme Lord. In other words, everything is a manifestation of His different energies. Therefore, everything is connected with the Lord. If we forget this relationship with the Lord, and if we take things as real or use them without considering their connection with the Lord, we take things for something they are not. That is called illusion or maya.On that basis we can see, that we do not possess anything in this world as everything is the energy of the Lord. And at the end of our life all material possessions loose their importance because no amount of money can buy an additional minute of life."
"Renunciation means to see the things as they are and to use them appropriately. To see all things as the property of the Lord and to use them in the service of the Lord, without expecting any results for oneself, is the highest form of renunciation. The more advancement we make on the spiritual path, the purer our renunciation will become."
"Persons who worship the impersonal aspect of the Lord reject everything in this world because it is temporary. But a loving relationship with the Lord and devotional service also include a positive aspect. We will be able to destroy the darkness of both, pleasure and renunciation."
"Sri Krishna himself mentions that in the Bhagavad Gita: "For someone who sees me everywhere and sees everything in me, I am never lost for him, nor is he ever lost for Me." "The Maha Mantra is Krishna Himself. Also meditating on the Lords aim is Krishna Himself. The Procreation with Krishna in mind is Krishna Himself. Krishna says: I am the sex life which is not against the religious principles. The food you are eating is Krishna Himself. This is easy to accept, because as soon as you see a plate of maha prasada you go "wooooow". And really it is Krishna Himself, because it comes from Krishna, it is the mercy of Krishna, but we need the proper consciousness to honor it."
"Ego means 'identity', or 'self', distinct from the world and other living beings. In other words, Ego means individuality. False ego means wrong identification; identification with something we are not. So, the ego is there, this is not deniable. But we have to know what our real identity is in order to distinguish between the ego, the real self, and the false ego, or wrong identifications. Only then we will be able to get rid of the materialistic, self-centered and false ego."
"False, or materialistic ego is the identification with matter. It is very self-centered. The origin of the false ego is the desire to possess material things in order to enjoy them. In this way we start to identify ourselves with material values and we become conditioned by the three modes of material nature, namely goodness, passion and ignorance."
"In this conditioned state the living entities struggle very hard for gaining material values, but as a matter of fact it cannot solve the real problems of life: birth, death, old age and disease. With this wrong idea of ego, we think that we are a product of material nature and therefore we are runnig after illusory sense enjoyment. So absorbed in bodily consciousness we cannot understand our real identity, situation and purpose. We do not have clear knowledge of the existence and nature of God."
"Often impersonalistic philosophers say that everything is illusion, everything is one, and they want to dissolve the ego. But we cannot give up our ego, as it means 'identity'. What we have to give up is the false ego, the false identification with matter. The self is not the illusion, but the bodily concept of life is the illusion."
"To purify our materialistic consciousness we have to become engaged in devotional service. By engaging in devotional service the original qualities of the self will become manifest. The Bhagavad Gita also tells us that we have to accept a spiritual master, a real representative of God, who is experienced in the science of self-realization and who can tell us how to serve God. Because that is something our mind cannot make up on its own account. In this way we will be able to give up our false identifications and start seeing our real nature, and the respective duties."
"Self-realization is a very scientific process. Due to our long misuse of the senses for sense gratification, we are confused by false identifications such as: my country, my house, my money, which make us forget our eternal relationship with the Lord. Sometimes persons even think they themselves have become God. Of course, that is very pleasing to their false ego, as they see themselves as the peak of all creation, having to bow down before nobody. But actually it is easy to see that it cannot be true: we are not able to maintain ourselves, nor anybody else. We are basically dependent on every apple and every corn of rice. We are parts and parcels of the Lord. Our relationship with the Lord is like the relationship of a father and his a son. The son has the same qualities as the father but they can never switch their identity."
"The original existence or nature of living beings is eternal and full of joy and wisdom. We should never forget that. In this material world there are always anxieties and problems. But we do not belong here, because everything in this material world is temporal whereas we are eternal. So we should take this opportunity to get rid of false identifications and to become engaged in the loving service of the Lord by approaching those who are already engaged in His service."
"The number of spiritual souls is unlimited. And there is one supreme being: the Lord himself. The number of human beings may be far smaller than the number of bacteria or other lifeforms. Therefore it is said that a good birth, a birth in a human body, is something very precious, and we should make all efforts to use this body for the right purpose: asking questions about transcendental topics. What is giving life to this material body? Where does the soul come from and where will it go? Is there somebody who created all of us? How can we get to know Him? Many answers to such questions are offered by the Bhagavad Gita. The Bhagavad Gita is like the manual that explains how to use the human form of life. It shows us how to reestablish a relationship with God. That is essential to develop spiritual consciousness and to become free from confusion. And in this way everybody will become happy."
"One of the most important books about self-realization, the Bhagavad-Gita explains that humble sages see the various living beings with equal vision. This is because wise men know and see that all living beings have got the same universal father, who is also present in all of them as the Supersoul. From this statement we can see that there is no difference in the spiritual quality between the living beings. So there is the same kind of soul in a human being as in a bacteria or any other animal. Life is the active part, the soul or jiva, and exists independent from the body. The body is of material nature whereas the soul is of spiritual nature."
"The mind is flickering and easily influenced. People know that and make use of it, knowingly or unknowingly. For example, people dress to look nice and make a certain impression in the mind of other persons. Advertising experts use it to influence people to buy products by creating images and familiarities in their minds and magicians use it to create specific illusions in people's minds."
"Our mind constantly suggests us what to do, what to get and what to wish for. Thus, without controlling the mind it will always come up with more and more suggestions and wishes, thus we will never become satisfied. If we do not control our mind we are like prisoners, tied up to this material world, running after temporal pleasures. For example, sometimes people do things that are actually unreasonable, or buy something of little importance, not really being conscious about what they are doing."
"How can we control our mind and liberate it from its entangled situation? The Bhagavad Gita tells us that the mind is our enemy if it is uncontrolled but it is our best friend if we control it. That is because only by controlling the mind it is possible to transcend the material limits and make spiritual progress. Wealth, fame and sexual attractions are the three prominent types of lust that keep us in that material condition. They are the source of most of the problems we have to face in our lives. So, if we follow this kind of attractions without restrictions, the mind is our enemy, whereas by regulating them, the mind will become our best friend."
"Some persons seem to have control over their mind and in some way they also seem to have some control over the mind of others, like magicians. Those mystic powers will not help us to overcome our material deficiencies. Rather, they serve the purpose of incrementing our wishes and false ego even more. The presence of authority in our lives is what helps us to control our mind. The mind is looking for direction. Because authority always stays in a fixed position, while the nature of the mind is flickering. The highest authority is God. But in our present condition we do not have a close connection with God. Therefore we have to find a representative of God, a spiritual master, as an authority in our live. A spiritual master will guide us towards an elevated life because he can see things without disturbance of the mind and egotistic motives. Without the acceptance of a wellwishing authority we will accept false authorities and stay confused."
"Srila Prabhupada said that it is possible to control the mind if we engage it in devotional service. If we become enthusiastic about something, then suddenly the mind starts cooperating and does not disturb anymore. Such animation can be found if we connect our mind and our heart with the purpose of our existence."
"The mind wants to be engaged in something devotional. It becomes happy if it is making plans how to serve Krishna. But certainly one becomes easily distracted from this state of consciousness and starts to justify one's actions, searching the difficulty in others. Therefore we have to understand the mechanism of the mind."
"The mind is part of our subtle material body, which consists of mind, intelligence and the false ego. But we, our true self, is different. The soul is of spiritual nature. So by serving the desires of the mind and the body, we become materially conditioned. By serving the needs of the soul we will become free from this entanglement. A spiritual master will show us how to do that."
"A great part of yoga deals with controlling the mind. It is not easy, but if the heart is conquered, the mind will follow automatically. So, inspiration is a vital part of spiritual life."
"A spiritual master wants to take his disciples to the service of Srimati
Radharani, and she is demanding, because she only wants the best for
Krishna. It is not acceptable to offer something mediocre, in the same way
as you would not take your children to someone mediocre to take care of
them. You would worry that the mediocrity of those persons could incommode
your children, your dear ones. You have to understand this principal,
because it is a natural symptom of love."
"Going out to convince the conditioned souls that they should act to please
Krishna, that will make Krishna very pleased with you and make Srimati
Radharani very convinced that you are belonging to that group of surrendered
servants."
"...the correct attitude of a devotee should be: "Oh Krsna, I do not know
what you are planning for me but do as you wish." With this attitude, even
if it is not for the whole life, one can make serious spiritual progress. This attitude depends on the amount of faith in our heart. In sanskrit this is called "shraddha". It is a blessing of Srimati Radharani and it is something one cannot buy or get by force. Shraddha is a gift which we can get by the mercy of sadhus, in sadhu-sanga. If we have this shraddha our spiritual path really begins. Because through this faith we know: now a new process is going to start. And what is this process? By the faith in sadhus the search for a real shelter for oneself starts. The search for a spiritual master. A spiritual master, or guru, will give us the inspiration to enlighten our conditioned life."
"Our Guru is always considered to be an intimate associate of Srimati Radharani. So by pleasing the spiritual master he may give a recommendation to Srimati Radharani, who is also called Madan-mohan Mohini, the enchanter of the enchanter of cupid. Srimati Radharani may pass the recommendation on to Sri Krishna who will then accept the service of the devotee."
"Radha-dasyam, that is what our acaryas have taught us. So we have to be
very careful if we want to accomplish that. That's not a joke. Krishna
consciousness is not a joke. It is a full commitment."
"The great souls share their expieriences of the Lord with the fallen souls through the discription of the sastras. We rejoice such information and worship them on top of our head."
"The word 'veda' is Sanskrit and its meaning is knowledge, original knowledge. The Vedas are an ancient body of scientific knowledge reached down by a chain of disciplic succession from the time of creation. And unlike modern science they do not change with time. The Vedas hold Absolute Knowledge."
"Many statements of the Vedas have been verified by modern science. The Vedas also include predictions, even of persons, that have proven to be true. Thus it is understood that the Vedas are the word of God. They are like a manual how to successfully life our lives and be happy. The instructions and advice of the Vedas offer help and solutions for all the problems of our lives and the society, as the examples of great sages prove."
"The Vedas are not compilations of human knowledge. The knowledge they contain has been revealed by the Lord at the time of creation. This knowledge comes from the spiritual world. Therefore the Vedas are called apauruseya, not made by man. The vedas are often regarded as a boat to the spiritual world, because to attain our spiritual existence we have to cross the ocean of material existence. And to not get lost in this vast ocean we need an experienced captain who can guide us safely through all the difficulties: a spiritual master."
"In our present conditioned state we are suffering four main deficiencies. Even the most learned persons and scientists are subject to these four kind of principal defects: to commit mistakes, to be in illusion (to accept things as something they are not), to cheat and to have imperfect senses. So, with all these deficiencies we cannot expect to attain perfect knowledge (veda) for all our efforts will be influenced by our inevitable defects. Although scientists are making enormous efforts to invent things that reduce the sufferings and increase the comforts of humanity, they could not find a solution for the real problems of life yet: birth, old age, disease and death. All the technological advancements and modern gadgets are focusing on providing more comfort to man. But unfortunately these advancements cannot solve our real problems. They are just aiming to ease our sufferings, but the sufferings are still there. They do not deal with the root of our problems. This is called illusion: taking something as a solution that cannot really help us. For instance: many people are afraid because they do not know how to get more money. And when they get a lot of money, they are afraid of loosing the money or being robbed. So the money is not the problem. The real problem is the fear stemming from the bodily concept of life. So the problems are still there. This situation occurrs because we do not care about the root of all problems. We are just superficially trying to comfort our lives. So first we have to understand what is the actual problem of our lives. The Vedas teach us that we have to come out of the bodily consciousness and that we have to realize the loving relationship with God, athato brahma jijnasa - we have to ask questions about the Absolute Truth, to solve the problems of the material world. We have to realize that we are not this body but a spiritual soul. A part and parcel of the Highest Consciousness. And that we are eternally related with Him. We have to take care about the needs of the soul. The body is useless without the soul. So we should find out what are the needs of the soul."
"The Vedas are also called 'sruti'. This Sanskrit word 'sruti' refers to knowledge acquired by the process of hearing. This knowledge is not experimented again and again by every generation but it is accepted as it is. This saves a lot of time and troubles."
"In modern science we can find a lot of situations which cannot be proven by experiments. So eg. in mathematics there are declarations, called axioms, that are taken to be true in order to investigate a certain field of science. Or in other words, to investigate things in the material universe we are dependent on axioms that cannot be verified by experiments. So how can we expect to attain spiritual knowledge by experiments although our senses cannot reach there?"
"Certainly the knowledge of the spiritual nature exists. But it is not possible to make experiments on that knowledge. To attain this kind of knowledge we have to take the instructions of the Vedas. The truth is there, we just have to take it. The Vedas present the truth very scientifically, based on axioms. They will lead us towards the realization of our relationship with the origin of all origins and therefore also to self-realization."
"As material theories and science has always been changing in the past and, due to the imperfection of scientists, will continue to be alterated in the future, we can see that it is not possible to achieve absolute knowledge with our material senses. But as the Vedas are revealed by the Lord himself, the knowledge of the Vedas is perfect and does not change with time."
"So the help offered by the Vedas is not subject to speculation and to accept it is not blind faith. It is scientific knowledge and the process of understanding this transcendental knowledge is to hear it from the authorities in the field of vedic knowledge. Just like in the universities the students hear from the professors."
"An authoritative source of vedic knowledge is the Bhagavat-Gita As It Is from Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. We can save a lot of time and troubles if we accept this pure source of vedic knowledge."
"The goal of vedic knowledge is to understand the Lord, Krsna, and our relationship with Him. Krsna himself said: By all the Vedas I am to be known, indeed I am the compiler of Vedanta, I am the knower of the Vedas."
"Spiritual education is what forms our consciousness, and at the moment of
death, it is the only thing we will carry with us. Because material
education we forget, but the maturity that we acquire when we study
Vaisnavism, is our nourishment for the way to eternity."
"In the Bhagavad-Gita it is stated that Arjuna was given the order to fight,
without being concerned about the results of the battle, by Lord Sri Krishna
Himself. Everything was already arranged by the Lord. Arjuna just had to
fulfill his duty; to stand up and fight."
"Spota vada means the inner meaning of something. Beyond the sound of a
thing is the real meaning, which is only revealed in the heart. That is why
we need mercy to understand any spritual message. Only by grace the
understanding of spota vada is transferred from the speaker to the
listener."
"Revealed truth does not rely on the consideration of the majority of
people. Revealed turth must come from the perfect plane. Only through faith,
sincerity and dedication can we approach that higher plane."
"We are very grateful to our acharyas for having given us this gaudiya
vedanta. And it should be a part of our life to understand it clearly, even
though we know that by getting lots of knowledge we should be careful not to
be proud of it. Gaudiya vedanta is a heart issue, and if you understand
something of Mahaprabhus trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna, if you like
to serve, if you like to go and to make yourself available to the
transcendental sweet desire of Krishna, if you really like to do that then
do you know what happens? Then this meaning, this inner substance will be
revealed to you. The Supreme Lord in your heart will help you to understand
that. You will awake spiritually. And the spiritual awakening comes about by
taking fully shelter of the lotus feet of ones spiritual master, not in any
artificial fashion."
"Vaisnavism is no doubt accompanied by so many laws and rules. The Vedas,
Hari Bhakti Vilas and Vaisnava etiquette are full of them. But in the
Vaisnava life we see also that rules and laws are to be broken again and
again by the overpowering influence of the Vaisnava love and generosity.
There are innumerable examples to prove this point."
"Guru sastra sadhu vaikya citete koriya aikya. First we have to consider Guru, Sastra and Sadhu. Then, at the end, we should listen to our heart. All of them should produce a congruent solution. Then you know that the solution must be very good. If you cannot find that harmony between the revealed truth and your understanding, start your research again. Do not act hastily. How could your heart disagree with the truth if the truth is the only thing beneficial for you? With the guidance of the revealed truth you will learn to understand your real heart and you will be protected from being mislead by your mind. When you are in doubt - don't do it. Pray to God to show you how to conquer your doubt. There is no reason to lament later if you proceed in that way."
"Do not feel worried if questions are bothering you. They give you a good chance to engage in hari-katha. But also be patient. Some things can only be unterstood when mercy descends. For that mercy we should always pray very humbly. And we should be eager to serve, eager to become an instrument of Lord Krishna's love. Then our capacity of hearing will increase incredibly."
"If we have a question and we can not find a solution, neither through chanting nor through hearing classes than we can ask an older devotee or the spiritual master."
"The scriptural rules and regulations help us to learn how to act in the mode of goodness. They are a guide that will lead us to a proper understanding of the essence of the scriptures, to establish a humble and loving relationship with the Supreme Father and every living being."
"It is said that all work, all activities and all duties are useless if they do not awake the desire to hear the loving message of God. This message of love can be found in the books of Srila Prabhupada."
"Rules regarding Gurus, disciples, initiations, sannyas, reinitiations,
sadhana or sadacara belong in the scriptures to be explained and applied by
Bhagavata personalities. If non realized persons or committees want to
explain such rules, they most likely will kill the inner meaning of them,
which will not make everyone happy in the family of Krishna Consciousness."
"To understand the divine descent of Krishna, the Guru Parampara and the daily guidance and protection of every devotee requires an open mind and deep faith. We cannot always apply ordinary logic."
"Sometimes we see the sastras telling different stories about the same personalities. Well, there are unlimited amounts of Brahmas in the past, presence and future. Thus different accounts may simply refer to manifestations which took place in different times or with different persons in the same post of Brahma. If we find an element of contradiction in the scriptures it may also be a case of asura mohan. An element manifesting to drive away the demons from the sastras."
"A devotee has to be a student. All his life he has to read the books, try
to understand the philosophy and the teachings of his spiritual master and
try to become a better servant in this way. You have to do that for the
whole life. Not that you think, 'now I am an old devotee and there is
nothing more to study'. You must study, there is no spiritual advancement
otherwise and in this way you can not go back to home back to Godhead. You
have to be completely surrendered and for that you have to learn how to
surrender. You have to participate in the sweet family of surrender."
"In the medicine school you are learning to become a doctor. If you do not
become doctor after attending the school, then this is nonsense. If you just
get a paper or a title, but you do not help the people, then what is the
use? We are here to become real servants of the truth. We are here to teach
what our guru taught us. We are not here for becoming temple presidents, we
are not here for comforts. We are not here to be glorified. We are not here
for getting good food without work. We are not here to fight or criticize
others or to waste time. We are here to collect and to connect. Is it clear?
If you are reading a book just to become famous. To collect knowledge to
promote your ego, then you are wrong. This is pratishta. Nothing else."
"The Gita Govinda is a very confidential book. Like many others it is part of a list our spiritual masters have strictly cautioned to only read when we are very fixed up in spiritual life. Today in the times of the internet it is so easy to get any book and just read it. But what is the guarantee that we also understand it properly? Definitely such books are to be read and talked about by very advanced souls and that in totally private circles. If we have read some of it and feel inspired, it may be some special mercy upon the reader. But I myself, as a disciple of Srila Prabhupada follow his recommendation and repeat the caution as I received it."
"It's important to remember that the sacred books are sacred. How to obtain them? -By doing a small sacrifice. How to have them? -In a clean bag that is like an altar that i carry with me or on a special shelf in the place where I live. How to study it? -In india they make a little artik with a flower to the sacred book before studying. Studying with attention. Have a notebook to write the special, the usefull, the new, to be able to preach and help others. Then you become more learned and can serve better."
"To study in company of sadhus is the most effective to awake attraction for the Supreme Personality in our hearts. This is the goal of supreme dharma."
"To study is a massage for our mind. We always have to mantain our mind with Krishna."
"There is an instruction from Srila Rupa Goswami to not read many sacred
books with the idea of later becoming superior to others. Studying must be a
humble service to the Guru. All activities are blessed if you do it to serve
Guru and Sri Krishna. Otherwise it's just false ego business."
"We have to vibrate. We have to understand the mystical insight and this
will come by the process of preaching and following the teachings of your
Guru. There is another important point here. When we are listening to the
classes of the Guru or reading Prabhupadas purports, we can just listen to
it or just read over it. But if we enter more deep into it, then we can
discover more important and more confidential instructions."
"Many topics of confidential nature are very personal and even a public forum will not shed much light on such topics. Real surrender though from deep within our heart and with the guidance of advanced souls will surely bring about a capacity to realize even higher topics."
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