"A devotee of the Lord never think himself better than or equal to other Vaisnavas. He always tries to serve the Vaisnavas with humility."
"The worship of the deity is such a special aspect of our life. In reality we live in the house of the Lord, not the other way around. You live in the house of the Lord, so you better find out what he expects or wants from you. Our Lord is marvelous, he cares for all of us, of each one of us in a special form. He opens the doors to his beautiful house, even for people like me and you he sends his dear sons and daughters to invite others, to talk to all the world about his beautiful home. When you realize that you are really living in the house of the Lord you will be very lucky. In this way, by this connection you will return to His house in Goloka. And if you are not married then live in an ashram and train as a preacher. Just make yourself sure to never feel that it's your house or to be lazy, because by this you lose the mercy."
"The problems are also good guideposts. They show us that there is still missing a lot.
Krsna also uses it in this way. Especially when a devotee is becoming proud. Then immediately Krsna comes and sends some anartha. And then the devotee thinks: "Uuhh, I thought I had surpassed that anartha already a long time ago. But now I can see how fallen I am." Then one tries to make more efforts. This is very frequent, it is almost a routine. Of course this can also be avoided. But therefore one must not just be a little bit above the influence of Maya but very high above it. Which means that he is deeply engaged in the loving service of the Spiritual Master and the Lord. Not that he makes only some service in order that no one is rebuking him. He has to make a true effort with all his heart. Then there are no problems."
"The Lord himself said: The one who renders service directly to me is not my devotee, the one who renders service to my devotee is my devotee. So the idea of serving Krsna directly and independent from others means to ignore the instruction of the Lord and to ignore His devotees. But the devotees of the Lord are very dear to the Him. Krsna is not cheap, we cannot force Krsna to accept our service. If we want to serve Krsna we have to consider His devotees."
"To directly serve the Lord is only possible in a pure state of consciousness and by the mercy of Krsna. So trying to serve the Lord directly is not the recommended process to purify our conditioned consciousness. If we try to serve the Lord directly, the Lord may be served or may not be served. The way to assure the service to Krishna is by serving His devotees, the Vaisnavas, His representatives in this world."
"Should there appear some kind of misunderstanding or struggle over the use of a particular thing, we should ask a senior devotee for help. But actually if we are fully engaged in our service there is no time to quarrel over material things. There are so many beautiful things to do that we should not waste our time with quarrelling."
"The temple has discipline. We have artik on time, puja, prasadam, class, but this is all based on kindness. The kindness will guarantee that we want to participate, that we want to continue."
"Of course kindness does not mean you are not saying the truth."
"An ashram is really an incredible place to grow spiritually. But the rules must be very strict, so that the ashram will fulfill the actual purpose. An asram is not a building, a physical place. It is the place where the discipline of devotion is: worship with kindness."
"Discipline without kindness is military, everybody hates it and wants to get out of it. Discipline is something very good, if practiced with affection. But, I mean, so much "affection", that nobody gets up for the class or for the mangala artik, that would be sentimentalism. Then everything becomes just an imitation. It is a kind of sahajiya life. To have an ashram where nobody comes to class or where there is no class, that is sahajiya. If the only thing which brings us together is eating, that is no
"I don't say that we are superior. I just said we desire to become sincere servants. There are a lot of ways to serve God with all the heart. One reaches God by His grace and He knows whom He likes to salvage and who has to stay more time in the material world to prepare himself better by learning."
"Spiritual life has many practical applications. In the society there are a lot of problems which immediately can be perceived with a pure consciousness. And also proper solutions can be found. We only have to be willing to."
"The willingness to solve problems in this world is surely supported if the personal lifestyle is in the
mode of goodness. All different activities of our life can be executed in the mode of passion, ignorance or goodness."
"The Bhagavad-Gita provides us with guidelines to know the different symptoms of actions in goodness, passion and ignorance. So we have an orientation and can develop the things in our life properly. To act in goodness means to act in a way that one is always helpful for others and that one does not do anything that disturb others personally."
"If we are following a virtuous lifestyle we will immediately get the effect of it. We will be able to see all things from a point of view where we can clearly perceive the wish of God. But if we are pulled down by the impulses of our conditioned existence so that we are no longer able to follow our virtuous inspirations and good memories but are carried away by the waves of passion and the coverings of ignorance, we can, sure enough, not guarantee anything anymore. And that is exactly the point where the whole society will fall into ignorance."
"In the mode of goodness we can understand the things in a way that we recognize immediately: yes, this is where I belong. And we recognize that the influences which are always pulling us down and distracting us from goodness are the influences of Karma from the past."
"Karmic influences have provided us with distinctive attributes. Including the body we have got, including the family we are born in, including the land and the environment we grew up in, including
the diet we have been raised with, all the films we have seen on TV, the disputes we have seen in the street and so on. These circumstances which form and condition us in a specific way, constitute the starting point for all of us. Nevertheless we can feel a natural attraction to virtuous actions: eg: the popular saying "Treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself"."
"Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur said: "Freedom is the greatest gift." The freedom to devote yourself to the truth, to give your heart to others, and to use your energy in the service of others."
"We must not expect a life without conflicts. We have to face the conflicts and surpass them to make advancement. That is something that devotees sometimes overlook. That the very fact to have a material body means to grow old, to fall sick. And the very fact to have a mind means to have mental plans. Only transcendental love, the sincere wish to get out of maya and to make efforts for the spiritual master and Krishna-consciousness is unrelated to material karma."
"Once Srila Prabhupada was asked whether there were mosquitos in the spiritual world. He answered: If there are any they do not bite, they sing." :)
"We should not try to possess more than we need. But if we obtain more than necessary, the surplus should be used in the service of the Spiritual Master and the Lord. That is the source of happiness for every conditioned soul, the world and Krsna. It is the aim of life to serve."
"Generally we have problems because we cannot control ourselves. We are too rash, speak bad about others etc. One has to be prepared to listen and to consider the opinion of others. Spiritual family-responsibility is no dogma. One gets separated only because one does not put Krsna in the center."
"In Krsna-consciousness one is automatically there for everyone. Even if he is not directly present before them. A devotee is always the friend of his family."
"To critize someone's conduct for the protection of others may be necessary sometimes. Mahaprabhu himself rejected Krishna dasa after the Bhattatharis seduced him. But later he got mercy from Lord Nityananda."
"Everyone belongs to a certain family. The spiritual family-consciousness is most important as we develop our spiritual understanding of dharma (duties) in the family."
"There is no competition in spiritual life. No walls and borders to stop your love. We have to take spiritual life to our hearts. We have to pray and chant with all sincerity. Spiritual life is such a great opportunity to finally do something nice, without any ulterior motives or hidden agendas. Just surrender to the Lord and make efforts in the mission of our spiritual master."
"We should not try to compare services with each other. Srila Sridhara Maharaja said that we can judge the importance of a service when we see how urgent it is to carry out that service. The same principle can also be applied to the things we use. Once Srila Prabhupada entered a bathroom in one of his ashramas and found a cigarette on the floor. He immediately asked: "Who has been smoking in my bathroom?" So we should always try to see everything as the property of our spiritual master. This will help us to utilize things consciously in the service for Krsna."
"If one is not careful, one will fall down. That is not a question of years and years of practice. If you are not careful, you can slip, this can happen on the first day or the last day, it does not matter. Therefore, if one wants to avoid falling down, he should always be careful and attentive of what he is doing."
"One of the things that will make you fall is pride. A yogi must not be proud, because pride comes before the fall. And that is how this world is. The more successful one is in doing something, the more danger appears that he becomes proud of himself."
"It's a part of Vaisnavism to not hurt anyone and to not make anybody feel bad about your actions. We should always give inspiration. That requires a lot of responsibility, sincerity, love, tolerance and patience. It starts in our families and reaches out to every person we come in contact with."
"We have to abandon all kinds of sectarianism and separatism from the will of God. The laws that are directing everything are all good. The environment is good. The only thing bad is myself. The only one who must change in this world is me. If my situation is unpleasant for me it is because I created it like that. We are the creator of our proper good or bad fortune. Do not think that it's indifference or a philosophy of conformism. It is a help to take the opportunity of human life more serious and to become more responsable in our actions, words and thoughts. There is a saying: “To err is human.” But it is even more human to blame someone else."
"We have to get out of the mood of hurting others and acting egoistically. We have to open our hearts and must not allow that any living being has to suffer from our actions."
"Avoid all idle subjects on the internet, or elsewhere, which serve no higher purpose."
How is your bhajana? How is your devotional life? A devotee usually answers with sadness: Oh, my devotional life is not very nice. So if you ask me "what is your favourite bhajana?" it is a very challenging question but I could say a few things. One of the things I very very much rejoice is hearing the Sri Sri Siksastakam of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Whether reading it or hearing it sung by somebody, what to speak if it is sung by Srila Prabhupada. These prayers have such a deep meaning and they are so broadminded. That is very softening to my heart. Even though my heart still wants to resist any softening process.
The environment is perfect as it is. But we have to learn to see and to use everything properly. Spiritual advancement requires learning to accept things that are favorable and to reject things that are unfavorable for spiritual life.
"If you are very serious, smile a lot and encourage everyone with your smile. And take care of that tongue, not to say anything that discourages people."
"If we think we have reached the top, then we have reached the bottom."
"Do not be keen on judging others."
"To each day become more humble and more expert is the perfect combination."
"How can we think that a person, who has never heard of Lord Caitanya in this life, cannot receive the mercy of the Paramatma who is the internal Master of each one?"
"Differing opinions are opulences of Krishna, and one is not necessarily more valid than the other."
"One's unique protection is the purity in one's own purpose."
"Discipline without kindness is unbearable and kindness without discipline is sentimentalism and becomes a mess."
"Somebody thinks that he is the owner of something, I have to tell him you are wrong. Somebody thinks he is the controller, I say better you be careful, you are not controlling, you are controlled. Somebody wants to renounce, I have to tell him, you can not renounce, because you are not the owner of anything. So how can you renounce? If you want to renounce, you should renounce your false ego, your pride and silliness."
"If you study for getting paid - pratishta. If you are collecting to put in your pocket - you are a thief. You are a thief and nothing but a thief. And Krishna knows how to deal with thiefs. If you are
connecting to people to enjoy them, that is also a thief mentality. If you want to enjoy people and sex life."
"Temple presidents have to tell you to do service. Why should you do service? Because he is doing service. If the temple president is not doing service, then why should you do service? You want to see somebody doing service, then you will also start doing service. Our preaching was like that. Walk your talk. The way you talk you should also walk."
"The devotees are worshiping God, but also worship Mother Nature in the forms of trees, rivers etc. Like the Yamuna artik. You can not criticize anything. They are having a good time, making a nice ceremony, they are all into it and they are worshiping the Yamuna with nice prayers and the name of
God. What harm can be caused by that?"
"If something wrong is there, you have to object. Like if someone says: smoking marihuana is good. It helps you to deepen your meditation on Krishna and the insight of your souls. If somebody says like this and I do not object, then I become part of the lie. I become responsible. If I am hearing
something wrong, I have to object. Therefore we have to object with the modern society. We have to object with the way they are treating people, and also the animals and mother nature. If you are not a kind of a revolutionary, always transmitting transcendental sound, speaking the truth, then you become guilty. You are giving approval to the wrong thing. We have to take a stand. Krishna consciousness and brahminical life means we have to take a stand."
"God has given us the power of discrimination. Each and everyone of us can be his own judge."
"Jean Jacques Rousseau once made a good statement: "Who was the first idiot to make a wall?" It means to make a barbed wire, a ditch. To make any kind of demarcation and declare: what is on this side is mine and what is on that side you'll get. And then he said: "And who was the idiot, who accepted his proposal?" If the first ditch would have been filled in, the first war would have been overcome. The first wire would have been ripped down. How much blood, sweat and tears would humanity have been saved from? It is interesting. You go to the Cogis in the Sierra Nevada in Colombia. They have been living there since time immemorial without walls. They do not have
demarcation. They are tribes. They have their elder. They are cooperating. So this exists. And the temple community is also like this. A temple is a community which does not bar out anybody. The doors are open. You can join. You can become a member. You can become a servant, but you can not become master. The master is on the altar. If anybody wants to become master and climb on the altar, we give him a good kick and he can go wherever he wants. We do not need people who want to compete with God. In a temple community, if you are sincere new member, you can live there for the rest of your life."
"There may be some disease, some problems or tension, some karma, so what? We all have to undergo our purification, but we should never forget, that we exist for his pleasure and that we should purify ourselves and become humble servants."
"We have to become a servant of the servant of the servant. We have to be touched by that. We have to open our heart and say: "Yes Krishna, I agree I want to be yours."
"Nowadays everybody has his own room, his own TV and everybody is completely crazy in his room. And when they meet each other in the living room, they fight with each other. If you live in the same room, how could you fight? You have to get along."
"A devotee will always bow down before the Absolute Truth or a representative of the truth who is a student of the Vedas. He accepts the existence of a higher consciousness. A devotee of the Lord never think himself equal to or better than other Vaisnavas. He always tries to serve
the Vaisnavas with humility."
"Knowing the stand of God we have to act accordingly, but for this we have to accept God. We can not be envious of God. We have to be ready to honor to him. We have to be ready to do what he says and we have to be ready to love Him. And what will happen then? Which mystical thing will happen? The Lord will reveals His identity gradually to the one who has unflinching faith in both the spiritual master and the Lord."
"We are here and everybody wants to bar everybody else. Just like Europe is putting the bar. No more immigrants. We do not want the others. A bar is a wall. It’s an impediment. We in this world, we are very expert in making impediments. A greater part of our time we are spending in barring out others. Why do we make these big walls? -- To bar out people, so that they have to come through the door and that we can check them."
"One person, he was dressing like a babaji. He only kept a skirt. Imagine, he had a fancy skirt out of silk. I told him to stop this, this is imitation. We should not make a show. I am not wearing this cloth as a show. I am wearing this, because you can knock at my door 24 hours a days and ask
me to tell you about Krishna. What is this cloth? It is a flag. You can see it from 200 m, it shines out of the crowd. Wow, there is a sannyasi! For what? So that people can see."
"The famous fallen angel story is told in different ways in different traditions. Obviously there is truth to the story, it repeats itself everywhere. And it is in Krsna consciousness, that we understand, that all of us, we are those fallen angels. And that if we are remaining sectarian, unfriendly and violent, we will also remain fallen angels."
"Who are we? We are simple beginners on this long road back to home, back to Godhead. The heart of Krishna is the full mercy of this topic and we have to apply discrimination. A personal criteria. But to dwell on the weaknesses of others is surely not a desired activitiy of any Vaisnava. Rather we avoid such topics and absorb ourselves in helping others and in expanding the message of our Gurudevas. To go deeper into the Hari Katha nectar."
"Television promotes the basic debilities and lowest instincts of people. You sit down in front of the television just like in front of a teacher or guru to hear some message. And although it is not deniable that there are some good programs as well, the defect is that you have to accept the program without being able to ask questions which is the natural process of learning and understanding. So there is no possibility of a real dialogue and almost everybody is reached by television. Therefore it is the perfect instrument for manipulating the masses."
"If there is a society that wishes to act virtuously, it has got all opportunities of progress and development. But if passion and ignorance are at the helm one can only expect bad or unpleasant things. That is why it is so important in this world that we let Krishna be our guide. So we may be solidified tighter and tighter in the mode of goodness. This is one of the great presents Srila Prabhupada gave to us."
"You cannot bribe your way into the spiritual world. You cannot cut corners. Of course you can pray for mercy, that you can do. But if I really pray for mercy then why should I not try to act in such a way that I really get that mercy? Otherwise it is just a lip-service. Give me mercy, give me mercy, but
I am going on just as I always did, just for my own pleasures. It doesn't make much sense."
"Becoming a pure devotee includes being very cautious that the details don't escape. Because what are the details? Love is a question of details. There are so many details. And those details means you care. Like a detail is if you have salt on a table or not at the time of eating. It may be a little detail, but it is important."
"If the real spiritual desire is established in your heart you just want to serve better and better because you feel that you still do not serve enough."
"Srila Rupa Goswami says in his Upadeshamrta that we shall honor everyone who sings the holy name of the Lord in his mind. No matter if he was initiated in the same spiritual family as you or not. And to meet those who are initiated and who are keeping their promises is a true pleasure."
"As always the vaisnava principle is valid: to be strict with oneself but mercyful with others. However there are not too many vaisnavas in the world who take God seriously and who consider if their actions are approved by God before acting."
"...only realized souls can know when to break the rules and laws and when not. That can never be legislated. Since Lord Gauranga's call is for all of us and since we all have received that call through one of the different agents of the divine love, we all have the equal responsibility to become
such realized souls. That is possible by always taking the dust of those on our head, who have already gathered more experience and spiritual advancement than we have ourselves."
"In this world every living being has to live off other living beings in order to survive. But everybody will agree that it is not recommended to cause sufferings to others unnecessarily, as such actions also produce unwanted consequences due to the law of action and reaction (Karma). Therefore it is important to avoid the exploitation of living beings and Mother Nature.
But to make the food free from karmic reactions one should offer it to the Lord before eating it. When we offer the foodstuffs with appreciation to the Supreme Lord the food will become spiritualized and free from reactions. It is then called prasadam, the mercy of the Lord. Such food is spiritually very powerful and it will even get a special taste.
Therefore the Lord explained what is favourable to eat for human beings, and what is not. Meat, fish and eggs are not favourable, and eating them will cause unwanted reactions or suffering. Whereas food, recommended by the wellwishers of all living beings, like vegetables, fruit, milk products, grains, etc are not only healthy and go easy with Mother Nature, but it is also possible to offer them to the Lord. In this way they will surely contribute to the harmony of society and the spiritual evolution of all living beings.
Actually not only the consumer of this prasadam will be benefitted, but also the living entities providing the food, like plants or in the case of milk: cows, will receive the mercy of the Lord. In this way everyone connected to this process will receive the highest benefit.
Generally, if we eat or use something without being grateful, we disregard the creator and maintainer of everything, the Lord Himself. And if we put our selfish interests above all loving recommendations, then the energy of our false ego will blur our intelligence, and it will become difficult for us to distinguish between favourable actions and unfavourable actions. So it is important to be conscious about what goes on our plate. More information can be attained on web pages such as www.spoonrevolution.com
Without giving love we will not receive love. It is not possible to develop selfesteem without being sincere to oneself and a wellwisher of others.
Offering food does not require great ceremonies, the most important ingredients are sincerity and love. This is what the Lord is looking for: our love and appreciation. So offering the food to God before eating it, is a very nice and easy way to establish a relationship with the Supreme Creator. Ultimately this will bring a lot of joy and freedom to our lives."
"Goodness means to not sleep unnecessarily, not being unnecessarily inactive or noninvolved, no laziness or lethargy. To always complain about others and to pity oneself are symptoms of the mode of ignorance. If one can see these things clearly, one can naturally see that acting virtuously will always require a certain amount of positive willingness. Always to be there to help others. To represent and defend the truth - under all circumstances. Acting virtuously means to seek the community of those who are virtuous or those who are above that: pure devotees of the Lord. To always study the holy scriptures or to deal with texts which support the goodness in us."
"First of all living a spiritual life means being a responsible person. Because our duty as vaishnavas is to act in a way that people appreciate our work. Even if they think differently or do not share our interests, they should think that the vaishnavas work and contribution to the society is
important and valuable. And therefore it is an individual question for every single one of us: "How can I accomplish that?""
"Not only are we responsible towards our body and the society but also towards the spiritual consciousness, meaning god. That all the gifts we get from him are respectfully received and processed in a way that we are able to pass them on to others."
"A vaishnava is always intensively occupied with distributing gifts. For example: the distribution of spiritual food, prasadam; offering spiritual books, making spiritual music, creating spiritual internet pages or organizing spiritual programmes where people can participate, have contact and make friends with devotees."
"The opportunity of human life to gain self-realisation is something very special. An individual consciousness means the possibility of distinction between pure and unpure, pleasure and sufferings: things which are decisive. Because we are not automatically demoniac or holy. We are what we are making efforts and endeavours for and taking care of. We are that where we are
longing to represent the truth because only the one who seeks the truth may find the truth. And only the one who is willing to live the truth deserves being able to receive a spark of it."
"What does it mean to live an enlightened life? An enlightened life does not mean closing the eyes and seeing nothing but light. An enlightened life means enlightened actions and efforts. That is what spiritual life is all about. There are no borders and walls to stop your love and mercy."
"In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna indicates what behaviour is most dear to him by explaining "always think of me, become my devotee, offer your obeisances onto me". Actually Krsna says that he is longing for a heart-to-heart relationship with us."
"If somebody does not know the dharma he basically cannot act correctly. The holy dharma or the correct behavior is based on the understanding of our constitutional position. The constitutional position of every living entity is to be servant. But by the nature of the material conditioned soul one does not like to be servant. Just the opposite - one is rebellious, flinches and says: "I do not want to serve.""
"The attitude of "I do not want to serve" culminates in becoming an atheist. And an atheist says: "I am under no circumstances accountable to anyone in this world. Nobody exists above me. I am very happy if others see me as the center but I am not at all willing to accept anyone else in the center.""
"The basic principle of acting against our constitutional position is: we do not want to be servant. We want to utilize everything, our work, intellectual power, activities, for our self-glorification, to push ourselves to the foreground. We think that we do not have to pay respect or to be thankful to anybody. All such tendencies in philosophy are against our constitutional nature. If we honestly observe what is our sanatana-dharma, our constitutional nature, we will see that it is the desire to please somebody."
"The great majority of TV programs is contaminating our mind and consciousness with lust, anger and violence, such as killing and mistreating animals, crime, greediness, envy etc. So many false values are imposed and the confusing, hopeless and wrong idea that we are this material body is promoted. Inevitably this leads the consumers to break the principles of dharma and to act against the nature of living beings."
"So we can see that it is not enough to remove the television from our homes but most important is to stop the exploitation of other humans, animals and Mother Nature; to follow the principles of the prescribed duties for humanity. To live a vegetarian life, no illicit sexual activities, no gambling and not to intoxicate our body. This will automatically lead the whole society towards the four pillars of a civilized culture: austerities, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness."
"We must become responsible of our actions and conscious that they will produce reactions. We must activate our natural energy and joy by learning to appreciate all that is good and in this way surpass our laziness and the limitations of our mind and this material existence. We must become conscious that our association has a big influence to our actions, our lives and our future. We have to learn that to know about the Absolute Truth is the actual goal of live and birthright for everyone, independent of our faith, color or social status. We must learn that all of us are children of the same Universal Father and thus we must help and serve each other with Him in our center. To achieve this we simply have to accept the spiritual values of Vedic Culture and chant the Holy Names of God."
"The lack of a spiritual education of the Vedic Culture is the reason why we do not appreciate the great opportunity of this human form of life and the great responsability we received in connection with it. Because of this lack of appreciation we are so much inclined to material enjoyment and sense gratification. Spiritual education, however, the process of getting to know the truth, starts with the appreciation that one is spiritual consciousness and not a piece of meat and bones."
"Generally speaking, television produces more troubles than good in this world. It should be used to see programs which promote spiritual values but not for anything else."
"From birth on every person acts for his own interest. First, all attention is put on the belly, the sucking mouth and tongue. Next, physical awareness arouses. All efforts are done to please the body. Next, the child develops the craving to investigate mentally. It wants to satisfy the abilities as an observer and decision maker and it wants to enjoy its limited independence. Then the child tries to find answers about the reason of everything. Material knowledge is nothing for him, he wants to know the truth. Eternal knowledge and bliss. That brings the soul to the doors of love. Now we have to find out what is this world and whether it has anything to offer that helps us to connect us with the world of love, to enter into the eternal world of love. Then we may find out that there do exist representatives of the world of love in this world. These are the souls who have dedicated their complete existence to the world of love. They aspire to become exclusively and one pointedly engaged as the instruments of the Lord of Love. What they do allows other souls to connect to the common cause of the sweet will of God's all blessing grace."
"By contact with persons who fight to make this world a better place and who try to follow the path of the truth, we will gradually develop a superior taste. With the inspiration of good company and friendship it will not be too difficult to remove the television and to establish higher goals in our lives."
"In an istagosthi think of every single department. All of them are important. Don`t think your department is the most important. Think of all of them and then go through them. There are many things and they are all important. Don`t complain about the work of others but respect the work done and inspire the people. Say thank you! Personal and other problems are subject of personal conversations apart from istagosthis. Never talk about problems in istagosthis, spread inspiration. This will keep the treasure-house of divine service alive."
"The voluntary nature of Vaisnava missions...do not drive on rules, but only on Sadhu Sanga, nama kirtan and Love. Love for Krishna and love for the fellow Vaisnavas, be they senior or junior in their advancement. Love also means trust. In a loving relationship rules are disturbing rather than
promoting an increase of that love."
"If you are heart to heart connected with a real devotee, you are also connected to Krsna in his heart."
"Try to apply a certain perfection to your participation. Do not expect perfection in the performance of others. Like the vaisnavas saying goes: be strict with yourself and merciful with others. Not the opposite way around please."
"(On ista gosthi) So when you come together: first make a list of all programs. And then ask: anything with special importance? Everyone should leave an istagosthi with joy. In the istagosthis you´ll find out what everybody is doing for Krishna. And in the chats you'll find out what all the devotees all around the world are doing for Krishna."
"The istagosthi is a wish from the spiritual master. Without an istagosthi there is no temple. It is just an empty shell! A temple is a place where everyone should be pleased and respected. Everything what's going on inside the temple should be known by all resident devotees. Get interested in the
service of others! Less ego of your own. Don´t care only for the service that you are doing."
"Whenever you see some devotee doing some extraordinary work it should be mentioned. So much service going on from all the devotees. Sometimes the devotees do so much service but are very quiet. Some things take years of preparation. You simply don't know if you don't pay attention."
"Those who try to dominate other Vaisnavas through rules will very quickly find themselves surrounded by those who care only for external benefits and not for the Vaisnava substance."
"In the ashram I do not want any persons to have an private room. I insist on this. Private rooms only create problems. Private rooms means maya-rooms. It is better to be in community. And if you really want to be alone, then go to the temple. Temples are usually empty during the day. That
is why I am trying to make many programs in the temple. I do not like empty temples and buildings. Why make buildings if they are empty. Why make dormitories -- a room where a person will lie down only in the night and make bad smells. If we have an energy crisis in the world I suggest to stop eating meat and stop building dormitories. You can sleep in your living room. The living room is empty in the night anyway. So why waste energy. We are really wasting so much energy."
"One must not have any expectations from devotees. Devotees are the servants of Krsna. They are not your servants. If they want to serve you it is their decision, but one must not have any expectations. Krsna-consciousness is a meeting of idealists who want so serve Krsna more and more. "
"We need the mercy of God and we need the mercy of His devotees. Because, without the mercy of God we would not exist and without the mercy of the devotees we would not know anything about God."
"I need the mercy of my spiritual master, but without the mercy of the devotees I would not have met my spiritual master. Therefore I need the devotees, my spiritual master and the supreme Lord. I am a needy fellow, full of necessity for mercy. Without mercy I am a little nobody."
"We need the devotees and we need to understand that we are not very easy-going people. You can find their own application of this. Digest it by yourself, and apply it to your own reality. I am speaking in general terms. More or less, we are not easy-going fellows, we give a hard time to the
people in our surroundings. Our own disqualifications appears quite frequently. We get angry, we get upset, we have prejudice against the one or the other. We are lazy when it's time to be helpful and hard working. We always expect others to do things, and if they are not doing it we immediately show some sign of disgust. In other words, anybody who live with us should be certified as a hero of tolerance. We should give everybody this certificate every morning when we start the day, or at least once in a while and request them to mention to you if you are becoming to unbearable so that
will not go ahead in this life just creating nuisance, just making ourselves disliked. You know, generally we see life just the opposite way. You think you are the nice guy, and everybody else are somewhat unbearable. But this is simply the wrong way to see things if you want to set the record
straight. If you want to straighten out things, if you want to live in harmony. That's why Lord Caitanya said that when you are ready to offer respect to all others and you do not demand or request any respect in return for yourself, in that humble state of mind you can go on chanting the names of the Lord continuously."
"To err is human. But it is even more human to assign the guilt to someone else. So if you say there is some kind of bad atmosphere in the temple and this brings you to fall, then it means that you do not understand that the negativity is in yourself. If you are internally strong, you do not become
upset. If you are full of internal love, you are always prepared to forgive. So if you feel very weak it is a sign that you are not very advanced yet. Then it is time to grasp something very quickly to avoid the falling."
"When you realize that the mercy of the vaishnavas is the essence of life, you are in good shape... The mercy of the vaishnavas is the only thing which can uplift us from mundane consciousness...It's what we are made of."
"To offend other Vaishnavas affects our sadhana the most. To minimize them, who we see daily or who live close to us, is quite natural. To have the tendency to depreciate, to look at the others like below us, becomes a big disturbance in the sadhana. Especially the preacher should be admired, on the contrary one loses the desire to listen to Hari Katha and everything get lost."
"Someone who thinks he would deserve it to be taken for an advanced devotee forgets the most important of all: he forgets that the persistence in devotional service is what burns down our impureness. And to respect others without expecting any respect for oneself is the great way which Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has chosen for us. In this way we can reach something wonderful despite Kali Yuga. Something as wonderful as a pure devotee in this world. Imagine that."
"How to recognize a devotee? He's careful. He cares to serve perfectly. He cares to chant the name of the Lord from the depth of his heart. He cares to serve the vaisnavas around him as often and as much as possible. He cares to worship and to remember his Lord, his Ishtadeva. He cares to be a good example for everyone. He cares to live in the holy land of Krishna. He cares to help all souls who don't know anything about Krishna. To care means to understand what the classes of the vaisnavas are all about. He understands the wishes of the spiritual master even if they are not mentioned clearly. There are priorities in vaisnavism which are only understood by those who
care for these things. Devotees who can speak the whole day and night about everything which takes them closer to Krishna. Who want to speak about everything that is helpful for the understanding of Radha Dasyam. They know Maya and her lures but they are disgusted by heart of this kind of consciousness. And they are even less interested in that kind of stupid and destructive conversations."
"A devotee who doesn't like to criticise others and who cannot tolerate any speculation about other devotees is something very special."
"A devotee who knows that there is a deficiency in another devotee but doesn't like to speak about it except if the other devotee asks him for help, is an excellent devotee."
"Our spiritual identity is the identity of a loving servant. Our spiritual identity is not an ego identity. It is not an identity of challenging, of comparing yourself with others. It is not an identity of showing your own greatness. It is the identity of a beggar for love, a beggar for mercy, a beggar for the dust of the lotus feet of all the other Vaishnavas as well. Such a humble beggar for love he is very snigdha, he is kindhearted, he does not get angry. He simply prays."
"To worship the vaishnavas, to honor them appropriately, we should render some practical service to the community we are participating in. To make ourselves liked by them. it is our extreme extraordinary duty to behave in such a way that others will feel happy to see you, happy to hear you, happy to meet you. Then you are behaving properly. If you are not behaving that way you are definitely just obsessed with yourself. You are just thinking of your own ego, you are just passing your time meditating on your own capricious mind and you are missing out on the great opportunity of devotional service in the proper mood."
"We have to be thankful to all the other devotees for tolerating us, and at the same time be very, very appreciative that they have come into our life to guide us by their example and sometimes by their instructions. We should be so grateful to other people in this world for having given us the chance of having their company, specifically those who have some close relationship with us, that we should practically worship them."
"There is actually a description given in the sastras about the different eyesights of different type of people. The worst of all see only the bad and speak about it. The next person sees the bad and the good, but speaks only about the bad. The next category sees the bad and the good and he speaks something about both. And then there are the one's who sees the bad and the good, but only speaks about the good. Finally we have those who see only the good and speak about that. Now you think about your relationship with others. With each individual. And you see in which category you are in. Classify yourself. The uttama adhikari, he can only see the good. Like Yudhisthira, he could not see the bad quality in others. That is why he could not find anyobody less qualified than himself, although he was the topmost qualified."
"To worship the vaishnavas, means to be in the mood of worship all the time. To serve Lord Krishna and the vaishnavas means to always create a very pleasant atmosphere. Vrindavan is the land of love, Vaikuntha is the land of no anxiety. So nobody is creating anxiety there. Nobody is arrogant. Nobody in Vaikuntha or in Vrindavan is harsh by nature. Nobody behaves on the
feeling of being superior to the others. To go to the spiritual world is to see everybody else as superior to you. And you feel kind and generous to everyone. Even if they are not so qualified, it doesn't matter, surely they have something that is better than you. You bet on it, that everybody has
some quality which is excelling. And this is beatiful, to see how everybody is working forward step by step, getting closer towards Krishna. And the beauty of the process is that we are all complementing eachother in the creation of a spiritual community. Community-building is life building, it's consciousness building. it's assuming responsibility. Community-building is facing the challenges of your own shortcomings, by requesting everybody else to kindly tell you anytime you get in their way, you do something unwanted, "please inform me". it is the duty of a devotee to always request the others: 'Prabhus, if I do anything you don't like, be so kind and tell me
immediately. Don't wait for a few months and I might drown in my faults. Tell me anytime you see something you don't like. At least let me know you opinion, maybe I can adjust myself and change. But generally we don't want to hear anything critical of ourselves. We think that those who flatter us
are our friends and those who pint out any deficiency in us, they must be our enemies. But the vedas, they take a very strong point and they say: No, who flatters you is your enemy, just increasing your ego. And who does point out your deficiencies, he is indirectly or directly your friend, because he makes you aware that 'hey, things can't just go on that way. I got to change.' if you want to change, find out what change you have to do. Otherwise you don't know what's next. But if you keep yourself at the lotus feet of the devotees in a humble state of mind then you know what's next. Next is Krishna, mangal-arati, Srimad Bhagavatam class, chanting rounds, getting up early, making sadhana, cleaning the temple, taking prasadam. That's what's next when you are with devotees, because devotees won't let you go off and get lost in this material world. They are so kind, they go
after you when you are in maya."
"When we are living with offenses against other devotees; speaking bad about them, accusing them wrongly, or talking of their fault, when you are not required to do so, you are definitely on a dead end street. And some dead end streets are long. You go into that direction for a long time until you get to the end and realize that you have to return. Offensive mentality is a dead end street. And it may even end up in fall-down. So we should be very cautious in our life not to go into dead end streets. Enthusiastic serving and preaching is never a dead end street."
"Do not be surprised if there are a lot of obstacles in the way of your preaching activities, rather be surprised if somebody takes up the path of spiritual life. We are spirit souls surrounded by the kingdom of Maya. Do not be attached to the results of your activities. Good association, a sincere heart and strong determination will help us to make our lives successful."
"The social development of women amongst women is wonderful. The social development of men among men is also wonderful. When they come together there should be some principles at least. Some joined service, no problem, they can associate. But if there is any type of unrestricted association between men and women it's bound to become a tremendous mess."
"Your character is better when you live with others. People, the more they live alone the more they are crazy. They are like hiding within a shell, but inside that shell they are like monsters. They are afraid of contacts with others, because they can not show their monster face in front of them. In
association with other you have to recognize your deficiencies. The association will show you, where your character needs some improvement. Most people need to learn, how to behave themselves. Our children in the west do not know how to behave themselves. They have no discipline. They are on the internet, in front the TV, smoking dope or cursing everybody. They have no money, have no jobs, they are hanging around ... And what do they become? Neonazis or who knows what."
"The sadhus make the sacred place more sacred. So to get their association and get their blessings is very essential for spiritual life."
"Staying in the holy place, in the association of sadhus and listening about the Supreme Lord is very auspicious. It is important to get enthusiasm. We need enthusiasm to become servants. Servant means serving, working with others, for others and working on one self. If we are not ready to work on our self, if we are not ready to fight with our ego, we can not become servants. If we are not ready to serve with others, there is no question of realizing our limitations. And if we are not ready to serve the sadhus, we will not be able to understand anything. We need grace from all
sides. Spiritual life is to long for this grace and to develop appropriate behaviour is very imporant in this process. When we get the grace, what are we doing with this grace? Do we want to enjoy the grace or do we want to serve the grace?"
"Everyone of us is pronouncedly weak. If we remain in the association of those who are strong then we will become stronger. But if we stay in the association of those who are weak then we will become weaker. So, an example, an advice, a principle for all of us is to be always in the association of those who are spiritually strong."
"Tell me who is your company and I tell you who you are. All of us are weak. In this world, everyone for himself is a very small and weak link."
"Of course, sometimes you have to stand up for yourself: yes, that is me, because I want to be that and this is my evolution. But nevertheless, if the weak becomes aware of how weak he is, then it is his decision to connect with the strong ones so that he will not be destroyed by his weakness. That is the only decision you have to become strong."
"Fact is that in the company of strong and convinced persons everything becomes so easy and nice. The trials that come, are also there to make us stronger. Occasionally one has to suffer a little before he realizes some things."
"If you find strength in the association of people who know how to control their senses, you will make spiritual advancement. If you associate with others who do not abide by the regulative principles, it will not be so conducive for your spiritual advancement."
"Lets search out the association of those who have found joy in the higher taste, in a life without sex, or who are at least faithful to their family."
"Regarding bad experiences with devotees, a burned child shies away from the fire, but I remember one important instruction Srila Sridhara Maharaja gave to us, specifically to devotees whose initiating spiritual masters have abandoned their duty. He said: “Never feel cheated by Krsna.” Consider it your bad karma that you had to go through such a painful situation, and simply pray to be able to learn something. Of course you can also understand that surrender to Krsna is not such an easy thing. You cannot take it for granted that everything works perfectly. But if you asked me 'who is trustworthy?’ I would put it in a very few words. He must be a person who is trying to take the service to his spiritual master as his life and soul. He is somebody who will never get unreasonably angry with someone. He is not sectarian. He appreciates all vaisnavas. He has a desinterested nature and impartial judgement and a strong common sense. Those who do not take their relationship with Guru and Krsna very seriously, they will take their relation with you much less very seriously. What to speak of spiriutal masters. Just to know how to choose one's friends, one should take all this in consideration. If they do something very wonderful and they invite you to participate then you can try it. If you do not choose anything then you have no good association and nothing nice to do. So there is always some risk in life and we are always depending on the grace of Krsna. By His grace we are eating and sleeping and by his guidance He will provide us with good association."
"In my own life, after I lost my dear Srila Prabhupada, who gave me two initiations, I met another pure devotee, Srila B.R. Sridhara Dev Goswami Maharaja, who gave sannyasa to me. And after he went back to Krsna and the world surrounding me was submerged in sectarianism, I met another pure Devotee, Srila BP Puri Maharaja. He emphasized to me, that in front of Krsna all devotees are equal and that we should all work together on our common causes."
"In my work as a secretary for the world vaisnava association, for the first five years of its existance, I had the mercy to get to know practically every Gaudiya acarya on the planet plus most of their leading disciples. I am very thankful for that experience. The more I know, the more grateful I am to have met Srila Prabhupada. Undoubtedly, there are many wonderful devotees in all missions, but still to meet those who are very advanced and who also have some skill of communication and understanding eastern and western Vaisnavas at the same time, such a person is rare to find."
"I pray that you may be succesful to meet the most beautiful Vaisnavas and thus achieve happiness in your devotional service, because unless you achieve happiness, how will you be able to make others happy?"
"When we visit the Holy Dham, we should avoid the offences against the Holy Dham. Plus Srila Sridhara Maharaja said: Vrindavana is a state of consciousness. So we should always try to be in that consciousness and try to make Vrindavana present every where we go. We should also speak about he glories of Vrindavana and chant the Holy Name so we will become qualified to actually serve Vrindavana."
"I’m going to the real Vrindavan and those who like to can come with me."
"If you are coming to Vrindavan to please your own senses, that is not Vrindavan, you should leave immediately. You should go there to please the senses of Govinda."
"Every place where devotees live and try to please the senses of Govinda, there is Vrindavan."
"Srila Prabhupada took the glories of Vrindavana all around the world and it is quite reasonable to say that every devotee should send some help, in whatever way he feels inspired."
"Mother Ganges was jealous, because Lord Krsna bathed in His childhood pastimes in the Yamuna. Then, pleased by her prayers, the Lord appeared again as Caitanya Mahaprabhu and performed His childhood pastimes in Mayapur. Eternally united since the Triveni, Ganga and Yamuna flow tightly ambraced down, into the ocean, giving all of us life and joy and the transcendental enviroment."
"All these holy places should be spotlessly clean and must be protected against the noise and other Kali-yuga contaminations. If you do not push something up, it will certainly go down. All together we can do it."
"Pilgrimages to sacred places present the great opportunity to get out of the normal way of life to forget about the daily troubles, to come closer to yourself and it is perfect to face the problems of life in a sacred and elevated manner."
"It is my proposal to cultivate sincere Vaisnava friendships and see when it is convenient to do what together for our Sampradaya. (about WVA)"
"Let Vaishnava love be forever glorified; the path of love, free of the obstacles, even of reverential feelings of Vaikuntha. Let the great spirit of Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur inspire us all to accomplish the almost impossible in this age of Kali. That is to give up all pride and sectarianism and to dance together in true happiness."
"Absorb your life at once in the heart-felt chanting of the Holy Names and time will stop, because Lord Krsna will take you beyond time and space!"
SvaraRaderaThis one was compleatly FAR OUT !!!!!!