The Wider our Compassion the More Satisfaction
On Simplicity
On Austerity
On the Search for Pleasure
On Unity
Three Planes of Consciousness
On Karma
On Positive Attitude
Spiritual Lessons from a Crane
Gaura Purnima – Kirtan Teachings on the Day of the Appearance of Sri Caitanya
May 31, 2013
Compassion is the greatest need in the world. Most of us limit our compassion to some only, but there is more satisfaction the wider we express our compassion. Ultimate fulfillment is to feel love for, and the love of God. The mirror of our mind is covered with dust (selfish desires) and we cannot see the love. Spirituality means to cleanse the mind to awaken the original qualities of you and me. It is not a matter of being this or that religion. Its a process of cleaning the mind...
May 24, 2013
Srila Bhaktisiddanta Saraswati, the beloved spiritual teacher of his divine grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, emphasized that the foundational quality of a true devotee is simplicity. Without this, Bhakti cannot be real or deep. What is simplicity? In one sense it means we don’t need a lot of things to be happy. We are content with simple things. Watching the sunrise, and then waiting sometime and watching the sunset. These are very simple joys in life. Hearing the birds singing in the trees, sitting on the banks of a river contemplating...
May 22, 2013
My revered spiritual master Srila Prabhupada used to say that human life is meant for austerity. So what is austerity? Austerity is to accept what is favorable for Bhakti and to reject what is unfavorable for Bhakti. It’s not our austerity that attracts Krishna, it’s the love that we give through the austerity. If we are performing our austerities for awakening that love then it will be a positive aid to achieve that love – a means of deepening that love. Our austerities are to express to Krishna our sincere...
May 20, 2013
We learn from the great souls what is truly of value in life. We will really understand what the treasure of life is by following in the footsteps of great souls. What is the fulfillment and aspirations of the soul? By hearing from great souls like Prahlad we will find out material desires go deep into the heart due to conditioning since time immemorial. Even if we have some understanding that this is not good for me, still it is very difficult to overcome. It takes determination, tolerance and engaging the...
May 17, 2013
One of the greatest powers in all fields of life is unity. But there is a fundamental problem, that there are so many diversified distinctions between living beings. Everyone has their own conception of their identity, and this creates a natural conflict amongst those who look different, think different, or act different. There has always been conflict between the castes, not only in India but all over the world, it may go by different names. There is the educational class, administrative class, working class, and there is the class...
April 30, 2013
Essentially there are three planes of consciousness: enjoyment, renunciation and devotion. 1. Enjoyment In order to survive, the environment is geared towards exploitation. Why? Because of selfishness. We put ourselves in the center and this results in conflict as everyone has a different center. 2. Renunciation It is taught that there can be no peace in this material existence because everything is temporary and there is so much conflict. To renounce everything and have a deep dreamless sleep – no more pain and suffering, everything is just peaceful! Yet death...
April 29, 2013
The law of Karma is like gravity – whatever comes up must come down. You do good and you get good – you do bad and you get bad. You can’t escape. It’s a law. But Krishna says in the Bhagavad-Gita, if you surrender to God you are free of karma. How is that? Because when you offer your work to the Supreme Lord with love it is no longer in the realm of material existence. Just like gravity, the law is only in affect within the atmosphere of the...
April 28, 2013
When we associate with people who are positive and when we choose to engage in a positive perspective with positive activities, then we recondition ourselves in that way. The special virtue of human life is we always have a freedom of choice. You may not be able to control the environment but you do have full control of how you are going to respond and react to the environment. If you are on a boat, you may not have control over which way the wind blows but you do have...
April 23, 2013
The crane is standing on one leg and looking down into the stream at all the little fish that swim around him. He just waits patiently and lets them pass, absorbed and concentrated in his focus. As soon as the big fish comes, he immediately eats the big fish. He doesn’t concern himself with the little fish. I am not promoting eating fish, but the lesson behind this is that we should not be concerned with petty things. We should focus on what is really important in our life. The...
March 27, 2013
This evening we, the devotees of the Gaudiya Vaishnava Sampradaya (linage), are celebrating the most sacred and auspicious of all evenings of the year. It is the evening of Gaura Purnima, the night when the Lord incarnated in this world as His most munificent and merciful of all incarnations, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is accepted as the Lord Himself by the followers of the Gaudiya Vaishnava Sampradaya. Many people consider Him simply to be a great saint or a great devotee. But there are many references in sacred texts...