The continuation of the post pictures and meditations.

 

 

 

Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj:

The destination has been settled, but how shall I reach it? When shall I reach it? Those who come to my aid to take me there–they are my masters, my Gurus: Siksa-gurus and Diksa-guru. Whoever helps me to go there is my Guru. He is my guide who will help me to reach my located destination, the station of my innermost hankering….

He has helped me to locate my destination; he has educated me how and what to aspire after, and how to reach that highest aspired shelter. I have attained all these things through him. He is my all-in-all in life, the master of my life. There is a boat, and he is the helmsman (guru-karna-dharam). I have surrendered unto him, I have accepted him. I have boarded his boat and he is taking me towards the goal of my life.

Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj:

It is mentioned in the Padma Purana that there are ten kinds of offenses we must try to avoid in the chanting of the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra. There are also four kinds of Namabhasa, or apathetic chanting, which will not give us entrance into the domain of mercy. Mere liberation will be effected by that kind of invocation.

These two improper kinds of chanting stem from our tendencies for exploitation and renunciation. We must chant the Name with the spirit of service and avoid the ten offenses.

“Gayatri, the song for deliverance, also means Sankirttana. Kirttana is also sung, and it also improves us towards the highest goal. The Sankirttana of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also reinstates us in our highest serving position. So Brahma-gayatri in connection with Mahaprabhu comes to mean Krishna-kirttana. Then it reaches Vrndavan and the flute-kirttana. And when we enter Vrndavan, we shall find that the sweet sound of Krishna’s flute helps to engage all the Lord’s servants in their respective duties.”

Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj:

kim pramattasya bahubhir, paroksair hayanair iha

varam muhurtam viditam, ghatate sreyase yatah

(Srimad-Bhagavatam: 2.1.12)

“Imperceptibly, many, many years pass uselessly in the life of a person intoxicated by mundane pleasures. Better if only for a moment he realises that he is losing valuable time, for he may thus become serious to attain his eternal benefit.”

Here, Sukadeva Goswami says that one moment is sufficient to solve the whole problem of life, if it is properly utilised in sadhu-sanga. At all costs, try to utilise the opportunity of sadhu-sanga, the association of the agent of Krishna. What is the necessity of living for ages and ages if we are unconscious of our own interest? One moment properly utilised is sufficient to solve the whole problem of our life, for which we are eternally wandering about in this plane. We must be wakeful to our personal interest, not negligent.

Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj:

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came to direct us to our real interest within: “You do not know your own heart. You are a foreigner to your own heart and its demand. There is a wealth within your heart — try to find it: eliminate the foreign things, and you will find your heart to be a temple of Krishna. With the help of a proper guide, search your own heart and you will find Krishna there. This is not a foreign thing to you. Every heart is a temple of the Lord. It is your property, it is your home. Back to God, back to home.”

Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj:

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has written:

sakala chadiya bhai sraddhadevira guna gai

yanra krpa bhakti dite pare

“Giving up everything, let us sing in praise of Sraddha-devi — faith — whose grace can take us to Krishna.”

Sraddha, faith, is the most subtle thing, and it is also the most tangible. It is not imaginary. We must realise that it is reality, it is concrete, and not merely an abstract sentiment of mere individual consciousness. Faith is universal as the most fundamental element that can connect us with the finest objective.

Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj:

We require specific articles to execute worship, such as incense, flowers, lamp, etc. Similarly, if we wish to realise the supersubjective plane, there are three specific necessities: pranipata, pariprasna, and seva. Without these three ingredients, our search will be imitative, unsubstantial and farcical.

Pranipata means ‘to fall flat near the feet of the worshipable’: “I have come to the end of all enterprise with my previous plane of life; I could find nothing there to fulfil my life’s objectives. Finally, after ‘completing my errands,’ I have come here.” This is the practical symptom of pranipata.

Pariprasna means ‘sincere enquiry.’ Honest and sincere enquiry is allowed. The spirit of such enquiry is, “I want to know how I can be utilised in any way. All the charm for living elsewhere is over. My sole inquiry is ‘How can I be utilised here?’ ”

And seva, service, is the all-important factor. “I have come to serve and to be utilised for the cause of the subject about which I have enquired. I have not come to take anything from here. I have come only to serve, with no other motive.”

Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj:

Devotion is a separate and distinct plane where we live only for the centre; we aspire to live and move only as an agent of the centre, never disconnected from the centre — this is Krishna consciousness. Reality is for itself, and we must strictly abide by this rule. He is for Himself, everything is for Him — and I am for Him. And whatever I do must also be for Him. We must strictly adhere to this conception, and always examine whether what we are doing is for Him or for any other part, however important we may think it to be.

Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj:

Try to adjust yourself through sound only, the subtlemost element of this plane. Through sound, go on cultivating spiritual life; and that too must be approached with a serving attitude, otherwise it will be futile. We are recommended to approach divinity through the most subtle element of this gross world. Although it is apparently nothing to us at present, this divinity is actually everything.

So, accept the subtlemost thing. But if the very life is absent, our search will be futile. Learn to give yourself, learn to ‘die,’ to embrace so-called death at every second. Even in this world we find the ‘do-or-die’ attitude in ambitious politicians, social workers, etc. In every duty and at every step they are ready to sacrifice their lives for the cause. If one embraces that do-or-die principle of life, he is sure to progress very intensely and become a great success.

Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj:

The beginning of your interest is to bow down your head, and your heart will be captured automatically. Try to connect with that section where you will always be with folded palms, and where you can never be master. Such abnegation and courage of self-giving is necessary if you want to live in the higher plane. Otherwise, you may reign in hell. According to Satan’s word, “it is better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven.” But just the opposite is necessary.

Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj:

The bird known as Chataka always looks above for rainwater, but it will never take any water from the ground even if there is an abundance there. He waits only for whatever water will come from above. Sufficient rain may come, or thunder may come, yet he will not take even a single drop from the earth. Our attitude should be like that. We must follow whatever instruction and direction comes from above, and never try to fulfil any plan from the mundane world. “The Director, the Master, the Lord above — I am connected with Him.” This sort of practice is conducive.