It is important in order for that association to be following in the footprints of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his associates, each and every one of us has to take the responsibility to be that type of association. We both receive it and we also share it. It's not difficult. Help each other to remember Krishna, help each other to chant the names of Krishna and that's what these temples are for. We see on so many festivals, people are coming together to cook for Krishna. They're inspired by each other to be in their homes to cook for Krishna, to decorate the temple for Krishna, to come and hear the glories of Krishna. Association is so crucial to our sadhana. In the heart of our sadhana is hearing and chanting, hearing the glories of Lord, developing a taste for hearing the glory of the Lord. And that taste comes through our humility and our eagerness to serve vaishnavas, our eagerness to help people who spiritually are in need in this world. When we make our life focused in these ways, whatever our occupation or field and Krishna will be pleased. But then it's important that we give the time and the effort to hear the glories of the Lord, to speak the glories of the Lord and to chant, the names of the Lord in japa and kirtan.

Importance of Remembering the Gift That Srila Prabhupada Has Given Us

rādhā-kṛṣṇa prāṇa mora jugala-kiśora
jīvane maraṇe gati āro nāhi mora
 
(2)
kālindīra kūle keli-kadambera vana
ratana-bedīra upara bosābo du'jana
 
(3)
śyāma-gaurī-ańge dibo (cūwā) candanera gandha
cāmara ḍhulābo kabe heri mukha-candra
 
(4)
gāthiyā mālatīr mālā dibo dohāra gale
adhare tuliyā dibo karpūra-tāmbūle
 
(5)
lalitā viśākhā-ādi jata sakhī-bṛnda
ājñāya koribo sebā caraṇāravinda
 
(6)
śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-prabhur dāser anudāsa
sevā abhilāṣa kore narottama-dāsa

Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Prāṇa Mora Jugala-Kiśora

Ananta Govinda 8.25.19 Sun Night at RG

Festivals

Sri Radhastami - London 1969-09-18

Deity Installation--Why Krishna Comes to This World-London 1973-08-21

Don’t think that because you are wearing saffron it does not mean you are not going to be complacent. We find this is the reason most grihasthas lose their faith in sannyasis and sadhus and babajis and brahmacharis because they see them just lying around, eating rotis. They are not doing any seva, they are not struggling, they might sleep on the ground, but so what? The animals are also sleeping on the ground. They have to be actually honestly striving, struggling, working hard, performing austerities for the benefit of humanity and for the service of Krishna. That type of person we want to associate with.

How To Overcome Complacency?

Festival of the Holy Name Global Pandemic Kirtan by HH Radhanath Swami on 29th Nov 2020

Prayers of the Vaisnava Acaryas II - Sri Gurvastakam | 29 Nov 2020

Vrindavan is wherever you are serving your spiritual master and if you are sitting right in Vrindavan but you are not pleasing your Guru Maharaj, you will not see Vrindavan in truth. Narottam Das Thakur prayed ‘vishaya chariya kabe suddha ha ’be mana kabe hama herabo sri-brindabana.’ He's praying to Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, “when will I give up all my desires for material enjoyment? When will I put aside all separate interests other than, because factually anything that is against what pleases Guru and Krishna is sense gratification? He said only then will I really see Vrindavan. Who could be living in Vrindavan but never see Vrindavan as it is, because Vrindavan can only be seen by the eyes ‘premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena’ that are blessed with the self of love which comes only by the mercy of Krishna and the mercy of Krishna comes in relationship to how we are pleasing His devotee and submitting ourselves humbly to His lotus feet.

Vrindavan Is Wherever We Serve Our Spiritual Master

Queen Kunti prayed for tribulations, because it helped her to always be crying out for Krishna’s mercy. If we hear every day with the proper frame of mind from the sadhus, Srimad Bhagavatam, we don’t have to be put in terrible tribulations. Through hearing we understand that we are already in tribulation, whether we are in the crocodile mouth at the present time or whether the crocodile is about to devour us, they are both urgent emergency conditions of life. If we are not being crushed by Maya, we are about to be crushed by Maya. We should see it and we should know it, and we should help one another to never forget it. Don’t be complacent, don’t waste time. We may have tilak and kanthi mala and we may be wearing dhoti, but don’t be complacent. Don’t take Krishna Consciousness for granted, don’t think everything is all right, don’t think Krishna is giving me what I want and I can enjoy life and at the same time make a little spiritual advancement.

Don't Be Lethargic

Gaura Mani - Gopi Geet Bhajan 23.11.20

Radhanath Swami is a Vaishnava sanyassi (a monk in a Krishna-bhakti lineage) and teacher of the devotional path of Bhakti-yoga. He is author of The Journey Home, a memoir of his search for spiritual truth. His teachings draw from the sacred texts of India such as The Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, and Ramayana, and aim to reveal the practical application of the sacred traditions, while focusing on the shared essence which unites apparently disparate religious or spiritual paths.
Born Richard Slavin, on December 7, 1950, in his teens he came to confront a deep sense of alienation from suburban Chicago life and the civil injustices of mid-century America. At the age of nineteen, while on a summer trip to Europe, his internal struggles culminated in a commitment to search for God wherever it might lead him. Meditating on the Isle of Crete, he felt a supernatural calling and the next morning set off alone to find spiritual India. The Journey Home documents his odyssey as a penniless hitch-hiker though Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and finally India. There he lived as a wandering ascetic, first amongst the forest dwelling Himalayan yogis and later amongst a wide variety of gurus and spiritual practitioners throughout India and Nepal. Ultimately, he was led to the holy town of Vrindavan, where he found his path amongst the Bhakti-yogis.
In Vrindavan he found the teacher he was searching for in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977) the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), and representative of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, (the Krishna-bhakti tradition stemming from the 16th century mystic avatar Sri Chaitanya). In choosing Bhaktivedanta Swami, as his guru, Radhanath Swami felt compelled to shear his matted locks and reenter Western society with a mission to share the sacred wisdom he had received. This return exemplifies the form of devotional yoga which is at the heart of Radhanath Swami’s teachings, a spiritual practice expressed as tangible action meant to bring about personal fulfillment and benefit the world.
At the the age of 31 he took the monastic vows of a Vaishnava sanyassin and became known as Radhanath Swami.
Today Radhanath Swami travels regularly throughout India, Europe and North America, sharing the teachings of Bhakti-yoga. He resides much of the year at the Radha Gopinath Ashram in Chowpatty, Mumbai. For the past twenty-five years he has guided the community’s development and has directed a number of acclaimed social action projects including Midday Meals, which daily serves more than 260,000 plates of sanctified vegetarian food to the children of the slums of Mumbai. He has also worked to establish missionary hospitals and eye camps, eco-friendly farms, schools and ashrams, an orphanage, and a number of emergency relief programs throughout India.


How To Overcome Complacency?

Radhanath Swami

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