Visvambhar - 3.19.21

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

Overcoming Harshness & The Srngi Within | May 2021

Heroic Archetypes - Jai Jagannath Das

Sharad Purnima 15.8.18 Balaram Purnima Abhishek Kirtan

A Devotee Never Complains, He Is Always Grateful

The example is given here by Srila Prabhupada of a tree. In the blazing sun a tree gives us shelter. We do not even have to ask the tree. All we have to do is be near the tree. Its not that you go under the tree and say, “Oh, please tree give me shade”. You do not have to ask. You get it, without asking. That’s the nature of a tree. But you have to take the shelter of the tree. The problem is, when it is cloudy day, we do not even look at the tree, right? we just walk by another tree and so many trees. But when the sun is blazing, then we look at the tree. We understand its value. So similarly, unfortunately, when there is not crisis in our lives, we chant yes, the holy name and so many names. “I am chanting so many names”. We come before the deities yes, yes so many deities and saying such a nice deity. But when there is crisis, Hare Krishna. We chant. When there is crisis and we come before the deities we are no longer just nice to again see Krishna. Krishna save me.

Krishna Is The Only Shelter

Living Name

Introduction

R1 What is Yojana

R2 Aligning the body

Therefore, one must have a very strict sadhana. One should moderate once life by having a very specific time every day to chant for two hours, to hear the Srimad Bhagvatam, ‘naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā’ it is essential to hear the Bhagvatam every day. It is essential to chant according to the vow we have made to our spiritual master every day, it is essential to invite sadhus to our home to serve them and humble ourselves before them. These are the principals of Grihastha ashram given in the scriptures and exemplified by all the great devotees of the Lord throughout history in that ashram. It is the duty of a Grihastha to regularly associate with devotees, it is the duty of a Grihastha to install the deity in his house and worship that deity and offer all food to that deity and make one’s house the holy place. So, we have these minimal devotional principals - to chant two hours every day, to hear the Bhagvatam every day, to offer all one’s food and worship the deity of the Lord within the house and to serve the sadhus and associate with devotees; these are four minimal principals that must be adhere to. And if you neglect those, then your mentality will become like a karmi. You may wear tilak on the outside but inside you will not have the proper spiritual principles to live by.

Whether Grihastas Should Spend More Time On Profession Or On Spiritual Activities?

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.


Krishna Is The Only Shelter

Radhanath Swami

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