BG Key Memory Verses, 1.1 - 2.31

Sacred Sounds on Sacred Grounds

Sharad Purnima 15.8.18 Balaram Purnima Abhishek Kirtan

NRS Bhajans - Nadiya Godrume

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

Mayuri singing "Je Anilo Prema Dhana" on the departing of H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami on 4-July-2020.

Je Anilo Prema Dhana | Mayuri (Live 4-Jul-2020)

Trapped more than ever before in an already isolated, dystopian world, you may wonder: "Where have I landed? Where do I belong? How did the unthinkable become ‘normal’?" As winter creeps up on us, perhaps some of us are wondering why things are so difficult. The thought can cross our minds, "What would it be like to run away somewhere to get a break from all this..." But where do you run to? You are where your consciousness is. We are left with the question: what does the road to escape look like?

Join us for an evening of discussion with Devamrita Swami, world-traveling monk and Yale graduate, as he takes us into the realm of consciousness to find the perfect escape the heart dreams about. Make this time of great inner and outer turmoil an opportunity for the greatest transformation.

Talk given by Devamrita Swami for Mantra Lounge, Philly on 16 October, 2020.

Run Away To Nowhere: The New Normal? - Devamrita Swami

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

In my own life I saw yogis who could perform incredible, what we call miracles. I saw people stopping their hearts, I saw people just saying some mantra and producing things out of nowhere, I saw people, if you read The Journey Home, you'll learn something about what I saw people doing, they could read minds, they could live without food despise breathing, but you know something after a while, I was not impressed by any of it. The only thing that really impressed me was humility, integrity, the true sense of love which means ‘seva’ in Sanskrit, the joy of serving.’ When i was a little boy, my mother taught me this principle. Whether she was given a pearl necklace or whether I would just grab a flower out of her garden and give it to her, she was equally happy. She always had tears in her eyes. And she said “it's not the thing that counts, it's the thought, it's the love that gives meaning to anything.”

The True Miracle In Life - HH Radhanath Swami At The House Of Commons

Vyomasura, he became very afraid as he knew that he was facing God, the Almighty. And therefore, he was very anxious to escape by any means. So, you know what he did? First he tried to run but Krishna grabbed him very hard and then he began to expand himself into a huge form like a mountain thinking that he would break away. Krishna would not let him break away. You see he was exposed. Similarly, when the enemy of the mind is exposed before God, it's not that he just humbly surrenders and says “Oh Krishna! Now you know who I am, I surrender.” No. The first thing the mind will do in the same spirit as Vyomasura, it will try by hook, by crook, by any means to avoid surrendering. When the enemy of the mind is undetected, it simply causes havoc in your life and keeps you stored in the dark cave of the ignorance of material existence. But when it actually is detected, when somebody points out “You are in Maya.” “No. Not me, impossible. You're wrong. You're misunderstanding, lack of communication here. I'm afraid.” Sometimes we all think like that. Admit it. Everyone thinks like that. There is a verse that says ‘the greatest person is a person who's willing to admit his mistakes and admit his weaknesses.’

Krishna Is the Only One Who Can Kill the Demon of The Mind

It is a beautiful story. How Narottama Das Thakur, he was crying in separation from the Lord and Lord Chaitanya who is most magnificent and merciful incarnation of Lord Krishna appeared to him in a dream and told him to go to Vrindavan. So, Narottama who is still a child, he left secretly through the forest. His father and mother sent detectives to search for him and they found him deep into the forest, all alone, traveling by footpaths from Kethuri, which is in Bangladesh to Vrindavan, I believe it’s over a thousand Kilo meters. And he was walking alone, where will he get food? Who will protect him? These concerns never even crossed to the footpath of his mind. He wass going to Vrindavan, the eternal land of Krishna, the place that so many unlimited saints have taken shelter of since time immemorial.

Life of Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura (Part 1)

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.
