SERVING KRSNA INTERNALLY

Subadraji

"Just Surrender, Prabhu. "

"Just Surrender, Prabhu!"   How many times have we heard this? Good advice... but what exactly does it mean? Go limp and passively accept whatever comes our way as Krsna's will for us? I don't think so. Surrendering to Krsna is a gradual thing. It is not that we just find out that we are the low man on the totem pole and Krsna is the Boss, and so and so is there in some bodily chain of command whom we had better submit to and just blindly obey because they are in the position of "authority". That would be horrible -- like some totalitarian government that insists that we get in line with everyone else and just do mindless, obedient servitorship, and there is no love or enthusiasm to please a loved one urging us on. In that blind obedience there is no relationship or joy derived from connecting with another with love, nor the satisfaction of willfully sacrificing part of what is ours in order to express that love in our endeavor to please a beloved. But surrender to Krsna is not like that depressing environment. It is prompted not by guilt or force, but by attraction. At first, we may only philosophically understand the concept of submission to Krsna in devotional service, and in the beginning we may engage in the regulative principles of devotion simply under the order of the bona fide spiritual master. But quickly one begins to taste the different mellows of Krsna's association through serving Him, and these become the impetus for desiring to go further into the practice of bhakti yoga. This serving Krsna through practice in devotional service under the order of the guru gradually leads to the second division of saddhana bhakti, called raganuga bhakti. When you reach this second stage, you are still  technically  in conditional consciousness because you are not yet beyond  the material empasse, but still in this stage there is a spontaneous attraction for Krsna and a desire to please Him. In raganuga bhakti the impetus for service Krsna is more or less out of love for Krsna. You are thinking, "Oh, let me buy these beautiful flowers for a garland for my Lord Govinda." How does this surrender and attachment to Krsna develop? By serving Him favorably. We find out from the pure devotee what activities please Krsna and what activities to avoid which will bring us more entanglement. And after finding out which behavior to avoid and which behavior will purify us, we then have the free will to make a choice. Just like in the Bhagavad-Gita. After Krsna took so much trouble to explain everything to Arjuna, His close friend and devotee, still he told him, "Make your choice." All through the Bhagavad-Gita, Krsna explains more and more confidential knowledge to enlighten His friend so that he could make the choice that was best for him. Then after finishing His discussion and as the conversation comes to an end, Krsna still said to Arjuna "I have explained to you the most confidential knowledge. Deliberate on it fully, and then do what YOU wish to do." So there is no doubt that we are to follow in the footsteps of Arjuna and use our intelligence to deliberately decide our course of action. It is not up to others to do this. It is our own responsibility. There will be others (like temple managers) to help us and give us opportunities to do service and they may encourage us, but ultimately the choice has to be made by us after full deliberation. Not that we can just passively accept whatever we are told to do. We have to think it over and decide what course of action will advance our Krsna consciousness. And if we are successful in making the same decisions as Arjuna after deliberating on the philosophy fully, then there is much glory and happiness awaiting us. That is a fact.                                                                                                                      Respectfully yours,            Mahananda dasa

"As He Likes to serve Krsna..."

Everything in Krsna consciousness is practical. According to Srila Prabhupada, everyone has his duty to perform in Krsna's service according to one's natural propensity. Whatever we like to do, what we are good at, we can do that as our devotional service. Not that we are forced to do something, no matter whether we want to do it or not.   In Detroit, a letter arrived for Bhagavan dasa back in 1969 from Srila Prabhupada. I was there with him when he opened it. Srila Prabhupada told Bhagavan das, who was our Temple President, "I am so glad to see that you have developed the art that whenever someone comes to serve Krsna, you know how to engage him as he likes to serve Krsna, not forcing him to do something that he does not like to do. No intelligent person will accept that process."

Continued Personal Guidance from Srila Prabhupada

A few thoughts on Srila Prabhupada...   Srila Prabhupada: "I shall remain your personal guidance, physically present or not physically, as I am getting personal guidance from my guru maharaja." He wrote this in a letter to his initiated disciples who had written to him expressing their concern for his illness, asking what would happen to them if he were to leave his transcendental body and return to Krsna.   This connection made by the disciple and the spiritual master at the time of initiation is not material and did not end or change in any way with Srila Prabhupada passing out of our physical sight. The bona fide, pure devotee spiritual master is the external manifestation of Paramatma, so his instructions, and all of his words, are transcendental and eternal, and have nothing to do with the so-called living or non-living condition. The instructions to his disciples were there before his leaving, and they remained perfectly present after. Therefore, the connection remains fully intact as the disciple continues to follow those instructions. There is no need to make any adjustments.   It is Krsna's order that we disciples of Srila Prabhupada become gurus too and explain this great science, under the expert guidance of our beloved spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. This does not mean that we want to be worshipped or our idea is to imitate Srila Prabhupada. It simply means that we are a little willing to accept our great duty to Krsna and the disciplic succession to understand everything as it actually is, and pass it on to whomever wants to hear.   This passing along the philosophical understanding without adulteration, according to our realizations, is always pleasing to Srila Prabhupada, and Krsna declares in the Bhagavad-gita that a sincere soul who explains this great science of devotional service to the devotee is very dear to Him.   So, should we too surrender to Krsna completely, so that Krsna may empower us from within our hearts to repeat this same transcendental message as heard from our beloved Srila Prabhupada, and which has been handed down for centuries from master to disciple? Are we to attempt this rare and noble task of becoming authoritative representatives of param para, as is the specific instruction of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, even as we see some going down in flames? Nothing would please Srila Prabhupada more than if all of his disciples became Krsna conscious, accepting disciples and preaching all over the world. That is a fact.

How to Enter the Kingdom of God

We can execute our devotional service patiently and expect Krsna's mercy, while we tolerate our tribulations in life. This is explained nicely in the Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 10, as follows...   "My dear Lord, any person who is constantly awaiting Your causeless mercy to be bestowed upon him, and who goes on suffering the resultant actions of his past misdeeds, offering You respectful obeisances from the core of his heart, is surely eligible to become liberated, for it has become his rightful claim.   Srila Prabhupada: "This statement of Srimad-Bhagavatam should be the guide of all devotees. A devotee should not expect immediate relief from the reactions of his past misdeeds. No conditioned soul is free from such reactionary experiences, because material existence means continued suffering or enjoying of past activities. If one has finished his material activities then there is no more birth. This is possible only when one begins Krsna conscious activities, because such activities do not produce reaction."   "Therefore, as soon as one becomes perfect in Krsna conscious activities, he is not going to take birth again in this material world. A devotee who is not perfectly freed from the resultant actions should therefore continue to act in Krsna consciousness seriously, even though there may be so many impediments. When such impediments arise he should simply think of Krsna and expect His mercy. That is the only solace."                             "If the devotee passes his days in that spirit, it is certain that he is going to be promoted to the abode of the Lord. By such activities, he earns his claim to enter into the kingdom of God. The exact word used in this verse is daya-bhak. Daya-bhak refers to a son's becoming the lawful inheritor of the property of the father. In a similar way, a pure devotee who is prepared to undergo all kinds of tribulations in executing Krsna conscious duties becomes lawfully qualified to enter into the transcendental abode."   All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!                                                       my wife Hladini dd with her Lord Jagannatha

Sincerity Will Bring You to Krsna

(krsna is so kind. He helps His sincere devotees)

If we are  sincere, then Krsna will bring us to a genuine guru.  Srila Prabhupada himself waited around 10 yrs. before taking formal initiation after meeting his blessed guruji. So if we are patient and sincerely want to understand our relationship with Krsna, then rest assured Krsna is there in your heart seeing everything and taking note. When He sees fit, then in His time He will lead you to the lotus feet of someone fully capable of bringing you back to Godhead.  SRILA PRABHUPADA: " (To find a guru)That is not a problem. The problem is whether you are sincere. You have problems, but God is within your heart. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam. God is not far away. If you are sincere, God sends you a spiritual master. Therefore God is also called caitya-guru, the spiritual master within the heart. God helps from within and from without. Everything is thus described in Bhagavad-gita. This material body is like a machine, but within the heart is the soul, and with the soul is the Supersoul, Krsna, who gives directions. The Lord says, "You wanted to do this; now here is the chance. Go and do it." If you are sincere, you say, "Now, God, I want You." Then He will give you directions. "Yes, now you come and get Me like this. This is His kindness. However, if we want something else, that is all right. We can have it. God is very kind. When I want something, He is in my heart directing me and telling me how to have it. So why should He not give directions on how to have a spiritual master? First of all we must again be eager to revive our God consciousness. Then God will give us a spiritual master."                                      Jaya Srila Prabhupada TO CONTINUE, CLICK "OLDER POSTS" BELOW

In Loving Praise of Our Blessed Gurudeva

                                                                        

In Loving Praise of Our Blessed Gurudeva

My blessed Srila Prabhupada,
my blessed gurudev, please accept
my humble obeisances,
all glories to your lotus feet.  

Without a doubt you above all
others should be glorified by
all sane men, and you have
earned the right to have all heads
bowed at your feet.
You  are the shining sun
and radiant moon far above the
flickering glow worms below,
blinded by our foolish pride.  

All heads should bow before you,
and all knees should bend. All
hands should fold in reverence
before you, and all good men
should obey you.  

All voices should praise your
deeds, and everyone should sing
your glories... and your honored
name will be heard for centuries to come.  

I, Mahananda dasa, fall down in
the dust of your lotus-like feet
asking only for your mercy. 

Without your mercy the goal of
loving Krsna can never be reached.

Only if you ask Krsna to pity this foolish
disciple, is there a chance that any real
advancement towards pure Love of
God can be made.  

This is because you  are the
confidential servant of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna. 

You are the bona fida external
manifestation of Paramatma, emanating
the shining light of the Bhagavat Purana.
Let us now all take shelter of your lotus feet.  

nama om vishnu-padaya
krishna-preshthaya bhu-tale
shrimate bhaktivedanta-
svamin iti namine

All Pranams to our Beloved Prabhupada

Never make the mistake of thinking that Srila Prabhupada is like us, and is somehow influenced by the modes of nature. He lives with Krsna always, but to teach fools like me, he has kindly come down to the second level devotee stage simple to be able to preach for Krsna. So we need to guard against forgetting this  and thinking that Prabhupada is being influenced by material nature like us. We can never dare to minimize our founding Acarya and consider him an ordinary man. We will simply go to hell. Our beloved Srila Prabhupada is the spotless and perfectly unalloyed devotee of Krsna.   The unalloyed, pure devotee guru is described in all the revealed scriptures as the external manifestation of Supersoul. All the instructions we have received from him are non-different from Krsna's instructions, which the bone fide guru is simply passing along.   Krsna's instructions are in all ways identical to Krsna Himself, because of the absolute nature of the Supreme Personality. On the absolute level, guru and Krsna are the same since guru's instructions are identical to Krsna's instructions, which are identical to Krsna.   So all three, guru, Krsna, and the path of Krsna consciousness are all perfect and transcendental. We can not forget that for a moment and start thinking that Srila Prabhupada is like an ordinary man, in even the slightest way. He is the transcendental cent percent unalloyed emmisary to Krsna here in the material world speaking on His behalf.   When Srila Prabhupada hears the transcendental message from his pure devotee guru in disciplic succession, he becomes filled with Krsna's message. When he speaks to us this same message, Krsna speaks through him, and we can be filled with Krsna also. That message has remained the same for 5,000 years.

Six Guidelines for Surrender

by mahananda dasa

Surrendering to Krsna is an ongoing process. It is not a dramatic emotional event where you just give up your self-motivation and become passive. Of course, sometimes when we are in a hopeless situation of material and mental impoverishment, at the "end of our rope" so to speak, we may call out to Krsna in sincere frustration and offer our lives to Him in full surrender. This can be quite heart-felt and "emotional," and this is a good platform to begin our new devotional life. From this point, one learns how to surrender to Krsna on a daily basis. So, surrender, what does this word mean in spiritual terms? We experience that it means different things to different people. To the bhakta who is following properly in the footsteps of the Vaisnava acaryas, the concept of surrender is different from others, such as impersonalists and voidists.   Nowadays, some think that surrender means something passive, to become free from your "ego." Their misconception is that if you want to do something because it is your desire, to do it because it's your own decision, it is egocentric or wrong. To do it properly somehow you need to be told by an "authority" and only then is it connected to Krsna. At least, many years ago this party line was very popular. I don't know if devotees have finally gotten beyond all that.                                                                                                                          But a bhakta is not interested in this type of impersonal thinking, and is never interested in doing away with his "ego." In his preaching, Srila Prabhupada never used this idea of ego as something to destroy, but rather he always referred to this idea of false ego as referring to this false identity of the embodied living entity with the material body as the self.   So, from studying Srila Prabhupada's words it becomes clear that there is no need to embrace this destructive philosophy of becoming selfless, because it is foreign and counter-productive to developing love of God. As we have heard a thousand times, identity is always there, we just need to change with what we identify. Change from "I am this body, and this is my family, this is my country," to a more enlightened "I am an eternally existing individual spiritual entity, whose sole purpose is to serve the Creator."   We are all expansions of Krsna, teeny little spiritual sparks identical to Krsna qualitatively -- eternal, full of knowledge and bliss -- and we were created by Krsna (everyone of us) to serve Him for His pleasure. Krsna is omnipotent and complete, so He requires nothing outside to be happy. Yet He creates unlimitedly to enjoy loving experiences with His devotees.   The idea of becoming "egoless" and passively surrendering our will in order to somehow act selflessly is not very appealing to the devotee of Krsna. It is like death, passively waiting for God to act through you, always afraid to act on your own initiative. Krsna did not want Arjuna to be like that. He wanted him to use all of his warrior skills and intelligence to fiercely kill the enemy. His surrender was that he did what he did, and what he did best, because it was exactly what Krsna wanted him to do.   We have in our philosophy six guidelines to follow so that all of our activities can lead towards Krsna consciousness and will bring the proper attitude and mental state to serve Krsna. It was Rupa Goswami who described these six guidelines of surrender in his book on bhakti-yoga, called Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, the authoritative how-to handbook for the science of devotional service. Later it was translated into English by our beloved Srila Prabhupada.   The first guideline listed is for us to accept whatever activity will advance us in Krsna consciousness. Forget asking, "Is this Ego?" Instead ask, "Will it advance me in Krsna consciousness?" If it will advance you and if you chose to do it, then you ARE surrendering to Krsna. If it purifies you rather than increases your bondage, then do it.   On the other hand, the second guideline for us to follow is to be determined to give up what does not bring us to Krsna. If an activity that we have an occasion to do will entangle us or further implicate us in material nature, then willfully deciding to give up that activity for the benefit of our God consciousness is surrendering to Krsna.   Everyday there are innumerable choices to make. So to develop this mood of surrender to Krsna we can practice making the right choices, though some of them can be difficult. Krsna informs us in the Bhagavad gita that our activities in sense enjoyment and our attraction to material opulence bewilders us, and undermines our determination to serve Him. Practicing giving up these things that bind us to the material world and separates us from Krsna will develop our surrendering mood and will help us to be determined to perform more devotional service.   The third guideline for us to follow is to become firmly convinced that only Krsna can protect us, and have firm faith that He will always give that protection. The realized devotee knows fully well that though he is constitutionally spiritual by nature and his identity is in awareness and consciousness, still he is temporarily covered by the material elements in the form of his present body. The Vedic scriptures warn that the material world is a very dangerous place. Krsna promises His devotee in the Bhagavad-gita that if he takes complete shelter of Him and fully depends on Krsna for protection, then He will certainly protect His devotee without a doubt. One should be convinced of this.   The body is not free and independent, but is under the strict laws of material nature and is in the tight grip of the three different modes of nature. The body is in the midst of this vast ocean of material energy and is part of it. It is constantly being tossed about by these three modes. Everything is completely out of the control of the teeny spirit soul. We only think that we have control, but in reality we have no control. We are helplessly being dragged about through dangerous situations, which are ever changing due to the constant interaction of goodness, passion, and ignorance.   Following our endless desires, Krsna, through the agency of His material nature, creates situations that satisfy those desires to falsely lord it over material nature. Not knowing what desires will actually satisfy us, we receive both good and bad results and suffer perpetually. But when we surrender to Krsna, He protects us from all those reactions that have accumulated for millions of lifetimes. Part of that surrendering process is becoming convinced about Krsna's firm promise to protect us under any circumstance.   We are always forced to accept the reactions of our material activities. This is due to ignorance. Out of ignorance the conditioned soul identifies with the action as the doer, therefore he is bound to accept the effect of that action. There is no escaping this law of cause and effect. For example, a foolish man not knowing the principles of religion, may decide to kill his business partner and take his share of the profits, which will increase his happiness when he spends that money. But, unknown to him, when the natural and fixed reactions are carried out by material nature, his future is very dark. Rather than more happiness he has created much suffering for himself. So, a conditioned entity does not know for sure what will be the results of his actions.   Understanding the helpless condition of each individual in the material atmosphere, it will behoove the bhakta to surrender to Krsna, Who is the source and controller of this energy, and beg His protection. If Krsna wants, He can pick us up from this vast ocean of illusory energy. Otherwise, though we are part of the superior nature, we will constantly be overwhelmed by these three modes, even though they are inferior by nature, due only to their immense vastness. (To be continued…)

Surrender, the Hearing Process, and the Long Haul

                                                                             

 Krsna promises that if we simply surrender to Him, he will protect us from the reactions of all the sinful desires within our hearts. Otherwise, if we choose not to follow this path, we are waiting for the circumstantial opportunities for these desire-seeds within our hearts to naturally mature and fructify into suffering and more sinful activities. These seeds cannot be removed except through devotional service, as explained in the Nectar of Devotion. So unless we surrender to Krsna, we are going to suffer perpetually.  

If we do surrender (that is, accept and follow the six guidelines of surrender, like choosing all things that are favorable for our Krsna consciousness, knowing that only Krsna can protect us, giving up all nonsense things that increase our bondage, etc.), Krsna will remove these things from our hearts. Srila Prabhupada uses the example of clapping our hands and all the birds fly out of the trees above. Our sinful reactions will fly away like this, if we just accept that we are completely subordinate to Krsna, and begin practicing serving Him as subordinates.                                                                                                               

A mature devotee, after lifetimes of trial and error in the lower rungs of spiritual practice, finally reaches a firm faith in this principle of surrender to Krsna and finally makes the determination to proceed without fear of these sinful reactions, believing without doubting that Krsna will eradicate them as promised. "Do not worry. Surrender to Me, and I will protect you from all the reactions to your sins. "

The secret to developing faith is hearing. Krsna inhabits His pastimes. When He is praised, He is present in full. When He speaks, He is there 100%, present in that sound of His words. So the more we choose to practice this hearing, the more we are in Krsna's actual presence, though imperceptible in the beginning stages. As we associate with Him personally simply by this hearing, He gradually becomes manifest in our hearts. Finally, when we are convinced how strong and powerful Krsna is in all these situations we are hearing about, How His knowledge is immeasurable, how utterly capable he is to do anything great, we slowly become willing to place our lives in His care.  

One can become fully Krsna conscious and develop this complete faith in Krsna only through this hearing process in the association of Krsna's pure devotee. This transcendental process of cultivating Krsna consciousness through submissively hearing from the purely realized souls like Srila Prabhupada is always there and under the protection of Krsna's internal potency, and is therefore not affected by the three modes of material nature. In other words, it cannot be checked by any material circumstance.  

So whatever temporary intrigue is going on in your devotional and material lives, and no matter what problems are perceived in the management of a particular religious organization, it cannot check your advancement in Krsna consciousness. Srila Prabhupada said to just persevere, go "step by step by step" (and one day  you will see Krsna). He also once said that unless we read enough, we cannot stick it out in the long run. After 20 years or 40, or 50 years, we will need a strong foundation in the philosophy to give us the impetus to continue, long after the sentiments have worn off.

"A person who is constantly engaged in reading literature enunciating the cultivation of Vaisnava devotional service, is always glorious in human society, and certainly Lord Krsna becomes pleased with him. A person who very carefully keeps such literature at home and offers respectful obeisances to it becomes freed from all sinful reactions and ultimately becomes worshipable by the demigods"
(Skanda Purana)

Hopes this finds you well,   Mahananda dasa                                                            

                                            

Krsna Walks In Waves Of Beauty

Lord Sri Madhavaji, Phoenix Arizona temple "There is no beauty to compare with Krsna's, for no one possesses beauty greater than or equal to His. Since He is the origin of all incarnations, including Narayana, the goddess of fortune, who is a constant companion of Narayana, gives up His association and performs penance to gain the association of Krsna." Teachings of Lord Caitanya Krsna's Exquisite Beauty The 64th super excellent quality of Lord Krsna Nectar of Devotion, Chap 22 64. Krsna's Exquisite Beauty "In the Third Canto, Second Chapter, verse 12, of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Uddhava tells Vidura, "My dear sir, Krsna's form was most wonderful when He appeared on this planet and exhibited the potency of His internal energy. His wonderfully attractive form was present during His pastimes on this planet, and by His internal potency He exhibited His opulences, which are striking to everyone. His personal beauty was so great that there was no necessity for His wearing ornaments on His body. In fact, instead of the ornaments' beautifying Krsna, Krsna's beauty enhanced the ornaments." Regarding the attractiveness of Krsna's bodily beauty and the sound vibration of His flute, in the Tenth Canto, Twenty-ninth Chapter, verse 40, of Srimad-Bhagavatam, the gopis address Krsna as follows: "Although our attitude toward You resembles loving affairs with a paramour, we cannot but wonder at how no woman can maintain her chastity upon hearing the vibration from Your flute. And not only women, but even stronghearted men are subject to falling down from their position at the sound of Your flute. In fact, we have seen that in Vrndavana even the cows, the deer, the birds, the trees--everyone--has been enchanted by the sweet vibration of Your flute and the fascinating beauty of Your person." In Rupa Gosvami's Lalita-madhava, it is said, "One day Krsna happened to see the shadow of His beautiful form reflected on the jeweled foreground. Upon seeing this bodily reflection, He expressed His feelings: 'How wonderful it is that I have never seen such a beautiful form! Although it is My own form, still, like Radharani, I am trying to embrace this form and enjoy celestial bliss.'" This statement shows how Krsna and His shadow reflection are one and the same. There is no difference between Krsna and His shadow reflection, nor between Krsna and His picture. That is the transcendental position of Krsna. The above statements describe some of the wonderful reservoirs of pleasure within Krsna, as well as the transcendental qualities of His personality. The transcendental qualities of Krsna are compared to the ocean: no one can estimate the length and breadth of the ocean. But as one can understand the ocean's contents simply by testing one drop of it, so these statements will give us some understanding of Krsna's transcendental position and qualities. In the Tenth Canto, Fourteenth Chapter, verse 7, of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Lord Brahma says, "My dear Lord, the inconceivable qualities, beauties and activities which You have revealed by Your presence on this planet cannot be calculated by any material measurement. If one even tries to imagine, 'Krsna may be like this,' that is also impossible. The day may come when the material scientist, after many, many births or after many, many years, will be able to estimate the atomic constitution of the whole world, or he may be able to count the atomic fragments that permeate the sky, or he may even give an estimate of all the atoms within the universe, but still he will never be able to count the transcendental qualities in Your reservoir of transcendental bliss."

If we Can't Wear the Shoes, We Can at Least Clean Them

 If we want to be successful in our spiritual endeavors, beware of those who would minimize Srila Prabhupada's position. Try to understand what happens when someone completely surrenders to Krsna. The modes of nature disappear.  

Srila Prabhupada is not in this world, but has a direct one-on-one relationship with Krsna on a moment to moment basis. Every moment Srila Prabhupada speaks, every word, is transcendental. Whatever he is saying, we can understand that somehow it is true because it is spoken by Krsna through him, even though our so-called intelligence wants to convince us otherwise.

By his unalloyed surrender, Srila Prabhupada has become the embodiment of Truth, which includes the transcendental science of how to re-establish our true connection with the Absolute Truth. This complete spiritual knowledge is there in our hearts as Supersoul, and Srila Prabhupada has become the manifestation of this same identical absolute truth as the external manifestation of this same Supersoul. For this reason, we say he is "as good as Krsna."

He is never like us, who sometimes repeat some scripture and sometimes make statements while drawing on our culture, or mundane education, our personal opinions, etc. This is because we are ordinary men who are subject to material nature. We still believe all of our nonsense ideas.

Srila Prabhupada, on the other hand, is part of a transcendental world and in this transcendental world there are still ideas about women, marriage, relationships, intelligence, friendship, etc., and Krsna is there and He has created these standards of life. So when someone here on earth who resides in the spiritual atmosphere is talking about some seemingly ordinary subject, we can not say that, because we cannot find that exact quote in the written scriptures, it is part of the material vibration.  

For his entire life Srila Prabhupada has never known a sinful act, and he has also revealed to us confidentially that never was there a moment that he can remember that he was forgetting Krsna. All that time in his life he was developing spiritual knowledge and engaging in devotional service, along with securing the minimal everyday necessities of life.

And all that time he was hearing so much information about the realities of life within the atmosphere of the spiritual kingdom, and was being blessed so much by hearing repeatedly from realized souls about the true nature of everything, even ordinary things in life such as women, war, proper behavior, treatment of a guest, etc.  

Therefore, when he speaks to us, he is drawing from this vast storehouse of spiritual knowledge, which includes both information of how to develop pure bhakti and also information concerning the realities of ordinary things like living in society, relating to others according to their position, and everything else -- not from a mundane perspective, but from the perspective of a pure devotee who is with Krsna at every moment and who is living in the spiritual atmosphere.  

He is showing us how to live in Krsna consciousness and how to think according to the Vedic version of life. Don't forget the fact that in order to preach, the first class pure devotee descends a notch in order to speak from the perspective of a second class pure devotee. But that does not mean he has become less. It is a sacrifice for the purpose of preaching. Srila Prabhupada is still Krsna's fully transcendental confidant. He is never like an ordinary man.  

So we can just relax our brains, throw our PhD certificates in the trash, and give up our dependence on the logic that gives our teeny brains it's "reality". Instead, take this rare opportunity to submissively hear the transcendental sound vibration coming down from the spiritual world through every word from Krsna's confidential emissary.  

But, for the process to work we have to give up our puffed-up arrogance. It requires great submission and taking the posture of a great fool who is barely qualified to even wash the shoes of the actual luminaries like Srila Prabhupada. And we have to very carefully guard against the mad elephant who will wreak havoc as soon as we dare to minimize Krsna's dearest friend and spread doubts and confusion among the Vaisnava community by making statements that diminish faith in both the revealed scriptures and the unalloyed devotee. 

respectfully,

Mahananda dasa

Srila Prabhupada - As Good as Krsna?

To understand the answer to this question, first we should try to understand who IS a pure devotee like Srila Prabhupada. The position of a devotee like His Divine Grace is one of full surrender. Because he has taken complete shelter of Krsna, he has become fully "Krsna-ized." Like the example of the iron in fire, the iron takes on the qualities of fire. Because Srila Prabhupada has taken complete shelter of Krsna, he has become as good as Krsna. In fact, the Vedas enjoin that a maha-bhagavata guru like our beloved Srila Prabhupada is nothing less than the very external manifestation of Supersoul. There is Krsna within as Paramatma, and there in the external manifestation standing before us as the fully surrendered pure devotee. The material energy no longer exists in the form of such a maha-bhagavata, because Krsna is manifesting through such a surrendered soul. The material modes of ignorance and passion (nor even material goodness, for that matter) no longer have any influence over such a pure soul. A disciple of Srila Prabhupada who understands his fully transcendental nature knows that whatever has been said or done by Srila Prabhupada is also fully transcendental, and is not at all subject to the laws of material nature. This explicit faith in the bonafide guru is absolutely required. "To anyone who has full faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the spiritual master, all the import of the Vedic literatures is revealed. He does not have to seek separately'.' So as disciples of Srila Prabhupada, we see our beloved guru like that. He is as good as Krsna because he is the most confidential servant of Krsna. We know that when such a great soul takes complete shelter of Krsna, that Krsna protects him in all circumstances. We also know that Krsna is fully manifesting Himself through him, empowering him in all aspects of his life. He has no life except Krsna. He has no opinion that is different from Krsna's opinion, and whatever he is doing in all of his activities, Krsna is doing through him, because he has surrendered cent percent. To hear him means to hear Krsna. We also know that some bodily flaw does not disqualify him. The fact that he may say "number fool one" or "sky scrappers" when he meant to say "fool number one" or "sky scrapers" does not indicate that he is influenced by the modes of nature. His perfection is that he has surrendered his life totally to Krsna and Krsna's activities 100%. And because of this, he is not prone to the influences of maya, such as preaching under the influence of some tradition, college education or upbringing. For a person to suggest that a fully realized, surrendered maha-bhagavata who is empowered fully by Krsna to act entirely on His behalf in spreading Krsna's glories all over the world, can be influenced by such material modes is greatly offensive. Respectfully, Mahananda dasa

Having a Guru in Whom We Can Have Full Faith

 A faithful disciple can increase his faith in his beloved spiritual master Srila Prabhupada more and more.  He is a pure devotee, sinless even in his last lifetime, what to speak of this one, and he never once forgot Krsna throughout his entire life, and he was completely protected by Krsna from any onslaught from the material energy during his present life here on Earth.  In a letter from Srila Prabhupada to Tamala Krishna Goswami in 1970 he wrote the following:

"So far I am concerned, I cannot say what I was in my previous life, but one great astrologer calculated that I was previously a physician and my life was sinless. Besides that, to corroborate the statement from the Bhagavad-gita-- sucinam srimatam gehe, yoga-bhrasto 'bhijayate -- which means an unfinished yogi takes birth in rich family or born of a suci or pious father. By the grace of Krsna I got these two opportunities in the present life to be born of a pious father and brought up in one of the richest, aristocratic families of Calcutta (Kasinatha Mullick). The Radha-Krsna Diety in this family called me to meet Him, and therefore last time when I was in Calcutta, I stayed in that temple along with my American disciples. Although I had immense opportunities to indulge in the four principles of sinful life because I was connected with a very aristocratic family, Krsna always saved me, and throughout my whole life I do not know what is illicit sex, intoxication, meat-eating, or gambling. So far my present life is concerned, I do not remember any part of my life when I was forgetful of Krsna."            
                                                                                    
(Srila Prabhupada)                                                   

                                                                                                    

Srila Prabhupada is my Superhuman Man

                                                                                                                                                     

  If we think that our spiritual master sometimes seems a little ordinary, we can never criticize him for that. To Brahmananda dasa, Srila Prabhupada once said, "the spiritual master should not be treated as ordinary man, even sometimes the spiritual master behaves like ordinary man. It is the duty of the disciple to accept him as 'superhuman man.' (letter July 31,'70)

Some Statements Should be Made in the Closet

I was looking around on the internet and found this old article I had written 15 years ago when the controversy of changing Srila Prabhupada's book was strong. Maybe there is some benefit of posting this old post, since the ideas are still important. Thank you for indulging me. Some Statements Should Be Made In The Closet EDITORIAL, May 26 ,1999 — Dear devotees, I beg your blessings. Please indulge me as I share a few more thoughts on the astonishing proposal being argued lately by a few devotees to correct Srila Prabhupada's ''personal ecstasies,'' as he has called his own writings. HH Hridayananda Swami recently has said that it "makes perfect sense that we should change Srila Prabhupada's books", to make them, I suppose, more acceptable to the public, and widening the prospective audience by making them more 'politically correct.' Maybe these devotees are honestly analyzing the situation and are concluding that changing the books is the best thing to do. To them, it makes perfect sense. But who among us is going to decide that 'this is good, let's keep it', 'or this is bad, trash it!' Any devotee who has read our books even a little knows that "making perfect sense" does not make something a reality according to the Vaisnava school of thinking. Whatever makes sense to one scholar now may be rejected later, and whatever we surmise as true due to our seeing how much sense it makes, will not make the same sense to all other men, or even to us later on. Everything is always changing in the material world. Values and morals are always changing according to the fickle nature of those captured my the three modes of nature. In the dual nature of this relative atmosphere, there are no conclusive realities but always there are two sides. So as aspiring seekers of the truth, we must look elsewhere for what is actually real. For that we must take shelter of disciplic succession. "Taking shelter" of param para means always following closely in the footsteps of our predecessor and whatever we say concerning this philosophy is identical with what we have submissively heard from our guru, though spoken is our own words. An actual disciple has given up speculating, accepting that all previous conceptions of life and God are invalid due to our four defects. He has become determined to let the truth come down from the transcendental platform through every word that comes from the mouth of the pure, unalloyed devotee of Krsna. That is why we abandon speculation and seek the truth through submissive hearing. And what we have heard and only what we have heard, we repeat that same idea without any adding or deleting what we don't like, or what we think others will not like. We do not change it to suit the world. Rather, we present it as it is and let the world come up to the higher standard. That is why in Vaisnava preaching about the process of devotional service, we generally do not say things like, "I think," or "it makes perfect sense'' to me ," etc. Any philosophical assertions about Krsna consciousness that begin with these words would be one's own opinions and are undoubtedly debatable, subjective assertions and will not hold up to be true in all circumstances. Nor could they be accepted as part of the devotional science. Srila Prabhupada said that any statements by devotees that start with phrases like these should be "made in the closet" and he would laugh. The one undeniable reason for this, of course, is because the conditioned soul has four defects. Therefore, no matter how much we try, how much sense we have, or how much education and academic knowledge we have gained, there will always be problems with receiving our understanding by this deductive, ascending process, or making philosophical assertions based on such understanding. For example, I might say "It makes perfect sense," but to whom is it making perfect sense? If we look closely, what we mean is that it makes perfect sense to me right now, with my limited knowledge and imperfect senses. I am saying ''it seems to be correct under the circumstances, as far as I can judge." But this is certainly not a safe place to put our faith. That fact is basic to our Krsna conscious understanding. Usually when we come to Krsna consciousness, we are thoroughly frustrated with our speculations that just go in circles and get us nowhere. From the beginning we learned from Srila Prabhupada and from the teachings of Krsna consciousness that today we may have some intelligence and can see some pet conception so logically and to our teeny brains everything may seem correct, but someday our intelligence may fail, as it did in the case of Arjuna, and our mind will become confused. We will then ''fall down,'' bewildered in our pursuit of knowledge by logic and reason and by our acceptance of ''what makes perfect sense." So, safely we can only put our faith in taking shelter of the actual words of Krsna's confidential servants. Otherwise, taking shelter of logic and speculation is full of dangers. Eventually, our material intelligence may fail us and everything will crash in our life. And when this eventuality finally takes place, we will again be lost and in the end will have to seek out advise from someone who is not under the control of the mind and material intelligence. But we already have the perfect captain to steer us out of the darkness. We are all safely traversing the material ocean if we are just patient and let the devotional process gradually work for us. Let's not jump ship and start swimming to some island made of quicksand, or, in other words, let us not again start relying on our own powers of reason and logic, or following the advice and guidance of non devotees. Instead, if we follow the path of pridelessness and humble submission to the pure devotee's guidance, accepting him as fully capable of bringing us to the other side, there will be no danger. We do not have to take control by starting to improve his already perfect writings. Just by carefully following his footsteps, without interfering, everything will be under Krsna's control and He will protect us and release us from the reactions of all of our past sins as He has promised. Eventually the desired results will come, supernaturally, and by Krsna's grace. So as bhaktas and disciples we are required to give up all this speculation. That means whatever concepts about Krsna or devotional service we have concocted, or the pursuit of the absolute truth that we have created in our teeny brains by reason and logic, should be abandoned. "Religion is enunciated by the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Whatever He creates is transcendental and He reveals to us whatever knowledge we need from within when we practice this submissive hearing of His pure devotee. All other vibrations are temporary and circumstantial. We cannot concoct anything and follow it, because It leads nowhere. We know that. That's why we were so happy to finally take shelter at Srila Prabhupada's lotus feet. Whatever comes from the mouth of our beloved spiritual master leads straight to Krsna because it is non different from Krsna. The transcendental sound vibration from the lips of an unalloyed devotee like Srila Prabhupada is His internal potency. To hear and to follow such instructions, one comes into direct contact with Krsna through the agency of His internal potency. To associate with Krsna means that one gets the benefit of the antiseptic and prophylactic qualities of Krsna and thus becomes purified and enter the transcendental atmosphere! This is the secret of devotional service. To follow the advice of conditioned souls will not have the same effect. The results will only be temporary. By following in their footsteps, we may develop your mind, or heal our bodies, or enhance our relationships, but we will not ever be freed from the clutches of the modes of nature and will simply have to take another birth in order to receive the benefit of such pious or "good" pursuits. But you will not develop your love of God, because love of God can be reached by only one process. That process is devotional service. And we can not whimsically add or subtract to this transcendental process.There are certain practices that have been created by Krsna that if we follow them without offenses and with service to his pure devotee, we will gradually develop the blessing of love of God. This gradual development of Krsna consciousness is independent of any outside influence. It is completely directed by Krsna through His internal potency. So best we take Krsna's advise, and simple give up all these ''other processes of religion, and just surrender to Him.'' In other words, abandon everything except the nine processes of devotional service, and we will eventually reach the highest goal. In the Second Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, Third Chapter entitled "Pure Devotional Service: A Change in Heart," Srila Prabhupada says this change is a natural, expected result. We shall gradually feel the ecstasy of Krsna consciousness. He said that if it does not happen naturally, "it is due to offenses only." I pray with you to be protected from such offenses. With great respect for the Vaisnavas, Mahananda dasa