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Haribol! My reverences and blessings respectively. All glories to Srila Prabhuada!
Today I have very little time on the chat. I will have an interview with the principal newspaper in Lima. Besides this we are now on the marathon to finish for the inauguration. Everything is very nice, but there is a lot of work. It is a great effort to make a mela and an inauguration at the same time, so by obligation we have to charge the batteries.
Sincere emotions - the only thing that can save us
I think that in this world one comes for the good consciousness only when there is no other [--] left. This is not a big joy, but rather a sad reality. For sense gratification people endeavour a little, but very rarely they endeavour to serve God. This is the mercy. Even so, there is the tendency to become negligent, especially with something that has to be done every day, continuous responsibility.
All the world is animated for a weekend or for a trip to a mela. It is as if people that are animated by the marriage, but when they become aware that the tapasya continues, the honeymoon is over and left is just the routine, and quickly they lose the animation. The only thing that can save is the loving sentiments, the compromise of heart or at last the sense of duty. Or maybe as the very last, the fear of being despised and stay with the shame of being irresponsible. Even so, there are people who shamelessly leave their children and not even care about maintaining their obligations of financial support, despite that one intuitively can understand that one will have to pay for it at high cost after life, via the karmic rules. At least they have to get born as a child who has to be abandoned by his father.
You see, my friends, the existence is a tragedy. The only thing that can save us is the sincere emotions. Sincere (Spanish "sincera") means sin=without cera=wax. In the Roman times, to find out if a statue of their gods were well made, they put warm water upon to see that they had not put wax on cracks or breakings of the handicraft. If it turned out well from the warm water, it meant that it was without wax (sin cera). Thus, the "sin-cerity " of a devotee is proved by the warming of the continuity of his serving attitude.
A sincere relation with the spiritual master
Sincere emotions for the Guru have its symptoms. I will mention some of them here with the hope to serve you in something, with hope to animate you, to animate you to improve your devotional standard.
- A sincere relation with the spiritual master and Lord Krishna implies forever defending their cause.
- It implies the desire of not losing time.
- It implies the desire to frequently report to the spiritual master about your service and receive additional instructions.
- It implies to be humble and patient, even though you see bad examples in others or when hardships come.
- It implies a strong wish to accomplish with your prescribed duty.
- It implies in case that the strong wish wants to reduce, to nevertheless accomplish to the prescribed duty and find animation in the master or in advanced devotees to get a better consciousness.
- It implies not leaving other devotees bad, who in some way depend on you.
- It implies to try to follow a sadhana within your possibilities, but at least to listen to one class daily, or give one, and chant the rounds, in emergency case at minimum four.
If you neglect these things, the spiritual life really goes in danger. The surest is, that the plant of devotion partly will start to dry. And if the condition continues, it can even dry the whole plant, and without positive association from devotees, it is very difficult to maintain the consciousness. I can even feel this when I sometimes have to travel one whole day without seeing a devotee.
Our principal source of animation
Animated devotees are our principal source of animation. They remind us of our spiritual master. For me the memory of Srila Prabhupada, his tenderness, his confidence in me, his dynamic mission to serve the others, maintain me day after day. Do not think that I never feel like close to despair, but without any doubt, Prabhupada comes to my mind and saves me again. I cannot tell you how many times Srila Prabhupada has saved me in this life. And always when this happens, I become conscious of how important it is to have a spiritual master and to try to truly serve him. Not just to look for him only when wanting something from Him. Like in India; lots of people have come to me for initiation, but then they only want that one get them visa to USA. Or that one solves their economical problems.
Krishna really solves our economical problems too, food, health, etc, but the spiritual master first of all solves the problem with lack of devotional service. He creates a common cause and lets us participate in it. He creates a field where we can get out of the area of our egotism. He establishes Deities so you can serve God. The Guru apparently needs economical support to maintain Vrinda Kunja or build a nice temple for our Deities or to organize a big feast for the devotees or make an ecological Vaisnava community, but all of this is therapeutic occupation that Krishna gives to us.
If I wouldn't feel that the Guru needed my support, with what I what be animated? This is His mercy. Really, the service to the spiritual master becomes more intense when we inclusively take responsibility to make some tasks working that He established in his own name.
The fundament of correct and successful understanding
If my temples do not have devotional standards, I feel that I am failing to Srila Prabhupada. Because it is for Him that I am doing this job and for his representatives, who are you. All true devotees represent their spiritual master, and as no spiritual master feels himself to be a spiritual master, he sees even his disciples as representatives to his spiritual master. One, who is doing something, has to realize that this is only done by mercy of the spiritual master. If I have attracted someone to become a devotee and this person gets initiated by me, it is only possible via the mystic of my spiritual master. He receives all credits. I am only an instrument, and sadly not a very good one. Even with this, my spiritual master knows to take good use even of someone who is not very good. This shows his great power. This shows his great mercy. If a devotee thinks that some service works well because of his own qualifications, he is just mad. Most probable is that his pride will make him a good trap.
What I just said is the fundament of correct and successful understanding. This mentality helps one to remain humble and surrendered and protected more than everything. Remember that it is only by the presence of the Guru in one's life, that one can be a servant. One can be in contact with so many nice souls and have sincere relations(Remember sin-cera = without interruption or mixed motivation). Really, the success in spiritual life is to maintain this consciousness. In this way, one can get permission to continue to be an instrument of His love, as we pray every day when we chant the mahamantra.
Vyasapuja of Srila Harijan Maharaja
In this connexion I want to offer my most humble reverences to Srila Harijan Maharaja, whom we are celebrating today, his Vyasapuja. He did such a perfect service, that in so many years that i knew him and shared the service with him, I cannot remember even one day that he was in maya or in despair. His service to Srila Prabhupada was motivated by his great gratefulness to Srila Prabhupada and later by the compassion that he felt for the souls, reflecting this same love that Prabhupada had for the entire world.
Srila Harijan Maharaja is the star that always keeps our standard, like in India, where people like to have Hanuma as their standard as a perfect devotee. I give my special thanks to Krishna and Srila Prabhupada for having given me such a special and such a loving spiritual brother as he was.
In his company the service in Colombia was always nectar. I only have pleasant memories of him and this that we worked together for many years. Of course we also knew to avoid potential conflicts created by potential misunderstandings or because there were one or another who wanted to divide us by their politics. Do not think that this did not happen. But this is daily bread in this world, where there are wishes mixed with some politics; we already know this in advance.
Preachers are always ready to face problems
Let us be prepared, because we are preaching to people who are full of mixed desires and deeply ignorant. This morning I was talking with a group of professionals who has a very good disposition to Krishna consciousness. But they recently came to know Krishna consciousness, one week ago, and are vegetarians since 6 days. And some already want to pre-initiate to know more. Such is the power of association of devotees. But one does not get rid of all ignorance and contamination so easily. This takes patience.
Therefore the preachers are always ready to face problems, and they do not despair for this. Or at least they can take the despair. And furthermore preaching, in Colombia for instance, in a country of civil war, where they kill their brothers everyday, things are even harder. There is no place I visit in Colombia, where I do not receive the news of the death of some acquaintance. The last one was a guy who was living in the temple; in one way or the other he went to the military. For the better they offered him some attractive money. He didn't stay even 6 months there, before he was killed, instead of serving Krishna for the rest of his life.
The maximum aspiration of a disciple
And even with these adversities, things have to go on. Just the same, one has to pay the rent and have bhoga in the kitchen. And more, pities like this I almost never tell anyone. What would it help to fill people's head with problems; they already have enough with their own problems. And there is no temple that does not have some kind of problem. My service is to animate everyone, to encourage them to solve their own problems. This is my supply. This is what makes you strong, because a person, who helps the spiritual master to solve his problems, becomes like an intimate associate in his mission. This is the maximum aspiration of a disciple, to become an intimate assistant of his spiritual master.
I have just gt a grandson, his name is Arjuna. He is the son of Maricel Kanto, a devotee here in Chancay, the sister of mother Madhavi and Janavi. He came to the world with the help of doctor Subadra who is daughter of mother Janavi. So you see, the Vaisnava family is extending everywhere.
Well, with these words I close the chat for today. We will continue with the marathon of the Eco Truly Ashram.
Sankirtana of the Holy names, ki jay!
Opening spiritual oasis and maintain them all over the world, ki jay!
The distribution of transcendental literature, ki jay!
Never withdrawing and never fighting, ki jay!
Nitay Gaura, Haribol!!!
Always your well-wisher,
B.A. Paramadvaiti Swami
Translation: Manah Siksa Devi Dasi
manahsiksa@vrinda.info
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