TALK LESS TO PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL PATH

The person who talks too much is the one who frequently gets into fights. He himself is troubled and also troubles others. Due to this shortcoming of his, he also ruins his spiritual life. The one who remains quiet also makes mistakes, but his mistakes do not escalate. He does not experience too much hassle (while living) in the world and he also keeps sailing away in his spiritual life.

SANKIRTAN

In the age of Kali Yuga, neither yoga, nor japa, nor austerity nor abstinence, nor Vedic rituals, nor fasting, nor worship can take you to your goal; it is only through Sankirtana that one can attain God. We should practice Sankirtana with a feeling that Shri Radha Krishna are personally present in Their sweet names, it is only then that we can taste the nectar of Divine Love through Sankirtana. Chanting the holy name of Shri Krishna cleanses the mirror of the heart and extinguishes the blazing fire of misery in the form of repeated cycle of birth and death.

IS WORLDLY PROSPERITY A SIGN OF GOD'S GRACE ????

If you believe this, then when you experience a material loss, you may also feel you have lost God's grace and He has become unfavorable towards you. This inconsistent attitude causes you to fluctuate between being faithful and faithless.Every soul is bound by his karmic destiny or prarabdh, which is the outcome of his past lives' good and bad actions. Whatever material prosperity we are destined to receive is pre-determined by the immutable law of karma.A lack of worldly possessions is truly a sign of God's grace. When someone has less, he has less pride, and it is easier for him to turn towards God.

SERVING GURU IS ONLY OUR DUTY

Our masters, the Ones whom we serve and the Ones whom we worship are Shri Radha and Shri Krishna. The Vedas indicate that you should have the same devotion towards your Guru as you have towards Shri Radha and Shri Krishna. Hence our masters are Shri Radha, Shri Krishna and our beloved Guru. We have to serve only these Three. Worshipping them is our only duty. However, we should note that to know Shri Radha and Shri Krishna, surrender to Guru is extremely important.

The Vedas are asking us to take shelter under the lotus feet of your Guru, a Guru Who knows all Shastras and Who is God realized, that is, He is theoretical as well as practical. Such a surprise He needs to be.

The Vedas again tell us to get up, wake up and immediately go and get the spiritual knowledge from a Guru. Who are you, where do you have to go after death, what do you need to do now, get all this knowledge from your Guru.

Do not just keep your head in your Guru’s lotus feet, this is not surrender. Surrender your mind and serve Him. Obey His commands. Ask Him with curiosity..What is Jeev? What is Maya? Who is God? What is this world? What is this mind, intellect, body, etc..Once you get this knowledge, do your Sadhana.

The Bhagvat also says: Without a Guru, no one can cross the ocean of Maya. Hence, serving our Guru is our only duty, our only religion. We will not see God first. Only after seeing God, we will be able to serve Shyama Shyam in Golok. Before that, serve your Guru as if you are serving your God.

TRUE NATURE OF REAL SAINTS

Once upon a time, there was a devout and saintly old man. Every morning he used to sit on the banks of river Yamuna for several hours to perform devotion to Lord Krishna. One morning, as the old man opened his eyes, after his daily prayer, he saw a scorpion struggling to remain afloat in water. Seeing the helplessness of the poor creature, the kind old man's heart was filled with mercy. With an intention to rescue the scorpion, the old man quickly extended his hand inside the water. As soon as his hand touched the scorpion, the scorpion stung him. Instinctively, the man pulled back his hand. Minutes later, after the old man settled down, he again extended his hand to save the scorpion. This time the scorpion stung him very hard with its poisonous tail. His hand became swollen and started bleeding profusely. The poor old man was in great pain. The second poisonous sting however could not deter the old man's spirit. He extended his hand yet again to get the scorpion out of the water. A passerby, who was witnessing this incident, could not stop himself and shouted out aloud, “Hey, Stupid old man, what's wrong with you? Only a fool would risk his life for the sake of an ugly, evil creature. Do you want to kill yourself for an ungrateful scorpion?"

The old man turned his head and looking straight into the stranger's eyes replied calmly - "My friend! If this insignificant creature does not give up its habit of stinging, then why should I give up the habit of mercy? This is the true nature of real saints. They naturally focus on the welfare of the sinners without a reason; likewise wicked people love to infest others without any cause.

COMPLETE PURIFICATION OF THE HEART

When a dedicated and determined devotee keeps on doing his devotions his heart is gradually purified. His confidence grows, he begins to feel the closeness of Radha Krishn, and his longing for Their Divine vision increases. A time comes when all the worldly attractions cease to exist in his mind and there stays only the humble, loving and intense selfless longing for Their vision all the time. This is the state of heart purification.

DEEP DESIRE OF A DEVOTEE

(The deep desire of a devotee) O my Krishn! When will that day come that: while remembering Your name and virtues, my eyes will be constantly flooded with the tears of Your love; while meditating on Your sweet Divine form day and night, my whole being will become the embodiment of Your love; while impatiently looking to the path of Your arrival, a moment of delay will seem to extend to eons in Your separation; and, saying ‘Ha Krishn!’ ‘Ha Krishn!’ in love-stricken grief, and running and wandering here and there in Braj, I will lose my body consciousness. I fully believe that one day my Krishn will surely come to me and make me His own, forever.

O my beloved Krishn! When will that day come that I will be living in Braj forever? When will my eyes be overflowing with the tears of love while singing the glory of the name and virtues of Shyama Shyam? When will I be wandering on the paths of Gahvarban, crying, and singing, ‘Radhey, Radhey, Radhey’? When will that day come that, tipsied in Your love and thrilled with Your affection, I will be wandering in the various kunj of Vrindaban? Embracing the plants and the vines of Govardhan and drowned in the lovingness of Your love, believing that Krishn has played in these places, when will that day come that, swooning with the intense separation, I will say, “O! My Beloved! Please come soon.” And also, when will that day come that while rolling in the soils of Braj and closely experiencing Your presence I will become mad in Your love?

SOULS

Souls are unlimited in number, infinitesimal (anu) in size, initially Divine in quality but eternally blemished by maya, so they are eternally bound by their karmas which are unlimited in quantity. They are part of the Divine power called jeev shakti which is affiliated to chit shakti of God. These are the souls that are under the bondage of maya. All of the souls have a chance to realize God if they follow the guidelines of selfless devotion (bhakti) to God. There are also unlimited number of such souls that are beyond the bondage of maya. They all live in the Divine abodes of their worshipped form of God as described in our scriptures.

GREATNESS OF BHAKTI

Jagadguru Shree Kripalu Ji Maharaj explains the greatness of bhakti (devotion) :

“Whatever is difficult to receive, whatever is unattainable, and whatever is beyond the imagination of the human mind, is all obtained through bhakti. Apart from bhakti to Krishn you do not need to do anything else.”

According to Maharaj Kripalu, your soul eternally longs for such a ‘love’ that will infinately extend the peace and happiness of your mind and render your heart blissful, forever. Such a love is not a quality of this mayic world, neither a feature of your mind alone.

Devotion should not be an addition to the daily routine of your life, but rather, absorbed into all of the activities of life, large and small.

“The most important thing in devotion is that devotion should be done by the mind and not by physical senses alone.” – Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj

SHREE KRISHNA IS ONLY MY REFUGE

May He well be completely without beauty, or be the most beautiful, handsome and elegant of all; May He be completely devoid of noble qualities and virtues, or be the best amongst the virtuous with noblest qualities. He might as well despise and grudge me, or be the ocean of compassion and love for me. He, the blue-black hued, Shree Krishna is my only refuge, my only beloved.

NEVER THINK YOU ARE ALONE

We assume that we are all alone and that nobody knows what we are thinking. A man thinks against his wife while sitting next to her, because he is confident that she cannot read his thoughts. However , we forget a very important point. Our thoughts are never completely private . Sitting in our heart, God takes note of each and every thought , and gives us the fruit of that thought .In our false confidence of privacy , we commit many offenses and throw away the benefits of devotional practice. On one hand we cry and on the other hand , we commit many wrongful actions.

It will take some amount of practice to remember that God is living inside us. Make it a point to realize Him in your heart. First try to do this every hour.

ACCEPTANCE OF OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH SHREE KRISHNA

A devotee who has understood his Divine relationship with Shree Krishna, says, “O Shyamsundar (Krishna)! Now I understand…” This implies that there is something being understood now which was not understood earlier. What is that? It is the only thing that needs to be understood, and that is, “You are mine and I am Yours.” There is no need to acquire a lot of other knowledge. This is all we need to know, and yet it has taken us countless lifetimes to accept that Shyamsundar is ours and we are Shyamsundar’s. If we had understood this or if we ever manage to understand this in the future, then there will be nothing further to be known or attained.

SPIRITUAL GEMS BY SHREE MAHARAJJI

The greatest reason for not accepting one's guilt is that people think of themselves as being very intelligent. If someone calls another person a fool, it is intolerable to anyone. If one thinks logically over it, (they would realize that) everyone is ignorant. Every person has intelligence so that they can simply get by. When Guruji also pointed out a mistake, (the devotee) takes it negatively. This is the greatest drawback. What should really happen is that if a disciple is told about his weakness, he should continuously reflect upon it and should make sure that it doesn't repeat in the future. Faults definitely diminish upon trying, but if not much effort is applied in improving the weaknesses then they will not diminish as readily. One must have control over their tongue while speaking to people of their age and their elders. They should not talk back. As for Guruji, it is enough to realize that, "The mistake is surely mine."

THE KEY TO GOD REALIZATION

Longing for God is the only price one has to pay for attaining Him. Generally, people long for mother, father, husband, wife, even the cat, a dog and the canary. While many have a burning desire for a promotion, a million-dollar lottery, a big home and a fancy car. However, rare indeed is the individual who has an intense longing for unity with God.

Those who have a natural desire for God have worked on it in previous lifetimes. If you were not born with a longing for God, you will have to develop it in this life. Ask yourself, "Why do I have such a strong desire for worldly people and material goods?" Your answer will be, "It is because they will give me satisfaction and happiness." Therefore, it is happiness that you really want; it is satisfaction that you desire. Well, you should know that God is the source of unlimited happiness, and He is the one Who can give you the ultimate satisfaction.

First, understand from the innermost core of your mind that God is the only one Who is truly yours. In the Gita, Shree Krishn says, "The individual soul is an eternal fraction of Myself." Since you are the soul, the material world cannot be yours, nor can you be of the world. Moreover, the material world cannot satisfy the quest of your soul which is Divine by nature.

Realize that God alone can fulfill the desire of your soul. Then you will accept God to be your only refuge and the beloved of your soul. Longing for Him will follow automatically.

DESIRED GOAL OF THE SOUL

The desired goal of a soul is to receive the selfless Divine love of Radha Krishn. They are the Soul of your soul and are eternally related to you. Knowing this, you have to develop a deep desire to selflessly serve Them and love Them and strengthen your faith in Them. Keeping away from bad associations, yearningly remember Them and chant Their name and the leelas. That’s all you have to do and leave the rest upon Them. Just remember that They are yours and you belong to Them. They are most kind and causelessly merciful ; They will do the best for you.

DO NOT BLAME DESTINY

We Blame destiny for not having right opportunity for devotion. Many People say “No One has the power to change the destiny, not Brahma and Vishnu. If it is destined for me to practice devotion I will do automatically. No one will able to stop me. So I am going to wait for destiny to turn in my favour.” Destiny is the fruits of the actions you have willingly performed. So Stop blaming destiny and make an effort to practice devotion.

ONLY HARI-GURU ARE YOURS

None of your worldly relatives will inspire you to move towards God. They all have their own selfish motives. It is only your Guru, who will show you the right path and guide you. He will make you realize that you are someone beyond this body. You are a soul, and you had innumerable mothers, fathers, sons and spouses, in your past endless lifetimes. You were born in all the 8.4 million species of life countless times and you surrendered to everyone for getting happiness. But all deceived you. How could have they given you happiness? They were all beggars themselves!

DEVOTION IN ALL PLACES

Practice devotion in all places. Do not ever think that a place is dirty or impure and therefore unfit for prayer to God. God purifies everything that is impure, and He Himself can never become impure in the process. God has simplified the practice of devotion to such an extent, that everyone can practice it in any circumstance. Devotion to God must be exclusive. The attachment of the mind must be reserved for God while worldly duties are being performed externally. The performance of any work requires involvement of the mind, not attachment of the mind.

GOD AND GURU ARE ONE

God and Guru aren't two separate entities. God has come down to us in the form of Guru. Guru sows the seed of Divine knowledge in our heart and lovingly tends to it by providing us service opportunities. That seed of knowledge sprouts a sapling of faith and devotion, which leads us to the lotus-feet of God. It is through the Grace of Guru that a soul gets the darshan, sewa, bhakti and love of God. Thus, we should pay our obeisance to a true Guru and pray for His Grace.