O mind! Life is a matter of a few days only.

अरे मन! चार दिना की बात......

This human form is like a full moon night which will soon be over, and again the dark night will come. You are sleeping in ignorance, unaware of the fact that the passage of time is continuously shortening your life.

You are not willing to leave your sleep, even though you are perpetually being beaten by the objects of your desires. Once the opportunity to redeem yourself in this human form is missed, you will have to rotate in the cycle of life and death in 8.4 million forms of life. Then you will rub your hands helplessly and regret. 

Kripaluji Maharaj says, ”Listen to the words of rasik saints and surrender to the lotus feet of the merciful divine couple, ’Radha Krishna’.”

Let us remember what our Guru has taught us!!!!

He himself had taught us to practice the presence of God and Guru with us at all times. In concurrence with his teachings, let us remain steadfast in the conviction that, although we cannot see him with our material eyes, he continues to stay in our midst, noting our every thought and action, and showering his grace as we strive to walk the path he revealed to us. We should strongly reaffirm our resolve to implement his every Instruction for purifying our hearts and for pushing forward his mission. This is the most befitting way of showing our respect to him

What they have given to humankind during their stay in our world can never be sufficiently eulogize in words; the whole planet shall remain indebted to them for their gift of Love. We offer our respectful obeisance’s unto our Spiritual Master, who has opened our eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance, with the torchlight of knowledge…....   

In the writing of some Christian saints, emphasis is laid on contemplation. What is its place in devotional practice of the Hindu religion?

Contemplation is called Chintan, or Manan, in the Vedas. It means repeatedly bringing any aspect of Divine knowledge to the intellect. First, we hear the knowledge of the scriptures from the Guru; this is called Śhravaṇ. Then we contemplate on what we have heard or read; this is called Chintan. This Chintan or contemplation helps to strengthen the knowledge in the intellect. It is one of the most potent means of illuminating the intellect with the light of Divine knowledge.

 The power of chintan is such that if it is misutilized, it becomes chintā (worry), and it can lead suicide. Let us say that a student fails in his school final examination. Hundreds of other students fail too, but this student starts contemplating, "What will I do now? How will I show my face to my parents? What will my friends say? Life is not worth living. It is useless to exist. It is better that I die." This thought process goes out of control to such an extent that the student commits suicide. His class-fellows wonder what happened that made him take such a drastic step? This was all a result of misdirected contemplation.

The same power of contemplation, if properly directed, can lead to God-realization. We could repeatedly think, "Shree Krishna alone is mine. He is so kind and merciful. He has been sitting in my heart since endless lifetimes. He is my eternal Father, Mother, Friend and Master." Such contemplation will elevate the mind to sublime heights, enhance love for God, and boost devotional sentiments. For example, we are naturally attracted to people's qualities, but God has unlimited qualities and yet our mind feels no attraction towards Him. This is because we have never thought deeply about them. If we repeatedly think how beautiful He is, how merciful He is, etc, our love for God will grow rapidly. Contemplation is thus an important part of the daily spiritual practice.

What is The Right 'age' to start your devotional practice?

"Having attained the human form, we do not realize how precious it is. We indulge ourselves in material pleasures for sensual gratification. We devote our full attention to our family and their needs. When somebody asks a little boy/girl to do devotion, he/she replies – this is not the age to start devotion. There is still time and we can do that when we are old. When you ask a young person to do devotion, he/she flatly refuses and says that it is for old people and life is for enjoying.

When you ask a middle age person to do devotion, he/she replies that there is still time for it after retirement. Now is the time to earn money, enjoy life and look after the welfare of the family. By the time retirement comes, many ailments plague the body and there is very little strength left in the body, thereby making it difficult to perform devotion.

We forget the fact that death can come to anybody at any age at any time.

It is ironical that a father, who is taking son's body for burial, does not think about his own death, though the reality may be that he dies of a heart attack on his way to the cremation ground.

Life is very uncertain. Do not think that you will live in this human form forever.

Whatever your age is, start doing devotion!!!"

Why did God create souls and bring us into the world, where there is so much of suffering and miseries?

To answer your question, let me tell you a story. There was once a very rich man, who had a fifteen-year old son. One day, the son was alone in his father's office, when he saw a fifteen-year old newspaper. It had an article titled, "Billionaire adopts orphan child." The boy was stunned to see his father's name mentioned there. When his father returned, the son accosted him, "Father is this article true?" The father replied, "My son! It is true." "Does that mean I am not your child?" "That is right, you are not my child." The son was shocked. "Then why did you adopt me?" The father explained, "Son, I am a billionaire. I had no shortage of money, and everything that money could buy. However, I did not have anyone with whom I could share my wealth. I adopted you so that I could give you everything I possess." Similarly, God is perfect and complete in himself, and the possessor of unlimited opulences. He creates us so that he may be able to share all that he possesses with us. However, he can only do so when we truly love him. Those souls, who have learnt to love God, are with him in his eternal abode. We conditioned souls are here in the material realm because we have turned our backs towards him. God hopes and waits for the day when we too will perfect our love for him and attain him for the rest of eternity.

What should we do to get a human birth again in our next life?

There are 8.4 million species of life in existence. In the species below human beings-animals, birds, fishes, insects, birds, etc-there is no free will. Hence, upon death the soul is naturally and sequentially promoted to the next species. But human beings possess the free will to act according to their volition, and hence, they are responsible for their actions. Their next birth is decided by their karmas in the present life. The facility to do karmas is given to the human species, not for animal-like activities, but for God-realization. The scriptures state:                            आहार निद्रा भय मैथुनंम च सामान्यमेतत् पशुभिर्नराणाम .  "Eating, sleeping, defending and mating are activities that animals can do as well as humans." The human form is special because in it we can attain God. If however, some human being focuses his or her consciousness merely on eating, then the body of a pig becomes more suitable for such a person, and the soul is allotted that body in its next life. If someone makes sleeping the goal of life, God says that the body of a polar bear is more suitable for such a consciousness and allots it in the next life. In this manner, one of the factors determining our next birth is our consciousness at the time of death. Another factor determining our next life is the Law of Karma…….. The Garud Purana states :                                         ऊर्ध्वागतिस्तु  धर्मेण अधर्मेण ह्यधोगतिः   “The one who performs pious deeds goes to the higher abodes in the next life; one who does sinful activities is demoted to the hellish abodes.””As you sow, that shall you also reap” is what the BIBLE also says. However, the Law of karma and the determination of consciousness are so complex that we cannot analyze and determine our next birth by ourselves. The all-knowing God alone has the ability to determine and allot it to us…….

Why are we here in this world?

-"Once, I was giving a lecture in a town. There was a college boy, who had heard my lectures and was staying with me during his vacation. After the lecture we went for a walk. He asked me the question, "Swamiji, why are we here in this world?"

I wondered how to answer this question. There was a cinema hall in front and the night show had begun. I asked him, "Do you have money for the tickets?" He said, "Yes." I said, "Buy two tickets." He replied, "Swamiji you will see the movie!" I answered, "Let's see it with you today." So, he purchased the tickets. We were a little late. We entered the hall. It was very dark except for the screen. The gateman usher us in with his torch and with a narrow beam of light, inspected our tickets, and indicated to walk down the stairs, and said, "Sit on those two empty seats." We went and sat down there.

Now, the movie had begun. The college boy immediately engrossed himself in what was happening on the screen. It was very attractive, beautiful lights, so many colors moving at such a fast speed. Fifteen minutes went by. Now, the boy forgot that I am sitting next to him. I said, "Hey! Listen to me." The boy said, "Don't disturb." I caught his hand and gave him a jerk. Then he replied, "O Swamiji!" Now he realized. Then I asked him, "Why have we come here?" The boy didn't have any answer. Fifteen minutes ago he had asked me this question. "Let us go out; now you get the answer to your question,"

I said:"In the cinema hall you had lost total contact with reality and forgotten who are you? What are you doing? What is the goal of your life? There was some white light that was falling from the projector bulb and you identified that light as reality. "This is the hero; this is the heroine; that is villain; this is an airplane." In other words you had fallen in to illusion. What was the reason for this illusion?

 The reason was the fact that there was darkness in the hall. Because of that darkness you were engulfed in illusion. Suppose, the manager came and switched on the light. Immediately, the illusion would be dispelled and you will start thinking, "Where are my slippers; Where are my shoes; Has my handkerchief fallen down? Let me be the first to reach the car stand." The illusion would be dispelled. So, the cause of illusion was lack of light."

Similarly, God is All-light, All-knowledge, and we have lost our contact with Him. We have turned our backs towards Him. Now, turning our backs to light we have been engulfed by the darkness of Maya, the material energy of God. This material energy has made us forget our own nature. All the souls are under the influence of Maya since eternity. However, the true identity of a soul is that it is an eternal servant of Shree Krishna. Being the eternal soul we are thinking that we are material bodies. And thinking of ourselves as the body, our goal has become bodily pleasure. How to give happiness to this body? For that we are running in this world. That is the reason we are in this world."

How to teach and train mind that there is no happiness in the material world?

-There are innumerable things in the world, and each thing has endless varieties. If you try to experiencing everything first before deciding that there is no happiness in it, your whole life pass in this endeavor.

-There are people who run after money all their lives, and yet do not decide that it does not have the happiness they are seeking. Again, if you finally do come to the conclusion that the world is not a place of happiness, but the mind doubts whether or not there is happiness in God, then what will you do?

-As human beings, God has bestowed us with subtle intellects that can make this decision even without experience. Broadly, the intellects of living beings can be classified into four categories:

(1)        The lowest is the intellect of an insect. It is attracted to the fire. On coming near the flame, it gets burnt. But it does not learn from the experience, and commits the same mistake repeatedly.

(2)       The intellect of a cat is subtler. If it sits on a hot place, it learns from its experience. In future, it refuses even to sit on a cold plate, in apprehension that it may get burnt.

(3)       The intellect of sheep is even subtler. It has never been attacked by a wolf. But the moment it sees a wolf, it perceives impending danger and runs for its life.

(4)       The intellect of human is even subtler. Merely by intellectual discrimination, without seeing or experiencing, they are expected to reach the conclusion that there is no happiness in the world.

-Actually, everyone has had experience of the world to a lesser or greater extent. We made the desires of the senses and strived hard to satisfy them.  What was the experience each time? For a moment the desire is quenched, but then it arose again with redoubled intensity. This is the nature of all worldly desires, whether they are teeny-weeny cravings that you have made innumerable times in your lives or the bigger desires that loom more largely on your mind. The principle is exactly same. So we should utilize our experience to date, to reach a blanket conclusion about the nature of all worldly desires. That is what God expects us to do, and that is the instruction of the scriptures…….  

What is the difference between worldly love and love for God?

A person who loves a worldly person always doubts, and is in constant dilemma wondering, "The one whom I love, does he love me or not? And if he does, how much does he love me?" We always get caught up in thoughts like this. This is because, in this world, no one shows real sentiments. Some pretend to show more love by writing many letters, while others hide and don't express at all. Also, we always try to show that we love the other person more than he loves us. But, all the while, internally we want the other to love us more than we love him. That is why the one who loves the world is mostly tense, and wonders whether or not the other person loves him.

In the spiritual realm, there are no such worries. If you would like to determine how much your ishta deva (the chosen form of God you worship) and your Guru loves you, just measure your love. He loves you as much as you love Him. If you love Him less, then He also loves you little. If you love Him more, then He will also love you to the same extent.

How to handle work pressure and practice devotion?

Question by a Sadhak :  I am working with a finance firm. My dilemma is my job asks for too much of sales pressure and by the time I go home, my head is filled with the hardships of my work. I am not able to do sadhana because of that. I had read in one of your message that enthusiasm is very necessary for sadhana. Because of my work, I am not able to do anything and nirasha, or disappointment, is covering me completely. I am feeling very helpless. Not able to remember Maharajji, not able to go and meet him.

Answer by Swami Mukundanandaji : There are two ways of remembering God and Guru. The first way is to sit down and meditate on Them. The second way is to work with this consciousness, “I am doing this work for their pleasure.” The second may be more difficult, but it takes us to a higher level of Divine love. This is because it develops the spirit of service, or seva.

Even though your present job may be burdensome, you can easily do the second kind of remembrance. Whatever you earn from your job, use a portion of it to serve the mission of your Gurudev. In this way, by offering the fruits of your work to God, after having met your basic needs, you will develop the consciousness that you are working for His pleasure. You will then not look at your work as separate from your devotion, but as an integral part of it.

This is the Karmyog of the Bhagavad Geeta:

yatkaroṣhi yadaśhnāsi yajjuhoṣhi dadāsi yat |

yattpasyasi kaunteya tatkuruṣhva madarpaṇaṁ ||

“Arjun! Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever austerities you perform, and whatever you give away, do it as an offering to Me.”

Along with working in this spirit, whenever you find the time, you should also practice the first kind of remembrance. Whenever you can spare the time, simply sit and think of Them. This will help you block out worldly consciousness from your mind and strengthen your devotional sentiment. So, do go and spend some days a year with your Gurudev as well, whenever your yearly schedule permits.

You may be thinking that if you did not have to work at all, then you could have spent all your time in devotion. However, there are two kinds of vairagya, or detachment. The first kind is when you find the world as painful and burdensome, and want to run away from it. Shree Krishna calls it rajasic detachment (detachment in the mode of passion):

duḥkhamityeva yatkarma kāyakleśhabhayātyajet |

sa kṛitvā rājasaṁ tyāgaṁ naiva tyāgaphalaṁ labhet ||

“Giving up one’s work, thinking it to burdensome and painful, is to be considered rajasic detachment, which it does not lead to divine fruits.”

The second kind of detachment is where you continue working, while giving up attachment to the results. In other words, you practice to become equanimous in pain and pleasure, success and failure, hardship and luxury, favourable and unfavourable situations. Shree Krishna calls this sattvic detachment (detachment in the mode of goodness):

kāryamityeva yatkarma niyataṁ kṛiyaterjuna |

saṅg tyaktvā phalaṁ chaiva sa tyāgaḥ sātviko mataḥ ||

“Performing one’s work, simply because it is to be performed, while giving up attachment to the fruits, is sattvic detachment.”

Hence, the proper path for spiritual progress is to practice devotion along with our prescribed work, even though it may be painful and burdensome. When our detachment develops to such an extent that we no longer find our work burdensome, no matter how difficult it may be, on then should we consider giving up work, and performing devotion full time. However, this step of karma sanyas is taken only under the guidance of the Guru. The vast majority of the people will have to do karmyog, where they continue doing their work, but make their consciousness divine.

While doing karmyog, you can remember God and Guru in other ways as well. Practice to feel Their presence with you. Think that They are with you and are watching you. Make Them your witness in every activity that you perform. This will help you keep your mind in the Divine realm, while you do your worldly duties with your body.

How to decide which God to worship?

Question by a Sadhak to H.H.Swami Mukundanandaji : There was a Ram temple in our house; I was in the habit of hearing the Tulsi Ramayan, and meditating on the form of Lord Ram.  But after marriage, in my in-laws’ house, I began reading the Durga Saptaśhati and observing Navrātras.  When I heard the Bhāgavat saptāha, I liked the leelas of Shree Krishna.  How should I decide which God to worship?

Answer by H.H.Swami Mukundanandaji :  Although Ram, Durga, Krishna are all different forms of the one Supreme Lord, yet it is advisable to focus your devotion on a single form.  There is a Hindi saying:

eka sādhe saba sadhe, saba sādhe saba jāya

 “If you focus all your attention on a single activity, you will succeed in it.  But if you try to succeed in multifarious things at the same time, you will fail in all of them.”  With the same logic, if you try to love all the forms of God, you will end up loving none.  But if you devote your mind to one form, you will develop love for all of them.  So you must choose one form to worship, which is called “Iṣhṭa Dev”, or the devotee’s chosen form of God for devotion.

Now the question you have asked is about how to choose your Iṣhṭa Dev.  In deciding this, you must consider which form of God is attractive to the mind.  If your Iṣhṭa Dev has a beautiful form, you will find it much easier to meditate on Him.  Also, if your Iṣhṭa Dev has wonderful pastimes, it will be very helpful in your devotion.  To turn your mind towards God, leelas also play an important role.  By hearing and chanting those leelas, devotees increase their love for God.  From both these view points, devotion to Shree Ram and Shree Krishna is both sweet and easy.  Hence, They are also the most popular Iṣhṭa Devs in India.  Their sweet pastimes are lovingly sung and remembered in temples and houses in every part of the country.

Amongst Them, Shree Krishna manifests four special nectars, above and beyond any other Avatar of God:

Exceptionally attractive form (His famous three-fold bending form with a flute on His lips).

1. Amazing sweetness of His flute that attracts even Lord Shankar.
2. The sweetest childhood pastimes that enchant the minds of devotees.
3. Leelas displaying the greatness of love, which reveal how God forgets His Almightiness because of the love of His devotees.
4. For all these reasons, I would highly recommend that you make Shree Krishna and His Divine Consort, Shree Radha Rani, as your Iṣhṭa Dev.  However, if you decide to choose any other forms of God, that is also fine.

How can I insulate my mood from fluctuations based on the behavior of others?

Question by a Sadhak

When anyone criticizes me or gets annoyed with me, it disturbs me to no end; so much so, that sometimes the whole day is spent in brooding. How can I insulate my mood from fluctuations based on the behavior of others?

Answer by H.H.Swami Mukundanandaji

The solution is to develop a better understanding of the world, based on scriptural knowledge. The Vedas say that this material energy, Maya, consists of three guṇas: sattva guṇa, or the mode of goodness, rajo guṇa, or the mode of passion, and tamo guṇa, or the mode of ignorance.

Everyone’s mind too is made from Maya, and so the three modes of Maya exist in the mind as well. Depending upon the environment and where we focus our thoughts, one of the guṇas becomes prominent and our mind takes on that quality. If sattva guṇa dominates, one becomes peaceful, contented, generous, kind, helpful and serene. When rajo guṇa gains prominence, one becomes passionate, agitated, ambitious, envious of others success, and desirous for sense pleasures. When tamo guṇa becomes prominent, one is overcome by sleep, laziness, hatred, anger, resentment, violence, and doubt.

For example, let us suppose you are sitting in your library, engaged in study. There is no worldly disturbance, and your mind has become sāttvic. After finishing your study, you sit in your drawing room and switch on the television. Seeing all the imagery makes your mind rājasic, and increases your hankering for sense pleasures. While you are watching your favorite channel, your family member comes and changes the channel to her liking. This disturbance causes tamo guṇa to develop in your mind, and you are filled with anger. In this way, the mind sways between the three guṇas, and takes on the corresponding qualities.

This fluctuation takes place constantly in everyone’s minds, altering their thoughts amongst the three modes. When two people’s guṇas are divergent, their ideas, interests, desires and tastes also become divergent, and that causes strife. This strife exists everywhere, between husband-wife, father-son, brother-sister, friend-companion, and so on. Congruence can happen only when two people have the same guṇas. However, since everyone’s guṇas are fluctuating, it is unreasonable to expect that the other person’s guṇas will constantly match ours.

The reason for our anxiety is that we have unreasonable expectations. We want others to always think in the same manner as we do. And when this does not happen, we get disturbed. Instead if we could realize that invariably people will have views differing from ours, and this is very natural due to the three modes of material nature, we will not be disturbed when they oppose us or criticize us.

So by increasing our understanding of the world, we can insulate ourselves from the fluctuating moods of others.

DIVINE EXPERIENCES OF INAUGURATION OF PREM MANDIR,VRIDAVAN

We arrive in Vrindavan, the land where Shri Radha Krishna spent their childhood days, and head over to our ashram.  After freshening up, we head directly over to Prem Mandir by pedal cart through the streets of Vrindavan.  We finally arrive near Prem Mandir and we can see the beautiful pure white Italian marble structure erected by skilled artisans from across India.  From afar, just one glimpse and one would think what is this marvelous structure that is grandeur than the Taj Mahal.  It’s when you arrive at Prem Mandir, then you realize the sheer beauty and gift of divine love that is erected on the very ground that Shri Krishna and Radha Rani used as their play ground.

There are so many gates on the main road that one would get confused as to which gate to enter through.  Luckily, there were security guards directing traffic and showing the way into the mandir.  The first gate is the main entrance and opens to a beautifully landscaped garden thus leading to the main entry of the mandir.  The second gate leads to the Jagadguru Dham and Sadhana Hall (the Sadhna Hall is under construction [for the Prem Mandir opening a temporary hall was created which would take a whole page just to describe it which would be fully air-conditioned and would seem to hold more than 1,000 people respectively.  The third gate is for vehicle parking.  The last two gates lead to the charity hospital which will provide free medical services to all those that need it.

Throughout the entire festival period, Maharaji has fed everyone with three excellent meals and at various times a sweet was also provided.  The management was excellent as so many devotees had volunteered to assist with the kitchen and dining areas.  There were separate dining quarters for women, for foreigners and disabled people, and for men.   This helped alleviate the traffic in a big way and at most times there was very minimal waiting periods to receive the Prasad of Maharaji.

Sitting inside the mandir or even outside one gets a true feeling of divine love that is flowing from within the mandir.  With every thought in Radha Krishna, we will be so much closer to reaching our divine destination.

Day 1 – Kalash Yatra & Start of Havan

Our day begins as per Brahma Murat at 4:30 am with Prathna, Aarti, and Sadhna.  This is a daily routine which will continue for the next 3 days.  Today the hall is full with over 2000 people with almost 1500 of them dressed in a Yellow Saree, Dhoti or Paijama (matching Thakorji).  Everyone has wrapped a Radhe Shami around their body to show their love and appreciation of Shri Maharaji.  At 5:30 am, the participants of the Kalash Yatra leave the Sadhna hall to prepare.  As a dress code was mandatory, Kalash yatra participants were dressed in yellow.  As each person scrambles to get their Kalash and form an orderly line, almost 2 hours pass.  Now, there are over 2700 Kalash yatra participants lined up to perform Kalash Yatra.  Everyone has a nicely decorated copper Kalash filled with the water of River Yamuna.   What’s mind boggling is the monstorous task of decorating 3000 Kalash’s for each participant

We sit, wait, and watch in the garden for this long line of Kalash Yatra participants.  The Havan has already begun with Maharaji’s immediately family sitting at the head of the Havan.  We wait for Maharaji to appear.  The weather is quite gloomy and foggy today, with no sun in sight.  It’s also very cold outside and we feel for the Kalash Yatra participants as they are only wearing dhotis and sarees to cover themselves and have been standing in line for 3 hours now while either holding the Kalash filled with water on their head.  Suddenly, a slight drizzle comes as if Yugal Sarkar is crying to wash Prem Mandir from the outside.  As we sit and wait, we see a flock of birds (probably about 20 or so) fly around Prem Mandir and slowly swoop towards the entrance to get a glimpse of Yugal Sarkar.  The doors are not open so they get a beautiful darshan of Yugal Sarkar and all of Shree Krishna Leelas from the various 3D plates created and attached to the walls of the mandir.  The birds then swoop forward and head on their way, being enlightened by the darshan of Yugal Sarkar. 

Finally, Maharaji appears and immediately heads to the Havan area.The band is ordered now to begin their march and slowly everyone proceeds to Prem Mandir.   Now each participant places the Kalash on their head and move towards Prem Mandir along with the various orchestras.  There is a standing order as follows:  The three Didi’s, Maharajji’s Pracharaks, Foreigners – both men and women, then last come Indian Men followed by Indian women.  In between each group there are bands and orchestras performing dances, playing loud music on drums, gants, etc, and a beautiful row of children dressed as peacocks.  This is one sight to see as the group marches up towards Prem Mandir.  The group now moves into the mandir and each participant is given an area of the mandir to wash with Yamuna Jal.  Some are fortunate enough to have Maharaji stand next to them and give them clear instructions of scrubbing a little harder to clean the mandir.  The mandir is now cleaned by over 2700 people and more than 2000 litres of Yamuna Jal.  Surprisingly, Maharaji makes an announcement during the day that there will be another opportunity tomorrow for Kalash Yatra.  This is not with new devotees but with existing participants.  How lucky the participants are to be able to repeat Kalash Yatra.

The Havan continues throughout the day and all Devotees are led to the sadhna hall to perform sadhna.  Sadhna continues throughout the day till evening with the occasional lunch, dinner, and tea breaks.  For the next 3 days, there will be continuous sadhna by all devotees.

The evening holds a special event for all devotees.Maharaji has arranged for Vrindavan’s famous Raas Leela performing group to perform for all that have come.  Maharaji starts with aarti of Yugal Sarkar, this is the Yugal Sarkar from the Raas Leela.  Many devotees felt that it was the real Yugal Sarkar that had appeared for aarti.  Then the entertainment begins with the live performance of Raas Leela.  What a most enjoyable time everyone had on their first day of Prem Mandir inauguration.

Day 2 – Repeat Kalash Yatra and visit Rangeeli Mahal

Today we repeat the Kalash Yatra but with a different tone. After the aarti is completed, Kalash Yatra participants start the line formation process.  It’s the same as the previous day but with a twist.  Today, participants have increased to a total of 3,000.  In addition to this, Maharaji is also participating by carrying a golden Kalash on his head along with the three Didi’s and various Pracharaks.  He starts the march to the mandir with the rest of the pracharak’s and devotees following.  As Maharaji and the Pracharaks enter Prem Mandir and perform the ritual, the other devotees encircle prem mandir three times while carrying the Kalash on their heads.

After the Kalash Yatra is completed, then almost 600 foreigner devotees and 400 indian devotees went to Barsana to perform Abhishek, Jagadguru Aarti, as well as Satsung with Maharaji.  Fourteen buses were arranged to move devotees from Vrindavan to Barsana.  As we arrive in Barsana, Maharaji just announces that Abhishek and Aarti will now commence at 4:30pm.  So he says, please enjoy the wonderful lunch and we will meet in the afternoon.

After lunch, we decided that it made sense to see Barsana and Radha Rani mandir.  As the ashram is only minutes from Barsana we decide to talk the path most travelled by foot.  We arrive within seconds of the mandir closing the curtains and we get the last darshan of Radha Rani.  As we still had time we decided that it made sense to see some of the sites like Maan Mandir and  Mandir Shri Kushal Bihariji.  We then return back to Rangeeli Mahal to await our meeting with Maharaji. 

We arrive at Rangeeli Mahal and there is a line queued to enter the main sadhna hall.  As each person enters slowly, we find a place to sit as close to Maharaji as possible.  The devotees that have signed up to perform Jagadguru aarti are sitting in the front while abhishek devotees are right behind them.  Men to the left and women to the right.  Maharaji enters the sadhna hall and we immediately start the Jagadguru aarti.  After the aarti is finished, Maharaji goes into his private chamber and we proceed to a queue for abhishek.  Each devotee is allowed to wash the feet of Maharaji and then receive a gift from him.  After abhishek is finished, Maharaji has also provided prashad in the form of Samosas and Soan Papdi.  Then we re-enter the hall and Maharaji has now announced a special photo session where one can have his/her picture taken with Maharaji.  This photo will be cherished for a life-time.  After the photo session, devotees form a queue to receive the Jal of Maharaji’s charan. 

We wait now to proceed back to Vrindavan.  Maharaji then makes a special announcement that everyone must eat dinner at the ashram and also take part in Kirtan after dinner, afterwards the bus will take everyone back to Vrindavan.  We immediately eat dinner and proceed to the small sadhna hall next to Maharaji’s living quarters.  Maharaji then appears in a great mood and sings along with us his favorite Kirtan, Topiwala Barsana Wari.  Afterwards, we board our respective buses and return back to Vrindavan.

Meanwhile, the entertainment continues in the evening at Prem Mandir with the Raas Leela group and their performance of Dayand avatar.   Additionally, the importance of the name of Radha is explained, lucky are those that were able to attend this session.

Day 3 – Opening Day

Today is the big day and thus we again start at 4:30 am with Prathna, Aarti, and Sadhna.  There will be a balloon launching, Prem Mandir aarti, as well as the official opening of Prem Mandir to the public.  There are over 12,000 devotees present for the opening ceremony of which 600 are foreigner devotees that have flown in from around the world to partake in this unique celebration of divine love. 

The food is extra special today with special boondi ladoo prasad being distributed to all that come.  Sadhu bhog also takes place with gifts  given to all Sadhu’s that have turned up for the Prem Mandir celebration.  The Sadhu’s are given food, Prasad, and also gifts such as blankets from Maharaji.

In the evening, the Raas Mandri group continues their performance and plays holi with the Devotees. 

The balloon launching begins with all devotees gathered around the Gowardhan sculpture in front of the main entrance of the mandir.  Each is a given a balloon to launch.  There is chanting of Hare Rama Hare Krishna as there is word that Yugal Sarkar is coming.   Maharaji arrives and the fun begins with Maharaji launching the first balloon followed by the rest of the balloons by the devotees.  The sky is filled with colorful helium balloons providing for the grand entry of Yugal Sarkar.

Surrounding Prem Mandir, are beautifully landscaped gardens, water falls, laser show water fountains and many different sculpted objects within the gardens.  A Kadamb tree sits in the main garden with Radha Krishna sitting on a Jhula hanging beneath the tree.  There is a great structure erected in front of the main entry of the mandir.  This structure is what looks like a real life-like Govardhan hill with Shree Krishna holding it up with his pinky and the Brajwasi’s all looking for protection from their beloved.  What’s amazing about this structure is that it’s Shree Krishna’s pinky that is holding the man-made Govardhan Hill, with no other supports to be seen.

The divine love that is flowing from Prem Mandir is not only captured from the outside but also within the mandir itself.  All around the mandir, there are many plates created in white marble using a special 3D engraving machine depicting the various leelas of Shri Krishna.   As you enter the mandir, you’ll notice large doors for the entry way and on both sides of the entryway are 3d carvings of Yugal Sarkar thus following around the mandir from birth to full age leelas of Shri Krishna.  One that is very memorable is the Maha Raas Leela.  There are so many doors all around the mandir giving one a feeling of Radha Krishn calling out to any and all with open arms to experience the bliss of divine love.

The first prem mandir aarti will be performed by devotees.  There are so many devotees lined up to perform the aarti.  They are all lead in with foreigner devotees standing on the ground floor and Indian devotees on the first floor.  Maharaji appears and the Ram Sita “Vigrah” is revealed.  Maharaji now start the aarti with the devotees followed by Mahraji’s parivar from the Havan.  Afterwards, he heads downstairs and reveals the Yugal Sarkar “Vigrah” and immediately starts the Yugal Sarkar aarti.  After the aarti is finished, then the devotees that are present inside the mandir take aarti and view the beauty of the mandir from the inside.  The remaining devotees and guests will only be able to visit the inside of the mandir after 2:00 pm when the mandir will be officially open to the public.

Inside the mandir there are two levels.   On the ground floor there is a Yugal Sarkar “Vigrah” and on the first floor a Ram Sita “Vigrah”.  Words cannot describe the sheer beauty of both Murtis.  Yugal Sarkar look as if they are really in front of us and talking to us. 

The Shringhar is absolutely beautiful and looks as if it’s radiating from afar.  All around the mandir there are so many decorated pillars and 3D carvings everywhere you look.  These 3D carvings are once again of Shree Krishna Leela, Maharaji, the four other Jagadguru’s,  Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and of course the Jagadguru Parivar.  There is one beautiful wax figure of Maharaji while he is creating his beautiful padhs.  Just looking at this wax figure one would get the feeling that Maharaji is really right in front of you.    The ceilings have beautiful chandaliers hanging to provide light and decorative beauty.  The internal dome structure is delicately carved and one would have to wonder how the artisans were able to climb so high to carve the designs.  Every wall inside and out is filled with Radha Krishna prem.   The internal walls have couplets of Radha Govind Geet to once again remind the visitor of the divine love of Radha Krishn.  Each 3D carving is so beautifully painted that it gives the feeling that this must be the real Radha or real Krishna performing leelas in front of us.

The first floor also has a structure which has not been revealed.  Some say it’s a robotic structure designed by a devotee in the US.   The mystery entices us to visit the mandir again to find out what Maharaji will reveal.  In my opinion, there is no mandir in the world that displays the clear bliss of divine love of Yugal Sarkar.

ATTACH YOUR MIND TO GOD

Whenever you practice devotion to God, you should first understand that the mind must be attached to God. Worldly work can be performed even without the attachment of the mind, and people of the world will accept that work as genuine work.  However, God cannot be fooled, He does not accept the external formalities if the mind is not involved. Resolve to yourself that from today onwards, you will involve the mind in devotional practice. Then you will see how far you will reach within even one week’s time.

GOD RESIDES IN ALL CREATURES

Once, Saint Eknath was traveling from Kashi to Rameshwaram. He was carrying his kamandal which he had filled up with the water of river Ganga. It was summer, and it was difficult to get water for miles. Suddenly he saw a donkey, which was dying of thirst. He poured the water from his kamandal into its mouth. When His disciples saw this, were astonished, and asked him, “What have you done? Now, how will the consecration of Lord Shiv be done?” Saint Eknath replied in a voice of absolute contentment, “Oh! Did you not see that it was Lord Shiv (Rameshwaram) Himself, Who came here in the form of a donkey! He is so graceful! He did not want us to take the trouble to go there, so He came here Himself."