WHO IS GURU ????

The scriptures talks only of three entities-God, soul and maya. There isn't any scope for fourth entity. So, who is Guru in this case? Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj explains,"the jeevatma (soul) when attains Paramatma (God) becomes mahatma (Guru)." In sanskrit, "Gu" means "maya" and "ru" means "to dispel". Guru is one who dispels maya from soul. Only through such Guru soul attains God. Without Guru no soul can get Shree Krishna's Divine love. Even Shree Krishna is bound by His own law-without Guru, God cannot give soul His Divine vision or Love or anything else.

Shree Gaurang Mahaprabhu said:

भक्त पद धुरी, भक्त पद जल, भक्त भुक्त अवशिष्ट तीन महाबल ।

एही सेवा हेते कृष्ण प्रेमा होय ॥

Partake of the devotee's (Guru) foot dust, foot wash and remnant of his prasadam (food)-these three things possess spiritual power and with these, one (soul) gets Divine love of Shree Krishna.

O MIND! TAKE SHELTER OF SHREE KRISHNA’S LOTUS FEET

O mind! Take shelter of Shyamsunder's soft Lotus Feet. Ones you call your own Mother, Father, Brother and Son, will not accompany you after death.

Moreover, there is no other way of escaping from the clutches of demons like Lust, Anger, Greed, Attachment and Pride. This world is like a mirage, containing not even a trace of happiness. Wealth, youth and life are temporary, disappearing like camphor.

Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj Says “O mind! You will not be blessed with a human body again and again. Therefore, do not delay in improving your pitiable condition.”

GOD IS OMNISCIENT AND OMNIPRESENT

God is eternally existing omniscient and omnipresent personality of bliss and Grace with unlimited number of powers that could be categorized in three forms : Divine intellect, almightiness, and Divine love.God can never be intellectually understood, but it is also a fact that His devotional philosophy can certainly be understood by a faithful devoted mind so that a person can establish his faith in Him, recognize his relationship with Him, and thus, start his devotion and proceeds towards God realization.

BE FREE OF MATERIAL DESIRE

An important first step for sadhana bhakti or preliminary practice of bhakti yoga is to keep your practice free of material desire.

Since we are material beings living in a material world, and everything we think is material, this may seem a bit challenging. Try to imagine it like this -if you were to eliminate all divine desires from your mind, what would remain are material desires.

At the outset, our goal is to start by keeping our practice free of material desire. As your devotional experience deepens along with your understanding of the limited nature of worldly happiness, your tendency for forming material desire will decrease naturally.

The secret behind this guideline is that Sadhana bhakti is done through mind , and you have only one mind. The mind is such a vessel, that it can be filled with worldly aspirations or the desire for spiritual enlightenment. Although we hold both of these aspirations simultaneously in the initial stages of our sadhana bhakti practice, only one is our true goal of life.

A typical worshipper of God may actually view his devotional relationship as a means to fulfill his self-directed worldly desires. This means he is looking for any kind of divine intervention to satisfy desires for his own happiness. Bhakti yoga teaches the opposite of this - selfless devotion or forming those desires that are only for the happiness of your divine beloved.

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?