Reklama
prabhupada.jpg
Reklaminis skydelis
Komentarai
  • Ar galima valgyti saulegrazas per ekadsi?
  • nu geras 8)
  • Čia nepaminėtas atvejis, kai šventų vardų kartojim...
  • Sveiki, Klaipėdoje yra radijo stotis "Radijogama",...
  • Labas vakaras, ar beturite šitą knygą?
Pradžia Garsas ir vaizdas Paskaitos Apie Jėzaus Kristaus mokymą - Radhanatha Svamiis

Apie Jėzaus Kristaus mokymą - Radhanatha Svamiis

Vartotojo vertinimas: / 10
BlogiausiasGeriausias 

Toliau girdėsite JŠ Radhanatha Svamio paskaitą "Jėzaus Kristaus mokymas". Paskaita skaityta 2004-12-25 Mumbajuje, Indija.

Originali paskaita yra čia: http://audio.iskcondesiretree.com

Toliau yra šios paskaitos transkripcija anglų kalba (tekstas netaisytas)

 

On behalf of all of the assembled devotees i wish to thank Srinathaji prabhu, Maituli priya dd, and their illustrious family for making this event possible. They have worked very devotionaly to create this transcendental atmosphere for the pleasure of the vaishnavas. so many nice green trees, which is very appropriate to the occasion of Christmas. Should i speak something on the subject tonight? Today is Christmas. in fact in europe it's christmas afternoon, in america it's christmas morning. so at this particular time worldwide perhaps the most celebrated

festival. in fact in america two of the largest selling christmas songs in all of history: white christmas and the christmas song. perhaps more they're two of the largest selling records in the history of the record industry. and every store,  every mall, everywhere you hear them played all the time. and they're both written by jews, irving berlin and mel tormey. one is a jew from new York, the other jew is from Chicago. so this celebration of christmas is very universal in that sense. It is the christmas fever. then the nicest of the christmas fever although it is heavily exploited by commercialism and capitalism and greed. the basic spirit is being exploited, is the spirit of goodness and giving. christmas spirit is the spirit of wanting just to give to others. somehow or other for most people, in the west especially, there's a fever of charitable mist in Christmas. in fact, in many stores over fifty percent of their business is during the christmas season. i know some stores, where eighty percent of their business is during the christmas season and the rest of the year they have to keep it open just so people know it's there for the christmas season. What I have spoken is true. why is that? because it's just become a culture, a tradition to give gifts, to be charitable on christmas. so many charitable donations go to various philanthropic enterprises especially during the christmas season, because people really have a charitable disposition. somehow or other they're happy and they want to give. and that's why the Hare Krishna movement have their christmas marathon every year. we call it december marathon here but in the west it's the christmas marathon, because more people buy Prabhupads books in the christmas season than any other time of the year. Why is that? because people are just in the mood of giving. they're in the mood of some religious sentiment, and you give them something and tell them its for the good cause, and oh, yes, yes, it is the Christmas season, please take. i will take the book, take this donation. other times of the year: who are you? what are you doing? Why are you dong? So yes, it is true, christmas spirit is that people wanting to do good, wanting to be good, and wanting to give gifts, charity and show affection to others. and you know, common simple people, i won’t tell you, what most of them eat on Christmas, because they don't know better, but common people actually have that real sense of just wanting to do good and be good. would you agree shyamasundar prabhu? so where does this come from? christmas is the appearance day of a of jesus Christ. Srila Prabhupada called jesus christ a shaktyavesa avatar, that means a divine personality who was especially empowered by lord krishna and sri Radharani, especially empowered to imbibe and teach principles of sanatana dharma or religion, true religion according to time, place and circumstances.

And when prabhupada would talk to devout Christians, he would often say, and he would say it with sincerity, that we accept jesus as our guru, because he taught the essential universal principles of religion. of course in the age of kali sectarian people mix their false egos with their religious beliefs and become judgmental toward others, and we are the only way, and there is no other way, and if you don't follow my way you will go to hell and burn forever. some people even consider killing a nonbeliever to be cleaning the pollution of the earth. Hare Krishna. but when we actually study a little teachings and the example of saintly persons, we find, although there may be philosophical variations to what extent the absolute truth is described, and to what extent the rasas of love are developed in their teachings, the empowered representatives of the lord according to time, place and circumstance are teaching essential spiritual principles. jesus taught very very foundational, fundamental principles that any true spiritual society must live by. and as gaudiya vaishnavas we may have a very very deep and high philosophy, which we do, which describes the lord's form in the spiritual world, the lords pastimes in the spiritual world, the rasas of intimate loving exchanges that the lord has with different types of devotees in the spiritual world: madhurya rasa, vatsalya rasa, sakhya rasa, dasya rasa, but at the same time through the example of the acarya's and through the teachings the basic principles faith, morality and selfless surrender are actually common in all the great religions of the world. and many of them, we can be honest and humble and feel ourselves very far from actually practicing adequately. so since Prabhupada said, we accept jesus as a guru, let us hear some of the things that he taught today. There are some nice parallels, interesting parallels. because if you know, when krishna was aham bija pradah pita, krishna said i am the supreme father of all living entities. and lord jesus called himself the son of god. and he prayed to god as father. and sometimes he was calling himself a son of man, because although he was a divine being, he took birth like anyone else, as a son of a man. so when jesus prayed, oh father in heaven, as devotees, by the grace of Prabhupada in our guru parampara, we understand who he is praying to. The Supreme personality of godhead, who is isvarah paramah Krishnah, sat cit Ananda vigrahah, who has an eternal form sort of bliss and full of knowledge.

Thank you, thank you, very charitable. yes, during christmas everyone in the west, almost everyone, they are smiling at each other, Merry Christmas. they are actually wishing each other to be merry and happy. other times of the year nobody's like that. It is like: hi, what are you doing? so we know that there was a Marry who was to be married to Joseph. and angel came to Marry and said that the lord is going to send his devotee into your heart, and you will be pregnant and have a child. She could not understand this. she wasn't very highly educated. she was very simple. but there's a beautiful prayer, where she just completely unconditionally, selflessly just surrendered to god, that whatever you want to do with me let it be. i am yours. in whatever way you want to use me, i am your servant. and we understand the vasudeva platform is when you completely surrender to god, unconditionally, without ulterior motives, without egoistic concerns, not even concerned what anybody thinks of you. Cause she wasn't even married at the time. what will people think? but she didn't care. when the angel told her that god wants to use you as an instrument, she said: i am yours, whatever way you want to use me, let me be your instrument. i surrender. and that was her qualification. She became pregnant, she was married and. she was pregnant, according to the Christians, without the sexual relationship with a man. it was a divine birth. then some wise men from the east, some say they were from india, but some wise men from the east, they could understand by their calculations and by their intuition that a divine godly being was going to take birth in the area of Israel. so, they went to the king. he was the local king, his name was Erode. and the real king was in the roman empire, the king of the roman empire. but there was local king, who was under the control of the roman emperor, and that was Erode. these wise men came and told him that the son of god, the king of the jews is going to be born. do you know where it is? We are following the star and we want to know. he became very very disturbed, because he was the king of the jews, and who is this competitor king of the jews? he said, you go find them, you know, follow your star and you find them and you come back and report to me, where he is. his intention was to murder the child. so, they followed the star and it brought them to a goshala, where there were some cows. Because when Mary was pregnant, Joseph wasn’t living in Bethlehem, he was living in Nazareth, but he had to pay taxes, so they went to Bethlehem to pay their taxes and at that time all the hotels and motels where full, so they stayed in a goshala, and there jesus appeared. the wise men saw him and understood that he was an incarnation, and they worshiped him and honored him with frankincense and oils. and they didn't go back to Erode to tell him anything, because they knew his evil heart. so Herod was so furious that he ordered every single male child, two years and less, must be murdered. so he sent his soldiers out, very horrible, demoniac people. they just went to the whole area of Bethlehem and killed every child male that was born within two years. meanwhile an angel told joseph that you should go to Egypt with your son and wife, so they left in the middle of the night. does that sound familiar?

Herod was the Kamsa of the bible. and then after Herod died, joseph brought his little boy jesus back into Israel area. she doesn't like to hear about children being killed. She is less than two, so she can relate to this problem. of course it's a long story and we don't want to speak too much tonight, but he was baptized by John the Baptist, and then he began his preaching mission. he really had a fearless preaching mission. He saw a few fishermen, who were fishing all night long and they didn't catch any fish. they finished the night and they just came back with empty nets, and they were distraught. so, jesus told them: put your nets back into the sea. this is the sea of Galilee. put your nets back in the sea. they put their nets back in the sea, and they took them out, and they were filled with tens and thousands of fish in a matter of seconds. these were the kinds of people, jesus was dealing with. Just very simple fishermen. but then he told them to just leave the fish back, because they develop faith in him and he said: now you follow me and be fishermen for man. yes. with the net of my mercy, with the net of god's grace, now you go fishing for man, take them out of the sea of material existence and bring them to the kingdom of god. peter and his brother Andrew, james and others, and gradually he had twelve apostles, or very very serious followers. he was traveling and preaching so many ways, and performing wonderful activities of compassion to others. we explained today, how he was in the spirit of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the sense that he really did not care about, and he was really against hypocritical ritualistic, egoistic religious leaders. yes Caitanya Mahaprabhu was very strong. Caitanya Mahaprabhu made Haridas Thakur the nama Acharya, acharya of the chanting of the holy names. why? he wanted to show the world that even a person of untouchable background can be the guru of the universe if they are sincerely chanting god's name and following god's laws. in today's society that is a little radical, but five hundred years ago in bengal that was immensely radical. if you're an untouchable the hindu society would not even look in your direction for spirituality. and especially the cast brahmins. as far as they were concerned, unless you're a Brahmin, you cannot be a teacher. there's only one way to liberation and that is through surrendering to a Brahmin. Mahaprabhu crashed through the sectarian egoistic, mundane misconceptions. so, we told a little story in class this morning about how a prostitute, fallen outcast woman, came to jesus. the amazing thing was, it was in the house of one of the high priests. so many other high priests were there. this woman just started weeping and crying and saying: i'm a sinner, i'm a sinner, please forgive me, lord. please forgive me. then with her tears, she was just so repentant for her sins, that she washed jesus feet with her tears, and then wiped it with her hair. then asked him if she can anoint his feet with fine fragrant expensive oils. these priests were thinking: she's an untouchable, she's an outcast, how is he allowing her to touch him. disgusting, and he is supposed to be representing us? sure, they were really disturbed, severely.

Then these fine oils, as far as they were concerned, those oil should be offered on the altar. jesus said, yes you can put them on my feet. they became very disturbed, because she was offering with love to the representative of god. we were speaking this morning, how when you offer something to the representative of god, it's the way of offering to Krisna. when Prabhupada was criticized for being driven from the airport in a nice Cadillac, Prabhupada told the newspaper reporters that there's no limit to what you can offer to a representative of God, cause he is keeping nothing for himself, he's just offering it to god on behalf of that person. he said, if they were to pick me up, prabhupada said this to the american journalists, he said, if they were to pick me up in a solid gold Rollsroyce that would not be good enough. Hare Krishna. Prabhupada was so simple and humble and accepted nothing for himself. jesus too is offering this principle. some of the universal principles that he taught to his followers and to those who gathered around him, are very nice to contemplate. he said that the poor in spirit shall enter the kingdom of god. now, in the bhagavatam queen Kunti says the same thing:

janmaisvarya sruta sribhir,
edhamana madah puman,
naivarhaty abhidhatum vai,
tvam akincana gocaram

Akincana means one who is in powerty. Queen Kunti says that opulences of wealth, high birth, beauty and high education are the greatest disqualifications to attain Krishna. why? because they have a tendency to make one proud. then she ends this verse with, tvam akincana gocaram - who can understand Krishna? only those who are impoverished. what does that mean, impoverished? it doesn't mean without money. it means without ego and attachment. Yudhisthira Maharaja was a king with the royal throne, as was Prataparudra. they had billions of dollars of today's calculation, but they were akincana gocaram, they were impoverished, or as jesus would say, they were poor in spirit, that means they were humble, they accepted that everything belongs to god, nothing is mine. Sarva loka mahesvaram. they were humble, they were custodians of whatever god gives them, to use in god service. so jesus said, the poor in spirit, they shall inherit the kingdom of god. that means humble, without ego, simple. whether we're living in a palace or whether we are living under a tree, this spirit is the qualification to actually with feeling chant the holy      names. He said, the meek shall inherit the earth. now, today people are thinking, if I am meek, i will simply be exploited. yes. we see throughout history, it's not meek people that have power on earth. Ravana, Hiranyakasipu, they were conquerors. Hiranyakasipu conquered the entire earth and most of the universe. he was not a meek person. he was the very embodiment of arrogance. he told Prahlad, there is no god except me! who do you dare to worship other than me? show me a god and i will kill him! Hare Krishna. That is arrogance. but actually Krishna in the form of time annihilates everyone with false ego. but those who are humble, those who are meek, those who understand that i come to this world with nothing and i will leave this world with nothing, and while i'm on this world, whatever god gives me, it is all his. why should i be proud? Krishna is ability in man. Krishna is the strength of the strong. Krishna is the intelligence of the intelligent. we are all completely dependent on Krishna at every moment. To have that consciousness is to be meek.

Amanina manadena - when we have that consciousness, naturally we will be respectful to others, and we will not be attached to be respected ourselves. he said, those who have hunger and thirst for righteousness, they will receive the blessings of the Lord. this is what we should hunger for. in kali yuga people are hungry for money, hungry for power, hungry for prestige, hungry for sex life, hungry for television, hungry for cinemas, hungry for good food. yes. hungry for stereo systems, and hungry for… so many things people are hungry for. and thirsty for. But jesus says, the qualification to enter the kingdom of god is you have to be hungry and thirsty for righteousness, for doing the right thing, for acting as a servant of the lord with morality and dignity. and he said, those who are merciful they will obtain mercy. if you want your heart to access mercy, what is required? to be merciful. if we are not merciful to others, god will not be merciful to us. mercy is everywhere like the downpour of rain. but heart cannot access it unless we are merciful to others. jesus also said: if you don't forgive others for what they have done against you, you will not be forgiven for your offenses against others. so those who are merciful to others, they shall obtain god's mercy. and those who are pure in heart will obtain the kingdom of god. how do we purify our heart? by not dirtying it, by engaging in immoral, unethical and offensive activities, and clean it through our prayer, through our service, and through our chanting of the holy names. He said, blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall attain peace. another words, if we are trying to create peace amongst others. as you give, you will receive. and then he said, blessed are those who are persecuted. because you're following me, people will criticize you, they will defy you, they will reject you, they will persecute you in every way. blessed are such person, cause they shall obtain the kingdom of god. and jesus said, i have not come to abolish the laws of the religion of our fathers. i have come to fulfill them. should i continue? and he gave some examples. he said, in the scripture it is said: thou shall not kill, but i say that even if you become angry upon one of your brothers or sisters, then you will be cast in a miserable situation, then you have defied the laws. if you criticize others, if you speak harshly against others, then you have defied the law. Jesus was strict. he said, in the scripture it is said: thou shall not commit adultery. he said, but i say that even if you look at the opposite sex with lust in your eye, you've already committed adultery. better yet pluck out your eye and cast it away, because it's better to be with one less member in your body than for your whole body to burn in hell. Hare Krishna. he said, according to the law you should love your neighbors, love your friends, and hate your enemies. but i say, you should love your enemies. if your enemy comes you comes to you and slaps you on the left cheek, you should humbly turn your right cheek and say: here's the other side. if he takes your coat, give them your cloak also.

It is said that eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but i say, you should be tolerant and forgiving, because if you love those who love you, if you only love those who do good to you, then what is the difference between you and the tax collectors? they also like people who do things for them. if you cannot forgive and love your enemies, then what is the difference between you and any other ordinary person? he also said that we should not seek admiration. we should not seek to be praised or glorified in the eyes of the world. He said whatever we do good, it should be done for the pleasure of the lord within our heart. he said, the hypocrites, the Pharisees, the ordinary people, when they give in to charity, they give in such a way that people will blow trumpets and praise them. but i say, what you give with your right hand not even your left hand should see it. he said, if you have given to charity and get the praise of men, that's all you'll get. you get what you want at the praise of men. But if you give in secret, then the lord within the heart we'll give you himself. you will get his blessing, you will get his mercy. he said, seek not the treasures of this world, because the treasures of this world are destined to be corroded by rust, eaten by moths, and you stolen by thieves. he said, put your treasure in the kingdom of god, because for that treasure in the kingdom of god there are no moths, no rust and no thieves. and then he told, kingdom of god is within your own heart. we should not make our treasures of this world in the forms of material things, either subtle or gross. but we should make our treasure in pleasing Krishna. we should make our treasure in doing the will of Krishna. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu told sanatana gosvami a story of sarvajna, the astrologer. he said, your father has left you a great treasure, an invaluable, precious treasure that will fulfill all your desires and all your needs forever. it's not difficult to find. It is right in your backyard. dig in the eastern direction. in the south, north and west direction, which are the processes of karma kanda, he said, that karma kanda, there will be wasps there, that will sting you, if you dig. then there's the astanga kanda, mystic yoga system. if you dig in that direction, then there will be a yaksa, a ghost that will haunt you. And then there is the jnana kanda, seeking out mukti, impersonal liberation. if you dig in that direction, there's a big snake that will devour you. But  if you dig in the eastern direction, which is a path of bhakti, upasana kanda, then you just dig a little bit of dirt, just a little, then you will find the supreme treasure. Kevala Ananda kanda. Caitanya Mahaprabhu made the most difficult thing so easy. just dig a little dirt. just follow these regulative principles, try to live in harmony with gurus orders and chant harinam, just dig a little dirt and you will go back home back to godhead and find the supreme treasure within our own heart. then he taught detachment, he taught dependence on the will of the lord. he said, seek first the kingdom of god and all other things will come. he told that do not be concerned with getting food or getting clothes, or getting all these facilities. have faith, god will provide them, if you do his will. he said, look at the birds. the birds are not sowing and reaping. another words, in common language, the birds don't have no nine to five jobs. but they have nice feathers to keep them warm and they are well fed. god is providing for the birds everything they need. if you are his devotee, if you are surrendering to him, will he not provide for you?

And look at the flowers, the lilies in the field. how beautiful they are dressed. He said, the lilies in the field do not struggle do not strain, do not toil, but yet they are clothed more beautifully than even king Solomon with all of his garments. even the flowers and the grass, which only last a few days, god is providing for them. if you are surrendering to the lord, why will he not provide for you? do not worry for these things. have faith. seek first the kingdom of god and everything else will be given to you. that was his order. judge not, lest ye be judged. he said that it's very easy to find faults in others. he said, do not look for the speck in somebody else's eye, when there is a log in your own eye. first take out the log in your own eye, before you even consider looking for the speck in anothers eye. Amanina manadena. rupa gosvami describes what is the qualification of an advanced devotee. the advanced devotee does not have the propensity, does not have the inclination to criticize others. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati thakur said, why do you criticize others? he actually in his humility said, why do i criticize others? because i am a honeycomb with a hundred, hundreds and thousands of faults myself, that's why i see faults in others. the world is a mirror of our own consciousness. if we are full of faults, we will see faults everywhere. shishupala was not inventing faults in Krishna. please understand, this is what he was seeing. he was constantly blaspheming Krishna. everything about Krishna he was blasphemy. can you imagine that? Krishna is the absolute perfect, but Sisupala, every day he spent a whole day blasphemy Krishna. he would just stop at intervals to save his life. but actually, it's what he was seeing. he was serious, he was seeing all these faults and Krishna. it wasn't a façade. he was really pouring out his heart. he was so envious that he saw nothing but faults and god. this is a very very fantastic example that if we have faults within our own heart, if we had envy, then we can potentially really see so many faults in others and criticize so many little things in other people. but even if it's true, the real duty of a spiritual person is to search for their own faults, and rectify that. so do not point to the speck in another's eye. you have a speck in your eye. but rather, take the log out of your own eye. Hare Krishna. he said, ask and you shall be given. seek, and you shall find. Knock in the door and it will open. this means, we have to be inquisitive for the truth. we have to seek the truth. we have to see service. we cannot be lazy. we cannot be complacent. sometimes devotees, especially… well let us say, oftentimes people all over the world, and especially hindus, are fatalistic, that whatever is meant to be, will be. if i'm supposed to realize god, i will realize god. if i'm supposed to enjoy, then i will enjoy, so let me enjoy. well, god is everywhere and whatever is meant to be will be. Yes. You hear this sometimes? it is all predestined. But Krishna explains in gita: envy and lethargy are two very very great enemies to a devotee. we cannot be lethargic. we have to be enthusiastic. Bhaktisidhanta saraswati said, if you are not enthusiastic, you are dead spiritually. when Maharaja Pariksit was cursed to die in seven days, he didn't just sit in his bed and say, well, if krishna wants to take me, he'll take me. if Krishna wants to send a guru, he will send a guru. if Krishna wants to enlighten me, he will enlighten me. meanwhile, you know, bring dinner.

No, seek. seek and ye shall find. He fasted until death. he went to the bank of the Ganges, he was begging, begging, weeping, crying, somebody enlighten me, tell me what is the goal of life, what is the duties of a mane who is about to die? so, we must have enthusiasm. rupa goswami said the qualification to get love of god is lobha, greed, spiritual greed. we have to be greedy to hear about Krishna. we have to have this anxiety to hear about Krishna. to the degree we have this greed to hear, to that degree when the message comes, it will penetrate into the core of our heart. otherwise if i'll just come to this pravacan and if it's meant that i get enlightened, then i will get enlightened. No, we have to be enthusiastic, we have to be desperate, we have to be greedy to hear. we have to be greedy for service. sometimes relatives say: why are you doing so much service and all this chanting and all this deity worship? just be like a normal human being. once every month or so you can go to pravacan for a few minutes, but come back within an hour. and this chanting. you know, whatever you're doing just chant. i'm always chanting, i'm always remembering god, so you can do like that. and all the service, you know, just clean the house, don't worry about all this devotional service. your are fanatic. but that's not what bhagavad gita teaches. we have to be determined, we have to be enthusiastic, we have to have a greed to hear the holy names, to chant the holy names. we have to have a greed to serve. what is that greed? that greed means an intense desire, an intense longing, an intense enthusiasm. And Krishna reciprocates with that. thus jesus said, seek and  you shall find. ask and you shall be given. knock and the door will open. and then he said that we should love our neighbors, which really means a living beings. for devotees, we understand it even means the insects, the animals, the birds and all classes of humans, man, woman, old, young. in the old testament it is said do not do anything to others that you would not want them to do to you. jesus said the same thing in the other way. he said do unto others as you would want them to do to you. and according to the christians that is the golden rule. do unto others as you would want them to do to you. do not do unto others what you would not want them to do to you. this is a spirit of compassion. Caitanya Mahaprabhus followers, to such an extent they live by this principle. vasudeva datta was willing to go to hell forever, so that others could go back home back to godhead. that is compassion. and then he spoke something that all of you will very nicely relate to. he said, you can only enter the kingdom of god through the narrow gate. he said, because the wide gate it's very easy, no difficulties to go through it, but the wide gate leads to the destruction. he said but the narrow gate, there is many difficulties, very very difficult to enter through the narrow gate. and the wide gate, jesus said, the whole world is going through that wide gate, a gate to destruction, because it's so easy. but the narrow gate? you will be criticized, it is very difficult, regulative principals, morality, sadhana. but the narrow gate leads to the kingdom of god. but very few will care to follow it. it he told, beware of false prophets. he said there are so many wolves in sheep's clothing, who are coming to exploit and devour. have you ever heard of anyone like that? people who in the guise of religious people, sadhus, holy man, holy women. he said, what do they teach and how do they behave?

He said, you can judge a tree by its fruit. those who actually live by and teach compassion, forgiveness,  self-control, love, devotion, humility, they are actually teachers. others who do not teach and live by this, they will exploit us. beware. and Prabhupada said the same thing so many times. he told that story about that yogi, who had beard, long hair, long beard. he was giving katha. And there was a person in the back, weeping and crying with every word he said. everyone else was kind of falling asleep. i guess he wasn't a very good speaker, but he was so enlivened by this person, who was crying. And just more and more teaching, whatever bogus philosophy he had, he was just preaching a preaching, and preaching, you are god, you are god, I am god, I am god, you should follow me! (O tas tik verkia) . – Oh this person has understood the essence of who i am, and what i represent. then after everybody left that person was still there crying. he said, oh, what did you like best about my lecture? he wanted to hear something good about himself. and the person said i couldn't hear your lecture. I was in the back, i couldn't hear what you're saying. so why you were crying? he said, because the way you shake your beard is just like my goat, and yesterday my goat died, so i was feeling great separation from the goat. when i was seeing you move your beard. So, Prabhupada explained that sadhu is not how you look, shaved head, long hair. sadhu, if you speak the truth. Evam parampara praptam idam rajarsayah viduh, - a real sadhu is one who speaks parampara. Prabhupada gave us bhagavad gita as it is, no speculation, no interpretation, no concoction. he simply repeated as is, as god spoke it, and the acharyas have passed it down and realized it. someone who speaks the truth as it is, without adding or subtracting, and one who's really humbly, honestly and sincerely trying to live by the truth. otherwise people who concoct their own philosophies, their own teachings without philosophies, or repeating other people who do the same, or are hypocritical. millions of people are following someone from the neighboring city, who's teaching that you will attain liberation through sex life, doesn't matter if it's your wife or anyone elses. through this tantric form of sex you will attain liberation, and millions of followers. even in india his books are in every bookstore. yes. what acharya has ever taught that, what parampara, what scripture? but he looks holy, and he speaks so eloquently, and his books are so charming, and the process really feels good. it's just a lot more pleasing and natural to do, than no illicit sex, no intoxication, no gambling, no meat eating. Prabhupada said, so many no’s, impossible. yes. but the real teachers teach the narrow gate, and the false prophets teach the wide gate. you can judge a tree by its fruit. and then he said, not all those who say: oh lord, lord, will attain favor of the lord. anyone can say i am a Hare Krishna, or i am a Christian, or i'm a muslim, or i am a jew, or I am a Jain, or  I am a pharsi. anyone can say, I, I, I, lord, lord. cry out the name of the lord, and many times very egoisticly. it's not by your social identification. he said, you can call lord, lord, lord, but when you go to the gate of the kingdom of god, the lord will tell you: i only allow those who do the will of the lord, those who follow the teachings of the lord. those, he said, who are preaching, who are casting out demons and others, who are getting big followers, who are doing all kinds of religious activities, if they're not actually doing the will of the lord, show bottle, show battle to themselves and to others. If they're not doing the will of the lord, then when they come to the gate of the kingdom of god and say: lord, lord, the lord will cast them away. is that not what Prabhupada taught us? surrender means to do the will of the Lord, the will of guru, the will of Krishna.

And then he said, those who hear my teachings, but do not follow what i say, they are liken to someone who builds their house on sand. and when the big storm comes the whole house collapses. but those who hear my teachings and do what i say, apply my teachings to their life, they are liken to a person who built their house on solid stone. then whatever storm, whatever rains, whatever winds may come, the house will stand strong. now who is a real Christian? one who follows these principles. today there's so much materialism. how many christians follow these simple, basic, fundamental teaching. there's not too many real christians in this world today. he ended his most famous sermon by saying, one who hears but does not follow, it is like a house being built on sand. this is integrity. what we hear from the spiritual master, when we hear from Krishna, we must practically apply to our life. some of the key points here is, we must apply the teachings to our life, live with integrity and know that it's the lord within the heart that will be the judge. And all of our advancement is based on how the lord sees that we are honest and sincere and humble. actually, if we take all these teachings together, which i have spoken, which are just some of the principal teachings of Lord Jesus, do any of you find that any of these teachings are objectionable to our Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy? Is there anything that you have heard? do you all believe that if we want to be true gaudiya vaishnavas, we have to live by these principles as well? honestly raise your hand if you feel that. i'll repeat the question. do you believe that following these basic teachings that he has explained are actually what's required to be an example of a Gaudiya Vaishnava? is there anything that he has said that is contrary? yes. what is  it? I did that on purpose, knowing your enthusiasm. alright, alright. Caitanya Mahaprabhu so empowered this simple verse: trinad api sunicena, taror iva sahisnuna, amanina manadena, kirtaniyah sada harih - to be humble like a blade of grass, tolerant like a tree, eager to offer all respect to others and devoid of all prestige, not expecting honor or respect for ourself. when we chant the holy name in this spirit, the name purifies our heart. In factually, this one verse is so potent, it is so powerful that if one simply and sincerely endeavors to follow this principle, then, i would say, all of these teachings will spontaneously be followed. second canto of Bhagavatam describes, if you put water on the root of the tree, every leaf, flower, twig and branch of the tree is nourished. yes. if we're just chanting the holy names of the lord with this “trinad api sunicena” spirit, it's like watering the root of our spiritual needs. we can access such mercy of the lord that all these other teachings, which are like flowers and branches and leaves and twigs, they will all be fulfilled. Parama karuna pahu dui jana nitai gauracandra. two thousand years ago in Bethlehem, which is now Israel, lord jesus christ appeared within this world to enunciate the principles of religion, the universal principles of religion, according to time, place and the circumstances, and the people of that time.

And his influence has affected billions of people. it's the largest religion on earth. over a billion followers. billions in fact. how many are actually following that's another story. without proper examples, without proper leadership, without proper guru, one cannot really follow any previous Acharya, and that is a problem. Just william blake said, he is talking about: we read the bible day and night. you read black and i read white. they are reading the same words, but they have different conceptions, different opinions of what's being said. in fact, sometimes they are so different that they have wars, they hate each other, they kill each other. it's happening. in ireland today, yes, the protestants and the catholics they're reading the same identical scripture and they're literally killing each other on the basis of their interpretation of the same words. Hare Krishna. That is one example of many throughout history. without self-realized souls, without parampara, very difficult to understand any scripture as it is. many devotees, who were brought up in christian religion, they didn't really understand jesus until they met Srila Prabhupada. when you understand Prabhupadas Bhagavad gita, Prabhupadas Srimad Bhagavatam, then, when you read the bible, everything is so clear, because you're seeing it from the perspective of pure devotional service. most others are trying to read it and trying to understand it from the point of view of some sort of karma kanda, some sort of ethnic conception of identity, or some sort of material conditionings. But when we understand bhagavad gita as it is from the lips of a pure Acharya, then we can go right into the essence of all the great spiritual teachings of the world. that is the gift that Prabhupada and our parampara have given us. Parama karuna pahu dui jana nitai gauracandra. Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananta are so merciful. the very father of jesus himself appears just five hundred years ago, to demonstrate by his own example and to teach by his own words the essence, the highest essence. all these principles, Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught, we have to follow. we cannot ignore them. we cannot jump over them. we have to be humble, we have to be self-controlled, we have to be strict, we have to follow the narrow path - regulative principles, we have to be forgiving, compassionate, tolerant. we have to be enthusiastic and hungry for service. he taught us all these things. but through his path he's giving us direct entrance into Goloka Vrindavana, into the higher rasas, up to the point of gopi prema. inconceivable, incredible, unbelievable. yes, there are many other avataras that come and we must worship and honor them all as our gurus. But Caitanya Mahaprabhu only comes once in a day of Brahma, four billion three hundred and twenty million years, to give the supreme gift of Vraja bhakti, madhurya bhava. simply by living by these moral humble principles “trinad api sunicena” and chanting the holy name. Jesus, to show the example of compassion and surrender to others he was willing to be crucified. all of his apostles were also, except one, they were all murdered.

That was the faith they had, that was the enthusiasm they had to preach. Hare Krishna. Mahaprabhus direct followers were like that too. Prabhupada was like that, even more. yes. Who is willing to get heart attacks, sea sickness, diabetes, the strokes. all these things he was getting, but he just carried on with his wonderful look of compassion. People threatened his life, people persecuted him and criticized him, but his love was great. i'll say one more thing. the night before the crucifixion of jesus, jesus was taking prasada with his senior most followers. he indicated to them, what would happen the next day. during that meal he went to wash the feet of every one of his disciples. and senior most was saint Peter. when he came with water, and he was going to wash their feet and wipe it with the clothes that he was wearing. He didn’t some nice embroidered towel. He was going to use his own cloth that was on his body to wipe their feet. peter said, Lord, your are my Lord. i cannot let you do this to me. and jesus ordered that he surrender. he said, i must do it, because i must show you that if this is the way i treat each and everyone of you, how you should treat one another? that is a sacred principle. Prabhupada said, you can show your love for me by how you cooperate, by how you respect, how you help, how you encourage each other, that is how you show your love for me. Kanistha adhikari worships guru but not vaishnavas. it's also a kanistha mentality that i will please my guru, i will serve my guru, but not care for the assembled devotees. Prabhupada rejected that. you can show your love for me by how you cooperate with one another. and how did Prabhupada dealed with his own disciples? he gave his life for each and everyone of them. if we're not willing to give our lives for each other, we're not really following in his footsteps. even when his followers went off track, he may have chastised them, but it was with compassion, and always praying for them, and always eager to do anything to bring them back. if we love our Prabhupada, that is how we will deal with one another, we will never condemn. yes, practically the last instruction before the crucifixion is that he washed the feet of everyone of his disciples, leaders. and he said, i'm doing this as a last instruction, so you know, this is how i love each and everyone of you, this is on how i serve each and everyone of you, this is how you must love and serve each other when i'm gone. this is a universal principle. in our movement it is this principle that gives powerf to the sankirtana movement. when devotees have this humble, united service attitude, then we will access the supreme inconceivable mercy of lord Caitanya and lord Nityananda to fill the world as we chant the holy names. Thank you very much. so, this is christmas spirit. this “merry Christmas” is a little christmas spirit. giving someone some toy, or giving someone some jewelry and say merry Christmas, it's an exchange of gifts, that is considered a loving exchange, that is what it is about, really christmas is exchanging gifts. you give me gift, i will give you gifts. That is nice. And trying to be happy and merry, charitable and kind, it's very nice, but that's not what jesus taught. what we're talking tonight, is what he taught. that's the actual christmas spirit.

Sarva dharman parityajya,
mam ekam saranam vraja,
aham tvam sarva papebhyo
moksaisyami ma sucah

 

to abandon all varieties of religion and surrender to the will of the Lord, and what a wonderful… that is where we find a “merry” experience, real happiness comes through pleasing Krishna. samsidhir Hari tosanam. real happiness - watering the root of the tree. So now we will have nama sankirtan.

Atnaujinta (Šeštadienis, 22 Rugpjūtis 2015 09:37)

 
Kalendorius