Niranjana Swami's Quote Of The Day

Topic

April 11

We have to associate with those who help us overcome these desires and avoid those who encourage us to fulfill them. Sometimes when devotees are weak, overcome by material desire, they associate with someone similarly weak, someone with the same material propensities. Then they simply encourage one another to engage in sense gratification. Instead, we should seek the association of devotees who can help us overcome our material desires. It is actually an item of sincerity to seek out proper instruction so that we can avoid committing sinful activities.
LFD Vol 2 pg 42, 3 paragraph

April 10

But although the distribution of love of God was exceptional distribution during Lord Caitanya’s presence, devotees since then who have truly relished Krishna consciousness in one another’s association has been very attractive to the conditioned souls. When we see genuine Vaishnava exchanges between devotees, we witness real displays of Vaishnava qualities like humility, tolerance, and patience.This is attractive. When we see Vaishnava exchanges that are free from envy and pride, we see the Vaishnavas’ attraction to hearing and chanting about Krishna. All of this allows us to develop faith and attracts us to take part.
LFD Vol 2 Pg 38, 2 and 3 paragraphs.

April 9

Devotees always base their enthusiasm not on independent endeavor but on faithful dependence on the Lord. Bhaktivinoda Thäkura writes further on enthusiasm: "We should not lose enthusiasm because we have no strength to destroy the reactions of karma. In the very beginning of devotional service the sadhaka must have faith with full enthusiasm."
LFD Vol 2 Pg 37 4th Paragraph

April 8

If we want to remember Krishna at the time of death, we will have to practice enthusiastic Krishna consciousness now. Enthusiasm means we are always aspiring to advance in spiritual life. Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains that spiritual advancement means first becoming properly situated in strictly following the rules and regulations according to our position, then knowing where we want to go and how to get there. But be careful not to define spiritual advancement by some material benchmark.
LFD Vol 2 Pg 35, Paragraph 3

April 7

Perhaps we think that there is no hurry for us to become pure in devotion. We can wait until some time in the future to become purified. Prahlada Maharaja addressed this point when talking to his classmates. He explained that one’s entire childhood is wasted in frivolous play. Fifty percent of one’s life is automatically lost during sleep. Then so much time is lost in one’s later years because one’s body is old and decrepit and cannot function properly. Putting everything in perspective, Prahlada Maharaja said that if we look at our lives and see how much time we have available to do something meaningful, we’ll see that our lives are very short. It’s better, he said, to engage in Krishna consciousness while we are young and have the energy for it. We should take to this process of hearing and chanting the Lord’s glories as soon as possible.
LFD Vol 2 Pg 34, Paragraph 5

April 6

Sometimes we mistake passion for enthusiasm, thinking that it means we must always keep ourselves busy. But if the mind is not fixed on Krishna in our business, then our activities are simply in the mode of passion, which will lead to suffering. Activities performed in the mode of passion do not satisfy us, nor do they increase our faith in the Lord and His holy name. If we want to actually become enthusiastic, we must understand the purpose behind everything we do; if we are consciously offering our activity to Krishna and we remain steady in the execution of our duties, we will become enthusiastic in whatever we are doing.
LFD Vol 2 Pg 33, Paragraph 3

April 2

If we do not have strong faith in the holy name and in hearing of the Lord’s pastimes, and simultaneously have no attraction for fruitive work, being somewhat disgusted with the material world, we become indifferent or apathetic and therefore inert. Having no impetus to work we think, “Why should I do anything if everything I do only leads to suffering?” Seeing only negativity and suffering on one side, and having no faith in the positive, the Lord and His pastimes on the other, we may be left with no reason to live.
LFD Vol 2 Pg 33, Paragraph 1

April 1

Service should be rendered with yearning. If we do not yet yearn for Krishna with our whole heart, we should perform our service regretting that we do not yet have bhakti. That feeling will bring us to taste.
LFD Vol 2 Pg 31, Paragraph 5

March 31

Our qualification for advancement in sadhana-bhakti depends on the strength of our taste or attraction to Krishna. The more pronounced our taste, the greater our qualification. If we want to develop taste, then we must show Krishna that we want it. It is not improper to want a taste for spiritual life. But our service cannot become conditional upon whether or not we receive it. The whole purpose of service is to awaken taste.
LFD Vol 2 Pg 31, Paragraph 4

March 30

We can struggle alone with material desires millennium after millennium and be defeated and disappointed birth after birth. We cannot overcome material desires by our own strength. It is essential that we develop the intense desire to somehow or other please Krishna by our activities, and that will require that we focus the mind in devotion.
LFD Vol 2 Pg 30 , Paragraph 4

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