Niranjana Swami's Quote Of The Day

Topic

August 6

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, Vol2, Enthusiasm for Devotional Service, Pg 35, 3rd paragraph)

August 5

Devotees are often anxious about how to balance either their temple duties as book distributor, temple president, pujari, cook, etc., with their sadhana; or their work for maintaining their body with their sadhana. Srila Prabhupada explains in the Bhagavatam that for those who are not liberated, there are two kinds of activities that must be performed—those aimed at maintaining the body and those aimed at achieving liberation. We shouldn't neglect either. If we imitate the liberated souls and neglect the activities that maintain the body, we will fall down; false renunciation does not lead upward. Therefore we should not try to imitate liberated souls but follow in their footsteps. That means that we do have to practice both sadhana as well as duties connected to this world, until we are at least on the liberated platform. This will be impossible without utsaha (enthusiasm). If we have no enthusiasm for our sadhana, we will become negligent in our worship. Negligence is born out of inactivity (laziness), apathy, or indifference. Utsaha conquers all three.
(LFD, Vol2, Enthusiasm for Devotional Service, Pg 33 and 34)

August 4

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, Vol2, Enthusiasm for Devotional Service, Pg 32, 3rd paragraph)

August 3

Can we become deserving to develop pure love by our own endeavor, or will pure love eventually be granted to us?
Endeavor is the first stage of love. Even though our love in that first stage is obviously not pure, endeavor is an expression of affection. In the first stage of devotional service, devotional service in practice, the living entity accepts a spiritual master and endeavors to follow his instructions and the statements of scripture. As long as one’s love for Krishna remains dormant in the heart, we must first work from a platform of obligation. Srila Prabhupada said, “First there must be obedience. Without obedience there can never be love.” We should begin our endeavors out of obedience. When Krishna sees us making such endeavors, He will bestow love on us through the mercy of His devotees. Those who are obedient to the guru will receive help. As soon as we think we are making advancement on our own, we will lose our qualification to receive pure love.
(LFD, Vol2, The Process for Awakening Bhakti, Pg 31, last paragraph)

The Purpose for Being in ISKCON

Commenting on the following sentence from SB 4.24.42 purport:

"The Krsna consciousness movement is based on Bhagavad-gita as it is, as spoken by Lord Krsna, and for those who are engaged in this movement, there is no question of uncertainty."

There may be many questions we have in our mind, there may be many challenges, there may be many doubts. But one thing is certain, and that is that the purpose of being in the Krishna Consciousness Movement is to remember Krishna. That's why Srila Prabhupada called this the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. He didn't call it the International Society for Society Consciousness. What's the value of the society if there is no Krishna Consciousness? It's Krishna who gives the society value. Therefore everything we do in this society is meant to help us remember Krishna. That much we should be completely convinced of. If we are convinced of that, we will never be lost. Even if we have to make difficult decisions, even if we have to be inconvenienced, even if we have to confront so many difficulties, we won't be lost. We'll realize that everything is being arranged by Krishna to help us remember Him. (from a lecture given in Moscow on July 26, 2016)

July 24

How can we progress from sadhana bhakti to raganuga-bhakti?

Sadhana-bhakti does not exclude raganuga-bhakti. It does not require lifetimes of commitment to vaidhi-sadhana-bhakti to come to the platform of raganuga-sadhana-bhakti. It sometimes takes lifetimes of association with devotees to develop a strong commitment to sadhana-bhakti, but once we have commited ourselves, we may come to the platform of spontaneous attraction to devotional service in one lifetime. To practice raganuga-bhakti requires commitment and taste. If we want to awaken taste, we must associate with devotees who already experience it and serve them. How can we serve such devotees? We can begin by hearing from them. 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. 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, Vol2, The Process for Awakening Bhakti, Pg 30 and 31

July 23

Somehow or other we need to fix our mind on favorably serving Krishna. This is the goal of our preaching, our deity worship, and our chanting. It is this favorable absorption in devotion that pleases Krishna most. 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, Vol2, The Process for Awakening Bhakti, Pg 30, 3rd paragraph)

July 22

How do we become more focused in our devotional service?
To be focused on our service means to see Krishna present in the work. To remember Krishna is the goal of all our regulated activities in devotional service. But Krishna says, “If you can’t fix your mind on Me, then follow the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga. In this way, you can cultivate a desire to attain Me.” So execute your duties in proper consciousness, thinking, “Krishna has given me this duty.” If we do not see Krishna present in our duty, how can we remember Him, think of Him, and depend on Him? But if we are not able to see Krishna in our service, then we have to associate with those who can help us see Him. Otherwise, our service becomes mechanical. Our duties are meant to increase our attraction for hearing about Krishna’s activities and pastimes. If we try to remember Krishna while carrying them out, we will gradually become more focused. There are higher stages of becoming more focused on Krishna. Eventually, we will come to the stage of mantra-upäsana, whereby chanting a mantra or verse from the scripture will remind us of a particular pastime. We will then focus our mind on it and Krishna and His devotees will become fixed in our mind and heart. In Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu Srila Rupa Gosvami calls this meditation rupa-dhyanam, which means meditating on the Lord’s form. It is also possible to meditate (dhyanam) on particular aspects of service to the Lord.
(LFD, Vol2, The Process for Awakening Bhakti, Pg 28 and 29)

July 21

Only Krishna can deliver us from all the reactions of sinful life, because it is He who has defined sin and purity. The universe may be full of administrators with their various responsibilities in the matter of creation, but they are never independent of Krishna. Everything in the creation rests on Krishna’s energy. Regardless of how powerful or independent the demigods or anyone else appears, no one is independent of the Lord.
(LFD, Vol2, The Process for Awakening Bhakti, Pg 27, 2nd paragraph)

July 20

Nowadays, it is common to manufacture a system of religion. Sometimes people with fertile minds examine all types of religions and take a little of this and a little of that to create their own system. By their selection, they are trying to create a system of religion. But religion cannot be selected; it is the law of God. He has created eternal religious principles, principles not transformed by time, self-evident principles that are not subject to our own interpretation. The real business of human life is to know these laws of God and how to apply them.
(LFD, Vol2, The Process for Awakening Bhakti, Pg 26, 4th paragraph)

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