Hare Krsna everyone,

Since it has been made official now that Yahoo 360 is closing, I would like to invite those of you who are still visiting to connect back up with me over on Multiply.

http://govindarupini.multiply.com/


Hope to see you there.
I wish everyone well and may you be blessed on your journey through life.

Warm wishes and affectionate hugs,
Govindarupini dd

The Nature of True Devotees

by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada

Devotion to God is attained by associating with those who serve both Him and His devotees. They have made service to God the very essence of their life. They have made the narrations of the names, appearance, attributes and sports of God the mainstay of their existence and they are always engaged in discoursing about them.

Not only is there a great difference between how the common man deliberates upon God and how the devotee deliberates upon Him, but the very natures of these two kinds of deliberation are quite opposite. Among the common people, many are inclined to worship God, whom they know to be the giver of mundane and celestial pleasure and happiness. Those who are more intelligent however – that is, those who outwardly present themselves as renunciants but remain the topmost enjoyers at heart – pretend to worship God with the purpose of becoming equal to God, who is the Supreme Enjoyer, and merging in Him.

Those situated midway between these two classes worship God with the intention of acquiring the eight modes of supernatural power, such as the power to become smaller than an atom and the power to become weightless, in order to fulfil their own desires. Although they pretentiously show themselves to be worshippers of God, they never admit the eternality of God’s names, appearance and so forth. They regard the Supreme Master of all to be governed by karma. These so-called worshippers do not serve God with the particular aim of serving and pleasing Him. On the contrary, they make the Lord serve them.

The nature of true devotees is different from theirs. They do not expect, nor do they regard as necessary, the attainment of pleasure for the body and home in this world or in the next. Nor do they regard as important the attainment of emancipation, which is so highly praised as the ultimate attainment for man. True devotees serve God by their very nature, by every thought and by every sentiment of their heart. This strong propensity in them does not yield to any obstruction but runs with impetuosity, forcibly removing all the obstacles before it. It is just like the swift and turbulent current of the river Ganga, which rapidly runs towards the sea inundating all high and low resistance, undergoing no disaster and never abating, at any point, to take rest.

The devotees are ever engaged in the service of God. No tendency towards anything else, no other thought or deed besides that service, finds any opportunity to cast its shadow over the souls of those bhakti-yogis, who are incessantly communing with God and are entirely dedicated to Him. Out of pure love, the devoted servitors of God are ever engaged in offering service to Him and to His devotees. They have no vitality to devote to their bodies; to those who are related to their bodies like their wives or sons; to their home; to all those who are related to these; to domestic beasts and birds; or to their occupation, class and so forth.

Having fallen in love with the Lord of their life, who is the very life of their lives and the life of all, they have surrendered themselves to Him, with all their energy. Such devotees, dedicating their very selves to God, have made Him alone the quintessence of all their ambitions. And He, too, having been arrested by their devotion, has made them His essential companions, even though He Himself is the most essential Being for all.

Adapted from The Gaudiya Volume 25, Number 5 Posted by the Rays of The Harmonist team

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		Rays of The Harmonist On-line; Year 2, Issue 2 “The Nature of True Devotees” by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License to ensure that it is always freely available.
You may redistribute this article if you include this license and attribute it to Rays of The Harmonist. Please ask for permission before using the Rays of The Harmonist banner-logo.

By what means can we gain the courage for self-surrender?

by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada

Question 1: Is it proper to endeavour for personal happiness while neglecting devotional service?

Answer: Never. Endeavours for personal happiness are non-devotional (abhakti). A person who always remains busy with his own happiness and freedom, leaving aside service to Hari, guru and Vaisnavas, will never be the recipient of any service from others, despite his desire for it. Instead, he will be neglected and disliked by all. On the other hand, millions upon millions of people, and even Mahaprabhu Himself, will be ready to serve that person who disregards his own happiness and comfort, yet remains continuously engaged in service to Sri Guru and Krsna with his body, mind and words.

Question 2: With what attitude should we chant the name of Sri Bhagavan?

Answer: Suddha bhaktas (pure devotees) never call out to Bhagavan to destroy their own sin, to accumulate piety or attain the heavenly planets, or to dispel a famine, epidemic, disturbance of the peace, revolution or disease. Nor do they call out to Him to attain objects for their enjoyment, such as wealth and a kingdom. The very names of Sri Bhagavan directly indicate the Supreme Controller (Paramesvara) Himself. If we attempt to engage that Supreme Lord in accomplishing any act for our personal sense enjoyment, it means that we are trying to appoint Him, our most worshipful object, as our servant. This is a great offence.

Therefore, unless we call out to Bhagavan for the sake of serving Him, our calling Him will go in vain. Jesus Christ has said, “Do not take God’s Name in vain.”* But this does not imply that we are not to call out to Him continuously – while sleeping, dreaming, eating, during times of recreation – and at any time and in any place. If we call out to Bhagavan with a desire to serve Him, then our call will not go in vain; indeed it is our sole obligation. However, if we merely imitate the process of genuinely calling to Him by soliciting Him to fulfil our personal desires then our effort will be in vain. That the name of Bhagavan should not be taken in vain means that one should not call His name with a desire to attain dharma (religiosity), artha (material prosperity), kama (selfish gratification) or moksa (liberation); rather, the sole reason one should continuously call to Him is to serve Him.

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* “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain” is the third of the Ten Commandments established by Moses and propounded by Jesus Christ. (The Bible, Exodus 20.7)

Question 3: What is the difference between the soul, the mind and the body?

Answer: Scripture has delineated the distinctive differences between the soul, the mind and the body, and has given the subtle analysis of them as a spiritual spark, a shadow of spirit, and inert matter, respectively. The soul is the owner of the two other substances – namely the body and mind. The body and mind belong to the soul, and in turn the soul belongs to the Supersoul. The soul has two coverings: one is the subtle covering called the mind and the other is the gross covering called the body.

The external material body is the aggregate of the five gross elements, while the internal body, or mental body, is that which drives the external body. Through its connection with the mind, the soul, in its confined state, is bound with incompatible possessions in the form of the physical body. The soul is in a dormant state at present, so it is not aware of service to the Supersoul. Seeing that the soul, their owner, is asleep, these two subordinate workers, the mind and body, fulfil their own narrow-minded interests instead of fulfilling the interest of their proprietor.

The mind’s nature is to waver, but the soul is unchanging and eternal. The function of the mind is to enjoy and to renounce while the function of the soul is to serve Sri Bhagavan. The mind can comprehend objects that have up to three dimensions; it has no capacity to understand objects of the fourth dimension because they are beyond sense perception. Through worldly knowledge and experience one cannot comprehend the Supreme Absolute Truth, Sri Bhagavan, who is beyond the scope of material senses.

Question 4: How, then, will I become acquainted with such transcendental subject matters?

Answer: Just as a messenger brings news of one’s relatives who live in a distant land, a transcendental messenger bears transcendental news. Whoever does not become the recipient of his transcendental message is understood to be extremely unfortunate, for that transcendental messenger will certainly deliver his message to anyone who is truly eager for it.

Question 5: How will we recognize a messenger from Vaikuntha and the authenticity of his message?

Answer: If our prayers become sincere and honest, then by the mercy of Bhagavan, who is omniscient, everything will be revealed to us. A student can recognize an erudite scholar only with the help of another erudite scholar. Sri Bhagavan, who resides in our heart, will help us in every aspect of our life. We only have to depend on Him exclusively.

If we want to acquire knowledge of some entity there are two means by which we can do so. The first means is through knowledge and experience pertaining to this world. But in the case of transcendental entities the experience and knowledge of this world are to be considered incomplete. Thus the second means is to exclusively surrender one’s self to that great personality who has descended from the same realm as that transcendental entity. By hearing from him we can gain an understanding of that entity.

Question 6: Material knowledge and experience are our sole resource. How can rejecting them help us surrender to a supra-mundane being?

Answer: One cannot progress successfully if he fears the process of surrender, thinking it to be difficult. If we want to know the Absolute Truth, we will need immense spiritual strength of heart. We cannot learn the art of swimming if we fear the mere sight of water. The process of surrender is not a very difficult matter; rather, for the soul it is easy and natural. Whatever is opposed to surrender is unnatural for the soul and painful.

Question 7: By what means can we gain the courage to surrender our very self?

Answer: We have to hear hari-katha from a bona fide representative of Bhagavan. When we listen to him speak, we must shut out all of our worldly experience, knowledge, and flawed logic. As we continue to hear the transcendentally powerful and valorous narrations of Bhagavan from a living sadhu, unwanted obstructions (anarthas) like weak-heartedness will gradually be removed. At that time unprecedented courage will enter our heart and selfless surrender, the natural propensity of the soul, will be fully awakened. In such a surrendered heart the self-manifesting Absolute Truth of the transcendental realm will reveal Himself. This is the only way we can know the Absolute Truth, for it is impossible by any other means to know that truth which is free from any trace of deceit.

Translated from Srila Prabhupadera Upadesamrta


Questions re-numbered for this on-line presentation

Posted by the Rays of The Harmonist team

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Srila Prabhupadera Upadesamrta is a compilation of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada’s instructions in question-and-answer form.

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		Rays of The Harmonist On-line; Year 2, Issue 1 by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License to ensure that it is always freely available.
You may redistribute this article if you include this license and attribute it to Rays of The Harmonist. Please ask for permission before using the Rays of The Harmonist banner-logo.