That bhakti which we worship...1/12/14 Colombia

My dear devotees ,
I send my love to all,

You know that the spiritual process is constantly planting many seeds. Seeds of bhakti. There are many treasures that manifest as seeds to plant within the heart : hari- katha, the prasada, the association of devotees ...

Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur said, "My mission is to establish temples in the heart of each of you," and indeed that should also be our task.

It's not hard to visualize, for the Lord is there in the heart. The heart is the altar, the Lord is at that altar and the body is the temple. Now we just have to give proper attention to it. So we must always plant the seeds of bhakti in the heart and keep watering them with the chanting of the Holy Name. If you do that consistently, the seeds will germinate and will give flowers and fruits. Just as in nature: a seed germinates, it flowers and later bears fruit and then finally more seeds are produced that are spread to different sites again. Likewise, as you grow and take care of the seed of bhakti, she will give flowers, fruits and new seeds shall be planted in the hearts of others. This way each of you can expand the beautiful gift you  have received from your spiritual master and the entire Guru Parampara.

Each can expand awareness of Vrindavan everywhere. That is the way of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who sent his devotees to Vrindavan in order to start a spiritual revolution that would come to the world from the heart of India. So the seeds of bhakti that reach your heart should be expanded to the entire world. The real treasure we have received is Krsna -bhakti and by atma- jnana, knowledge of the soul, we can come to understand the purpose of life.

brahma- bhutah prasannatma
śocati na na kankshati
samah sarveshu bhuteshu
mad- param bhaktim labhate

" One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments or desires to have anything. He is equally disposed toward every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me." ( Bg 18. 54 )

And he who has understood the nature of the soul and appreciates the treasure of Krsna-bhakti is responsible to deliver that knowledge to everyone else.

sarve sukhinah bhavantu
sarve shantu niramaya
sarve bhadrani pashyantu
maa kaschid dukha bhag bhavet

Everyone should be happy and that true happiness is the happiness of the soul. Just by meditating on this statement, that the whole world should be happy, you're challenging all those demons that are responsible of exploitation and destruction. For in kali -yuga only the exploitative mentality ensures that everybody becomes sick and sad. The governments, multinationals, politicians, religious institutions are responsible ...why the path of bhakti that is brought by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is a true spiritual revolution. Therefore we must engage in caring for all that Krsna has put in our lives: people, animals, nature.

The demoniac consciousness in kali-yuga is based on the concept of " divide and conquer", so Vaishnava unity is very important, because only by working together for the good of humanity can we successfully carry the message of Sri Caitanya to each village and place.

The treasure of Krsna-bhakti is something that we have to nurture and cultivate, to keep us from falling into that mentality of kali - yuga. It is the treasure that enables us to understand the universal love.
And that treasure is available through the complete surrender of the self. It is the truth that makes our lives valuable. The search for truth should be our main objective. That's what Srila Prabhupada has taught us. He was the great ambassador of Vedic culture to the world. We should follow his example and pray for mercy. We are not very sophisticated, even in many cases we are not very learned in the scriptures, but with all humility and with a sincere heart, we pray to Srila Prabhupada and his associates to allow us to enter the territory of the Krsna -bhakti.

We have faith in Srila Prabhupada and all that he has taught us. That is our simple and profound prayer. We are little souls begging for mercy. Our Gurudeva told us that we should worship the lofty sentiments of the gopis , but we must keep a distance from all this, because it's so high that we can not understand. Then, from our humble position as simple servants, we pray for mercy from all of the devotees to continue this attempt to serve. Jnana sunya bhakti, that is the bhakti that we worship ... that is beyond scholarship. That is the seed of bhakti that we nurture daily.

Thank you very much to all of you for taking time to read these words.
Jay Srila Prabhupada!

Your always well

wisher,

Swami B. A. Paramadvaiti .