The spiritual process is based on faith, in Sraddha from Puerto Rico 04/27/2014

Subject: The spiritual process is based on faith in Sraddha . Puerto Rico 04/27/2014


                                                           From Puerto Rico.

My dearest devotees.
Receive all my affection today .

I want to talk about a subject that is often repeated, still it is always good to remember. The spiritual process is grounded in faith, in Sraddha. One needs faith to inquire properly and seriously. One also needs to be equipped with transcendental knowledge to help strengthen that faith. A committed devotee should study the scriptures every day, and deepen their study under the proper association. And it is not only to acquire knowledge but to apply it with detachment. In other words, to apply and follow the principles that are learned.

- If the scriptures say : get up early in the morning and do your prayers then you get up early and go to mangal arati.

- If the scriptures say you only eat what has been offered to the deity, then you have to eat only prasadam ...

This is a point that seems very simple but is extremely important: prasadam
One must be very conscious of what you eat. The origin of food that enters your mouth is important because that will affect your consciousness. It is even said that awareness of the cook directly impacts the food that is prepared as well as the person who eats it. It is therefore very important that food be prepared with love, that natural ingredients are used, poison -free and are offered to the deity and then distributed among the devotees.

If you consume foods that have no spiritual substance, which are nothing but junk food from the industry, then your consciousness will become degraded. We must have faith in this. We should even avoid accepting foods that are prepared in places that are not vegetarian ... prepared by people who have no spiritual consciousness.

Food should always be surrounded with a spiritual atmosphere because it is Krishna himself who is giving us the ingredients for it. We should be grateful for what we receive, and with all that gratitude, prepare delicious healthy dishes for the Lord.

The process of offering food to God is something that is beyond this world. It is a mystical process. The food we have every day is not an accident, it is a wonderful gift given by God himself. Therefore, when you offer these foods to God, you give him recognition for what you are giving. That is why the devotees say: "Thank you my Lord, You 're giving me everything that will help me to maintain my life. It is very delicious. I want to thank you for all your kindness and for that I offer this to You with all my love. . . You should enjoy this meal first."

This type of offering to the Lord is something very significant in the life of the devotee, it is a wonderful process that we have to apply every day. This changes the consciousness. And the process does not end only in the offering. After offering food to the Lord one must accept His remnants with appropriate consciousness. The prasadam should be accepted with full appreciation and the right attitude, one should be appreciating the Lord's mercy.

This creates a very positive impact on the person, because they becomes grateful. Being grateful is a very important quality . The process continues to expand, it does not just end when one accepts the remnants of the Lord. Devotees are really happy to distribute this prasada to everyone, because they know the benefits it has for all souls. The devotees want to spread God's mercy in the form of food worldwide. One has to learn to see prasadam as the manifestation of God's mercy. You become purified to the degree or proportion you appreciate; the more you appreciate the more intensely you are purified.

The two most important qualities of the living entity are gratitude and compassion and they are cultivated daily when you take prasada. It is a deep transformation process.

When you prepare food, when you offer it, when you eat and when you share it with others these two qualities are intensely activated: gratitude and compassion. That is the sum and substance of the process of bhakti -yoga. Like the prasadam prayer that we recite every day before accepting prasada:

"The tongue is the most dangerous of all the senses, but You, my Lord, come in the form of your delicious prasadam to conquer it."

A glorious process! This glorious process comes to us to be a part of our everyday life .

This is the message I wanted to share with you today, the glories of Mahaprasada and we must have faith in it ..

Jay Srila Prabhupada!

Your always well wisher,
B. A. Swami Paramadvaiti .