august 2,2009

Siddhanti Maharaj from spain explains how he first met th devotees.

"...It was sundayfeast, 15 devotees was there. Parampuja Prabhu was there and I asked him to speak more. So next day I went there to speak with him. So he started to explain to me about Krishnaconsciousness. I stayed for 10 days, then Parampuja was going to Roma and I said that he should call me when he come back from Roma. Then he said "nonono! You stay here in the temple until I come back. You make program here. You can make halva and make program" So after only 10 days I was taking care of the sundayfeast. The people asked "Where is Parampuja?", I explained and then with them I was reading the Bhagavad Gita. The next sundayfeast was lesser people (one less person). When Parampuja called I said I couldnt do this anymore, I need devotee association. So he agreed and I got a ticket to Roma to meet with the devotees. There was 80 devotees with a lot of enthusiasm. Devotos woke up early early and shouting "Hariiiibol! Mangal Aratik!!". I was shocked, was thinking: "Is there a fire?!" But I joined their running and enthusiasm and attended my first mangal aratik. The experience was very strange, I was pushed in the middle of the Kirtan and I was jumping and I understood that THIS is what I was searching for. After one week in Roma the sankirtan team came to Roma and somehow I ended up in that team and was traveling for 2 years in Italy doing sankirtan. Then in 1976 was a grand festival in Mayapur. I went there and there was Srila Prabhupada and I got initiation there. Until today many things has happened.
Gurumaharaj:
Siddhanti maharaj was in the military, jumping from the airplanes with parachute. A very heavy duty. This can be compared to the brahmachari training. Gurumaharaj presents some artists from the mission (their CD:s). Matajee Gupta Vrindavan DD: "I was invited to the ecotruly park outside Lima, I stayed for one month and then back to Bolivia. Then after 3 months I was planning to go to Ecuador, but stayed shortly in Eco Truly Park and there I Met Gurudeva and he invited me to Banios in Ecuador Jardin Ecologicos Vrindavan. There started my spiritual life and I stayed for 4 years" Gurumaharaj: "Gupta and her husband has started a yogacenter now in Bad Homburg. A very succesful program." Krishna was the first environmentalist. He killed Kaliya who where poisoning the Yamuna. Krishna couldn't tolerate this. Siddhanta Prabhu now tells his story how he came to Krishna consciousness. "Thank you for this oppurtunity to share my experiences. I was born and raised in the US. I began a family there. I was searching for an alternativ lifestyle to the exscessive capitalism lifestyle. My wife is from hungary so in 1990 we moved to Hungary. I started to practice Yoga and met some very nice yogateachers in budapest and started to go very deep into the practice of Yoga. I had sstrong desire to purify myself and began a very strong sadhana and started to study. So finally I came in contact with Bhagavad Gita as it is. After reading this I was so moved by the experience that this is something special. I went to the ashram in Budapest but was missing the Yogapractice that I was accustomed to. Later I found another book with Srila Prabhupada. So I went to the ashram connected to this book, it wasnt ISKCON. I expected a lot of devotees running around, but there was only Keshava Maharaj and I really liked the atmosphere. He said that I had come in a perfect time because Gurudeva Paramadvaiti Swami was coming. First I had to go to hospital because my knees where destroyed from all the yoga asanans. Finally I met with Gurumaharaj, he took his garland and put it on my neck, he asked me where I am from. Then he brought me out on the square for a harinam and I see this as my real entrance into this family. In the US I got some property from my mother in New Hampshire. Gurumaharaj adviced me to stay with the devotees in Hungary. But I went to US and established myself there for 6 years, then Gurumahraj came and we decided to make a temple there. So we started this bhaktiYoga center. At one point I was feeling very lonely, deprived of association with devotees, so I was crying to Krishna to get association. Next day there was raining a lot and someone called the bell at the door and outside where 6 nepalese people looking for a hindu temple. And they said that 60 more families would be coming soon. Next speaker, Draupadi DD from germany
"We are happy because the matajee ashram has moved to the big temple and now we can live close to Krishna and make more and more service together. We are working with the vegetarian club serving prasadam. We have been going to festivals with the spoonrevolution. The plan is to now soon move the deities to the new house. Gurumaharaj: The new temple is very nice. With Swami Maharaj we have plans to start a vaishanva education center there. The vishnuoriya ashram and the brahamchari is actually the only dignified plavce to live. The only only only reaso nto not ligve in the temple is to have an excellent excellent grihasta ashram. Otherwise, if the women are not married, where are the women going to go? This environment is so beneficial.
Bhakti Shakti dd is a good example, she turned her apartment into an ashram and now there are many deovtees coming from there. You could not make me leave the ashram if you beat me with a stick. In an ashram you have to stop being egoistic. Its hard, some people are spoiled, they are used to get everything. In an ashram noone even has a bed. This is progressive and it makes people happy. Also the carbonfoot print is smaller by thise living in ashram. (Guruamahraj playing a CD from the la serena devotees, glorifying their beautiful programs. They have a bakery, a theater group and so much life in their preaching. Krishna consciousness in the chile way. Next speaker: BrahmaSamhita: In sweden we made a lot of sankirtan. We made a comicbook but now with spoonrevolution sankirtan is even easier. You bring the person to a feeling of contributing to something nice. In bulgaria we have 50 of the Okis made. Devotees are working on this there and next step is to make these leaflets. In sweden we have a BIG wooden spoon, and made the spoon into Oki. So we went with this spoon to the street and approach the people with the small animals (who also have wooden spoons). Then one of the animals are beatboxing and the other sings a rapsong. With this funny approach people are happy to contribute with a spontaneous donation into the Oki spoon. In Bulgaria we are making ayurveda course and yoga course. We are planning now to make a VEDA slovena park. So we will go now up into the Mountains to look for land. Gurumaharaj said once: We are dreaming, but finally the dreams becomes reality...." For me as I grow older and has increased my duties it is my principle way to always reamin in contact with all of you, beacause I want to remain in contact with all of you. I like to be with you in the temple, to go on sankirtana with you, to design the farms together with you, I like to teach you mrdanga and karatalas, I like to touch your heart, so that you will receive the visitors with much love. Sometimes big temples have less attention to the individual, because everybody thinks that he is so busy and has no time to take care for others. This happens sometimes in big programs, but our goal is to receiave verybody nice. So I would really like to be with you in all the different tasks you are prefomrning. All this is my heart felt desire. I like to be also there with the faremers, to grow organic food. I like to be also with our pujaris,and attend our lordships with the utmost attention.
I like to be also with you on harinama, singing in small groups and well equiped with preaching material. And atract the people in this way. I want to be with you, when you are designing your web sites, when you are preparing your sunday feast, or when you are sending out your newsletters. In this way I really like to be with everybody, but in practice I can be with you in my medidation and sharing with you, what krishna inspires in me in this moment. Since we have a family with a very international character, you can enjoy the success of the preaching in any country. In a real family, you always becoase happy about the success of every devotee. I see my service as the one of a trubador. This is a person who is going around and singing the glories of the devotees and my spiritual master and the srimad bhagavatam. As a sannyasi actually I do not have to do anything else. Of course I can also help in administration. Therefore I am always stressing, to make the projects very tansparent. Purity is the key for our success. As I travel around and meet the devotees, every sunday I share with you, what has been given to me by krishna grace. Like he gave us this one week of nandafalva 15th mela. He gave us a celebration of 30 year since the founding of this eco community. And he gives us the companny of so many wonderful people. Even some godbrothers have come to join us and sadhu maharaja has come, since fortunatelly te dole-mela does not fall on the same date. It is my message to the devotees, which I send every week, just like we are giving class every day. And we really hope, that those who are our disciples or who feel inspiration from the preaching, to stay in contact by at least reading weekly this message. Of course the answering of questions has become more difficult, but if you have questions, you can alsywa ssend them thgourh my secretary and you will get the answer.
Many devotees can not be on the chat, because sunday is the main preaching day, but they can read it after. This use of technolg in the service of our spiritual master, has been a wonderful facility, krsna has given to us. Thourgh that I feel very much connected to you. Even if I can not visit your temple very easy. In the times of srila prabhuda, many tempe he had, he never visited. And we got messages from him very rarely, beuase this modern facility was not available then. Now you can listen to more classes of prabhupada, then what we were abel at that time. And od srila sridhara maharaja and of srila puri maharaja. I mean not be be inspirited is just because you are careless.
The topomost inspirationional materilal is always awailable. Of course, we al have a struggle with maya. Maya is always nocking on everybodies door, but the inspiration we are getting form the great acayas, is so imporntant. If you take shelter of this inspiration, you will be able to remain a devotee for the rest of your life. You have to remain a devotee. Otherwise, how can you guide your children and friend towards safety. How can you give shelter to others, if you have no shleter. So the real shelter is sadhu sanga. But the connection with the spiritual master is very importat, and it is my whish, that everybody I s happy in our spiritual family, and that everybody who like can take spiritual responsibility. Becusae the responsibility protects us from maya. You see the siksa guru and the diksa guru should be seen as same.There are two types of siksa guru. The one is the siksa guru who is actually incharged of your daily activites. He is practically as important as your diksa guru, eventhough, guru does not mean indypendent. The gurus are all working for the same goal. The other type of siksa guru is the sadhu. We can see every good devotee as a siksa guru. We can lear from all of them, but we are not personally commitet to service to them. So when we say, when the siksa and diksa guru are same, this refers t the siksa guru, who is guiding you in the service to your diksa guru. If you yourself are siksa guru and guiding other people, you have the sae responsibility as the diksa guru to make people happy in krsna consciousness. The happines comes form the complete identification and the sacrafice, which a person make to achieve the goal f his lifke. The happiness comes form commitent, it come fomr undiviated dedication, to such lfty ideals, as serving god iternally. If the authority, in the case the siksa guru, is not able to happily inspire you and others, then he is not very qualified. In other words, if you are not capable of inspirng and making others happy, you are not qualified, but htat is not reason to through the towel. No, that mean you have to qualify. Everybody in school has to qualify, otherwise they do not let him go to the next class. Some people they do not finish school, because they are so lazy, but the process of this movement is to qualify you and make you a pure devotee. It does not matter how long does it take time, but hopefully we can finish the job in this life time.
Therefor we need dedication. If you can not inspire the others to be happy in krishnas service, then you should provide them the chance to take up responsibility by theselfs or to find a sadhu who can help him. If somebody has joined the temple where I am preaching, then I am only preocupied, that he becomes happy. An I hope that he will do the things better then I am doing. A real leader trains new leaders. A god father desires to his son more success in life. Therefore the father sends his son to be trained by different experts. Because what I do not know I can not teach you. In this way we have always to make certain sacrifice and krishna knows everything and he blesses every devotee in the appropiate proportion.
It is my humble request that you always fee great concern for the impact your wors and actions have upon others. And if you see that they are becoming extatinc, they are chanting their rounds, they are coming to the class and that they are eager to serve, then you must be doing a good job. Our possiblites are very big, but we limit our selves. We have to do it. There is no way out. I can not do it, means I do not want to do it. Some people make a bad job, so that they will not be send again to do the bad job, but in this way you will not do spiritual progress. Who is trying to do the best? This is the natural behaviour of someone who has love. So from this mela from hungary, we are sending to all of you around the vinrda world, our loving concern for your success, that you may triumph in krsna consciousness and that maya will give you a break and that all your short commings may be forgiven by your humilty. Connect the world to krsna and love. That is our job. It is as sipmple as that. And love mean prasada, kirtana, pravacan, parikrama and transferal of love distribution. As you are a love distributer, those who can understand you, they will also distribute love very soon. Let me remind you once more, that if you can somebodies email address today, so that he can receive our newsletter, your preaching was already a success. So do not miss out on that. And those who send out those newsletters, they have to put all their love in this, that you may also touch others heart thourgh written word. That is the only good use of the internet, enthusing, enthusing and enthusing. The internet is also sometimes a good library, when you are researching some topic, but the internet is not critisizing others. If you make a offense in writing; the internet has the tendencay of multiplying. So if you write somethng wrong, it automaticcally becomes a maha offence. Do not do that. Do not even argue or discuss on the internet. Of course you can glorify god.
The tendecnay of the internet, because of his impersonal character, the people are adopting a very strange unwanted behaviour, because there is no one who can see them. Therefore in our vrinda mission, we are trying to have a very high standard of constructive internet information. Any offence you write or read is going to make your likfe more difficult.
Please take note of these commentaries. Theye are very imporant.