True renunciation - 7/31/16 From Ecuador

Message sent from Ecuador on July 24, 2016:

All glories to Srila Prabhupada,

 My beloved devotees, I hope you are very well in your respective services.

 I wanted to tell you that sending a weekly message to the whole community has been my custom for the past 15 years. However, this year we have not done it one way or another. This is a new attempt to recuperate the Sunday chat so as to connect with each of you.

There are three things you should never abandon in your spiritual practice: tapa (austerity), yagna (sacrifice) and dana (charity). Austerity is basic for the Age of Kali-yuga. Srila Prabhupada called it 'simple living and high thinking'. Sacrifice is expressed as the chanting of the holy names of the Lord, either in the form of japa or in congregational kirtan, in gatherings, or even writing about the glories of the Lord. Charity refers to creating temples with such a beautiful atmosphere that people do not want to leave them and return to the material existence of which we all came from. Places filled with sadhu sanga.

Everything that is done in the company of sadhus or devotees is a profound and beneficial purification. Sadhu-sanga is full of rasa, full of taste and appreciation for others. There may even be people in the world that we do not feel a natural appreciation for, but then they immediately become recipients of this special mercy. As the saying goes, "Lord, please give me your mercy when I least deserve it, because it is when I need it most." So we can constantly keep the desire to encourage all people in our environment, including both members of the spiritual community and those who are not.

 Similarly we have to learn to see the action in the inaction. We must learn the concept of detachment in the concept of attachment. This means that while we have a material body, and devotees are seeking detachment, we are placed in constant contact with the material energy. This is inevitable. In this way devotees must maintain temples and centers open in a practical and efficient manner so that people can learn more about spirituality; they have to participate in campaigns to address adverse ecological situations that may affect the people around them; They have to care for their health and their bodies so that it is in perfect condition while sharing the message of Sri Krishna to the world; They have to keep their families healthy and happy. They have to become excellent professionals in the areas defined by Srila Prabhupada that devotees should take action in, etc.

 Sometimes one feels a strong urge to give up all the material attachments and run away from them, but in that case, the real renunciation is the ability to fulfill your duties and responsibilities. For it is through this compliance that one qualifies oneself for transcendence. As soon as one abandons their independence and takes refuge under the protection of a Vaishnava, the same Vaishnava will give you responsibility to protect, which can only be executed with a mature approach and individual discernment. This responsible and careful attitude is completely healthy for the spiritual development of those who have been inspired by the Lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada.


 I ask you to reflect on these issues and share them with the members of your communities and families. Jay Srila Prabhupada!

With all my affection from Ecuador.Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti

The qualities of a servant of humanity 7/24/16- Miami Conference

My dear devotees, 

A servant of humanity has to be a servant of the family, which is the first social unit of the world that surrounds us. This includes the father, mother, the brothers and the neighbors and to all those who are close to us. 

A servant of humanity is like a subsidiary of love, and according to the place they live in, they are going to have different tasks, for example: if you arrive to a natural sanctuary and you realize that it is full of plastic garbage your service to humanity is transformed into collecting this plastic and to find a system for recycling to thus avoid that we suffocate in it. Promoting healthy food to the people around you through organic agriculture and permaculture is another great service to humanity. To convince people to live without the influence of chemicals and without letting ourselves be carried away by the culture of consumption is another service to humanity. To teach people to heal their lives through spiritual cultivation and becoming a doctor of the soul is a service to humanity. 

The sole act of helping a small part of the universe to improve is a great service to humanity. Helping animals who suffer is a service to humanity. Become a vegetarian or vegan is entirely a service to humanity and the whole environment (it is said that each new vegetarian helps the world become a safer place). In other words, becoming an exemplary person who is faithful to their ideals is directly a service to humanity. 

The questioning and deepening in the aim of life and asking, "why are we in this world, and where should we direct ourselves", is also a service to humanity. Because human life is the great opportunity that we have to find answers to these questions. It is also a service to humanity each time one identifies a response to the essential questions of life and shares it with others, in the same way that if I have food and water it is my duty to share it with those who do not have it. In this way, knowledge about the wisdom of being, on love and on positive values such as compassion, appreciation, or etc. must always be shared. 

A service to humanity sometimes may not be recognized by others, that does not matter, because our Creator is always aware of all the efforts we make for the welfare of others. He knows everything that we think and speak and what to say of what we do. When we want to serve a plant we know that we must put water in its roots, we will not be able to cater to the plant by putting just a drop of water on each leaf, this will not give the desired result. Similarly, to serve humanity and to reach the perfection of life one must deepen in the singing of the names of the Infinite truth in the tradition closest to one's faith individually. 

This great process that is known as praise (or kirtan in Sanskrit) is the presentation of the soul before the Infinite, recognizing himself as a humble servant that requests to become an instrument of His love. This is a process that opens the channels of communication with Divinity, both upwards and inward. The connection with the Holy Names of God is the means that fills us internally to become intensely grateful to the Infinite, because any potential help that we can give to humanity does not come from us but from the Absolute that allows us to be part of His great symphony. That is why, through the singing of Holy Names I connect with the Infinite. I have more of a chance of becoming an instrument and servant of His love for humanity. 

This is what I learned from my spiritual master Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. 

With all my affection,
Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti