How to inspire compassion and expand the Ideals of Krsna Consciousness, 6th June, 2012, from Brazil

From São Paulo.

Dear brothers and sisters please accept my obeisances, Srila Guru Maharaj Ki Jay, Srila Atulananda Acarya Ki Jay, Vrinda family's Dominical Chat Ki Jay. Srila Guru Maharaj will dictate the Chat today in the next couple of minutes, Gurudeva was in good health. Yesterday he returned to Sao Paulo.

Today is the Sunday Festival and Tuesday night Gurudeva goes to Miami. Gurudeva went for a walking class this morning. They just came back and now he will take prasadam. Then, in the next few minutes is the nectar.


Today we introduce a different format for the chat. Questions and answers. So now would be the appropriate time to send your questions. Guru Maharaja will answer the top 10 questions. It can be about subject but there is also a centralized topic. How to inspire compassion and expand the ideals of Krishna Consciousness. You can write your questions here in the group chat. The chat can begin when there is a good number of questions. Please make well elaborated questions and you can also send questions in English. So here we will wait for the questions.


1) Guru Maharaj Ki! Jay! My question is: Many cities are concerned about animal welfare and have programs for them, but inside those programs there is sterilization, which is recommended even by groups of animal defenders. What position take the Vaisnavas in such practice? Is it advisable? Thank you.


2) Jay Gurudeva, a few days ago in Argentina it has been putted on trial the declaration that makes the Jehovah's Witnesses not to receive blood in respect to accidents and so on, families let a loved one depart based upon this signed statement on the basis of religious authority. What is the Vaisnava’s position on the matter, and accurate explanation to those who question us on this subject? Dear Gurudeva thank you very much!


3) To what extent should we allow politics within the spiritual path when using policy which do not allow the progress of the devotee? Taking into account that the devotee is bound to have his own criteria, his personality, we see in the Gayatri Vani as you mention that the Brahmana has different qualities but mostly OWN CRITERIA. The Bhagavata of Bhaktivinoda Thakur also tells us to be authentic to go to the original source where other Acaryas have gone. Druvha Maharaja in the Srimad Bhagavatam, when he tells Narada, your instructions are very good, but do not satisfy my heart, Sato Vritteh we see how you had to decide and leave the politics as Srila Sridhar Maharaja recommended. Politics vs. Own Criteria. My obeisances, hari bol.


4) Obeisances to your lotus feet Srila Gurudeva... How can we help someone who is vegetarian but has no compassion for his entourage, especially with his family? His heart is very hard. Thank you.


5) Jay Gurudev my obeisance’s, why does the deity have little hands and feet in red color?


6) For many people it is difficult to understand Krishna Consciousness. The query is, what is the proper answer to those who are more interested in profit and want to know: What do I gain from being a Vaishnava?


Replies from Guru Maharaja:

1) About sterilization.
The problem is not that, but the lack of awareness in our relationship with the animals.
We have lost our natural bond with our younger siblings. The more natural is to protect them. Any man intervention in the natural development of an animal or what we must sterilized is man's tendency to think that there is no supreme controller benefactor of all living entities. There is room for everyone, there is food for everyone, there is an order for everything. It is man's greed and vices who created a mess in the animals lives. I recently saw a Peta's documentary and I was amazed of so many forms of animal cruelty that I had never seen or known. What to say about the food produced by the chemical industry. I recommend the trailer for a film being produced now. http://vimeo.com/25563376
They you can see how many birds are finished just because of plastic. It looks like a horror movie. But is the reality of every day and each one of us who are not aware of the use of plastic, you can feel part of the film. So all these disorders and possible options and consequences are products of the same man who has lost the love for animals. And this is produced because man has no love for God. Due to the influence of secular education and the promotion of enjoyment, man is further from God and makes so many mistakes.

2) On receiving blood.
Time, place and circumstance. My spiritual master gave his blood to save you, me and everyone. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta said:
I wish that in this mission, each one kindly and with soft-hearted, to be willing to sacrifice two hundred gallons of blood to nourish the spiritual body of each individual in this world. So with this meditation we understand that is the effort in preaching what saves us and what could save others. That is the blood we want to donate. In an emergency, many cases are known of Vaisnavas that have donated their blood for the welfare of others. But are individual things and there is no rule about it. There are many things one does with heart, like what moms does for her children, that is not spoken, it is not done more.

3) About the own criteria..
The own criteria arises from surrender and desire to serve. For example, what is my criterion for evaluating the resignation of a devotee? His rendered service done to the community. It can be a grihasta. Surrender is in the heart. It also stems from the inspiration to find new ways of establishing Krishna consciousness. A inspired devotee is a connected devotee, but connected to what? Connected with the instructions of his spiritual master. When we are connected, we know what to do at the right time. Even in moments of criticism, slander or defamation, we know we must be transcendental to it, for that the Bhagavad Gita says that we must transcend the fame and the infamy. IF Krishna says it, it is because that will come at some point in life.

- On the previous topic...
About sterilization, there is also an issue. Castrated oxen existed in Vedic culture; I think that this measure is accepted in the possession of domestic animals.

- About donating blood, the conclusion is that if it were necessary to help a loved one, I see no obstacle in it. In medicine you always have to take things with caution but if even the naturalists say that there is blood transfusion so we must do it. And if anyone needs my blood, please, let me know. I believe I have a little reserve extra. But anyway I'm not very friend of these processes because there is also contamination of diseases and I believe the blood with a good diet can be improved in a better way.

- About politics, politics is already very dirty. We have NOT seen so far a good devotee out of there.

4) About compassion for the family.
It is a special case you present me, the animals are too part of the family and to be vegetarian is a sign of love for them. A vegetarian who loves animals but does not have much love for his family might be a case for Oida Therapy.

5) About the little red hands and feet of the deity.
I've heard that to have pink hands and feet is very auspicious, and if it is painted red it is because they have no pink, there is no other reason I know.

6) On the question "Many people find it difficult to understand Krishna Consciousness, the query is how to respond to those who are more interested in profit and want to know: the benefit they get for being a Vaisnava"
It is a very good question. Just these days I have been working on this topic, on the fortune a devotee has. In all a devotee attains in Krishna Consciousness and all that a materialist can achieve in the material world. So mother Prema Mohini can give a report of this work. She can tell you everything we have been worked on with this issue. Thank you for your questions. Hari bol. Srila Prabhupada Ki Jay.


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




Prema Mohini:

Jay, my obeisances dear devotees, we are now in Sao Paulo and on this trip Guru Maharaj has reveled a new stage of the OIDA Therapy work that I am editing and organizing to soon release to you all.

Centered on the mystical traditions and going back closer to the Vedic, as for a long time, the focus General OIDA Therapy had, that does not incorporates the vedic, but pushes the whole vedic truth behind, with the purpose of achieve the acceptation of the whole world. To go straight to the point of the question, Guru Maharaj elaborated a material where he talks about what reaches a materialist and a devotee. It is called "Scale of values and achievements of the successful OIDA Therapy's life".

This work is directer to analyze the most wonderful one can get in human life, give by the quality, the effort and by the individuals life destiny. Different mystical traditions or materialistic attitudes may make easier or impossible to get some of these achievements, like for example, we set what a materialistic cannot, and what he could, achieve.
There is a scale that shows what each one obtains. The scale also allows us to rethink a few things on life one can reorient himself to obtain more thinks he would like to achieve. Here what you obtain by being a Vaisnava:
First the table.

Table of Answers
PM: Possible Materialistic. What a materialistic may achieve.
NM: What a materialist cannot achieve.
YV: Yes Vaisnava. What a Vaisnava achieves.
PV: What a Vaisnava might achieve.

- There are the initials of each answer, for us to understand what each one can achieve.

1. To have optimism to bear with the tribulations of life.
Answer:
PM/ YV
You understand me? This answer means that a possible materialistic may achieve, and a yes Vaisnava. I'll go on.

2. To get to different places and to find people that welcomes you with the heart.
YV/ NV

3. To live in a place where you area appreciated and have all you need to live.
PM/ YV

4. To know people that one would be able to sacrifice himself for.
NM/ YV

5. To know people that would be able to sacrifice themselves for the welfare of someone.
PM/ YV

6. To consider that the place we live is sacred.
NM/ YV

7. To believe we have found a message from God to ourselves.
PM/ YV

8. To find our life mission.
PM/ YV

9. To have friendship with people that share our ideals and to appreciate the mission one does and even participate on it.
PM/ YV

10. To know people in your life that are pure in their purpose.
PM/ YV

11. Being able to sing and dance happily and full of thankfulness for what we have received.
PM/ YV

12. To feel love for others.
NM/ YV

13. To feel love for compassion for the animals, avoiding all violence against it (To be vegetarian).
PM/ YV

14. To be activist to protect the victims that cannot speak or to protect themselves.
PM/ YV

15. To enjoy sharing your belongings, overall when others need it more than you do.
PM/ YV

16. Being able to do uninterested service for the welfare of others and to feel happiness in doing it.
PM/ YV

17. To deeply enjoy when touch the Mother Earth like clear water, to see the beautiful sky, the sunrise, the sunset, a beautiful landscape and to feel committed to the next future generations can see the same.
PM/ YS

18. To feel disgusted from seeing garbage disposed everywhere and to be disposed to collect it, within your possibilities.

19. To believe in feeling the divinity in all other beings.
NM/ YV

20. To feel happy about being born.
YV/ PM

21. Being able to feel happy with what you have and what you are.
PV/ PM

22. To realize one is responsible for all he does.
PM/ YV

23. Being to say sorry when you have made a mistake.
PM/ YV

24. To feel small but wish to achieve something big.
PM/ VP

25. Getting to pray to be an instrument of God's love.
NM/ YV

26. Being able to laugh with compassion to the others and to laugh a lot.
PM/ PV

27. Being able to unite yourself in a prayer with the infinite.
NM/ YV

28. Knowing how to be dear.
PM/ YV

29. To feel affection ad compassion for those who has less fortune than we.
PM/ YV

30. Do not feel envy for others that are or have more than us.
NM/ PV

31. Always to be anxious to learn more specially from the more advanced ones.
NM/ YV

32. To feel fortunate that exits the truth, the universal laws and the love wich is the most sublime in the creation of the deity.
NM/ YV

33. Being able to keep your acute intelligence to discriminate between what is appropriate to you and what is not.
PV/ PM

34. To have a strong desire to serve God eternally in the eternal world.
NM/ YV

35. Being able to ask your inner guide and to follow its advices.
NM/ PM

36. Being able to maintain yourself with a job that does not contradicts your ideals.
PM/ PV

37. Feeling satisfied and thankful for the healthy that blesses your life.
NM/ YV

38. Becoming a very admired person.
PM/ PV

39. Living in a palace is to live in the beautiful nature.
PM/ YV

40. Being able to heal your body with very auspicious things.
PM/ YV

41. Being able to wear clothes without restrictions or impositions like the uniforms, made with natural and organic materials.
PM/ YV

42. Having enough clear water available.
PM/ PM

43. To achieve not to be afraid of death.
NM/ PV

44. Living life with no anxiety for what is material.
NM/ PV

45. Enjoying to make your things pretty around you.
PM/ PV

46. Living happily and satisfied without intoxicate your body with psychotropic drugs and alcohol.
PM/ YV

47. Being able to know medicinal plants and to heal most of your discomfort.
PM/ PV

48. Not fooling no one and living without being cheated.
NM/ PV

49. Deserving to receive mercy or to receive mercy with for no reason.
PM/ PV

50. Having a body with very good health.
PM/ PV

51. Finding a loyal partner to whole life.
PM/ PV

52. To have healthy and auspicious children.
PM/ PV

53. Having a great joy for knowledge without becoming proud.
PM/ PV

54. To sleep and awake happy.
PM/ PV


- Each individual can be assessed by his reality. Interestingly to know the philosophy or the faith that points bad influences in your life because it can be favorable or unfavorable to your achievements or situations.

I hope this so valuable material answers what you get by trying to be a Vaisnava. Jay thank you very much, my obeisances. If you have any doubts on this or other material from OIDA, I'm at your service.

The Imitation 17th June, 2012, from Sao Paulo

Dear devotees,

Greetings from Sao Paulo, the land of Mahaprabhu Gandharvika Giridhari.

Today I want to talk about imitation, a very common attitude among the humans beings. Imitation means acting without understanding, just copying what others do. The imitation causes big problems because is act without understanding the essence of things or even without fully understanding what you are imitating. Sure, there are many things we would like others to imitate:

For example, our nutritional style and everyone to become vegetarians or that everyone imitate devotees and start chanting Hare Krishna. But the essential is to realize that the process of Bhakti is not just about imitation, but true understanding, and that is why the devotees try to teach the essence to the imitators, although it brings many difficulties.

As Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji said, a woman who is not pregnant cannot imitate the symptoms of a woman who is. She might complain about the pain of contractions and make great mannerisms of pain. But that will not make her to give birth to a child. Likewise, in spiritual life we can imitate the symptoms of advanced devotees, but that does not mean that we are advancing.

There are other negative aspects of imitation, such as jealousy, envy, etc. Also competition and false ego. Srila Prabhupada taught us that imitation can be destroyed by the unity in diversity. What is this? Well, joining within the differences means accepting the other as he is in his true process and for that we need no imitators. That was Srila Prabhupada's attitude and that is what we must implement in our temples. Srila Prabhupada was very special.

Srila Prabhupada would hand responsibility to everybody with no prejudice. Myself included, I had to send Srila Prabhupada the names of the candidates for initiation and manage fire ceremonies, to take important decisions, etc., with only one and a half year living in the temple. At that time I was very grateful to Srila Prabhupada. I was very enthusiastic about all the responsibilities he left me, despite the fact I was not qualified to do them. This is unity in diversity and it saves us from the imitation.

What happens when there are devotees in Krsna Consciousness in the age of 10, 12, 15?
How to act to keep them encouraged to satisfy their needs? It is not easy to do this... But the essence is that we need to take responsibility with humbleness, for those who take responsibility for Krishna to be humble students who long to execute their tasks successfully, even if it means that they might find faults, failures and difficulties on the way. Sometimes we must fail to find the way we must go. Therefore, it is not fair for us to be bothered by others mistakes, we ourselves are learning from mistakes all the time. Mistakes are necessary.

For example, children cannot write well on the beginning. Those who learn to swim do not learn fast at first. The same way, a temple's president needs lots of practice to become a good leader. And on the way he must teach the others. We have been training leaders for years in thie manner... Unity in diversity is fully applicable in Krishna Consciousness. Because everything is for the cause of Sri Krishna, our ashrams that are true shelters must be united in diversity. Together we are stronger in the fight against Maya. We must make things easy for the diversity. We must deliver freedom and confidence to the devotees with whom we work with, especially the leaders should do this.

We are warriors of Krishna's cause, so we took risks for Him and we must keep in constant struggle. Remember always that above all is Love. Above the institutions, including, above varna ashram dharma. We must continuously serve more and more the devotees with love. Our intent is to reach perfection. The service full with love, this is perfection. Even if we make mistakes on the way our goal must be steady.

To have a strong Vrinda Family, the younger devotees should see how senior devotees love each other. Without that relationships get weak, the family gets waek and our service is affected.
So I insist: we must include everyone in our effort. For example, the style of the Vrinda Bhumi's devotees is different from the Harijan Mandir devotees in Santiago, but both styles are wonderful, two ways of practicing Krishna consciousness. That is unity in diversity. I even send many devotees and mothers to learn at my office, there they will be trained with tools that they could not have known in Vrinda Bhumi or Santiago. Thus, our Mission is a very dynamic family. Right now, in Brazil, we are moving in many areas and many sannyasis and devotees have come from different places to be in the marathon in service to Krishna.

We must concentrate our efforts on educating ourselves and becoming qualified as brahmanas. And we must educate those who are with us, who we have in our care. They are the future spiritual leaders. Because a brahmana is a spiritual leader. Krishna Consciousness is a school for Brahmanas that train people to leave this world. This miserable world... it's miserable like this for us to remember that it is temporary and that we must turn back to God, back to Home. And Sri Krishna keeps the doors open to everyone who want to be with Him. This is our everyday goal:

To create for Krishna. And the leaders should create beautiful communities to Krishna, where everyone is respected, where everyone can take responsibilities, where everyone can grow and create, supporting the unity in diversity and where there are daily istaghostis to discuss together how to serve and create better and with more enthusiasm, for Krishna; where everyone gathers to share the Lord's mercy in the form of Prasadam and make plans together to the future of the community.

With these words I say goodbye for today. We have a nice meeting for the Universal Love at the park of Aclimação. Sannyasis arrived here from everywhere, Damodhar Maharaj, Narayan Maharaj, Tirtha Maharaj from Chile, Giri Maharaj from Argenting, besides our Mangal Maharaj and Puri Maharaj whom are serving in Brazil. A very beautiful meeting, so I leave you all my affection today. Jay Srila Prabhupada!


Your always well-wisher,

Swami B. A. Paramadvaiti.

Never lose enthusiasm & give the best you can - 10th June, 2012, from Brazil

Conference.

Dear devotees, Greetings from Guaruja, Brazil. Today I want to share with you a message that has nothing to do with "taste" but with the quality of the love we deliver.

There are different degrees of love in the field of devotion, from the most basic to the most advanced and pure which is characterized by the spontaneous plenitude. I want to tell you about the great need to do things in life as an attempt to perfection. Of course, is anachievable; the perfection is love. There is no love without the desire and intention of doing things with perfection and God in the Bhagavad Gita speaks about the perfection of the spiritual life. That is our main subject, devotion is an artistic process... To sing, to glorify, and to cook for the Lord. So it is not a matter of taste, it is about the quality of the intention which things are done with. The Vedic culture is very refined culture, it is a culture of worshiping; everything is worship, the cult of poetry to God, cult of decorating everything for God, the cult of service, of preaching and publishing transcendental books, the cult of receiving all visitors at the temple with much love. Cult comes from culture, we must be cults, that means: worshiper, cult and responsible.

We do not imagine how important quality is in everything we do, the quality of service. We must apply the intention of perfection in everything we do; when we are negligents with the quality of what we do, things lose their importance; and it means that there is no love in what we do nor on the process we practice. Conclusion: We must take care of the smallest details, try to do things with perfection and with love... because by the perfection of devotional service we can reach the Supreme Goal, the Darshan of Krishna, the meeting with God himself. The process is to chant Hare Krishna with perfection and to execute the art of devotion with perfection.

And the art of devotional service we can apply to the different areas of the preaching we attend; for example, to open an Original Kingdom Ministry, a place to advertise and expand vegetarian awareness and the protection to all living creatures and the nature; this is tru art. To distribute everywhere the message of the compassionate and free from karma food, the food blessed by God himself in the form of prasadam, is complete art. And you all can learn the everyday art of the activists who are opening new ministries like Hari Sankirtan in Colombia and Madhu Mangal in Ecuador. And remember that the importance of spiritual food is 100 percent, that is why we spend energy to make new vegetarians with prasadam. Because prasadam is the strength of our life... we should offer to Krishna only the best, the best fruits that are not damaged by chemicals nor are transgenics, the best healthy and organic offering grown with love, the best classes and the best preaching to enchant the souls of Kali Yuga, the best Bhajan and the best Kirtan, for His satisfaction. The devotee must try to offer the best to Krishna.

We must share this conscious that human beings should offer all they have to Krsna and that offering should be the best ones, free of material contaminations. This is bhakti yoga, the perfection. And the proofs life brings us have the role of improving the quality of our offering. To be even more perfect. And we always have to learn to pass through new tests. We are under constant examination. And tomorrow's test will be harder than today's test... This way only we can be improving. That's the pedagogy of growth. God made everything perfect and for the benefit of all.

Therefore, in the service to God everything must be guided by that same intantion of perfection. We should be very willing to pass through all the proofs and tests that come to us. Even Srila Prabhupada had to pass through tests as a pure devotee at the age of 80. Srila Puri Maharaj, with over 100 years also had to pass through pure devotee's test. Of course, at that level, tests are pastimes of Krishna.

Prabhupada did his service with all the sacrifice of his soul and he is our role model. So during hard times we should remember all the sacrifice he made so that we might receive Krishna. We must pray to Srila Prabhupada for our service to be accepted by Sri Krishna. This is a real spiritual desire we should cultivate. To desire for Krishna to guide us with His love and allow us to serve Him as a tool and for the people to be happy with what we do, and for them to want to get closer to Krishna, and for the devotees to feel pleased with our attempt to reach the perfection of service.

We must not forget that everybody is suffering because they don't know Krishna, they are suffering for their lack of consciousness. That is why we must go every day to the streets to win the hearts of people and bring them to the Feet of the Lord. Everything we do has this basis, all the preaching of the Spoon Revolution seeks to make new vegetarians... for them to be more sensitive so they can accept Krishna in their heart.

The websites we maintain in the office, Cart Records musics, conscious art of the Art School, the Vaishnava's Academies, the Yoga Inbound we offer, the devotees' beautiful and sweet Harinam, the mass distribution of Oki messages in letter size, the prasadam we distribute in our restaurants, all, all, all this is directed to captivate the hearts of the people and bring them to the feet of Srila Prabhupada and Sri Krishna.

When we chant the holy name of Krishna and read the Bhagavad Gita then we will find the peace we are seeking, that is the message we give to people. God will allow us to be sad for all our life, if that is what we want... but that has no use, because the mission of human beings is to serve God with joy.

That is my message for today. Never lose the enthusiasm and always give your best to make things with perfection, as an offering of life to God. I leave you all my affection from Guaruja, where we had yesterday a wonderful Rasa Yatra with Lord Jagannath at the city streets and the at beach. Go on in the fight against Maya.

Jay Srila Prabhupada.

Your always well-wisher,

Swami B. A. Paramadvaiti.