50 years of Srila Prabhupada. From Guatemala. 9/27/15

Srila Prabhupada ki Jay !!!

Today is a special day because we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Srila Prabhupada in the West. Srila Prabhupada gave us a wonderful gift and we can multiply it. Srila Prabhupada planted the seed of Bhakti, he gave us this gift. This seed is still present and is being replanted in different parts, so that we can continue to care and multiply, it is not enough just to sow the seed we must also take care of it and water it to finally reap the benefits and so we can give our respective offering to Srila Prabhupada.

We are fortunate recipients of these seeds that were planted in our hearts. Through this manner we came into contact with the transcendental as they were planted by the original sower. I'm referring  to the seed planted by Srila Prabhupada, the seed of Bhakti. This began with great devotion, the devotion of Srila Prabhupada himself, and he came to New York and started it all.

Srila Prabhupada wrote some songs when he came to Boston in the Jaladhuta, they are very beautiful songs:

"I emphatically say to you, O brothers, you will obtain your good fortune from the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa only when Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī becomes pleased with you."

"Oh Krsna, in truth I tell you: Radharani will give you Her grace, when my Guru is pleased, this I certainly declare."

This is something very pure. Who has such pure appreciation/judgment? Radharani will give grace when my Guru will be pleased ... and when will my Guru become happy ??? That is very difficult, after all the representative of Radharani, Prabhupada said; My Guru sent me to the West and if he is the representative of my Guru then Krishna help me to please Radharani, if you want to deal with Raharani then ignore my prayers, and to know how to please Radharani is our goal, this is the correct meaning.

"Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, who is very dear to Lord Gaurāṅga, the son of mother Śacī, is unparalleled in his service to the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. He is that great saintly spiritual master who bestows intense devotion to Kṛṣṇa at different places throughout the world."

By his strong desire, the holy name of Lord Gaurāṅga will spread throughout all the countries of the Western world. In all the cities, towns, and villages on the earth, from all the oceans, seas, rivers, and streams, everyone will chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa.

Now Prabhupada is telling the story of how he came to share Krsna with the world ...

"As the vast mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu conquers all directions, a flood of transcendental ecstasy will certainly cover the land. When all the sinful, miserable living entities become happy, the Vaiṣṇavas' desire is then fulfilled."

"Although my Guru Mahārāja ordered me to accomplish this mission, I am not worthy or fit to do it. I am very fallen and insignificant. Therefore, O Lord, now I am begging for Your mercy so that I may become worthy, for You are the wisest and most experienced of all."

"If You bestow Your power, by serving the spiritual master one attains the Absolute Truth-one's life becomes successful. If that service is obtained, then one becomes happy and gets Your association due to good fortune."

"My dear Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, because of my association with material desires, one after another, I was gradually falling into a blind well full of snakes, following the general populace. But Your servant Nārada Muni kindly accepted me as his disciple and instructed me how to achieve this transcendental position. Therefore, my first duty is to serve him. How could I leave his service?"

"O Lord Kṛṣṇa, You are my eternal companion. Forgetting You, I have suffered the kicks of māyā birth after birth. If today the chance to meet You occurs again, then I will surely be able to rejoin You."

Srila Prabhupada says I want to be with my Lord. ..

"O dear friend, in Your company I will experience great joy once again. In the early morning I will wander about the cowherd pastures and fields. Running and frolicking in the many forests of Vraja, I will roll on the ground in spiritual ecstasy. Oh when will that day be mine?"

This verse of Prabhupada speaks to some devotees that he is a very close devotee of Radharani, he did so much service in Raman Reti, where wonderful things happen in Vrindavan, servant of Radharani, particularity of the school in Sri Vrindavan Dham.

"Today that remembrance of You came to me in a very nice way. Because I have a great longing I called to You. I am Your eternal servant and therefore I desire Your association so much. O Lord Kṛṣṇa, except for You there is no other means of success."

Thus, following the men fell into a dark pit, by associating with so many material desires, but Narada saved me to make me his disciple, therefore, how can I move away from your service?

Srila Prabhupada tells a beautiful story ... the second song that continues in this way of thinking which was also written on the Jaladhuta ...

My dear Lord Krsna, You are so kind upon this useless soul,
but I do not know why You have brought me here.
Now You can do whatever You like with me.

But I guess You have some business here,
otherwise why would You bring me to this terrible place?

Most of the population here is covered by the material modes of ignorance and passion.
Absorbed in material life, they think themselves very happy and satisfied,
and therefore they have no taste for the transcendental message of Vasudeva.
 I do not know how they will be able to understand it.

But I know Your causeless mercy can make everything possible
because You are the most expert mystic.

How will they understand the mellows of devotional service?
O Lord, I am simply praying for Your mercy
so that I will be able to convince them about Your message.

All living entities have become under the control
of the illusory energy by Your will, and therefore,
if You like, by Your will
they can also be released from the clutches of illusion.

 I wish that You may deliver them.
Therefore if You so desire their deliverance,
then only will they be able to understand Your message.

The words of Srimad−Bhagavatam are Your incarnation,
and if a sober person repeatedly receives it
with submissive aural reception,
then he will be able to understand Your message.

It is said in the Srimad−Bhagavatam (1.2.17−21):
"Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma [Supersoul] in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted. By regular attendance in classes on the Bhagavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact. As soon as irrevocable loving service is established in the heart, the effects of nature's modes of passion and ignorance, such as lust, desire and hankering, disappear from the heart. Then the devotee is established in goodness, and he becomes completely happy. Thus established in the mode of unalloyed goodness, the man whose mind has been enlivened by contact with devotional service to the Lord gains positive scientific knowledge of the Personality of Godhead in the stage of liberation from all material association. Thus the knot in the heart is pierced, and all misgivings are cut to pieces. The chain of fruitive actions is terminated when one sees the self as master."

He will become liberated
from the influence of the modes of ignorance and passion
and thus all inauspicious things accumulated
in the core of the heart will disappear.

How will I make them understand this message of Krsna consciousness?
I am very unfortunate, unqualified and the most fallen.
Therefore I am seeking Your benediction
so that I can convince them, for I am powerless to do so on my own.

 Somehow or other, O Lord, You have brought me here to speak about You.
Now, my Lord, it is up to You
to make me a success or failure as You like.

 O spiritual master of all the worlds! I can simply repeat Your message,
so if You like You can make my power of speaking suitable for their understanding.

Only by Your causeless mercy will my words become pure.
I am sure that when this transcendental message penetrates their hearts
they will certainly feel engladdened and
thus become liberated from all unhappy conditions of life

 O Lord, I am just like a puppet in Your hands.
So if You have brought me here to dance,
then make me dance, make me dance,
O Lord, make me dance as You like.

Jay Nimai! Jay Nitai! those songs are the heart of Srila Prabhupada and you will get that which he himself communicated.

Now, how about this general Srila Prabhupada? You do not imagine that you are a beggar of love, he is a beggar Radharani and Mahaprabhu, he told us more and more, double, double, triple, triple, quadruple and quadruple, a million and a million.

Srila Prabhupada was always on top of things, preaching and he always had the power of a humble beggar, of course preaching something you could only understand through the particularity of this appeal, to make us essentially Krishna's devotees and this is only by the grace of Srila Prabhupada and so we continue to preach.

Another 50 years are on its way and then we can come celebrate 100 years of Srila Prabhupada in the West, that is why it is a very nice celebration and that is why we have received it very well, celebrate, celebrate .. The Sunday of celebration, celebration of love, this is what I wanted to say in a few words. Amen to Srila Prabhupada, encourage people in the path of Srila Prabhupada, this is a unique opportunity.

Your always well-wisher
Swami B. A. Paramadvaiti

Guru Purnima. 07/13/2014. Italy

Dear devotees, receive all my affection from Italy on the day of Guru Purnima.

Today is a special day to remember the light of Srila Prabhupada. That light of Srila Prabhupada is my life and soul. Guru is the one who takes care of me and guides me. The universal principle of the spiritual master is also manifested through the siksa-gurus who teach and care for me daily. We celebrate all of them today on the day of Guru Purnima.

In our lives we make a mistake that often becomes a risk: we easily appreciate the famous, the rich, the important people, those who have things that we do not. We like to take pictures with them, because if I'm with someone important, I also acquire importance. It's like saying "look, I'm in this photo with Vandana Shiva," or with Doctor Krapula. They are important people and I want to be important too. :) The problem is that the minute you start to feel important, you immediately stop being important.
Why do I say this?

Because it is not the main focus, the famous Guru who travels everywhere and has many disciples ... the guru who has many followers and since he is significant I also want to take a photo with him. No, the main principle is the focus of that Guru who guides you every day, who cares for your spiritual life, the teacher with who gives life to the spiritual life experience.

Guru Purnima is the celebration of Guru - tattva. It is the celebration of the manifestation of the original spiritual master. If  I perform Guru puja and that is where my service ends then I have made a big mistake, because I should include in my worship my siksa gurus too. I must attend and serve he who is instructing me. Parents who guide their children in spiritual life are also gurus.

Guru Purnima is the celebration and worship of all Gurus, it is not just Diksa-Guru Purnima. This is the day to recognize and appreciate who is taking care of me, those who are my guardians, my well-wishers. To identify those who sacrifice for me and I do it for them. Merchants created Father's Day and Mother's Day as a way to make money, but in reality both parents should be celebrated on a daily basis not just one day in the year. Therefore, Guru is not only the initiating Guru, but all those who are guiding and protecting me.

This is a complex issue. You can not simply throw some flowers, give a cookie, and give a donation and go...We are accustomed to look for the easy way out, but it's not that simple. Proper application is the exact opposite. Put yourself in my place, for example:

-My Guru is not on this mundane plane, he left it several years ago. I have many pictures of him and I can say: Jaya Gurudeva, but the photo is not going to say anything. I have memories of Prabhupada, having experiences with him and that hits me emotionally, but what also hits me is the face of a devotee who is passing time very badly in their life or to see a child suffer. What do I mean? The principle of Guru, the principle of Guru-tattva is based on the real relationship that I have with the people around me.
Having a Spiritual Master means recognizing that I am not only a disciple and follower of my initiating spiritual master, but of the people who are caring and guiding me daily. It is in daily contact where Guru resides. One meditates that Guru is above all and it turns out that the Guru is also next to you in the form of the people crying around you but yet you will not pay attention because you're too busy looking at the sky, meditating on your diksa - Guru and offering flowers while you kick the Guru that is right in front of you.

Why do I say this? Because I want you to have a broader view. Perhaps it is not easy to digest.

For me, my Guru is sitting in front giving me a lot of instructions through the devotees. The practical application of the principle of the Guru - tattva is very demanding, because one can not be spaced out and escape Guru, you can not be lazy. Thereofore, if everyone around you is a manifestation of Guru, that means you must be alert. This is very important.

At this moment I remember Srila Bhalti Ballabha Tirtha Maharaj, who is one of my Siksa - Gurus, and he is currently with one foot in this world and one foot in the spiritual world, and he is physically surrounded by his beloved disciples in Calcutta who are constantly singing for months, knowing that Gurudeva can leave at any time and not return.

Once, Srila Tirtha Maharaj described some of the types of disciples, with some humor. Of the ones I remember, one was "always" the disciple who receives an instruction from the Guru and instantly said "why always me"? Another type of disciples is like an "arrow", who receives a service from Sri Guru and says "Yes my Gurudeva, as you order" and he shoots out like an arrow, but then he never returns. Another is the "passes on the charge", whom the Guru says, "My dear disciple, please this is urgent" and the disciple says "Yes" and then goes to another devotee and says "Gurudeva says to do this, it's very urgent "So, Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj laughed at some of the reactions of the disciples and he taught us very deeply to become good disciples.

The time of the departure of the spiritual master is very strong. Devotees know that their Guru is leaving before their eyes, it's very painful. Putting it in a mundane example today: it's like living in slow motion  and being able to see the goal that defeats the other team in a football game, it is so slow that you hardly see the movement but you know how it will all end.

It is a very strong feeling. A very strong emotion. Srila B.R. Sridhar Maharaja told my spiritual brothers: "Your Guru has left, now you surrender to the Truth" Sure, some resented that and felt that he was saying that they were not surrendered, but Srila Sridhar Maharaj was instructing them that now without the physical presence of the Guru they should further deepen themselves to the truth and give even more to really have love and devotion that is obtained by the grace of the Guru.

Our Gurus are calling us from everywhere, spiritual brothers, the souls looking for Krishna, all of them are our examples, they are our masters and we serve them. It is pure mercy. Additionally, these teachers complain if one is not active in spiritual life, they call for your attention to focus on their service, that is mercy. That is the service of the spiritual master, to educate the disciple. So we appreciate all those who are educating us. The worst is a teacher who does not say anything to the disciple and then the disciple can fail in their attempt and the Master says nothing.

When you are a new devotee you do everything that the Guru says. Gurudeva says "come here" and the devotee goes. Gurudeva says, 'Do this, do that "and the devotee does. Gurudeva says:" Do not do this" then the devotee does not. Thus, it is a beautiful stage, one is a neophyte, even a little silly, because you make many mistakes. But once one is practicing Krishna Consciousness for many years things change. The Guru no longer tells the devotee all he has to do at all times, giving the devotee more space to develop their own criteria, then comes the hard part, because the devotee should reflect and meditate very much at this point, "I do, as I do .. ." This is a more advanced stage. Where everything becomes more spontaneous, where it is assumed that you know everything you need to know and must apply and test your judgment. Where the surrender should be deeper. Because the World of Surrender, those only truly surrendered enter.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj used the phrase, "Die to Live." If you wish to live in the eternal platform, then you must die at the egotistical level, the whims, the love of money, laziness. To live in the world of Devotion you must be free of all selfishness, lust, indifference, and greed. Srila Sridhar Maharaj also said that in the spiritual world everything is greater than oneself. Therefore it is said that in the spiritual world one should walk with a humble head as to not offend all those entities that are serving the Supreme. We should follow the path of devotional service everyday. That is what we must learn. Therefore, Guru Purnima is not a celebration of a day in the year. It is not something so easy and so cheap.

Understanding the importance of the spiritual master in our life is to see Sri Guru and Krishna in all the people around you every day of the year and to serve them as if they were the same Sri Guru and Krishna.
Because if you do not attend the Master in practice, then it is useless. It means you are not anything. If the service is being well ran, then it becomes Guru - puja. Service that is not centered is not Guru - puja.

What you do to the Spiritual Master should be done with the best of intentions of perfection. The path of Bhakti is not mediocre. The path of Bhakti is a divine gift, which one must become responsible and dutiful in. And if one has failed to develop spontaneous devotion, then one should maintain it as their ideal and dedicate yourself to fulfilling your service in the best way, every day. At least your services should be fulfilled. Do not be a "chichipato" as they say in Colombia. There they also say, "This guy does not even fulfill his birth years", confirming that there are people who do not accomplish things at all. Rather, one must become very reliable. It is very important to comply with the 4 regulative principles. Complying with your devotional activities with the chanting of the Holy Name and preaching. It is important to comply with each other ... Comply, comply with and enforce. Only after complying,  spontaneity can be developed.

This day of Guru Purnima we celebrate it as a participatory party, not a slacker party. To become an active part of the service in specific things is Guru - tattva. Specifically in daily sacrifice, such as controlling of the senses, in service, in collecting Lakshmi Krishna, in the study of the Scriptures, in the care of the Deity, in the nourishing yourself by prasadam ... only to realize that concrete Concrete sacrificing with an understanding that Sri Krishna and Guru are represented by all people.

You must remember that when you are going to do sankirtan your own spiritual master is there in the street and it is he who connects others with the temple.How is this? Because the soul in search is showing you what you have to do, that soul is giving you service. It's amazing that those who are looking for the truth also show you the truth ... and you're also searching for Truth. And it even may be that he has more of a yearning for the another truth than you and they help you remember the reason for your own forgetfulness that which is from habit.

My dear, we must work with dedication for the cause, with the realization that I'll never be a spiritual master because I am very fallen and insignificant, but still studying with the masters and learning from them. I was in the school of Srila Prabhupada and there is much expected from me, because Srila Prabhupada himself taught me that.

So, if I am invited to speak or someone asks me questions I must address them on behalf of Srila Prabhupada, if I didn't I would be a traitor. To advance spiritually one must be prepared to deliver what he received from his spiritual master, and if you're not sure what has been given to you, then read his books and associate with advanced devotees who sing his glories.

To end this Chat I want to comment on something very interesting. We are working with a few Internet groups who support certain pioneer projects financially. These projects must be submitted with all your personalized details. Name of the manager of the project, where it is, budget, materials, development time, etc., etc.. Even a farm project may present different related projects such as hosting spots for volunteers, collective kitchen, conference room, etc, etc.. You can also include projects such as editing a particular book, the production of a film or a musical recording. I urge you to seize this opportunity and to submit everything you would like to apply for the respective project.

You can do this by collecting information and documentation and sending it to the Office for review. They inform them if you need something and then present it to legally organize it. Please meet this request as soon as possible, including all the technical details: the local project bank account, etc.. Please send all requests to Pancatattwa Prabhu.

I wanted to share this so that we can improve our service offerings to the spiritual master in this day of Guru -purnima.

Thanks for reading this message
Jay Srila Prabhupada!

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