Daily sadhana is what always keeps one spiritually strong. 6/7/15 From Ecuador

Hare Krishna devotees dear!

The theme of this conference is the importance of sadhana. Sadhana, sandya is the dawn of a new day, it is very interesting because it is a new opportunity to reconsider my existence in this world. That is why at sandya the brahmanas sing Sandya Vandana which is the welcoming of the new day, and offering obeisances to all the universal forces.

 The Sandya Vandana is part of Sadhana and perfection begins with the Mangala Arati. If you have your Istadev or Deity at home one does not start the day by looking at the news, or sipping your coffee or just running to work. The day must begin with Sandya Vandana. Adoration of the new day, of the devotees and the family members accompanying you, "Vanca kalpa tarubyas ca, kripa sindhubhya eva ca, patita nam pavanebyo, vaisnavebyo namo namah." Very important! To all the people who live with us we start by giving them, and the spiritual master obeisances, who sets the standard of living and sets the principles of dharma.

Always give your respectful obeisances. "Vande ham, Sri-guroh" is plural because it does not refer solely to the spiritual teacher, it refers to all Siksa gurus, who keep us on the path of devotion. We offer obeisance to all of them, and obey them to make progress, because although we are not as hierarchical as the military in essence if one does not make the necessary effort and do things the way they need to be done otherwise you becomes deflected, sidetracked. And straying away has its price, just wishing to get to a destination does not get you there. So you have to stay on the road even if there is a shortcut, or suddenly there's something blocking your way.

For example today Gopal traveled around Quito because there was a marathon in the city and we couldn't pass, but with effort we finally managed to reach the temple. And so we plan another day of devotional service. Only through the invocation of mercy, without mercy we do not have anything. Therefore, Sandya Vandana is Guru, Vaishnavas, Tulasi, that is why we worship Tulasi in the temples. In India all have Tulasi in the house and before you do anything you say,

                                          vrindayai tulasi-devyai
                                          priyayai keshavasya cha
                                          krishna-bhakti-prade devi
                                          satyavatyai namo namaha


 "Sacred plant, holy plant, you have come to purify the world, please let me have love for Radha Krishna and Radha Govinda." That is what I beg you, there is nothing else that interests me. And so, worshiping Tulasi is part of sadhana, then late more bhajans. The Mangal Arati bhajana are in our case, as each temple sing different or various songs, "Samsara-davanala-lidha-loka. Tranaya karunya-ghanaghanatvam."

Ask for mercy to the spiritual master to understand the significance of Radha Krishna Lila, Lord Chaitanya, the worship of the deity, the importance of chanting the holy name. In the eight parts of Guruaṣṭakam it is outlined how you can get mercy, and then comes the song of Vrindavan, "Yasomati-nandana, braja-baro-Nagara gokula-ranjana kana gopi-parana-dhana, madana-manohara, Kaliya-damana-vidhana". This song takes us directly to Vrindavan, Lord Krishna, His antics, the gopis, the Holy Names and Yamuna. "Yamuna-tata-cara, Gopi-basana-hara". All Radha Madhava Lila is pervaded there, some sing Kaki-Kukura to remind us of Sri Chaitanya coming to save us from the dog of  Kali. These things are not absolute, they depend on each temple, sadhana is organized according to each temple. For example after we finished worshiping Lord Chaitanya then comes prema dhvani prayers; Prema dhvani is very important "jaya om vishnu-pada paramahamsa parivrajakacarya ashtottara-sata sri srimad Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada ki jay."  And the Prema Dhvani prayers goes on, "Vrindavan Dham ki jay, Mathura Dham ki, Jagannath Puri Dham ki jay, Ganga Meya ki jay, Yamuna Meya ki jay." Doing it this way, making an offering to all that is sacred, everything nice so you can remember. Without them we are nothing, we are lost, then the sadhana continues.

Then comes the Lord Nrsimhadev. Lord Nrsimhadev is the protector of the devotees, why every day we sing His song. Srila Prabhupada has taught us  personally, he wanted to protect his movement from madness. There is much madness one needs to be protected from. So that is why we sing, "Namas te narasimhaya prahladahlada-dayine..." With Nrsimha Pranam one is already well in contact with sadhana, but now comes the Siksastaka, remembering the eight verses of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu: "Ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha - davagni-nirvapanam shreyah-kairava-chandrika-vitaranam vidya-vadhu-jivanam..." After Siksastaka comes Japa, the Maha Mantra "Hare Krishna". Chanting japa individually is part of morning sadhana.

And you know, it depends how long you have to sing 4, 8, 12, 16 rounds. And start services; Someone has to go to the kitchen, you have to do this and that. But now comes the most important part, we have already sung japa, now  ... "Jaya Radha-Madhava Kunja-vihari gopi-jana-vallabha-giri-vara-dhari yasoda-nandana braja-jana-ranjana yamuna-tira-vana-cari." That song is a window that opens to the spiritual world, it is direct, open it and see. Vrindavan, Jaya Radha Madhava, is very beautiful and important. So you look to the spirit world, it is a great window. And those who take this advantage, this image of Vrindavan where you can see Radha Krishna and His devotees begin to feel at home, start feeling sheltered, protected. This is the eternal Vrindavan, and the eternal Vrindavan is a wonderful thing.

It is incredible that the eternal Vrindavan manifested in this world. And all of us are invited to Vrindavan, this is unprecedented, this is a small perhaps silly example but, it is as if the President of the United States comes to Ecuador and give a US visa to all Ecuadorians and a room in the White House to live with him and help them with food, shelter for the rest of your life. You could not imagine, because the White House is very small, not everyone will fit. But when Krishna comes to this world, He says, "Now you come to my home to live with me, you can stay here doing service, I will help you become situated, your soul belongs to me, you are constitutionally part of my world.You are diverted to this material world, constantly relocating and I want to stop this madness, and I want you to begin service of the heart. And so I invite you to sing My Holy Names, so you will always be in contact with Me all the time. What's more, while chanting Hare Krishna you are in tge sanctuaries that I have established in the world, that is, you are already in the spiritual world, Krishna not only makes the promise that after you die you will reach the spiritual world, Krishna makes devotees bring the spiritual world here on earth and to open the doors and open spaces. People do not appreciate what a temple truly is, people do not realize that these are extensions of the spiritual world.

You know, the North American embassy is American territory, there the Ecuadorian police does not enter, similarly Krishna's Temple is a part of Goloka Vrindavan. And it belongs to Goloka Vrindavan. If you think "No, this is Ecuador, nothing more" then you are wrong, that is why temples are investments whatever one does one in the temples are investments in the spiritual world. In other words if you want to create a temple, a temple in the spiritual world, you will be creating the spiritual world here on earth. And if you dedicate yourself to it for life you will be directly transferred from this world to the world of Krishna. Because you already have a visa, you're already prepared, you already perform sadhana. Daily sadhana is what always keeps one spiritually strong. Because when you stop doing sadhana, when you stop chanting japa, stop working for the cause of Krishna, then one's sadhana begins to weaken. When you cease associating with devotees it continues to weaken, if you do not work daily to produce something for Krishna it gets even more weak, when you stop going to Mangal Arati your sadhana is weakened more. If you do not chant your Gayatri it is weakened more, if you don't pray to Lord Nirsimhadev it is weakened more. In other words, sadhana is what feeds and strengthens us. Just like how everyone eats breakfast, and then eats at noon and, feeds the body in the morning, at noon and sometimes at night, also our spiritual body and spiritual determination need food. That's called Vandana sandya, the sadhana.

This is our power, now if some devotees can not assist, because they were sent to do a service here or there, when one acts under the order of the spiritual master one always does sadhana. Even when you're not doing anything because you are involved in bureaucratic things or organizing a program, when you do service to Guru you are engaged in sadhana in every way. But you should never neglect sadhana under the guise of service. "I am serving the Guru sleeping a little more to have more strength."

The mind produces lots of apologies. That is why the good devotees are maintaining their sadhana, are recognized, are rising early to go to Mangal Arati, they practice, give class. There are many things you can do to be a  good devotee like go to sankirtan with enthusiasm, lecturing, but we must also practice, not just talk. There are many ways in which one can express being a good devotee, that's very nice. We just have to be humble and accept that sadhana is our connection. Sadhana is like the plug of an appliance when you need electricity, if there is no electricity immediately the power goes.
Now, there is no problem because it is sunny outside, we do not need electricity, but what if one unplugs something, everything that supposedly works with power no longer works. Although its a very nice device. There are expensive equipment, but without electrical energy they do not work,they do nothing. So that way sadhana is the plug of spiritual life. And the people living in the house with you, not doing sadhana, not attending Mangal Arati, we must help them. They do not have the company of sadhus, which is what encourages the sadhana. I see all of you are very enthusiastic, I see your faces watching me, they are taking every word I say. I feel very lucky, I feel privileged, and very spoiled by the attention given to me. If there were even four of you sleeping, what would I do? I would do something else.

You do not have much time for yourself in devotional life, but it's all good. We work hard, we will continue to fight, we will not give up,  and continue associating with devotees. And if you're in a farm or outside the city it is more difficult. We must help the farm, we must collect for the farm, take visitors to the  farm. In this world there are many things to do, devotees have much work. Almost no time for sadhana, but do not forget, your job is sadhana. If a devotee is sick, we have to deal with it because it becomes the priority. There is then a lot, there is a hierarchy. Guru seva, Vaishnava seva, these are all hierarchies of attention. Nama chanting Hare Krishna seva is the highest, but Guru and Vaishnava seva are what give you benediction for Nama Seva. Nama Seva, Dham Seva, there are so many forms of seva. Therefore one has to be clear that this is so important. And when you chant japa and Guru calls you you can not say "Gurudeva I am chanting japa I can not attend." If you commit an offense against the Holy Name, the Holy Name will not like it. So one has to see that there is a natural sequence, a hierarchy of heart. But Guru does not call you to sleep, unless you are so sick or so tired, the Guru says "You are falling asleep all the time, you're no longer pronouncing any mantra. Go rest for 10 minutes and then come back and sing well." That also exists.

Guru is very wide reaching, guru is very flexible, adapts to time, place and circumstance. Guru is not unyielding. And it is forbidden to say something on behalf of  Guru. "My Guru says you have to do this and that." No, it is not like that, you do not have to convince a person of what to do. Srila Prabhupada forbade saying "Prabhupada said." He said "What I want you to know I put it into writing." In the justice system, in the court, you find 3 or 4 sides of the same story. And they then come to an agreement. That is justice, where there is no corruption.Today there is so much corruption, so many no longer believe in justice, however life continues, we have to fight.We can not give up, at least we need to have justice among devotees in the community. I am very grateful to all who perform sadhana. And with that I say goodbye, a hug of the heart to all.

 Srila Prabhupada ki jay!

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

Be attached and engaged to the principle of love. May 10, 2015 from Germany

My dear devotees. 

I prayed to the Lord of great love, the incomparable, the one who in this world allows us to know something about Him through His ambassadors of love. To them I offer my obeisance and thank you for allowing me to speak about them and these sacred subjects that bring you strength and power.

The path of love is the path from Vrindavan, the land of love. The place where there is nothing more important than being united to the Supreme to engage in His service. No matter where you are, or what the circumstances in which one finds oneself, poor health or surrounded by the beauty of nature. Even in moments of despair caused by the difficult material circumstances, we can always turn to Him, we can always open our hearts to Him so that it becomes satisfied and we become closer to Him. For Him we can make music and dance, since He comes from that world in which every word is a song of love and every movement a dance, to express our enthusiasm how appreciative we are for what we have received and how much we would like to convey this to all who are giving us the opportunity to do so. Vrindavan Vilasini, the highest sound from the high goddess of love, who gives Herself to Krishna every second and moment with complete disposition, leading all souls in this world who are suffering because of their eager desires, who with their materialistic inclinations can never be satisfied.

Oh What a blessing this sacred mother! The original cause of love, the most complete compliment of the Supreme who by His side represents and teaches the principle of love. And because we have emerged from Them, for us there is no greater desire to also be attached to this principle of love and engage in this principle of love for all that happens around us can receive the full blessing of the holy mercy.

The longing to share this with those who are filled with wishes and who simply do not know in what way they should direct their longing. What can I do so that they too can learn something about God's love? I pray

  
                                                            Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
                                                            Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
                                                            Hare Rama Hare Rama
                                                            Rama Rama Hare Hare.

Supreme Lord, please let me be an instrument of Your love. Supreme Lord, grant me this, the greatest desire of my heart, to stay connected to You through my words and desire, my way of acting, through everything related with myself and others please take me to You, for only by Your side is there the shelter where my heart really is home.

Where does one find oneself at home? In the place of which one no longer has to leave. Where one is present and can be occupied in such a way that the realization of all our greatest skills within our heart is included, where the expression of what is creatively in our hearts is manifested. This gratitude, this joy in communication, this kindness to all other living entities, which logically originates from You, the Supreme of all loving. But in your love, you gave us all free will so that we could also decide to live and give this love. This is the gift, and anyone who represents this gift no matter which language or transcendental mystical tradition, that's quite secondary. The important thing here is to develop this desire and be ready at all times to correct what you still need to correct , which is an obstacle to understand You, reach You, love You, and to convey to others about You.

You, the Divine Couple, the divine Radharani, the divine Krishna, together performed the pastimes of Vrindavan with all Their happiness and all Their desires, which are satisfied to be with his devotees. Yes, I want to go there. That is my desire and in my life this I desire to bring You wherever I am. For how much longer will it take to get there and share in pastimes with You? But be as it has to be, as You desire, please let me be an instrument of Your love. This is the only hope of my life that matters. All the love I have received from my parents, friends, brothers, spiritual brothers, farmers, mother nature, from the elements. All pleasant moments of our existence, were all gifts from You. Everything You have planned to the smallest detail so that it may happen as it has been. And that is why I am so confident that everything will happen as You wish, even if they are gaps of separation that affect us deeply.

Separation is an opportunity to be united to God in a higher and intense manner, because He is the one that awaits us,  He gives us the gift of life, He gives us the ability to love and without falling in love with Him, all our other cases of infatuation are not satisfactory, because they are temporary, and everything moves in different directions, but the fact is that our heart is always yearning for the center, the place where we all can find one another, the place in which we are engaged together with the goal to please Your desires and we help each other, we protect, encourage each other, give each other encouragement, just as those do who have love for everyone.

My dear mother, I long to give this message to Your heart so I'll tell you through this recording. Please accept it and call to  the Supreme Lord of love so that He always keeps us in His arms for it is there where our souls belong.

Jay Srila Prabhupada, my love to all mothers of the world.
Haribol.

Your always well wisher,

B.A. Paramadvaiti Swami

Sankirtan puts people in touch with God. Mallorca, Spain. 3/22/15

Very dear devotees, greetings from Mallorca, the beautiful island in the Mediterranean. In the company of the wonderful devotees of Spain and other countries. I send a fraternal greeting, all glories to Gurudeva Atulananda whose birthday just passed. We send a warm embrace and recommending always to take things to heart and work hard because that is the only way one can become qualified to understand the essence, because the essence is always something that one has to make a special effort for. One is not allowed to take things lightly or superficially, but requires that one treats it with the utmost care.

Today is Sunday, and tomorrow we will have the Theatre Mallorca festival where we will have 8 different spontaneous performances to convey to others the urgency of the message that has been chosen for the work. It's called the theater of emergencies.

There are several types of intelligence: rational, emotional and spiritual. The mantra Vanca Kalpa includes all these types of intelligence. The Vaisnava is always looking for the constructive welfare of others, and to be filled with compassion one must have great emotional and spiritual intelligence. The disenchantment with the material world, which wants to keep us from submitting to anyone except our false ego. This is the world that promotes selfishness, while the Vaisnava is always aware of the welfare of others. Thus the sankirtaneer is always aware of the welfare of all, all he does is look how to help others. A sankirtaneer can never be inattentive, even if he works with many people, each contact has a connection like the level of detail of a heart surgeon, because a wrong movement can even kill. One must be extremely cautious in the way he talks to people.

The sankirtaneer puts people in touch with God, not imposing but exposing. The service to animals, family, devotees, is a service to God. In all angles one must link all activities to God. But we must not think that we ourselves can liberate another from pain. Instead Krishna can, my Gurudeva can. They can give the form in which to find many treasures when one puts the welfare of oneself  submissively to the world. You can measure many things but you can not measure the transcendental, you can feel it but not measure it. Maya means that which can be measured, but the transcendental cannot be measured.

One always feels they are the most important and what one has to do is most important and it is partially true because if you did not exist you would not know of the existence of everything else. But this is very dangerous, because even though my life allows me to connect with others, we risk devaluing others. I can say, "My mom is the best in the world" and that may be fine, but one can not say "My mom is the best and only good mother out there." The same applies to Guru. I think my Guru is very special because I think I am the most important. "My Guru is the best Guru" that is fine. But "my Guru is the only good Guru alone" this is arrogance, it is ego, all about "me, me, me."

Everything is associated. When I think that my prayer is worth more than a native praying to the sun, that is arrogance. To think that God likes your prayer more than someone else's that is arrogant. To minimize or ridicule the faith of others is arrogant. Being in the state of  "me, me, me" becomes offensive to others. Instead of producing something good it produces something negative. What makes you important is your love for others. I'm here just trying to serve, and I do not even have the essential criterion. The Vaisnava is a Vaisnava because they feel that they are not. He thinks he's an aspiring servant of the servant of the servant of the Vaishnavas.

Only when Krishna allows us to serve, can we do so and preach. When we have a bad conscience, depressed, unwilling, we need to go preach. If you do not want to ask anyone for anything, then sit on the street and sing "Oh my Lord let me be an instrument of your love", until someone asks you of out curiosity and you show them a book.

Prabhupada did not come to us personally, but through the efforts of others, and thus we worship all devotees that give us the truth. Nobody knows how to be happy whether with wealth or poverty. But devotees of Vrinda are richer, more than Bill Gates because wherever they arrive they are welcomed by hundreds of temples. Bill Gates will always have to pay to be received somewhere, but devotees have much fortune.

One of the main problems we have is intense laziness. The process of awakening enthusiasm to serve is through Sadhana, since the most essential element of Sadhana is to share what the spiritual master has given you with others. Mahaprabhu said, "I plant a tree of love and it grew and bore fruit, and I distributed the fruit but still many fruits kept falling and I do not have enough hands to distribute all these fruits, many hands are needed, so I need your help, because there are many who need these fruits and I can not distribute all, I need help. "

The idea of ​​Sankirtan has changed a bit, it's more personal. It means that I treat you with all your needs. Ask "What do you need, are you a vegetarian? Here is the cookbook, here are CDs of the best chefs. Or do you want to know about reincarnation, here's the book. Or do you have someone with addiction problems, here's Vedic wisdom. Would you like to have a nice vacation? Here are the best places to go to in India or Colombia, or Mallorca. Personalized Sankirtan is: that I offer everything you could need. The essence is, I have nothing, this is the message of Srila Prabhupada. Sankirtan is a delight, it is the best thing to distribute to give a hand to many people. Today courses are made, Prasadam, but this is an excuse to be able to give them assistance. This preaching is education. It is the process of healing by healing others.

After all, despite not being qualified, do your best because it is all you can do, and do not be discouraged if for one reason or another there is a fall because they exist so one can overcome it, to recognize your flaws and weaknesses and to continue the struggle, because this is what we have to do. We can not wait to be perfect to go out and preach and help people.

Jay Srila Prabhupada!
With this message I leave today. Haribol.
B.A. Paramadvaiti Swami

Last day in India 3/15/15

Dear devotees,
 Today is my last day in India, what can I say about all this time here, what can I say about the organization of mela for the past 6 months. I can not say anything but admirable, as to how the devotees have administered everything here. What can I say about our devotional musicians ... they have kept us all singing this entire time, and what to say about our experiences throughout the various places of Vrindavan, as always, fantastic. When you see that the temple of Radha Gopinath, which is being restored in a beautiful way, one is stunned and has no words to say. What to say about our chefs ... they were fantastic. We did not hear any complaints at all this time, cooks were amazing, really wonderful. This is very difficult to achieve. I could go on and on without end. What to say about each moment lived in these months ... our visit to the temples of Rajesthan ... the dance at Radha Gopinath Mandir, the reunion of the many sadhus everywhere we went, the sannyasis and acaryas illuminating us. Our visit to Berampur, our visit to Bangladesh where people are so beautiful, the visit to Kolkata where we find all those beautiful Vaishnava organizations gathered at a big festival to celebrate the appearance of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

The beautiful presentations of our drama in Bengal. What can I say! All this time in India has been amazing, the jewel of Bharata Varsa, we had never before received such a large group; More than 170 devotees arrived to share during Kartik and I must confess I was a bit scared of being able to receive this large of a group. .. and somehow or other we were able to host them all in a good manner. Sure, there were some adjustments. The work we are doing now in Vrindavan is hard work, but very beautiful, we need beautiful energy in Vrindavan for cleaning and all that we need to do to stop the disaster management. These past days we got together and defined all of what we have to do these months. And the Helping Hand program from Vrinda family helped a lot, but we also want to connect people from other parts that can make more changes in Vrindavan.

I am sad to leave. I told Mahatma Prabhu today, you do not know, I'm envious of you. You stay here and take responsibility for the entire project of great impact, of course, this will not be easy ... even in six months perhaps not much is achieved, we get maybe just a little, but our effort will be there.

I can only say that the devotees are very wonderful. One will never repay them for all that they do, rather I stay indebted to all of you forever, we only hope to achieve something for Vrindavan. One can not be in Vrindavan  solely to eat and sleep, no ... I can not accept that as my dharma. So I hope that we can work hard; we have to perform our services very seriously. And increase our connection between India and South America. It is very sad to leave here, but my work in South America intensely called me, as Gurudeva Atulananda says, the dad is in South America :)

With these words I say goodbye today. All who wish to support the Vrindavan protection project, contact Mahatma Prabhu and Ambika, we need everyone's help.

Jay Srila Prabhupada!
Your always well wisher,
B.A. Paramadvaiti Swami

Report from India 1/18/2015

All glories to Srila Gurudeva who is constantly inspiring us to give the best of ourselves as an offering to the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada.

Srila Gurudeva is in Puri, the holy dhama of Sri Jagannath. Gurudev arrived yesterday at night with a group of 40 devotees from South America and Europe. The last days in Mayapur were quite dynamic. Srila Gurudeva in his tireless spirit of devotional service was personally motivating the different projects for the expansion of Krishna Consciousness in Bengal. He is always actively promoting the cleaning of the dhama, the union of the Vaishnavas and protection of Mother Earth and her natural resources. One of the last projects that Srila Guru Maharaja was developing in Mayapur was the construction of an ecological park in the whole area of pancaveni where it is customary to give morning classes at the edge of the intersection of the Ganges and Saraswati rivers. Srila Gurudeva present this project to the local mayor and it was accepted very well.

Furthermore, he continuously met with various leaders of the Gaudiya Math missions to strengthen the joint work of the World Vaishnava Association. For the subsequent days of Gaura Purnima there are several WVA events scheduled. On March 6 the annual organizational meeting of the WVA will be held, on the 7th we will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the WVA, this time in Devananda Gaudiya Math in Navadvip, on the 8th  harinama- sankirtan by the city of Kolkata, where the WVA has been invited as the guest of honor, on March 9 Srila Gurudeva has been invited to speak at an event in honor of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu at a prestigious university in the city.

Yesterday, Srila Gurudeva with a group of devotees left very early in the morning from Mayapur and went to Kolkata for sacred darshan of Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaja. Along the way, they passed Panihati, where Raghunath Das Goswami celebrates a wonderful festival of chira and yogurt in honor of Sri Nityananda Prabhu and His associates.Then they stopped in the city of Shantipur, the holy place where Sri Advaita Acarya  prayed to Sri Krishna to descend in His most magnanimous form of mercy. From there they headed towards Remuna, where the beautiful deity of Gopinath, which Sri Chaitanya, Sri Nityananda and His exalted associates received darshan and who stole the khir (sweet rice)to give to His dear devotee Madhavendra Puripad. In the afternoon they arrived at Bhubaneshwar and from there they went to Puri, where they are now. As soon as they arrived in Puri they took bath in the Indian Ocean, which is said to be caranamrta since Mahaprabhu entered its waters, meditating on the Yamuna in Vrindavan. In the afternoon they went to visit the samadhi of Srila Haridas Thakur. Srila Gurudeva and the devotees accompanying him are staying in Puri at Saraswat Gaudiya Asana, a beautiful temple led by Sripad B.P. Muni Maharaja who is a disciple of Srila Bhakti Srirup Siddhanti Maharaj.

Muni Maharaj has been serving this Math for over 40 years without rest and with full dedication.
 Today it is one of the most beautiful temples of the Gaudiya Math, and it so happened that they won an Audarya Award in recognition of the most beautiful artistic decoration of a temple. Srila Gurudeva will be in Purushottam Ksetra for seven days, guiding the devotees through the different holy places and instructing them on how to render practical service to the Dhama and the Vaishnavas.Within the personal programming service he will also participate in the WVA Audarya Awards in Puri. These awards are awards given to the Vaishnava who have distinguished themselves by the beautiful services they have done for the expansion of Krishna Consciousness in different areas.

Srila Gurudeva has a scheduled return to the city of Vrindavan for January 26 and from there to Mexico on the 29th in the morning. Then returning to India on February 25 and then off to Europe on March 13. Srila Guru Maharaja is in good health and always becomes very happy to hear reports from the different members of the Vrinda family who are preaching enthusiastically.

This was the report today. We regret not having words from Srila Gurudeva to share with all the devotees, but hopefully the nectar of his transcendental pastimes come into your hearts and fill them with inspiration.

Jay Gurudev!

Caring for Govardhan Silas and adoring them intensely. From Vrindavan. 11/2/2014

My dear devotees
Accept my affection from Vrinda Kunja,

Yesterday we were doing a very nice ceremony on the banks of the Yamuna river. The first ceremony of its kind, where more than 100 devotees were celebrating the 20th anniversary of the installation of Gauranga Radha Vraja Mohan. And this morning Govardhan Silas were delivered to the devotees who want to worship Govardhan in their temples and programs. I was very happy about this. The vrajavasis do not like people to take away stones from Govardhan hill, but if they knew how the devotees take them to their country and worship them, they would be very happy. Perhaps they think that these foreigners wanted to take the whole mountain and steal it, but the devotees simply take them to worship. 

So the Lord manifests Himself in the form of Govardhan Hill and the Vrajavasis feel scared that Krishna is not respected in the way He deserves. But the Lord Himself arranges that many Silas exist in order to travel around the world. Surely, having a stone from Govardhan hill one should leave the equivalent of his weight in gold for Vraj seva ... even that weight means nothing compared to the importance of having an expansion of Govardhan hill in our temple. That's the message of the chat today: Caring for Govardhan Silas and adoring them intensely. 

Last night in the program at the Yamuna we performed Govardhan abhisek. To the devotees from South America we want to say that we are very happy for all the devotees who have arrived. We do not know how to serve them well, nor how to serve them all properly. For us all of Krishna's associates are of paramount importance. So we want to serve the devotees forever. Our Srila Prabhupada is the associate of Krishna who we want to serve and follow. We pray to serve Srila Prabhupada and offer him all of our love for the Supreme Lord, who is the most loving of all. 

Continuing on the path of bhakti where Krishna enjoys with the gopas and gopis, always longing to go to Vrindavan forever, that is the path of Srila Rupa Goswami. And the path of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur who would not go into the details of the intimate pastimes of Krishna, as there is always the danger that one confuses the pastimes of Krishna with material coverings. We follow that example. For, in truth, there is nothing to enjoy in the material world, the only thing here is repeated birth and death: unions and separations, unions and separations. Agonizing. Better go to Goloka so that does not happen again. Sure, there is separation in Goloka, but on another level. There Srimati Radharani suffers in separation from Krishna, so much so that lakes form of from Her tears. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu repeated that tears fell from her eyes. 

Srila Gour Govinda Swami said that this is a school for learning how to cry. But who has really learned to cry? We only cry when our money or documents are stolen. We do not cry for real things ... we do not cry in longing for the love of God. My dear devotees, to end today's message I want to send a hug and ask you to count on me. Let me always and frequently serve all of you with your blessings. Sometimes you have one or another idea on how to serve, but I hope that in the future all of that has very good results for all of you. 

Vrindavan Dham is such a special and wonderful place and to be with all of you here is more special and wonderful. Having been last night on the banks of Yamuna with all of you is the greatest happiness, the highest point. It is the highest point of beauty of association with Vaishnavas. And as I said in the beginning, this was the first year we did a celebration at the Yamuna like this. Before, we did it in a smaller format, but this time it was a very beautiful party. What better party than on the sand of the Yamuna. 

When I'm in the Vraj-raj (the dust of Vrindavan) I do not need anything more, rather I am very happy with the most simple life imaginable. Rather, we could go all night on the banks of Yamuna to celebrate together. Of Course, our Vrinda Kunja is also very nice to be together. 

Thank you very much for sharing together during these 30 years of the Vrinda family. 
Jay Srila Prabhupada 

Your always well-wisher, 

B. A. Paramadvaiti Swami

Glories to Srila Prabhupada 10/26/14 India.

                                                     


Conference.
Dear devotees,
Receive all my affection from Vrinda Kunja.

All glories to the Vrinda family parikrama. Glory, glory to the Holy Dham of Vrindavan. Glory to Yamunaji, always giving mercy. Glory to the lila kirtan, which gives us the sweetness of Vraj. Glory to the sannyasis, who give us their example and association. Glory to the seminars that are organized to help us grow as servants of Krishna. Glory to Gurudeva Atulananda who with his loving cries awakens the slumbering soul.
Glory to Tulsi Devi who gives safe entry to Vrindavan. Glory to the devotees and mothers who have come from afar to meet their Eternal Lord. Glory to Sri Krsna's Harinam Sankirtan which awakens spiritual awareness. Glory, glory to the Srimad Bhagavatam, the Bhagavad Gita and all the scriptures that support us and lead to growth in the path of Bhakti. Glory to the expansions of Vrindavan in different parts of the world that are under our care, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, Colombia ... All these sites are pure mercy of Sri Vrindavan Dham.

I hope this year's Vraja Mandal Parikrama pilgrimage allows us to mature in our efforts to serve. That is my humble prayer that I share with all of you before my Spiritual Master, Tulsi Maharani, and Sri Vrindavan Dham.

Tomorrow is the disappearance day of Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada is really the light in the sky of Vaishnavism, who achieved a revolution and transformation of the planet. Those who know of Srila Prabhupada and are aware of the details of his life know the impact he had all over India and the world. Not that that is openly acknowledged by the scholastic world that only prides itself on its analytical studies, but they have missed the largest nectar which was shared by Srila Prabhupada. However, the other day I visited a well known Acharya from the Vallabha Sampradaya called Sriji Baba Maharaj, he only repeated: "Jay Srila Prabhupada, Jay Srila Prabhupada!" It's amazing the wonders that Srila Prabhupada has done. In some parts the impact of Srila Prabhupada is considered, which inspires us to be his representative.

In fact, before I met Srila Prabhupada, I had nothing to act on, what I felt was a great void in my life. But now I have someone very special to represent, so much so that a person as insignificant as I can figure out how personally. It seems as a joke, but it's true. This is why I transfer to you indirectly all the power to taste the nectar of the association of Srila Prabhupada, still having these western bodies.

This morning we went to have the darshan of the river Yamuna and visited a camp for pilgrims who are doing the Vraja Mandal Parikrama. It was surprising, because when we arrived they immediately fell to the ground giving obeisances.What a shame! They are people who have followed Vaishnavism all their lives and so beautifully they are continuing their parikrama and when they saw us, these white elephants just emerging from a sinful life, they throw themselves at our feet. This is a phenomenon. And all this happens due to us having come in contact with the mercy of Srila Prabhupada. The transformation a pure devotee achieves in the lives of others when they follow his instructions and teachings in the end. That's something very important that I wanted to share with you today.

I also want to take advantage of sending a message to all the devotees who right now can not be with us in Vrindavan, but remain in temples struggling in multiple areas of their service. All those beautiful and merciful devotees and preachers who continue to do Gauranga sankirtan every day. I send a special greeting to Prabhu Thakur and his sankirtan team. Greetings to all the Vrinda family temple presidents. Greetings to our Tapasvi Maharaj and his team who always receive us with so much love in Peru. A salute to the devotees of Colombia who are always excited to expand the transcendental vision in the most beautiful ways. Greetings to all the sannyasis who are the pillars that support the Vrinda mission. Greetings to all the grhasta devotees who lead businesses that support Krishna Consciousness and help us to develop more projects. Greetings to all the brahmacaris and vishnupriyas who are always dedicated to preaching. All glories to the children in Krishna Consciousness that are guided and educated under the Faith education. All glories and a big hello to all the guardians of the Eco Village where many volunteers have the opportunity to meet Krishna. All glories to the cooks who are daily feeding our devotees delicious and healthy prasadam, cooking and providing food for Krishna.

All glories to the kirtaniyas who are concerned that there are very sweet kirtan and serious programs. All glories to the speakers who always share the nectar (hopefully daily, because there is need for it). All glories to all the mothers and vishnupriyas living in service. All glories to the conscious farmers who cultivate the land, to avoid contaminating it with unwanted pesticides. It really is a big task for experts. All glories and a big hello to all the devotees who are dedicated to being temple receptionists, which is a super important service because if someone is not well received at the temple then they will not want to return.

All glories to those who answer the phone at the temples and address the concerns of callers. All glories to the old people who are showing us how to do things the right way and thus remain attached to Krishna and His Holy Name until the last days of life.

All glories and a big hello to all mothers who care for their children, which is a very big task. Someone may say that having a house in order is not a great job, but who does not understand the depth of it has no respect for the great feminine force, nor for mothers, especially in this era where mothers have to work and leave the care of their children to others, destroying much of the family tradition. A big hello to all those who are developing OIDA therapy worldwide, the psychologists, and those who worry that there is a good application of this knowledge to enable people to understand that faith is a universal gift from God.

A big hello to all the Yoga Inbound Schools that are delivering the Vaishnava science and the essence of the Bhagavad Gita to all people. All glories to the devotees engaged in the cleaning of temples, doing the same thing we are doing here in Vrindavan and keep picking up trash, cleaning out there, always with a very beautiful spirit that should be distributed.

You do not know what Krishna's plan is. Nobody knows what will happen. At any time we can leave this body. That is why Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur mentions in astaka lila kirtan, telling us what is happening with Krishna at every moment, giving us the chance to get closer to Him or away from Him. So I beg of you, across the world, to always remember Srila Prabhupada. We live by him and for him. We are the people of Srila Prabhupada.

The glories of Srila Prabhupada must be the flag that we always carry forward. Of course, we also carry the flag of our leaders: the Gurudeva Atulananda flag, the flag of Damodar Maharaja, the flag of Giri Maharajq. We all have an attachment for our leaders and that's fine, but we must not forget that Srila Prabhupada is our life. I do not say that just because I'm his disciple (but of course, all the disciples, we tend to think of the supremacy of the Guru), but I say that Srila Prabhupada is who is holding the Bhagavat Dharma at this time.

All Srila Prabhupada did was always with a futuristic vision, like the Gurukul, for example, where the Gosal cows are protected, the eco villages that ensure a simple and sustainable life. My teacher was a revolutionary spirit of justice and affection, a true ambassador of mercy. The importance of Srila Prabhupada must be marked on the heart, not just having a big picture of him. It is in the heart that we must keep the brand of this great savior of the world so we can move forward, always making good use of our fuel called the japa-mala. This is where you find the energy to preach. Hare Krishna - Hare Krishna - Krishna Krishna - Hare Hare - Hare Rama - Hare Rama - Rama Rama - Hare Hare. With that I say goodbye for today, now Gurudeva Atulananda is going to share a few words of glorification of Srila Prabhupada.

-B.A. Paramadvaiti Swami

Gurudeva Atulananda:
On this day of the departure of Srila Prabhupada I feel very blessed to see that he is still holding me even after more than 30 years after his departure. He knew that what he left was very powerful, so one day he said: "If you maintain what is there, then that is sufficient." So, imagine, and it was very powerful.

Guru Maharaja on His Transcendental Appearance: 10/12/14 Vrindavan

Guru Maharaja on His Transcendental Appearance:

I offer my respects to all the venerable Vaishnava and vrajavasis.  

This is the first time I have to deal with the fact of sitting down in representation of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Vyasadeva. I feel very embarrassed by this and I would like to run and hide somewhere, but I also know that some devotees would not allow me to, which is why I have stayed here.

I have in my memory the words of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada on the day of his Vyasapuja which has touched me very deeply. He said: "I am sitting in an asana listening to the glorification of some of these venerable souls about my insignificant behavior and similar to that of an animal "

I feel very connected and committed to you, and I pray to Srimati Radharani and Her associates to please take me as their prisoner forever. They have decided that I have to do service and thus become a true Vaishnava, although I have not yet achieved that. By all of your blessings I can be close to all of you again and again to serve the purpose of Mahaprabhu, and of our Guruvarga and Srila Vyasadeva.

I hope you will keep blessing the world, that is the ability of the Vaishnavas; to be an ocean of mercy (kripa sindhu), by which all people can receive the grace of Srila Prabhupada, Srila Vyasadeva and the Parampara. Those are the real stars in the sky.

I pray to our Guruvarga and especially to my Gurudeva and my Sannyas Guru on this day to allow me to always remain in service. Vrindavam Dham is a very special place where you can receive profound realizations to do service but can also commit more intense offenses when doing something wrong. It is a very intense place.

Being around all of these special souls who have come to celebrate the Guruparampara and Srila Vyasadeva in the present day is a great fortune. I can only say that I am deeply grateful to all of you for pushing me to the lotus feet of my Gurudeva and Srimati Radharani.

B. A. Swami Swami Ba Paramadvaiti

Vrindavan, where everything is sweet. Argentina. 8/31/2014

My dear devotees.
All my love from the home of Gauranga Radha Madan Mohan in Argentina

Today I was meditating on how we go about correcting our lives to qualify us as servants of the Supreme Sweetness.

That is not just any sweetness, it is the sweetness of Vrindavan, where everything is sweet:
The dance is sweet, the offerings are sweet, friendships are sweet, commitments are sweet, everything that Sri Krishna does is sweet. Those who are eager to to have a human life worthwhile, you just have to connect to that sweetness. The sweetness of the spirit world will help us overcome the bitterness of the experience of the selfish world. That's really something that can be easily perceived when we come in contact with the Holy Name.

This sweetness of which I speak is not an exaggeration, so when someone gets the darshan of the Lord in deity form one realizes and perceives the sweetness that He emanates.Radha and Krishna, Gaura Nitai, Giriraj, all emanate sweetness. There has never been a deity with a sad face. They encourage sweetness and love. That is the essence that allows us to remember and understand what the human life is worth. Because human life is potentially sweet. Human life becomes sweet when your ideal matches the primary purpose of your life. Meaning, when all the beautiful things you have are offered to Sri Krishna. There are many people who have great beauty, but because they are envious of God, they just want to enjoy them and believe themselves to be equal to the status of  Radha, Krishna ...they only seek to be the center.

Thus, in the material world all seek to be respected and appreciated. Either way people seek that: they study at major universities to be respected, do political campaigns to have more respect, they run after money to be respected, they go to the hairdresser to be respected, they get tattoos or piercings to be respected and well ... the most outrageous things. Some even degrade themselves to be respected. Why are we so eager to have respect? Because that is the prelude to attachment and attachment is the prelude to love. In short, everything we theatrically do everything is because we are looking for someone to love us and tell us that he loves us. That is a big mistake that leads to bitterness, thinking that I have to have something special to be loved. Why? For all the expectations that are not answered we become fully bitter.

The life of the devotee, however, is quite sweet because they are not looking for something so that others appreciate him, they only long to serve. Recognition requires a great effort that is mainly based on competition. Competing for who gets the applause, who is the most prominent, the cutest, the most this or that. It's like the children's story of Snow White, the witch asks the mirror "mirror, mirror on the wall, who in the world is the fairest of all" and the mirror tells her that there is someone more beautiful than her, so she intently tries to eliminate her. To be the most recognized. Sure, everyone thinks of that example and laughs or thinks it is exaggerated, but in the end they end up doing the same and competing in one form or another for recognition. So because of this they go to the hairdresser, for that purpose do they dress up, etc, etc. And relationships with others become false and are based only on recognition.

You think that your friends are the ones who appreciate you all the time. But that is another deception. The material world is a world of deception. Imagine, to dress as someone special you must pay more money. To be fashionable one must compete with others. To stand out as having the best glasses also one pay more money. It is absurd. There are people who pay thousands of dollars for a dress that they will use only once a night. Things like this are absurd. Man goes crazy looking for a false sweetness. That is not real, but it is more than a waste and a crime. Imagine, spending more money than you need and have a high standard of living is an outrageous crime. But nobody understands that when competition comes with the intention of being the most "different", the most "wasteful", the most "special", the  most "drunk", etc. They are absolutely absurd competitions offered by the absurd material world. How can we discuss simple living and high thinking when people are actually looking to be the craziest of the crazy. They do not seek to be the wisest, but the craziest.

We all long for love and sweetness. Without love we can not live without sweetness we can not survive. We are addicted to this sweetness and are thirsty for it. But where do you get it? Well, it is found in the consciousness of Vrindavan. Well Vrindavan is a state of consciousness. It's not something you can buy, not something physically definable. It's not something we can monopolize and market. Vrindavan is the land of love and love is something that is earned spontaneously.

I will give an example: A human being loves another human being, and they form a family together, but if one of them begins to notice a third person then that causes an offending nature to the concept of being a couple, for when a couple decide to be together they are promising to be mutual faithful. That desire is a great deficiency because its a desire out of wanting ... because despite the person promising I will care for you what actually is there is that the person wants is  "love for himself"; "I want you to want me", "I love you so you can take care of me "," I love you so you can cook for me "," I love you so you can do everything I want, "etc. That attitude is not love, it's more so exploitation.

Wanting another for convenience. That happens a lot nowadays, it is very common and it is the product of illusion, thinking that they are going to find the sweetness. The sweetness if it exists, my dear, in Krishna all sweetness can be found. Because He is so beautiful and so sweet that when we love Krishna we can love everyone else. It is a complete, genuine and pure love. The only thing that does not come into this love is sexual exploitation.

Love for all is asexual, of course, it can be physical in the sense that one does sacrifices for others, shows affection to others, etc., but not a sexual love as understood in the material world. Because we love Krishna with His sweetness and that completely fills the heart. Krishna is the Infinite Charmer and keeps us enchanted for Him. That is truth and if we are delighted by the things of this world, how can we not be charmed by the source that caused all these lovely things? Sweetness and love, that is what we should always long for.

For me it is very important that each of you feel happy and is doing a service that makes you happy and that connects with the sweetness. I can only say that the support of each of you has always been and will be the nicest thing I have received. I pray that you are happy. Sure, there are always things that change, so we must learn to dance to the beat of life, always seeking refuge in the sweetness of the Lord of the heart.

This is the message I wanted to share with you today. Thanks for helping and joining me in this attempt to serve the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada.
Haribol!

Your always well wisher,
B.A. Paramadvaiti Swami