Conference.
My dear devotees.
Receive all my affection from Armenia.
There have been very nice days here in the company of the devotees. There are many things in motion here in Colombia. We are very fortunate to receive many blessings. Krishna really answers our heartfelt prayer of asking him to allow us to become an instrument of His love.
We do not understand what is the plan of Krishna and he organizes everything, but we have faith that He is behind every detail connecting everything to a higher good.
Krisha stu Bhagavan svayam
Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the cause of all causes.
And Krishna's devotee has a strong commitment to the suffering of other beings on the planet. For the devotee yearns that all beings may know this supreme truth about God. That is called true compassion. The process of Krishna Consciousness is to earn friends. Becoming friends in the hearts of all, because you care about your friends, you want them to be well and be happy. That is the beginning of the spiritual process, sambandha jnana, knowledge about God and the relationship with the living entities.
The Lord gives us very high goals that sometimes seem elusive, but still we must continue in our attempt and not be discouraged. Rather we should focus on cultivating enthusiasm, and filling our lives with beautiful things related to Krishna that excite us in spiritual life.
Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu explained to Srila Rupa Goswami that the seed of bhakti that the spiritual master plants in the heart of the devotee begins to germinate when it becomes irrigated with the water from the holy name. But like any little plant you have to water daily. Not a day of watering and then spend two weeks and give no water. Plants need water constantly. They also need sun and other favorable aspects. In summary, carefulness.
Thus, the seed of bhakti needs care. It needs to be watered daily with the chanting of the Holy Name. Because Krishna is not different from His name. That is the gift of Lord Caitanya. And just like plants, it is not that you just see water and sun, unwanted things also grow, weeds. So as the bhakti creeper grows, so do the weeds within the heart that takes away from the strength of the seedling of bhakti. Mahaprabhu said that such vines need to be removed immediately.
Therefore a devotee needs to be very determined in caring for their spiritual life, caring continuously of your bhakti creeper, the growing seedling of bhakti. If the devotee is dedicated to caring for it and constantly watering the creeper of bhakti, then he or she will get stronger and grow eventually reaching the Lotus Feet of Lord Krishna. There the devotee will hold on tightly and the dedicated devotee may leave this material plane. Care is the key. Caring and eliminating the undesirable aspects.
Common sense and inner guidance is always helping us identify these undesirable aspects. Although often we deceive ourselves and do as if we did not know what we were doing. But sooner or later that payment will need to be paid if you do not pay attention to them. Sincerity is the salvation of the devotee. Sincerity and taking refuge in the most advanced Vaishnavas will help you in your spiritual journey. We must not only take care of our own practice, but also everything that has been put in our care: caring for our children and educating them lovingly with care of the highest values. Taking care of our temples, the devotees programs that have opened to preach to souls. Caring for our service, without care you will lose that service.
You do not know what you really have until you lose it. And to not lose it, we must care for it. Spiritual growth is that, dependent upon the care and support we give to things. That is the mysticism of spiritual life, as long as you take care of others, you will also be automatically cared for. That is a commitment to Srila Prabhupada, the endeavor to try to help others every moment, because in the spiritual life every second is vital. Therefore the individual relationship one develops with the people around you is very important as is the personal relationship with the spiritual master, because as far as relationships of the heart are strengthened, the quality of caring also strengthens. And so all the mystical aspects begin functioning.
So we can stay connected with the Infinite Lord of love through our connection with others. As the verse of Sri Isopanisad (verse 1) says:
isavasyam idam sarvam
yat kinca jagatyam jagat
tena tyaktena bhunjitha
ma gridhah kasya svid dhanam
"Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong."
We return again to the subject of care. Take care of what you have received. Appreciate and care. If we live in harmony with the will of Krishna and not accumulate negative karma, this is called akarma.
So it is very important to set a good example regardless, cost what it may cost, only in that way can people draw inspiration from you and be encouraged to leave Maya. But, if you give a bad example or your behavior is poor and you discourage others, then you become a murderer of the soul and wrap yourself in ignorance. That is something very delicate, to discourage others in their spiritual process. We must guard a lot of it.
These are the thoughts I wanted to share with you all on this day. The care that we must have with our spiritual life and that of others.
These days in Bogota were very interesting. We were trying to finish some work of Oida therapy with the team. We also had important Ikwashendwna meeting, very happy with the support of Prabhu Nrishimha and his activist group. (sentence missing).. A very important site for the development of Krishna Consciousness. Along the way we are inaugurating today the new center of Armenia.
With that I say goodbye for today.
All my affection
Jay Srila Prabhupada!
Your always well wisher,
B. A. Swami Paramadvaiti.
