The Value of Things. From Argentina 09/07/2014

                                                            Conference
Dear devotees

A big hug from Córdoba. Happy to be here with devotees who year after year give their best to continue the mission of Srila Prabhupada.

Miracles every day. It's a miracle, a temple of Krishna in the world of maya. And every devotee is a gem. So here beside miracles and gems I can only say thank you Srila Prabhupada.

These days we are in much thought and labor to install the University of Ancestral Wisdom. In our mission we begin the Vaishnava Academy. Many years ago we started the project and today we see many fruits.

At that time many devotees especially those who began their families did not know how to keep their churches well because it was difficult only with book distribution. Today there is a network of academies with instructors in yoga, ayurvedacourses, astrology, vegetarian courses and many more arts. There are also systematic courses of the most important books of Vaishnavism.

Our dear Mukunda das Babaji worked intensely hard on it and I even told him a lot of material still has not come to light and others were lost or not recorded. There are also studies available of arcana, dancing for God or the art of using technology for the service of God. All of this  is currently offered by the academy  and this has created a source of much service, occupation and work for the devotees.

If one grhasta needs a percentage that is also there. In a family you have to think of everything.
But the essence of education is the same. Sometimes we wanted to give Srimad Bhagavatam but ordinary people think that giving it away is not worth much. Seeing devotees singing in the streets, giving gifts everywhere, they conclude that the gift could not be a big deal. That is why we ask students to pay for what they receive at the Vaishnava Academy. That's the system. We do not want to think that what we offer is worthless or that there is no cost.

There is a famous story about Sanatan Goswami. A person went to him and asked for initiation. The candidate said, "Please initiate me, give me the most confidential thing that you have, I want to be a yogi, a seeker of truth in perfection" So, Sanatan Goswami  initiated him into the chanting of the Maha Mantra. The happy devotee went to a river to meditate and chant Hare Krishna. On the way he passed a girl who was washing clothes in the river. While she washed, beating clothes on a rock, she was singing the Hare Krishna mantra.

The new yogi was in amazement and said, "But how is this, that she is singing my secret mantra, the holy name that I just received from my initiation?". He went back to his Gurudeva and he asked: "Gurudeva, how can this be? What you gave me, I listened to some girl who was singing it in the river?".

-Sanatana Goswami said, "You do not really know the value of this, here I have a diamond, take it and take it and offer it. Let's see, who pays more for it, but do not sell it, just tell me who offers you more? "

Thus the devotee began offering the diamond. He crossed the Yamuna river and asked the boatman: "How much would you offer me for this diamond?" The boatman replied, "For this, I'll take you to the other side of the river, this is nice for my child to play with." Then he went to a store across the Yamuna and offered it to the store owner and the owner then replied: "You have a beautiful stone, I will put it on top of the papers so they do not fly when it's windy, I will give you ten rupees."

So, he even went to a jewelry store. There, the jewelers were astonished. "Wow! What a diamond! Incredible! This must cost a fortune." Then the devotee returned to his Gurudeva and said, "I get it, not everyone knows the value of something even when one actually has it". It is not that you have something and you know what the value is.

Many people can come and see the deity but not all of them understand what they are seeing, and all the while, others hearts are melting seeing Lord Krishna being worshiped. People who ate meat, drank alcohol here now are becoming devotees in the temple of the Lord.

Some know and some do not. Not that simply by doing an exercise with the eyes, a person knows or understands things, this is not so. Honestly, it takes appreciation Vedic knowledge with personal realization, it is not a gift that one can receive simply by memorizing some texts or pass some examinations. Actually our temples have always been Vaishnava Academies because we do every morning, a conference and every night we have another. Sometimes devotees discuss different topics, therefore somehow all temples since ancient times have been Vaisnava Academies. What changed then?

Well that change comes from systematizing the delivery of knowledge. Of course, nowadays it is easy because devotees have already achieved the publication of hundreds of titles in Spanish. If you read all these books, your views and your knowledge will be different and you can even compare yourself with the Indian scholar. It is not an exaggeration, because we have a lot of translated information, Srila Sridhar Maharaj books, Srila Prabhupada, the Goswamis and their commentaries, scientific aspects and so much if ...

Scientific Books, Vedic cosmology, rather said, all kinds of issues, we have at least an introduction of it.

Now, the most important in this connection is that we're now practically giving it to people and that is something very beautiful: a body of teachers, students, monks and farms for retreats. For example, if you go to India and want to learn how to play the tabla instrument, then you go to a tabla guru, he will require from you to follow a discipline, and  it is not like you are going to run when the tabla-guru tells you everything you have to do to learn tabla. Of course, to what extent is this important? In actuality, not very important, the important part is to never to forget Krishna?

Srila Prabhupada said, "There are two principles that are essential in Krishna consciousness, the first is always remember Krishna and the second is to never forget Krsna." That's what makes one a Vaisnava, to always think of Krishna, that is the requirement, our courses will always carry this and return back to this principle, as a flower that always expands and always reaches the center. So if we teach yoga, forgetting Krsna, we become confused, if we do vastu-sastra and people do not think of Krishna, we have wasted our time, whatever it is that we may do  that lets us forget Krishna, so then our Vaisnava Academy would be an academy of Maya, would it not ?

There are Maya Academies worldwide and the Vaishnava Academy is there to direct and focus the eyes on God, that is the essence. So what should we do to organize and strengthen the Vaishnava Academy? How to promote something? How, between people, can we give recognition to the value that they gain from receiving this knowledge? Because if someone is not interested, then why even look into?

And now we talk about the University of Ancestral Wisdom. Appreciating the manifestation of Vedic wisdom in all cultures. And retrieve the values ​​of the people. Their art, music, language, feelings and goals. When you find out that the mission of their lives is to be guardians and protectors of mother earth you stay surprised.

Their culture is the very meaning of the word culture: worship: worship. They worship Mother Earth, rivers, mountains, animals. Important element in the culture of the Vaisnavas. Then the University of Ancestral Wisdom wants to promote all the wisdom of the people. There is much to learn and much to teach.

That person who is in the process of delivering something reliable enters the the process of receiving more of that which is superior. Knowledge is unlimited. Just studying the Srimad Bhagavatam in an academic way will take many years in a very intense manner. Thanks to Srila Prabhupada's Marathon translating from Sanskrit into English verse by verse giving much meaning to each verse. A mega colossal work. And now having all this in a cd thanks to technology is also arranged by God. That is why we have a project, a Virtual University, and soon to initiate activities. We need everyone's help.

With these words I say goodbye to this chat today. You can always send me questions with my secretary. Or to my email but as I do not always have Internet so I can not always respond very fast and I can take up to two weeks to respond. Soon we will venture to Korea and I do not know why Krishna takes me there, I'll tell you when you return.
Srila Prabhupada ki jay.

Your always well wisher,

B. A. Paramadvaiti Swami

The Divine Mother Chile Yatra. 9/29/13

Topic : Divine Mother . From Chile Yatra . 29/09/13

                                                           
                                               Conference from Chile.

My dear devotees , receive all my affection from Eka Chakra.
We had very nice days visiting devotees in different parts of Chile.

Continuing the Ikwashendwna connections , we found many activist friends who are putting force in protecting Mother Earth. It's part of our mission to spread this, and as the native peoples have always said, we are all visitors on this earth and we should not exploit it without reason, because we are only passing through. Rather we should be grateful and give a hand to Mother Nature and make payments of appreciation.

I want to acknowledge the Divine Mother, the mother of our heart, Srimati Radharani, who is awaiting our progress and who manifests in different ways.

We created the concept of chaskis, contemporary conscious artists that travel to different places promoting awareness and respect for Mother Nature. They are also part of, sometimes directly or indirectly, of the movement of Mahaprabhu to spread the message of Universal Love. They hold events and festivals in different cities and Eco Villages to promote positive culture and vegetarianism .

That female force of Divine Love which constantly inspires us to sing the Holy Names, to preach in every place, to make chaski - fests , events, vegetarian , etc. .

Srimati Radharani expands in the form of Mother Nature and allows us to worship her and to work to protect her. Our Mother Earth is too sweet, too kind and too generous and she is an expansion of the Universal Mother, the Divine Radha, Radha who is dearmost to the Divine Lord, the embodimen of loving sentiment Radha.

There are many clues that we can not ignore and that remind us that the ancient culture comes from a great mystic, mysticism of seeing the Divine in different ways: in the masculine and the feminine, in Nature, in the elements, in the universal cosmic energy, in the localized aspect of Divinity, in the aspect of omnipresent and omniconscious, in his personal appearance in His Divine Abode ... I mean, we can not pigeonhole Divinity and say : "Divinity is so and so and if you do not believe in that you go to hell and finished. " That is the macho tendencies of Western mentality which is not positive and is totally against the Universal Love. So, our task is to revive the responsibility of the individual conscience.

So, inspired by the culture of the Vedas, which is our Initiating School, and other ancient cultures, we learned that mystics should love everyone ... if you are not striving to love all then you cannot be called mystical or a practitioner of Yoga.
Now we have to think, who are those who give "love to all " and who therefore can be considered mystics.

" For he who harms no one and does not seek to deceive or exploit others , then you can say he or she is a real mystic who love others ." Otherwise there is no sense in being called a protector of living beings, if you eat animals or are exploiting nature, it does not make sense . Well we must be consistent in this and be true representatives of our tradition of universal love. That is the reason that Srila Prabhupada  has inspired us to create different Eco Yoga Villages where people can learn to practice responsible and conscious life, spiritual life, ecological and organic living, totally vegetarian .

One of the offerings we have done, under the inspiration of Srila Prabhupada, which is meant to restore the faith in people is the Oidatherapy . It's a recent offering that studies the original conscious levels where the being to plant the Truth of " I know ", which means " I believe " because everything that we know needs to be believed.

It is the basic step in the consciousness of a person. When studying consciousness and the origins of it , we can realize something very interesting which is that faith is the basic and fundamental resource that has to be defined itself and helps project one's path. And that faith is  very nice because through it we may find ourselves. Therefore, faith must be directed towards the positive and we can discover that we all have the same rights to have our own opinion and sincerity to approach the Divine. The Divinity itself urges us to develop faith and connect with the source.

What is Divinity? It is the same Divine Mother. Those who have any doubt about God can focus their faith in the worship of Mother Nature. What is essential is the development of the link with the divine through positive faith . That wonderful mystical experience we can be gained through contact with elderly grandparents of ancient cultures ... they have always remained connected with the Divine and mystical things discovered in this connection. All those who want to connect with Mother Nature should listen to her and those who are linked to it.

In this sense, today I offer my respects to all ancient peoples and their beliefs, as long as they have followed the path of universal values ​​and respect for all beings.

With these words I say goodbye for today ... remembering that the essence always remains, purified in service by singing the holy names of the Lord. Hope to see you soon in the Mela. Remember that we are organizing special presentations such as costumes for the purpose of preaching so each temple can bring the best  costume and be rewarded . Also bring your special gifts for all the devotees, for the dadati ceremony .
Jay Srila Prabhupada!

Your always wisher,

Swami B. A. Paramadvaiti .

The Importance of Education 8/4/13 From Mallorca

* From Mallorca, a lecture on the importance of education that His Divine Grace gave in Imbabura, Ecuador, some weeks ago. *

All of us are looking for an alliance that provides us the guidance to become true guardians of Mother Earth and all its beings. By searching for answers to the questions of how to improve education, we can realize the reality in today's society is: Plagued by consumerism and materialism that only causes suffering in the people. That's where the proposal for a conscious and holistic education based on people's faith arises; for faith is the basic mechanism for consciousness to function properly. If a person's faith is misguided, so is his conscience and his actions, an example:

-For the body to live you need air, water. If the air and water are polluted, the person can not have good health, in the same way, if a person's faith is contaminated, it is impossible to have a good conscience. The air and water must be pure, must be kept protected in its natural state. Likewise faith must be protected and kept pure. We're not talking about fundamentalist impositions of religious belief, but to appreciate the glorious and beautiful lessons that we have received, for it is only through appreciation that we feel the natural enthusiasm to become good citizens, responsible persons, guardians of those who surround us.

All this must be considered in the basics of education of the people. And when the system fails at some level we must stop and analyze what these failures correspond to and  cleanse or "purge" these failures. For this, the Oida therapy has worked in "purging of ill consciousness" which are tests that people can do in order to decontaminate faith or remove the distortions of faith. Such distortions of faith also physically manifest themselves in stress, which is the result of a unhealthy competitive mind. That competitive mindset is not healthy nor does it promote the welfare of all. But if we apply universal values ​​seeking the benefit of all beings, one can begin to correct all errors that the neo-colonialist system has permeated into society.

Here is a very important issue. Someone might ask:
 How can we measure faith?

-It's very simple, you just have to assess your happiness and that of those around you. The happiness of the people in your environment means: The happiness that you produce for the people who are around you. The basis of our analysis is an essential way to improve education now and in the future. Personally, I'm just a humble pilgrim, but I've been linked to education in different ways over the past 40 years.

Speaking of education does not only refer to young children in schools. While that is the basis for being responsible in the future, we must think about educating children today. Education also applies to the different stages of life, especially in a society like ours where we can see the lack of education in fundamental and universal values.

The term "educator" is therefore not only the profile of a school teacher, history, geography, etc.. But a teacher who is able to guide others in learning to be complete. The educator is someone very important. Teachers should be of the highest level of spiritual and emotional balance, being harmonious and consistent people.

The term "spirituality" is very broad and it is important to clarify. It refers to an understanding of the environment and the interaction of the environment, which is free of materialism and where a spiritual model applicably meets life in a harmonious, conscious, creative and constructive manner, which is carried by the appreciation one has for everything in their life.

The term "appreciate" is based on the principle of having the capacity to see and appreciate all that is surrounding oneself and receive the beauty that pervades everything: The river, the waterfall, the mountains, all that nourishes us with inner values.

A "guardian" is a spiritual being away from the materialistic concept of life, who is interested in everything around him and appreciates all and not just that, but who works to protect it all: protecting people from the lack of awareness and to educate them about protecting the planet from the impact of all the damages that are caused to Mother Earth today: Chemicals, GMO, exploitation, trash, ruthless killing of animals, etc..

Education in this profound educational model is based on the observation of the great and generous phenomenon that we have received and it is through having a connection in faith with the Infinite.

We have a connection through the physical realm through the air, as we discussed in the beginning, how important is air? It allows us to have a connection with life, just as the same happens with water, the earth ... basic elements of physical life. Just as the air is essential for physical life, faith is essential to the development of consciousness.

-Without faith it is impossible to walk, without faith a baby cannot be fed from the mother's breast., I can not learn without faith, without faith I can not accept responsibility ...
Even people who say they do not have faith, they have faith that they have none. It's just a mental mechanism nothing more, faith is the tool that allows you to connect both the relative, the rational, and that which is essential.

The rational consciousness, emotional, and spiritual, corresponds to the three areas that makes a person complete and become aware. A teacher or teachers who do not develop these three aspects can not fully educate others. A teacher who does not have a good moral conduct, which goes hand in hand with the universal values ​​can not be called an educator. Someone who only focuses on material achievements, in selfishness, money, etc.. can not encourage others in the joy, the hope, the confidence, the spirit of sacrifice, etc..

Education is a new paradigm which proposes to deal with faith in the same way that we deal with air and water ... What does this mean? -That water and air are vital, and must be kept pure, for contaminated water and air can kill a person. Therefore we use water purifiers or air purifiers. Do we not? Then, in the same way that we ensure that the air and water remain clean, we must work so that our faith is pure, clean of the materialistic influences.

There are many variations in contaminated faith: Faith distorted, misdirected faith, etc.. but nevertheless we cannot say that faith is bad. Just as we cannot say that air is bad because in a city it has been contaminated. The air is pure in nature, but man has been responsible for its contamination. Faith by nature is also pure.

The possibility of making a quantum leap from matter to spirit is through faith. We're talking about basic faith: in the male or female divinity, on Mother Earth (or Pachamama, Mother Bhumi), in the wisdom of our ancestors, the Faith education is a response to three streams:

1. - A secular education which was born in submission to the materialistic and consumerist system.

2. - At fascist fundamentalism that imposed an ideology of fear, where people are not able to think or create because they must adapt to a specific model.

3. - The educational sectarianism and the religiousness posed: My concept of God is the best of all and those who follow him are saved or go to heaven and those who do not go to hell.

This is an approach that divides all to such an extent that people have decided to live without religion, to the point of denying even faith, regardless of how essential it is for the development of consciousness, beyond any religion .

Humanity needs to find this new paradigm of purification of faith, so it is not fanatical, not sectarian, a non-institutionalized concept of power ... a faith that brings appreciativeness of the results. As Jesus said, "The tree is known by its fruits", in the same way we must think:
 What fruits do we want to bring and teach to humanity?
 What should be the goals of a healthy education, a healthy faith?

-The basic purpose of a person's interaction with others and their environment are: Act in the same way that you want others to act with you. Do not do to others what you would not like done to you. The educator must be able to deliver to others all the wisdom he has received in the same way that someone would teach them. This is a point that does not exist in the interests of a fascist education, as an educator or teacher in a fascist line should refer only to teaching a curriculum that has been received in advance which is full of faults and critical errors.

A single employee is not an educator. A true teacher is a servant of truth, love, law, spirituality, free from contamination. For this, we have the right to question, analyze, understand ... if we do not have that right, then we are only part of a system that is unable to satisfy ourselves as a human society  and who have to follow paradigms that are not fulfilling but are required (consciously or unconsciously) to be practiced, and now comes the errors:

'People are intoxicated, they become indifferent, lazy, criminals ... etc. We need to educate people in happiness, to realize that all members can be valuable to the world so that our children can leave school full of positive expectations, so they are cheerful, enthusiastic, grateful, motivated to help those who have been fallen, to support the afflicted ... to make everyone feel real and useful as members of society. There, the Education opens a new subject: Appreciation of Universal Love, or rather: Appreciation of all the beauty that exists. Educate them with love and not fear, so that people can appreciate the incredible gift we have received with this human life.

The Indian sages say brahma athāto jijnasa. "That this human form of life should be led to inquire about the knowledge of the Infinite and thus, love for everyone else." In the theistic concept is said because of the love of God, the person loves everything that is inseparably a part of God's creation ... however, on the contrary, people try to appreciate and love each person individually, and this can only generate exclusivity and limiting concepts, competence and separation. There is no appreciation that we are a great universal family, let alone is there talk about identification with the problems of others.

Faith education promotes growth and advancement, but never harms others.
The growth and advancement of a person based on the suffering of others (whether they be human, animal or the environment) is part of a selfish concept where nothing matters more than material achievements of a few. We deeply understand the main point of education: The responsibility of each one of the people for the welfare of humanity. How can we educate others on this responsibility? On based teachings such as the "natural law of action and reaction": That every action of a person has an equal and opposite reaction.

The accountability to our actions and reactions is critical. If someone commits a bad action, naturally there is a reaction coming from that very action which will have similar characteristics.

So when a person is educated on the concepts of unfair competition, who is opportunistic and ignorant of the law of action and reaction, the result is loss of common values ​​and happiness of oneself. The goal of each competition is increasing the positive virtues of the people. Vying for the cleanest, the kindest, the protection of animals, that which promote healthy values the most ​​...

The children are so enthusiastic and capable that automatically they can be involved in healthy competitions where they feel like a responsible party in benefiting society. Today's society is in great danger from all the chemicals that are poured into the mother earth after unfair competition, materialistic and selfish needs. Only education and the development of consciousness on these issues can save us from the reactions that are coming for the damage to our Mother Nature.

it is never too late to start changing the future, the base is in education which allows us to reclaim faith in its pure state. Everything is in our hands.
I appreciate the participation of all of you today, I hope you feel a part of this great task of promoting education in faith for the people.
Jay Srila Prabhupada.

Your always well wisher,

Swami B. A. Paramadvaiti