Today
is the holy appearance day of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami
Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada is the son of the great Bhaktivinoda
Thakura and the founder of the Gaudia Math society with over 64 temples
of Krishna in India. He is also the Spiritual Master of His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, as well as B.R. Sridhara Maharaja,
B.P. Keshava Maharaja, B.P. Puri maharaja, B.S.R. Siddhanti Maharaja,
B.D. Madhava Maharaja and many other great Gaudiya Vaishnavas.
Q:
What is the difference between a Krishnaite and a Vaishnava? A: A
Krishnaite is a Vaishnava whose ultimate goal is Krishna, the original
Vishnu. ---- Q: Do you believe in reincarnation? A: Yes,
reincarnation or transmigration of the soul is discussed extensively in
the Vedas. One principal citation is from Bhagavad-gita 2.13: "As
the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to
youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A
self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change." This process
takes place throughout different species of life and different planets
(heavenly, earthly, and hellish) perpetually until one is transferred to
one of the planets of the transcendental eternal nature where is no
death. ---- Q: How can one be transferred to the transcendental
nature? A: By the process of Krishna consciousness, aka Bhakti-yoga
or devotional
service to Krishna. One gradually advances from beginner to the stage
of perfection in Krishna consciousness where one is able to see Lord
Krishna always and feel unlimited happiness; and to go to His Supreme
Abode/planet in the next life. A very special benefit of the process of
Bhakti-yoga is that whatever progress we make in this life is never
lost, and just by beginning the process one is guaranteed at least a
human body in the next life. "In
this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement
on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear." -Bhagavad-gita 2.40
Yoga also means to connect. Connect to
who or what? Connect to Krishna. We are fixating our mind on mundane
things like money, material love, sensuality, etc. but these are not
making us happy. In fact in the modern age our minds are very much
filled with these things but depression and anxiety are bigger problems
than ever. Krishna is the Eternal Reality Who is the unlimited source of
REAL happiness. The culture of Krishna consciousness gives us the
opportunity to always think of Krishna and become happy forever.
According to the Vedas there are an
unlimited number of eternal individual souls both in this material world
(prison) and the transcendent world (Kingdom of God). Beyond the
innumerable souls there is one Supreme Soul and that is Krishna. That
one Supreme Soul is alone maintaining all the unlimited spirit souls
(jivas) supplying all their necessities of life.
Krishna is the Supreme Reality.
Everything that exists is an expansion of His energy. In this regard,
our Gaudiya Krishnaite spiritual masters cite a scripture called the Brahma-samhita: "Krishna, who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an
eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no
other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes."
This old man, he sells rice. He sells knick-knacks with his rice. With a knick-knack bric-a-brac Hari Hari bol, this old man chants Hare Krishna.
Faith means to trust in something that
we can't perceive with our material senses. To subscribe to the tenets
of scripture and the teachings of saints of which there is no empirical
proof for or against. Abiding by such values, however, the faithful
perceive God acting in their lives in many ways. Faith is the beginning of the path of devotion.
Krishna is the Supreme Personality of
Godhead Who manifests Himself in various Vishnu-tattva forms. His first
expansion is Baladeva from Whom unlimited Vishnu-tattva forms
subsequently expand. Lord Nityananda is Baladeva. The Lord occasionally
appears in the material world to perform pastimes which include saving
the fallen souls from the bondage of material existence. Circa 500 years
ago Krishna and Baladeva appeared in Bengal as Chaitanya and
Nityananda.
Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind,
intelligence, false ego, spirit soul, Supersoul. The first eight are the
total ingredients of our material body. We are all individual spirit
souls separate from yet within our respective individual material
bodies. As spirit souls we are not material and cannot be seen by
material eyes or any material instruments. We are the conscious entity
within the material body. The Supersoul, God, is with the spirit soul in
the heart. There is One God and there are an unlimited number of
individual spirit souls called jivas (in the original Sanskrit
language). Although God is with us in our hearts, He is always free,
whereas we are in material bondage. By Krishna sharanam, or surrender to
God we can be freed from material bondage and awarded an eternal
spiritual blissful body.
His
Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is the greatest
exponent
of authentic Vedic knowledge worldwide in the modern age. He unlocked
the truths of Vedic wisdom and gave their essence, Krishna
consciousness, in a way that could be understood by the masses. Before
1966 this clear understanding of the Absolute Truth practically did
not exist outside of India. In India, though some understood, the
majority of people did not. Even most Hindus, the heirs of Vedic
culture, were confused and without actual knowledge. Today there are
devotees of Krishna all over the world and tens of millions have Srila
Prabhupadas books. Prabhupada's glories cannot be exaggerated and in
fact are still expanding!
In this world, there is nothing so sublime and pure as transcendental
knowledge. Such knowledge is the mature fruit of all mysticism. And one
who has achieved this enjoys the self within himself in due course of
time. -Bhagavad-gita ch.4 verse 38
From the Vedic scriptures we learn that
there are different cosmic seasons. The present one is called the age of
Kali, or the age of quarrel and hypocrisy. In the age of Kali the
sinful activities in human society increase. According to His Divine
Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder-achayra of The
International Society for Krishna Consciousness, the two gravest of
these sins are abortion and animal slaughter.
