KKSblog.com - Different waves in Cape Town (21-28 Sept) |
- Different waves in Cape Town (21-28 Sept)
- To teach whoever you meet
- This is the Aim of Life Part 3
- Different waves in Cape Town (slide show)
- Srila Prabhupada Appearance Day at Zagreb 2011
- Full of Surprise
- Annual Bhakti Retreat Update
- Our saving grace
- Varnashrama and devotional service
- Different waves in Cape Town (21-28 Sept)
| Different waves in Cape Town (21-28 Sept) Posted: 28 Sep 2011 07:55 PM PDT By: HH Kadamba Kanana Swami Waves of affection, waves of the Indian Ocean and waves of material existence but best of all waves of spiritual ecstasy… Straight out of back-to-back Ratha Yatras, we journeyed by Gautrain and a two-hour flight, and then arrived in Cape Town. But it was really nice to see everybody again on the first evening and we had a good time at the temple program. I think South Africa is a country full of variety – there are so many programs that are of a totally different nature. Cape Town has very nice university programs (University of Cape Town & Stellenbosch University) and we visited houses in Tableview, Bellville and Somerset West to meet devotees. This was nice because each home has its own atmosphere and brings out a different mood. So taking the trouble to go to all these different places makes a lot of sense because it's part of entering into relationships with people. In the past I did so many projects – big building, properties, etc. but now my life centres around relationships with people. That's very satisfying because Krsna is in the centre therefore it makes these relationships worthwhile. We had an initiation ceremony during the Sunday feast and we really took time to prepare the devotees in their spiritual journey. I gave the example where I (as the spiritual master) put people on a little transcendental boat on the bhava sagar (the ocean of material existence) and the boat is still at the shore and everything is fine, and then suddenly we give that boat a push and suddenly that initiated devotee is out there! Then one has to make a conscious effort to make spiritual life more meaningful by doing deeper spiritual activities. In this way, the vows of initiation begin to flourish. The whole ceremony made people think as many devotees came with questions afterwards.
Following the initiation ceremony, the programs continued and once again we spent a night in Pringle Bay. It's quite a place – a tip of the bay where long waves are coming in from the ocean and splashing against the rocks. There are baboons and night-adders, we were told. A real mode of goodness exists in that place actually. We were invited by Mukunda and Mira, who live there with their two children. In the back of their house, Mira started her own mini-school with a little classroom. She is a qualified teacher and teaches her own children as well as some others from the neighbourhood. Remuna, who was initiated at the yajna on Sunday (previously Remina), lives there with her children too. Bhakta Steve, who is studying jazz piano at the University of Cape Town, came along. A lot of energy went into preparing breakfast and it was absolutely great – everyone was satisfied. And then Mukunda brought up the 'hot potato topic' of brahmacary ashrama: Should brahmacarys be trained to become grhastas or should they be trained to become sannyasis? I said that in the beginning it should be open-ended and then later the brahmacarys can make a choice as to which direction they want to go. Because if people think, I'm going to be brahmacary for two years, then how can they really be serious about it… Still, it may be that a large percentage will get married in the future. Then we spoke about how most brahmacarys are putting too much emphasis in cultivation but not enough on conviction which can actually lead to fanaticism. When the conviction is strong, in other words when one thoroughly understands that this life is for going back to Godhead, then why get distracted by anything else? Therefore one doesn't need so much cultivation to remain strong in the ashrama and one doesn't need to be so harsh in dealing with women. But if the conviction is weak and one is thinking: Well, I guess I don't really want to be married so I guess I just stay a brahmacary. Then one is not strong despite all the cultivation of a brahmacary mood and one will still feel week. Anyway that gave the boys some food for thought over breakfast! Then we rushed out the door for the Stellenbosch student program at a beautiful university, in a beautiful area, for beautiful people. And actually there is nice group of students there so we had a good time again. Now we are driving back to the Cape Town temple, the late lunch is waiting and I'm starving. Tomorrow is the big big flight: Cape Town –> Johannesburg –> Perth –> Sydney and then a drive to Wollongong Australia, to be part of a retreat at Govinda Valley. It looks like it's going to be good!   |
| Posted: 28 Sep 2011 05:01 PM PDT (Kadamba Kanana Swami, New Ekacakra, Slovakia, 2011)
As a teacher we are in a superior position. It's easier for the conditioned soul to act as a teacher, rather than to act as a student. It's hard to act as a servant or as a student. But as soon as we begin to act like a teacher we say: "Oh yes! That I can do….no problem. I can teach how to practise Krishna Consciousness….that I can do. I can't follow it, and I chant hopeless rounds. My mind is always thinking about sense gratification. But I am an expert in teaching Krishna Consciousness". So it's easier to be a teacher, than to be a student. So Lord Caitanya says: "All right….yes, you can be a teacher…no problem. In Kali-yuga you can all be teachers. Everyone of you can be teachers!" 'yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa "Whoever you meet, you teach them, and in this way you become a guru". So this is how we are in a conditioned nature. It's easier to teach than to be a student. So Lord Caitanya just engages our conditioned nature, and gradually we become purified in the process of teaching all about Krishna Consciousness, because when you teach then you have to give examples, since new people are very critical. They don't have much faith. So they are always looking at their teacher to find a fault – that's the thing about new people. They are constantly studying their teacher…..they don't learn very much……….. and are not very attentive towards what you are trying to teach them. But one thing they are really good at is studying their teacher at the slightest little thing: "Ha ………I knew it. There was a fault in this teacher!" Therefore, as soon as we become a teacher, then we have to be very careful!  |
| This is the Aim of Life Part 3 Posted: 28 Sep 2011 04:52 PM PDT (Kadamba Kanana Swami, New Ekacakra, Slovakia, 2011)
One can very easily again become covered over for a longer period of time. It is said that devotional service is never lost! 'nehābhikrama-nāśo 'sti And you have heard many times before, that if you don't complete devotional service in this life than you will continue it in the next life. Well that is to say that if we get the opportunity to continue, but we are still jivas who have minute independence, and with our minute independence, we can choose to serve Krishna…..or not, and that choice we have to make again and again! So there is no guarantee that just automatically we will be in Krishna Consciousness in our next life!  |
| Different waves in Cape Town (slide show) Posted: 28 Sep 2011 03:13 PM PDT Here is the fitting slide show to Kadamba Kanana Maharaja’s article ‘Different waves in Cape Town‘ If you cannot view the slideshow, please visit flickr!  |
| Srila Prabhupada Appearance Day at Zagreb 2011 Posted: 28 Sep 2011 02:39 PM PDT On 23rd August 2011 the appearance day of Srila Prabhupada, the founder-acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, has been celebrated throughout the world. Kadamba Kanana Swami was in Zagreb at that time and he gave a wonderful evening lecture commemorating the event. If you want to download the class, please click here! If the audio player does not work then download the class directly. (Right mouse > Save link as)  |
| Posted: 28 Sep 2011 11:45 AM PDT (Kadamba Kanana Swami, Dusseldorf, Germany, September 2011)
So, The spiritual world is just full of surprise… Full of surprise. constantly, one never knows, because the spritual world, anything happens at any moment just to bring out more and more, deeper and deeper attachment to Krsna.
 |
| Posted: 28 Sep 2011 06:41 AM PDT Eagerly awaited Annual Bhakti Retreat with HH Kadamba Kanana Swami in Sydney is now only few days away. Sydney is blessed by the gracious presence of Sri Sri Radha Gopinath. After arriving in Sydney in May 1971 Srila Prbhupada personally installed beloved deities. HH Kadamba Kanana Swami is due to arrive as per the schedule. The preparations are in the final stages and devotees are expected to arrive on Friday evening. Excitements are building up in anticipation of a wonderful time that we will all have in the association of devotees glorifying Lord. Let the festival of hearing and chanting begin with the auspicious blessings of Sri Sri Radha Gopinath. Retreat Schedule We will start the retreat on SAT morning by Guru Puja (worshipping Srila Prabhupad) at 7 am, rest of the schedule would be as follows: Saturday, 1st Oct, 2011
Sunday, 2nd Oct 2011
http://www.kksblog.com/bhakti-retreat-govinda-valley-au/  |
| Posted: 28 Sep 2011 06:13 AM PDT (Kadamba Kanana Swami, Ljubljana 2011) This process of constantly glorifying the Supreme Lord is the process that can safeguard the weak living entity. We are constitutionally weak due to being the marginal energy of the Lord. But when that living entity constantly engages in chanting and remembering the Supreme Lord, then that living entity is constantly protected. This is why Chaitanya Mahaprabhu pointed out nirantara krishna nama sankirtana, one should always engage in the chanting of the holy name. But we, we are stuggling… One can ask, ‘It is nice that some devotees like Haridas Thakur or Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami did that, but we are struggling to chant even 16 rounds… Can we do it without the struggle?’ So, in this way we can appreciate that we are quite fallen and consequently quite prone to the material energy and that we can easily become distracted by the material energy. And therefore in addition to our daily process we very much need mercy. We need mercy of the Panca-tattva, we need mercy of their pure devotees, of Srila Prabhupada and we need mercy of Prabhupada’s followers. Such mercy is attained by service. For that reason Caitanya Mahaprabhu pointed out that there are two elements that are very important. One is vaisnava-sevana, the service to the Vaishnavas, and another is nirantara krishna nama sankirtana, to always engage in sankirtan. that sankirtan can be chanting of jappa, it can be singing the holy name, chanting and dancing, or it can be discussions of topics about Krishna, hearing and chanting. These are all parts of sankirtan. But Srila Prabhupada added one more element, which is very significant for us, because how can we engage ourselves the whole day in only those two activities? This important element is making arrangements for the service of the holy name and the service of the Vaishnavas. Now we can be busy driving around all day, sitting in front of the computer, making phone calls or performing all other ecstatic activities that come so naturally to us and which we can perform without any difficulty and which we can perform the whole day, from morning till night. So that is our saving grace, that we can engage in all those activities.
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| Varnashrama and devotional service Posted: 28 Sep 2011 05:20 AM PDT (Kadamba Kanana Swami, Ljubljana 2011) The culture of varna and ashrama is the basis for spiritual life. Without varnashrama it is not easy to practice spiritual life. We will not be very successful establishing Krishna consciousness in the global society without varnashrama, because only the pure devotees are trancendental to varnashrama and whether they follow the principles of varnashrama or not, it doesn’t matter. They are simply acting for the pleasure of the Supreme Lord. But the regular conditioned souls will not be able to avoid sinful activities without following the priciples of varnashrama. Therefore, for us who are certainly in the category of regular devotional service, varnashrama is beneficial and helpful as a supporting structure. Varnashrama itself is not transcendental. It is the system by which people can develop the mode of goodness, and when we come to the mode of goodness then we can more easily develop devotional service. Devotional service can be picked up by anyone and everyone, regardless of what mode of nature they are in, so even those who are in the mode of ignorance can take up the devotional service. This is how Srila Prabhupada began. He was preaching to hippies on the Lower East Side in New York or in San Francisco, and many of them were on LSD and other drugs, and still they were able to take up the devotional service. Devotional service is to potent that it takes over and changes one completely to the point when one can give up all sinful activity.
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| Different waves in Cape Town (21-28 Sept) Posted: 28 Sep 2011 03:28 AM PDT By: HH Kadamba Kanana Swami Waves of affection, waves of the Indian Ocean and waves of material existence but best of all waves of spiritual ecstasy… Straight out of back-to-back Ratha Yatras, we journeyed by Gautrain and a two-hour flight, and then arrived in Cape Town. But it was really nice to see everybody again on the first evening and we had a good time at the temple program. I think South Africa is a country full of variety – there are so many programs that are of a totally different nature. Cape Town has very nice university programs (University of Cape Town & Stellenbosch University) and we visited houses in Tableview, Bellville and Somerset West to meet devotees. This was nice because each home has its own atmosphere and brings out a different mood. So taking the trouble to go to all these different places makes a lot of sense because it’s part of entering into relationships with people. In the past I did so many projects – big building, properties, etc. but now my life centres around relationships with people. That's very satisfying because Krsna is in the centre therefore it makes these relationships worthwhile. We had an initiation ceremony during the Sunday feast and we really took time to prepare the devotees in their spiritual journey. I gave the example where I (as the spiritual master) put people on a little transcendental boat on the bhava sagar (the ocean of material existence) and the boat is still at the shore and everything is fine, and then suddenly we give that boat a push and suddenly that initiated devotee is out there! Then one has to make a conscious effort to make spiritual life more meaningful by doing deeper spiritual activities. In this way, the vows of initiation begin to flourish. The whole ceremony made people think as many devotees came with questions afterwards.
Following the initiation ceremony, the programs continued and once again we spent a night in Pringle Bay. It's quite a place – a tip of the bay where long waves are coming in from the ocean and splashing against the rocks. There are baboons and night-adders, we were told. A real mode of goodness exists in that place actually. We were invited by Mukunda and Mira, who live there with their two children. In the back of their house, Mira started her own mini-school with a little classroom. She is a qualified teacher and teaches her own children as well as some others from the neighbourhood. Remuna, who was initiated at the yajna on Sunday (previously Remina), lives there with her children too. Bhakta Steve, who is studying jazz piano at the University of Cape Town, came along. A lot of energy went into preparing breakfast and it was absolutely great – everyone was satisfied. And then Mukunda brought up the 'hot potato topic' of brahmacary ashrama: Should brahmacarys be trained to become grhastas or should they be trained to become sannyasis? I said that in the beginning it should be open-ended and then later the brahmacarys can make a choice as to which direction they want to go. Because if people think, I'm going to be brahmacary for two years, then how can they really be serious about it… Still, it may be that a large percentage will get married in the future. Then we spoke about how most brahmacarys are putting too much emphasis in cultivation but not enough on conviction which can actually lead to fanaticism. When the conviction is strong, in other words when one thoroughly understands that this life is for going back to Godhead, then why get distracted by anything else? Therefore one doesn't need so much cultivation to remain strong in the ashrama and one doesn't need to be so harsh in dealing with women. But if the conviction is weak and one is thinking: Well, I guess I don't really want to be married so I guess I just stay a brahmacary. Then one is not strong despite all the cultivation of a brahmacary mood and one will still feel week. Anyway that gave the boys some food for thought over breakfast! Then we rushed out the door for the Stellenbosch student program at a beautiful university, in a beautiful area, for beautiful people. And actually there is nice group of students there so we had a good time again. Now we are driving back to the Cape Town temple, the late lunch is waiting and I'm starving. Tomorrow is the big big flight: Cape Town –> Johannesburg –> Perth –> Sydney and then a drive to Wollongong Australia, to be part of a retreat at Govinda Valley. It looks like it's going to be good!  |
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