24 September 2011

KKSblog.com - Why do you continue to live like this?

KKSblog.com - Why do you continue to live like this?

Why do you continue to live like this?

Posted: 23 Sep 2011 01:00 PM PDT

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Modra, Slovakia, 2011)


To be a strict vegetarian is not so easy….to eat nothing from a kitchen that is not vegetarian, which means you can hardly eat anything! You come with your relatives and you can't eat anything. They offer you a cookie and you read the label and say:

"No….sorry!"

"Would you like some juice….maybe?"

Then it happens to have preservatives and 'E' numbers that are suspicious.

In the end you say:

"I'll have some water."

So how can people live like that? How can they remain convinced to be so different?

To dress up for a day in a carnival costume and walk around town – that's all right! But to live like that everyday of your life….and people just looking at you like:

"Someone who is crazy and has just escaped from a mental asylum".

So why would people continue to live like this? Why would you do it? There must be something….there must be some taste! So people who engage in devotional service they must get something.

Psychologists may say:

"Well, they get a sense of belonging in a group. You know in these cults people are closely together that gives a sense of belonging…you know that helps people with mental weakness!"

It is not so easy to live in a group. It's all right now for a little program when the house is full like this, but if this was to go on much longer than it would get a bit too intense! We want some privacy.

So how can people continue year after year? That is the secret – there must be something to it….They must be get something Otherwise why would somebody do this?

Our main business is to connect with Prabhupada

Posted: 23 Sep 2011 08:35 AM PDT

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Australia 2005)

We can see that throughout the years there were different needs for the sankirtana movement. Rupa and Sanatana wrote the first books which were the basis, Krishnadas Kaviraja Goswami wrote Sri Caitanya Caritamrita. So in this way we see that the different spiritual masters have contributed the whole line of disciplic succession at different points in time. When Srila Prabhupada came he brought it really to the world at large and to the people of this age. And now our main business is to connect with him. That is the main thing. For the time being it’s Prabhupada and all others in the line of disciplic succession are pointing at Prabhupada. That must be Krishna’s desire that Prabhupada stands out for some time as the most prominent spiritual master. Then in due course of time someone else may come who will stand out as the most prominent personality, but for now it’s Srila Prabhupada and his servants and followers. And that’s very nice.

Every devotee who’s not the direct disciple of Srila Prabhupada should nonetheless make the direct relationship with him. It’s not that non-Prabhupada’s disciple cannot make direct relationship with Prabhupada. One can. By following the instructions of Prabhupada one has direct relationship with him, by finding out more who Prabhupada was that relationship becomes deeper and deeper and of course very inspiring. Still, the present spiritual master may be there also, guiding how to even do it better, but the relationship with Prabhupada must be at the core of our spiritual life. Otherwise this movement cannot be successful. We would become a conglomeration of different sectarian groups. Sometimes we can see this. When one spiritual master visits the temple there is a whole different group of devotees and then when another spiritual master comes there is another ISKCON. Each time the face of ISKCON changes. We are one family and we can only be one family if we all look at Prabhupada.

 

The experience of Krishna

Posted: 23 Sep 2011 05:00 AM PDT

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Modra, Slovakia, 2011)

I saw a cartoon the other day of a man dressed in a some sort of a dress similar to mine. He was in his fifties, and he was saying to his wife:

"Look! I found my ashram clothes from the seventies. It still fits!"

But is not like that, since it is not a fashion….it didn't disappear. The greatest secret is that there is actual experience of Krishna, which becomes real! It's not just an idea…………….There is a spiritual world out there, and it is very wonderful there.

One can dream like this for a couple of days, but then you come back on earth, and you want something else. If there were no experience of Krishna than how can we carry on?

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