Posted: 23 Apr 2012 02:56 PM PDT

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Melbourne, Australia, October 2011)

(Transcribed by Smita Krishna Devi Dasi)

Some things we have to fix, not just a quota but may also be the time. Some say:

'Ok! I chant everyday at this time.'

That we fix and you build your life around it, so it does not mean for example, if you say:

'Every day I chant from five to seven in the morning.'

Some days you will be exhausted obviously but you already knew that the night before you were exhausted. So if we need extra rest then let's put it before Five o'clock and not after Five o'clock.
We keep that Five to Seven as a sacred time so that nothing can touch it.

The result is that we built our strength over the years but if one day you chant sixteen rounds here and next day you chant it there, it is also the sixteen rounds but it will not have the same momentum, it will not have same power, and it's not a matter of:

'I am not just speaking about determination, if it was only a matter of determination, then I am going to chant those sixteen rounds from Five to seven, I shall, and so on.'

I have a story for you:

It is a story about Karna, and we may remember how Karna was the son of Kunti and was given up at birth and put in a basket, which floated down the river. So a chariot driver found him and therefore he was not considered a ksatriya and it was very painful for Karna, because by nature he was very much a ksatriya, so he was refused by Dronacarya, who would not accept him.

As a student he finally went to Parasurama who was the ultimate warrior but Parasurama was against the ksatriyas. So Parasurama enquired from him:

'So are you a ksatriya?'

And for the first time in his life with pleasure he could say:

'No I am not a ksatriya.'

So he was accepted by Parasurama as a student and he served him very nicely and learnt everything. Parasurama was very pleased with him.
One day the Guru was resting with his head on the leg of his disciple, just then this nasty insect (some sort of insect with the drill on his nose) came and sat down on Karna's leg (the leg where the head of his Guru was resting) and he started systematically drilling serious hole in his leg and blood started gushing out and Karna didn't know what to do, since his Guru was sleeping on his leg. He just bit his teeth, sat there tolerated the whole thing and never moved. He did not even flex his muscles, so Parasurama slept very nicely and woke up after some time then he saw the blood on the leg of Karna and asked:

'What is this?'

Then Karna replied:

'Oh while you were sleeping this insect attacked me and stung me in the leg.'

Then Parasurama smelt a ksatriya and he said:

'You know how you could tolerate this? No ordinary person could tolerate such a thing, you are ksatriya, you have cheated me and you have stolen all this knowledge from me but I curse you that at the time you need it most, you will forget!'

Okay so you remember the story now, it's very interesting because we are dealing with the determination of ksatriya and that Parasurama recognised the determination of a ksatriya and the tolerance of a ksatriya. That tolerance of ksatriya was greater than the tolerance of brahmana in the moment, but not in the long run. In the long run the tolerance and determination of the brahmana is greater, because in the long run brahmana does it with knowledge. So he sees no alternative:

‘What else shall I do?’

But ksatriya does not understand like that, ksatriya just thinks:

'I shall do it. I am going to do it and somehow or other I will do so.'

If we in our chanting have that kind of mood:

'I shall chant every day from five to seven.'

Then the result is that we will not be well; we will get tired after some time; we will run out of steam, but the brahmana remains refreshed because his knowledge is there, his understanding is there:

'This is the best thing I can do.'

Therefore when I say we fix it between five and seven I don't mean it in a stressful way based on:

‘I must I shall and so on.’

But just on understanding if I do this everyday then my chanting will become very strong and powerful, then it will have much more potency so I can just chant here and there!

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He knows the thought of every creature

Posted: 23 Apr 2012 01:47 PM PDT

(H H Kadamba Kanana Swami, 31st March 2012, Cape Town, South Africa) Lecture: SB 7.15.26

The Supreme Lord is omniscient. He is present everywhere. He knows everything. The Supreme Lord knows everything that goes on in the heart of every living being. He knows the thoughts of every creature! Image that, it is a lot of thoughts, and He can also separate them all and he can keep track. Imagine that everyone's thoughts which is mixing and we would really get confused and think:

‘Who's thinking what?'

But the Supreme Lord is omniscient, all knowing!

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A few more days in South Africa

Posted: 23 Apr 2012 07:32 AM PDT

After the Ratha Yatra festival in Durban, Maharaj stayed on for five days. During that time there was a lot of activity. On Thursday (12 April), which happened to be Maharaj’s birthday according to the western calendar, he was asked to give the morning Srimad Bhagavatam class. However, upon arrival at the temple room, he was surprised with a Vyasa Puja celebration. The devotees had arranged Guru Puja, a birthday cake and said offerings in glorification of Maharaj. HH Bhakti Caitanya Swami and HH Rama Govinda Swami were present and also shared their appreciation for Maharaj.

At the request of his disciples, Maharaj agreed to attend a house program in Westville (near Durban) later that day, in celebration of his appearance day. Invitation to this event was limited to disciples only. Everyone present shared their fondest memories of Maharaj. It was a sweet occasion that included good bhajan, nice prasadam and of course a huge birthday cake made with alternating layers of ice-cream and carob!

On Friday afternoon, Maharaj headed off to Ladysmith, a small town about 3 hours away from Durban. This program was arranged so that Maharaj could spend time with a group of disciples that were initiated the week before (8 April).

The very next morning, Maharaj returned to Durban to be part of the Kirtan Festival that was taking place over the weekend (14-15 April). He had a 2 hour slot on the Saturday afternoon and got the crowd going crazy in an ecstatic kirtan!

Keeping the pace, the next day, Maharaj participated in two Sunday programs in Johannesburg. The first was a midday program at the Lenasia temple and the other later in the day at the Soweto temple. There were ecstatic kirtans as well as inspiring lectures on the Caitanya Caritamrita at both programs. From Soweto, Maharaj went to Pretoria to spend the last days of his month long South Africa tour. On Tuesday, he spoke on ‘Secrets of the Vedas’ at a program held at the University of Pretoria. Maharaja expertly gave an overview on Vedic literature, leading to the understanding that Krsna is in the centre. Then, after hosting one more evening program at Pretoria temple on Wednesday, Maharaja left for Europe on Thursday.

If you cannot view the slide show, please visit flickr.

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24 April 2012

KKSblog.com - How to make your chanting more powerful and stronger!

KKSblog.com - How to make your chanting more powerful and stronger!

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