Fan The Spark

By chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, you actually have direct contact with Kṛṣṇa, so much so that when you perfect your chanting, your hair will stand on end and tears will come from your eyes, because that dormant love for Kṛṣṇa within the heart will awaken just by chanting. Prabhupāda has described that there are three stages in chanting The Hare Kṛṣṇa Mahāmantra, which is the ultimate practice.

The first stage is the stage that he compares to looking at stages of a mango. First, when the mango is unripe, it doesn't taste very good. When you first start to chant in the stage called nāmāparādha, when there are still some obstacles to chanting in our attitude, then the chanting may not be sweet. But as we continue, then the second stage, Prabhupāda' calls the clearing stage, and this is also called nāmābhāsa, and this is the stage where there are no offenses. You're chanting without offense because you're trying to avoid the offenses. And in this stage you become liberated:

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā
na śocati na kāṅkṣati
samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu
mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām (BG 18.54)

From the point of liberation, one is free to come into the practice of bhakti wholeheartedly. And in that clearing stage, compared to a mango, the chanting becomes sweet. And as one continues to chant, then it becomes sweeter, and then it becomes the sweetest. And that's the third stage, called chanting in pure love for God. Prabhupāda gives a simplified process: three stages.

So to achieve this progressive advancement in chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, it's important to have the right attitude. The attitude for chanting that is perfectly placed starts with an understanding that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This means that you have permission, especially upon your acquiescing to initiation, to give your full attention just to Kṛṣṇa. Because, although it seems like we have many obligations in this world, and it seems like there are other entities who might be able to help us, ultimately, only Kṛṣṇa can help us. He's Mukunda. He's the Liberator.

(excerpt from the talk Put Together A Lifetime of Dedication to Kṛṣṇa, 13 Apr 2025, ISKCON London )

https://youtu.be/cwiBso8Mafk?t=820

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 52

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Don't Look at The Phone, Look at The Bead Bag

Caitanya Mahāprabhu's process of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, which are primary names of the Lord, addressing Kṛṣṇa directly—The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is Svayaṁ Bhagavān, and His internal potency, is the fearless, doubtless way of success for all, whether one be a king or one may be a sweeper in the street. So we can try and remember these points: that Kṛṣṇa has given us access directly to Him and His transcendental abode through His Holy Names, and it is the most recommended method by which one can come to the perfection of life and leave behind this very complicated, frustrating, and what's another word—confounding (it's pretty close to frustrating), dastardly, repulsive material world by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. So if you don't like the way things are going in the world, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. If you don't like the way people treat you, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. If you don't like what you're being subjected to, change the subject. Don't look at the phone, look at the bead bag.

(05 Apr 2025, ISV https://youtu.be/KsdKOVUaIYA?t=271)

3 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 54

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 27

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Thank you for coming all the way down here on a Sunday morning, so early for the maṅgala āratik Today, we feel very joyful because it's the appearance day of Lord Rāmacandra, Rāma-navamī, and we can take inspiration from these holy appearance days by seeing the devotees. When we drive down to Mountain View, there's not much traffic, but when we get close to the temple, there's lots of traffic. It's as if it's a work day, and that's how the devotees work. They work hard to show up at the right time, at the right place. And I thought of Vṛndāvana when we came this morning, because when I saw the cars coming up and down Latham Street, I thought, "Who are all these people? It's early in the morning. They can only be devotees." Devotees relish the cold water early in the morning, at 3:30 am. They relish leaving behind all of the concerns and driving off into the night, when most people are snuggled in bed, taking advantage of the opportunity to appear before the Lord on His appearance day and be seen by Him. That "I'm here."
Darśana means that we come to be seen by Kṛṣṇa, that we're part of Your flock, and wherever we're celebrating Your appearance day or any other occasion, which can happen daily, we come here to be seen, to be counted as among the devotees. ‘Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto, mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru, mām evaiṣyasi yuktvaivam, ātmānaṁ mat-parāyaṇaḥ (BG 9.34)’. Kṛṣṇa says, "Live your life like this. Show up for Me. Bow down whenever you get a chance. Be My devotee." And part of being a devotee is coming on these divine appearance days. Whatever we know about Lord Rāmacandra, we know that He's the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that we come for His maṅgala-āratik. So congratulations to all the stalwarts who are here, and we'll have a day of festivities here, because the spiritual world means an ongoing festival. Today, we'll have chanting. There'll be fasting till death. And there'll be an evening program today. This morning's program goes through nine o'clock, and then we're going to go in various directions, and then we'll come back and reassemble here at 3:30, and then we'll go into the wee hours of the night chanting the holy names.

Just some meditations.We can take lessons from Rāvaṇa. He could have easily just enjoyed his kingdom. He had unlimited opulence, but he had to cross the line literally and steal Sītā. If somebody thinks about their lives and how many opportunities we have to do the right thing, as is mentioned in some of the stories about Lord Rāmacandra, Lakṣmaṇa had asked Rāvaṇa, because he was a great king, "What did you learn?" And he said, "Śubhasya śīghram—if something's auspicious, do it right away. And if something's inauspicious, delay, delay, delay." And we could take that to heart, that put off anything that's inauspicious. If it doesn't seem like it's going to augment one's bhakti, then just say, "Yeah, I'll do it later." That's where it's okay to procrastinate again and again and again until there's no more time for it. It all goes away. And everything else that's auspicious, take it as soon as possible. Don't hesitate even one second. Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, dear Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Śrī Śrī Pañca-tattva, Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava, and Śrī Śrī Lakṣmī-Nṛsiṁhadeva, Sītā-Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa, Hanumān, if You so desire, please instill in our hearts a sense of discrimination so we know what's good for us, and may we embrace that immediately—anything to do with Your service. May You also give us the spiritual strength and spiritual intelligence to procrastinate everything else that's inauspicious and that doesn't lead to more service at Your lotus feet. Thank you for considering our request. Om Tat Sat.




(Prelude to Ramanavami, 6 Apr 2025, ISV https://youtu.be/xgShmJ2429w?t=3181)




Talks on Lord Rama:youtube.com/playlist?list=PLk...

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 22

Fan The Spark

Yesterday, I went to San Francisco to see the illustrious Bhakti SF. And as it turned out, it's the new center, and this was the first time I've been there to the new place. It's only several blocks from where I joined the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement way back when, which was 52 years ago in San Francisco. And it was nostalgic for me, especially because when I got there at the center, there were these beautiful, effulgent devotees standing outside the center that looked like good old-fashioned Hare Kṛṣṇas, and they were chanting with so much enthusiasm. It reminded me of the first time I drove up to the Hare Kṛṣṇa temple on Valencia Street, which turns out to be 455 Valencia. I just remember the contrast of seeing the temple for the first time—it said "Radha Kṛṣṇa Temple" on the outside—and the sidewalk was painted with lotus flowers on it, and I saw devotees with their saffron robes on and so forth, and I said, "Get me in there." I felt the same thing yesterday when I pulled up at Bhakti SF.

Devotees were so enthusiastic and so innocent and just drinking the holy name. And then I observed the people of San Francisco who are noticeably downtrodden. I mean, even those who are not passed out on the sidewalk (and there are quite a few of them), they seemed a little bit beleaguered and beaten up. And then when I heard The Holy Name, I felt, "Yeah, the sun has come up," and I'm resonating with what you said about how important it is to take out the holy name, even if we seem to be not comparable to the big corporations. They're wantonly building all over the Bay Area. They build these huge buildings, and they can barely fill them up, and then they have so much going on with research and so forth. But where does it all end? It doesn't end in a place where anybody really feels satisfied. But simple Hare Kṛṣṇa, simple hearing the pastimes of Lord Rāmacandra, just read Kṛṣṇa's book, have a little hot milk, take rest, wake up, worship Tulasī Devī, chant your rounds, and associate with devotees as much as possible. Try to be a kind friend to all living beings by opening your house so other people can come in. You don't have to be a big hero. You can be a small, private hero. Control your senses, follow four regulative principles, and from this process, which Caitanya Mahāprabhu shows is the authorized way ,by following the śāstra, and He approved of this method, we can have festivals, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, and go back home, back to Godhead.

(excerpt from the talk 'The Price of Admission Into Bhakti' , 06 Apr 2025, ISV)


49:41 https://youtu.be/RAIOavWzpR8?t=2980 (link with timestamp)

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4 weeks ago | [YT] | 71

Fan The Spark

One of my Godbrothers in Māyāpur was giving a talk, Bhakti Caitanya Mahārāja, and he was talking about daily sādhana. He said he discovered something quite amazing about himself, and that is that when he finishes his rounds in the morning and goes to the morning program, he feels better. And I thought, through understatement, it became even more profound. Kind of like homeopathy, it's like the less you take, the more effective it is. And in him mentioning that he felt better, I started to think, "Nobody feels better about anything in this world—it's impossible to feel satisfied for even a few seconds, because there's always something to deal with next." But if we're able to take shelter of Kṛṣṇa, which is what walking around Govardhana is—just being here and appreciating the fact that He's the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as Kṛṣṇa told the residents of Vṛndāvana, "Don't worship Indra, it's too much work. And besides,what's he doing for you? Govardhana is really the one who's going to help you." And Kṛṣṇa was turning everyone's attention to the sublime idea. And if you just think of Kṛṣṇa worship Kṛṣṇa , ananyāś cintayanto māṁ, ye janāḥ paryupāsate, teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ, yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham—everything else will be done. And anyone who has the experience, even for one second, that "when I'm worshiping Kṛṣṇa, I'm okay. When I'm doing anything else, I'm not. When I do my rounds and I finish the morning program, I feel better. And when I do anything else, it doesn't matter what kind of hyperbole there is around the particular intoxication or the sightseeing, it all causes more and more anxiety and entanglement in the material world." So Govardhana stands as a monument to those who know that not only is Kṛṣṇa the Supreme Personality of God, but we are His eternal servitors, and as Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says, jīva kṛṣṇa-dāsa ei viśvāsa korle to āra duḥkha nāi—"If you just become the servant of Kṛṣṇa, then you'll never be unhappy again. You'll always be happy."

(excerpt from the talk 'The Glories of Mādhavendra Purī' https://youtu.be/7926fVUBf-k?t=1841)

1 month ago | [YT] | 11

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Last night, we had a kīrtan, and as it continued, there was a collective feeling that The Holy Name does everything. And if people can just come into a space where they can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and feel at ease to do so, and not feel that they're constrained in any way, which we noticed last night, people started dancing naturally, and it's Lord Caitanya's process. I was thinking that last night, that just by chanting together, everything else happens. Because Kṛṣṇa is doing everything. We just have to bring people together to chant and, of course, take prasādam. Thank you very much. Pāvanī bhakti and all the team members from the Bhakti Community, who I'll just mention, it's an extremely vital service to have buddies, because, as we were discussing last night in a meeting, people come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness because they have a friend who holds their hand or somebody who's there to oversee their progress.
(excerpt from the program @ ISV on 21 Mar 2025 https://youtu.be/Yngdj2kdsV4?t=8483)

1 month ago | [YT] | 42

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Take Advantage of And Appreciate The Association of Devotees

Over the last few days, I had the opportunity to talk to a couple of senior Godbrothers. One of them was Śyāmasundara Prabhu from the early days of the Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Movement. And another was Yogeśvara Prabhu, also from the early days. And I was considering how rare it is to be able to talk to somebody who was with Prabhupāda on the planet, who served at His lotus feet directly and saw Him in various moods and circumstances. And as we were reading in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta recently, Śrīla Prabhupāda was talking about how we should take advantage of and relish the association of senior devotees. He said in a paragraph, it's not just the spiritual master that one takes association of, but said practically, senior godbrothers and godsisters, who are steadily engaged in devotional service and advanced, are a great source of inspiration, and should be treated almost on the level of one's spiritual master, because the Vaiṣṇava is the carrier of Kṛṣṇa's mercy.

Śyāmasundara Prabhu told me that he's getting ready to give a talk at Harvard, and he had two points he wanted to make, because the topic was about how to thrive in times of calamity. Should I tell you the two points he made? First point, he said, there's always times of calamity. There's not a time when there wasn't a calamity happening. He said, it's only a trick of the mind to think that, "Oh, there was some time in the past when everything was peaceful," but if you just think back to your history lessons, they're all marked by World Wars and calamitous situations. There's never a time when the material world is absolutely peaceful. Even in Satya Yuga, Hiraṇyakaśipu shows up and wrecks it for everybody. So you can count on that. And the second thing he said, it was very heartfelt, and it's from his personal experience, he said that you have to get guru-kṛpā, the mercy of the guru. And I know for devotees from that era, who specifically became attached to Prabhupāda, it was a special setting. It was family-like, and they worked very hard to please Prabhupāda. There was a sense of how everything was dependent on the mercy of the guru. So he was saying, one has to receive that special mercy.

And when I talked to Yogeśvara Prabhu, he just called to talk, and he said, "Life is so busy. We're all doing so many things." He just wanted to talk to another Godbrother and see how I was doing, see what I was doing, and so forth. So the song "Ohe Vaiṣṇava Ṭhākura" is a reminder of how dependent we are on the Vaiṣṇavas, all of them. And if we take advantage in a mood of service and appreciation to the devotees, then we can attain all benefits. And that's why we say the mantra vāñchā-kalpa-tarubhyaś ca kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca, that devotees are literally like desire trees, and they can fulfill all of our desires.

(excerpt from the event on 21 Mar 2025, ISV https://youtu.be/Yngdj2kdsV4?t=249)

1 month ago | [YT] | 56

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Leadership Crisis is Caused by……
HINT: https://youtu.be/J5_kWKe5syA?si=iU2--...

1 month ago | [YT] | 8

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On the way home, when we flew from Calcutta to Bombay, I was walking down the galley way to the airplane, and I heard some commotion behind me, and I looked back, and I had no idea what was going on, but Sudhīra said, "Oh, that's Shatrughan Sinha," and everyone was surrounding him, taking pictures and this and that. So Sudhīra said, "I'm going to talk to him, so he'll talk to you." So he talked to him, and then I had a few words with him, but he just walked past me. But the amazing thing was, when we were getting on the airplane for no reason caused by us, when Nirākula and I got to the ticket gate, they said, "Oh, we're upgrading you into first class." We didn't even ask for it. They just switched out our tickets, and each gave us a first-class ticket, which by the time we got on the plane, I was sitting right behind Shatrughan Sinha, and I could tell he's famous, because everyone getting on the plane was leaning in, talking to him and everything like that. So I had a Hindi Bhagavad-gītā. And you know, right when we were landing, I leaned up and started talking to him, and I gave him the Bhagavad-gītā. I said, "This is for your daughter. It's a wedding present," because we looked it up online, and his daughter just got married.

So we got off the plane and they bused us to, you know how Air India does it—you get off and you get a little bus? When we walked into the terminal, people were around him taking pictures, asking him this and that. So we just kind of walked up and said, "You know, we'll take a picture too." So I had a picture with him, and then he turned to me.When I gave him the Bhagavad-gītā, he said, "It's a great honor to receive this." But then when I took the picture with him, he said, "I met His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda," he said, "it was the greatest honor of my life to sit with him for one hour and hear from him." We said, "Where?" And he said, "In Juhu."

And then that was it. The crowd whisked him away, because it was growing—the crowd. Everyone wanted to see him take his picture. But I could see it was Kṛṣṇa's arrangement: the first-class upgrade, all of a sudden, for no apparent reason, sitting right next to him, handing him the book, the photo op and everything. And then he said, "I met Prabhupāda," he said it with great emphasis, "was the greatest honor of my life to meet him." So it was a reminder to me that Kṛṣṇa is arranging everything, and also that nothing goes in vain. Whatever you put out there, it sticks, and it goes into people's lives, even if it's brief, that'll stick in it, and then Kṛṣṇa will make more arrangements for it later. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

(excerpt from the talk on 1 Mar 2025, ISV )

https://youtu.be/hQJMJ8GlK2o?t=9721

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