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.
Fan The Spark
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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