Waves of Devotion

Dhanurdhara Swami October 29th, 2007

October 29, 2007
Sri Govardhan

Japa Thoughts:

I do half a Govardhana parikram once a week. This week it’s the Radha Kunda side. What a pleasant walk among the sadhus and pilgrims. When I finally enter Radha Kunda, the moment I cross the invisible border, I swear I feel the difference. A realization came, “Perception is dependent on consciousness.” I went there when I first came and now I’m coming again, but I’m seeing a different world due to the purification of chanting in the dhama. It also gave me the realization how the highest knowledge is experiential, a taste of reality, so to speak, not just an analysis of it. That brings me to the topic of chanting. When dedicated to nama kirtan, there is nothing that changes the consciousness so profoundly.

A final thought: We are miserable because we don’t see Krishna and thus live in a world of duality and fear. I am inspired to take shelter of holy name so that I can see and understand reality. I’m convinced more than ever that the most intelligent person, the one with the highest knowledge, is the truly humble soul who simply chants Hare Krishna.

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Dhanurdhara Swami October 28th, 2007

October 28th, 2007
Sri Govardhana

Japa Thoughts

An unexpected visit from a saintly friend inspires me. He seeks blessings, advice. He has been concentrating on teaching, counseling and spiritual leadership, especially for the last few years. He is unquestionably a loyal, dedicated follower of Srila Prabhupada, but perhaps not so frontline and known.

“My studying,” he says, “has just been with the intention of teaching others, which is nice, but it has not been enough with the intention of nourishing what this poor soul needs.” He then explains that he will take five years off just for bhajan, spiritual practices. He even describes the kutir he has built and how he will chant and read all day with little or no social contact.

“I am not qualified to advise you,” I respond, “but I have confidence in your sincerity and your qualification. After a year of purification you will certainly find inner direction whether to continue or not. May Srila Prabhupada bless your efforts.”

He thanks me, but humbly insists with strong conviction that he is sure that this is what he needs, that it will take five years. I am quiet. I sense his certainty is coming from within, at least to proceed on this path with determination. I know the person’s depth, history of spiritual practice and unquestioned faith in guru. He has without fail always accomplished whatever he sets his mind to. Although he sees me as senior (we are not god-siblings, but about the same age), I see him as are far more determined and advanced.

My short encounter with my friend confirmed a thought I had this morning about spiritual practice. Although it is a gradual process, there is almost a definitive line, a moment, when one crosses into the realm of full surrender. When arriving, there is substantial shift in orientation. Krishna becomes totally the center of ones life, rather than one’s ego and petty desires. Real bhajan begins, the name penetrates the heart, and Krishna accepts one as good as Himself. Until that point, the purpose of practice and prayer is to get there.

My friend has crossed that line. He has entered the realm of spiritual possibilities that those of us on the other side can hardly imagine. I pray to enter the realm of selfless surrender.

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Dhanurdhara Swami October 27th, 2007

October 27, 2007

Yogic Chanting II

What one reads in sastra influences ones practices. I’m studying Vyasa’s commentary on the yogi sutra’s, so naturally I let the truths that I gleaned there enter my practice to help steady the mind. I’m fascinated by the notion of ahankara, the false conception of the self that limits ones consciousness to a certain material sphere. The consciousness of an ant, for example, is filtered by ahankara to assume the self- impression of a tiny busy body searching for food. Although it cannot see or appreciate the world beyond its small insect ideas, nonetheless, like any conditioned soul, it has a sense of self-centeredness and inflated importance. My meditation today was thus on pride. I want to chant without it. What am I proud of, however? It’s only the limited shape my consciousness takes in this life, which isn’t even me. Today I, the soul, chant round after round, looking at my false-identity, the one I’m proud of, which is not even the person chanting, and laugh at my illusion. It’s a fact – I’m just not anything that was making me proud. I thus do my mala as a soul, realizing that I am a spark of God, like everyone else.

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Dhanurdhara Swami October 26th, 2007

Kartik begins today. I will try, as I have done for the past five years, to share a regular journal of japa thoughts and other realizations. I have doubts about how much more I can say, but at least here’s something to help begin Kartik.

Kartik Journal
October 26, 2007

Japa Thought:

Yogi chanting: Focus on the holy name, stop the mind, reveal the soul. Yoga, in its classical definition, is not a particular philosophy, but a psychosomatic process. The mind is a mirror for the conditioned soul to observe its consciousness, to see its soul. When that mirror is dirty the image is distorted. We see a controller, not a servant, and don’t feel the soul (pure devotion, happiness). The dust is our material thoughts, decisions and self-conceptions. Stop that and the pure soul is reflected in the mind. So I focus on the name, stop the mind, reveal the soul and feel relief. What a relief! Our only relief – basking in the soul! But the dust of the mind, the sense of being not the soul, says, “No, let me enjoy and suffer.” How unfortunate!

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Dhanurdhara Swami June 4th, 2007

Lessons from the CC
Adi-Lila Chapter 1

Lesson 1: To successfully write or speak about the inconceivable Supreme Lord, one needs to attract His mercy by humbly remembering His diverse manifestations including His devotees and the spiritual master.

After offering prayers in fourteen verses to the Supreme Lord at the beginning of his Sri Caitanya Caritamrta, Srila Krishna dasa Kaviraja explains why:

“In the beginning of this narration, simply by remembering the spiritual master, the devotees of the Lord, and the Personality of Godhead, I have invoked their benedictions.”
(Adi 1.19)

Lesson 2: Respectfully remembering the Supreme Lord is a very effective way to overcome the obstacles one faces in his spiritual progress.

“Such remembrance destroys all difficulties and very easily enables one to fulfill his own desires.”
(Adi 1.21)

Lesson 3: One seeking to explain spiritual subjects even seeks blessings from his audience, provided they are sincere seekers.

After summarizing his auspicious invocation, Srila Krishna dasa Kaviraja continues to seek blessings:

“I offer my obeisances unto all my Vaisnava readers as I begin to explain the intricacies of all these verses.”
Adi 1.30

Lesson 4: The Supreme Lord must be understood and worshipped through His devotees.

After finishing his prayers to the Supreme Lord and His devotees, Srila Krishna das Kaviraja announces that he will explain them in more detail:

“Having offered obeisances unto the Lord and all His associates, I shall now try to explain these six diversities in one.” (Adi 1.43)

Srila Prabhupada explains the significance of this verse in his purport:

“There are many unalloyed devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all of whom are considered associates surrounding the Lord. Krishna should be worshiped with His devotees. The diverse principles are therefore the eternal paraphernalia through which the Absolute Truth can be approached.” (Adi 1.43, Purport)

Lesson 5: The spiritual master should be respected as a direct manifestation of God because he is the Lord’s empowered representative and confidential servant.

“Although I know that my spiritual master is a servitor of Sri Caitanya, I know Him also as a plenary manifestation of the Lord.” (Adi 1.44)

“According to the deliberate opinion of all revealed scriptures, the spiritual master is non-different from Krishna. Lord Krishna in the form of the spiritual master delivers His devotees.” (Adi 1.45)

Srila Prabhupada comments:

“[…]The revealed scriptures prohibit one’s pretending to be God, but a bona fide spiritual master is a most faithful and confidential servant of the Lord and therefore deserves as much respect as Krishna. Adi 1.45, Purport

Lesson 6: One should be vigilant to never envy or disrespect genuine authority.

“One should know the acarya as Myself and never disrespect him in any way. One should not envy him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he is the representative of all the demigods.” (Adi 1.46)

Comment: The warning to not disrespect or envy authority is given here because it is our natural tendency to do so.

Another lesson gleaned from the same verse (Adi 1.46):

Lesson 7: Studentship requires firm faith in and the utmost respect for one’s teacher.

Lesson 8: To understand one’s eternal relationship with Krishna one must serve the pure devotee and faithfully study the Srimad Bhagavatam under his guidance.

In the second verse of the Sri Caitanya Caritamrta, Srila Krishna dasa Kaviraja prays to the Supreme Lord in the particular forms of Sri Caitanya and Sri Nityananda to dissipate ignorance. Later in the chapter these verses are analyzed and the direct result of such purification is described:

“But these two brothers [Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda] dissipate the darkness of the inner core of the heart, and thus They help one meet the two kinds of bhagavatas [persons or things in relationship with the Personality of Godhead].

One of the bhagavatas is the great scripture Srimad Bhagavatam, and the other is the pure devotee absorbed in the mellows of loving devotion.

Through the actions of these two bhagavatas the Lord instills the mellows of transcendental loving service into the heart of a living being, and thus the Lord, in the heart of His devotee, comes under the control of the devotee’s love.” (Adi 1.99-101)

Lesson 9: A devotee should try to speak as concisely as possible.

Before beginning his explanation of the third verse of his mangalacaram, Srila Krishna dasa Kaviraja informs the readers that he will try to avoid extensive descriptions and speak succinctly. He supports his contention with a well known aphorism:

“Essential truth spoken concisely is true eloquence.” (Adi 1.107)

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Dhanurdhara Swami May 23rd, 2007

Wednesday, May 23, 2006
Krishna’s Heart

“Since Durvasa Muni wanted to chastise Maharaja Ambarisa, it is to be understood that he wanted to give pain to the heart of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for the Lord says, sadhavo hrdaya mahyam: “The pure devotee is always within the core of My heart.” The Lord’s feelings are like those of a father, who feels pain when his child is in pain. Therefore, offenses at the lotus feet of a devotee are serious. Caitanya Mahaprabhu has very strongly recommended that one not commit any offense at the lotus feet of a devotee. Such offenses are compared to a mad elephant because when a mad elephant enters a garden it causes devastation. Therefore one should be extremely careful not to commit offenses at the lotus feet of a pure devotee.” (Srimad Bhagavatam 9.4.68 Purport)

Comment: Reading this helped me understand the seriousness of Vaisnava aparadha. It is simple. Krishna is a person. Like any person, Krishna is pained when those whom He loves are offended. Of course, here it is talking about the pure devotee. Naturally, the more a devotee captures Krishna’s heart by their devotion, the more Krishna is pained in heart when they are offended. But Krishna is also grateful. He appreciates whatever sincere devotional service anyone does. One should thus be very careful in dealing with anyone who has dedicated their lives to Sri Krishna’s service, even if they have faults. I forgot where I read it, but somewhere it is mentioned that the greatest hypocrisy is to not think another deserves Krishna’s mercy because they have faults and thus wish them ill, but at the same time pray for Krishna’s mercy despite one’s own imperfections.

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Dhanurdhara Swami May 1st, 2007

Tuesday, May 1, 2006
Understanding Srila Prabhupada

“In this age, devotional service of hearing and repeating the holy glories of the Lord is strongly recommended, and one who takes the vow of renunciation of family life need not imitate the parivrajakacarya like Narada or Lord Caitanya, but may sit down at some holy place and devote his whole time and energy to hear and repeatedly chant the holy scriptures left by the great acaryas like the six Gosvamis of Vrndavana.” Srimad Bhagavatam 1.6.13 Purport

Comment: Srila Prabhupada is so much broader in his outlook than he is often presented. He so much stressed preaching that many devotees don’t see a scope for his followers to devote their life to chanting and hearing in a holy place. Here, however, he directly encourages that service. It was especially enlivening for me to read this. I am also guilty at times of too narrowly defining Srila Prabhupada. I thus question if there is scope in his service for my lifestyle, which, unlike most of my god-brother’s, is so limited in traveling and preaching. Here, however, Srila Prabhupada directly recommends sitting down in a holy place to devote one’s whole time to chanting and hearing. I felt encouraged reading this.

Of course, Srila Prabhupada seems to be talking more about retired grhastha’s. Still, the point remains that his strong recommendation of the traditional mode of Vaisnava retired life, chanting and hearing in a holy place, shows that Srila Prabhupada cannot be pin-holed exclusively within one conception of spiritual life, even the missionary outlook.

At the same time, however, one can’t help but note the status at which Srila Prabhupada places preaching. Usually, retirement to a holy place for exclusive chanting and hearing is the pinnacle of one’s spiritual evolution following the example of Sri Caitanya, who spent the last year of his life in Puri. But here it is almost presented as a concession.

I appreciate that although Srila Prabhupada stressed certain activities, it never became a passion in the sense of excluding or discouraging different ways and modes of serving his order and mission. That passion obviously was ours.

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Dhanurdhara Swami November 5th, 2006

Karttika 2006
Japa Meditations

November 5, 2005
Govardhana

Karttika ends. All glories to Karttika!

I got a lot of feedback that the japa journal was appreciated. Thank you, dear readership.

I think one of my main realizations for Karttika was the importance of spending quality time with the holy name. The holy name is a person as it is non-different from Krishna. By spending time with a person whom we have a natural relationship our rapport and love for them grows. We then enjoy their company. When we are focused and not indifferent when the holy name appears, a real bond develops. We become happy anytime are in the company of the holy name. That’s the blessings of Karttika – sambandha or relationship to the holy name. kirtaniya sada harih.

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Dhanurdhara Swami November 4th, 2006

Karttika 2006
Japa Meditations

November 4, 2006
Govardhana

A friend of mine – a professor in America – had problems with his chanting. He couldn’t concentrate and it frustrated him. While visiting Vrindavana, he went to his very elderly guru, a very renowned Vaisnava scholar in Vraja, and opened his heart.

“I just can’t concentrate on my chanting. Why should I do?”

“Don’t eat grains cooked by non-devotees!”

“But I have to attend the college’s conferences and they only serve grains cooked by non-devotees. What should I do?’

“Don’t eat.”

Moral: Don’t ask a sadhu a question unless you are ready to follow his advice. Well, my friend did. It was inconvenient, but it changed his life and his concentration improved significantly .

Commentary: Small things make big differences. During Karttika I only eat freshly prepared and purely cooked food offered to Giriraja. It really helps the consciousness.

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Dhanurdhara Swami November 3rd, 2006

Karttika 2006
Japa Meditations

November 3, 2006
Govardhana

An individual not only speaks or writes words, but his words have “voice”; the sound and expression of those words that communicates his very heart. Two people speak the same words, but say different things according to their voice. The words may lie, but the voice doesn’t. It is who you are. Two people chant Hare Krishna, but God hears completely different entreaties depending on their “voice”. I chanted today and not only listened to the words, but to the voice of my chanting. It became clear. Unless humility becomes the voice of our chanting there is little taste to our prayers.

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