By Praghosa Das ACBSP
Faith in the Authority of Lord Krsna: I wanted to offer a few words of encouragement to all the samkirtan devotees who are out there witnessing the active participation of the Lord as Paramatma each day on samkirtan.
Srila Prabhupada once said “What your 10 minute lecture will do? But if they read one line of these books – even they only touch the book – they will receive great benefit!”
Here are five beautiful examples of such “greatly beneficial” information – delivered by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada – to be easily extracted from the pages of Srila Prabhupada’s perfect introduction to Krsna Consciousness called “Beyond Birth and Death”. We can all remember the first time we encountered this information. Its delivery by Srila Prabhupada is saturated with conviction, realization and absolute admiration for Lord Krsna! When this information enters the heart of anyone – without any previous qualification whatsoever – the information alone in combination with the powerful “Mercy” of Lord Krsna has the capacity to shatter one’s longstanding fascination with this illusory world.
Reading this powerful yet simple book of Srila Prabhupada can effect a person with everybit as much shock and delight as would be experienced by one who was born blind, endured a life of darkness till the age of 20 and then suddenly, after an operation by a physician – regained perfect 20/20 vision!! Let us flood the world with the “Light of the Person Bhagavat”; the transcendental words of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada! All Glories to His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada!
With regards to all Praghosa Das – (NYC)
“In India I lived in Vrndavana, and now I am in America, but this does not mean that I am out of Vrndavana, because if I think of Krsna always, then I’m always in Vrndavana, regardless of the material designation. Krsna consciousness means that one always lives with Krsna on that spiritual planet, Goloka Vrndavana, and that one is simply waiting to give up this material body. Smarati nityasah means “continuously remembering,” and for one who is continuously remembering Krsna, the Lord becomes tasyaham sulabhah–easily purchased. Krsna Himself says that He is easily purchased by this bhakti-yoga process.
Then why should we take to any other process? We can chant Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare twenty-four hours daily. There are no rules and regulations. One can chant in the street, in the subway, or at his home or office. There is no tax and no expense. So why not take to it?” (BBD- Chapter II) “We should be very serious about attaining our eternal life full of bliss and knowledge. We have forgotten that this is actually our aim of life, our real self-interest. Why have we forgotten? We have simply been entrapped by the material glitter, by skyscrapers, big factories, and political play, although we know that however big we build skyscrapers, we will not be able to live here indefinitely.
We should not spoil our energy in building mighty industries and cities to further entrap ourselves in material nature; rather, our energy should be used to develop Krsna consciousness, in order to attain a spiritual body whereby we may enter into Krsna’s planet. Krsna consciousness is not a religious formula or some spiritual recreation; it is the most important part of the living entity.” (BBD- Chapter III)
“Krsna gives us information about Himself in Bhagavad-gita, and there is no question of doubting it; we just have to feel it, understand it. There is no preliminary qualification necessary for the understanding of Bhagavad-gita, because it is spoken from the absolute platform. The simple process of chanting the names of Krsna will reveal what one is, what God is, what the material and spiritual universes are, why we are conditioned, how we can get out of that conditioning–and everything else, step by step. Actually, the process of belief and revelation is not foreign to us. Every day we place faith in something that we have confidence will be revealed later. We may purchase a ticket to go to India, and on the basis of the ticket we have faith that we will be transported there. Why should we pay money for a ticket?
We do not just give the money to anyone. The company is authorized and the airline is authorized, so faith is created. Without faith we cannot take one step forward in the ordinary course of our life. Faith we must have, but it must be faith in that which is authorized.” (BBD- Chapter IV)
“If one practices Krsna consciousness by chanting the maha-mantra, Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, he will be quickly helped. Krsna and His name are nondifferent, and Krsna and His transcendental abode are also nondifferent. By sound vibration we can have Krsna associate with us. If, for instance, we chant Hare Krsna on the street, we will see that Krsna is going with us, just as when we look up and see the moon overhead, we perceive that it is also going with us. If Krsna’s inferior energy may appear to go with us, is it not possible for Krsna Himself to be with us when we are chanting His names? He will keep us company, but we have to qualify to be in His company. If, however, we are always merged in the thought of Krsna, we should rest assured that Krsna is always with us.”(BBD – Chapter V)
“Merely by chanting we can have all the advantages of personal association with Krsna. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is not only considered to be a realized soul but an incarnation of Krsna Himself, has pointed out that in this age of Kali, although men have no real facilities for self-realization, Krsna is so kind that He has given this sabda (sound incarnation) to be utilized as the yuga-dharma, or way of realization of this age. No special qualification is necessary for this method; we need not even know Sanskrit. The vibrations of Hare Krsna are so potent that anyone can immediately begin chanting them, without any knowledge of Sanskrit whatsoever.” (BBD -Chapter V)