{"id":54575,"date":"2017-12-25T14:05:05","date_gmt":"2017-12-25T13:05:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dandavats.tumblr.com\/post\/168924524176"},"modified":"2017-12-25T14:05:05","modified_gmt":"2017-12-25T13:05:05","slug":"sacinandana-swami-when-i-was-on-pilgrimage-in-vrndavana-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=54575","title":{"rendered":"Sacinandana Swami: When I was on pilgrimage in Vrndavana, India&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-54574\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/wp-content\/uploads6\/tumblr_p1ipoh2lme1sbj0vuo1_400.jpg\" width=\"292\" height=\"194\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/tumblr_p1ipoh2lme1sbj0vuo1_400.jpg 292w, https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/tumblr_p1ipoh2lme1sbj0vuo1_400-280x187.jpg 280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 292px) 100vw, 292px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Sacinandana Swami: When I was on pilgrimage in Vrndavana, India \u2013 one morning while I chanted my japa, a devotee visited and showed me a verse written in a special notebook. He was very happy as he read it aloud for me:<br \/>\n\u201cO golden gopi! (Srimati Radharani) When it touches His splendid teeth, Krishna\u2019s flute looks like a crystal. When it touches His red lotus palm it looks like a ruby, and when it touches His blue lotus cheek it looks like a sapphire. Look! In this way Krsna\u2019s flute looks like three different jewels.\u201d (Ujvala-nilamani 10.34)<br \/>\nVishaka originally spoke this verse to Radharani, pointing out the effect of Krishna\u2019s touch.<br \/>\nAfter my early morning visitor had left, I had time to think about the mysterious touch of the Lord which transforms everyone \u2013 not only His flute. Everything touched by the Lord changes to become spiritually vibrant.<br \/>\nHow does this happen?<br \/>\nLet us first consider that the Lord is in the background of everything. Like a canvas which holds the colours of a painting, the Lord is the foundation of all existence. He is behind every particle of matter \u2013 every atom and sub-atom. The Lord is all spirit, and matter is but a covering of ignorance super-imposed over the Lord. To anyone with completely pure consciousness, matter is no longer perceived as a covering veil but a blissful energy of the Lord.<br \/>\nSrila Prabhupada writes, \u201cFactually there is nothing like matter in spiritual enlightenment, and this spiritual enlightenment takes place at once by the contact of the Supreme Lord \u015ar\u012b K\u1e5bish\u1e47a.\u201d<br \/>\nIt is described that when Lord Krishna visited the town of Dvaraka, He first sounded His transcendental conch-shell to announce His long-awaited arrival before all the devotees suffering the agony of separation from Him. At that time, the \u201cwhite and fat-bowled conch-shell\u201d which the Lord held in His lotus hand became reddened by the touch of His red lotus lips. (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.11.2)<br \/>\nA similar phenomenon takes place for everyone who comes in touch with the Lord.<br \/>\nHow can we come in touch with the Lord?<br \/>\nBy serving Him, thinking as much as possible of Him (we want to think of Him constantly!), by worshipping Him and by paying our respectful obeisances to Him, touching His lotus feet in our minds\u2026<br \/>\nThere are 64 traditional ways of coming in contact with the Lord and these are so comprehensive, they encompass all other processes, but of all of them, chanting the Lord\u2019s Holy Names is most effective.<br \/>\nThe immediate result for one who chants the Lord\u2019s Holy Names purely is to lose all fears.<br \/>\nSrila Prabhupada writes, \u201cWe are always fearful due to our ignorance of the next problem. The whole material existence is full of problems, and thus the fear problem is always prominent. This is due to our association with the illusory energy of the Lord, known as maya or external energy, yet all fear is vanished as soon as there is the sound of the Lord, represented by His Holy Name, as it was sounded by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the following sixteen words:<br \/>\nHare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare\/<br \/>\nHare R\u0101ma, Hare R\u0101ma, R\u0101ma R\u0101ma, Hare Hare<br \/>\nWe can take advantage of these sounds and be free from all threatening problems of material existence.\u201d (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.11.3 purport)<br \/>\nSimply by hearing about K\u1e5bi\u1e63h\u1e47a\u2019s pastimes, chanting His names and His glories, touching His lotus feet in the course of worshipping the Deity and offering all kinds of services, one is purified of material contamination. By coming in touch with the Lord, one\u2019s body and mind will certainly become spiritualized so that in the end, one can assume his or her spiritual body and return back home, back to Godhead.<br \/>\nMay we not only be touched by the Lord, but once we have been touched, may we stay in touch, always!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/78.media.tumblr.com\/fe85543e6268a01a2d7f3288cb97ba0a\/tumblr_p1ipoh2lme1sbj0vuo1_400.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Sacinandana Swami: When I was on pilgrimage in Vrndavana, India &ndash; one morning while I chanted my japa, a devotee visited and showed me a verse written in a special notebook. He was very happy as he read it aloud for me:<br \/>\n&ldquo;O golden gopi! (Srimati Radharani) When it touches His splendid teeth, Krishna&rsquo;s flute looks like a crystal. When it touches His red lotus palm it looks like a ruby, and when it touches His blue lotus cheek it looks like a sapphire. Look! In this way Krsna&rsquo;s flute looks like three different jewels.&rdquo; (Ujvala-nilamani 10.34)<br \/>\nVishaka originally spoke this verse to Radharani, pointing out the effect of Krishna&rsquo;s touch.<br \/>\nAfter my early morning visitor had left, I had time to think about the mysterious touch of the Lord which transforms everyone &ndash; not only His flute. Everything touched by the Lord changes to become spiritually vibrant.<br \/>\nHow does this happen?<br \/>\nLet us first consider that the Lord is in the background of everything. Like a canvas which holds the colours of a painting, the Lord is the foundation of all existence. He is behind every particle of matter &ndash; every atom and sub-atom. The Lord is all spirit, and matter is but a covering of ignorance super-imposed over the Lord. To anyone with completely pure consciousness, matter is no longer perceived as a covering veil but a blissful energy of the Lord.<br \/>\nSrila Prabhupada writes, &ldquo;Factually there is nothing like matter in spiritual enlightenment, and this spiritual enlightenment takes place at once by the contact of the Supreme Lord &#346;r&#299; K&#7771;ish&#7751;a.&rdquo;<br \/>\nIt is described that when Lord Krishna visited the town of Dvaraka, He first sounded His transcendental conch-shell to announce His long-awaited arrival before all the devotees suffering the agony of separation from Him. At that time, the &ldquo;white and fat-bowled conch-shell&rdquo; which the Lord held in His lotus hand became reddened by the touch of His red lotus lips. (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.11.2)<br \/>\nA similar phenomenon takes place for everyone who comes in touch with the Lord.<br \/>\nHow can we come in touch with the Lord?<br \/>\nBy serving Him, thinking as much as possible of Him (we want to think of Him constantly!), by worshipping Him and by paying our respectful obeisances to Him, touching His lotus feet in our minds&hellip;<br \/>\nThere are 64 traditional ways of coming in contact with the Lord and these are so comprehensive, they encompass all other processes, but of all of them, chanting the Lord&rsquo;s Holy Names is most effective.<br \/>\nThe immediate result for one who chants the Lord&rsquo;s Holy Names purely is to lose all fears.<br \/>\nSrila Prabhupada writes, &ldquo;We are always fearful due to our ignorance of the next problem. The whole material existence is full of problems, and thus the fear problem is always prominent. This is due to our association with the illusory energy of the Lord, known as maya or external energy, yet all fear is vanished as soon as there is the sound of the Lord, represented by His Holy Name, as it was sounded by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the following sixteen words:<br \/>\nHare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare\/<br \/>\nHare R&#257;ma, Hare R&#257;ma, R&#257;ma R&#257;ma, Hare Hare<br \/>\nWe can take advantage of these sounds and be free from all threatening problems of material existence.&rdquo; (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.11.3 purport)<br \/>\nSimply by hearing about K&#7771;i&#7779;h&#7751;a&rsquo;s pastimes, chanting His names and His glories, touching His lotus feet in the course of worshipping the Deity and offering all kinds of services, one is purified of material contamination. By coming in touch with the Lord, one&rsquo;s body and mind will certainly become spiritualized so that in the end, one can assume his or her spiritual body and return back home, back to Godhead.<br \/>\nMay we not only be touched by the Lord, but once we have been touched, may we stay in touch, always!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10650,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[152],"class_list":["post-54575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recent-media","tag-nectar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10650"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54575"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54576,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54575\/revisions\/54576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}