Sound Bhakti

To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/ (USA only) https://thefourquestionsbook.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Join us live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FanTheSpark/ Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sound-bhakti/id1132423868 For the latest videos, subscribe https://www.youtube.com/@FanTheSpark For the latest in SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/fan-the-spark ------------------------------------------------------------ #vaisesikaprabhu #vaisesikadasa #vaisesikaprabhulectures #spirituality #bhaktiyoga #krishna #spiritualpurposeoflife #krishnaspirituality #spiritualusachannel #whybhaktiisimportant #whyspiritualityisimportant #vaisesika #spiritualconnection #thepowerofspiritualstudy #selfrealization #spirituallectures #spiritualstudy #spirituale

The tendency to self-medicate is one of the ways that we can become misled or confused because, you know, "I read it on the internet." It's something that often now a times people do, "I looked it up, that's what I think I have." I know people who do that a lot— just taking antibiotics on their own for anything. So, we have the benefit of supporting our determination, that we have a prescription. Yes, there are a lot of branches of the Vedas, and you can go through them all and then self-medicate, saying, "I'll try this or that." But 'Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ' (Cc. Madhya 17.186): the ultimate conclusion of the Bhāgavat system is, yes, there are many ways and paths, but you should follow the acharyas, what the great souls have prescribed already . And then if you get a very local prescription, which we have—that’s why we have our founder acharya sitting here with us all the time—and then the prescription is already written: 16 rounds. So we can be very clear: "I have a prescription, I have to follow it,

The fact that Prabhupāda was so attentive to correspondence .Everybody got a response and that's really amazing because Prabhupāda considered everybody, everybody's contribution to be important. No detail was too small for Prabhupāda to attend to. (Excerpt from the discussion) To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/ (USA only) https://thefourquestionsbook.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Join us live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FanTheSpark/ Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sound-bhakti/id1132423868 For the latest videos, subscribe https://www.youtube.com/@FanTheSpark For the latest in SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/fan-the-spark ------------------------------------------------------------ #vaisesikaprabhu #vaisesikadasa #vaisesikaprabhule

I just want to take a couple of minutes to think about ways in which to improve japa. I talked at the beginning of the class about desperation, and when we feel ourselves dependent on Kṛṣṇa and helpless, there could be a feeling of desperation in which we call out. And we have the example of Advaita Ācārya. Then there's room in devotional service for ambition. Everyone, being a living entity and not a dead stone, has some aspiration. In the Nectar of Devotion, Prabhupāda mentions how, when we have a specific ambition for serving Kṛṣṇa, and we're praying hard for it—that "I want to serve you in this way"—this is one of the perfections of devotional service. So, can you think of ways in which you might pray with ambition? Could you look the word up, please? Can you think of an example of someone who prayed with ambition? You know, the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is the ultimate prayer, so when we're chanting, we can also with our heart be asking Kṛṣṇa, "Please empower me in this way or that." (excerpt from the talk) To

O Lord, Your lotus face, which is encircled by locks of soft black hair tinged with red, is kissed again and again by mother Yasoda, and Your lips are reddish like the bimba fruit. May this beautiful vision of Your lotus face be ever manifest in my heart. Thousands and thousands of other benedictions are of no use to me. (Text 5) To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/ (USA only) https://thefourquestionsbook.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Join us live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FanTheSpark/ Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sound-bhakti/id1132423868 For the latest videos, subscribe https://www.youtube.com/@FanTheSpark For the latest in SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/fan-the-spark ---------------------------------------------------------

I just want to take a couple of minutes to think about ways in which to improve japa. I talked at the beginning of the class about desperation, and when we feel ourselves dependent on Kṛṣṇa and helpless, there could be a feeling of desperation in which we call out. And we have the example of Advaita Ācārya. Then there's room in devotional service for ambition. Everyone, being a living entity and not a dead stone, has some aspiration. In the Nectar of Devotion, Prabhupāda mentions how, when we have a specific ambition for serving Kṛṣṇa, and we're praying hard for it—that "I want to serve you in this way"—this is one of the perfections of devotional service. So, can you think of ways in which you might pray with ambition? Could you look the word up, please? Can you think of an example of someone who prayed with ambition? You know, the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is the ultimate prayer, so when we're chanting, we can also with our heart be asking Kṛṣṇa, "Please empower me in this way or that." To connect with His Grace V

To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/ (USA only) https://thefourquestionsbook.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Join us live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FanTheSpark/ Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sound-bhakti/id1132423868 For the latest videos, subscribe https://www.youtube.com/@FanTheSpark For the latest in SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/fan-the-spark ------------------------------------------------------------ #vaisesikaprabhu #vaisesikadasa #vaisesikaprabhulectures #spirituality #bhaktiyoga #krishna #spiritualpurposeoflife #krishnaspirituality #spiritualusachannel #whybhaktiisimportant #whyspiritualityisimportant #vaisesika #spiritualconnection #thepowerofspiritualstudy #selfrealization #spirituallectures #spiritualstudy #spirituale

I've seen that coming to Vṛndāvana—especially, I mean, I'm coming to India three times a year now—but this is a special kind of retreat. And I agree with you on the intensity I've seen. It takes a while to get in resonance with the environment here, and if you fall out of resonance, it can be torture, because you could be here and then not want to be here. That can happen. The mind can just flip, and then you're gone. So, it's a real art. It's like surfing or something, you know? Learning to catch the wave while you're here and staying on it—don't wipe out. I've seen that as a really important part of my sādhana, to come to the dhāma very deliberately, to leave things behind and be incognito in many ways, although not completely, and then to spend the time here and ride those waves. It takes cultivation to be able to resonate with the dhāma. I mean, some people come here and then they wear a t-shirt that says, "I Left My Heart in Vṛndāvana," and that's probably true because it's charming. But, as you were say

A devotee, therefore, should execute his devotional services with full energy, endurance, and confidence. He should perform his scheduled duties, he should be pure in heart, and he should serve in association with devotees. All six of these items will lead the devotee to the path of success. One should not be discouraged in the discharge of devotional service. Failures may not be detrimental; they may be the pillars of success. One must have good faith in the regulative principles followed by the self-realized souls, and one should not be doubtful about the ultimate result of such devotional service. Rather, one must go on executing his prescribed duties without hesitation, and one should never be influenced by unwanted association. We should not consider going back to Godhead a plaything. We must take it seriously, as enjoined in the scriptures. For a strict follower, the result is sure and certain, and when the time is right the result will come of its own force. Dhruva Mahārāja went to worship God to gain

All of us living beings are differentiated expansions of the Lord, but our affection for the Lord is submerged within us, artificially covered by the material quality of ignorance. Spiritual culture is meant to revive this natural affection of the living being for the Lord. The ingredients of fire are already present in safety matches, and only mild friction is needed to ignite a fire. Similarly, our natural affection for the Lord has to be revived by a little culture. Specifically, we have to receive the messages of the Lord with a purified heart. For spiritual realization one has to purify the heart and know things in their true perspective. As soon as one does this, the flow of one's natural affection begins to glide toward the Lord, and with the progress of this flow one becomes more and more self-realized in various relations with the Lord. The Lord is the center of all the affection of all living beings, who are all His parts and parcels. When the flow of natural affection for the Lord is clogged by de

Because a person who is spiritually advanced accepts any adverse condition of life as the mercy of the Lord, he is completely eligible to enter into the spiritual kingdom. Even though a person takes to the devotional service of the Supreme Lord, he may sometimes become diseased, impoverished, or disappointed by life's events. A true devotee of the Lord always considers these sufferings to be due to past sinful activities, and thus without becoming disturbed he patiently awaits the mercy of the Supreme Lord. Such devotees are compared to high mountains, which are never agitated in any way, even when struck by powerful torrents of rain in the rainy season. Rather, such devotees remain humble in spiritual enlightenment. Free from pride and envy, they easily gain the mercy of the Lord and go back home, back to Godhead. (Text 12, Light of The Bhāgavata ) To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/ ----------------------------------------------

I was just realizing on the trip to Vṛndāvana, I just felt enveloped by the words I've heard from the purports. You can't not get affected—it's like radiation. You may think, you know, that was nothing, and then next thing you know, you're totally radiated. And I think that it takes a little time: vidyāṁ cāvidyāṁ ca yas tad vedobhayaḿ saha avidyayā mṛtyuṁ tīrtvā vidyayāmṛtam aśnute (Iso-9) Only one who can cultivate nescience and transcendental knowledge side by side can transcend the influence of repeated birth and death and enjoy the full blessings of immortality. So, there's a way in which everything goes in. That's my realization. I don't have to chase it as hard as I think I do because it's up to Krishna. My job is to hear it as faithfully as possible śuśrūṣoḥ śraddadhānasya , be eager to hear it, be open to hear it, don't run away from it, don't try to control it too much. Let it be there, and then Krishna knows exactly how all the places fit into my consciousness—like, this goes here, that goes there.

Link to the entire session : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFTW8ykHZKI To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/ (USA only) https://thefourquestionsbook.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Join us live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FanTheSpark/ Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sound-bhakti/id1132423868 For the latest videos, subscribe https://www.youtube.com/@FanTheSpark For the latest in SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/fan-the-spark ------------------------------------------------------------ #vaisesikaprabhu #vaisesikadasa #vaisesikaprabhulectures #spirituality #bhaktiyoga #krishna #spiritualpurposeoflife #krishnaspirituality #spiritualusachannel #whybhaktiisimportant #whyspiritualityisimportant #vaisesika #spiritualconnection #thepowerofspir

Of all His Divine Grace's writings, this work is perhaps the most unique. It was written in Vṛndāvana in 1961 in response to an invitation to attend a world conference, the Congress for Cultivating the Human Spirit, held in Japan. As most of the participants to the Conference were from the Orient, Śrīla Prabhupāda considered deeply how he could best present the timeless teachings of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam suitable to the Oriental people. The original Bhāgavatam was written over five thousand years ago as an extremely large book composed of eighteen thousand verses. Participants to the conference would not have the time to hear it all. He therefore chose one chapter from the original version for presentation. The chapter he selected was a description of the autumn season in Vṛndāvana, the place of Lord Kṛṣṇa's appearance. Śrīla Prabhupāda knew that the Oriental people were very fond of hearing descriptions of nature and that the time of the autumn season is particularly auspicious to them. Presenting spiritual

The description of the dealings of Kapiladeva and His mother is very confidential, and anyone who hears or reads this narration becomes a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is carried by Garuḍa, and he thereafter enters into the abode of the Supreme Lord to engage in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. The narration of Kapiladeva and His mother, Devahūti, is so perfect and transcendental that even if one only hears or reads this description, he achieves the highest perfectional goal of life, for he engages in the loving service of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is no doubt that Devahūti, who had the Supreme Lord as her son and who followed the instructions of Kapiladeva so nicely, attained the highest perfection of human life. (SB 3.33.37,translation & purport) https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/3/33/advanced-view/ To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/ ----------------------

The devotees adopt the devotional process: hearing about the Supreme Lord’s pastimes and glorifying His activities and thereby always remembering His beautiful eternal form. By rendering service, becoming His friend or His servant and offering Him everything that one possesses, one is able to enter into the kingdom of God. As it is said in Bhagavad-gītā, tato māṁ tattvato jñātvā: after discharging pure devotional service, one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead in fact, and thus one becomes eligible to enter into His association in one of the spiritual planets. (SB 3.31.22,purport) https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/3/33/advanced-view/ To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/ (USA only) https://thefourquestionsbook.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Join u

It is not very astounding, for no one in this life can chant the holy name of the Lord unless he has passed all lower stages, such as performing the Vedic ritualistic sacrifices, studying the Vedas and practicing good behavior like that of the Āryans. All this must first have been done. Just as a student in a law class is to be understood to have already graduated from general education, anyone who is engaged in the chanting of the holy name of the Lord — Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare — must have already passed all lower stages. It is said that those who simply chant the holy name with the tip of the tongue are glorious. One does not even have to chant the holy name and understand the whole procedure, namely the offensive stage, offenseless stage and pure stage; if the holy name is sounded on the tip of the tongue, that is also sufficient. It is said herein that nāma, a singular number, one name, Kṛṣṇa or Rāma, is sufficient. It is not that one has

In order to become a devotee of the Lord, one has to accept a spiritual master and inquire from him about how to progress in devotional service. To serve a devotee, to chant the holy name according to a certain counting method, to worship the Deity, to hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or Bhagavad-gītā from a realized person and to live in a sacred place where devotional service is not disturbed are the first out of sixty-four devotional activities for making progress in devotional service. One who has accepted these five chief activities is called a devotee. (SB 3.32.42,purport) https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/3/32/advanced-view/ To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/ (USA only) https://thefourquestionsbook.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Join us live on Facebook: https:/

The devotee’s intelligence is always in touch with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. His attitude towards the material existence is one of detachment, for he knows perfectly well that this material world is a creation of illusory energy. Realizing himself to be part and parcel of the Supreme Soul, the devotee discharges his devotional service and is completely aloof from material action and reaction. Thus at the end he gives up his material body, or the material energy, and as pure soul he enters the kingdom of God. (SB 3.31.48,purport) To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/ (USA only) https://thefourquestionsbook.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Join us live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FanTheSpark/ Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sound-b

Someone may proclaim himself to be a very good national worker, the best friend of the people and of the country, but actually he cannot be the greatest friend of everyone. The only friend is Kṛṣṇa. One should try to raise the consciousness of the conditioned soul to the platform of understanding that Kṛṣṇa is his actual friend. If one makes friendship with Kṛṣṇa, one will never be cheated, and he will get all help needed. Arousing this consciousness of the conditioned soul is the greatest service, not posing oneself as a great friend of another living entity. The power of friendship is limited. Although one claims to be a friend, he cannot be a friend unlimitedly. There are an unlimited number of living entities, and our resources are limited; therefore we cannot be of any real benefit to the people in general. The best service to the people in general is to awaken them to Kṛṣṇa consciousness so that they may know that the supreme enjoyer, the supreme proprietor and the supreme friend is Kṛṣṇa. Then this ill