Meditational Yoga — The Prerequisites
To practice yoga, one should go to a secluded place and should lay kusa-grass on the ground and then cover it with a deerskin and a soft cloth. The seat should neither be too high nor too low and should be situated in a sacred place. The yogi should then sit on it very firmly and should practice yoga by controlling the mind and the senses, purifying the heart and fixing the mind on one point. (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6, Verses 13-14)
Today yoga has become fashionable and popular in big cities. However what goes on in modern so-called yoga studios has nothing to do with the real yoga system. In this Sixth Chapter of Bhagavad Gita Krishna, after explaining to His friend Arjuna the importance of controlling the mind, is explaining the meditaional yoga system as a way for him to control his mind.
The yoga system Krishna is teaching Arjuna is the pure and original form of what we know today as Hatha Yoga or Astanga Yoga. However from this introduction by Krishna we can understand that meditaional yoga can not be performed in a group. It is solitary engagement. One has to go to a sacred secluded place and make a sitting place by laying kusha grass on the ground and then covering it with deer skin and a soft cloth. Then the yogi must sit on this asana, or sitting place, and practice yoga by controlling his mind and senses, purifying his heart and fixing his mind on one point.
“Sacred place” refers to places of pilgrimage. In India the yogis, the transcendentalists or the devotees all leave home and reside in sacred places such as Prayaga, Mathura, Vrndavana, Hrsikesa and Hardwar and in solitude practice yoga where the sacred rivers like the Yamuna and the Ganges flow. But often this is not possible, especially for Westerners. The so-called yoga societies in big cities may be successful in earning material benefit, but they are not at all suitable for the actual practice of yoga. One who is not self-controlled and whose mind is not undisturbed cannot practice meditation.
One should hold one’s body, neck and head erect in a straight line and stare steadily at the tip of the nose.
Thus, with an unagitated, subdued mind, devoid of fear, completely free from sex life, one should meditate upon Me within the heart and make Me the ultimate goal of life. (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6, Verses 13-14)
Here Krishna is informing us an important prerequisite for practicing yoga is one must be completely free from sex life. Most modern so-called yoga societies teach the exact opposite, generally they teach that by practicing yoga one can improve his sex life. But the mind can never be peaceful if it is hankering after trying to satisfy the senses. So one who is still addicted to sex life can not have a peaceful mind and therefore can not practice yoga.
The idea that one can satisfy the senses is false. The actual substance, the actual bliss, is not there in any sort of material sense gratification. Even if there is some momentary pleasure the soul is not looking for momentary pleasure. Our soul is hankering after eternal pleasure. We can not reach the platform of eternal pleasure without making the mind peaceful and the mind can not be peaceful if we are trying to satisfy our senses.
Therefore the greatest enemy of the yogi is sex desire. Sex desire is the most bewildering aspect of maya and it is the shackles or chains that bind us to the material world and force us to take birth and die over and over and over again…
The endless cycle of samsara that we can never escape from without become free from the sex desire.
Another important point we learn from Krishna is the object of meditation in yoga. Modern yoga schools are very vague about this. But here Krishna clearly says “one should meditate upon Me within the heart and make Me the ultimate goal of life.” So the object of mediation for a yogi is Krishna who is present within his heart as the Paramatma or Supersoul. And the perfection of yoga is to come to the platform of Krishna consciousness.
The goal of yoga is to know Krishna, who is situated within the heart of every living being as Paramatma, the four-handed Visnu form. The yoga process is practiced in order to discover and see this localized form of Visnu, and not for any other purpose. The localized visnu-murti is the plenary representation of Krishna dwelling within one’s heart. One who has no program to realize this visnu-murti is uselessly engaged in mock-yoga practice and is certainly wasting his time. Krishna is the ultimate goal of life, and the visnu-murti situated in one’s heart is the object of yoga practice.
To realize this visnu-murti within the heart, one has to observe complete abstinence from sex life; therefore one has to leave home and live alone in a secluded place, remaining seated as mentioned above. One cannot enjoy sex life daily at home or elsewhere and attend a so-called yoga class and thus become a yogi.One has to practice controlling the mind and avoiding all kinds of sense gratification, of which sex life is the chief. In the rules of celibacy written by the great sage Yajnavalkya it is said: “The vow of brahmacarya is meant to help one completely abstain from sex indulgence in work, words and mind–at all times, under all circumstances, and in all places.” No one can perform correct yoga practice through sex indulgence.
Brahmacarya is taught, therefore, from childhood when one has no knowledge of sex life. Children at the age of five are sent to the guru-kula, or the place of the spiritual master, and the master trains the young boys in the strict discipline of becoming brahmacaris. Without such practice, no one can make advancement in any yoga, whether it be dhyana, jnana or bhakti.
One who, however, follows the rules and regulations of married life, having sexual relationship only with his wife (and that also under regulation), is also called brahmacari. Such a restrained householder brahmacari may be accepted in the bhakti school, but the jnana and dhyana schools do not admit even householder brahmacaris. They require complete abstinence without compromise. In the bhakti school, a householder brahmacari is allowed controlled sex life because the cult of bhakti-yoga is so powerful that one automatically loses sexual attraction, being engaged in the superior service of the Lord. In the Bhagavad-gita it is said: “Whereas others are forced to restrain themselves from sense gratification, a devotee of the Lord automatically refrains because of superior taste. Other than the devotee, no one has any information of that superior taste.”
Krishna also stresses that to practice yoga one must be fearless. One cannot be fearless unless one is fully in Krishna consciousness. A conditioned soul is fearful due to his perverted memory, his forgetfulness of his eternal relationship with Krsna. The Bhagavatam says that Krishna consciousness is the only basis for fearlessness. Therefore, perfect practice is possible for a person who is Krishna conscious. And since the ultimate goal of yoga practice is to see the Lord within, a Krishna conscious person is already the best of all yogis. The principles of the yoga system mentioned herein are different from those of the popular so-called yoga societies.
The practical problem for a would-be yogi in this age of Kali is hardly anyone has an undisturbed and controlled mind and very few people can go to a sacred and secluded place and live there alone to practice yoga and it is very difficult to find anyone who is free from sex desire… And one who is not self-controlled and whose mind is not undisturbed cannot practice meditation. Therefore, in the Brhan-naradiya Purana it is said that in the Kali-yuga (the present age) when people in general are short-lived, slow in spiritual realization and always disturbed by various anxieties, the best means of spiritual realization is chanting the holy name of the Lord.
harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha
“In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy the only means of deliverance is chanting the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way.”
So the perfection of yoga, and the only practical yoga system for this age of Kali yuga is the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha mantra:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra can be performed anywhere, in any place and at any time. There are no hard and fast rules in regard to this. And the Hare Krishna maha-mantra is so powerful that a sincere chanter can get all the results of yoga very quickly by this simple method. So chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
About the Author
Madhudvisa dasa My first contact with a Hare Krishna was a most merciful Mataji in Oxford Street, London who sold me a "Higher Taste" cook book in 1984 while I was on holidays there. I started seriously reading Srila Prabhupada's books in Australia 1985 and by 1986 Srila Prabhupada had convinced me "Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead" and "we should surrender to Krishna." I joined the Hare Krishnas in Perth, Western Australia in 1986. Since then I have been chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, reading and distributing Srila Prabhupada's books and preaching as much as I can. That's my life and full-time occupation now really. I like it more than anything I've ever experienced before. Srila Prabhupada's books are so amazing... Even after reading them all many times they're still fresh and new. They are truly transcendental! That's it really. Now I'm just hankering to once again see the world chant Hare Krishna, dance and feast and float away in the ecstasy of Lord Caitanya's Sankirtana movement as it did in Srila Prabhupada's physical presence. Let the whole world drown in the ecstatic flood of love of Krishna!
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Please explain how to do sincere chanting of Krishna Mahamanthra
Hare Krishna
It is not possible to chant Hare Krishna sincerely in the beginning. That is why the system is to strictly follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day.
There needs to be numerical strength. This system was introduced by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. We have to make a vow to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day. That is because we can not chant Hare Krishna very sincerely in the beginning. So we have to force ourselves to chant Hare Krishna. In the beginning it does not matter, sincere or not sincere, we have to force ourselves to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day and be careful to pronounce all the words of the mantra carefully and hear them. And it does not mater sincere or not sincere, in time, if we keep chanting at least 16 rounds every day and keep on strictly following the four regulative principles, we will become sincere.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna
Dear Prabhu,
many years ago I was fortunate to find myself in Vrindavan where I heard of Hare Krishna for the very first time. During the sixteen years that have followed I had all but forgotten about my experiences there, during this time I have suffered severe mental health problems and been almost completely unable to function due to the disturbance in my mind.
It is only now that I have finally found some strength to move forward and I know in my heart that Krishna is all that matters, but I have some questions and would dearly appreciate your advice.
I live in England and had planned to make a visit to Bhaktivedanta Mannor and attend some of the classes and courses available there, having read though that there is some problem within ISKON I am now asking you if this is the right course of action?
If not do you know of anyone in my country whom I could turn to for advice?
Also, if I follow the four regulative principles is this enough?
How do I find out what days I should fast on?
Why should I not eat onions or garlic and is there anything else other than meat and eggs that I should not consume?
How do I learn to prepare prassadam and make offerings to Krishna without causing offence?
How much time should I allow to chant 16 rounds?
Any advice you can give is truly appreciated.
Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna Mark
Yes. There are very serious problems with ISKCON. Please stay away from them. They will only cause you to relapse into the craziness. They are crazy. It is not good to associate with crazy people.
Everything is in Srila Prabhupada’s books. So get all of Srila Prabhupada’s books and read them and in this way gradually you will learn everything about Krishna consciousness. It is a process. It takes time. We have to be prepared to spend the time to learn.
You need to follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, and that takes however long it takes. It can take anything from two to five hours. The main thing is to chant the words of the Hare Krishna mantra clearly and hear them.
To find out the fasting days search for “Vaisnava Calendar” and get one. That way you will know what days to fast on.
For prasadam get a cookbook:
https://krishnastore.com/the-hare-krishna-book-of-vegetarian-cooking-soft-cover-h-krishna-1490.html
The recipes are easy to follow so just cook and offer to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna.
Just read all of Srila Prabhupada’s books and gradually you will learn everything.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhuji..
Is it important to practice the four principles at first starting the chanting or chanting itself can help us growing & avoiding same? what comes first.. It has been an year now since am trying to practice higher consciousness.. but not yet that much strict though it has helped me quiet well in evolving.
Congratulations & Wishes for your Kindful writings.
Vishal, NOIDA
Hare Krishna Vishal
Actually both things have to be done at the same time. We have to be determined to strictly follow the four regulative principles and at the same time chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. This is the package. We have to do all of these things if we are serious about becoming Krishna conscious. Because without following the regulative principles we will not have the strength to chant Hare Krishna and without chanting Hare Krishna we will not have the strength to follow the regulative principles. And without chanting Hare Krishna and following the regulative principles we will not be able to understand Srila Prabhupada’s books or have any taste for reading them. So all three things have to be done together.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
In my practice holy places like Kollur Mukambika temple Pazhani Temple, shores like ganga and Pampa in Sabarimala season are very crowd and we cannot sit in a lonely place or lonely feeling place for getting a concentrated mind and we can hear even quarrelling sounds from there. But we can enjoy the loneliness in small temples like those in our rural areas. Hence in my opinion going to the temples in our nearby temples gives more peace than going to big big temples. However I am very happy to go to big temples and I used to go to big temples. And thanking you for solving some important problems of mine.
Thanking you and awaiting your valuable e-mails
Dear gurumaharaj
Many many thanks for newsletter
Thanks Prabhuji for sending your blessed write – ups. Thanks!
Regards,
Hare Krsna
Thank you for these commentaries.
The latest commentary states that sexual desire is our greatest enemy. I thought it was all types of rajasic/tamasic desire. (3:37).
In my experience, the desires that tempt us most aren’t always sexual.
Thanks for any insight.
Yes. Sexual desire is our greatest enemy. It is this sex desire that keeps us trapped in the material world. This material world is like a prison and it is only the sex desire that keeps us trapped in this prison.
For a materialist it is the sex desire that motivates all his activities. It may not be gross. As you say you consider that the desires that tempt us are not always sexual. That is of course true. But the sexual desire is the principle desire in the material world and all other desires are derived from it or subservient to it. The material world exists on and is built on the principle of sex desire. It is not possible to get out of the material world without conquering the sex desire.
Once one has to some extent controlled the sex desire the exact same sex desire appears again as the desire for fame, profit and adoration. This is the same sex desire again in a more subtle way. Really for a materialist his every action is either directly or indirectly motivated by this sex desire.
So it is very important, if we are to make any spiritual advancement, is to conquer this sex desire. And we may find conquering this desire to be quite difficult. But we have to conquer it. It is not possible in a negative way. We can not get rid of this desire directly by trying to conquer the sex desire. We have to instead increase or love for Krishna. It is only possible to conquer the sex desire by experiencing a higher taste, a greater pleasure. And the highest taste, the greatest pleasure, is experienced when we are actually engaged in the service of Krishna under the direction of a pure devotee of Krishna. So we have to become constantly engaged in serving Krishna under the direction of a pure devotee of Krishna, 24 hours a day, if we are to have any hope of conquering this sex desire…
So yes, this sex desire is our greatest problem, the greatest stumbling block on our path back home back to Godhead.
Of course this sex desire is in the mode of passion. When people become totally frustrated in their attempts to fulfill the sex desire they often fall down to the mode of ignorance and become addicted to intoxication, sleep and live in very unclean ways. In this mode of ignorance they are very often attacked and possessed by ghosts and spirits. So this mode of ignorance is an even worse position to be in than one who is searching after sex in the mode of passion. But the cause of this mode of ignorance is frustration in the attempts to fulfill the sex desire. So even this mode of ignorance is indirectly connected to and caused by this sex desire…
We have to raise ourselves up out of the modes of passion and ignorance and into the mode of goodness and then even transcend the mode of goodness and get onto the suddha-sattva platform. The spritual platform…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna madhudvisa dasa,
I am very happy that I came to know real yoga is chanting ”hare Krishna hare Krishna Krishna Krishna hare hare hare Rama hare Rama Rama Rama hare hare”
Hare Krishna Prabhu,
Thank you for your reply. I shall try to visit Mumbai for original books.
As for the ISKCON centres, won’t they have the so called ‘revised & enlarged’ edition of Gita ? And isn’t ISKCON Bangalore itself a branch of this ISKCON, how will it have further centres/branches of it ?
ISKCON Bangalore is not ISKCON. They are different from ISKCON… And they have Prabhupada’s original books. At least some of them…
And BBT in Mumbai print both Prabhupada’s original 1972 Bhagavad-gita As It Is and they also print the ‘revised and enlarged’ edition as well….
So you have to be careful what you get from them. But obviously you are in India, it is more practical for you to get the books in India.
Above article is very enlightening. . I had tried chanting maha mantra but left after sometime … I even do not feel the urge to go to temple. Instead I feel the holy presence of god inside me . I owe everything to him .
Kindly guide on how to get closer to god and revamp my practice of chanting of maha mantra..
thanks
pawan kohli
Read Srila Prabhupada’s books…
Hare Krishna Prabhu,
I know ISKCON has heavily revised Bhagavad Gita As It Is, so it’s no longer As It Is. So I have downloaded the original Gita & started reading it.
My question is, have other books by Swami Prabhupada, like Perfect Questions Perfect Answers, or The Laws of Nature, been revised by these non-devotees ? It is that I wish to gift such books to my friends & family, & they are easily available in nearby bookstores. I, of course, make a point to read books from this site itself, but it wouldn’t look good gifting a PDF file. So are the books unnecessarily revised or not ?
Thank you.
Hare Krishna Kaustubh
Unfortunately BBT do not give any guarantee that what is in the books is the same as what was in the original books…
The Laws of Nature, that is not an original book, it was made later after Srila Prabhupada left his body. Perfect Questions Perfect Answers they made a lot of changes back in the 90s and then apparently they changed some of it back to the original so realistically I have no idea what the BBT are printing today in Perfect Questions Perfect Answers. The only way you can tell with a BBT book is to compare every word with the original book. The BBT will never tell you that they have changed the book. And every time they print it is likely to be changed unfortunately.
Some of them are probably still original Prabhupada books. Like Beyond Birth and Death, Perfection of Yoga, Science of Self-Realization used to be fairly close to the original. I have no idea really. I can not keep up with what is changed and what is still original…
You can get Srila Prabhupada’s original books at https://www.krishna.org:
http://krishnastore.com/books-srila-prabhupada-om-21_38.html
Mostly these are printed by Krishna Books Inc. who are the publishers of Srila Prabhupada’s original Books.
In India you can get Prabhupada’s original Bhagavad-gita As It Is from BBT in Mumbai and should be able to get it at any ISKCON temple and you can get other original Prabhupada books from ISKCON Bangalore and any of their centers around India…
So Prabhupada’s original books are available if you want to get them.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu ji
all glories to srila prabhupad
all glories to lord Shri Krishna ji
deep respect to you
very nice explanation of both the verses.
Thank you
Hare Krishna Prabhu ji
Prabhuji hare krishna mahamantra is very powerful.
But in many other religions there are many other mantras which their representatives say that no other mantra is ad powerful as this
For eg. The christans say that their mantra is powerful. The buddhist say that their mantra is powerful. The muslims say that their mantra is powerful. The jains also say the same.
We don’t care what they say. Anyhow when any of these people, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Jains, etc, have the great fortune to be in a Hare Krishna kirtan lead by a pure devotee of Krishna, they will all agree that Hare Krishna mantra is best.
Hare Krishna to all…
I spend the larger part of my day thinking about my sweet LORD and chanting:
By chanting the name of the LORD you’ll be free
Does this qualify as chanting?
James
No. Please chant:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
oh I chant that also, but many times I also chant other things like:
really want to know you Lord
really want to go with you (back to Godhead)
George Harrison and his videos really helped me to gain greater consciousness about God.
James
Just chant:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
That is the best way. And yes, the mind is always telling us to chant other things. But we have to control the mind and force it to chant Hare Krishna. In the beginning we have very little desire and attraction to chanting Hare Krishna. We have to force ourselves to chant Hare Krishna. But that purifies our hearts and we gradually develop a taste for chanting Hare Krishna. Then chanting Hare Krishna becomes an ocean of ever-increasing spiritual bliss for us. But in the beginning we can not feel this bliss. We have to force ourselves to chant Hare Krishna…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare krishna Madhudvisa ji
bhakti yoga is the most easiest and important way to know krishna backed up with knowledge. even lord krishna admits that in BG. i dont know why people get attracted by so called yoga and meditation classes, it is so time consuming. though chanting is also time consuming but atleast you can walk and see nature, sky ,plants, trees, sun, birds while chanting and appreciate lords creation.
there are many people who in full mood join such classes but later they give up. even a year back i used to do such things…as i dint know anything about BG, prabhupada and chaitanya mahaprabhu.
I would admit that bhakti yoga is the most interesting path because you know for whom you are doing. i have just started my journey towards krishna conscious. One thing is for sure though i have stoped doing yoga/meditation but now no one can stop me chanting on beads, no one can take BG from me, and no one can persuade me by their own theory so called mayavadi that there is no god but some formless supreme energy is there.
during starting time, my family forbiden me to chant on beads and to read BG at this age , family friends told me not to read BG which is by prabhupada and gave me sugestion – ‘dont be too much into god, even we pray god but we are not addicted, so you should be like us’. as if these people are doing great favour on krishna by remembering him for a minute out of 24hrs. they all laughed at me in a joking manner, i too laughed with them but knew that whatever they r saying are completely wrong and dont have to argue with them.
now at home no one says me anything even if i chant and read BG. because they are now used to that and sometimes jokingly my brothers greet me “hare krishna”. but atleast they uttering krishna’s name, now they also put chandan tikka sometimes.
i am growing day by day towards krishna consciousness, i was so shy to chant on beads in public place but now i chant i dont know from where this confidence came. and i am not going to stop that. 🙂
It is very good news, and very inspiring, please keep me up to date with your news and progress and realizations in Krishna consciousness.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dear brother
hare Krishna
once again thanks you for such an nice inspiration .as you have stated that chanting hare Krishna mahamantra is a simple practice my question is again the same as pujya prabhupad ji had left his body so initiation from him is not possible and I do not know any self realised person in my acquitance then by chanting the mahamantra without initiation has any benifit to me?
Yes Prabhu.
Formal initiation into the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantara is not necessary for one to experience the benefits of Chanting Hare Krishna.
You can be initiated into the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra by Srila Prabhupada by reading his books and surrendering to him and following the instructions you find Srila Prabhupada giving you as you read his books. You can be initiated by Srila Prabhupada by hearing his classes and kirtans.
The important point about associating with a bona fide spiritual master is to hear from him, surrender to him and to follow his instructions. So as Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura said: “Vaisnavas die to live and living spread the holy name around.” So even though Srila Prabhupada apparently left our material vision in 1977 he is still very actively preaching all over the world through his transcendental books and other recorded vani such as the audio and video recordings.
So do now worry Prabhu, if you are reading Prabhupada’s books and trying to follow Prabhupada’s instructions seriously you are already initiated into the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha mantra by Srila Prabhupada.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa,
I too want to practice Hatha Yoga. But the only problem is Neelam. It is the Cyclone which has hit South India. Our place is damn cold. So I am not able to get up early in the morning to practice it. So if you have any remedy for this please tell me. It will be a great help.
Forget about Hatha Yoga. It is not possible in this Kali-yuga. If you can not even get out of bed in the morning you are not a yogi and you can not practice Hatha Yoga!
The only practical method of yoga [linking with the Supreme] in this Kali-yuga is Bhakti-yoga or Krishna consciousness. So practice this. Chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and strictly follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex life, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day.
The results you will achieve from practicing Krishna consciousness, Bhakti Yoga, will far, far exceed any benefit you could ever get from Hatha Yoga, even if you could practice it properly, and you can not properly practice Hatha Yoga in Kali-yuga.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu,
Kindly accept my humble obeisances!
All glories to Srila Prabhupad, Sree Guru and Gouranga!
We contact to Our Lord Sree Krishna through authorized spiritual master, otherwise we cannot achieve anything in Krishna Consciousness.Ok, I have one doubt Prabhu, we pray to LORD Krishna or Spiritual Master, and how can we pray or we pray to GOD through our spirtual master means (Ex. “O Lord Sree Krishna!, i want to improve my conscious with you only, please give your grace Prabhu, always wish to serve you, or “O our Spiritual Master Srila Prabhupad! Kindly accept my humble obeisances!i want to improve my conscious with our Supreme Lord Sree Krishna only, please give your grace Prabhu, always wish to service to Him, you and His devotees, Kindly give your great kindness to reach my eternal aim of K.Consciousness)
How can we pray, Kindly clear my doubt Prabhu
Yours lowest servant
Mainmekalai.S
Hare Krishna Manimekalal
Generally we should pray to Srila Prabhupada because it is only through him that we can approach Krishna, but later by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, we can also pray to Krishna…
It is better not to try and invent our own prayers. Rather we should chant:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Which is “Please Krishna engage me in your service”. You should get the “Songs of the Vaisnava Acarayas” songbook and sing the songs [prayers] of the Vaisnava acharayas. They are far more qualified to compose prayers than we are….
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Thank you so much Prabhu…….fully satisfied for your instant reply and sure to follow as per your reply.
Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna Swamyji pranam,
Yoga as prescribebed Krishna is not in practice now. Even patanjali’s astanga yoga is also not practicable in this modern age. Such is the position but yoga mastsrs are claiming that they are capable of raising kundalini power in an indivodual who by this newly aquired power can have comunion with God. I feel something is wrong in somewhere. Some liberated persons are also claiming this. Could you please clarify?
Hari bhol
Hare Krishna
ys
Natarajan
Hare Krishna Prabhu
The only practical yoga for this age is Bhakti-yoga or Krishna consciousness which has nine basic processes: hearing, chanting, remembering, worshiping the lotus feet, deity worship, offering prayers, serving,, surrendering everything, etc.
The main thing is chanting Hare Krishna… That is the only practical yoga for Kali-yuga…
Meditational yoga is not practical now…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Madudvisa Dasa…..
I didn’t get any news letter from you now days, I expecting more, You stopped bcoz you found no comments araised from my side. But too eager to read your news letter…….That news is my mother, I cannot get happy if I havn’t get the news letter from you. Please Prabhu send me the news letter regular. This is my humble request.
Your Lowest servant
Hare Krishna
Respected prabu,
I want to know lot of information about ISKCON food habits. I also wore thulasi mala. But i don’t know about pure food habits after wearing thulasi mala. I didn’t have any female guide. I want to know indian food for Iskcon devotees.
Pranam Prabu
If we chant HARE KRISHNA Mahamantra daily and read Gita, can reach. to Prabhu SRIKRISHNA? Am I born in man life?
Special thanks to u for ur sending mail.
Can I see Lord SRIKRISHNA?
My kind regards to Dev for his comments .
Hare Krishna Prabhu, I am very lucky to get the e-letter from you regarding Krishna consciousness. Prabhu, I am doing regular yoga daily in the morning from 6 to 7am. After bath I do Hare Krishna chant ( 2 rounds daily in morning). Evening after coming from office I try to do chanting together with my family and kids about half an hour. I am doing this for last 2-3 months. What I think is doing yoga and pranayam is must to keep our selves healthy so that we can chant Mahamantra for long time. Prabhu please enlighten this low soul.
Prabhu you are not chanting Hare Krishna for a long time. If you chant Hare Krishna for a long time, at least 16 rounds a day, and have your kirtan with your family in the evening then that will keep you spiritually healthy.. So what is the point of your yoga if you are only chanting Hare Krishna for fifteen minutes or so a day? That is not a long time.
Yoga is not meant to keep you healthy. Yoga is meant to get you in touch with Krishna and the way to do that is chanting Hare Krishna.
You have to find the time to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily otherwise you are just fooling yourself. This is the minimum and if you are serious about spiritual life you will make the time for this…
Hari Krishna prabhu I use to receive articles fro
from you but do not get them anymore
Hare Krishna Shanti
I do not always have time to write the articles. For the last month I have been very busy on other projects. But I will get back to writing articles soon…
But you can find the same thing, and much better actually, in Srila Prabhupada’s books, so Please Read Srila Prabhupada’s Books!
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Respected Guruji,
Prabhupada alwas says:- Grow your own crops, grow your own milk, live in a wide open space, gloryfy god’s name and go back to Godhead and live there for ever.
SIMPLE LIVING AND HIGH THINKING
But how to do it practically? Is this what he means to say about indipendent source of income about brahamanas?
Hare Krishna Dev
Prabhupada says many things and he does say to grow your own crops, etc, at some times. But that is not practical for everyone. So we have to do what is practical. The main thing that Srila Prabhupada actually says is to read his books and to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and to strictly follow the four regulative principles (no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication) but most so-called devotees are not strictly following event these basic principles. But if we do actually follow the basic principles of Krishna consciousness and if we do actually surrender to Srila Prabhupada and make his mission our mission in life then Srila Prabhupada through his books and Krishna from within our hearts will guide us in such a way that we can render the best service to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. And that may not be sitting on a farm and growing our own vegetables…..
“If you love me distribute my books…” (Srila Prabhupada)
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dear Madhudvissa Prabhu
Please accept my humble pranam.
This is related your comment on bogus ISKCON gurus in this write up.
“And do not worry that you are not finding pure devotees to associate with physically. That is the situation at the moment. ISKCON is broken and no longer teaching pure devotional service and so many devotees are suffering because they have been cheated by the bogus ISKCON gurus so the time is somewhat depressed and …. ”
I have lot of faith in ISKCON Bangalore and Sri Madhu Pandit Dasa.
Ideally I like to surrender to Srila Prabhupad as for as possible.
Please answer what I am supposed to do.
You said that there are bogus gurus in ISKCON that is creating in me some confusion whether to surrender at any ISKCON or not.
It would be great if you highlight where are those bogus Gurus in ISKCON and which I should avoid.
In my home parents, relatives are opposing to read Srila Prabhupad’s books published by ISKCON. They tell me not to chant Hare Krishna maha mantra because I suffered little due to my mistake…
I some time take non-veg and alcohal though I would like to avoid …
Please suggest whether I should chant or not since I belong to Shudra family…
By the way where are you located Prabhu? Do you also work in any of the ISKCON temple?
Awaiting your reply Prabhu …
Your Dasa
Sudhakar Shrinivas
Hare Krishna Sudhakar
ISKCON Bangalore is not ISKCON Prabhu. They are a separate organization and they follow the ritvik philosophy and are encouraging the people that come to them to take shelter of Srila Prabhupada and to accept Srila Prabhupada as their guru. So you are safe with this philosophy.
In the actual ISKCON, however their philosophy is that Srila Prabhupada is dead and gone and he can not be your guru, rather you have to surrender to one of the gurus appointed by their GBC who they will very openly admit are not pure devotees of Krishna. So any guru in this bogus ISKCON system must be bogus. No real guru could be part of such a system which requires them to surrender to the authority of a group of mundane people (the GBC) and to accept a situation where they do not have the complete authority over their disciples. So the whole ISKCON system is bogus, broken, faulty. So all their gurus are bogus. Of course many may be ‘sincere’ but in such a bogus system they really can not do much to guide their disciples back home, back to Godhead.
So anyhow you are not connected with ISKCON, you are connected with ISKCON Bangalore which is different. Really they should have a different name so they can differentiate themselves from all the bogus nonsense that goes on in ISKCON…
As far as your parents and relatives do not care about them. Be polite to them and if they say something you can agree with them but do not take any notice of what they say actually… In the material world everyone, including parents and relatives, are in maya, and they can not give you any good advice actually that will help you advance in spiritual life. That good advice can only come from a pure devotee of Krishna. So please read Srila Prabhupada’s books and get the good advice from Srila Prabhupada directly. So just read Srila Prabhupada’s books and follow the instructions you find Prabhupada giving you while you read and chant the Hare Krishna mantra at least 16 rounds a day and follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and you will rapidly make advancement in Krishna consciousness.
It does not matter what sort of family you are born in. Krishna consciousness is good for everyone, no matter what type of family you are born in. It is for everyone including so-called sudras. Actually in Kali-yuga everyone is born as a sudra, so really there are no brahmin or ksatriya or vaisya families in Kali-yuga. Everyone is born as a sudra. The only way one can advance from the sudra platform to a higher platform is to obtain the qualities and work as a brahmana for example. And if one sincerely takes to Krishna consciousness under the guidance of a pure devotee spiritual master like Srila Prabhupada then he can very easily become a Vaisnava and a Vaisnava is on a higher platform than a brahmana. A devotee automatically develops all the good qualities of the demigods. So all the brahminical qualities are automatically achieved by a devotee simply by his practice of Krishna consciousness.
So just chant Hare Krishna and read Prabhupada’s books and do not let anyone discourage you from this. So many people will try to stop you including family and friends but they are all in maya. Do not listen to them.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dear PETER GOODALL,
Hope to find you in your good spirit, well some times I am also almost in the same situation as your’s but remember :-
Krishna says:- ” THE ONE WHO GETS ME IS THE ONE WHO IS DESPARATE TO GET ME”.
REGARDS,
dev,INDIA
An excellent article.
Hare Krishna,
Thank you for your letters. I recently travelled to India hoping to see a swami I met long ago in USA. When I arrived at the temple he was in Vrindaven so our paths did not cross. Then I saw that he would be here in USA, so I made plans to go across the country to see him and now find out he will not be there, so once again our paths will not cross. The reason I am writing you about this is because my heart is so heavy. It feels like the pain of separation from a parent. Please tell me is this pain Im feeling separation from Krishna? am I too attached to this swami?
is there an obvious reason this keeps happening? is it just life or I am not meant to cross paths with this person again
Hare Krishna Lissa
Most swamis today are bogus. Just read Srila Prabhupada’s books and take advantage of his personal association in that way. You will find everything you are looking for in Srila Prabhupada’s books. Just read them…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare Krishna
i am 30 years old bachelor,may i join bhakti school of krishna consciousness to devote my self to hare krishna
Anyone can become Krishna conscious. It makes no difference how old you are or what is your position. You start by strictly following the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day, these are the prerequisites for devoting yourself to Krishna. And you can do it anywhere. So just do it. Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa dasa,
The write-up you sent to me today is very informative. You have very clearly
mentioned what Krishna mean by doing yoga. Sexual desire is only for creating
future generation and both husband and wife can engage to get Krishna consciousness slowly. As you have rightly mentioned Bhagavad Gita As it is
is the book to be followed and not confuse the mind with so many other versions. Everybody want to show their capability to translate the Gita and
add their own commentaries and confuse the mind. By reciting the Hare Krishna Maha mantra sincerely can achieve Krishna consciousness slowly. Thank you very much for the description on yoga as described by Lord Krishna.
Regards,
Hare Krishna K.V.Rangaswamy
I have been veering between Krishna consciousness and Christianity.
I find it almost impossible to keep to all the regulative principles.
What if a Hindu neighbour brings you meat for you to eat later. It is
given with love , so I feel I must eat it – what should I do ? , eat it or dump it .
All this means I feel I’m only dabbling with Krishna consciousness,
so I feel like quitting and dumping the books . I was only doing one
round of the mantra and have quit until further advice. I feel it would be
very sinful to do the mantra and not keep the principles .
One morning several months ago I had a vision of Krishna in a dream :
his two handed form projected onto the inner curtain like a film being
projected , Him with his flute . Also before that I dreamt that I was
chanting the maha- mantra.
I was also been fed coffee by my other neighbour ( the meat giver’s
mother -in- law ) – it was compulsory .
I don’t want to do yoga as I was getting bad kundalini effects . You’re right Krishna consciousness is easier .
Years ago I didn’t feel like going for ISKCON as it was compulsory for me to eat meat , a rule by my parents . My parents hated the mantra
– My dad ” Why do they have to say the the same thing over and over again ” and my mum ” It’s not music ” . My parents are long gone , deceased .
Hare Krishna Peter
To understand Krishna consciousness you have to follow the process. So obviously you have to follow the four regulative principles, and it is not just not eating meat actually. It is only eating food that has been cooked by a devotee and offered to Krishna. Only eating prasadam.
It is actually very difficult to become Krishna conscious without living in the association of devotees. But what to do? There is no association of devotees for us to join so we just have to become Krishna conscious by ourselves. Just keep chanting Hare Krishna and reading Prabhupada’s books even if you can’t follow all the principles in the beginning.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
To practice yoga, one should go to a secluded place and should lay kusa-grass on the ground and then cover it with a deerskin and a soft cloth. The seat should neither be too high nor too low and should be situated in a sacred place. The yogi should then sit on it very firmly and should practice yoga by controlling the mind and the senses, purifying the heart and fixing the mind on one point. (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6, Verses 13-14)
My concern in the above quotation is to have a deer skin is to kill it but in Krishna Consciousness we are trained to practice “ahimsa” which means non-violence hence vegetarianism. So how do we marry the killing of a deer and not killing living entities?
Hare Krishna.
Hare Krishna Bakula
Actually Krishna consciousness is not ahimsa. There is no such thing really as ahimsa. The rule is jivo jivasys jivanam. “One living being is surviving by eating another living being.” So even if we become vegetarian we have to kill some plant to eat and that plant also has life so that is not ahimsa. Every time you take a breath of air you are killing thousands and millions of microbes. That is not ahimsa. Every time you take a step you are crushing and killing so many tiny living entities. That is not ahimsa. And her in the Gita Krishna is instructing his friend Arjuna to fight in the battlefield of Kuruksettra and kill his friends and family members. Arjuna wants to avoid the war and avoid the killing but Krishna is encouraging him to kill. So that is certainly not ahimsa. So your statement is not correct. Violence can also be used in Krishna consciousness and it is sometimes necessary. So we are not practicing ahimsa. We are utilizing everything, including violence even, in the service of Krishna.
You will see as the Gita progresses that Arjuna is unable to practice this meditational system of yoga and he is so much more qualified than we could ever imagine to be. He is directly Krishna’s personal friend and he can not follow this meditational yoga system. So we can also not follow it. So there is no question of needing a deer skin because even if you get a deer skin you will still not be able to follow this sort of yoga in the current age of Kali. For this age the only practical system of meditation and yoga is to chant:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
No deer skin required…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dandavats Prabhu,
Thanks for the wonderful writeup on Yoga.
I am in Mysore, India and we have many western students who come to learn ‘yoga’ from the many yoga schools here. Sometimes they come to our temple here and I do get to interact with them.
The problem I face with preaching to them is the problem of their lack of faith. Undoubtedly these people are good souls, but on a path of which they have insufficient understanding and don’t seem to be too concerned about it.
How can I develop their faith in the words of the Bhagavad-Gita? They seem to find it difficult accepting the authority of the words of Krishna without which they are resistant to the principles taught in it. What would be the best way to arouse their interest and faith?
Can I send you some material I have prepared for educating these people to seek your opinion on my approach?
By the way, I had met you in Vrindavana in the year 2006. You had visited our Akshaya Patra center there.
your servant,
Sarvananda Gauranga Dasa
ISKCON Mysore
Hare Krishna Savananda Gauranga Prabhu
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
The only way to really convince people about Krishna consciousness is to become pure devotees of Krishna ourselves and then chant Hare Krishna and let them hear the chanting and make offerings to Srila Prabhupada and distribute the prasadam. But if we are not pure devotees then really we can not make anyone Krishna conscious at all. No matter what fancy preaching programs we come up with. The way to make people Krishna conscious is to give them the opportunity to associate with a pure devotee of Krishna. And this is the reason that Srila Prabhupada has written so many books and so much stressed to his disciples that ‘if you love me, distribute my books.’ Because if we distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books to the people and encourage them to read Prabhupada’s books then Prabhupada will preach to them and they will become devotees.
Most people will not become devotees. Krishna consciousness is not for the mass of people. The mass of people will not be able to understand it. It is for the few who can appreciate it and understand it. Of course those few can then perform sankirtan and distribute prasadam and distribute Krishna consciousness to the masses.
Srila Prabhupada gives the example of diamonds. Of course everyone would like to have a very big and beautiful diamond. But such a diamond is very, very expensive and if one wants it he has to be able to pay for it. And not everyone can pay for it. So the diamond is only available to those who can pay for it, similarly Krishna consciousness is only available for those who will pay for it. And the price is surrender to a pure devotee of Krishna. Now the whole process has been so much confused that even if a sincere person comes to a temple then they are not encouraged to surrender to a pure devotee of Krishna, rather they are told that “Prabhupada is dead, you need a living guru and the living guru doesn’t have to be a pure devotee…” So everyone is being mislead and everyone is unfortunately going to hell….
So it really doesn’t make any difference, Indian or Western, they are both faithless. The new generation of young Indians are practically more faithless and more demoniac than the western young people. They do everything sinful. Eat meat, have illicit sex, drink alcohol… All sinful activities are not going on… So there is not much difference, India or the West. There is a cultural difference but the real thing is to preach we need to become pure devotees of Krishna. So we should become pure devotees of Krishna then our preaching will be very successful.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna…..PAMHO…AGTSP
Prabhuji I am so fortunate to receive your write-ups related from BG and SB, it is the real wealth you have been distributing us. Please give permission to ask……when we say Bhagwad Gita As It Is, what do we mean by As It Is, please oblige me by your comment on this, many a times people ask us what do you mean by this (AS IT IS) BG has been written and explained by so many authors why should we read only BG As It Is.
Awaiting your comment eagerly,
Yours humble servant
Hiren Kukreti
Hare Krishna Hiren
There are so many translations and commentaries on the Bhagavad-gita but the problem is generally the person writing the commentary puts his own ideas into the commentary. It happens time and time again. Someone publishes a Bhagavad-gita because the Gita is a famous book and people will purchase it because it is the Gita. But instead of simply presenting Bhagavad-gita as Krishna spoke it to Arjuna, they put their own speculation and ideas into their commentary.
When Srila Prabhupada went to the United States in 1965 he saw that there were more than 100 different versions of Bhagavad-gita available in English, but not a single one of them presented ‘Bhagavad-gita As It Is.’ They all used the gita to present the ideas of the translator. Or they were scholarly translations, but Krishna only reveals Himself to His devotees. Krishna is always hidden from the non-devotees by His yoga-maya energy. So actually non-devotees can never understand the Bhagavad-gita. But still many non-devotees write commentaries on the gita… But they have no knowledge of Krishna.
So Srila Prabhupada, seeing that there was no Bhagavad-gita available in English that actually presented the Bhagavad-gita ‘as it is’, he wrote ‘Bhagavad-gita As It Is’ and the result was that for the first time people in the Western world started to become devotees of Krishna. Although there were hundreds of translations of the Gita in the West before Prabhupada’s ‘Bhagavad-gita As It Is’, none of them were able to create even a single devotee of Krishna…
So Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita is Bhagavad-gita As It Is. And you have to be very careful not to read the so many other translations of the gita that are not as it is… Otherwise you will be confused about Krishna and never be able to understand Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Prabhu
Please let me know about rules and regulations of married life according to Krishna consciousness.
Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna
According to Krishna consciousness marriage is also meant for serving Krishna. So married life means husband and wife living together and serving Krishna. So you need to make some arrangement in your house to have a small temple for Krishna and worship Him there by offering Mangal Aroti, Kirtan and foodstuffs daily. It is the duty of the mother and father to make sure that the children they bring into the world become devotees of Krishna. So that central and primary consciousness needs to be there that the purpose of your marriage is to come together to serve Krishna and to have children and train them up in Krishna consciousness so that this birth in the material world is their last and because of your good training they will be able to remember Krishna at the time of death and go back home back to Godhead.
As far as rules and regulations of married life for devotees they are the same rules and regulations for any devotee. There are four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication and one must chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna maha mantra daily. Grhasthas (married couples) in Krishna consciousness are also considered brahmacaries because they only have sex for the purpose of having a child and then only once a month at the time which is the most likely time for the wife to become pregnant. So Krishna consciousness marriage is not for sex. It is for coming together and cooperatively making advancement in spiritual life. That is why it is called the grhastha ashram. It is called an ashram because the business in Krishna conscious family life is to make advancement in Krishna consciousness…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Dear guru maharaj please accept my pranams. All glories to srila Prabhupada. Dear gurudeva i am not able to get pure devotees and hence i am feeling very tough to practice krishna conciousness at home. Even at home no one is interested in kirtans and hence cant chant kirtan properly. Atleast i want to live alone but there is no place for me to live alone. I am feeling in my mind that i want devotees but i am not getting any proper devotees. So can you please guide me what to do? Thanks a lot.
Hare Krishna Kowsthub
Lord Caitanya recommends that one stay in his place and become Krishna conscious there. So that is the best thing to do. Just stay where you are and become Krishna conscious there. You have to realize that Srila Prabhupada is a pure devotee and he is living in his books and other recorded instructions and he is always ready to give you his association. You simply have to pick up his books and read them. Or put on a Prabhupada class and listen to it. Krishna is also there personally in the form of His holy name so whenever you are chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra Krishna is there with you, dancing on your tongue. Of course in the beginning we may not perceive this very strongly. But even if we can not feel it Krishna is there in His holy name and we are personally and directly associating with Krishna when we chant the Hare Krishna maha mantra:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
And do not worry that you are not finding pure devotees to associate with physically. That is the situation at the moment. ISKCON is broken and no longer teaching pure devotional service and so many devotees are suffering because they have been cheated by the bogus ISKCON gurus so the time is somewhat depressed and we do not see many pure devotees. But that does not matter. We can associate with the best pure devotee Srila Prabhupada and by his mercy we can associate also personally with Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
This thing happens after the disappearance of the acharya. There is chaos, disaster… So it is not strange that all these things are happening. But the sincere followers of Srila Prabhupada should stick to his lotus feet and continue serving him and following his instructions and after some time this time will pass and a society of pure devotees of Krishna will again emerge. And then we can get some nice devotee association again. But in the meantime we will never be bereft of good association because we have Srila Prabhupada and Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa