Love Feast Bhakti Vriksha - Week 61
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Hare Krsna London - Love Feast Bhakti Vriksha - Week 61 Sri Namamrta - The Nectar of the Holy Name. Simple process of offenselessly chanting and hearing the holy name of the Lord... Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommends that the devotee sow the seed of bhakti-yoga in his heart and nurture it by the watering of hearing and chanting the holy name, fame, etc., of the Lord. The simple process of offenselessly chanting and hearing the holy name of the Lord will gradually promote one very soon to the stage of emancipation. There are three stages in chanting the holy name of the Lord. The first stage is the offensive chanting of the holy name, and the second is the reflective stage of chanting the holy name.The third stage is the offenseless chanting of the holy name of the Lord. In the second stage only, the stage of reflection, between the offensive and offenseless stages, one automatically attains the stage of emancipation. And in the offenseless stage, one actually enters into the kingdom of God, although physically he may apparently be within the material world. To attain the offenseless stage, one must be on guard in the following manner. When we speak of hearing and chanting, it means that not only should one chant and hear of the holy name of the Lord as Rāma, Kṛṣṇa (or systematically the sixteen names Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare), but one should also read and hear the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam in the association of devotees. The primary practice of bhakti-yoga will cause the seed already sowed in heart to sprout, and by a regular watering process, as mentioned above, the bhakti-yoga creeper will begin to grow. By systematic nurturing, the creeper will grow to such an extent that it will penetrate the coverings of the universe, as we have heard in the previous verses, reach the effulgent sky, the brahmajyoti, and go farther and farther and reach the spiritual sky, where there are innumerable spiritual planets called Vaikuṇṭhalokas. Above all of them is Kṛṣṇaloka, or Goloka Vṛndāvana, wherein the growing creeper enters and takes repose at the lotus feet of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the original Personality of Godhead. When one reaches the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa at Goloka Vṛndāvana, the watering process of hearing and reading, as also chanting of the holy name in the pure devotional stage, fructifies, and the fruits grown there in the form of love of God are tangibly tasted by the devotee, even though he is here in this material world. Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 2 (1972 Edition) 2.2.30 by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Passage For Discussion. By the mercy of Krsna one gets Guru, by the mercy of Guru one gets Krsna... Guru’s Mercy: “Guru and Krishna are two parallel lines on which the spiritual express runs very smoothly. In the Chaitanya Charitamrta it is said ‘Guru Krsna prasade paya bhakti lata bija.’ By the Grace of Guru one gets Krishna and by the Grace of Krishna one gets a bona fide Guru. Therefore Krishna consciousness means staunch faith both in Guru and Krishna. One minus the other is no good for the devotee. So your faith in the principles of devotion to Guru will certainly help you more and more Krishna. Do not ever try to approach Krishna directly. Anyone who talks of Krishna without service to Guru will not be successful. So your faith in Guru and Krishna simultaneously will help you to become crowned with success in the progressive march in Krishna consciousness. Do not be worried, be situated in the present aptitude and everything will be clear.” Srila Prabhupada Letter, September 27th, 1967. Being Initiated: The friends of the twice-born families are those who are born in the families of brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas and vaiśyas, or the spiritually cultured families, but who themselves are not equal to their forefathers. Such descendants are not recognized as such, for want of purificatory achievements. The purificatory activities begin even before the birth of a child, and the seed-giving reformatory process is called Garbhādhāna-saṁskāra. One who has not undergone such Garbhādhāna-saṁskāra, or spiritual family planning, is not accepted as being of an actual twice-born family. The Garbhādhāna-saṁskāra is followed by other purificatory processes, out of which the sacred thread ceremony is one. This is performed at the time of spiritual initiation. After this particular saṁskāra, one is rightly called twice-born. One birth is calculated during the seed-giving saṁskāra, and the second birth is calculated at the time of spiritual initiation. One who has been able to undergo such important saṁskāras can be called a bona fide twice-born. If the father and the mother do not undertake the process of spiritual family planning and simply beget children out 1 of passion only, their children are called dvija-bandhus. These dvija-bandhus are certainly not as intelligent as the children of the regular twice-born families. The dvija-bandhus are classified with the śūdras and the woman class, who are by nature less intelligent. The śūdras and the woman class do not have to undergo any saṁskāra save and except the ceremony of marriage. The less intelligent classes of men, namely women, śūdras and unqualified sons of the higher castes, are devoid of necessary qualifications to understand the purpose of the transcendental edas.V For them the Mahābhārata was prepared. The purpose of the Mahābhārata is to administer the purpose of the Vedas, and therefore within this Mahābhārata the summary Veda of Bhagavad-gītā is placed. The less intelligent are more interested in stories than in philosophy, and therefore the philosophy of the Vedas in the form of the Bhagavad-gītā is spoken by the Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Vyāsadeva and Lord Kṛṣṇa are both on the transcendental plane, and therefore they collaborated in doing good to the fallen souls of this age. The Bhagavad-gītā is the essence of all Vedic knowledge. It is the first book of spiritual values, as the Upaniṣads are. The Vedānta philosophy is the subject matter for study by the spiritual graduates. Only the post-graduate spiritual student can enter into the spiritual or devotional service of the Lord. It is a great science, and the great professor is the Lord Himself in the form of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And persons who are empowered by Him can initiate others in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Purport Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 (1972 Edition) 1.4.25 by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. TRANSLATION “One does not have to undergo initiation or execute the activities required before initiation. One simply has to vibrate the holy name with his lips. Thus even a man in the lowest class [caṇḍāla] can be delivered.” PURPORT Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains dīkṣā in his Bhakti-sandarbha (283): divyaṁ jñānaṁ yato dadyāt kuryāt pāpasya saṅkṣayam tasmād dīkṣeti sā proktā deśikais tattva-kovidaiḥ “Dīkṣā is the process by which one can awaken his transcendental knowledge and vanquish all reactions caused by sinful activity. A person expert in the study of the revealed scriptures knows this process as dīkṣā.” The regulative principles of dīkṣā are explained in the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa (2.3,4) and in Bhakti-sandarbha (283). As stated: dvijānām anupetānāṁ svakarmādhyayanādiṣu yathādhikāro nāstīha syāc copanayanād anu tathātrādīkṣitānāṁ tu mantra-devārcanādiṣu nādhikāro ‘sty ataḥ kuryād ātmānaṁ śiva-saṁstutam “Even though born in a brāhmaṇa family, one cannot engage in Vedic rituals without being initiated and having a sacred thread. Although born in a brāhmaṇa family, one becomes a brāhmaṇa after initiation and the sacred thread ceremony. Unless one is initiated as a brāhmaṇa, he cannot worship the holy name properly.” According to the Vaiṣṇava regulative principles, one must be initiated as a brāhmaṇa. The Hari-bhakti-vilāsa (2.6) quotes the following injunction from the Viṣṇu-yāmala: adīkṣitasya vāmoru kṛtaṁ sarvaṁ nirarthakam paśu-yonim avāpnoti dīkṣā-virahito janaḥ “Unless one is initiated by a bona fide spiritual master, all his devotional activities are useless. A person who is not properly initiated can descend again into the animal species.” Hari-bhakti-vilāsa (2.10) further quotes: ato guruṁ praṇamyaivaṁ sarva-svaṁ vinivedya ca gṛhṇīyād vaiṣṇavaṁ mantraṁ dīkṣā-pūrvaṁ vidhānataḥ “It is the duty of every human being to surrender to a bona fide spiritual master. Giving him everything-body, mind and intelligence-one must take a Vaiṣṇava initiation from him.” The Bhakti-sandarbha (298) gives the following quotation from the Tattva-sāgara: yathā kāñcanatāṁ yāti kāsyaṁ rasa-vidhānataḥ tathā dīkṣā-vidhānena dvijatvaṁ jāyate nṛṇām “By chemical manipulation, bell metal is turned into gold when touched by mercury; similarly, when a person is properly initiated, he can acquire the qualities of a brāhmaṇa.” The Hari-bhakti-vilāsa (17.11,12) in discussing the puraścaryā process, quotes the following verses from Agastya- saṁhitā: pūjā traikālikī nityaṁ japas tarpaṇam eva ca homo brāhmaṇa-bhuktiś ca 2 puraścaraṇam ucyate guror labdhasya mantrasya prasādena yathā-vidhi pañcāṅgopāsanā-siddhyai puraś caitad vidhīyate “In the morning, afternoon and evening, one should worship the Deity, chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, offer oblations, perform a fire sacrifice, and feed the brāhmaṇas. These five activities constitute puraścaryā. To attain full success when taking initiation from the spiritual master, one should first perform these puraścaryā processes.” The word puraḥ means “before” and caryā means “activities.” Due to the necessity of these activities, we do not immediately initiate disciples in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. For six months, a candidate for initiation must first attend ārati and classes in the śāstras, practice the regulative principles and associate with other devotees.