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KC Nectar - Jul 02

Nectar from HH Radhanath Swami
Submitted by Gopinath das.

FOUNDATION OF SPIRITUAL LIFE

To the degree we serve our own ego or the ego of others, to the degree we are intolerant to others, to the degree we demand respect or disrespect others, is to the degree we are servants of our false ego. And we are bereft of our understanding of our real Krishna conciousness. So this is what Krishna conciousness really is. 

It is an internal revolution of our inner conciousness for the sake of bringing about the awakening of our real humility, devotion and our desire to serve. As devotees, it is our goal of life to present ourselves in a way that Krishna can enjoy. We want to present in our own life, beauty that Krishna can appreciate and take pleasure in. Vaishnava etiquette is a process in which devotee deal with one another, relate with one another and it is based on those relationships that we make real spiritual advancement and really attract Krishna. It should be second to nothing else. However much pressure, however much necessity there is in our practical service, if it is at the expense of proper devotional relationships with our godbrothers and godsisters and other devotees, we should know that we are defeating our own purpose. Sometimes we see that devotees are so busy, they have so many deadlines, so many quotas, which are good to keep us fixed in our devotional service to accomplish many necessary goals. But oftentimes we are so much preoccupied by these things that we neglect the most important part of our spiritual life, which is our sadhana and our relationships with other devotees. Offending Vaishnavas is the greatest impediment to spiritual progress. If we offend devotees, Krishna withdraws his mercy. And all our devotional service is performed only to attract Krishna's mercy. So this is very important. We can learn philosphy of Krishna conciousness in a wonderful way, we can memories thousands of shlokas, we can memories entire scriptures and can be able to present them so wonderfully to others, but if we do not know how to deal with Vaishnavas, if we do not know how to serve Vaishnavas, scriptural study becomes null and void. Because none of this is pleasing to Krishna. So this is the foundation in which our spiritual lives, individually and collectively can grow and develop. So there is nothing that is more important to put emphasis on than this.

BECOME A PURE DEVOTEE

We should begin our day by fixing our consciousness in Krishna, by chanting His name, by studying His scriptures, by keeping all our senses very purely immersed in His loving service, by performing some Puja. Let our day begin with this and this alone. Nothing else should be our priority. Nothing else should be our duty in the morning except our Sadhana, our purification. When we associate with saintly persons, naturally the quality of our devotion grows. When we associate with Krishna, through His devotees, through His name, through His prasad, through His Deity, through His books, through His word, through that association, naturally, pure devotion awakens from within our heart. So this is the process how to become a pure devotee.

INSPIRE OTHERS

The spiritual master wants first class devotee to encourage all others. If you are not a first class devotee to encourage others to be first class? It is your service to your spiritual master and all the Vaishnavas to be first class, humble servant of the servant, strictly following the principles, enthusiastic, always chanting Kirtan, hearing the philosophy, serving Gurudev and serving all devotees. But this is not a material image. We are not doing for our own profit. We are not doing for our own adoration or our distinction. We are doing it because it is our service to our own spiritual master, for his pleasure and also because, in this condition, we can do the most.

Whatever attributes we are seeming to possess in Krishna Consciousness, it is not ours. It all belongs to guru and Krishna. And it is all meant to be utilised in their service. If we think that "I am good devotee", that is false prestige. We should think that "I am nothing but guru Maharaj and Vaishnavas are so kind that they are giving me a chance to take that gift of their mercy and to utilize those gifts to help others." Whatever spiritual qualities you have, is by the mercy of guru and Krishna and the Vaishnavas. It is not yours. Don't be proud of it. Take as much as you can and utilize it for the service of guru and Krishna.

A DEVOTEE

A devotee of the Lord who is on the true path of Krishna consciousness does not take seriously, any of the events of this world. He only takes one thing seriously i.e. how he is engaged in the humble service of the Lord and His devotees. The non-permanent happiness and distress in this world are not taken seriously by such a devotee, because where there is happiness, there is a seed of distress. You cannot separate one from the other. This is the nature of material condition of life. Therefore, one who strives with the temporary condition of material life is most unfortunate. This human form of life offers the most valuable opportunity of self realisation of self realisation and to utilize this human form of life for those things which are available for the dogs and the hogs and the cats, is a great sorrowful waste. It is like, if someone gives you something most valuable and because you do not understand its value, you use it for something which is so worthless.

This human form of life is an opportunity for self realization, to realize God. This human form of life is such a gift, it is so precious, it is so valuable, that we can never understand. To even utilize one moment of it for any other purpose is sorrowful. Therefore the devotees of the Lord are not very concerned with heat or cold, happiness or distress, honor or dishonor. They are only concerned with one thing - Are they only pleasing Krishna? A devotee's only concern is "How am I pleasing Krishna?" And such a person can tolerate anything in the service of the Lord.


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