easy and difficult

harder than draft board!

Imported quote 12933

The process of bhakti-yoga is simultaneously very difficult and very easy to perform. Sri Narada Muni, the supreme spiritual master, is testing Dhruva Maharaja to see how determined he is to prosecute devotional service. This is the process of accepting a disciple. The great sage Narada Muni has come to Dhruva under the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead just to initiate him, yet he is testing his determination to execute the process. It is a fact, however, that for a sincere person devotional service is very easy. But for one who is not determined and sincere, this process is very difficult. (More...)

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Everyone is situated in his occupational duty, but the purpose of material occupations should not be for material gain. Rather, everyone should offer the results of his occupational activities. A brahmana especially should execute his occupational duties not for material gain but to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The ksatriya, vaisya and sūdra should work in a similar way. In this material world everyone is engaged in various professional and occupational duties, but the purpose of such activities should be to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Devotional service is very simple, and anyone can adopt it. Let one remain what he is; he need only install the Deity of the Supreme Lord in his house. The Deity may be Radha-Krsna or Laksmi-Narayana (there are many other forms of the Lord). In this way a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya or sūdra can worship the Deity with the results of his honest labor. Regardless of one's occupational duty, one should adopt the devotional means of hearing, chanting, remembering, worshiping, offering everything to the Lord, and engaging in His service. In this way one can very easily engage himself in the service of the Lord. When the Lord is pleased with one's service, one's mission in life is fulfilled. (More...)

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According to the cult of devotion, generally known as the Vaisnava cult, there is no bar for anyone to advance in the matter of God realization. A Vaisnava is powerful enough to turn into a Vaisnava even the Kirata, etc., as above mentioned. In the Bhagavad-gita also it is said by the Lord (Bg. 9.32) that there is no bar to becoming a devotee of the Lord (even for those who are low-born, or women, sūdras or vaisyas), and by becoming a devotee everyone is eligible to return home, back to Godhead. The only qualification is that one take shelter of a pure devotee of the Lord who has thorough knowledge in the transcendental science of Krsna (Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam). Anyone from any part of the world who becomes well conversant in the science of Krsna becomes a pure devotee and a spiritual master for the general mass of people and may reclaim them by purification of heart. A person, though he be even the most sinful man, can at once be purified by systematic contact with a pure Vaisnava. A Vaisnava, therefore, can accept a bona fide disciple from any part of the world without any consideration of caste and creed and promote him by regulative principles to the status of a pure Vaisnava who is transcendental to brahminical culture. The system of caste, or varnasrama-dharma, is no longer regular even amongst the so-called followers of the system. Nor is it now possible to reestablish the institutional function in the present context of social, political and economic revolution. Without any reference to the particular custom of a country, one can be accepted to the Vaisnava cult spiritually, and there is no hindrance in the transcendental process. So by the order of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the cult of Srimad-Bhagavatam or the Bhagavad-gita can be preached all over the world, reclaiming all persons willing to accept the transcendental cult. Such cultural propaganda by the devotees will certainly be accepted by all persons who are reasonable and inquisitive, without any particular bias for the custom of the country. The Vaisnava never accepts another Vaisnava on the basis of birthright, just as he never thinks of the Deity of the Lord in a temple as idol worship. And to remove all doubts in this connection, Srila Sukadeva Gosvami has invoked the blessings of the Lord, who is all-powerful (prabhavisnave namah). As the all-powerful Lord accepts the humble service of His devotee in devotional activities of the arcana, His form as the worshipable Deity in the temple, similarly the body of a pure Vaisnava changes transcendentally at once by giving himself up to the service of the Lord and training by a qualified Vaisnava. The injunction of Vaisnava regulation in this connection runs as follows: (arcye visnau siladhir gurusu nara-matir vaisnave jati-buddhiḥ sri-visnor namni sabda-samanya-buddhiḥ, etc) "One should not consider the Deity of the Lord as worshiped in the temple to be an idol, nor should one consider the authorized spiritual master as an ordinary man. Nor should one consider a pure Vaisnava to belong to a particular caste, etc." (More...)

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Just like when a man is ghost-haunted, he speaks all kinds of nonsense. So all these persons are haunted by maya, and therefore they are saying, "God is dead," "I am God," "Why you are searching God everywhere? There are so many Gods loitering in the street." They're all ghost-haunted, deranged. (More...)

So we have to cure them by this transcendental vibration, Hare Krsna. This is the curing process only. Simply let them hear, and they'll gradually be cured. Just like a man who is sleeping very sound, you cry by the side of his ear and he awakes. So this is the mantra to awake the sleeping human society. Uttistha uttisthata jagrata prapya varan nibodhata [Katha Upanisad ]. (More...)

The spiritual master is eternally perfect, and his self is Lord Sri Krsna's very self in the sense that the self of the spiritual master is in perfect harmony with the Supreme Self. It may here be recalled that Krsna is the Self in the hearts of all: "I am the Self, O conqueror of sleep, seated in the hearts of all creatures. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings." (Bg. 10.20) Although Sri Krsna is the Self seated in the hearts of all living entities throughout the entire creation, He exists independent of them. "In My transcendental form I pervade all this creation. All things are resting in Me, but I am not in them. Again, everything that is created does not rest on Me. Behold My mystic opulence: Although I am the maintainer of all living entities, and although I am everywhere, still My Self is the very source of creation." (Bg. 9.4-5) This is the sublime philosophy of acintya-bhedabheda-tattva: the Lord is simultaneously, inconceivably one with all living entities and yet different from them. Srila Prabhupada, in a letter to a disciple, explained this philosophy very clearly: "Just as fire and heat cannot be separate and in one sense both can be called fire, still heat is not fire. Another example, electricity and the powerhouse; although practically one and the same, still the powerhouse is not electricity. On the whole, the power and the powerful, although sometimes indistinguishable, still are different. That is the philosophy of acintya-bhedabheda-tattva propounded by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. As such, the spiritual master is the Mercy Representative of Krsna. As Mercy Representative, he is worshiped by the disciples as Krsna, but at the same time he is not identical with Krsna. Sometimes it is said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna is the Master Krsna, whereas the spiritual master is the Servant Krsna. As it is said by Svarūpa Damodara Gosvami, Radha and Krsna are one, still, in order to serve, Krsna's pleasure potency, Radharani, appears separately. Therefore the conclusion is that the spiritual master as Servant Krsna is always respected as good as Krsna, but he is never identified with Krsna, which is Mayavadi philosophy." (Srila Prabhupada, letter, 8/29/70) Although Lord Sri Krsna is the Self seated in the hearts of all, all creatures are not accepted as spiritual masters because they are not always in harmony with the Supreme Self. There are degrees of perfection involved. The bona fide spiritual master is known as nitya-siddha, and the conditioned living entities are known as nitya-baddha. "Persons who have achieved eternal, blissful life exactly on the level of Sri Krsna, and who are able to attract Lord Krsna by their transcendental loving service, are called eternally perfect. The technical name is nitya-siddha. There are two classes of living entities-namely, nitya-siddha and nitya-baddha. The distinction is that the nitya-siddhas are eternally Krsna conscious without any forgetfulness, whereas the nitya-baddhas, or eternally conditioned souls, are forgetful of their relationship with Krsna. The position of the nitya-siddhas is explained in the Padma Purana in connection with the narration of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and Satyabhama Devi. The Lord tells Satyabhama: 'My dear Satyabhama Devi, I have descended to this earthly planet by the request of Lord Brahma and other demigods. Those who are born into this family of Yadu are all My eternal associates. My dear wife, you should not consider that My associates are ever separated from Me; they are My personal expansions, and almost as powerful as I am. Because of their transcendental qualities, they are very, very dear to Me, as I am very, very dear to them.' " (NOD 211-212) The spiritual master is certainly a nitya-siddha, but one who claims the spiritual master to be Lord Krsna Himself is committing a great offense. "As is stated in the Bhagavad-gita by the Lord Himself, His birth, deeds and activities are all transcendental. Similarly, the birth, deeds and activities of the associates of the Lord are also transcendental. And, as it is an offense to consider oneself to be Krsna, so it is offensive to consider oneself to be Yasoda, Nanda, or any other associate of the Lord. We should always remember that they are transcendental; they are never conditioned souls. It is described that Krsna, the enemy of Kamsa, has sixty-four transcendental qualities, and all of the ever-liberated souls who accompany the Lord have the first fifty-five of the qualities, without any doubt. Such devotees are related to the Supreme Personality in any of five transcendental mellows-namely, neutrality, servitorship, friendship, parenthood and conjugal love. These relationships with the Lord are eternal, and therefore nitya-siddha devotees do not have to strive to attain the perfectional stage by executing regulative devotional principles. They are eternally qualified to serve Krsna." (NOD, 213) (More...)

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Therefore it is so easy. Susukham kartum avyayam, in the Bhagavad-gita. Susukham kartum avyayam [Bg 9.2]. To execute devotional service it is very easy, and susukham, very nice and pleasing also. Just like this chanting and dancing. Even the child takes pleasure, what to speak of others? Others may be sophisticated, but a child is not sophisticated. When there is dancing and chanting, a child comes in front and he dances. Unless he feels pleasure, how does he do it? This is practical. He has not been taught, but he comes. As soon as he comes, he also takes part with the elderly person, chanting and dancing. And if you give him prasadam, he will also accept. Anyone will accept. Therefore in the Bhagavad-gita it is said susukham, and kartum avyayam. Kartum avyayam. Avyayam means whatever little service you render, that is permanent settlement. If you come here and dance and chant or ring the bell or anything about the aratrika, if you see, drsta-anything you do, that is your permanent credit. (More...)

Imported quote 19078

Now I do not know the situation in your particular case, I am simply giving you the general policy or background understanding. We should never think of our so-called advancement as being conditioned by or dependent upon some set of material circumstances such as marriage, vanaprastha, or this or that. Mature understanding of Krsna consciousness means that whatever condition of life I am in at present, that is Krsna's special mercy upon me, therefore let me take advantage in the best way possible to spread this Krsna consciousness movement and conduct my spiritual master's mission. If I consider my own personal progress or happiness or any other thing personal, that is material consideration. If there was unhappy adjustment for becoming married, why you got married at all? Whatever is done, is done, that is a fact, but I am only pointing out that once before you did something without proper study of your real responsibility, now you are contemplating again some drastic action in a similar manner. Therefore consider it carefully in this light. There is one verse from Bhagavad-gita: yasman nodvijate loko lokan nodvijate ca yah/harsamarsa-bhayodvegair mukto yah sa ca me priyah, "He for whom no one is put into difficulty and who is not disturbed by anxiety, who is steady in happiness and distress, is very dear to Me." (12.15) One mistake of judgment often made by the neophyte devotees is that any time there is some disturbance or some difficulty they are considering that the conditions or the external circumstances under which the difficulty took place are the cause of the difficulty itself. That is not the fact. In this material world there is always some difficulty, no matter in this situation or that situation. Therefore simply by changing my status of occupation or my status of life, that will not help anything. Because the real fact is that if there is any difficulty with others, that is my lack of Krsna consciousness, not theirs. Is this clear? Krsna says that His dearest devotee is one who does not put others into difficulty, in fact, who puts no one other into difficulty. So try to judge the matter on these points, whether or not you are putting either your wife or yourself into some difficulty. The right understanding of Bhagavad-gita is Arjuna's understanding. In other words, Arjuna came to the conclusion that he must perform his occupational duty, not as a material obligation, for reasons of wife, family, friends, reputation, professional integrity, like that-no. Rather he must conduct the functions of his station of life only as a devotional service performed for Krsna. That means that devotional service is what is important, not my occupational duty. But it does not mean that because occupation duty is not the real consideration, that I should give it up and do something else, thinking that devotional service may be carried on under whatever circumstances which I may whimsically decide. Krsna recommended Arjuna to remain as he was, not to disrupt the order of society and go against his own nature just for convenience sake. Our occupational duty is not arbitrary, that means once we have taken up some field of action, if we are advanced in our understanding, then we shall not change it for another. Rather our devotion is the important factor, so what does it matter what I am doing so long my work and energy are completely devoted to Krsna? Just like Krsna, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He has no work, neither He has anything to do, still He comes here to teach us this lesson. He accepts not only His occupational duty as cowherd boy, royal prince, but also He accepts married life, He enters politics, He is philosopher, He is even chariot driver during a great battle, He does not give example of Himself avoiding His occupational duty. So if Krsna Himself is exhibiting by His own conduct what is the perfection of existence, then we should heed such example if we are intelligent. Even supposing there is wife at home, with children, that does not matter, that is no hindrance to our spiritual life. And once we have accepted these things, occupational duties, we should not lightly give them up. That is the point. Of course, our occupational duty is as preachers of Krsna consciousness. So we must stick to that business under all circumstances, that is the main thing. Therefore married, unmarried, divorced, whatever condition of life, my preaching mission does not depend on these things. The varnasrama-dharma system is scientifically arranged by Krsna to provide facility for delivering the fallen souls back to home, back to Godhead. And if we make a mockery of this system by whimsically disrupting the order, that we must consider. That will not be a very good example if so many young boys and girls so casually become married and then go away from each other, and the wife is little unhappy, the husband is neglecting her in so many ways, like that. If we set this example, then how the thing will go on properly? Householder life means wife, children, home, these things are understood by everyone, why our devotees have taken it as something different? They simply have some sex desire, get themselves married, and when the mater does not fulfill their expectations, immediately there is separation-these things are just like material activities, prostitution. The wife is left without husband, and sometimes there is child to be raised, in so many ways the proposition that you, and some others also, are making becomes distasteful. We cannot expect that our temples will become places of shelter for so many widows and rejected wives, that will be a great burden and we shall become the laughingstock in the society. There will be unwanted progeny also. And there will be illicit sex life, that we are seeing already. And being the weaker sex, women require to have a husband who is strong in Krsna consciousness so that they may take advantage and make progress by sticking tightly to his feet. If their husband goes away from them, what will they do? So many instances are already there in our Society, so many frustrated girls and boys. (More...)

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