beginning of Krishna Consciousness

Simple negation, or giving up the company of materialistic persons, will not do. We must have engagements. Sometimes it is found that a person interested in spiritual advancement gives up the company of material society and goes to a secluded place as recommended for the yogis especially, but that will also not help a person in spiritual advancement, for in many instances such yogis also fall down. As far as jnanis are concerned, generally they fall down without taking shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord. The impersonalists or the voidists can simply avoid the positive material association; they cannot remain fixed in transcendence without being engaged in devotional service. The beginning of devotional service is to hear about the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is recommended in this verse: vina harer guna-piyusa-panat. One must drink the nectar of the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and this means that one must be always engaged in hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord. It is the prime method for advancing in spiritual life. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu also recommends this in the Caitanya-caritamrta. If one wants to make advancement in spiritual life, by great fortune he may meet a bona fide spiritual master and from him learn about Krsna. By serving both the spiritual master and Krsna he gets the seed of devotional service (bhakti-lata-bija), and if he sows the seed within his heart and waters it by hearing and chanting, it grows into a luxuriant bhakti-lata or bhakti creeper. The creeper is so strong that it penetrates the covering of the universe and reaches the spiritual world and continues to grow on and on until it reaches and takes shelter of the lotus feet of Krsna. An ordinary creeper also grows on and on until it takes a solid shelter on a roof; then it very steadily grows and produces the required fruit. The real cause of the growing of such fruit, which is here called nectar, is hearing and chanting the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The purport is that one cannot live outside the society of devotees; one must live in the association of devotees, where there is constant chanting and hearing of the glories of the Lord. The Krsna consciousness movement is started for this purpose, and there are hundreds of ISKCON centers to give opportunity to all people to hear and chant and to accept the spiritual master. By not associating with persons who are materially interested, one can make solid advancement in going back home, back to Godhead. (More...)

In the execution of devotional service, sravanam kirtanam visnoh is especially stressed. This means that bhakti, or devotional service, begins by hearing and chanting about Visnu. When we speak of Visnu, we also refer to that which relates to Visnu. In the Siva Purana, Lord Siva recommends Visnu worship to be the topmost worship, and better than Visnu worship is worship of the Vaisnava or anything that is related to Visnu. The fact is explained herein that hearing and chanting about a Vaisnava is as good as hearing and chanting about Visnu, for Maitreya has explained that anyone who hears about Prthu Maharaja with attention also attains the planet which Maharaja Prthu attained. There is no duality between Visnu and the Vaisnava, and this is called advaya-jnana. A Vaisnava is as important as Visnu, and therefore Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura wrote in his Gurv-astaka: (More...)

The wonder of an atmosphere surcharged with devotional service of the Lord is briefly described herewith by Sri Narada Muni in the incidence of His previous birth. He was the son of the most insignificant parentage, neither He was properly educated and still because His complete energy was engaged in the service of the Lord He became an immortal sage like Narada. Such is the powerful action of devotional service. The living entities are marginal energy of the Lord and therefore they are meant for being properly utilised in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. When it is not so done it is called Maya. Therefore the illusion of Maya is at once dissipated as soon as one's full energy is converted in the service of the Lord instead of in the matter of sense enjoyment. From the personal example of Sri Narada Muni in His previous birth, it is clear that the service of the Lord begins with the service of the Lord's bonafide servants. The Lord says that the service of His servants is more than His personal service. Service of the devotee is more valuable than the service of the Lord. One should therefore choose out a bonafide servant of the Lord constantly engaged in His service and accept such servant as the spiritual master and engage himself in his (the spiritual master's) service. Such spiritual master is the transparent medium to visualise the Lord Who is beyond the conception of material senses. By service of the bonafide spiritual master the Lord consents to reveal Himself in proportion of service rendered. Utilisation of the human energy in the service of the Lord is the progressive path of salvation. The whole cosmic creation becomes at once identical with the Lord as soon as the respective service in relation with the Lord is rendered under the guidance of a bonafide spiritual master. The Expert spiritual master knows the art how to utilise everything in the matter of glorifying the Lord and therefore under his guidance the whole world can be turned into the spiritual abode by the Divine Grace of the Lord's servant. (More...)

Devotional service of the Lord begins by hearing about Him.

The approved method of understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, is the path of devotional service, as is confirmed in every Vedic Scripture. The devotional service of the Lord begins by hearing about Him. There are nine different methods in devotional service, of which hearing is the basic one. Hearing, chanting, remembering, worshipping-all these are the process of attaining the highest perfection of understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This process of understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead is known as Abhidheya, or practice of devotional service within our conditional life. (More...)