PART 1 Before practicing sadhana, discover your purpose. Dharma, artha, kama and moksa are not our goals. We need guru-krpa. The guru makes us realize prema, Sri Radha and Sri Krsna. The importance of guru-seva and sadhu-sanga. Description of vapu-seva and vani-seva. Stories about the relationship between master and disciple. Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura made a pramana-mantra glorifying Srila Rupa Gosvami. The harikatha of the trustworthy guru is sabdha-brahma (transcendental sound) and...
Auckland 2023
2023, Discourses in English 2023, Auckland 2023, New Zealand 2023, liberation
22 Oct 2023 midday – Sadhu-sanga and Nama-sankirtana to Develop Spiritual Life (English) – Auckland, New Zealand | Srila BV Vana Maharaja
Sukadeva Gosvami gave harikatha for seven days and seven nights. In Kali-yuga the body is weak and always gets sick, but we can chant the holy names. Qualities of sadhu-sanga and nama-sankirtana. Singing alone is more difficult because Yamaraja’s four daughters automatically come. Pure devotees do not want the four forms of liberation, they want Radha-krsna-prema. Story of the disciple who, at the master’s request, goes out to collect donations but only at the house of Vaisnavas...
2023, Discourses in English 2023, Auckland 2023, New Zealand 2023
21 Oct 2023 evening – Krsna Is Where There Is Krsna-katha (English) – Auckland, New Zealand | Srila BV Vana Maharaja
The Lord gives us the members of the body so that we can serve Him. Ambarisa Maharaja served Bhagavan with all his members. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said: “Serve the Lord, serve the Vaisnavas and chant the holy names.” Lila of the queens of Dvaraka questioning Rohini Devi about why Krsna weeps for the gopis. The vrajavasis are ragatmika-jana: eternal associates of Krsna. The definition of love and lust, and how they are completely different. The lila when Krsna plays His flute and the gopis run...
2023, Discourses in English 2023, Auckland 2023, New Zealand 2023, karma: previous life, Vedavyasa, Vyasadeva
21 Oct 2023 midday – How to Destroy the Root of Karma (English) – Auckland, New Zealand | Srila BV Vana Maharaja
Dhrtarastra’s question to Vyasadeva at the advent of the battle of Kuruksetra. It all depends on karma, therefore, everyone collects reactions from actions done in past lives. True happiness is having Bhagavan’s darsan. No one can understand the deep roots of karma. The example of the mango tree and the fruits that ripen. The story of the curse that the bird pronounced on Dhrtarastra in a previous life. Verse: yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi (Bhagavad-gītā 9.27). The example of bamboo when...
2023, Discourses Translated into English 2023, Auckland 2023, New Zealand 2023, anger: krodha (one of the enemies of spiritual life; cause of material bondage), sakhis: types
21 Oct 2023 morning – The Importance of Sravana and Kirtana (English translation) – Auckland, New Zealand | Srila BV Vana Maharaja
About krsna-seva-vasana (the desire to serve Krsna). Sravana and kirtana (listening and chanting) is the cultivation of the seed of the vine of devotion, bhakti-lata-bija. Goloka Vrndavana is like a flower, and Vrndavana consists of the center of it. The different moods and the most prominent of them, madhurya. The five different types of sakhis, including manjari-bhava. The devotee should listen to harikatha, in sadhu-sanga, according to his bhava (mood). Offenses are like a mad elephant that...
2023, Discourses in Hindi 2023, Auckland 2023, New Zealand 2023, anger: krodha (one of the enemies of spiritual life; cause of material bondage), sakhis: types
21 Oct 2023 morning – The Importance of Sravana and Kirtana (Hindi) – Auckland, New Zealand | Srila BV Vana Maharaja
PART 1 About krsna-seva-vasana (the desire to serve Krsna). Sravana and kirtana (listening and chanting) is the cultivation of the seed of the vine of devotion, bhakti-lata-bija. Goloka Vrndavana is like a flower, and Vrndavana consists of the center of it. The different moods and the most prominent of them, madhurya. The five different types of sakhis, including manjari-bhava. The devotee should listen to harikatha, in sadhu-sanga, according to his bhava (mood). Offenses are like a mad...
2023, Discourses in English 2023, Auckland 2023, New Zealand 2023, aparadhas (offences), morning: brahma-muhurta
20 Oct 2023 evening – Sadhu-sanga and Nama Sankirtana are Very Powerful (English) – Auckland, New Zealand | Srila BV Vana Maharaja
Human life is very rare, there is no guarantee that we will get a human body again; sadhu-sanga is our only hope. Association with the sadhu, and listening to harikatha, are the only process to conquer Maya, in this Kali-yuga. Our aim is how to serve Guru and Krsna. How to chant the holy names? Forsaking all offences. Sadhu-sanga and nama-sankirtana are very powerful. By chanting the holy names with the sadhu, potency will come. There is only one God. He has many names. The holy names are the...
2023, Discourses Translated into English 2023, Auckland 2023, New Zealand 2023, Bhagavan: sach-chid-ananda (sat-chid-ananda)
20 Oct 2023 morning – The Measure of Sadhana is Faith (English translation) – Auckland, New Zealand | Srila BV Vana Maharaja
In sadhu-sanga (in the company of the sadhu) and, listening to harikatha, little by little, sraddha (faith) will manifest itself. Through knowledge of the scriptures (siddhanta) we come to know God. Haridasa Thakura said: “Even if my body is cut into a thousand pieces, I will not abandon Harinama.” Faith in the words of the Guru and the sastras (the light of knowledge), dispels the darkness of ignorance. Spiritual knowledge is like a jewel that shines in all directions. Three types of...