Christchurch 2025
14 Sep 2025 evening – Bhakti is Deep Attachment to the Lord (Hindi) | Christchurch, New Zealand | Srila BV Vana Maharaja
If we want to know about mahabhava, we must first understand about saranagati (surrender). About the six limbs of saranagati. Bhakti is deep attachment to the Lord. All our efforts should be for the pleasure of Krsna. This is the definition of bhakti – verse: anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11). Hearing Harikatha from the sadhu’s lotus mouth corresponds to associating directly with the sadhu. The sadhu’s Harikatha is very powerful because it...
14 Sep 2025 midday – Bodily Conception Is the Root of Mental Disturbance (English) | Christchurch, New Zealand | Srila BV Vana Maharaja
Once a year, Lord Jagannatha comes out of His Temple and grants His darsana to all the fallen souls. The minds of the gopis become very disturbed when Krsna goes out to herd, for they cannot tolerate separation from Him. Sneha means love and affection. In Kali-yuga, the conditioned soul has a disturbed mind, fighting within itself or with others because of its bodily conception (dehātmā-buddhiḥ). The thought of being this body and the supreme enjoyer is what disturbs our mind. The moment we...
14 Sep 2025 morning – Anger and Lust Are Never Satisfied (Hindi) | Christchurch, New Zealand
* Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu teaches us how to honor and respect Vaisnavas. * The reason Mahaprabhu collected stones and threw them away from the Gundica Temple. * First, the sadhaka must cleanse his heart. * Lust and anger will never be satisfied, no matter how much we serve them. * The conditioned soul has become a slave to lust and anger, hence wandering in this cycle of repeated birth and death. * The good fortune of associating with a sadhu and following his instructions eliminates lust and...
12 Sep 2025 evening – Self-Realization Is the Best Realization (English) | Christchurch, New Zealand | Srila BV Vana Maharaja
The Bible reveals that God created man in His image and His likeness. This human body enables us to perform devotional service. We must have an inquisitive attitude and humor, just as scientists do. It is not possible to conquer death and become immortal; thus, we go through a cycle of birth and death. We are not the body; we are the soul, and it is the soul that makes this body function. Everything that exists has an intrinsic nature; in the case of the soul, its nature is to serve the Lord...