Manasvi

Śrī Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura sings:

ei chaya gosāñi yāra, mui tāra dāsa

tāń' sabāra pada-reṇu mora pañca-grāsa

"I am the servant of the six Gosvāmīs, and the dust of their lotus feet provides my five kinds of food." A Vaiṣṇava always desires the dust of the lotus feet of previous ācāryas and Vaiṣṇavas. Vṛtrāsura was certain that he would be killed in the battle with Indra, because this was the desire of Lord Viṣṇu. He was prepared for death because he knew that after his death he was destined to return home, back to Godhead. This is a great destination, and it is achieved by the grace of a Vaiṣṇava. Chāḍiyā vaiṣṇava-sevā nistāra pāyeche kebā: no one has ever gone back to Godhead without being favored by a Vaiṣṇava. In this verse, therefore, we find the words manasvināḿ pāda-rajaḥ prapatsye: "I shall receive the dust of the lotus feet of great devotees." The word manasvinām refers to great devotees who always think of Kṛṣṇa. They are always peaceful, thinking of Kṛṣṇa, and therefore they are called dhīra. The best example of such a devotee is Nārada Muni. If one receives the dust of the lotus feet of a manasvī, a great devotee, he certainly returns home, back to Godhead.

Srila Prabhupada, purport to Srimad Bhagavatam, 6.11.18

Srila Prabhupada is my manasvi, great devotee, pure devotee. I keep myself very close to him. This is my only safety, my only shelter, my only refuge, my only hope.

Photo courtesy of The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
www.krishna.com. Used with permission.

Karma Gods?

I don't know when Karma took over.

It seems to me that it's Krishna who's running my life. I don't have any karma.

I hear a lot about it though, even from devotees.

What? I thought you surrendered to Krishna? If you put your life in His hands, then what's all this about karma?

When did Karma become God? Last time I checked, Krishna was in charge.........

Good karma, bad karma, mixed karma, seed karma, left over karma, un-accrued karma, whatever......
What difference does it make?
Whatever happens in the life of a devotee is Krishna, guiding that devotee closer to Him.

Krishna takes special charge of the lives of His devotees. If you have or had karma, He's using it as a way to get you closer to Him, so it's all good.
There is no such thing as bad karma. There is no good karma either.

There is only Krishna, and our relationship with Krishna.

Hiranyakasipu was torn to shreds by Nrisimhadeva. Was that because he had a lot of bad karma? No, that was the best fortune possible, to be touched by the hands of Lord Nrisimhadeva....... and he was a demon. Well, actually, he was a devotee who wanted to have that relationship with Krishna.

So, well........ here, you want to think about something dramatic? Okay, so you get torn to shreds. It's Krishna doing it.........

Where is there karma in that? It's Krishna.

Maybe karma is your God, but it's not mine. I don't have any karma. If something happens that brings me closer to Krishna, then it's good. If it brings me further away from Krishna, then it's bad. It makes no difference whether that thing "looks" good materially, or "looks" bad materially.

Whatever it takes, to bring me closer to Krishna. It's only that. Krishna is in charge of my life, not karma.

Karma is not my God.

Conversational Exchange Rates

~

My words pass
like ships in the night
with yours, with everyone else's

We say things, type them
then
assign meaning

The essence, undisturbed,
a cocoon within
never unraveled

There is no hearing
only translators
who sit behind desks
blind, deaf, dumb

This letter, with that, spells:
a word.

Word: \werd\ n: a concept derived from old thought patterns, generally known to create some mental image.

These things are not real
We are all dreaming,
lost in thought worlds of our own creation

The reality that is true understanding eludes -
is gone - untouched

Like ships in the night.


Navasi devi dasi 5/18/2009
*

Reaching Beyond Reason

~

Like a slave to my body
this depression sinks
into my mind -
I am weeping.

The mysteries I want
that I try so hard
that I'm seeking.......

Seem so simple, yet complex
like a random puzzle
veiled by a cloak
no one can conjure

This perplexes and surrounds
what I would have done
and so remains only
shreds of a shroud
still uncovered

Of course the veil of the worlds
would not come undone
just by my wanting

Still there must be
some secret key
that I am longing
to be yet discovered

Why must it be so closely
guarded
to those who would wish
to transcend this
bottomless well of grounded
existence?

I suppose it obviously
right
that it be earned
purchased, again and again
by the fire of determined
effort, perseverance, sacrifice

Like fire on the altar
forbearing even life after life

It is easy to pray
and grace, by the Lord is
surely given

Still, it is desire,
stronger than will -
more potent than wish, hope, want
desire beyond meaning
beyond scope, beyond reason

One - pointed - narrow - focus
broad enough in spectrum
to find a realm beyond -
and to live - to live inside it.

Navasi devi dasi
5/9/2009

~

Thoughts On Anger

We all get angry to some degree over things from time to time, so it's something everyone has to deal with.
This request for help about it was posted in my public quest book on connect, so I feel sure the devotee who posted it wouldn't mind if I put it here, along with my reply, since it's public anyway.

Tigers and their cubs, cats and their kittens....... Us in the hands of Krishna.

~


Hare Krishna!
Hw is ur devotional service goin on , Mataji?
Nw from past 2 to 3months i am not able to control my anger. Its going beyond my control and i don't no what do. I make up my mind everyday to control myself but its in vein. I am hurting my family and hurting my self also. Please guide me

ABHISHEK

~ ~ ~

Dear Abhishek,

Anger comes from attachment. When you don't really understand, realize, that Krishna is in control of everything, then you get attached to things, and when they aren't the way you want them to be, you get angry.

I don't get angry because I understand that "not a blade of grass moves without the will of the Supreme".

So, nothing can make you angry when you see that. Well, we might feel some emotion, that is only natural as long as you are not a pure devotee, you might become affected a little, but as far as anger that is "out of control" you only need to realize that Krishna is directing all things. Every single thing. He is in charge, He is very very powerful and things are always going according to His plans.

Try to read some of the sections of scripture that relate to this. Try to meditate on this all the time. Think to yourself when something occurs that makes you angry "well, see here, this is Krishna arranging this to occur in my life"....... In the life of a devotee, it is always Krishna, guiding you and purifying you and accomplishing His plans through and for you.

Krishna only wants the best for us, so there is nothing to be angry about.

There is a devotee on connect who used for his profile photo a picture of a mother Tiger carrying her baby kitten in her mouth. You know how cats do that? They pick up their young cubs by the scruff of the neck and carry them to safety that way, and remove them from danger.

So, we are the kittens (or cubs) in the mouth of "mother tiger" - Krishna.

So, being angry is like the little kitten fighting and hissing as mother tiger carries it to safety. Of course interestingly enough, if you pick a baby tiger cub up by it's scruff that way, it cannot act angry or hiss, it becomes helpless. As humans, Krishna gives us free will, so we are able to be angry and hiss even though He is doing things for our benefit. But if we understand it's Him, and He is only protecting us, and purifying us, and guiding us, then we will be less angry.

Nice to hear from you again.

Hare Krishna,
Navasi

*

We Are All Dying For What We Believe In

One of the first times I talked to Steve, he said something about how you have to admire the terrorists just for being willing to die for what they believe.

I didn't agree with him, and though I didn't mention it that time, the next time I saw him it was still on my mind.

"I don't admire the terrorists for being willing to die for what they believe. I can't admire them for being willing to die for what they believe, since what they believe is not admirable" I said. "Furthermore, there are people here, even in this town, who are willing to die for what they believe every single day. The policeman who gets up and goes out, every day, he could die that day, for what he believes, the military too" I told him.

That was a long time ago, and the one thing we did agree on is that to really live, you have to be willing to die for what you believe in.

He mentioned it recently again "well, you have to be willing to die for what you believe in"........ I think I laughed at this point, since it was something that didn't frighten me or upset me anymore. It's been on my mind a lot recently though.

The reason I've been thinking about it so much is because, really, every single one of us is dying for what we believe in. Some people might not realize that, but it's true.

Even a person who has "no belief", that is a belief in itself.

Every day we live, everything we do, is one day of our life, used and gone, and one day closer to dying. Whatever it is that we believe in and live for, that is what we are busy dying for.

Sometimes it is obvious, like with a policeman on duty, for example. Other times, it could go un-noticed. Regardless, in living, we are dying. Living for what we believe, no matter what that is, is actually dying for what we believe.

We Are All Dying For What We Believe In

Being aware of that at least gives us the chance to identify those beliefs are realize that we are in fact dying for them.

*Steve is false name used to protect the privacy of the individual in this conversation.

*

Chanting & Spiritual Realization

Dear ~

That's very good that you will read Srimad Bhagavatam from the beginning now. As you know, that is the way it has to be read in order to be understood.

It's also necessary to chant the maha mantra in order to understand it, even while reading it from the beginning. Like we were discussing before, we cannot understand Krishna with our minds. It is not possible. It is Him, revealing Himself to us that allows us to understand spiritual topics (which are Krishna).

So, even reading the Srimad Bhagavatam, it becomes essential for you to chant serious japa in order for the words you read and the meaning behind them to become understood in truth, and on the level of your soul (i.e. realized, which is different from mental comprehension, very, very different). These seem like mysteries I know, or maybe not to you. So many people think that they can read and understand scripture with only their minds, simply by acquiring words, but it is not possible.

There are many who have acquired all the words and can quote them well, but the realization of their meaning, it's not there, and so confusion continues.

That's why the chanting is so very essential.

I know you said you are trying, and you see that your mind tricks you. I am writing this as an encouragement, to continue to make the serious effort, and to remind you of the importance. Our minds do trick us, that is the business of the mind and the senses, to trick us from actually becoming closer to Krishna. Maya Devi, she is there, and uses our weakness, our weak minds and senses, to keep us distracted and away from Krishna. That is her service to Him.

So, the way to get control of our minds, that happens by chanting. We engage our minds in the service of the Lord, and Hrisikesha (Krishna, controller of the senses) then controls them, rather than Maya devi. There are many ways to engage the senses and mind in the service of the Lord, of course, and you are aware of that.

However, in this age, the most potent form is chanting the maha mantra. The more you do that, the more control you will have over your mind, and then your intelligence will direct you (with Krishna's direction).

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

You can (and I do) pray always for help with this. Pray to Lord Chaitanya, to please help you chant the maha mantra seriously.

I hope you are doing well today (by that I mean spiritually, since that is what matters most)

Hare Krishna.

Navasi

*