The Lord is like, if you want to meet the Prime Minister, if you just go to Delhi, doesn’t mean you can meet the Prime Minister. Lot of security…lot of difficulty to meet the Prime Minister. But if you know a friend of the Prime Minister, he can say, ‘Come with me..I’ll bring you’. Then it’s easy.

So the Guru is a confidential servant of the servant of the servant…he can can take to his Guru, will take to his Guru and like this it goes to Krishna.

So those people who are very proud, they say they don’t want to go through a Guru, they find very difficult time.

“In difficult time we do not give up our devotional service, we stick to it and in good times we also do not give up our devotional service, now it is okay and I will make hay while the sun shines kind of attitude and I will enjoy life now and worry about death later. But if we know that death can come at any time, someone who has always been engaged in Krishna’s service  12 months a year, 365 days, does not matter whether there is life or death doesn’t matter, all are auspicious,  because everything is in Krishna consciousness.

So the devotees, they always remain moderate, in distress or when they are in opulence.  They are moderate in their existence and keep Krishna as their top priority in their life. Now in the world we ..were you know . things were a little bit looking difficult economically, but not that bad but like now there is war and so many people who are senselessly killed in terrorist attacks. This could make somebody very much down or depressed about the whole future of things. Whether there is some difficulty or there is something good we need to do our duties, we need to do our proper Krishna conscious thing.”

“When Lord Caitanya visited South India, he visited all the temples. Not only the Visnu temples, but also the Siva temples, the Durga temple, the Meenakshi temple, Ganesh temple, Murugan temple. He visited all the temples. But at every temple he would chant the same mantra Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare | Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

He would give this message to everyone, chant the Hare Krsna maha mantra. This is the mantra for the age of Kali and this mantra can be chanted without any restriction, not only the brahmanas but anybody of any caste any community can chant this mantra. So how many of you are regularly chanting? Wow..so many!!

Those who are not chanting should immediately start chanting and those who are chanting should be very determined that chanting is going on. This chanting is the link in our heart, our eternal relationship with Krsna.”

“Real spiritual life is as sharp as a razor’s edge. The sankirtana movement is so spiritually pure that by remaining in its fire our consciousness will be refined to immaculate purity. This is the wonderful quality of the sankirtana movement. Through its association we gradually become free from all attachment to anarthas or unwanted things.

But beyond these attachments remain subtle shades of enviousness which also must be purged or they will carry the devotee away from devotional service.

These subtle shades of perverse mentality also spring from the enjoying mood. The desire for prominence, such as the impersonalist’s dream of becoming God, also manifests in the character of a devotee who is not completely purified. Hankering to obtain an “important” position in devotional service or to be the “best devotee” is materially tinged and is described in this song as ‘pratisthasa‘ (great importance).

These contaminated desires have no place in the glorious sankirtana movement of Caitanya Mahaprabhu.”

“By being attached to Krishna, we are automatically transcendental. There are two processes of detachment; one is negative and the other positive. Srila Prabhupada always called devotional service the positive alternative. Negating something or renouncing it does not end one’s attachment to it.

You still may be attached, but you are renouncing it to become detached. Someone may renounce smoking because he knows it is bad for him, but he may still like to smoke. Someone may be attached to some sense gratification but renounce it because he knows it is not good for him. Because we have bad habits, bad attachments and material desires, we regulate ourselves in order to keep away from the objects which are detrimental to our spiritual life. This does not mean that we have given up our attachments or attraction fully, but rather that we are trying to transcend them.

The process of transcending is to become attached to Krishna. One is liberated when he is attached to Krishna so much that he is not attached anymore to other things. When we are fully attached to Krishna we become automatically detached from Maya, naturally. “

“Regarding musical instruments, herein it is prescribed that for Nama Hatta programs it is not necessary to have big, complicated paraphernalia; mrdanga and kartalas are sufficient. Srila Prabhupada liked this type of simple kirtana with mrdanga and kartalas. At the same time, in bhajanas he would sometimes use the harmonium.

In kirtana, the beautiful melody, the music, and the beat all have a purpose. They should help to melt the heart, to evoke the dormat love for Krishna. Bhaktivinoda Thakura gives the analogy of the borax melting gold. He uses what at that time was a commonplace illustration, which indicates how rich society was then. Nowadays everything is plastic or aluminum – even women’s jewelry is often made of plastic – but in that day gold was very common.

I do not know exactly what happens when borax is applied to gold, but apparently it acts as a catalyst, causing the gold to melt much faster when heated. Similarly, kirtana should help the heart to melt naturally.”

“Bhaktivinod Thakura says that one should try to develop good qualities, such as Meekness. One should give credit to others, without desiring aggrandizement or praise.

Another quality appreciated here is Mercy - to help others in Krishna Consciousness. With mercy comes Tolerance. Preaching to the conditioned souls is like being a spiritual doctor, and being intolerant makes it very hard to treat people. One should hate the disease, not the person suffering from the disease.

If we put people into some negative category – ‘These people are like that’ – how can we help them? Srila Prabhupada was very tolerant in facilitating people to chant and associate.”

“In the modern world, trademarks are very common. And they are protected. The trademark for marketing the holy name is the causeless mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Lord Gauranga. In this Age of Kali, it is not possible to achieve the pure holy name without chanting the names of the Pancha-Tattva prior to chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.

Whoever wants to market the holy name must be a sincere follower of the Lord and distribute the name under Gauranga’s brand name, or  process, of chanting. Many people chant Hare Krishna maha-mantra, but true followers of Lord Caitanya are especially empowered by His mercy.”

“One time Prabhupada was saying that the ‘BELL’ of the priest in the temple, when he performs the arati ceremony ringing the bell, that bell is more powerful than the nuclear weapon…the atomic bomb, because the bomb will blow up people’s bodies and destroy vegetation and will make a hole in the ground and everything. But the bomb doesn’t change spiritually, the situation that’s happening with any of those souls, with any of those spiritual beings! Again they still have to take birth.

But someone hearing of the ‘BELL’ that’s being offered to Krishna, then what to speak of the kirtan (we just performed), that’s destroying so much karma and that can actually purify ones consciousness, as we’re said to have a transcendental consciousness which is capable of remembering Krishna!“

“Every human in the world is a potential customer (for taking up Krishna Consciousness). There are no restrictions due to caste, color, creed, gender or age. Everyone is a potential customer. Whoever has the proper ‘money’ can buy the goods.

The currency is described as being the pure desire to serve the Lord. Any mixture with other motives create a counterfeit situation. Counterfeit money means that when the customer chants the holy name of Krishna, he will not be able to experience the same transcendental bliss, or the same realization, as does the pure devotees, who has no mundane motive for chanting.

To enter deep into the real ecstasy of Krishna consciousness, one should be sure that his motives are pure, thus avoiding counterfit money, which only resembles money but has no actual purchasing power!.”

“It is not required to live as a monk in the temple. Everyone receives benefit according to the faith and devotion he gives, whether big or small. Whatever devotion one has, he invests and gets profit. Thus one’s capital accrues. Then he reinvests the enhanced capital. In this way one will very soon be Spiritually Rich.

To reside within a temple, one should be on the level of bhajana-kriya or anartha-nivrtti. But those living at home can be on any level, higher or lower. And even if one has only a small degree of faith, still that has value and can be reinvested. Therefore the preachers should encourage people to bestow their faith in Krishna.”

“In America, some companies offer rebate coupons. This means that after a person has purchased the particular product, he is mailed a cheque of, say, twenty percent of what he had paid, or sent some other offer. But whatever price one pays in the market of the holy name, he receives a rebate of many, many times that amount.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura is describing the Supreme Bargain. In the material world we give our love and faith to people, but they can hardly reciprocate a fraction of what is given. Sometimes our loved ones might even cause us harm. Here Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains that if we give our faith to Krishna, then not only will we be reimbursed the equavalent, but we will actually get back many times that amount. So why we hesitate?”

“The mercy of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nithyananda decends through Their devotees. Devotees who have received krsna-prema by the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu are able to distribute this love of Godhead. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura illustrates this process by using the analogy: ‘the transcendental marketplace of the Lord.

In compliance with Lord Caitanya’s order, everyone must accept Krishna consciousness and also share it with others. According to individual capacity, everyone should become a vehicle for spreading the hold name of Krishna. It is not a stereotyped process. Anyone can do it under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, who functions as the representative of Lord Nithyananda, the original spiritual master.“

“What we’re trying to do is, encourage everyone to support the temples and at the same time to also be active in promoting Krishna Consciousness in one’s own right.

Srila Prabhupada explains that when a tiger deals with it’s own cubs, it picks them up with its mouth just like you see the cat lift up the kitten. But that lifting with the mouth is filled with motherly affection moving them from one place to the other, but when the tiger jumps on the prey whether it’s a deer, zebra or whatever, it might be that it bites them with its mouth. But that is totally a different bite. So the law of Karma is like the tiger on the prey, like the cat on the mouse.

But when you take shelter of Krishna then what appears to be Karma is actually Krishna personally taking charge of the devotee. It is like the cat or the tiger taking the cub, the kid, by the mouth, simply for purification, for our remembrance.

So whether we want to be under the care of Krishna or under the care of the illusory energy and the stringent lat of Karma, that’s up to us to decide. When we are under the care of Krishna and we do devotional service, we feel very blissful. We just have to be a little careful. We have to go on learning and trying to practice responsibly, remaining humble. We have to be aware of what mistakes we are making and try to correct them, because we are responsible for them.

Some intellectuals, they are against religion because they say that ‘Religion is creating so many problems in the world. Look at, the Jews are fighting the Muslims, the Protestants are fighting the Catholics, the Hindus are fighting against the Muslims. So it’s religion which is the fault.’

But we can see it very clearly from this verse, it is designations which are causing the divisions in this world, it is designations which are causing the prejudice in this world, it is designations which is causing all the problems in the world!

And the way to transcend these designations is only through God consciousness, through self-realization, to realize the science of the Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam.

Aham Brahmasmi, we are not the body, we are of the transcendental realm, ‘jivera svarupa hoi nithya Krishna das’! We are the eternal servitor of Krishna..we are not this body!

When Srila Prabhupada went to the western countries he preached, ‘You are not Americans, you are not Chinese, you are not Russians, you are not Indian…we are not this body. We are eternal servitors of Krishna, we are pure spirit souls.’

This is the way to create the united world. In the Vedas it says, ‘Vasudeva Kutumbakam’! One Universal family under Vasudeva, under Krishna!

‘Kutumbakam’ means family. We are all one brotherhood, we are all one family under Vasudeva. Under Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the way to have the universal consciousness, the universal brotherhood that people are discussing.