07.02.09
Posted in Community News, Darshan, Podcasts at 1:58 pm by Nava-yauvana dāsa
Soon we will move our esoteric school to India, and on the way we will visit New York and see all our students from the US. We are trying to plan a festival, maybe around Kṛṣṇa Janmāṣṭamī on August 13. Let’s see how wonderful a transcendental plan that we can come up with!
Please join us for Evening Darshan live webcast daily except Sunday at 6:30 PM EDT at our main site home page.
The video can be watched here on Youtube.
You can also download the original .mov file here and the extracted audio here.
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Posted in Darshan, Podcasts, Sri Visnusahasranama at 1:56 pm by Nava-yauvana dāsa
We are trying to bring our students to spiritual maturity, and sometimes we have to correct them to help them see how they have strayed from the path. Nonsense talk is one of the dangerous stumbling blocks on the path of devotion. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī writes in Śrī Upadeṣāmṛta 2:
atyāhāraḥ prayāsaś caprajalpo niyamāgrahaḥjana-saṅgaś ca laulyaṁ caṣaḍbhir bhaktir vinaśyati
“One’s devotional service is spoiled when he becomes too entangled in the following six activities: (1) eating more than necessary or collecting more funds than required; (2) overendeavoring for mundane things that are very difficult to obtain; (3) talking unnecessarily about mundane subject matters; (4) Practicing the scriptural rules and regulations only for the sake of following them and not for the sake of spiritual advancement, or rejecting the rules and regulations of the scriptures and working independently or whimsically; (5) associating with worldly-minded persons who are not interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness; and (6) being greedy for mundane achievements.”
Śrīla Prabhupāda comments:
“Another impediment is prajalpa, unnecessary talking. When we mix with a few friends, we immediately begin unnecessary talking, sounding just like croaking toads. If we must talk, we should talk about the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Those outside of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement are interested in reading heaps of newspapers, magazines and novels, solving crossword puzzles and doing many other nonsensical things. In this fashion people simply waste their valuable time and energy. In the Western countries old men, retired from active life, play cards, fish, watch television and debate about useless socio-political schemes. All these and other frivolous activities are included in the prajalpa category. Intelligent persons interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness should never take part in such activities.”
A serious disciple of the bhakti path should always strive for maturity in all actions and words. Taking responsibility, completing tasks at a high level of competence, he always tries to improve the excellence of his service out of love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa.
Please join us for Evening Darshan live webcast daily except Sunday at 6:30 PM EDT at our main site home page.
The video can be watched here on Youtube.
You can also download the original .mov file here and the extracted audio here.
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06.29.09
Posted in Sunday Satsangs at 8:44 am by Nava-yauvana dāsa
Today’s Satsang is about the four categories of anarthas or obstacles to the development of devotional service. Recognizing these imperfections is the first stage of getting rid of them, so all devotees should be eager to understand the types of anarthas. I have attached a PDF of the text of Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu-biṇḍu from which the material for this Satsang is derived.
Please join us for Evening Darshan live webcast daily except Sunday at 6:30 PM EDT at our main site home page and at 12 noon on Sundays for the Satsang.
The video can be watched here on Youtube.
You can also download the original .mov file here.
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06.28.09
Posted in Darshan, Nectar of Devotion, Podcasts at 2:41 pm by Nava-yauvana dāsa
Well in this Darshan except for the kīrtan, we spend the whole time summarizing the First Wave of Nectar of Devotion. This is actually a much better summary than yesterday, because we go deeply into the psychological and spiritual methodology of changing consciousness. I feel satisfied by this presentation; however, the questions revealed that many of our students did not understand the subject. They should go back over the series and clear their misunderstood terms so that they can apply the most elevated knowledge of Nectar of Devotion.
Please join us for Evening Darshan live webcast daily except Sunday at 6:30 PM EDT at our main site home page.
The video can be watched here on Youtube.
You can also download the original .mov file here and the extracted audio here.
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06.27.09
Posted in Darshan, Nectar of Devotion, Podcasts, Sri Visnusahasranama at 11:26 am by Nava-yauvana dāsa
Today we go over the summary of the First Wave of Nectar of Devotion, Chapters 1-19 inclusive. This section describes the nature and methods of devotional service, from the preliminary stages through vaidhī-bhakti sādhana (devotional service in practice based on the regulative principles of the scriptures), rāgānugā-bhakti sādhana (devotional service in practice based on spontaneous love) to the perfectional stage of pure ecstatic love of Godhead. We describe the process of gradually changing the quality of one’s consciousness from material to spiritual and how it works. Then we answer questions from the devotees, both those present and those signed up online.
Please join us for Evening Darshan live webcast daily except Sunday at 6:30 PM EDT at our main site home page.
The video can be watched here on Youtube.
You can also download the original .mov file here and the extracted audio here.
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06.26.09
Posted in Darshan, Nectar of Devotion, Podcasts, Sri Visnusahasranama at 9:57 am by Nava-yauvana dāsa
We start off with a fiery kīrtan and then chant Śrī Viṣṇusahasranāma as usual. Tonight’s class is the conclusion of Chapter 19 of Nectar of Devotion, “Devotional Service in Pure Love of God.”
Although many different processes for developing love of Godhead have been explained so far, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī now gives us a general description of how one can best achieve such a high position. The beginning of ecstatic love of Godhead is basically faith. There are many societies and associations of pure devotees, and if someone with just a little faith begins to associate with such societies, his advancement to pure devotional service is rapid. The influence of a pure devotee is such that if someone comes to associate with him with a little faith, one gets the chance of hearing about the Lord from authoritative scriptures like Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Thus, by the mercy of the Lord, who is situated in everyone’s heart, one gradually develops his faith in the descriptions of such authoritative scriptures. This is the first stage of association with pure devotees. In the second stage, after one becomes a little advanced and mature, he automatically offers to follow the principles of devotional service under the guidance of the pure devotee and accepts him as the spiritual master. In the next stage, under the guidance of the spiritual master, the devotee executes regulative devotional service, and as a result of such activities, he becomes freed from all unwanted occupations. When he is freed from unwanted occupations, his faith becomes steadily fixed, and he develops a transcendental taste for devotional service, then attachment, then ecstasies, and in the last stage there is pure love of Godhead. These are the different stages of the development of pure love.
Only the most fortunate persons can achieve such success in life. Those who are simply academic students of the Vedic scriptures cannot appreciate how such a development takes place. In the Nārada-pañcarātra Lord Śiva therefore tells Pārvatī, “My dear supreme goddess, you may know from me that any person who has developed the ecstasy of love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and who is always merged in transcendental bliss on account of this love, cannot even perceive the material distress or happiness coming from the body or mind.”
Please join us for Evening Darshan live webcast daily except Sunday at 6:30 PM EDT at our main site home page.
The video can be watched here on Youtube.
You can also download the original .mov file here and the extracted audio here.
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06.25.09
Posted in Darshan, Nectar of Devotion, Podcasts at 10:35 am by Nava-yauvana dāsa
In this Darshan we chant kīrtan and Śrī Viṣṇusahasranāma as usual, and then examine Chapter 19 of Nectar of Devotion, “Devotional Service in Pure Love of God.”
When one’s desire to love Kṛṣṇa in one’s particular relationship becomes intensified, this is known as pure love of Godhead. In the beginning a devotee is engaged in the regulative principles of devotional service by the order of his spiritual master. When one thereby becomes completely purified of all material contamination, there develops an attachment and taste for devotional service. This taste and attachment, when gradually intensified in the course of time, becomes love. The word love can be actually applied only in relationship with the Personality of Godhead. In the material world, love is not applicable at all. What goes on under the name of love in the material world is nothing but lust. There is a gulf of difference between love and lust, like the difference between gold and iron. In the Nārada-pañcarātra it is clearly stated that when lust is completely transferred to the Supreme Godhead and the concept of kinship is completely reposed in Him, such is accepted as pure love of God by great authorities like Bhīṣma, Prahlāda, Uddhava and Nārada.
Please join us for Evening Darshan live webcast daily except Sunday at 6:30 PM EDT at our main site home page.
The video can be watched here on Youtube.
You can also download the original .mov file here and the extracted audio here.
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06.24.09
Posted in Darshan, Nectar of Devotion, Podcasts, Sri Visnusahasranama at 12:11 pm by Nava-yauvana dāsa
In this Darshan we cover the conclusion of Nectar of Devotion Chapter 18, “Character of One in Ecstatic Love.” One who is in love with the Lord always desires to live in a holy dhama, a place where the Lord’s pastimes were displayed here in Earth. The impersonalists may try to imitate the ecstatic symptoms of the pure devotees, but their imitation is simply external; they are insincere because their motivation is to merge into the effulgence of the Lord.
Please join us for Evening Darshan live webcast daily except Sunday at 6:30 PM EDT at our main site home page.
The video can be watched here on Youtube.
You can also download the original .mov file here and the extracted audio here.
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06.23.09
Posted in Darshan, Nectar of Devotion, Podcasts at 10:13 am by Nava-yauvana dāsa
In this Evening Darshan we begin with kīrtan and Śrī Viṣṇusahasranāma as usual, and then get into a discussion based on the middle of Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 18.
Please join us for Evening Darshan daily except Sunday at 6:30 EDT at http://esotericteaching.org
The video can be watched here on Youtube.
You can also download the original .mov file here and the extracted audio here.
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06.22.09
Posted in Community News, Podcasts, Sunday Satsangs at 10:59 am by Nava-yauvana dāsa
In this Sunday Satsang we continue the theme established over the last couple of days, about the disintegration of the global corporate materialistic culture and the necessity of establishing self-sufficient spiritual communities. The proper implementation of the Esoteric Teaching is the utmost importance. The different categories of varṇas keep unqualified people from occupying management or leadership positions. You must get started now to organize for the attitude shift that is coming in a year or two. Soon self-organized communities will become mainstream as the general public sees that the corporate system is really crashing. If you can give people the knowledge of how to organize and survive, then you will be taken care of very nicely. We have that knowledge and you should study this wisdom carefully for the benefit of the whole world.
Please join us for live webcast of our Evening Darshan daily except Sunday at 6:30 PM EDT at the link above.
The video can be watched here on Youtube.
You can also download the original .mov file here.
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