Subduing the Senses
The biggest enemy we have on the pathway of self-realization is our uncontrolled senses. However, if the senses are properly controlled, they are valuable assets which can be engaged nicely in the Lord's service. Otherwise they are like venomous serpents, which can poison us and destroy our spiritual life. Therefore it is absolutely essential that the aspiring transcendentalist become an expert at always keeping the senses under control.
So what is the art of doing that? The secret is that we have to always keep the senses engaged 24 hours a day in the service of Krishna. From the first moment of waking up in the morning, to the last moment of going to sleep at the end of the day, the devotee must be always engaging his senses as much as possible in the Lord's service.
For example, you can immediately call out "Hare Krishna" upon awakening and in this way engage the tongue, ears, and mind in Krishna consciousness. You can then immediately take bathe to be able to chant the Hare Krishna mantra on japa beads in a clean state. Instead of listening to music which glorifies material sense gratification, you can listen to music which glorifies the Supreme Person. Instead of eating anything and everything, you can only eat prasadam, vegetarian foodstuffs which have been offered to the Supreme Lord with love and devotion. Instead of absorbing your mind in reading mundane literature, you can absorb your mind in great transcendental literatures such as the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam. The trick is to fill your day with so much Krishna consciousness that there are no gaps for Maya anywhere within your 24 hours.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
Is it true that Srila Prabhupada is an ever liberated personal associate of Krishna and he descends under arrangement of Krishna for the deliverance of general people in Kali yuga, or that he is a soul who achieves liberation through the purification process of sadhana bhakti?
Your eternal servant.
Zhang Yechen
Of all the great spiritual masters who have appeared throughout history there is no one who is as empowered as Srila Prabhupada for inundating the entire world in a tidal wave of Krishna bhakti. These are not mere words. He has proven this by spreading the Krishna consciousness movement all over the world in a mere eleven years beginning from 1966 up to 1977. No other acharya even comes close to what he has accomplished for counteracting this most dangerous age of Kali. Thus by comparative analysis we can see that Srila Prabhupada is the greatest of the nitya-siddhas.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
So what is the art of doing that? The secret is that we have to always keep the senses engaged 24 hours a day in the service of Krishna. From the first moment of waking up in the morning, to the last moment of going to sleep at the end of the day, the devotee must be always engaging his senses as much as possible in the Lord's service.
For example, you can immediately call out "Hare Krishna" upon awakening and in this way engage the tongue, ears, and mind in Krishna consciousness. You can then immediately take bathe to be able to chant the Hare Krishna mantra on japa beads in a clean state. Instead of listening to music which glorifies material sense gratification, you can listen to music which glorifies the Supreme Person. Instead of eating anything and everything, you can only eat prasadam, vegetarian foodstuffs which have been offered to the Supreme Lord with love and devotion. Instead of absorbing your mind in reading mundane literature, you can absorb your mind in great transcendental literatures such as the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam. The trick is to fill your day with so much Krishna consciousness that there are no gaps for Maya anywhere within your 24 hours.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
"The Next Step in Evolution" a Lecture delivered in Kaunas, Lithuania at Vytauto Didziojo University
Answers According to the Vedic Version:
Question: Is Srila Prabhupada a Nitya-Siddha?
Sometimes a nitya-siddha, an ever-liberated personal associate of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, descends into this universe just as the Lord descends.Is it true that Srila Prabhupada is an ever liberated personal associate of Krishna and he descends under arrangement of Krishna for the deliverance of general people in Kali yuga, or that he is a soul who achieves liberation through the purification process of sadhana bhakti?
Your eternal servant.
Zhang Yechen
Answer: The Greatest of the Nitya-Siddhas
His Divine Grace Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is most definitely a nitya-siddha, an ever-liberated personal associate of the Supreme Lord. He is also known as a shaktyavesha avatar because he descended to this material world on the Lord's order for delivering the fallen, conditioned souls of this age. His mission was to write his most special books, the spiritual law books for the suffering humanity, and to launch ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, that most auspicious spiritual movement which will go down in history for having saved the entire suffering humanity from chaos and despair.Of all the great spiritual masters who have appeared throughout history there is no one who is as empowered as Srila Prabhupada for inundating the entire world in a tidal wave of Krishna bhakti. These are not mere words. He has proven this by spreading the Krishna consciousness movement all over the world in a mere eleven years beginning from 1966 up to 1977. No other acharya even comes close to what he has accomplished for counteracting this most dangerous age of Kali. Thus by comparative analysis we can see that Srila Prabhupada is the greatest of the nitya-siddhas.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
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