The Six Guidelines for Surrendering to Krishna
Our readers often write us asking how they can surrender to Krishna. Srila Prabhupada has very wonderfully informed us in this regard in his preface to the Sri Caitanya Caritamrita Srila Prabhupada wherein he lists the six guidelines for how one can surrender to Krishna:
"In the surrendering process, one should (1) accept things favorable for discharging devotional service, (2) reject things unfavorable, (3) always believe firmly in the Lord's protection, (4) feel exclusively dependent on the mercy of the Lord, (5) have no interest separate from the interest of the Lord, and (6) always feel oneself meek and humble."
We encourage our readers to very seriously adopt these six guidelines and thus achieve the ultimate perfection of human existence, pure devotional service.
Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada.
In your “Thought for the day..” (Wednesday 4 July 2012) you wrote:
"In this material world the powers of darkness have almost completely conquered the human society.”
How to understand your words from the perspective of Vedic philosophy that clearly states that the cause of any problem is one’s lack of Krishna consciousness that is the result of one’s foolish and impossible desire to be the Supreme enjoyer? That desire was not forced upon us. Please correct me if my understanding is not correct.
But if it is, then who are these "powers of darkness”? It sounds like Christian teaching where two mighty personalities God and Satan are opposing each other giving us chance to join either party. Such perspective leads to the conclusion that actually there are two All Almightiest to worship or revere. Please tell me decisively: Is there any power of darkness whose acting against me is independent from and not according to Krishna’s arrangement?
Your servant,
Guru das
There is no independent power of darkness which operates outside of the Lord's arrangement. Whatever darkness the living being experiences is provided by the Lord when the living wants to turn his face away from the Lord and try to be the center of existence.
In this regard, Srila Prabhupada often quotes from the Prema-vivarta:
kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha jīva bhoga-vāñchā kare
nikaṭa-stha māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare
"Turning his face away from Krishna, the jiva develops the desire to enjoy. Standing nearby, Maya slaps him and seizes hold of him."
In previous ages there was large percentage of the human population who realized their mistake and seriously took to the path of self realization. Thus in those ages the influence of darkness was far less than it is now. But In this age because the transcendentalists are practically non-existent, the powers of darkness, i.e. the influences of lust, greed, anger, madness, illusion, madness, envy, etc. are manifested practically everywhere. In conclusion, the present day human civilization is almost totally conquered by the powers of darkness because this is what it desires.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
"In the surrendering process, one should (1) accept things favorable for discharging devotional service, (2) reject things unfavorable, (3) always believe firmly in the Lord's protection, (4) feel exclusively dependent on the mercy of the Lord, (5) have no interest separate from the interest of the Lord, and (6) always feel oneself meek and humble."
We encourage our readers to very seriously adopt these six guidelines and thus achieve the ultimate perfection of human existence, pure devotional service.
Come Back to Krishna and Achieve Unlimited Bliss
Answers by Citing the Vedic Version
Question: Is Darkness an Independent Power?
Dear Guru Maharaja,Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada.
In your “Thought for the day..” (Wednesday 4 July 2012) you wrote:
"In this material world the powers of darkness have almost completely conquered the human society.”
How to understand your words from the perspective of Vedic philosophy that clearly states that the cause of any problem is one’s lack of Krishna consciousness that is the result of one’s foolish and impossible desire to be the Supreme enjoyer? That desire was not forced upon us. Please correct me if my understanding is not correct.
But if it is, then who are these "powers of darkness”? It sounds like Christian teaching where two mighty personalities God and Satan are opposing each other giving us chance to join either party. Such perspective leads to the conclusion that actually there are two All Almightiest to worship or revere. Please tell me decisively: Is there any power of darkness whose acting against me is independent from and not according to Krishna’s arrangement?
Your servant,
Guru das
Answer: Darkness is Subordinate to Light
I am very happy to receive an inquiry from you. The answer to your question is as follows:There is no independent power of darkness which operates outside of the Lord's arrangement. Whatever darkness the living being experiences is provided by the Lord when the living wants to turn his face away from the Lord and try to be the center of existence.
In this regard, Srila Prabhupada often quotes from the Prema-vivarta:
kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha jīva bhoga-vāñchā kare
nikaṭa-stha māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare
"Turning his face away from Krishna, the jiva develops the desire to enjoy. Standing nearby, Maya slaps him and seizes hold of him."
In previous ages there was large percentage of the human population who realized their mistake and seriously took to the path of self realization. Thus in those ages the influence of darkness was far less than it is now. But In this age because the transcendentalists are practically non-existent, the powers of darkness, i.e. the influences of lust, greed, anger, madness, illusion, madness, envy, etc. are manifested practically everywhere. In conclusion, the present day human civilization is almost totally conquered by the powers of darkness because this is what it desires.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
Comments
Post a Comment