Never Stop Chanting

We must never stop chanting Hare Krishna because this chanting is our only hope for becoming free from the miseries of material existence. The following video is a "must watch" for anyone who wants to appreciate the great liberating power of the Hare Krishna mahamantra:

https://filmfest.musicbed.com/submissions/never-stop-chanting/681

Please watch the video and give it your vote. We want it to win the number one spot in the film festival.

BB Govinda Maharaja Leads Ecstatic Hare Krishna Kirtan
(This is a scene from the above mentioned video.)

Sankarshan Das Adhikari - BB Govinda Maharaja Leads Ecstatic Hare Krishna Kirtan

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version:

Question: Can I Be My Own Guru?

I came across a verse from Krishna to Uddhava in Bhagavatam 11.7.20. "ātmano gurur ātmaiva--One can indeed become one's own guru." I saw this on a wall near my place and kept thinking about the meaning.

Can you please make me understand what does "ātmano gurur ātmaiva" means? Does it mean a soul can be his own teacher.

Thanks,
Vivek

Answer: If You Tell Yourself to Find a Bona Fide Guru

The entire verse is as follows:

ātmano gurur ātmaiva
puruṣasya viśeṣataḥ
yat pratyakṣānumānābhyāṁ
śreyo 'sāv anuvindate

"An intelligent person, expert in perceiving the world around him and in applying sound logic, can achieve real benefit through his own intelligence. Thus sometimes one acts as one's own instructing spiritual master."

This means by carefully understanding the world around him a thoughtful person can understand that he needs to seek out an initiating spiritual master who can take him back to Godhead. It does not mean that he can be his own initiating guru. He acts as his own instructing guru if he tells himself to find a bona fide spiritual master who can initiate him and liberate him from material existence.

Srila Prabhupada stresses that one must hear from a bona fide guru if he desires to become knowledgeable in spiritual life. He condemns charlatan gurus who misrepresent the process of self realization and tell people that one can be one's own guru simply by "looking within."

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Little Sparrow Who Conquered the Ocean

Image
In his purport to Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 6, Text 24 Srila Prabhupada wonderfully teaches us the power of determinations by telling us the story of the little sparrow who conquered the ocean: "As for determination, one should follow the example of the sparrow who lost her eggs in the waves of the ocean. A sparrow laid her eggs on the shore of the ocean, but the big ocean carried away the eggs on its waves. The sparrow became very upset and asked the ocean to return her eggs. The ocean did not even consider her appeal. So the sparrow decided to dry up the ocean. She began to pick out the water in her small beak, and everyone laughed at her for her impossible determination. The news of her activity spread, and at last Garuda, the gigantic bird carrier of Lord Visnu, heard it. He became compassionate toward his small sister bird, and so he came to see the sparrow. Garuda was very pleased by the determination of the small sparrow, and he promised to help. Thus Garuda at once asked t
Read more

Heart Melting Reunion with Amarendra and Gayatri

Image
On Friday 26 June 2015 I was blessed with the greatest good fortune of meeting with two of the dearest devotees of my entire life, His Grace Amarendra Prabhu and his good wife, Srimati Gayatri devi dasi. I am eternally indebted to these great souls for how much they helped me in my spiritual life when I was a young devotee. When I was young brahmacari monk in 1973 I joined with the two of them in Gainesville, Florida. We were a three person preaching center, and they were just like a mother and father to me. I had so many wonderful Krishna conscious experiences in their association that I can hardly begin to describe them here. But at least may it suffice for me to say for now that Gayatri taught me what it means to be a soft-hearted devotee of the Lord and she gave me my first cooking lesson, teaching me how to make cauliflower pakoras, and Amarendra taught me the art of how to preach strongly, intelligently, and coolly to defeat opposing arguments. Recently Gayatri almost died. But
Read more

Who is this Krishna?

Image
Krishna is not a myth, nor is He an ordinary historical personality. He is the Supreme All-Attractive Personality of Godhead. He is the oldest of all while simultaneously maintaining the form of a 16 year old youth. He is all-attractive because he exceeds everyone in all of existence by possessing unlimitedly all the qualities that are attractive namely power, beautify, renunciation, knowledge, wealth, and fame. There is no one who equals or excels Him in the possession of these attractive qualities. This is why is accepted by all enlightened spiritualists as being God, the original source of all existence. The perfection of our existence is to re-establish our long forgotten loving relationships with Him. There Is No One More Amazing Than Krishna Video for the Day Don't Be a Hypocrite Answers According to Vedic Wisdom Question: Was Krishna a Real Person? Was Krishna a real person who lived on Earth? Ray Galindo Answer: He Was and He Still Is My Dear Ray, Pleas
Read more