The Miraculous Power of Meditation
In the Nectar of Devotion Srila Prabhupada describes the most amazing true story. Here it is:
In some of the Purāṇas the evidence is given that if someone is simply meditating on devotional activities, he has achieved the desired result and has seen face to face the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this connection, there is a story in the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa that in the city of Pratiṣṭhānapura in South India there was once a brāhmaṇa who was not very well-to-do, but who was nevertheless satisfied in himself, thinking that it was because of his past misdeeds and by the desire of Kṛṣṇa that he did not get sufficient money and opulence. So he was not at all sorry for his poor material position, and he used to live very peacefully. He was very openhearted, and sometimes he went to hear some lectures delivered by great realized souls. At one such meeting, while he was very faithfully hearing about Vaiṣṇava activities, he was informed that these activities can be performed even by meditation. In other words, if a person is unable to actually perform Vaiṣṇava activities physically, he can meditate upon the Vaiṣṇava activities and thereby acquire all of the same results. Because the brāhmaṇa was not very well-to-do financially, he decided that he would simply meditate on grand, royal devotional activities, and he began this business thus:
Sometimes he would take his bath in the River Godāvarī. After taking his bath he would sit in a secluded place on the bank of the river, and by practicing the yoga exercises of prāṇāyāma, the usual breathing exercises, he would concentrate his mind. These breathing exercises are meant to mechanically fix the mind upon a particular subject. That is the result of the breathing exercises and also of the different sitting postures of yoga. Formerly, even quite ordinary persons used to know how to fix the mind upon the remembrance of the Lord, and so the brāhmaṇa was doing this. When he had fixed the form of the Lord in his mind, he began to imagine in his meditations that he was dressing the Lord very nicely in costly clothing, with ornaments, helmets and other paraphernalia. Then he offered his respectful obeisances by bowing down before the Lord. After finishing the dressing, he began to imagine that he was cleaning the temple very nicely. After cleansing the temple, he imagined that he had many water jugs made of gold and silver, and he took all those jugs to the river and filled them with the holy water. Not only did he collect water from the Godāvarī, but he collected from the Ganges, Yamunā, Narmadā and Kāverī. Generally a Vaiṣṇava, while worshiping the Lord, collects water from all these rivers by mantra chanting. This brāhmaṇa, instead of chanting some mantra, imagined that he was physically securing water from all these rivers in golden and silver waterpots. Then he collected all kinds of paraphernalia for worship—flowers, fruits, incense and sandalwood pulp. He collected everything to place before the Deity. All these waters, flowers and scented articles were then very nicely offered to the Deities to Their satisfaction. Then he offered ārati, and with the regulative principles he finished all these activities in the correct worshiping method.
He would daily execute similar performances as his routine work, and he continued to do so for many, many years. Then one day the brāhmaṇa imagined in his meditations that he had prepared some sweet rice with milk and sugar and offered the preparation to the Deity. However, he was not very satisfied with the offering because the sweet rice had been prepared recently and it was still very hot. (This preparation, sweet rice, should not be taken hot. The cooler the sweet rice, the better its taste.) So because the sweet rice had been prepared by the brāhmaṇa very recently, he wanted to touch it so that he could know whether it was fit for eating by the Lord. As soon as he touched the sweet rice pot with his finger, he immediately was burnt by the heat of the pot. In this way, his meditation broke. Now, when he looked at his finger, he saw that it was burnt, and he was wondering in astonishment how this could have happened. Because he was simply meditating on touching the hot sweet rice, he never thought that his finger would actually become burnt.
While he was thinking like this, in Vaikuṇṭha Lord Nārāyaṇa, seated with the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, began to smile humorously. On seeing this smiling of the Lord, all the goddesses of fortune attending the Lord became very curious and asked Lord Nārāyaṇa why He was smiling. The Lord, however, did not reply to their inquisitiveness, but instead immediately sent for the brāhmaṇa. An airplane sent from Vaikuṇṭha immediately brought the brāhmaṇa into Lord Nārāyaṇa's presence. When the brāhmaṇa was thus present before the Lord and the goddesses of fortune, the Lord explained the whole story. The brāhmaṇa was then fortunate enough to get an eternal place in Vaikuṇṭha in the association of the Lord and His Lakṣmīs. This shows how the Lord is all-pervading, in spite of His being locally situated in His abode. Although the Lord was present in Vaikuṇṭha, He was present also in the heart of the brāhmaṇa when he was meditating on the worshiping process. Thus, we can understand that things offered by the devotees even in meditation are accepted by the Lord, and they help one achieve the desired result.
Dandwat Pranaam
All glories to you.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
I have been thinking of mailing this to you, Prabhu, since long, but couldn't gather my courage to do so. Prabhu, I took initiation in the Radha Swami cult when I was only 13, just out of fantasy as my parents and family were also initiated.
I do not know Prabhu if you have ever heard of the Radha Swami Cult. But just as a short introduction I would just say that in this cult we are given a mantra having Shri Shri Radha Kriahna's holy name. Here we are told to offer a 1 rupee coin to the founder of the cult and offer pranaams by saying a mantra without even drinking water in the morning. Though we utter Lord's names, but in its temples the founder itself is worshipped as God. He is even regarded as an incarnation of Lord Krishna as he showed a pastime similar to the one that Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu showed when a brahmana was offering Bhoga to the lord which Mahaprabhu accepted.
I joined ISKCON only in 2020 and aspire to take initiation too. I do not want to be a part of the Radha Swami Cult any more as I feel this cult as a fraud and full of duplicacy because we do not serve and hear about Lord Krishna's and his pastimes, but of its founder only.
Prabhu, I want to clear all my conceptions and misconceptions. Am I right in leaving the cult? Am I right in considering the cult to be fraud and the founder to be a bogus guru? My mother tells me that leaving this cult and showing disbelief in its founder will affect my spiritual progress and that I will also not be able to develop any devotion to Lord Krishna ever.
I want to fully surrender myself to Lord Krishna and never leave Him and always serve Him and Guru. How should I do so ? Should I not leave the cult and continue Krishna bhakti alongside as my mother wants me to do ? I am in a dilemma. Please help me out, Prabhu.
Your insignificant servant,
Snigdha
My Dear Snigdha,
Please accept my blessings.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Yes, he is bogus. Anyone who claims to be God or allows his followers to say that he is God is bogus. We only accept as God those who are confirmed as God in the revealed scriptures.
Your mother means well, but she does not have the proper understanding. You will greatly benefit by giving up your affiliation with this bogus so-called guru and taking shelter of the bona fide guru who presents himself as the humble servant of God.
I hope this meets you in the best of health.
In some of the Purāṇas the evidence is given that if someone is simply meditating on devotional activities, he has achieved the desired result and has seen face to face the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this connection, there is a story in the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa that in the city of Pratiṣṭhānapura in South India there was once a brāhmaṇa who was not very well-to-do, but who was nevertheless satisfied in himself, thinking that it was because of his past misdeeds and by the desire of Kṛṣṇa that he did not get sufficient money and opulence. So he was not at all sorry for his poor material position, and he used to live very peacefully. He was very openhearted, and sometimes he went to hear some lectures delivered by great realized souls. At one such meeting, while he was very faithfully hearing about Vaiṣṇava activities, he was informed that these activities can be performed even by meditation. In other words, if a person is unable to actually perform Vaiṣṇava activities physically, he can meditate upon the Vaiṣṇava activities and thereby acquire all of the same results. Because the brāhmaṇa was not very well-to-do financially, he decided that he would simply meditate on grand, royal devotional activities, and he began this business thus:
Sometimes he would take his bath in the River Godāvarī. After taking his bath he would sit in a secluded place on the bank of the river, and by practicing the yoga exercises of prāṇāyāma, the usual breathing exercises, he would concentrate his mind. These breathing exercises are meant to mechanically fix the mind upon a particular subject. That is the result of the breathing exercises and also of the different sitting postures of yoga. Formerly, even quite ordinary persons used to know how to fix the mind upon the remembrance of the Lord, and so the brāhmaṇa was doing this. When he had fixed the form of the Lord in his mind, he began to imagine in his meditations that he was dressing the Lord very nicely in costly clothing, with ornaments, helmets and other paraphernalia. Then he offered his respectful obeisances by bowing down before the Lord. After finishing the dressing, he began to imagine that he was cleaning the temple very nicely. After cleansing the temple, he imagined that he had many water jugs made of gold and silver, and he took all those jugs to the river and filled them with the holy water. Not only did he collect water from the Godāvarī, but he collected from the Ganges, Yamunā, Narmadā and Kāverī. Generally a Vaiṣṇava, while worshiping the Lord, collects water from all these rivers by mantra chanting. This brāhmaṇa, instead of chanting some mantra, imagined that he was physically securing water from all these rivers in golden and silver waterpots. Then he collected all kinds of paraphernalia for worship—flowers, fruits, incense and sandalwood pulp. He collected everything to place before the Deity. All these waters, flowers and scented articles were then very nicely offered to the Deities to Their satisfaction. Then he offered ārati, and with the regulative principles he finished all these activities in the correct worshiping method.
He would daily execute similar performances as his routine work, and he continued to do so for many, many years. Then one day the brāhmaṇa imagined in his meditations that he had prepared some sweet rice with milk and sugar and offered the preparation to the Deity. However, he was not very satisfied with the offering because the sweet rice had been prepared recently and it was still very hot. (This preparation, sweet rice, should not be taken hot. The cooler the sweet rice, the better its taste.) So because the sweet rice had been prepared by the brāhmaṇa very recently, he wanted to touch it so that he could know whether it was fit for eating by the Lord. As soon as he touched the sweet rice pot with his finger, he immediately was burnt by the heat of the pot. In this way, his meditation broke. Now, when he looked at his finger, he saw that it was burnt, and he was wondering in astonishment how this could have happened. Because he was simply meditating on touching the hot sweet rice, he never thought that his finger would actually become burnt.
While he was thinking like this, in Vaikuṇṭha Lord Nārāyaṇa, seated with the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, began to smile humorously. On seeing this smiling of the Lord, all the goddesses of fortune attending the Lord became very curious and asked Lord Nārāyaṇa why He was smiling. The Lord, however, did not reply to their inquisitiveness, but instead immediately sent for the brāhmaṇa. An airplane sent from Vaikuṇṭha immediately brought the brāhmaṇa into Lord Nārāyaṇa's presence. When the brāhmaṇa was thus present before the Lord and the goddesses of fortune, the Lord explained the whole story. The brāhmaṇa was then fortunate enough to get an eternal place in Vaikuṇṭha in the association of the Lord and His Lakṣmīs. This shows how the Lord is all-pervading, in spite of His being locally situated in His abode. Although the Lord was present in Vaikuṇṭha, He was present also in the heart of the brāhmaṇa when he was meditating on the worshiping process. Thus, we can understand that things offered by the devotees even in meditation are accepted by the Lord, and they help one achieve the desired result.
Brahmana Who Burned His Finger by Meditation
Answers According to the Vedic Wisdom
Question: Can I Reject a Bogus Guru?
Hare KrishnaDandwat Pranaam
All glories to you.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
I have been thinking of mailing this to you, Prabhu, since long, but couldn't gather my courage to do so. Prabhu, I took initiation in the Radha Swami cult when I was only 13, just out of fantasy as my parents and family were also initiated.
I do not know Prabhu if you have ever heard of the Radha Swami Cult. But just as a short introduction I would just say that in this cult we are given a mantra having Shri Shri Radha Kriahna's holy name. Here we are told to offer a 1 rupee coin to the founder of the cult and offer pranaams by saying a mantra without even drinking water in the morning. Though we utter Lord's names, but in its temples the founder itself is worshipped as God. He is even regarded as an incarnation of Lord Krishna as he showed a pastime similar to the one that Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu showed when a brahmana was offering Bhoga to the lord which Mahaprabhu accepted.
I joined ISKCON only in 2020 and aspire to take initiation too. I do not want to be a part of the Radha Swami Cult any more as I feel this cult as a fraud and full of duplicacy because we do not serve and hear about Lord Krishna's and his pastimes, but of its founder only.
Prabhu, I want to clear all my conceptions and misconceptions. Am I right in leaving the cult? Am I right in considering the cult to be fraud and the founder to be a bogus guru? My mother tells me that leaving this cult and showing disbelief in its founder will affect my spiritual progress and that I will also not be able to develop any devotion to Lord Krishna ever.
I want to fully surrender myself to Lord Krishna and never leave Him and always serve Him and Guru. How should I do so ? Should I not leave the cult and continue Krishna bhakti alongside as my mother wants me to do ? I am in a dilemma. Please help me out, Prabhu.
Your insignificant servant,
Snigdha
Answer: Yes
From: ISKCON Austin, Texas USAMy Dear Snigdha,
Please accept my blessings.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Yes, he is bogus. Anyone who claims to be God or allows his followers to say that he is God is bogus. We only accept as God those who are confirmed as God in the revealed scriptures.
Your mother means well, but she does not have the proper understanding. You will greatly benefit by giving up your affiliation with this bogus so-called guru and taking shelter of the bona fide guru who presents himself as the humble servant of God.
I hope this meets you in the best of health.
Your ever well-wisher,
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
ISKCON Founder-Acharya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, ordered his disciples to become gurus and deliver the world. Sankarshan Das Adhikari has taken this order very seriously and is thus accepting disciples all over the world and has dedicated himself fully to the mission of making the entire world Krishna conscious as soon as possible. He requests your help in this most urgent world deliverance mission to save the suffering humanity from gliding down to the animal kingdom in their next births.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari email: sd@worldleader.com
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
The Most Urgent World Deliverance Mission
ISKCON Founder-Acharya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, ordered his disciples to become gurus and deliver the world. Sankarshan Das Adhikari has taken this order very seriously and is thus accepting disciples all over the world and has dedicated himself fully to the mission of making the entire world Krishna conscious as soon as possible. He requests your help in this most urgent world deliverance mission to save the suffering humanity from gliding down to the animal kingdom in their next births.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari email: sd@worldleader.com
Comments
Post a Comment