Shukasari

Mahaprasadam is non different than the Lord Himself. Krsna has mercifully given His remnants so that we may partake and offer service to Him via Sri Guru & Vaishnavas. Yet there are times we merely look at mahaprasadam as ordinary foodstuff. We feel delighted when the taste is good. And we grumble when it is not up to par as we condition mahaprasadam. Our tongue only want to relish palatable foodstuffs. Once during Kartik parikrama, Premananda Prabhu (a very senior disciple of my Srila Gurudeva) said that if we look at mahaprasadam as mere foodstuff, then it is an offense. He goes on to say that if we fall sick, the best remedy is mahaprasadam. Such is his conviction and faith towards mahaprasadam. Therefore this insignificant soul, is praying at the lotus feet of my Srila Gurudeva and great Vaishnavas that I maybe able to realise such truths in my heart. Mahaprasadamki jaya!!!

Today is Rama Navami. The pastimes of Lord Rama is endless. Lord Sankarsana Himself, who continuously sings the glories of Sri Rama with unlimited mouths is unable to touch the end in any way. Such is the glories of Sri Rama-katha. One of the most important lessons in Rama-katha is the way of love. Love is crooked. Love knows no rules and regulations. Love has its own way of doing things. Bharath wanted Rama to rule Ayodhya as the rightful king. Prior to this Rama was banished to the forest for 14 years. Bharath's love for Rama is an endless ocean. And Rama can sink in that ocean. But the question is, does Rama wants to come back and rule the kingdom? That was not Sri Rama's plan. Sometimes we force our way of thinking and our wants unto our beloved. Not knowing what our beloved actually wants. In the same way, we think we want to do this or that for our most worshipable Sri Guru. Yet we do not know what is the innermost desire of Sri Guru. Our material desires clouds us. It en...

In my previous post I did mention that I have a key chain with a picture of the Divine Couple. At the back the maha-mantra is printed. So whenever I teach my students I put this key chain on the table. One of my students, Rachel, liked the picture very much. She started to chant the maha-mantra. She initially chanted “Haribolo.” I was not feeling too good that day when I went to tutor her. Rachel felt sorry for me and said she would chant the maha-mantra 10 times! Just so I would not fall sick. How sweeeet! She did chant and prayed to the Divine Couple that her teacher will be healthy again. The Lord resides in the hearts of every living entity. One may not be exposed to any Vedic culture or even be practising vegetarianism. Krsna can make the impossible, to become possible. I did not preach anything to Rachel. All she saw in the beginning was a picture of Srila Gurudeva, the Deities and the devotees. And I said to her “Haribolo” to which she repeated it. And now some impression is the...

It was really spiritually uplifting when Darren ( see the previous post ) always chants Haribolo each time I chanted to him. Now I decided to try this on another student. I started saying Haribolo to Jason some time back. Each time I chant Haribolo, he reciprocates. And the best part no matter how many times I chant Haribolo, Jason would repeat it. The other day I was teaching his sister. And I was telling her (like all typical teacher does), "Do you understand?" Jason who happened to be in the room said, "No I don't understand. I only understand Haribolo." Of course I was a bit taken aback. But not entirely shocked. Somehow an impression has been made into this little boy's heart. And I did not even chant Haribolo to him first. This time he initiated it. The Lord's name is truly great. (O yes, his sister just laughed at her brother Jason. And she chanted Haribolo as well)

There are times when I try to think of ways to somehow get my students to chant the holy names. One sure way to get them all ears is to tell them ghost stories. But this is no ordinary ghost story. It involves Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur, who was a little boy at that time. It's the story of the temple ghost, where Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur chanted the whole night and delivered the ghost at the abandoned temple. This is how I got Darren, my 9 year old student to chant, "Haribolo!" At first I told him to raise both his arms and jump while chanting "Haribolo!" He did just that. So now, each time I chant "Haribolo!" Darren would also jump with upraised arms and chant "Haribolo!!" Sometimes even "Radhe Radhe!" The power of the holy name is simply unimaginable. Darren has no Indian or Vedic cultural background. He is an innocent child that simply listened to his teacher to chant. Most importantly wit...

(This story was related by Srimati Uma didi on Nityananda Prabhu's Appearance Day on 28th January 2010) Once there was a businessman. He loaded his donkey with rice, sugar and other foodstuffs and headed towards a hill. Soon it was almost evening. The business found a spot to rest. Before doing so he took out his ropes and bound each donkeys'legs to another. The next day the businessman went along his journey. He was already 30 miles away from the place he rested the previous night. Just then he remembered he left his ropes and it is quite impossible for him to get it back. Soon it will be night. He was worried his donkeys may wander away. At that moment a sadhu (holy man) came by. The holy man asked, "O sir, why do you look so worried?" The businessman said, "I forgot to bring the ropes to bind my donkeys. Now they may wander off!" "O don't worry. Just make hand gestures that you are binding your donkeys. And they will not move from there, ...

Party politics are everywhere. The other day I read the Bhagavad-gita verse 2 and 3 which only affirmed that such a thing has always existed. Here Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja explains that when Duryodhana saw the military phalanx arranged by the Pandavas, he got very disturbed. He asked his teacher Dronacarya about the matter. Dronacarya has taught the Kurus and the Pandavas, including the son of Maharaja Drupada who would end up killing Dronacarya. Although the big commander in chief Dronacarya and Grandfather Bhismadeva knew that the Kurus were wrong in waging a war against the Pandavas, still they sided with them. This was because they were obligated to the Kurus. The Kurus was maintaining them with financial support and so on. In the same way, sometimes they are so much party politics which would make one to take sides. Even though they know what they are doing is wrong. It is the “comfort zone” that they want to relish without taking into consideration of their own actions....