Rays of The Harmonist
- Remain in the Line of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
- What Śrī Caitanya Meant by Theism
- Call Out, Weeping
by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Māhārāja
❝Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura is a liberated mahāpuruṣa. After the six Gosvamīs, he is the seventh Gosvāmī. His Jaiva-dharma, his other books, all his books that are there, his commentary on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that is no longer available, his commentary on Vedānta and his commentaries on all Gosvāmīs’ literatures, beginning from Vilāpa-kusmañjali to Manaḥ-śikṣā and so on, Mahaprabhu’s Śikṣāṣṭaka, Upadeśāmṛta – he has written a commentary on all of them after deeply entering [realizing the essence of] those books. If anyone opposes one such as Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, should we go to such a person? Never! Don’t go! Not to speak of gopī-prema, even if he gives everything [related to that], then also, don’t go. Understand this: what he is giving is not gopī-prema. Do not be khaḍa-jaṭhiyā. ❞ ..
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by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
❝The Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya has asked all sections of the people of this world not to tamper with or mutilate the Absolute Truth with their crippled attempts to regulate Him, but rather to approach Him with an absolutely clean and sincere heart, in which His own feature will be revealed.❞ ...
Read Moreby Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Māhārāja
❝In happiness and distress, in dissent and calamity, in every situation, we have to call out, weeping, to Śrī Gurudeva, Śrī Gauracandra and Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa at every moment. If we are calling out to them sincerely, they will surely bestow their mercy. However, we face obstacles in our calling out.❞ ..
Read MoreRenouncing The Rotten
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You know that everyone wants to be happy - all living entities. But Krishna has arranged that no one in this world will ever be happy. They cannot be happy. You should realize that in this world there is no happiness - no tranquility. Even if a man has wealth, and has all means to be happy, still, some dangerous sickness, some problem, some roga, disease, will come. It may be that in one's young age a person may not be weak; but then old age comes...
All Will Be In Vain
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If you want to make advancement, then make friendship with a devotee who is superior to you in bhakti, who has love and affection for you, and who is svajatiya, like-minded. 'Like-minded' refers to one who is like-minded for paramartha (transcendental life) - not for worldly things. He should be an ocean of the type of prema for which you aspire. By hearing from him, you develop increased steadiness in bhakti, and you also develop all the stages beyond that...
Learning Verses by Heart
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You should realize the mood of these verses. I am giving you these verses so that you will truly realize them and enter the realm of bhakti. If you see a beautiful lady, are your eyes and heart attracted to her, or not? Though you reject the idea, still your heart goes there. It is extremely difficult to be a muni, one who is undisturbed in the midst of all adversities. You must realize this, and with tears in your eyes, pray all these verses.
Lessons From The Lives Of Dhruva Maharaja And Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami
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What you are doing all day long, can you take it with you after death or not? If anyone will take they can raise their hand? Can you, your father, your mother, your friends? You cannot take anything, even a particle of dust from here. Then why are you doing all these things? To be happy! Oh, you cannot be happy by this. More problems will. They are discussing, how to be happy. How our soul will be happy?
Is Srila Jiva Gosvami Different?
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Jiva Gosvami also means to say that since the svarupa of the jiva, which is in an unmanifest or seed-like state in the jiva's conditioned life, has everything in it in seed form (as a seed of a tree has the whole tree in it). Therefore, the planet on which we live, Vaikuntha, Vrndavana, etc., is also there in the soul. In this way the parsada, the spiritual body of the jiva that is presently in a latent position can also be explained....
Srila Jiva Gosvami
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All jivas (spirit souls) have a special relationship with Sri Krsna. Some are related with Him in the mood of friendship. Others have a relationship in the mood that "Krsna is my son," and that is called parental mood (vatsalya). Moreover, some have the mood that "Krsna is my beloved." All jivas have their own original, eternal relationship with Krsna...
Srila Jiva Gosvami's Disappearance Day
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Today is a very auspicious day. It is the disappearance day of Srila Jiva Gosvami. We don't observe the disappearance days of Lord Krsna, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Lord Rama or any other incarnation of Bhagavan, but we observe the disappearance days of His associates. By such observance we learn many things about their worshipable Sri Sri Radha-Krsna, Sriman Mahaprabhu and Lord Nityananda Prabhu...
Srila Jiva Gosvami's Appearance Day
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Srila Jiva Gosvami was the nephew of Srila Rupa Gosvami and Srila Sanatana Gosvami. He is a direct disciple of Srila Rupa Gosvami, and Srila Rupa Gosvami engaged him in the service of proofreading all his writings - his books. Actually, “proofreading” is not a completely appropriate word, because Srila Rupa Gosvami cannot make any mistakes. Rather Srila Rupa Gosvami engaged Srila Jiva Gosvami in this way, to bestow mercy upon him...
Accepting A Guru
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Vijaya: Prabhu, please give us some detailed instructions regarding accepting shelter at the lotus feet of a spiritual master (śrī-guru-pādāśraya).
A New Year's Greeting
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I wish you all a happy New Year. The New Year we are now celebrating is according to Western calculation. This mainly affects our physical body and mind, because those in the Western world are very concerned about their physical health and mind – not more than that. Very few persons in the Western world know about the soul...
Sudama Vipra Visits Dvarakadisa Krishna
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Sometimes we are very worried. How will we maintain our family, also worried for ourselves? Very worried. What is the meaning of this? That you have no belief in Krishna. If we are worried for anything in this world, what is this? What will be of this? Then you have no strong belief in Krishna. Krishna has told, "Believe Me." If Krishna is our protector...
The Appearance Day of Srila Bhaktivedanta Vamana Maharaja
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Vamana Maharaja is very grave and quiet, and there is another special quality that he possesses: I have seen many people, myself included, who give explanations from the scriptures and enjoy taking praise from others for it. But having known Vamana Maharaja for almost fifty years, I have never seen him do this, not even by accident. He is also very tolerant...
Srila Gurudeva's Tirobhava Mahotsava in Seva-kunja
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On December 15th this year, programs were held celebrating the appearnce of nitya-lila-pravista om visnupada Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Vamana Gosvami Maharaja and the disappearance festival of nitya-lila-pravista om visnupada Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja...
Rays - First Disappearance Day Anniversary
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The Rays of The Harmonist team humbly announces the last of three special editions published in honour of Srila Gurudeva. This beautiful third edition is dedicated to the first disappearance day anniversary of Srila Gurudeva...
Guru-Devatatma
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First, we must think that guru is our ātmā, our life and soul. Being totally surrendered to him, we must depend solely on him... If we serve Kṛṣṇa under the guidance of sad-guru, then certainly, like magic, we will be out of māyā...
Javala and Satyakama
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Javala was a widow. She had one young son named Satyakama. One day, Satyakama approached her and said, "Mother, I want to adopt a vow of sacred celibacy and take up residence in the school of my guru. But to do so, I must know my family lineage."
