Print This Page

Hari bol dear devotees! My dandavat pranams to all of you. We are in Puerto Rico with 5 devotees, which includes the protector of the yatra, Balarama prabhu, the son of Vaisnava. Everything is auspicious. The temple is next to the airport at the moment and prabhu Upendra, a friend for many years, is providing his place for preaching. It is easy to reach and incredibly hot. Today there is a festival. The prospects for preaching here is great. Puerto Rico is very big and there are a lot of places. The people are happy to know about Vrinda and our efforts in South America. Really, they made a good impact with all the prints and CDs, and Vaisnava prabhu is making efforts to increase everything. I am investing how to preach on this island, aand with the same enthusiasm as always to attend those adorable vaisnavas with everything that my spiritual master gave to me

The topic of today if very important; it is called “The Spiritual Heritage”. In the very moment of initiation, the spiritual master makes his son or daughter heir the most valuable which he himself inherited from his Guru. It is not about material property, fame or power. It is about the heritage to be able to be a real and loving servant, to be a being that achieves the maximal perfection in his life, simply by accepting that I am an eternal servant of the truth, the maintainer and creator and all his creation.

Incalculable heritage

Possibly this heritage includes donations, support, temples, farms or something else included, on behalf of your Guru, for you use them exclusively for the service. The heritage of the spiritual master is incalculable, but its essence, which is at the disposition of all his sons who take this connection serious, is in the pureness of the purpose, in the effort to escape maya and to help others to escape from maya.

My guru wanted to connect me with the maximum. He had no intention to connect me with something material or mental; he always wanted to serve the parampara, Sri Sri Mahaprabhu and Radha Govindaji with all his life and soul, body, mind and words – everything for the service of the Lord. So life is spiritual. The heritage of my Guru is the treasure of my life. My parents gave me something of the so called suicidal western civilisation. They did not even teach me to respect the animals. It was Srila Prabhupada who with all respect gave me the meaning of life and an appreciation for all which exist.

The father maybe leaves a house or more, and very often the brothers quarrel like dogs over some bricks when the father dies. Those who see the heritage of the spiritual father as something material, they can also worry about who will manage the temple or something of what the Guru did for Krsna, and sometimes they want to divert the pure heritage to their impure purposes. This would be very lamentable for them, while for the real disciples this is only an impulse to follow the steps of the Guru and put everything which Krishna gives to them into His service.

Sincerely nothing material can be important. For example, comparing how much money the USA is spending everyday for their war in Iraq – it is more money than the value of all krsna-temples of the world. But we cannot compare the material with the spiritual. One single soul that is saved from maya is worth more than all treasures of the world. Like Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati said: To free one soul of maya, a minimum of 20 gallons of blood have to be spilled. Uff! A disciple potentially receives all the treasure of his Guru encapsulated in the moment of initiation. He promises to live like a representative of the instructions of his Guru. By being honest in that, the heritage reveals itself more and more.

Be rendered

Srila Sridhara Maharaja, my beloved Sannyas Guru, once said to my spiritual brothers after the departure of our Srila Prabhupada: “You will have to render yourselves more to the truth with this cargo”. Some were disturbed, thinking: “Srila Prabhupada entrusted us with the leadership that means we are very much rendered to him”. That pride had fatal results. We are always students. Never the heritage is ours. The real property of the heritage is in your heart. All rights are reserved. Only those who are pure in their intentions receive more realization. We are students eternally, with the necessity to be very, very, very humble and very, very, very loving with everyone. Those who are not humble with other vaisnavas will only suffer, and in the same proportion they will lack the realization of the essence of the heritage.

When my Guru was present, I carried my treasure in the form of being able to present him personally to the people. That is the greatest present of love. Therefore the devotee always tries to increase the family of his spiritual master. When one comes to a city, one immediately can see who is a preacher by heart. Without any doubts, they have a list of people who are enthusiastic to meet with their Guru. They are generous to share their Guru with the world. But there are also those who do not want to cooperate. They want the Guru for themselves. They even get annoyed if the Guru talks more with other new persons and not so much with them. Well, those are the steps of progress of the people. Not all can understand these secrets of spiritual heritage.

If you distribute more you will receive and realize more; that is the key. Studying makes no realization, but distributing generously does make realization. Do not enjoy, but try to be enjoyed by Krsna and his exemplary devotees. Make that everyone appreciates the vaisnavas. Never talk with others about the defects of other vaisnavas. You also do not like if others divulge your imperfections. Only the friend of my soul, the sadhu, may know everything and will advise me with love. We all need the sadhus that lead us. They are also our treasures. People of bad example cannot help me and if I speak of their defects, the same defects want to manifest in me. It is like spitting against a ventilator which is blowing air in your direction. So your own mucus will cover you.

The golden rule

Reunions are to secure that everyone is inspired in the congregation. To talk bad about others publicly, to fight and quarrel will never animate anyone. We must not even talk bad about a non-devotee. The golden rule is to hate the sin but to feel compassion with the sinner. Here we only suffer our own ignorance. If somebody comes to reproach us our ignorance it won't help much. It rather causes rejection in me. But if someone comes with love to free me from ignorance it can be my salvation. This happened when our Guru Srila Prabhupada came to save us. He came with much love, singing in the streets of the world, spending money for millions to glorify the Lord, Saviour of the souls, cooking, decorating the Deities, taking us to Vrindavan, making big festivals like the Ratha Yatra and thousands of other things… just by dragging us to the exit of our ignorance. That is our only example.

So do not permit your mind to think bad of persons who my spiritual master tries to save. If he accepts and occupies them in something, it is not my right to talk bad about them, and much less to doubt the efforts of my master to save them in the same way as he tries with me. The mind is very dangerous, betraying and generally not devotional. Be careful with it, always chanting the glories of the Lord and his devotees. That purifies the mind. The devotees must not forget that no injustice exists, as Krsna knows everything. And if there is a person who is very distorted, Krsna knows it and takes his steps. Of course, privately i may inform my Guru and the locally responsible devotees if a member does bad things to himself or to the interests of the mission. This is logical, because we try to protect those who we are offering to Krsna. It is not what they call “Frog” in South America; it is rather a service to inform the sadhu that a member needs immediate attention; that he is in some danger. But do not circulate it, because it does not help anyone to know that there are devotees who are struggling, who slipped and try to rise again with the merciful help of the Guru. The Guru personifies the forgiveness. If he cannot forgive, then to whom can we go? Nobody must censure the Guru from trying to save a soul.

Krsna is the controller

I remember cases where Srila Prabhupada tried to save people where the other devotees felt that it would be futilely. Could it be that the Guru knows everything he must know??? That question appears frequently to me. Could it be that the Guru has enough information for his decisions??? Well, never think like that, because Krsna is the controller. But if you think that your Guru needs any more information about a case X and you do have that information, offer it with much humility so that the situation can be understood better. But never doubt that Krsna is the controller for the best.

Once I asked Srila Sridhara Maharaja: "What happens if a big devotee commits something insane or stupid?" He answered: "If he is guilty because of a material interest, he will pay the reaction, but if he thought to please Krsna, Lord Krsna will make a wonder of his error.” What about one more time? There ain't nothing bad without good reason. Dear devotees, there are a lot of recommendations like this for you so that you may enjoy the great heritage that Srila Prabhupada left me and which I try to transfer to all who desire it.

A system for clearness

These chats are part of it and I am very grateful to be able to be so close to you by this means. Here comes a very personal comment, and it is to preserve my capacity to serve you in this way. Honestly, my mail is good for urgencies; important decisions. But for cases of small quarrels etc, it is rather a nuisance. I like to talk with all and to give good advices for everyone. I would be happy to have the whole day only for you, dear reader, but in practice I have to manage my time very well.

So if in a temple, or if in your relations there appears a difficulty, do not think that only by writing to me I can solve it. In all conflicts one first has to listen to both sides, something that does not manifest in the chat normally. Then I have to study both sides and ask questions to bring some light into it, and after that I have to find a solution which is pleasant for all. So you can see that for that the means of the chat is improper. Therefore, potential quarrels have to be presented by mail to Pancatattwa in the following form: the complaint, the defence and the person whom the complaint is about and an impartial comment of a local devotee of my confidence about the topic; all this together in a document. It is more trouble for you, but it is less trouble for me and additionally it permits me to have it at the time of my disposition and not in the middle of many other services.

Besides this, you mature in that way, and you will see that a lot of troubles will resolve only by talking humbly with the person of the conflict and with an impartial observer of my confidence. Because in a humble conversation 95% of all misunderstandings will be resolved. Of course, I do not deny listening and helping the devotees in whatever. I am yours. I do what you ask me so that I happily can continue the service to the Supreme. That is my life.

Do not feel bad that I make this system to get more clearness of the conflicts and not receive large messages in the chat without knowing the details nor having time to inquire about everything, but you more or less want a perfect judgement from me. This means of chat is also to enthuse, and the letters of a well studied character are to find solutions.

Thank you for your understanding and it is the same if different devotees have different concepts how services may be conducted, rather not a conflict, just an important question with system.

The heritage of Srila Prabhupada, ki jay!
The marathon to serve the heritage of Srila Prabhupada ki jay

Always your well-wisher,
B.A. Paramadvaiti Swami