Showing posts with label the holy name. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the holy name. Show all posts

Thursday, August 27, 2009

the spirit of real cooperation

Due to egoism, everyone thinks, "I can judge others. I am right. You are wrong. If you stand between me and my aspirations for profit, adoration, and distinction, then you become my enemy." Where there is disunity amongst devotees, there cannot be proper sankirtan, we cannot chant together in the proper spirit to please Krsna, we cannot serve together.

When Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur saw his own devotees fighting amongst themselves, he was willing to sacrifice everything and anything he had to bring about unity. He knew that unity alone would empower this movement to please Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and thus fulfill The Lord's mission.

For Srila Prabhupada also, this was a great worry. "Show your love for me by how you cooperate." This cooperation is not an ordinary material formula. You cannot cooperate unless you are really trying to follow the essence of Srila Prabhupada and Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's teachings. Without wearing this shloka - trinad api sunicena, taror api sahishnuna, amanina manadena, kirtaniya sada hari - around our necks, strung by the holy name, there can be no real cooperation.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

the holy name is a worshipable deity

The Holy Name is a worshipable murti (deity). In fact, in this age of Kali Yuga, it is the most important murti, or form, of the Lord. Srila Prabhupada explained the difference between many other temples where everything is just centered around worshipping the deity. But in this age of Kali Yuga, that simply does not work. We make our life centered around the deity in the temple because that helps to facilitate us to actually approaching Him through His name. 

Everything we do in deity worship is connected with the name of Krishna. You cannot make a single offering without the name of Krishna. And when the devotees come before the deities, they practice the yuga dharma, the eternal service and religion of the soul, which gives the greatest pleasure to the deities. And that is coming together to dance gracefully, to chant the Holy Names: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.