• Animals not made in
Krishna’s image
• Tailored shirt
• Human form unique
• Become Godly, not God
• Prabhupada reminds
us of our original nature
Anna moya - food
Prana moya - life forms
Jnana moya - thinking, feeling
Vijnana moya - brahman
Ananda moya - bliss
Hogs & Dogs
Every living being is
searching after happiness,
but no one knows where
eternal and unlimited
happiness is obtainable.
Foolish men seek after
material sense pleasure as a substitute for real
happiness, but forget that such happiness
derived from sense pleasures is also enjoyed by
the dogs and hogs. The human form of life,
however, is not meant for such cheap happiness..
SB 1/3/13
kaumara acaret prajno
dharman bhagavatan iha
durlabhah manusya janma
tad apy adhruvam arthadam
“One who is sufficiently intelligent should
use the human form of body from the very
beginning of life to practice devotional
service. The human body is most rarely
achieved, and although temporary like other
bodies, it is meaningful because one can
perform devotional service. Even a slight
amount of sincere devotional service can
give one complete perfection.
SB 7/6/1
Maharaj Kulashekhar
"My dear Lord, just now I
am quite healthy, and it is
better that I die
immediately so that the
swan of my mind can seek
pleasure at the stem of
Your Lotus Feet."
“One who is not envious but is a kind
friend to all living entities, who does
not think himself a proprietor, who is
free from false ego & equal both in
happiness & distress, who is always
satisfied & engaged in devotional
service with determination, & whose
mind & intelligence are in agreement
with Me, he is very dear to Me.”
Gita 12/13
Krishna wants you to be
mature in character.
Krishna is loving, Krishna
is fair, Krishna is truthful,
Krishna is kind, Krishna
is sensitive, Krishna is
always just and He wants
to make you like Himself
in those characteristics.
26 Characteristics of a Pure
Devotee
(1) He is very kind to everyone. (2) He does not make
anyone his enemy. (3) He is truthful. (4) He is equal to
everyone. (5) No one can find any fault in him. (6) He is
magnanimous. (7) He is mild. (8) He is always clean.
(9) He is without possessions. (10) He works for
everyone's benefit. (11) He is very peaceful. (12) He is
always surrendered to Krsna. (13) He has no material
desires. (14) He is very meek. (15) He is steady. (16) He
controls his senses. (17) He does not eat more than
required. (18) He is not influenced by the Lord's
illusory energy. (19) He offers respect to everyone. (20)
He does not desire any respect for himself. (21) He is
very grave. (22) He is merciful. (23) He is friendly. (24)
He is poetic. (25) He is expert. (26) He is silent.
In every
movement
Prabhupada made,
I could never find
any mistake. So
when you find
such a person
how can you let
them go?
Especially when
Prabhupada says,
“You can become
like me also.”
Shyamasundar
“Srila Prabhupada
gave us spiritual life.
He didn’t come to
exploit, but he genuinely
cared & was concerned
for everyone who came
to him. We definitely felt
that. Never before, from
anyone else in our lives,
not even our parents, had we felt the love & care
that Prabhupada felt for us. Krishna
consciousness was a process of falling in love
with Srila Prabhupada. We were responding to
the warm, deep, great love that he offered us.”
Malati
"One should know the
acarya as Myself and
never disrespect him in
any way. One should not
envy him, thinking him
an ordinary man, for he
is My representative."
(S.B. 11.17.27)
If you became more like Prabhupada in the
way that you think, in the
way you react, in the way
you respond to problems
and stress, in the
way you talk, do you
think maybe your
problems might be
fewer? Do you think your
stress level would be
lessened? Yes.
Because that’s life as it was meant to be lived.
“One who works in devotion, who is a pure
soul, & who controls his mind & senses, is
dear to everyone, & everyone is dear to him.
Though always working, such a man is never
entangled.” Gita 5/7
When you understand this third purpose of
Krishna, that He wants to make you godly
before you go into eternity, then life takes
on a whole new meaning and you look at
every circumstance with new eyes.
Jeweler works on stone
There is no situation in life that you can’t
learn from if you’ll just learn to say, ‘How
can I become more like Prabhupada
through this?’
Prakasanand Saraswati
Srnvatam sva katha Krishnam
Punya sravanam kirtanam
Hrdantas tu hi abhadrani
Vidhunoti shrt satam. SB 1/2/17
“When one is enlightened with the
knowledge by which nescience is
destroyed, this knowledge reveals
everything, as the sun lights up
everything in the daytime.” Gita 5/16
Devotional service is like a seed sown in the
heart of a living entity. If he
goes on hearing and
chanting: Hare Krishna,
Hare Krishna, Krishna
Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare
Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare,
that seed fructifies, just as the seed of a tree
fructifies with regular watering.
The spiritual plant of
devotional service
gradually grows and
grows until it penetrates
the covering of the
material universe and
enters into the
brahmajyoti effulgence in
the spiritual sky. In the
spiritual sky that plant
grows more and more
until it reaches the highest
planet, which is called
Goloka Vrndavana, the
supreme planet of
Krishna.
Krishna’s going to have to teach you patience.
Krishna’s going to have to teach you to be
unselfish. Krishna’s going to have to teach you all
kinds of character qualities that often are learned
during problems, during pain, during difficult
times, things that would normally discourage you
or depress you. Krishna is working on you to grow
your character and make you like Himself. That’s
why Krishna came to show us what He’s like and
that’s why Krishna allows problems in your life, to
make you godly.
“Srila Prabhupada, I am chanting. I am
following the program. I keep
wondering. Is it possible I will ever be a
pure devotee, like you?”
“Why not? You are in the process….”
Then he looked at me with a glimmer in
his eye. “But it may take some time.”
“Those who are on
this path are resolute
in purpose, and their
aim is one. O beloved
child of the Kurus,
the intelligence of the
irresolute is many
branched.” Gita 2/41
“I did not want to take
sannyas, because it is
a very difficult
position. But I
received that letter
from my Godbrother,
& around the same
time my guru
appeared to me three
times in dreams. Each
time he walked away
from me, turned
around, and beckoned
me to follow. In this
way, my Guru Maharaj
pulled me out of this
material world.”
“The consciousness of a
pure devotee is very
deep. It is like the ocean.
Near the surface there
may be many waves, but
as you go down into the
ocean, you will find that it
is still.”
“Is is like that even at
death?’
“Yes.”
A Psalm of Life
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream ! —
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real ! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal ;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time ;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
H. W. Longfellow 1838
Song of Surrender
He reasons ill who tells that Vaishnavas die
When thou art living still in sound.
The Vaishnavas die to live and living try
To spread a holy life around!
Now let the candid man that seeks to live
Follow thy way on shores of time.
Man! Man! Thou art immortal soul!
Thee Death can never melt.
For thee thy Sire on High has kept
A store of bliss above,
To end of time, thou art HisWho wants but purest love.
Bhaktivinode Thakur 1871
I don't know what you're going through
right now but I do know how Krishna
wants you to respond. He wants you to
respond the way Prabhupada did, with
patience, perseverance, & determination.
Life makes so much more sense when we
realize it's not about what we’re doing but
what we are becoming. It's not about our
comfort. But it's all about our character
and becoming like Prabhupada. Help us
to use life for the reasons that Krishna
gave it to us.
Dear Krishna, I don't want to stay stuck
in spiritual immaturity. I want to grow
up. I want to become what You made me
to be. I want to become more like
Prabhupada in the way that I think and
act and feel. If that means taking me
through troubled time, so be it. I say to
You, Krishna, Your will be done in my
life. I'm going to trust You.