Today I was reminded about how we connect with the Lord through the spiritual master and the guru parampara by way of chanting of the Holy names of Krsna. Srila Prabhupada described once that chanting is how we keep connected with Krsna....if we are seriously taking to this chanting on our beads then our connection will be stronger - if our chanting is ritualistic or just something we do because we have to (and not because we want to) then that connection with Krsna will not be strong.
The ball is in our court....we have the choice each second of our Japa to focus on the sound of the Maha mantra (and not the sound of our mind) - if we make the choice to listen to the mantra, then we are assured of success.
Let us chant is such a way that we can experience the Lord's spiritual energy in our lives.
From Namamrta by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada:
"Either in danger or happiness, a devotee constantly chants the maha-mantra:
"[Maitreya to Vidura]: Dhruva Maharaja, seeing that these uncommon personalities were direct servants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, immediately stood up. But being puzzled, in hastiness he forgot how to receive them in the proper way. Therefore he simply offered obeisances with folded hands and chanted and glorified the holy names of the Lord."
"Chanting of the holy names of the Lord is perfect in every way:
"When Dhruva Maharaja saw the Vishnudutas, the direct associates of Lord Vishnu, four-handed and nicely decorated, he could understand who they were, but for the time being he was puzzled. But simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord, the Hare Krishna mantra, he could satisfy the uncommon guests who had all of a sudden arrived before him. The chanting of the holy name of the Lord is perfect; even though one does not know how to please Lord Vishnu or His associates, simply by sincerely chanting the holy name of the Lord, everything becomes perfect. A devotee, therefore, either in danger or in happiness, constantly chants the Hare Krishna mantra. When he is in danger he is immediately relieved, and when he is in a position to see Lord Vishnu or His associates directly, by chanting this maha-mantra he can please the Lord. This is the absolute nature of the maha-mantra. Either in danger or in happiness, it can be chanted without limitation."
One can chant in any situation; it is always appropriate. It can be said as a greeting or as a farewell. "Hare Krishna" is the perfect thing to say. If you or someone with you has just said "Hare Krishna," it's the perfect utterance. If someone has just attained a success, chanting Hare Krishna is the right thing to say. One should not chant Hare Krishna hoping to gain material profit. And one should not chant desiring to hurt someone or to criticize someone. We should chant at the time of death. Dhruva Maharaja was so overwhelmed at seeing the Vishnudutas that he didn't know what to say to them. He began to say the holy names, and that perfectly satisfied them. They became enlivened by his glorification. And it is also said that if one is in a dangerous situation and doesn't know what to do, if he says the holy names of the Lord, it will bring him relief and Krishna will save him. So the maha-mantra is perfect for all seasons. One should not be embarrassed to chant nor think it is not the right occasion. As far as Krishna is concerned, or Krishna's devotees, they're always pleased to hear the holy names. There's no limit to its application.
I woke up at 12:00 midnight and got up from bed. I began chanting, but my rounds were very slow. A long time went by before the numerical count rose. By 3:30 I had not completed sixteen rounds but was a little short. This is an example of chanting too slowly. It seems to be due to a lack of alertness and concentration. I was not even aware of my failing but just noticed the slowness. It is probably due to not being fully awake. There does not seem to be an advantage in my getting up so early this morning. I wanted to chant with as much time as possible for good chanting, but it seemed to have a reverse effect. One should chant with a steady and standard schedule and keep up rapid chanting.
Saying the holy names is always the right thing to do. When he met the Vishnudutas, Dhruva didn't know what to say. But he chanted and it was accepted as the most welcome utterance. When you are in danger or happy it is the right thing to do. But this morning I chanted too slowly. You should face the Lord with presence of mind and alertly and personally address Him by saying His holy names. Don't fall to inattention when talking to Krishna. It is offensive behavior and doesn't bring the best results. Speaking quickly and from your heart, you can come close to Lord Hari in His names.
"I've got hundreds of photos of Prabhupada and supposedly I'm in each one. They are in no special order . . . 1973, 1971, 1977— mostly morning walks, and I am one of the crowd. I went through them like a file clerk. There I am, there he is, there's someone else . . . Look at us all surrounding him on the beach. That's Europe, there's Bhagavan dasa with long hair, Hamsaduta . . . I look so young and handsome in this one. Oh, this one I should keep separate, he is looking at me. I'm wearing a swami hat, I'm holding the microphone, Prabhupada has a special expression.
"Then I get confused, nothing seems real . . . I go outside and as I unlock the gate I see myself as in those photos young me and Prabhupada walking.
"But he is not here. I am alone. The young man is now old, walking alone on an Irish road. He is a writer who likes to live alone.
"Where is his spiritual master? Who is more important, guru or disciple? How is it possible we can all be accommodated as intimate servants of Gurudeva? You might as well ask how can so many members of the Yadu dynasty live in Dvaraka? How can millions of gopas and gopis play with Him? He can do it. I walk and chant as he told me and do this writing to offer to him."
Some like him best for being an aggressor, and he did kick on their faces with boots, the atheistic scientists and mayavadis. Some like him for his kindness. Out of compassion he conducted his mission to save souls. As a small humanitarian runs a soup kitchen, he gave out the maha-mantra to disentangle all conditioned jivas from suffering, by placing them at Krishna's lotus feet.
We like to hear the anecdotal pastimes—how he explained to Srutakirti why he allowed a divorce—because the man was going to do it anyway and it would be better that he not offend his spiritual master by defying a direct order or the way he accepted the toilet paper rolls from the Bowery bum: "He is not in order, but he has come to do some service."
In 1974, when he received a government notice that he was again blocked from building the temple in Bombay, he cried tears. "Will this temple never be built?"
He was a fighting soldier, a detached philosopher who saw everything operating as part of Krishna's inscrutable will. He rose at 1:00 A.M. in the morning to compose the translation and purport of Srimad-Bhagavatam with conviction that books were the basis, the foundation on which his movement would stand.
He liked the tape recorder. He could lecture in an obscure outpost or talk Vaisnava philosophy on a morning walk and it would be recorded and distributed and heard on tapes all over the world. One lady disciple plays the lecture tapes while she sleeps at night, a man listens to them while he eats, and both become deeply absorbed in Prabhupada's exact method of delivering the parampara.
He is humorous and serious and very standard in delivering Caitanya's message. He is humble in his heart, not thinking himself a great devotee, yet he stands proud as a lion representing his spiritual master in defiance of all non-bhagavata conclusions.
In old age and weak health he traveled many times around the world. He sacrificed his health, "gave gallons of blood" to establish the movement of Lord Caitanya in all countries of the world. How ambitious! Yet he wanted nothing for himself. He wanted it because Krishna wanted it and Krishna's representative, his guru maharaja, had told him to do it.
I have compiled a full biography of his life and even that does not tell all. Memoirs and homages are coming in wherever his devotees gather. This is just another footnote, and I hope to gain more insights and appreciations as I serve him and share them with the world so they may appreciate his greatness as among the greatest contributions of a Vaisnava.
I turned at random to Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto Five, Chapter 13, Verse 24:
"My dear King, O son of mother Uttara, there were some waves of dissatisfaction in the mind of Jada Bharata due to his being insulted by King Rahugana, who made him carry his palanquin, but Jada Bharata neglected this, and his heart again became calm and quiet like an ocean. Although King Rahugana had insulted him, he was a great paramahamsa. Being a Vaisnava, he was naturally very kindhearted, and he therefore told the King about the constitutional position of the soul. He then forgot the insult because King Rahugana pitifully begged pardon at his lotus feet. After this, he began to wander all over the earth, just as before."
Jada Bharata did become disturbed when King Rahugana insulted him, but he tolerated it, and when the king was repentant, Jada Bharata overlooked the offense and forgave him. We should be very careful not to offend great saintly persons. The mad elephant offense, guru-aparadha, occurs when we disobey the orders of the spiritual master. Thus we can destroy the growth of our devotional plant. If we become very submissive and repentant toward our disobedience—and if we rectify our behavior—the kind-hearted spiritual master will forgive us and grant us his shelter. If we do not do so, all the reactions will remain, and the results will be very unhappy. Song Fourteen of Bhaktivinoda Thakura's Kalyana Kalpataru is encouraging to my living in the Viraha Bhavan in the neighborhood of devotees in Stuyvesant Falls, New York.
Song Fourteen:
1. "My dear mind! You are addicted to traveling to the holy places. You want to visit Ayodhya, Mathura, Hardwar, Kashi, Kansipuram, Ujjain, Dvaraka, and other such places again and again, in the hopes of attaining liberation. 2. "Such travels to holy places are simply another form of illusion, and as such they are useless labor only. The fact is visiting holy places does not make a person's mind steady.
3. "The actual benefit of visiting holy places is association with the exalted devotees who reside there and the worship of the most enchanting Sri Krishna under their guidance. Wherever devotees reside is a holy place. Therefore, you should fix up your mind by constantly associating with devotees. 4. "I do not want to visit any holy places where Vaisnavas do not reside. What is the benefit of walking to distant places? Where the Vaisnavas reside, that place is Vrndavana, and so one can experience unlimited happiness there. 5. "That place where devotional service to Krishna is practiced, mukti or liberation resides as a maidservant, and the water found there is nondifferent than Ganges water. The mountains are nondifferent than Govardhana Hill. The land is nondifferent from Sri Vrndavana, and the pleasure potency of the Lord is personally manifest.
6. "Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says, 'O Brother, what is the use of traveling to the holy places? My only determination is to serve the Vaisnavas.'"
Krishna prasadam tastes so delicious because it is mixed with the saliva from Krishna's lotus mouth. Lord Caitanya tastes some Jagannatha prasadam and goes into ecstasy. He asks Ramananda Raya to recite a verse. He recites a verse about the gopis hankering for the taste of Krishna's lips. Lord Caitanya recites a similar verse. He distributes some Jagannatha prasadam to His associates, and they all feel bliss, and on His request they chant the holy names loudly. When food is offered to the Deity, it is called prasadam. When that prasadam is tasted by a devotee, the remnants are called maha-prasadam. When the devotees from Bengal are present for the four-month period, Lord Caitanya remains in external consciousness and reciprocates with them. But when they leave, He reverts to His internal mood and experiences intimate states in the mood of Radharani in separation from Krishna. One time He entered the Jagannatha temple and the gatekeeper came forward to greet him. The Lord asked him, "Where is Krishna?" The gatekeeper took his hand and said, "Come with me, I will show you Krishna." He took Lord Caitanya to the spot for viewing Lord Jagannatha. Lord Caitanya stood by the Garuda stambha, and as He viewed Lord Jagannatha, He saw Him as Krishna, the cowherd boy, carrying a flute and dressed in yellow garments. He saw Lord Jagannatha as Gopala. These are some of the pastimes of Lord Jagannatha at Nilacala in His later years.
In Caitanya-Bhagavata, we are hearing the glories of Murari Gupta. His wife cooked for him, and he took the rice and dal and threw it on the floor, crying, "Eat! Eat!" In this way he was offering the food to Krishna, and Krishna dutifully accepted it. His wife kept serving him more, and he threw it on the floor. The next morning Lord Caitanya came to Murari Gupta (who was a physician) and asked him for medicine. "What kind of indigestion do You have?" Murari asked. "Ah, you know I have indigestion," said the Lord, "because you fed Me so much yesterday. The cure for My indigestion will be to drink from your cup of water." Saying this, the Lord Caitanya drank from Murari's water cup and was cured. Murari contemplated that he was not a very good devotee, and he also contemplated that he did not want to live after the Lord's disappearance. With this in mind he decided to kill himself, and he set aside a knife in his house for the purpose. The omniscient Lord Caitanya went at once to Murari's house. He sat with him a while discussing Krishna, and then He came close to Murari and in a low voice said, "Give Me that knife!" The Lord went and got the knife Himself and reprimanded Murari for thinking of suicide. He said, "How could I enjoy My pastimes without you?" Murari fell at Lord Caitanya's feet and shed tears of love. Another time Lord Caitanya manifested His four-armed form and called for Garuda. Murari came running into the room and said, "I am your Garuda, Lord. Just ask me and I will carry You wherever You want to go in the universe." Lord Caitanya climbed on the shoulders of Murari Gupta and Murari ran to and fro in the courtyard. The devotees watching were astonished and cried out. They glorified the great fortune of Murari Gupta and worshiped Lord Caitanya in His four-armed form. These are just a few of the many confidential pastimes of Murari Gupta with Lord Caitanya. The nondevotees cannot believe these stories, but they are worshiped by the pure devotees of Lord Caitanya. Anyone who blasphemes a devotee like Murari Gupta, even if he is a big sannyasi or yogi, will go to the hell known as Kumbhipakha.
A new sankirtan initative has started in the Benelux, in a devotee friendly way. With no pressure and based on fun, the monthly festival of Sankirtan Saturday was created. It started on the weekend of Oct. 8th and 9th. Some factors were: language barriers (the books are in Dutch, French, and English) and devotees feeling scared to go. Ninety percent of them never have done sankirtana.
Posters flooded the castle walls of Radhadesh: Sankirtana Saturday.
On Friday morning, Partha-sarathi gave the Bhagavatam class, juicy and full of sankirtana sanitations for the soul. He brought out the sankirtana strength again, by holding a Friday evening sankirtana seminar.
We all caught some good rest, to be ready for the next day's operation. We met outside the castle. The troops arrived, one at a time. A couple of the youth came: Manoj and Lalita. Srila Prabhupada's mission is gradually changing hands. We had seventeen devotees, and a boot (trunk) full of books.
We crossed the border into Holland and found a mall in the middle of Maastricht, where we parked our two vans underground. We split into teams.
Partha and I were already teamed, and we also had our books ready, so we almost ran off the scene. The other devotees caught up, and we all packed into the elevator, a bit worried that we had overloaded it. It was a beautiful sunny day, and church bells were ringing.
Partha and I wandered around and stopped stray young people. Partha mostly capitalized on the stress of the material world. It's normally difficult for people to admit they are suffering, but it is a powerful thing.
We constantly swept through the area, checking on the other distributors. We made sure that they were focused and having fun. Everyone was having a great time, and many books were going out.
Partha stopped a cancer patient; he was in his early twenties and seemed to be a nice guy. He wasn't inclined to take the book, but Partha insisted: "Just take it as a gift." Partha kind offer touched the young man's heart. He now was so enthusiastic to have the book that he gave both of us a hug. His fate might have been sealed, but Krsna was not going to let his life go in vain.
The seventeen devotees distributed 264 books, and felt fired up to do more at the next sankirtana festival. The book distributors and the public had a great experience feeling the flow of Srila Prabhupada's mercy.
Your servant, Madhavendra Puri Dasa. (Text D:3714593) -------------------------------------------
You are personally invited to attend Harinam in Sydney, next Thursday. Meet us at 7pm on the corner of George and Bathurst Street. Bring your singing voice and your dancing shoes. Check out the video below and experience the bliss and ecstacy of chanting the names of Krishna, for the eternal benefit of those spirit souls who hear.
Make plan to come along on Thursday, you won't regret it. The more who come the better it will. Don't be late, we'll be waiting for you.
1967 October 16: "Kirtanananda has not rightly understood Krishna Consciousness philosophy. He has been attacked by maya; he is a victim. We shall pray to Krishna for his recovery but we cannot allow him to speak on my behalf." Prabhupada Letters :: 1967
1967 October 16: "Why are you disturbing the whole situation in my absence? You have not understood Krishna properly, please therefore do not misrepresent me. If you love me please do not talk but chant in solitary place - anywhere you like." Prabhupada Letters :: 1967
1968 October 16: "The Ravana class want Sita without Rama and therefore havoc. We want to perfect everything with Krishna Consciousness. Our policy is without Krishna, everything is zero. But zero by the side of Krishna, then it is 10, 1,000, 1,000,000." Prabhupada Letters :: 1968
1968 October 16: "In future we can open centers in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Fiji, Bangkok, Sydney, New Zealand, and all neighboring islands. And Hawaii will be our center for spreading Krishna Consciousness in the Pacific." Prabhupada Letters :: 1968
1968 October 16: "I have come here on the order of my Spiritual Master, I am nonentity; there is no credit for me, all the credit goes to my Spiritual Master. He has arranged everything, and I am simply to abide by His order." Prabhupada Letters :: 1968
1971 October 16: "Somehow or other on account of their previous pious activities, they have come to Krishna Consciousness. So amongst ourselves we should treat one another very sympathetically so that our missionary activities may go on unhampered." Prabhupada Letters :: 1971
1971 October 16: "I hope the Deity worship is going on very nicely; dress, flowers, ornaments, arati, cleanliness, foodstuffs, all of them must be regular, accompanied by kirtana, street sankirtana, distribution of literature, etc." Prabhupada Letters :: 1971
1973 October 16: "As soon as the older boys can read Sanskrit and English, they should read our books, such as Bhagavad-gita As It Is. Their attention will be always in Krsna consciousness. That will save them from the clutches of maya." Prabhupada Letters :: 1973
If you free yourself from the perceived rigidity of the situation and see things from enough perspectives, you can almost always find usable solutions.
Modern agricultural science considers soil in terms of chemicals. A better way to see the soil is in terms of energy. Energy flows between the earth's two poles.
The various mineral compounds in the soil allow this energy to flow in different amounts. If you get too much mineralization you can have too much flow. Too little and you won't have enough energy flow.
Let's take a practical example. If you fill a bathtub with distilled water, turn on a hair dryer, and drop it in, what will happen?
Nothing – because it is distilled water.
Now add some minerals, such as epsom salts – which is magnesium sulfate, two necessary minerals in the soil. If you're in the tub of distilled water when the hair dryer is dropped in, and you slowly add epsom salt, at some point your body will start to tingle. As you keep adding more you'll start feeling uncomfortable. Keep going and you'll get seriously shocked, and if you get enough salts in the water, you'll kill yourself instantly.
Please don't try this experiment at home!
It is the same with plants. You might hear about "burning the plant roots" by adding too much fertilizer. What's actually happening is that there is too much electrical current flowing, that's what burns the plants. Mosture content also impacts this – if your soil is very wet the plants won't get burned as much, but when it starts to dry out a little then they'll get burned more. It's like letting the bathtub water evaporate – the mineral concentration is getting higher and the energy flow increases.
Now suppose there is a natural current in the water that you can't turn off. And you want to take a bath, and you want some epsom salts because it's good for sore muscles and you worked hard in the garden all day. How do you prevent yourself from getting shocked? (Remember there is a hypothetical current that you can't turn off.) How do you know how much epsom salt you can safely add?
You can test the conductivity of the water for minerals already in solution, and only add epsom salts if the conductivity is low enough. And you can test while you're adding to make sure you don't add too much.
Similarly, suppose you need some minerals in your garden, because you see some mineral deficiencies in the plants. An example can be found here: http://4e.plantphys.net/article.php?ch=3&id=289.
But how much should be applied?
Test the conductivity of the soil. If it is already high and you add more minerals you can burn the plants. This also applies to organic fertilizers, although there is less chance because most organic fertilizers have lower percentages of minerals.
Therefore we only fertilize when the conductivity is low. This won't tell you what minerals are needed – that is done with a soil test and by watching the plants for signs of nutrient excesses or deficiencies – but it will tell you whether or not it is safe to add nutrients, and prevent you from adding too much.
How do you test your soil conductivity? The easiest and cheapest way is with an electrical conductivity meter (EC meter). You can buy them online for as little as $30-40.
If you have a TDS meter (Total Dissolved Solids) you can also use it - but you have to convert the reading by multiplying by 1.7. TDS meters are often sold with RO water purifier units. For more detailed information on conversions between EC and TDS see http://www.hydroponics.net/learn/debate_over_ec_and_tds.asp
First prepare your sample to test. Take a small sample of soil in one cup, and mix it with an equal volume of DISTILLED water from another cup. The soil should not have any pieces of organic matter in it. ½ cup of soil and ½ cup of water is sufficient. Stir the mixture up really well and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Stir it up again, and take a reading by inserting the meter tip into the mixture.
If the number is less than 200 you should fertilize. (Remember to adjust the reading for TDS meters.) What kind of minerals you add will be according to the soil test results or according to any mineral deficiencies you see in the plants. Don't just add indiscriminately unless you can see that you need it, or based on the annual soil test.
Conventional agriculture often says (as an example) "side dress with x amount of nitrogen after two months." The result is often a waste of fertilizer, and over-fertilization which can bring a host of other problems – not the least of which is pollution of water supplies. Excess nitrogen can also increase pest problems and produces low-quality food.
Conductivity around 200 or below means your plants will not grow much. Conductivity at around 1000 means you have far too much nutrients or salts already, which will usually be evident by problems in the garden such as root rot, nematodes or plant wilt.
If the conductivity is above 600 then you should not fertilize unless you really know what you're doing, because there is a good chance you'll burn the plants. And if is between 200 and 600 then you can fertilize, but do so with caution if it is above 400. A range of around 200-500 is very good for robust growth.
In new gardens that are actively planted you sometimes cannot put the full quantity of minerals needed all at once, because you might burn the plants. Some beginning soils are very deficient in nutrients that the plants need. If your soil is in the upper range it is better to fertilize more frequently with less fertilizer, cautiously.
Fertilizers include organic sources such as seed meals, and any other type of fertilizer or soil amendment. If you're adding compost, you can also test the conductivity of the compost itself. Finished compost should have a conductivity of around 1500, whereas unfinished compost (which should never be added to the garden) can be as high as 100,000.
Remember the first rule of high brix gardening is to only put into the soil what the soil needs, and that is based on the soil test. (Get the weak-acid test, also known as the Morgan Extract.)
For more detailed information here are two great sources.
You are chanting. I am very much pleased. That's all. I came to your country to chant, that 'You chant also along with me.' So you are helping me by chanting. So I am pleased.
The following lecture was given by H.H. Bhakti Caru Swami Maharaja on September 7th, 2010, in ISKCON Ujjain. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam Canto 3: The Status Quondash; Chapter 24: The Renunciation of Kardama Munindash; Text 39
We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who participated in the World Holy Name Festival. Devotees held World Holy Name Festival events all over the world. Please let us know how you celebrated.
By Dinadayal dasa 
How nice it is when devotees are thinking about and asking help to increase their service to Krsna.
