Sound Bhakti

You don’t have to look elsewhere. If your mind goes searching for something else, bring it back. Bring it back; it’s a reminder. 'Nāma binā kichu nāhiko āro, caudda-bhuvana-mājhe'—there’s nothing within any of the worlds. Doesn't matter where you go—up, down, or middle—you can’t find anything that’s not there in the Holy Name. The Holy Name is the source of everything and the source of everyone; i...

Question by HG Vaisesika Dasa: I was interested in how we might cultivate the mood You emphasized. It's not by our supposed expertise in anything or our positive thinking, but by the descending mercy that comes by rigidly adhering to the orders of the spiritual master. If you could elaborate that point and give any advice to us of how we might attain success through that principle—as we're interes...

We see things are 'powered by this' and 'powered by that.' That should be our motto, our slogan for ISV: 'Powered by Japa.' Because that’s where we have the opportunity to express our heart to Kṛṣṇa individually, reach out, and take shelter, and remember every day. Remember why we’re here in the first place. It is a very short ride, but an opportunity to take shelter of Kṛṣṇa; and you can best tak...

(1) ohe! vaiṣṇaba ṭhākura, doyāra sāgara, e dāse koruṇā kori' diyā pada-chāyā, śodho he āmāya, tomāra caraṇa dhori (2) chaya bega domi', chaya doṣa śodhi', chaya guṇa deho' dāse chaya sat-sańga, deho' he āmāre, bosechi sańgera āśe (3) ekākī āmāra, nāhi pāya bala, hari-nāma-sańkīrtane tumi kṛpā kori', śraddhā-bindu diyā, deho' kṛṣṇa-nāma-dhane (4) kṛṣṇa se tomāra, kṛṣṇa dīte pāro,...

I have a few sayings I want to put down for you here in the last few minutes. One is the question to ask whenever something comes up in your life—and you can use this all day long: 'What’s the lesson?' When you ask what the lesson is, then you train yourself to react to things in a responsible way, rather than becoming a victim. Next is a mantra: 'Things are never as good as they seem, or as bad a...

Śrīla Prabhupāda talks about just listening. Just listening is enough to give us advancement in our japa and, hence, in our spiritual lives. Because japa is the basis. If we notice where our mind is going, we just gently pull it back to the sound vibration. I find myself that whatever I spend my day on—or whatever I am doing when I’m not doing my japa—that’s where my mind tends to wander: where I...

If you go around India, or even around Silicon Valley or London, you may find churches, temples, mosques—places where people are pointing their attention in worship. You know, the word comes from the word "worth" (W-O-R-T-H). When something is "worth" something, you consider it most valuable; that’s where you put your attention. When you put "-ship" on the end of the word "worth," you get "worth-s...

Whenever a kīrtana of pure devotees takes place, the Lord is immediately present. By chanting the holy names of the Lord, we associate with the Lord personally. (Cc Madhya 1.126) ------------------------------------------------------------ To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campai...

Any person in any part of the world can take up this simple process of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and using resources to help expand the Saṅkīrtana movement; and Prabhupāda showed how successful that can be. Caitanya Mahāprabhu also taught that it's important to avoid offenses while chanting, and one of the ways to avoid offenses is to take shelter of Lord Nityānanda and Lord Caitanya, because Lord Nityā...

Chapter Eleven The Universal Form TEXT 1 arjuna uvāca mad-anugrahāya paramaṁ guhyam adhyātma-saṁjñitam yat tvayoktaṁ vacas tena moho ’yaṁ vigato mama TEXT 2 bhavāpyayau hi bhūtānāṁ śrutau vistaraśo mayā tvattaḥ kamala-patrākṣa māhātmyam api cāvyayam TEXT 3 evam etad yathāttha tvam ātmānaṁ parameśvara draṣṭum icchāmi te rūpam aiśvaraṁ puruṣottama TEXT 4 manyase yadi tac chakyaṁ mayā draṣṭum iti pra...

Sincerity, Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, is the infallible way in which one can come to understand clearly who one is and who Kṛṣṇa is. He says it in the 10th Chapter of the Gītā: teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te He said, if you're sincere and you try to understand me even in the simplest way, even if you're not taking advantage, Prabhup...

The nectar of life is concentration on Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa is present in His name. So you can trust the process: if you give yourself to full focus on the name, then you’ll become absorbed and attracted. And it’s not difficult. In rajas, the mind says, "I want to go somewhere else. I want to go somewhere else. I want to go somewhere else." And the mind flees to try to find some variety in the materia...

Chapter Eleven The Universal Form TEXT 1 arjuna uvāca mad-anugrahāya paramaṁ guhyam adhyātma-saṁjñitam yat tvayoktaṁ vacas tena moho ’yaṁ vigato mama TEXT 2 bhavāpyayau hi bhūtānāṁ śrutau vistaraśo mayā tvattaḥ kamala-patrākṣa māhātmyam api cāvyayam TEXT 3 evam etad yathāttha tvam ātmānaṁ parameśvara draṣṭum icchāmi te rūpam aiśvaraṁ puruṣottama TEXT 4 manyase yadi tac chakyaṁ mayā draṣṭum iti pra...

When you learn a musical instrument, did your teacher ever tell you that you have to practice at least half hour a day? Otherwise don't come back. And if you've ever had a week where you goofed off and you didn't do it, when you go back to your teacher, you really don't have any questions. But if you work hard and you do your half hour a day, inevitably, when you go back, you're going to have ques...

It’s mentioned in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta by Kavirāj Goswāmī that the mode in which Chaitanya Mahāprabhu conducted himself at Kūramkṣetra was the same as he did everywhere. In a village near here, he met a very well-to-do person named Kūrma. He was a Brāhmana and a gṛhasta. He was also the leader of his community. When he saw Srī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, as you might expect, Mahāprabhu was so attract...

One of the great joys of book distribution is distributing a book, and then a moment later, watching somebody pensively reading it. Have you ever seen that? Has anybody ever seen that? How many have really seen it? Raise your hand. It's nice right?. In the airport where we distributed books, sometimes person would buy a book, and then they'd sit down on the bench because they're waiting for a plan...

In every culture, there's a sense of how danger brings out the best in us when it comes to surrendering to God. For instance, I don't know what World War, you'd have to ask my old friend chat GPT, who really likes me, when this phrase became prevalent, it says, "there are no atheists in foxholes." A foxhole is a military term. It means, when you're in the infantry on the battlefield and you're bei...

Once, when I was on pilgrimage with my senior Godbrother, we were traveling to many temples. Every time we go into the temple, we would offer our obeisances and we were next to each other so we can hear the mantra we were chanting, which was: nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścāt...

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says every time the sun rises and sets, it takes away our āyu. We get a prescribed number of days along with our birth—thrown in for free—but it is expiring day by day when the sun comes up and goes down. Poetically it says ( SB 2.3.17): āyur harati vai puṁsām udyann astaṁ ca yann asau The sun is speaking to us as it goes overhead, saying, " I am taking away our life. Another day...

So, not only do we get to walk around and see the various forms of the Lord and relish the places where Caitanya Mahāprabhu walked, but also we can participate in the same activity that he emphasized when he went to South India—which is teaching people how to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Back then, Caitanya Mahāprabhu had found a couple of books in South India. Does anybody remember which books he found? He...

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when he lived in Vṛndāvana, would walk from Akrūra Ghāṭa every morning and sit down at Imlitalā tree and he would chant japa from early morning into the late morning. Similarly, when Caitanya Mahāprabhu came to South India, he made special arrangements for his japa. It says here, from our reading last night: "Since your two hands will always be engaged in chanting and coun...

Let's say you've set a 108-year goal, and you only live to 107—and I wish that you may live in great health until you're 108—but let's just say you make it to 107. Then, in your next life, Kṛṣṇa will remind you. asau guṇamayair bhāvair bhūta-sūkṣmendriyātmabhiḥ sva-nirmiteṣu nirviṣṭo bhuṅkte bhūteṣu tad-guṇān (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.33) In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Sūta Gosvāmī says (First Canto, Seco...

Śrī Īśopaniṣad The knowledge that brings one nearer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa Introduction Invocation oṁ pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaṁ pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate Mantra One īśāvāsyam idaḿ sarvaṁ yat kiñca jagatyāṁ jagat tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā mā gṛdhaḥ kasya svid dhanam Mantra Two kurvann eveha karmāṇi jijīviṣec chataḿ samāḥ evaṁ tvayi nānyatheto...

You will find, when you think about priorities and you think about values, that some of them that are going to stick around probably throughout your life—but absolutely, it can be adjusted any which way. It’s a fluid document that you can work on. It’s for you, and it’s to just have a sense of which direction you’re going and what’s most important to you in your life. Because most people never thi...

There’s an author and speaker named Og Mandino. I don’t know if he’s still around. He wrote about such things, and one of his sayings was, “Never greet the dawn without a map.” I always liked that. Have a map when you wake up in the morning; make sure you plan your day, because if you don’t frame how you want your day to be, somebody else will frame it for you. If you don’t have your clear priorit...