Maharajji answers questions in Śrī Guru Darśanam, pp. 111-112 Question: Should I chant a certain amount of rounds on my japa beads, because formerly I was told to do so? Answer: One should chant any mantra a minimum of ten times. That is the minimum, and more than that you […]
From the Yoga of Dejection, p. 57. One who has confidence in himself can genuinely praise others because he is capable of recognizing the good in them. However, people who lack confidence in themselves, who suffer from an inferiority complex, may compensate for their insecurity by boasting. They create […]
Sri Jiva Goswami lists several properties of the ātman in the Paramātma Sandarbha. Pertinent to this article are its qualities of knowership and experiential capacity. The ātman has the capacity to know. The mind and intelligence, being inert, cannot know. At the same time, the ātman cannot understand […]
To understand human psychology, we have to first understand how the mind operates. The mind is classified into different categories based on function. Here we consider the functions of manas (mind), citta (the part of the mind that we are not conscious of) and buddhi (intelligence; the decision making […]
Maharajji answers questions in Śrī Guru Darśanam, pp. 343-344 Question: How can we understand these different levels of spiritual development? Sometimes there is a different pace of growth, or even regression in spiritual life. Does this depend on the discipline of the person, on his personality, or is this just […]
From the Yoga of Dejection: pp. xxiv-xxv [sub-headings added by this author]: Misery wakes us from slumber Although no one welcomes misery, it should not be despised, nor should we allow ourselves to become bitter because of it. Misery comes of its own accord and actually has an […]
Rupa Goswami defines japa in the Bhakti rasāmṛta sindhu (1.2.149-151) as follows: mantrasya sulaghūccāro japa ity abhidhīyate || Here, sulaghūccāraḥ = su + laghu + uccāraḥ. uccāraḥ means pronunciation. Laghu means light. Su-laghu is very very light, i.e. inaudible. The translation then is Inaudible chanting of the mantra […]
We have previously examined the concept of sādhanā bhakti and bhāva bhakti, and the difference between them. The article below explains the difference between them in less technical terms by expanding on concepts introduced in a lecture by Sri Babaji (Bhakti-rasamrta Sindhu lectures, 2017, Vrindavan). The mind of […]
Maharajji answers questions in the Śrī Guru Darśanam, pp. 97-106 Question: What should I concentrate on during chanting? Should it be the sound, a certain deity or a description? Answer: When you chant, you are chanting the name. And you have to keep your mind on the name only and […]
In this article, we examine the difference between bhakti and fanaticism, by quoting from two sources. The first one is from the Yoga of Dejection: pp. 176-177 — [sub-titles are added by this author]. The second source is a great article written on fanaticism more than a hundred […]
[ādi-guru means the teacher of all teachers, or original teacher]. From Śrī Guru Darśanam, pp. 177 – 178 Question: Previously we have heard that Balarāma and Nityānanda are the ādiguru, and also that the guru is a manifestation of Śrimatī Rādhārāni. Is that true? Answer (by Maharajji): These […]
With the globalization of bhakti, people argue that Kṛṣṇa is not Indian because God cannot belong to any country. So the idea that Kṛṣṇa is Indian is sectarian and ought to be rejected. Sounds nice, but is it the truth? Lets look at the evidence. Kṛṣṇa is described […]
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