Syamarani didi --- Siksastakam, chanting --- Santa Cruz, June 6, 2012

om ajnana timirandhasya jnananjana salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri gurave namah
"O Gurudeva, you are so merciful. I offer my humble pranama unto you and am praying from the core of my heart that, with the torchlight of divine knowledge, you open my eyes which have been blinded by the darkness of ignorance."

Syamarani didi
June 6, 2012
Santa Cruz

"Have a mood of appeal, grief-stricken appeal, when saying these prayers. We can make advancement like this every day. Gurudeva said, if we're not advancing, it is because of offenses. But that's not the end. We can pray even more because of it. And only Gurudeva can give us the mood of grief-stricken appeal. So even more reason to pray!

"ayi nanda tanuja...these phrases reveal how we can solve all problems. We must see leaving Krsna as the cause of all miseries. We think we are in control due to wicked hopes and misplaced anxieties. Instead we should only have anxiety for - 'I am not seeing Radha and Krsna.' Karma is the desire to enjoy the fruits of our actions. It is like trying to grab onto one straw while drowning.

"Force the mind to think positive affirmations - 'Please forgive my faults, because I am without shelter,' not, 'Gurudeva can't save me,' that's down the drain.

"Each phrase and word we say opens up a new world. We pray to be the manjaris, who can see Radha and Krsna in early morning, etc. Can untangle their hair, etc. Sakhis cannot do this.

"The tongue is the most dangerous of all the senses. Unless we control it, we can't chant. Why do we chant? To obtain the service of the lotus feet of Sri Radha. This is why we serve Krsna, pray to him, etc. Everything leads back to serving Sri Radha.

"By keeping the goal in mind, we can obtain it.

"Trying to control the mind is like trying to stop a tornado. But by constancy, practice and detachment, we can."

Syamarani didi - Santa Cruz, June 5, 2012

om ajnana timirandhasya jnananjana salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri gurave namah
"O Gurudeva, you are so merciful. I offer my humble pranama unto you and am praying from the core of my heart that, with the torchlight of divine knowledge, you open my eyes which have been blinded by the darkness of ignorance."

Forgive me for being so tardy with these short hand notes from the 2012 womens' book distribution tour:

Syamarani didi
June 5, 2012
Santa Cruz

"Whatever we think will make us happy will actually make us miserable. As bubbles in the ocean are we; popping up for a moment before disappearing. The anticipated happiness goes as soon as we get it - SREYAS.

"Krsna climbs the trees, eats their fruits, they are his friends. Trees in the material world are suffering - wanted to stand naked, got bodies of trees.

"Being in the material world is like being a blind man in a maze. He is running his stick along the wall but stops to scratch an itch and misses the doorway out. Misusing our human life for material desires is like that man scratching his itch and getting lost again - 8,400,000 species of life.

"PREYAS - I'm holding out for long-term happiness.

"Various material attractions, and the senses' urges, are like the dingaling of an icecream truck. 'Come on, enjoy.' Human beings can't control the six senses, including the mind.

"Q: How to make chanting the holy name most effective?
A:
- the HOly Name is a person
- do not criticize
- only pray for spiritual things
- what we repeat and experience - tv, movies, etc. - becomes part of us. By repeatedly singing bhajans, etc., we get those good impressions.
- pray we destitute appeal and humility
- pray for the ecstatic symptoms you want when chanting
- Gurudeva is IN the holy name, because he is in the pastimes. Pray to him.
- Pray for service to Radha and Krsna.

"Q: How can we resist the urge for short-term happiness and hold out for long-term happiness?
A: When we practice, the mercy descends. Practice very diligently - reading, chanting, etc. These will make impressions."

"Thinking 'I am this body' is like thinking, 'I am a sweater. Now I'm being ironed. Now I'm in the tumble machine. Now I"m covered in list.' This is insane! Especially to those more advanced.

"Gurudeva tells his initiates to remember the power of chanting. No need to worry about anything. Krsna will protect you. As Srila Prabhupada said, "When you $100 problems are solved, your $10 problems are solved.'"

The instruction of guru is also guru

om ajnana timirandhasya jnananjana salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri gurave namah
"O Gurudeva, you are so merciful. I offer my humble pranama unto you and am praying from the core of my heart that, with the torchlight of divine knowledge, you open my eyes which have been blinded by the darkness of ignorance."

 

"The instruction of guru is also guru. You'll get the mercy of the guru through his instructions. One who is very, very eager and very, very inquisitive will pray to his spiritual master, 'O spiritual master, you are not physically present, so I cannot understand. I am such an ignorant fol. I have no qualification. Though your instructions are there, I cannot understand what you have said. Please help me.'"

- Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja