In atma nivedana (self-surrender) the devotee offers everything to God, including his body, mind and soul. He keeps nothing for himself. He has no personal, independent existence. He has become part and parcel of God. God takes care of him and God treats him as Himself. Grief and sorrow, pleasure and pain, the devotee treats…
If you need God’s help, just be spontaneous. If you feel like crying to God, cry. Shout for help. All the great saints, all their prayers, were literally shouting to God for help. “God, have mercy on me!” If you say that even once with your entire heart, you’re sure to get God’s help immediately.…
Dasya bhakti is love of God as the servant of God. To serve God and to carry out his wishes – realising his virtues, his nature, his mystery and his glory and considering oneself as a slave of the supreme master – this is dasya bhakti. Serving and worshipping the murtis (images) in the temples,…
A mother’s first and foremost duty is her child. Everything else comes afterward. A beautiful soul has been given into your hands. You should sacrifice anything and everything for the sake of that child. Don’t neglect your child to do other duties. All other duties are nothing compared to this. All other duties should be…
Vandana is prayer and prostration. Humble prostration-touching the earth with eight limbs of the body, with faith and reverence, before a form of God, or prostration to all beings, knowing them to be the forms of the one God, getting absorbed in divine love of the Lord-is termed prostration to God. The Bhagavatam says: “The…
A devotee repeats the mantra (mystic formula) of the Lord during worship and touches his heart, his head, tuft of hair, arms and hands. There is caitanya (consciousness, power) in every letter of the mantra. Through repetition of the mantra and the touching of the parts of the body with the repetition of the mantra,…
One can realise God through worship of murti (or idol). The worship of the Lord in saguna (concrete) form is a great aid for vedantic realisation also, and for the realisation of the Lord in His all-pervading, formless aspect. The worship of the murti is very essential for the purpose of concentration and meditation in…
An idol (murti or vigraha), sun, fire, water, Ganges, saligram (symbol of Visnu), linga (symbol of Siva), are all symbols of God which help the aspirants to attain one-pointedness of mind and purity of heart. A symbol is absolutely indispensable for fixing the mind. The Christians also have the symbol – the cross. A gross…
What is purity of heart? A heart full of tranquility, full of peace. Having a steady mind, a balanced mind, is what you call purity of heart. Being well-balanced between the dualities: the ups and downs, the pleasure and pain, the profit and loss. If the mind is free from turbulence, then the seer can…
Padasevana is serving the Lord’s feet. Actually this can be done only by Lakshmi or Parvati. No mortal being has got the fortune to practise this method of bhakti (devotion), for the Lord is not visible to the physical eyes. However, it is possible to serve the image of God in idols and, better still,…
Essentially, prayer should be selfless as far as possible. We should first pray for the good of others, for the welfare and peace of the world and for our own spiritual evolution. We should pray for the eradication of our evil qualities, for wisdom and knowledge, for goodness and saintliness. An aspirant should always pray…
Question: Are great catastrophes, possibly even a nuclear war, in store for the world; and if so, what will happen to each of our individual evolving souls? Answer: First of all, “Are there catastrophes in store?” The answer is “Maybe.” Oh, you wanted a year and date. Okay, “Maybe tomorrow.” Remember: what God created can…