February 2
It is natural to the heart of every living being to want to serve and please someone. Devotees should mold their lives in such a way as to please their spiritual master.
Lectures from a Disciple, Vol.2, "The Process for Awakening Bhakti"
Niranjana Swami's Quote Of The Day
February 1
Faith and the desire to please the spiritual master are essential ingredients in the practice of vaidhi-sadhana-bhakti. Disciples should follow their spiritual master's instructions not only out of obligation but to please the spiritual master.
Lectures from a Disciple, Vol. 2, "The Process for Awakening Bhakti"
January 31
Sometimes before we can develop a hankering for a higher taste, however, we need a push. When Srila Prabhupada was asked to define guru-kripa, he pushed his disciple's chest with his finger and said, "This is guru-kripa." That push gives us inspiration to aspire for something higher than what we already know. The spiritual master's mercy is his application of force through his instructions.
Lectures from a Disciple, Vol. 2, "The Process for Awakening Bhakti"
January 28
The mundane senses are unable to taste anything eternal; they are grounded in matter. Thus it is the self and not the material senses that tastes bhakti. Hankering to achieve this higher taste is what elevates our higher consciousness.
Lectures from a Disciple, Vol. 2, "The Process for Awakening Bhakti"
January 27
What is the higher taste? It is different from the taste we get when our senses engage with their objects. When the senses come in contact with sense objects, they taste something, but it is temporary; the taste has the beginning and end. The taste derived from practicing bhakti has no such beginning and end, because bhakti is eternal.
Lectures from a Disciple, Vol. 2, "The Process of Awakening Bhakti"
January 26
Engaging the mind, body and senses in sadhana-bhakti is meant to awaken our attachment to the Lord, by which we can fully transcend the material body and gradually awaken pure love of God. Such pure love goes completely beyond the physical body when it reaches the stages of bhava-bhakti and prema-bhakti.
Lectures from a Disciple, Vol. 2, "The Process for Awakening Bhakti"
January 23
We have contact with the physical body, so to execute prescribed activities and to help us experience a higher taste, we have to know how to dovetail our senses in the Lord's service. Srila Rupa Goswami defines sadhana-bhakti as devotional service rendered with the senses. Thus a sadhaka uses the ears to hear about Krishna, the tongue to chant about Krishna, the eyes to look at Krishna's deity form, and the nose to smell the flowers and tulasi leaves offered to Krishna.
Lectures from a Disciple, Vol. 2, The Process for Awakening Bhakti
January 22
When we hear about Krishna with the desire to remember Him, and to become more engaged in His service, a hankering awakens within our hearts for His association and the association of devotees, who help us remember Him. Hankering for the association of Krishna and His devotees purifies our heart. It is this kind of hankering that sadhana-bhakti is meant to generate. Hankering for Krishna has nothing to do with the senses. Rather, devotional hankering is spiritual - that is, it is experienced by the soul. The mundane senses cannot touch it.
Lectures from a Disciple, Vol. 2, The Process for Awakening Bhakti
January 15
It is not artificial for a young child to pratice walking; there is a natural propensity within the child to walk. But in a young child, the ability to walk has not yet developed. Therefore, the child practices. Similarly, it is our natural prorensity to love God, but until the ability to love God has developed, it is also natural for us to practice loving God by performing sadhana-bhakti.
Lectures from a Disciple, Vol. 2, "The Process for Awakening Bhakti"
January 14
Prabhupada often gave an example of how a cloud does not carry its own water but the water from the ocean. Similarly, a Vaisnava does not claim to bestow his or her own mercy but carries Krishna's mercy. The bhakti in the Vaisnava's heart is what causes bhakti to awaken in the hearts of others.
Lectures from a Disciple, Vol. 2, "The Process for Awakening Bhakti"