True renunciation

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

My beloved devotees, I hope you are very well in your respective services.

I want to tell you that sending a weekly message to the whole community has been my habit during the last 15 years. However, this year we have left it in one way or another. This is a new attempt to get back to sending the Sunday chat to share with each one of you.

There are three things that one must never give up in one's spiritual practice. That is: tapa (austerity), yagna (sacrifice) and dana (charity). Austerity is something basic to realize in the era of Kali-yuga. Srila Prabhupada also called it ”simple living with high thinking”. Sacrifice is expressed as chanting of the Holy Names of the Lord; may it be in the form of japa, in kirtan at meetings, in conferences or even writing about the glories of the Lord. Charity refers to making temples with such a beautiful atmosphere that people do not want to leave and go back to material existence where we all come from. Places full of sadhu-sangha.

All what is realized in the company of the sadhus or the devotees, is profound and beneficial purification. The sadhu-sangha is full of rasa, full of taste and appreciation for others. There may even be people for whom we do not have a natural appreciation in the world, but then they suddenly transform into recipients of a special mercy. As it is said in the prayer: ”Lord, please grant me Your mercy when I deserve it the less, because that is when I need it the most.” In this way we can constantly maintain the wish to encourage all those who are around, which includes members as well as non-members of the spiritual community.

In the same way that we have to learn to know the action in non-action, we have to learn the concept of disregard/unattachment in attachment. This means that since they have a material body, the devotees who search disregard, they constantly have to be in contact with the material energy. This is inevitable. Thus, the devotees have to keep temples and centres open in a practical and efficient way so that people can learn more about spirituality. They have to participate in campaigns to resolve unfavourable ecological situations that can affect the beings around them. They have to take care of their health and respective bodies to be in perfect conditions when they share the message of Sri Krishna to the world. They have to maintain their families happy and healthy. They have to become excellent professionals in the fields that Srila Prabhupada defined that the devotees must enter in action, etc.

Sometimes one can feel a strong impulse to renounce all material attachments and run away from them, but in that case the true renunciation becomes the act of fulfilling one's duties and responsibilities. Because it is through this accomplishment that one qualifies for transcendence. As soon as one abandons one's independence and takes refuge under the protection of a vaishnava, the very vaishnava gives you responsibilities to protect that only can be carried out with mature criteria and individual judgement. Such a responsible and careful attitude is totally healthy for spiritual advancement of those who have become inspired by the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada.

I beg you to reflect upon these topics and share with the members of your community and families.

Jay Srila Prabhupada!

All my love from Ecuador.

Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti

translation

Manah Shiksha Devi Dasi