Vrindavan Pilgrimage: Day 7 (March 7th, 2015)

“The greatest yogis can’t see the Lord directly, even the demigods can’t see Him. Only a part of Him is shown to them but they never see Him directly. Once the inside is fully cleansed then one sees Him clearly.” – Sri Swami Vishwananda

Giridhari:

The day started as usual with puja to Giridhari. As mentioned in the previous blog you can find below comments made by Swami about Giridhari.

“The Giridhari we have is from Mirabai. When she was three years old a sadhu came to her father’s house. This sadhu was serving the deity. When Mirabai saw the deity she said 'I want that deity, I want nothing else.' The sadhu said 'I can’t give you this deity, it is my personal deity.'

At night Giridhari appeared in the sadhu’s dream and said 'I have good news and bad news - which one do you want. The good news is that you have done what you have to do here, the bad news is you have to give me to Mirabai.'

It was an order from the Lord so he had to agree. Mira from the age of 3 had this deity with her. Once I had a vision of her ... how she would carry the deity. She used to hang Giridhari with a cord around her neck and wear it on her all the time."

Saint Visit:

In the afternoon we went and visited a saint in Vrindavan named Sri Hit Kinkar Sevak Sharanji Maharaj. His mission is very much about Love. Below you can find some comments made by him:

“Religion and scripture is only just there to ignite the flame of Love in you.”

“To get Krishna Consciousness you need to have Radha Consciousness. In order to get Radha Consciousness you need to have Vrindavan Consciousness.”

The connection between Swami and the saint was very special. Sharanji Maharaj asked Swami for a blessing before leaving and Swami replied, “I’m in your heart and you’re in my heart.”

Personal Interview:

In the evening Swami gave a personal interview with everyone on the pilgrimage. It’s amazing to see Swami constantly giving …

Tomorrow will be a very exciting day; it will be Swami’s first Darshan in Vrindavan!

Vrindavan Pilgrimage: Day 6 (March 6th, 2015)

“If you open up your heart and start seeing with your heart you will perceive the glory of the Lord everywhere.” – Sri Swami Vishwananda

Holi:

Today was the main day of Holi. The celebrations started as soon as we woke and didn't end till the night.

In the morning we celebrated Holi at Jiva Institute. We sang, danced and drenched ourselves with water and colour the whole morning.

A few things Swami said about Holi:

“On our journey to God we have to be humble, we can’t have pride. Even spiritual people have certain arrogance, certain pride inside of them, they think they are everything … there is no one better them. Pride leaves when the Lord Himself becomes everything for you.

The colors symbolize the quality of the Lord. The color we put on each other is the joy, the color of the saints … who have drenched themselves in the color of Krishna. We are inviting the quality of the Lord to be on us.The deeper meaning of Holi is to stain oneself, to drench oneself in the color and stain of the Lord. To drench oneself in the color of the Lord, without Guru’s grace, it is not possible.”

Vrindavan Parikrama:

In the evening our group was invited to perform a Parikrama with Babaji Satyanarayana Dasa around Vrindavan. It felt like a welcoming party for Swamiji and Bhakti Marga as we move closer and closer to establishing an official ashram in Vrindavan.

Vrindavan Pilgrimage: Day 5 (March 5th, 2015)

“Vrindavan is the land where your pride is purified; where the ego is cleansed. The more humble you are, the more the Lord reveals Himself to you.” – Sri Swami Vishwananda

Gaura Purnima:

We had a lot of fun today celebrating Gaura Purnima in Vrindavan. Gaura Purnima is a festival that occurs in March celebrating the birth of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He was a 16^th century Hindu monk known for advocating the worship of Krishna. He popularized the “Bhakti” movement and is known for spreading the “Maha Mantra” (Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare,…).

The celebration was moved to the front entrance of the Jiva Institute where we celebrated Holi in true Bhakti Marga fashion. I think the pictures say it all …

Yamuna:

After the Holi celebrations we made our way to the Yamuna River for a fun boat ride. We rented boats and floated on the river for some time performing kirtan. Krishna spent most of his youth in Vrindavan on the banks of Yamuna, playing the flute and playing with Radha and the gopis on the banks. It is believed to be one of the holiest rivers in the world.

Nidhivan:

After visiting Yamuna we went to Nidhivan. Below you can find some comments Swami made about Nidhivan.

“Nidhivan is the place where Krishna did the Ras Leela. Even today it is still happening. At night in the garden ... nobody can stay in the garden. Not even the animals can stay. Like that the leela of the Lord is present in each part of Vrindavan.”

The Rasa Lila is when the gopis of Vrindavan, upon hearing the sound of Krishna's flute, sneak away from their households to the forest to dance with Krishna throughout the night. In the Bhakti traditions, the Rasa Lila is considered to be the highest bliss one can achieve in life. Romantic love between human beings in the material world is seen as merely a diminished, illusionary reflection of the soul’s original Love for God. It is believed that Krishna does the Ras Lila every night with the gopis, even today, 5,000 years later. 

Celebration:

The night ended with dancing and kirtan to celebrate Gaura Purnima. The ability of Swami to show us the Love we have inside for the Lord is amazing. It is by grace that we are able to hear kirtan and enjoy it. Most people hear it and even though it has an effect on them on the spiritual level, they don’t appreciate it. Only because of Swami are we able to hear the Lord’s name and enjoy it … He truly is the #KingofLove. 

Vrindavan Pilgrimage: Day 4 (March 4th, 2015)

“Bhagavan is beautiful in the temple, but He is much more beautiful in the heart of the saints. He is more alive in the hearts of the saints.” – Sri Swami Vishwananda

Giridhari:

The day started with puja to Giridhari. After puja we had free time till the evening to do as we wish. A few people in the group went shopping while others rested their feet from the Parikrama the day before. It was a relaxing day … the sun was shining and the weather was cool. In the background one can hear kirtan constantly; either sleeping, sitting, eating or shopping Vrindavan doesn't let you think of anything else but God.

Barsana:

In the evening we went to Barsana which is Radha's birthplace. The main temple is located on top of a hill overlooking the city. Barsana is about an hour's drive from Vrindavan. The temple was filled with people performing kirtan and it was covered with colors from Holi. 

As we were performing kirtan, Swami met a great kirtan singer and Bhakta named Sri Vinod Biharidas Babaji at the temple. Biharidasji invited us to come to his ashram to perform kirtan and eat prasad, it was an offer Swamiji couldn’t refuse.

After visiting the temple we made our way over to his ashram and performed kirtan with him and his devotees. Personally, it was some of the best kirtan I've ever heard. Their whole life consists of performing kirtan, glorifying the Lord day and night. Their voices don't take any long roads, there’s no traffic and no detours - just a straight shot to the heart.  

Conclusion:

It’s easy to fall in Love with this place. The kirtans are sweet, the people are sweet and the food is sweet. It’s like being back home at Shree Peetha Nilaya.

Vrindavan Pilgrimage: Day 3 (March 3rd, 2015)

“Bring your faith and your devotion. That will be your two shoes to walk on.” – Sri Swami Vishwananda

Parikrama:

Day 3 was an early start. After a quick breakfast we made our way to Govardhan Hill which is located about 45 minutes from Vrindavan to do a parikrama around the hill.

Parikrama means "the path surrounding something" in Sanskrit. It is a circumambulation around a certain object. The word parikrama is mostly used in the context of religious deities in a temple, sacred rivers, and sacred hills. Performing a parikrama as a symbol of prayer is an integral part of Hindu worship.

Govardhan Parikrama (going 21 kilometres around the hill) is a sacred ritual performed by many believers for spiritual purification. The walk is done without shoes. The quote at the beginning of the blog was the answer given by Swami about wearing shoes on the parikrama.

Story of Govardhan Hill:

According to the Srimad Bhagavatam, when Krishna was seven years old he saw the people making preparations for a yagna to Indra. On seeing this Shri Krishna advised the villagers not to do the yagna but rather a puja to Shri Girirajji (Govardhan hill) who not only protected them, but also gave their cattle grass and pure water for everyone to drink, and also small caves in which they could relax.

This made Indra very angry and he decided to punish the people for listening to a child (Lord Krishna) and not him. Suddenly it started raining very heavily in Vrindavan and the rain and storm accompanying it were so strong that the people started trembling with fear and they approached Krishna to protect them.

Krishna went to Govardhan and lifted it with His little finger in such a way that it formed a huge umbrella around the people. The rain continued for 7 days non-stop and Krishna used Govardhan for 7 days to protect the people. On seeing this Indra realised that this little child is no ordinary child but is an incarnation of the Lord. Indra accepted defeat and approached Krishna to seek His shelter. Since then Krishna was named Giridhari (bearer of Govardhan hill) and worship of Govardhan hill started instead of Indra in the entire region.

The parikrama started with Swamiji doing puja in front of Govardhan hill before the walk. It was very calm and serene. Swami and the rest of the group had our mala bags and we were doing japa throughout the walk. By Swami’s grace everyone was able to manage the walk without problems and rather than completing the entire parikirma we decided to go to Radha Kund and finish our journey there.

Radha Kund:

It is said that when Krishna slayed a demon in the form of a bull, Radha “worried” about the karma associated with killing the animal, which is normally very sacred to Hindus, so She asked Krishna to wash His sins by taking dips in various holy rivers. Krishna being amused by Radha’s naivety simply struck the ground with His foot whereupon a mighty river came gushing out and formed into a kund (a small water body). In this place Krishna took a dip to please Radha.

Radha in her child-like attitude became mad that Krishna used His powers to perform such an act and decided that Her and Her attendants would dig out a kund with their bare hands and bangles. Once the kund was created they filled it with the holy rivers around the area. The kund is known today has "Radha Kund" where people come from all over to take a dip.

After Radha Kund was filled with holy water, Krishna told Radha that He would bathe daily in Her kund.  He declared that Radha Kund is as dear to Him as Radha Herself and anyone who bathes in it will receive Her love. Radha Kund is the personified Love of Srimati Radharani.

Conclusion:

After a long day’s walk around Govardhan Hill we ended the day by venerating Radha Kund, singing kirtan and doing puja to Giridhari.

Vrindavan Pilgrimage: Day 2 (March 2nd, 2015)

“In reality the dirt outside is nothing compared to the dirt people have inside. The dust in Vrindavan is the dust that purifies the dirt covering your soul. That’s why the Saints say take the dust from Vrindavan .. take the dust from the feet of the devotees of the Lord” – Sri Swami Vishwananda

Krishna’s birth place:

Day 2 of the pilgrimage started with puja early in the morning to Giridhari. Giridhari is Swami’s personal diety that Swami takes when traveling. Today the participants were able to take part in the prayers by singing bhajans, performing arati and receiving darshan of the diety. One can’t ask for a better way to start the day.

In the upcoming blogs we will talk more about Giridhari and the amazing story about how Swami received this special diety of Krishna.

After breakfast and puja we went to Mathura, the birthplace of Lord Krishna. Mathura is located a half hour from Vrindavan, in a very quiet and serene environment.

Lord Kirshna was born in a prison cell in Mathura. The prison cell is a symbol of humility. It shows how the Lord through his humbleness is willing to be born in an environment that most people would look down upon. The same acts of humility can be seen with other great masters such as Jesus Christ, who was born in a stable.

The amazing thing about the temple is that it’s situated along side of a mosque. The two places of worship stand side by side in harmony. How every culture can find a place in India is one of the most beautiful things about this country. The religious tolerance demonstrated in India is unmatched and stands as an example for the rest of the world.

Bhakti Marga Kirtans:

The rest of the day we spent relaxing at the ashram till evening. In the evening we had a very special visit to Shri Radharaman Temple. Unfortunately we entered the temple at the same time it was being closed for evening arati. Instead of leaving we decided to sing some songs before we left. As we started to sing, a large crowd gathered around us and we continued to sing much longer than expected.

As everyone was having a great time Swami pointed to the front and hinted that they were preparing something special. It so happened that rather than doing a normal arati, they brought the murthi to the very front of the temple rather than it being in its normal place further away from the general public.

Swami told us it’s very rare that they bring Him to the front.  After the curtains opened we had darshan of the deity and celebrated Holi in true fashion by getting drenched in colored water and powder.

What stands apart about Swami’s teachings and Bhakti Marga is the ability to generate life and Love into any environment. Kirtan is a great way to express our Love for God and through Kirtan we were able to transport this Love to the rest of the people that were at the temple with the Grace of Swamiji.

Testimony:

“The first day I immediately felt Love here. Since that day it’s getting stronger. Today we went to the place where Krishna was born and it was a very special place. I’m looking forward to the rest of trip … as the leelas of Krishna keep getting revealed day by day.” – Gaurishankardas, Russia 

How can Sri Swami Vishwananda dissolve the ego with His Love?

During the Darshan of Sri Swami Vishwananda which took place on the 22nd February, at Shree Peetha Nilaya, two residents of Shree Peetha Nilaya talked about their experiences with Swamiji. The main issue was about how to see the Love of the Guru in everything He does, in particular when He scolds us. Below, you can read one of these testimonies.

Sri Swami Vishwananda has said several times, “The Love of God is present in your heart always, but what covers it is the dust of arrogance, pride, ego. All these cover this Light of God.” (JL2, p. 42)

On the 22nd February, approximately 500 people came to meet Sri swami Vishwananda at Shree Peetha Nilaya and receive His individual Darshan.

During more than six hours, Sri Swami Vishwananda sat on His chair pouring out  Divine Love in each person individually and also collectively to all present in the Darshan hall.

Only a Self-realised Guru can help one to transcend the arrogance, pride, ego and develop true humility. Throughout this month of February, Swamiji sent us several messages via Twitter reminding us of this wonderful truth:

“Life becomes simple if one cultivates humility, discrimination and friendliness toward all and less will be the ego, pride and arrogance, etc...”

“With the help of the Guru, He makes all easy for the disciple to go on the path smoothly and easy as He takes upon Himself the major part.”

“The great ones realised that by bowing down to the Guru they become humble, meek and the ego is dispelled from their mind and their heart feels bliss.”

“If the Guru scolds you, you should feel great happiness as He considers you to be close to Him and He's well concerned about you and cares for your Realisation.”

Testimony

Some years ago when I decided to give myself to the Guru, took a coconut and brought it to an interview with Guruji (Sri Swami Vishwananda).

While I was walking towards the temple, where the interviews with Guruji were taking place, I met Ruchita on the way and she said, “What are you doing?”

I answered, “I have an interview with Guruji and I'm going to give Him my life.”

She asked, “What about this coconut?”

I said, “You don't know anything! This coconut symbolizes the ego and if you go to a Master you bring Him the coconut to show, 'I'm giving You my ego'. And I want to tell Him, 'I want You to destroy my ego!'"

She looked at me and said, “Why? Destroying your ego? Do you know what you are asking for? I would ask Him, ‘Please, could you dissolve my ego in love?’”

And I thought, “Hmm, yeah, it sounds good!” The effect is the same, but it sounds more smooth, more easy going. When I showed Guruji the coconut, He looked at me and asked, “What is it?” I said, “Guruji, I would like you to dissolve my ego in love.” He took the coconut, accept it and I was thinking, “Cool! I'm going to have an easy life, because all what He's going to do is to love me. He is not destroying anything, so it's going to be smooth, easy going.” I was, actually, wondering how He was going to do that; how could He dissolve the ego in love.

But He accepted, so I thought that He must have His ways. I would like to tell you two stories which are related to this Master's ability of destroying the ego with love.

St. Parthenius of Chios was a great saint in the island of Chios. He had a disciple who was a former sailor.

He was a rough person when he decided to give his life to the Guru, St. Parthenius. At the beginning he was very motivated, but soon the motivation faded away. Everybody of us know that. New broom brooms quite nicely, but more you get into the routine it becomes more and more difficult.

So, he got quite upset when St. Parthenius was giving him advices or when he scolded him. But this student was so short-tempered that he lost control and once slapped St. Parthenius's face. St. Parthenius was already very old at that time so fell unconscious on the floor. After that, out of guilt and shame the disciple left.

When St. Parthenius came to his senses, the first thing he did was to look for the student who had just knocked him down. He went looking for him all over the island of Chios and when he finally found him, he ran away from St. Parthenius. St. Parthenius ran after him saying, “Please stop, please stop! Stay here!”

St. Parthenius fell on his knees begging him, “Please, please, come back to the monastery! Please forgive me! Come back to the monastery with me and stay there!” This incident touched this devotee so much that all his anger and frustration changed into remorse. He went back to the monastery and through the Grace of his teacher, he felt again this love for God and enthusiasm for his path. He served a few days very well and then passed away.

It was obvious St. Parthenius knew that he was going to pass away, because such an insult to the Master doesn't stay without any consequences. But through the grace of his teacher, he was forgiven, he got the love from his teacher and once he passed away he was saved from, let's say, hell and attained the Kingdom of God through the prayers of this saint.

There is also a very nice story in Hinduism, when all the rishis, all the great sages were gathering for a yagna, a sacrificial fire and they were wondering, “Who is worthy to be worshipped by us?”

So, sage Bhrigu said, “I'm going to find out who is worthy of our worship.”

First he went to Brahma Loka. He purposely provoked Brahma, his own father, who immediately became angry. Bhrigu cursed Brahma that he would never be worshipped on Earth. And, in fact, there's only one temple in whole the world for Brahma.

So, the angry sage left and went to Shiva Loka, to Kailash. As Shiva was having some quality time with Parvati, Bhrigu was not welcomed. He got very angry and also cursed Shiva that he would only be worshipped in the form of a Lingam and never in his true aspect. Shiva also accepted the curse.

Afterwards, he went to Vaikunta, to Vishnu Loka. When he arrived there, he saw Mahavishnu laying there on Adhishesh and nobody welcomed this great sage. The sage being very proud of himself and of his achievements thought, “What's going on? I'm here! You should honour me!” In the Hindu tradition when a sage comes to a place, people have to honour him. If you don't even notice him, that's an insult.

So, what did Bhrigu do? He was so furious that he went up to Mahavishnu and kicked His chest with his foot. What was Mahavishnu's reaction? Instead of shouting at him, He said, “Oh, great sage, I'm so sorry! I didn't noticed that you were here! I apologise for not having welcomed you! Oh my God, you had even to kick my hard chest with your soft feet. You probably have hurt yourself. Come here!”

So, He bowed down to the sage saying, “Let me see your foot!” And He started to press the foot of this sage. And Bhrigu, who at first was thinking, “Yeah, that's right! You should apologise to me!” But when he saw the Lord of Lords Himself kneeling in front of him, pressing his feet, giving him love, something changed in Bhrigu's heart. He felt this love which came from God, he regretted for his deeds and started to cry. Finally, he fell at Mahavishnu's Feet.

In these two stories, from two different traditions, we can see how God and the Guru breaks the ego very easily with love.

How many times has Guruji told me something that I didn't want to hear? How many times has He scolded me? How many times has He scolded you? How many times has He told something what you didn't want to hear? You went there with a question, you had already your answer and He was telling you something else, not what you wanted to hear, and suddenly anger arises. He pushes the buttons which He knows quite well where they are.

So, how many times have I nourished this anger, this frustration and have gone into it, and even criticise in my mind His actions, His words? How many times has this happened to you?

Aren't these thoughts and actions, indirectly, a slap in the face of the Guru, who doesn't want anything else but awaken the Love in you? Like the devotee of Parthenius did.

How many times have you felt ignored? How does it feel to be ignored? What does this make inside of you? How often have I then followed this jealousy, which awakes inside, and gossip. We start to judge the others and think, “Why he? Why she, why not me? He didn't even look at me. This person has got so much...”

Has that not happened to all of you or most of you, at least those who know Him and those who long for His Love? And has this not created jealousy and negativity inside of you?

I can talk for myself; it happens over and over again and I'm so sad about it, because somehow I'm kicking all His teachings with my feet. Love is all He is and gives.

When will us realise that everything that He does, everything that He is, everything that happens in our life is for our benefit? When will I stop slapping Him and kicking Him? When will we become this pure Love that He is and that He wants us to be?

I pray that this is going to be very soon and I also pray that by His Grace we all may attain this pure eternal Love for Him and for God and that we can surrender completely at His Lotus Feet. Thus, like this, I see more and more how He dissolves my ego with Love.

- Pramod, Shree Peetha Nilaya.

Vrindavan Pilgrimage: Day 1 (March 1st, 2015)

“Vrindavan, the land of Lord Krishna, where 5ooo years ago He poured His love in everything around Him. This Love has never finished. Throughout the centuries, through the devotion of the people, through the Love of the people they have kept His vibration alive.” – Sri Swami Vishwananda

SCHEDULE:

Day 1 of the pilgrimage is exactly what you can expect from a pilgrimage with Sri Swami Vishwananda: amazing, exciting, scary and at the end Divine. 

The group arrived at the Jiva Institute Ashram after a long flight from Germany. We were welcomed warmly by Babaji and the people that live at the ashram. We had a nice meal and before we could get settled in Swami gave us 30 minutes to get ready to go to our first temple. It wasn't  a lot of time … but enough to throw on some old clothes and start the trip on a high note.

We entered the rickshas waiting for us and we were off to the Banke Bihari Temple. The temple is arguably one of the most famous temples in Vrindavan. On the way Swami made a few comments that you can find below.

Comments from Swamiji (we try our best to say exactly what he told us ... but pardon us for any mistakes we might have made):

"Vrindavan isn’t the way it used to be on the outside anymore .. with all of the buildings, people and traffic; however the old Vrindavan still exists. If one has the eyes to see it they can see the old roads that Krishna walked on, the places he had his “leelas” and it is exactly how it was 5,000 years ago."

The great thing about traveling with a Master is that through His Grace he takes us through the old roads that Krishna would walk on and the places he would perform his leelas, and even if we don’t see it with our eyes, our soul rejoices in getting the Darshan of these places.

We went to Banke Bihari on Ekadasi. It is a very auspicious time because this day is dedicated to Narayan. People come from all over to visit Banke Bihari on this day, and to have the opportunity to venerate Him on such a holy day is a great blessing for everyone on the pilgrimage. 

CONCLUSION:

The visit of the temple was nothing short of amazing. It was wild, people pushing from all sides, colours and water being thrown at everything and everyone. But at the same time completely beautiful because we knew that Swami was protecting us the whole time, and no matter how crazy it got everyone met back together and nobody got lost.

Tomorrow we will be visiting many famous temples, and I’m sure Swami has some exciting “leelas” planned for us well…. 

Chidananda, "live" from Vrindavan