Mantra from Guru is Powerful

JAI GURUNATH!!
Ram Ram Hare Krishna
Radhe Radhe
The following is a small transcript from a lecture from our God-Brother (Sri Ramanujamji) on the topic of "The potency of Mantra recieved from a Guru"  - Very nice analogy to send the message.

Mantra from GURU has a powerful effect.

If a Mantra/Nama comes from a GURU, spirituality is infused in it.
A mantra itself is powerful.  However a Mantra from a GURU is extraordinarily powerful.
Once, there was a KING who never followed any proper NIYAMA in his life wanted to learn and chant GAYATRI Mantra from his Minister who was a vedic Scholar who followed all the Niyamas.  So he asked the MINISTER to give him GAYATRI Mantra.  The Mantri said, "I cant tell you that.  I cant give you that" . 
The King then replied. "Ok, if you cant tell me that, I will find some other way."  He went and looked at a few books and asked a few people and got GAYATRI Mantra. 
The King then came to the Minister and said, "See, I got Gayatri Mantra now".
He recited and he said is it right.  The minister said yes!
So what is the difference, the king asked, between the GURU giving GAYATRI MANTRA and finding the mantra from elsewhere...?  It is the very same sound.
The Minister said, " You will understand this in a few days.  But before that would you please accept my invitation for Dinner at my house tonight?"
 So the King came, with his bodyguards.  At Dinner time, the KING and the Minister took their seat at the table.  Suddenly, the Minister, with an angry gesture, got up and started abusing the KING and in a commanding tone ordered the ROYAL Guards to arrest the KING. 
The ROYAL Guards stood still, a bit dumbfounded as to what was going on.
By now the KING himself was angered by the behaviour of the minister and himself ordered the GUARDS to arrest the Minister.  Immediately, the Guards, without any hesitation, held the minister.
Then Minister then smiled and commented that, "See! When I told them to arrest you, they didn't move.  But as soon as you ordered they immediately actioned the order.  The words were the same but the result depends on who is actually Uttering the words!"  So likewise, the Lord's names are the same. It is said "GYANIHI TRILOKE"  - Everyone is aware of the divine names of the LORD.  But when the name comes from the GURU the Divinity is infused in it.  And it takes us faster to the Lord's Feet.
So what do we do if we don't have a GURU Yet???  Just Keep chanting the name sincerely waiting for the GURU.
tasmad gurum prapadyeta   jijnasuh sreya uttamam  sabde pare ca nisnatam  brahmany upasamasrayam
 One who is searching for the Ultimate Truth must surrender to a guru who  knows the inner meaning of the  Vedas, is fixed in the Absolute Truth and is  expert in the sastra. (Bhag. 11.3.21)
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VEDIC THOUGHT
"See how universal is the religion of Bhagavat [Bhagavat Dharma]. It is not intended for a certain class of Hindus alone, but it is a gift to the mankind at large in whatever country born, in whatever society bred, and of whatever culture produced. In short, Vaisnavism [Bhagavat Dharma] is the Absolute Love binding all men together into the Infinite Unconditioned, and Absolute God."
(Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura - The Bhagavat: Its Philosophy, Its Religion, Its Ethics & Its Theology)
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TIll the next time we meet in the name of LORD!
ys Deepak
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
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If you have any questions or doubts concerning Spirituality, Mental peace or problems in life or about dharma, please write to us by clicking here:
http://www.namadwaar.org/answers/askquestion.php
His Holiness Sri Sri Swamiji personally answers these questions for you and suggests prayers.

Gratitude!

Ram Ram Hare Krishna
Radhe Radhe
Nice little article by our GOD-sister,
By Nisha Giri, Houston, TX   from USA.
Gratitude to God - the Best Thanksgiving Gift
November is Thanksgiving time in the US. People across the country celebrate the fourth Thursday of November as a day of thanksgiving, when gratitude is expressed to family, friends, clients and customers, and by some, to God.
Gratitude is a wonderful virtue and to whom should we first show gratitude but to God, who is the reason we exist and who is ever blessing us with His Grace?
But how do we show our gratitude to God? Whenever we face misery, we generally complain that God has been unsympathetic to us, but when we are happy, we get a sense that we have "earned" the happiness by ourselves.
Instead, we should pause for a moment and thank Him for keeping us in that blissful/happy state. Sri Muralidhara Swamiji beautifully states this as:
Friend behind the mask of bias! Lets us not play the game of unfairness where we Never forget to indict the Almighty's "mercilessness" during murky days And ever forget to remember His Grace during sunny days! Friend! Tear off your mask of bias!
Come face to face! Let us play it fair and square by Never failing to thank Him for His boundless Grace on days of shine!
This is verily devotion or bhakti! Devotion is nothing but showing gratitude to God or the Guru for all the wonderful things He has given us.
In the Mahabharata, we see how Queen Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas, suffered throughout her life, which was never smooth or comfortable, even though the Lord was always on her side. She lost her husband early and was forced to live with the support of her husband's brother's family who were none-too-welcoming; she had to bring her sons up in a hostile environment, fearing every min-ute for their lives; she, her sons and her daughter-in-law had to face untold hu-miliation at the hands of their cousins; she and her family had to spend a large part of their lives in the forests, either in exile or in hiding; she also had to give away her first child early in life, only to later see him become the enemy of her other sons and finally be killed by his own brother.
Kunti could easily have berated the Lord for all the difficulty that she had to un-dergo. But in Srimad Bhagavatam, she sings a beautiful stuti (song of praise) to Lord Krishna, in which she only remembers the situations when He came to her aid; when He saved her family from death, danger and disgrace. Because she knew that, even if they had to undergo hardships in the Lord's watch, He ultimately only had their well-being in mind. In fact, Kunti even goes the extra mile and asks to be blessed with a stream of never-ending sorrows if it meant that she would always have the Lord by her side!
This is how we ourselves should show gratitude to God-by remembering the times (known and unknown) when He has helped us; for His compassion is so bound-less that He is always only helping us, whether we may be aware of it or not.
Accepting that every passing moment of our life, rain or shine, is owed to the Grace of the Lord and showing our thankfulness to Him by way of pure untainted love for him, which is the only thing He craves for, is indeed true Thanksgiving.
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How Kunti Devi prays to Bhagavan Krishna. (couple of verses from her beautiful prayer)
vishan mahagneh purushada-darsanad  /  asat-sabhaya vana-vasa-kricchratah
mridhe mridhe 'neka-maharathastrato  /  drauny-astratas casma hare 'bhirakshitah
My dear Krishna, Your Lordship has protected us from a poisoned cake, from a great fire, from cannibals, from the vicious assembly, from sufferings during our exile in the forest and from the battle where great generals fought. And now You have saved us from the weapon of Asvatthama.
vipadah santu tah sasvat   /  tatra tatra jagad-guro 
bhavato darsanam yat syad  / apunar bhava-darsanam
I wish that all those calamities would happen again and again so that we could see You again and again, for seeing You means that we will no longer see repeated births and death
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TIll the next time we meet in the name of LORD!
ys Deepak
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
=================
If you have any questions or doubts concerning Spirituality, Mental peace or problems in life or about dharma, please write to us by clicking here:
http://www.namadwaar.org/answers/askquestion.php
His Holiness Sri Sri Swamiji personally answers these questions for you and suggests prayers.

Dharma and Happiness

Radhe Radhe
Jai Gurunath
Would like to share with you a beautiful piece from a Bhagavtam Saptaah spoken by our senior GOD-Brother, His Grace Shri Ramanujam Ji
Often hear people say: I follow all the rules and regulations religiously, but i am not rewarded.
Dont we have this problem now? Is this not a ground-level issue we all face or come across with? Once we read Bhagavatam, we wont have that question. Because Bhagavatam says following Dharma is not for promotion or artha or worldly things. The moment we understand why we should follow Dharma, then we wont have all these questions. We will follow Dharma because it is grand.
Once the Pandavas were all camping on the foot hills Himalayas. Dropadi, who is Dharma Personified once lost patience with all the adversities in life, and asked Yudhisthara, Can you tell me, What did we gain by following Dharma. Every second it is Dharma Dharma Dharma. See where we have ended up because of your Dharma.
Yudhisthara: Dropadi! YOu are asking me why I am following Dharma. Just look at this wonderful mountain - the Himalayas. I love it. Not because Himalaya gives me something in return. I love it because it is GRAND! BEAUTIFUL! Look at the beautiful rives flowing at the foothills. I cannot help but love it.
Likewise DHarma is GRAND, DHARMA is Beautiful. That is why I follow/love Dharma. The moment we expect something from Dharma, then it has become a little bit of a business. And Bhagavatam talks about Pure Dharma. Dharma only for one purpose since it is a bhakti Shastra. Only to make sure our Thakurji is happy and he smiles at us. Thats why i follow Dharma. The objective of my Dharma is HAri Toshanam. Happiness of my GURU. If I follow Dharma then Krishna will be happy. If I follow Dharma my Guru will be happy.
Do we want a greater reward than this?
Yogi Rram Surat Kumar Maharaj gives a beautiful explanation. Everybody wants to be happy? Correct! We do everything in our lives to be happy.
And Srimad Bhagavatam explains it so simply in the 2nd chapter of 1st canto -just 2 lines.
EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE HAPPY. TO WANT TO BE HAPPY IS TO MAKE THE LORD HAPPY.
WHY? HOW?Because, for instance, we have a mirror and we know we can see the reflection in the mirror.
Now imagine the LORD to be the Original person and we are all his images.[MAMAIVAMSHO JIVALOKE JIVABHUTAH SANATANAH - The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. BG- 15]So if you want to put the smile in the image, where should the smile originate from? It should originate from the original object, which is HIM (BHAGAVAN).

If Bhagavan is happy with us, we will also be happy.
To want to be happy is to make the LORD happy. So simple. I tell you this.Bhagavat Dharma is simple - which is why it is so difficult and rare! We always expect complications. Mind expects complications and struggle.Bhagavat Dharma is straight and simple - Direct path.
So to want to be happy is to make the LORD happy. So how do I make the LORD happy?
To make the LORD happy is to chant HIS Names. THis is Bhagavat Dharma. 7 days of lectures if it gives this little conviction in our hearts, then Bhagavan has done his job on all of us. So Bhagavat Dharma says, whether it is DHARMA ARTHA KAMA OR MOKSHA - if it is directed at HARI TOSHANAM - then we have led our lives in full.
If the LORD is happy with what we are doing, then we have led a proper life. Dharma means making the LORD happy.
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Shloka referenced in above passage can be found in Srimad Bhagavatam 1:2:13atah pumbhir dvija-sreshtha / varnasrama-vibhagasah
svanushthitasya dharmasya / samsiddhir hari-toshanam
O best among the twice-born, it is therefore concluded that the highest perfection one can achieve by discharging the duties prescribed for one's own occupation according to caste divisions and orders of life is to please the Personality of Godhead.