Preaching is the essence

Sri Namamrta - The Nectar of the Holy Name

One should control the mind by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, which engages the mind at the lotus feet of Krishna:

One should not trust his mind, which is so fickle that it can give way to enemies at any moment. The mind is always accompanied by six enemies—namely, käma, krodha, mada, moha, mätsarya and bhaya—that is, lust, anger, intoxication, illusion, envy and fear. Although the mind may be merged in spiritual consciousness, one should always be very careful in dealing with it, just as one is careful in dealing with a snake. One should never think that his mind is trained and that he can do whatever he likes. One interested in spiritual life should always engage his mind in the service of the Lord so that the enemies of the mind, who always accompany the mind, will be subdued. If the mind is not engaged in Krishna consciousness at every moment, there is a chance that it will give way to its enemies. In this way we become victims of the mind.

Chanting the Hare Krishna mantra engages the mind at the lotus feet of Krishna constantly; thus the mind's enemies do not have a chance to strike.

Ccedil;ré Caitanya-caritämåta Madhya-lélä 11.10

Preaching is the essence

To become an empowered preacher, one must be favored by Lord Caitanya or the spiritual master:

Whoever heard Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu chant, "Hari, Hari," also chanted the holy name of Lord Hari and Krishna. In this way, they all followed the Lord, very eager to see Him. After some time, the Lord would embrace these people and bid them to return home, after investing them with spiritual potency. Being thus empowered, they would return to their own villages, always chanting the holy name of Krishna and sometimes laughing, crying and dancing. These empowered people used to request everyone and anyone—whomever they saw—to chant the holy name of Krishna. In this way all the villagers would also become devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Simply by seeing such empowered individuals, people from different villages would become like them by the mercy of their glance. When these individuals returned to their villages, they also converted others into devotees. When others came to see them, they were also converted. In this way, as those men went from one village to another, all the people of South India became devotees.

This spiritual potency is the essence of the pleasure potency and the eternity potency. By these two potencies, one is empowered with devotional service. Lord Krishna Himself, or His representative, the unalloyed devotee, can mercifully bestow these combined potencies upon any man. Being thus endowed with such potencies, one can become an unalloyed devotee of the Lord. Anyone favored by Lord Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu was empowered with this bhakti-çakti. Thus the Lord's followers were able to preach Krishna consciousness by divine grace.

In order to become an empowered preacher, one must be favored by Lord Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu or His devotee, the spiritual master. One must also request everyone to chant the mahä-mantra. In this way, such a person can convert others to Vaiñëavism, showing them how to become pure devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Cc. Madhya 7.98-104

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 832