What is the meaning of the various Hindu festivals?

Hindu festivals are so many that they would be impossible to count, but almost all of them commemorate some leela or Divine historical event. For instance, Holi is the day that Krishn protected His devotee Prahlad from being killed in a fire. Shivratri marks the day Shiv and Parvati had Their marriage ceremony. Ram Navmi marks the appearance day of Bhagwan Ram. Janmashtmi marks Shree Krishn's appearance day. Diwali marks the day that Ram returned home to the city of Ayodhya after spending 14 years in the jungle. Everyone decorated the whole city with lights to welcome Him home. The true meaning of any Hindu holiday/festival is to remember that the aim of life is to find God. We are supposed to remember this all the time, but the various festivals help us to re-focus our energy in this direction.

Swami Nikhilanand, JKP Radha Madhav Dham. © 2011. All rights reserved.

Relationship of soul to soul and soul to God

The relationship between souls is that we are all brothers and sisters in the true sense because we all have the same Divine mother and father (Radha Krishn). However, the attachment of our mind should only be for Radha and Krishn because that will result in attaining Them and going beyond maya. If we attach our mind to any of our brothers and sisters who are bound by maya, that will increase our material bondage and result in rebirth.

Like all the waves on the ocean are related eternally to the ocean. They originate from the ocean, are established in the ocean and return to the ocean. The individual waves may meet up with each other (like the individual souls on this earth), but that meeting is only temporary. The relation of the wave to the ocean is permanent (like the relation of the souls to God).

Swami Nikhilanand, JKP Radha Madhav Dham. © 2011. All rights reserved.  

Remembering Radha Krishn through their Divine names

You can chant anything that helps you remember Radha and Krishn. God's name is all-powerful and all-Blissful. Any name of God is a direct connection to God. You do not need any special mantra. All you need to do is to take the name with faith (that this is the Divine name of God, not just a word) and feel God close to you. Kripaluji Maharaj says to chant either Radhey Shyam or Radhey Radhey with each breath. You can say Radhey on the inhalation and Shyam on the exhalation (silently in your heart). Or you can say 'Ra' on the inhalation and 'dhey' on the exhalation. While doing this, it is important to visualize or feel the presence of Radha Krishn very close to you (this is called roop dhyan). The effect is very deep and immediate; all you have to do is try it.

Swami Nikhilanand, JKP Radha Madhav Dham. © 2011. All rights reserved. 

Devotional Service to God

Devotional service means service to a Saint. Although it is our ultimate goal to be able to serve Radha Krishn personally in Their Divine abode, that is only possible when we meet Them, which happens after God realization. Until then, the true Saint who is one with Radha Krishn, and who represents Them on the earth planet, accepts the service of the souls on behalf of Radha Krishn. Thus, during the devotional period, we serve Radha Krishn by serving Their Saint.

The benefit of such service is received immediately in the form of heart purification, which brings us closer to our goal of God realization. Service to a true Saint improves the humbleness of the devotee and develops a connection between him and his Master which becomes a channel for receiving more of his Grace. This Grace takes the form of loving feelings for Radha Krishn in the heart of the devotee. One should remember that if a Saint accepts our service, it only shows his greatness, like a king accepting a gift of a few pennies from a beggar. The Saint does not benefit from our service, but nonetheless accepts our service because we benefit from getting the chance to serve.

Devotional service is said to be of three kinds: tan, man, dhan (physical, mental and financial service). Physical service means offering any service to the Saint or his mission that we perform with our physical body. Mental service is performed simply by thinking positively about the Saint. Financial service means offering any financial support for the Saint's mission. All three are considered devotional service and lead to the same benefit. Out of the three, the most important and the one that can be practiced all the time is mental service; maintaining a feeling of surrender and having positive thoughts about the Saint is the most important form of service. Physical and financial service are meant to help us improve our mental surrender. 

This is the secret of service and surrender which has been described in beautiful detail in the book "The Science of Devotion, Divine Love and Grace" which is available at http://shop.JKP.org.

Swami Nikhilanand, JKP Radha Madhav Dham. © 2011. All rights reserved. 

God realization is not possible without a Guru

God realization is not possible without a Guru. Shree Krishn Himself has said this in the Gita (chapter 4, verse 34); the Upnishads, Puranas and Ramayan all make similar statements. It would be like trying to get a PhD without the help of a professor. That Guru must be someone whom we can see, talk to and relate to. We should be able to ask them questions and clear our confusions. They will tell us the path so we know how to live our life for God realization.

Krishn helps us by sending a Guru into our life. The Guru helps us to purify our mind through proper bhakti. Once our mind is fully purified and we become surrendered, then Krishn comes to us. (Harihin bhave shuddh jan tohin patit bhave pyare; explanation of the difference between God and Guru from the kirtan "Jayati Guruvar" by Shree Kripaluji Maharaj). It is through the Grace of the Guru that we receive the Divine vision of Krishn (Guru mile kripa Rijhavar, Guru kripa mile sarkar; from the kirtan "Guru charan kamal balihar" by Shree Kripaluji Maharaj). So ignoring the Grace of the Saint and asking Krishn to help you is like the person who is searching for his spectacles when they are hanging on a string around his neck.

One should also know that we not only need to follow the instructions of the Saint for how to do devotions, we also need to open a channel in our heart to receive the Saint's Grace. This is done by surrendering (internally) to the Saint. This allows us to receive the Grace of the Saint, which will redeem past spiritual transgressions and open us to experience bhao in our devotion to Radha Krishn. This is the real devotion. Otherwise, it is like a dry practice of devotion, with no real feelings of affinity. Thus, we see that not only following the teachings of the Guru, but an internal feeling of surrender in order to receive his Grace is required to proceed on the path of bhakti.

Swami Nikhilanand, JKP Radha Madhav Dham. © 2011. All rights reserved.   

What are the rules for meditation?

On the path of bhakti there are no restrictions of time or place for meditation. You can meditate anytime, anyplace. There is also no required posture for meditation. The only requirement is that you should be remembering Radha Krishn.

Swami Nikhilanand, Radha Madhav Dham. © 2011. All rights reserved.