How to become a devotee of Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj

What you need to know about Shree Maharajji is that if you have accepted him in your heart, then he has already accepted you. There does not have to be a formal recognition of that. Shree Maharajji does not do formal initiation, nor is there any need to verbally state that you have accepted him as your Guru. If you have surrendered to him internally, then he is already Gracing you. You should focus on applying his teachings in your life. Practice bhakti exactly according to his instructions. Listen carefully to his speeches and you will hear many other instructions for your daily living. Apply these in your life and you will find yourself coming closer to Radha Krishn and to Shree Maharajji. The more you follow his instructions (which you hear in his speeches and read in his books), the more you will please him.

Although meeting him is not a requirement, it is certainly an amazing opportunity for a soul to meet a real Saint in person. It is a natural desire to want to meet him and speak to him and if you keep following his teachings, then maybe one day you have the good fortune to get his darshan. If you keep listening to his speeches and applying his teachings, a day will come when you will feel that it is very important to meet him and you will go and meet him. I hope that day comes soon for you.

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

Hare Ram maha mantra

When doing devotion, should I chant Radha's name, or the maha mantra? Which is better?

As far as what name or mantra to remember, that is a personal choice for you. Every name of God contains His unlimited power.  One cannot be said to be more powerful than any other. The same goes for any mantra: the power in the mantra comes from God's name which is in the mantra. So any name of God is a powerful mantra. But of course the name or mantra must be taken with faith (that God is in His name) and along with roop dhyan (remembrance of the form of Radha Krishn, or whatever form of God you are worshiping).  In the satsang of Shree Kripaluji Maharaj, we chant many names of Radha and Krishn, and we also chant the maha mantra. It is totally up to your personal preference. Just remember to do roop dhyan while you are chanting, and you are on the right track. Roop dhyan is the term Maharajji uses to describe thinking of the form of Radha Krishn, which also includes thinking of Their abode, leelas, qualities of Their personality, etc.

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

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.

Choosing a particular tradition, Guru & aspect of God

I'm unsure about how to choose a particular denomination in Hinduism. How would someone new to Hinduism pick a particular tradition, Guru, aspect of God, etc.? What influenced you to decide to worship Radha Krishn and to follow Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj?

The term we use in Hinduism for denomination is 'sampradaya', which means a lineage or tradition within Hinduism which was established by the followers of a particular Saint after he left the earth planet. The truth is that the original Master doesn't start the sampradaya. All Saints essentially teach the same thing: to surrender to God to receive His Grace and through His Grace attain Divine Bliss. This is the essence of Hinduism and the essence of the teachings of all true Saints in history. Internally all Saints are one; and essentially, their teachings are the same. However, the details of their explanations of the Hindu scriptures may appear to differ, but only on the surface. It is difficult (or impossible) for a material mind to reconcile these apparent differences, yet, essentially, all Saints taught the same thing: to surrender to God. A Saint may teach his followers a particular way of worshiping God which differs from what another Saint taught. But the reason for worshiping is the same: to become surrendered. So you see, the essence is the same, but the details differ. A Saint teaches the form of devotion which will be most helpful to those people at that time. Once he leaves, then people continue to follow his teachings, but what often happens is that they rigidly follow the outer formalities and forget that the real goal is to become surrendered. Thus, a sampradaya is born and is followed for many generations. Often the followers of different sampradayas bicker and criticize each other. They debate over the differences in the philosophical descriptions of their original Masters and argue about which form of worship is right. This is all a waste of time. Sampradayas are formed and eventually disappear. But the original teachings of Hinduism in the Vedas, Upnishads, Gita, Bhagwatam and other scriptures are eternal. And the original and eternal path to God (bhakti or surrender) is above differences in physical formalities of worship and above any sampradaya.

Thus, you do not need to choose a sampradaya. However, you do need to choose a goal. Hinduism teaches that the search for happiness can be directed either towards maya (the material world), or towards God. Those who direct their search towards maya find disappointment because there is no lasting happiness in the world. Those who direct their search towards God find perfect happiness. But even those who direct their search towards God need to be more specific in what their ultimate goal is. Why?

Because God has 3 main aspects, called bhagwan (loving God), parmatma (almighty God), and brahm (formless God). These are 3 aspects of one single God. The way to attain any of Them is the same: bhakti. Devotion to formless God is called gyan yog. Devotion to the personal form of God (either loving or almighty) is called bhakti yog. In all cases, complete surrender to God to receive His Grace is required. Those who ultimately attain formless God are freed from all kinds of suffering forever, but then merge into formless God and remain in a state of Divine peace which is unknown to them because they have no body, mind or senses with which to experience. Those who attain almighty God (Whose main forms are Vishnu, Shiv and Durga, and Whose many affiliated forms include Ganesh, Lakchmi, Parvati, Saraswati, Kartikeya, Kali, Gauri, Amba, and others) receive a Divine body, mind and senses and go to the the Divine abode of their worshiped form of God forever. There they experience unlimited Divine Bliss (included in this is the release from all sorrows forever). Those who attain loving God receive that, and more. What is more? They not only get to see God in His Divine abode (like those who attain almighty God) but they get to have close personal interaction with Him. The form of loving God is Radha Krishn, Whose more reserved form is Sita Ram.

A Saint represents the particular form of God which he has attained, and teaches devotion to that particular form of God. This is why different Saints taught devotion to different forms of God. It is a choice we need to make: which form of God do we wish to attain? This choice is made based on what Divine experience we wish to attain. Since we need the help of a Saint to follow the path to God, choose a Saint who is teaching devotion to that particular form of God you wish to attain.

So you see that you are not required to choose any particular sampradaya; but rather you choose to follow the guidance of a particular living Saint based on what your ultimate goal is.

I chose to follow devotion to Radha Krishn because They are the most loving form of God Who award the most intimate relation to the souls who surrender to Them. And I chose to follow Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj because he teaches devotion to Radha Krishn and clarified what the goal is for me, as well as teaching a simple and practical style of devotion.

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

Can one accept Lord Krishn as his Guru and do sadhana?

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.

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. 

Effect of the Divine name

A feeling of happiness, peace and well-being are all good signs that you are receiving the effect of the Divine name in your heart. That is the beginning of sattvic bhao. They will continue to manifest in a progressive way as you continue to do devotion and purify your heart.

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