The beginning of a new year is always a time for hopes on betterment in our lives. We can progress in our lives being more spiritualized, and the way that I go after for my spiritual betterment is by being in association with the names of God. Is that simple. Just by being in touch with the names of God we progress in our spiritual lives. After all, the names of God being in an absolute platform will allow us to be in touch with Him.

This year I am opening my living place for holding weekly meetings, so we can chant the holy names of God. We started the year with a crowded house. After having the place cleaned, and preparing some Gauranga Potatoes for sharing with the invitees, I wait for my friend’s arrival. The first one to show up was Ramalakshana, an old friend who is very dear to me. He is Brazilian and a master on Capoeira, an African-Brazilian martial art. We did not have time to have a personal talk, so the invitees were arriving. The next to come was Kristen, followed by Priscilla. Both are my neighbors living in the same building. Early in the morning I knocked every door in the building inviting the neighbors for our meeting. So, two of them showed up. They did not know anything about Krishna consciousness, and it was the first seed planted in their hearts. They chanted, and honored prasadam. Them the place started to be crowded. Ten more people arrived; amongst them were my dear friend Advaita dasa, and his fiancée Lilayata, and Gopika who helped me to organize our meeting. Everybody was coming in a blissful mood, and they all brought some prasadam, spiritual foodstuff, to be shared with all.

Everything was blissful; the talks, the music, and friendship. The talks and music were centered in the Hare Krishna maha mantra.

The prime spiritual practice for the modern days is the Chanting of the Holy Name of God. The Hare Krishna is specifically mentioned in many Upanisads, such as the Kali-santarana Upanisad, where it is said

hare krsna hare krsna
krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama
rama rama hare hare

iti sodasakam namnam
kali-kalmasa-nasanam
natah parataropayah
sarva-vedesu drsyate

“After searching through the entire Vedic literature one cannot find a spiritual method more sublime for this age than the chanting of Hare Krishna.”

Shrimad Bhagavatam 3.9.22

Let the Supreme Lord be merciful towards me. He is the one friend and soul of all living entities in the world, and He maintains all, for their ultimate happiness, by His six transcendental opulences.

People in general all engage in foolish acts, not in the really beneficial activities enunciated directly by You for their guidance. As long as their tendency for foolish work remains powerful, all their plans in the struggle for existence will be cut to pieces. I therefore offer my obeisances unto Him who acts as eternal time. (Lord Brahma - SB 3.9.17)

The whole trouble of the living entity in material existence is that he has an independent conception of life. He is always dependent on the rules of the Supreme Lord, in both the conditioned and liberated states, but by the influence of the external energy the conditioned soul thinks himself independent of the supremacy of the Personality of Godhead. His constitutional position is to dovetail himself with the desire of the supreme will, but as long as he does not do so, he is sure to drag on in the shackles of material bondage. As stated in Bhagavad-gita (2.55), prajahäti yadä kämän sarvän pärtha mano-gatän: he has to give up all sorts of plans manufactured by mental concoction. The living entity has to dovetail himself with the supreme will. That will help him to get out of the entanglement of material existence. (Shrila Prabhupada)

Samadhi involves concentrating the mind upon the supreme cause of all, even if one is unaware of whether His actual nature is personal, impersonal or localized. Concentration of the mind on the Supreme is certainly a form of devotional service. To cease from personal sense endeavors and to concentrate on the supreme cause is a sign of self-surrender, and when self-surrender is present, that is a sure sign of devotional service. Each and every living entity needs to engage in devotional service to the Lord if he wishes to understand the ultimate cause of his existence.

The luster of the transcendental body of the Lord mocked the beauty of the coral mountain. The coral mountain is very beautifully dressed by the evening sky, but the yellow dress of the Lord mocked its beauty. There is gold on the summit of the mountain, but the Lord’s helmet, bedecked with jewels, mocked it. The mountain’s waterfalls, herbs, etc., with a panorama of flowers, seem like garlands, but the Lord’s gigantic body, and His hands and legs, decorated with jewels, pearls, tulasi leaves and flower garlands, mocked the scene on the mountain.

The Lord fulfills the desires of everyone just as one desires. Pure devotees are interested in achieving the transcendental service of the Lord, which is nondifferent from Him. Therefore, the Lord is the only desire of the pure devotees, and devotional service is the only spotless process for achieving His favor.

Devotional service to the Lord is very much obliging to Him. There are many transcendentalists in different fields of spiritual activities, but devotional service to the Lord is unique. Devotees do not ask anything from the Lord in exchange for their service. Even the most desirable liberation is refused by devotees, although offered by the Lord. Thus the Lord becomes a kind of debtor to the devotees, and He can only try to repay the devotees, service with His ever-enchanting smile. The devotees are ever satisfied by the smiling face of the Lord, and they become enlivened. And by seeing the devotees so enlivened, the Lord Himself is further satisfied. So there is continuous transcendental competition between the Lord and His devotees by such reciprocation of service and acknowledgement.

Under the spell of material energy, the living entities are entrapped in the bondage of many difficulties simply for the sake of a little bit of material happiness. They engage in fruitive activities, not knowing the implications. Under the false impression that the body is the self, the living entities foolishly relate to so many false attachments. They think that they can engage with materialistic paraphernalia forever. This gross misconception of life is so strong that a person suffers continually, life after life, under the external energy of the Lord. If one comes in contact with the book Bhägavatam as well as with the devotee bhägavata, who knows what the Bhägavatam is, then such a fortunate man gets out of the material entanglement.

The living entities are constitutionally servitors of the Lord

The living entities are constitutionally servitors of the Lord, who can accept all kinds of service from everyone. It is clearly declared (Bg. 5.29) that the Lord is the supreme enjoyer of the benefits of all sacrifices and penances, the proprietor of all that is manifested and the friend of all living entities. That is His real identity. Therefore, when the living entity accepts this supreme proprietorship of the Lord and acts in that attitude, he resumes his real identity. In order to elevate the living entity to this standard of knowledge, there is the necessity of spiritual association. The bona fide spiritual master desires that his disciples know the process of rendering transcendental service to the Lord, and the disciples also know that they have to learn about the eternal relationship between God and the living entity from a self-realized soul. To disseminate transcendental knowledge one must retire from mundane activities on the strength of enlightenment in knowledge in terms of Vedic wisdom.

The highest perfectional work of charity is to give people in general immunity from the anxieties of material existence. This can be done only by performing activities in devotional service to the Lord. Such knowledge is incomparable. Cultivation of the knowledge in the Vedas, performance of sacrifice, and distribution of munificent charities all together cannot form even a part of the immunity from the pangs of material existence that is gained from devotional service.