Spiritual friendship

                                    
                                                           गणपतये नमः
Human beings are primarily social creatures, which is why it is a particularly difficult aspect of life to integrate with our spirituality. Sometimes when we embark on a spiritual journey we may having the feeling that we are going to have to leave many people behind, and this is often one of the primary reasons people hesitate to begin their spiritual exploration, Sadhana!

One of the more appealing aspects of the process of Bhakti yoga which differs from other Schools of eastern thought is how it emphasizes the cultivation of spiritual kinship with like minded yogis, with a focus on developing community and a family spirit between lovers of  Sri Krsna. These relationships have the potential to become our greatest spiritual asset and probably the most valuable support systems. In fact the Ideal spiritual realm is one of family, love, and community. These relationships are considered to continue on in the eternal realm, unlike most schools which lead towards a merging of all into a singularity and dissolution of individual personality.
The focus of Vaishnava community is to create bonds of love that not motivated by self interest, that seek to help increase attachment to the divine, and act as direct means to attain loving service to Krsna and his associates. The yogis and yoginis of these communities understand the deep relationship between the self and the supreme self and go about interacting with each other from this deep spiritual platform.
The result is a very palatable and inviting spiritual atmosphere all the more beneficial to our deep, contemplative meditation and our ecstatic and energized kirtans.
Sadly we sometimes lose our friends to the jaws of death and calamity but higher knowledge reminds us of the eternal nature of the soul and true person that we once knew. We remember them within our hearts and thank them for always showing us kindness and reminding us about the highest ideal. Pure loving service!
Last week a good of ours and a lifelong member of the New Govardhana Vaishanva community(pictured above on the left) left this world and we were all struck with sadness at the sudden loss of our dearly loved and appreciated Gokul das brown. He died suddenly from a seizure while swimming and drowned. He had completed a recent pilgrimage to Vrndavana and surely was blessed by all the Vaishanvas, Vraja Vasis, and the divine couple themselves.
He left this world and his family, friends, and relatives in such a way that will always remind us of our true eternal friend and lover. Sri Krsna! I pray Gokula looks down upon us and gives Krsna a gentle nudge to give us some special mercy!

Only a few days later the return of our Kirtan party members(pictured on the right above) from India brought us a renewed sense of inspiration, and enlivened our hearts to push forward with Gokula in our hearts and spread the message he was deeply passionate about." Pure love is the highest benediction for all mankind and Harinama is the means to invite that love into our hearts and project it into the hearts of all"

Our Spiritual friends are the very best means of attaining Sri Krsna's direct loving glance.

ॐ तात सात श्री कृष्ण प्राणमस्तु