(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 21st November 2012, Cape Town, South Africa)
Vrndavan is not at all an ordinary place. In Vrndavan, everything is intensified. In Vrndavan, Krsna is more present than anywhere else. When we go to Vrndavan, there are so many beautiful places. Barsana, beautiful palace on the hills… just walk on top of that hill and there is Jaipur Mandir on the other side, then down the valley there are so many other beautiful places. Yes, when we go there and go to such temples, naturally we are remembering Krsna and we see how local people are so absorbed in worshiping Krsna.
But that is there for our external remembrance of Krsna, just as when we fill the room with pictures of Krsna, we remember Krsna…that is external stimulants for us! So when our Krsna consciousness is about pictures on the wall then it is external. Ultimately, it has to go within the heart, it has to become part of us and not just part of the external cultivation.
When chanting is just a sadhana, a practice, then chanting is there to help us conquer the mind and senses, which are so strong, in an attempt to bring the mind and senses under control, that is external. But, when in chanting, we see that the name is Krsna,’bhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ,’ (CC Madhya Lila 17.133) when we appreciate the name, then that’s internal when we are relating to Krsna. So, gradually more and more we must penetrate and perceive Krsna. First in understanding that the name is all these things and that the name is Krsna. And when we chant then everything is there; Krsna’s associates are there. Krsna is never alone, Krsna is always with all his associates and the spiritual world is there. Krsna is always in the spiritual world. So all that is there and gradually we may appreciate it more and our faith may grow.
