Stop Worrying Start Living

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What it implies is, that in own present state, we are worrying; we are not living. Another implication is that if you worry, you are dead! True life means without worries.

An intelligent person actually analyses, "Why am I suffering?" He is in a better position than the person who thinks he is happy…. That person who thinks he is happy…. Of course, his happiness is fully dependent on all these material conditions. As soon as he loses his job, he is in complete anxiety. He thinks, "I have a job. I have money. I have my material sense gratification. Therefore, I am happy". But that happiness is based on a temporary situation which can be finished at any minute. The person who realizes that this temporary happiness is useless, it’s a façade, it’s not real, is in a better position. Because that person can then seek out, "What is the actual means of happiness? What is the actual state?"

His Grace Sriman Sankarsana Dasa Adhikari, a direct disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, is well known for his internet based training program, The ultimate self-realization course, through which he guides more than 16,000 subscribers in over one hundred countries every day along the pathway of spiritual perfection.

His Grace appeared in this world in St. Louis, Missouri, USA on 7 November 1947, the tenth day (Dasami) of the most holy month of Kartik according to the Vaisnava calendar. He first met his spiritual master in 1971 and was initiated by him on 12 August of the same year. Srila Prabhupada personally told this new young disciple that he was pleased with his sincerity and enthusiasm for spreading the Krsna consciousness movement.

Sankarsana Dasa Adhikari fully dedicated his life for serving the order of his spiritual master to become a guru and deliver the world. For the last 42 years he has uninterruptedly served his spiritual master’s movement, the International Society for Krsna Consciousness (ISKCON), in various capacities.

In the year 2000, in recognition for his full dedication to Srila Prabhupada’s mission, ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission (GBC) gave him their blessings to initiate disciples.

Since then he regularly travels throughout the globe with his wife, Her Grace Srimati Visnupriya Mataji, enlightening his varied audiences with the supreme science of Krsna bestowed upon him by his spiritual master. He is especially known for his focused seminars on Spiritual purity, Pure devotional service, Grhastha life and Brahmacari classes.

He is appreciated all over the world for his amazing capability to address any question, argument or objection with a most perfect and satisfying reply. His nectarean discourses are not only enlightening but also philosophically enriched, profound and sufficient to bless any sincere seeker with transcendental knowledge and enliven his spiritual life.

"O Lord Damodara, I first of all offer my obeisance to the brilliantly effulgent rope which binds Your belly. I then offer my obeisance to Your belly, which is the abode of the entire universe. I humbly bow down to Your most beloved Srimati Radharani, and I offer all obeisance to You, the Supreme Lord, who displays unlimited pastimes."

What is the goal of life? There may be many material goals, but the real goal of life is to search out for God and establish our lost loving relationship with Him. As long as we are entrapped in this material atmosphere, accepting as at (the temporary) as the all in all, we cannot be happy. This is because we have accepted something that will not exist in the future. As we have accepted this body which is temporary as the basis of our happiness, therefore we are full of anxiety. Obviously, we all aspire to become free from anxiety.

Being a human being means one must try to alleviate or mitigate this anxiety. But if we artificially try to become anxiety- less, then we can remain so for some time but eventually again we fall down to the platform of anxiety.

Srila Prabhupada says this world is kuntha jagat - full of anxiety. But there is another world, where there is no kuntha. Such a place is called Vaikuntha. Everyone there is free from anxiety. One may ask, "Here I am in the material world. I haven’t gone to Vaikuntha yet. What about my present situation? I have so many things to do here. I like the idea of going back to Godhead, the transcendental world. But how can I get rid of anxiety right now?"

The answers to the above questions are given in the Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, an authorized work on the life and teachings of Sri Krsna Caitanya. The author of this classic biography in Bengali language is Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami and English translation of the original Bengali text, along with the commentary is given by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder acarya of ISKCON.

This book "Stop worrying Start living" is based on "Transcendental Gardening" — a collection of lectures on the Caitanya-caritamrta given by His Grace Sriman Sankarsana Dasa Adhikari, a senior disciple of Srila Prabhupada, at Vrndavana , India.

In this book the definition of bhakti, the complete process which is beyond liberation, is explained in detail. It is also established how bhakti yoga is a simple process and enhancing any single aspect of bhakti enhances all its different aspects.

It is commonly heard that the bhakti process involves giving up sense gratification. So we may ask certain questions in our mind, like, "If I have to give up my enjoying mood, then what would my happiness be?" But the author being very expert in analyzing our mind provides an amazing answer to this question. Similar questions that may arise in the reader’s mind while reading this book are covered in a separate section at the end of the book.

Bhakti yoga is beyond karma and jnana. It is all about rasas or varieties of loving exchanges with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna. It not only benefits the individual practicing it but every single living entity throughout the entire existence. Widespread Mdydvadi philosophy which proclaims "I am God" may sound attractive but how it doesn’t make sense is also explained in this book.

Happiness cannot be based on external situations. Genuine happiness comes when we are free of any material requirements to be happy. The author with his profound realizations facilitates the reader to dive deeply into the nectarean purports of Srila Prabhupada and gives practical tips to apply the philosophy in the arena of everyday life.

This book is a humble attempt to assist His Grace Sriman Sankarsana Dasa Adhikari prabhu’s mission to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s teachings all over the world.

Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.5.11 mentions, "That literature which is full of descriptions of the transcendental glories of the name, fame, forms, pastimes, etc., of the unlimited Supreme Lord is a different creation, full of transcendental words directed toward bringing about a revolution in the impious lives of this world’s misdirected civilization. Such transcendental literatures, even though imperfectly composed, are heard, sung and accepted by purified men who are thoroughly honest."

Therefore we humbly beg the merciful devotees of the Lord to accept this small endeavour of ours to serve Lord Caitanya’s mission and request forgiveness for any unintentional mistakes committed in this attempt.

We would like to thank Bhaktin Aarushi for her valuable assistance in compiling the book. We extend our appreciation to HG Sudarshan Das and HG Para shakti devi dasi for their support to publish this book.

Last but not the least we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to His Grace Sarvasakshi prabhu who played a guiding role in getting this book published.

**Contents and Sample Pages**