Sincerity - an essential subject

If someone tries to love someone, they are very sincere because sincerity is one aspect of love. So if we are trying to love Krishna, we should pray – Krishna, I want to do my japa properly, sincerely. Please help me. So we must be sincere, that we want to know that Absolute Truth. Then you will find out; Kṛṣṇa will help you. If you want a Brahmavādī, He will help you. If you want a Paramātmavādī, then He will help you. And if you want a devotee, that also help.

Srila Prabhupada's books, lectures, conversations and letters offer a comprehensive presentation of this essential subject as seen in the Vaniquotes Sincerity category. An introduction from his books is given below in the following 7 quotes.

Quotes from Srila Prabhupada's books


vanipedia.org 		There is not the least exaggeration in this statement. Actually the Lord's holy name has such powerful potency. But there is a quality to such utterances also. It depends on the quality of feeling. A helpless man can feelingly utter the holy name of the Lord, whereas a man who utters the same holy name in great material satisfaction cannot be so sincere. A materially puffed up person may utter the holy name of the Lord occasionally, but he is incapable of uttering the name in quality. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.26)



vanipedia.org 		A pure devotee has no demand from the Lord. His only concern is to serve the Lord sincerely and seriously, and he is not at all concerned about what will happen in the future. In the Mukunda-mālā-stotra, King Kulaśekhara, author of the book, states in his prayer: "My dear Lord, I don't want any position of sense gratification within this material world. I simply want to engage in Your service perpetually." Similarly, Lord Caitanya, in His Śikṣāṣṭaka, also prayed, "My Lord, I do not want any amount of material wealth, I do not want any number of materialistic followers, nor do I want any attractive wife to enjoy. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.9.29)



vanipedia.org 		The same principle is confirmed here. Attachment to a devotee is attachment to the service of the Lord because if one associates with a sādhu, the result will be that the sādhu will teach him how to become a devotee, a worshiper and a sincere servitor of the Lord. These are the gifts of a sādhu. If we want to associate with a sādhu, we cannot expect him to give us instructions on how to improve our material condition, but he will give us instructions on how to cut the knot of the contamination of material attraction and how to elevate ourselves in devotional service. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.25.20)



vanipedia.org 		For self-realization, one can live a controlled life, as prescribed in the śāstras, and continue carrying out his business without attachment, and in that way make progress. A sincere person who follows this method is far better situated than the false pretender who adopts show—bottle spiritualism to cheat the innocent public. A sincere sweeper in the street is far better than the charlatan meditator who meditates only for the sake of making a living. (Bhagavad-gītā 3.7)



vanipedia.org 		Our method should be to convert such fools gradually by asking them to come and take prasādam and chant and dance with us. This should be our policy. Anyone who comes to join us, of course, must be sincere and serious regarding spiritual advancement in life; then such a person, simply by joining us, chanting with us, dancing with us and taking prasādam with us, will gradually also come to say that this movement is very good. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 9.53)



vanipedia.org 		When they were old invalids, they used to approach with their wives the assembly of the kings, and simply by praising the glorious deeds performed by the kings they would be provided with all necessities of life. Such brāhmaṇas were not, so to speak, flatterers of the kings, but the kings were actually glorified by their actions, and they were sincerely still more encouraged in pious acts by such brāhmaṇas in a dignified way. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.11.23)



vanipedia.org 		By the grace of the Lord, Kaṁsa felt sincere regret for having unnecessarily persecuted such Vaiṣṇavas as Devakī and Vasudeva, and thus he came to the transcendental stage of knowledge. "Because I am situated on the platform of knowledge," Kaṁsa said, "understanding that I am not at all the killer of your sons, I have no responsibility for their death. As long as I thought that I would be killed by your son, I was in ignorance, but now I am free from this ignorance, which was due to a bodily conception of life. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.4.22)


Sincerity - explore more within this category.

Vanipedia has now over 903 introductory articles compiled from Srila Prabhupada's books under the series titled Essential Subjects. All these articles can be seen in the Table of Content on the right side of this article and also here in this Umbrella Category. Browse through them to relish the breadth and depth of Srila Prabhupada's teachings - There is a subject for everyone.


   
 

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