An article compiled by Red Willow
Beneath all of your temporary ideas and designations about who you are, exists an incredibly beautiful, pure, spiritual being. You are actually a devotee at your very essence. The nature of the soul, of the eternally blissful spiritual spark, is to be situated as a loving servitor engaged in intricately nuanced loving exchanges with a Supremely Loving Master.
"Spontaneous loving service to the Lord is called devotional service with an intimate attachment between the servitor and the served. This intimacy is called mamata. Between the servitor and the served there is a feeling of oneness. This mamata begins with dasya-prema, service rendered to the master by the servant. Unless there is such a relationship, the loving affairs between the Lord and His devotee are not actually fixed. When the devotee feels "The Lord is my master" and renders service unto Him, Krishna consciousness is awakened. This fixed consciousness is on a higher platform than simple cognizance of love of Godhead." (Madhya 8.71, Purport)
Simply, we must begin rendering some little service to our most compassionate Master. This is very easy to begin, and one can do so from anywhere, anytime– just by using their voice. We are already fully equipped with everything we need to be able to reawaken our original spiritual identity, because we are a part of the Supreme Whole and we are, in turn, whole and complete– in as much as we realize our actual position as a loving servant. Then we find that Krishna has given us everything we need to return our consciousness into His loving embrace. We learn the most direct path of re-connection from a bonafide spiritual master, who is sent directly by Radha Krishna Themselves in order to pick up the lost souls who are wandering in the material tabernacle, seeking Rama, that bliss, seeking Rama here and there and finding Rama nowhere.
Therefore it is said, "brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva, guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija: "According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Krishna. By the mercy of both Krishna and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service." (Cc. Madhya 19.151)
Let us begin by preparing the soil for this transcendental seed. We prepare the soil by the chanting of the Lord's nectarean names, "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krsna Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare." Shrila Prabhupada says, ""In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy the only means of deliverance is chanting of the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way." Simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord, one advances perfectly in spiritual life. This is the best process for success in life." (SB 7.5.23, SB 7.5.24, SB 7.5.23–24, Purport)
"Master" refers to one who possesses great knowledge and skill in a particular area of expertise. Krsna is the Supreme Master of Love. And Hare, or Radha, is the Supreme Master of the Master of Love. Rama is that divine pleasure that is ever increasing, and which is like an overflow of ecstasy from the cup of loving exchanges between the Divine Masculine, Krishna, and the Divine Feminine, Radha. When we chant this Hare Krishna mantra, we are inviting the Divine Couple and Their Energy to descend upon our tongues and dance. So, how powerful, how sacred is this mantra? Which aims at the highest attainment possible in all of the material and spiritual worlds–Pure Love of God and Goddess.
"Similarly, one has to follow the rules and regulations of devotional service as they are set down by the spiritual master; then one can come to the point of spontaneous loving service. This love is already there within the heart of everyone (nitya-siddha krsna-prema)." (Madhya 22.109, Purport)
Everything you need is already within you, and anything you may think you lack is given to you unconditionally by Krishna, who says, "But those who always worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form -- to them I carry what they lack, and I preserve what they have." (Bg 9.22) The form of the Lord is manifest in this Age as the Holy Name, we must simply meditate on the perfect sound vibration, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare.