Anuttama Prabhu, representing the GBC's Guru Services Committee, reported on the Guru Seminars and Guru Retreats program. These programs allow devotees who are serving as initiating or instructing gurus to associate with one another and share their experiences serving Srila Prabhupada in the role of guru. The Guru Seminars and Retreats also aim to enhance skills in counseling disciples and caring for one's own physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
PENSAMIENTO DEL DÍA: Como alcanzar el samadhi máximo Enviado desde el Ashram Bhaktivedanta en Austin, Texas, EE.UU.
Estar siempre extático en conciencia de Krishna se reduce a un principio simple: Recordar siempre y nunca olvidar a Krishna. Por supuesto, debido a nuestro condicionamiento material esto es más fácil decirlo que hacerlo. Pero si diligentemente nos esforzamos para seguir siempre este principio y sinceramente rogar por la ayuda del Señor Krishna, encontraremos que se vuelve asombrosamente fácil. Cuando alcanzamos esta etapa de 24 horas de trance extático de conciencia de Krishna, conocido como samadhi, sentiremos que hemos ganado algo más valioso que cualquier cosa más que pueda ser obtenida en toda la existencia. En el Bhagavad-gita el Señor Sri Krishna describe esta etapa perfecta como sigue:
"En la etapa de la perfección denominada trance, o samadhi, la mente de uno se abstiene por completo de las actividades mentales materiales, mediante la práctica del yoga. Esa perfección se caracteriza por la habilidad que tiene uno de ver el yo mediante la mente pura, y de disfrutar y regocijarse en el yo. En ese estado jubiloso, uno se sitúa en medio de una felicidad trascendental ilimitada, que se llega a experimentar a través de los sentidos trascendentales. Establecido así, uno nunca se aparta de la verdad, y al conseguir esto, piensa que no hay nada mejor. Al uno situarse en esa posición nunca se desconcierta, ni siquiera en medio de la mayor de las dificultades. Esto es en verdad estar libre de hecho de todos los sufrimientos que surgen del contacto material". Bhagavad-gita 6.20-23
Entonces ahora este debería ser el único propósito de nuestra existencia, estar totalmente absorto en el samadhi máximo, la conciencia de Krishna, las 24 horas del día.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
RESPUESTAS DE ACUERDO A LA VERSIÓN VÉDICA:
Pregunta: ¿Cuál es el origen del karma?
¿Cuál es el origen del karma? ¿Qué clase de acciones conducen al karma malo? La razón detrás de hacer esta pregunta es que hay un enorme número de personas incluyéndome yo mismo que no conocemos el origen del karma. Si el origen del karma está claro, uno puede abstenerse de las actividades variadas que conducen al karma malo. ¿Puede darme referencias de las escrituras con respecto al origen del karma, la causa del sufrimiento?
Ramanujam
Respuesta: El mal uso de nuestro libre albedrío
Nuestro enredo en el karma cakra, la rueda de la acción y reacción, es debido al mal uso de nuestra independencia. Esto es descrito como sigue en el Prema-vivarta:
kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha haiyā bhoga-vāñchā kare nikaṭa-stha māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare
"Tan pronto como uno se vuelve hostil a Krishna y desea la gratificación sensual es inmediatamente abatido por la energía ilusoria del Señor".
"¡Oh, vástago de Bharata!, ¡oh, conquistador del enemigo!, todas las entidades vivientes nacen en el seno de la ilusión, confundidas por las dualidades que surgen del deseo y el odio".
Así que estuvimos originalmente situados como devotos de Krishna en el cielo espiritual. No éramos prisioneros de Su morada. Más bien estuvimos dotados con el libre albedrío y fuimos así permitidos para servir a Krishna como por amor, y no por fuerza. Sin embargo, el libre albedrío significa que hay un potencial para su mal uso. Y cuando el libre albedrío es mal usado nos volvemos envidiosos de Krishna y lo odiamos por ser el Disfrutador Supremo. Es debido a este odio que empezamos un enredo en el karma cakra. Es solo cuando revivimos nuestro gran amor perdido de Krishna por la misericordia del devoto puro de Krishna que podemos ser liberados de nuestro enredo en el karma y recobramos nuestra posición original de bienaventuranza y conocimiento eterno en el cielo espiritual.
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YOGYAKARTA, INDONESIA, February 24, 2010: Last August when the private Islamic University of Indonesia decided to build a library next to the mosque. In the two decades the university had occupied its 79-acre campus outside Yogyakarta, no temple had ever been found. But chances were high that they were around. By Dec. 11, a construction crew had already removed nearly seven feet of earth. But the soil proved unstable, and the crew decided to dig 20 inches deeper. A backhoe then struck something unusually hard. The crack the backhoe left on the temple wall would become the main sign of damage on what experts say could be the best-preserved ancient monument found in Java, a Hindu temple.
Researchers from the government's Archaeological Office in Yogyakarta headed to the campus the next day, excavated for 35 days and eventually unearthed two 1,100-year-old small temples. "The temples are not so big, but they have features that we haven't found in Indonesia before," Herni Pramastuti, who runs the Archaeological Office, said, pointing to the rectangle-shaped temple, the existence of two sets of linga and yoni, and the presence of two altars.
Historians believe that Hinduism spread in Java in the fifth century, followed three centuries later by Buddhism. Kingdoms hewing to both Hindu and Buddhist beliefs flourished in Java before Islam in the 15th century. But Islam itself incorporated beliefs and ceremonies from the other two religions. Just as some unearthed temples in east Java have a Hindu upper half and a Buddhist lower half, some early mosques had roofs in the shape of Hindu temples, said Timbul Haryono, a professor of archaeology at Gadjah Mada University here and an expert on Hinduism in Southeast Asia. Early mosques faced not in Mecca's direction, but west or east in the manner of Hindu temples.
"Things didn't change all of a sudden," Mr. Haryono said. "Islam was adopted through a process of acculturation." In Indonesia's arts, like the wayang shadow puppetry that dramatizes Hindu epics, or in people's private lives, traces of the earlier religions survive, he said. Food, flowers and incense still accompany many funerals for Muslims, in keeping with Hindu and Buddhist traditions. "Hinduism was Indonesia's main religion for 1,000 years," he said, "so its influence is still strong." "This is Indonesia," said Suwarsono Muhammad, an official at the Islamic University. In the long history of Indonesia, we have proven that different religions can live peacefully."<!– for IE
Gangesvara Prabhu would like you to know that in order to accommodate the Teacher's Training Course presented by Atul Krshna Prabhu, it is necessary to delay the Bhakti-vaibhava (1) Course that Gangesvara is facilitating.
The introductory class to Bhakti-vaibhava (1) will now be on Saturday the 27th of March, from 3pm to 6pm.
The main thing is to fix your mind on the sound of the chanting. As you strain and yearn to keep your attention fixed, this naturally brings a mood of devotion. This is the way you serve the holy name. Just as when cooking, if you try very hard not to burn the preparation, to spice it nicely, and to keep it cooking nicely, then you express your devotion in this way.
“Simply by chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, one can become free from all misery, but because they are enchanted by the illusory energy, people do not take this movement seriously. Therefore those who are actually servants of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu must seriously distribute this movement all over the world to render the greatest benefit to human society.
“Of course, animals and other lower species are not capable of understanding this movement, but if even a small number of human beings take it seriously, then by their chanting loudly, all living entities, including even trees, animals and other lower species, will be benefited. When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu inquired from Haridasa Thakura how he was to benefit living entities other than humans, Srila Haridasa Thakura replied that the Hare Krsna maha-mantra is so potent that if it is chanted loudly, everyone will benefit, including the lower species of life.”
Adi 9.40
Merton’s Voice: “The trees indeed love You without knowing You. The tiger lilies and corn flowers are there proclaiming that they love You, without being aware of Your presence. The beautiful dark clouds ride slowly across the sky musing on You like children who do not know what they are dreaming of, as they play.
“But in the midst of them all, I know You, and I know of Your presence.”
Merton, Thomas. Thoughts in Solitude. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999, p. 99.
Once upon a time there was a rich King who had four wives. He loved the fourth wife the most and adorned her with rich robes and treated her to the finest of delicacies. He gave her nothing but the best.
He also loved the third wife very much and was always showing her off to neighboring kingdoms. However, he knew that she could leave him at any time.
He also loved his second wife. She was his confidant and was always kind,considerate and patient with him. Whenever the King faced a problem, he could confide in her, and she would help him get through the difficult times.
The King's first wife was a very loyal partner and maintained him in every way. However, he did not appreciate her and neglected her.
One day, the King fell ill and was told he had only a short time to live. He thought of his luxurious life and wondered, "I now have four wives with me, but when I die, I'll be all alone."
Thus, he asked the fourth wife, "I loved you the most, pampered you, did whatever you asked, and showered great care over you. Now that I'm dying,will you follow me and keep me company?" "No way. It is simply not possible for me to go with you," replied the fourth wife. And she walked away without another word.
Her answer cut like a sharp knife right into his heart.
The sad King then asked the third wife, "I loved you all my life and took good care of you. I was so attached to you. Now that I'm dying; will you follow me and keep me company?"
No, I can't!" replied the third wife. "Someone else will love me and become attached to me just as you did." His heart sank and turned cold.
He then asked the second wife, "I have always turned to you for help and you've always been there for me. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?" "I'm sorry, there is nothing I can do to really help you," she replied. "The best I can do is walk with you to your grave." Her answer struck him like a bolt of lightning, and the King was devastated.
Then a voice called out: "I'll go with you. I'll follow you no matter where you go." The King looked up, and there was his first wife. She was very skinny as she suffered from malnutrition and neglect. Greatly grieved, the King said, "I should have taken much better care of you when I had the chance! You were really the most important part of my life but I never recognized it."
In truth, we all have the four wives in our lives:
Our fourth wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish it, it will leave us when we die.
Our third wife is our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, it will all go to others.
Our second wife is our family and friends. No matter how much they have been there for us, the furthest they can stay by us is up to our death. They can't save us from death.
And our first wife is us, the soul, often neglected in pursuit of wealth,power and pleasures of the world. However, the soul is the only thing that remains after all in this world in gone. Cultivate your spiritual life seriously, strengthen and cherish it now. Nothing else lasts.
Akrura das, el entrenar de Gita: LAS CUATRO ESPOSAS
Érase una vez un rey muy rico que tenía cuatro esposas. Él amaba a la cuarta esposa mucho y la adornó con los trajes más ricos y precioso y la trataba con exquisita delicadeza. Él solo le daba lo mejor.
Él rey también amaba mucho a la tercera esposa y le demostraba siempre el pago de los reinos vecinos. Sin embargo, él sabía que ella podría dejarlo en cualquier momento.
Él también amaba a su segunda esposa. Ella era su confidente y tenía mucha clase, ella era considerada y paciente con él. Siempre que el rey hiciera frente a un problema, él podía confiar en ella, y ella le ayudaba a conseguir resolverlo y en los tiempos difíciles siempre era a ella a la que recurría.
La primera esposa del rey era una amiga muy leal y le mantenía de todas las maneras. Sin embargo, él no la apreció y la descuidó le. Un día, el rey cayó enfermo y le comunicaron que él tenía un tiempo corto de vida. Él pensó en su vida lujosa y se preguntaba, " Ahora tengo cuatro esposas conmigo, pero cuando muero, estaré solo."
Así, él le preguntó a la cuarta esposa, "Yo te he amado mucho, y te he cuidado con mimo, siempre he velado por su seguridad, hice lo que usted preguntó, y regué gran cuidado sobre usted. Ahora que yo me estoy muriendo, usted me seguirá y me me protegerá?"
"De ningún modo. No es posible que me vaya con usted, "contestó la cuarta esposa. Y ella se fue sin decir nada más.
Su respuesta fue como una profunda puñalada aguda en su corazón.
El rey triste entonces le preguntó a la tercera esposa, "Le amé toda mi vida y tomé le cuidé muy bien. Es de esta forma que me siento atado a usted. Ahora que me voy a morir ¿usted me seguirá y me hará compañía?"
"No, yo no puedo" contestó la tercera esposa. "Alguna persona me amará y se casará conmigo apenas usted muera." Su corazón se hundió y se volvió frío. Él entonces preguntó a la segunda esposa, "He estado siempre a tu lado y te he hecho mi consejera, siempre estuvieste conmigo cuando yo te necesitaba. ¿Cuándo yo muera, usted me seguirá y me hará compañía?"
"Yo estoy apesadumbrada, allí no hay nada que yo pueda hacer para ayudarle realmente," ella contestó. "Lo mejor que puedo hacer es caminar con usted a su lado." Su respuesta lo pegó como un golpe de relámpago, y el rey quedó devastado.
Entonces una voz dijo en voz alta: "Yo iré con usted. Yo le seguiré donde usted vaya." El rey miró hacia arriba, y vió a su primera esposa. Ella estaba muy flaca pues ella había sufrido de desnutrición por la negligencia del rey. El rey dijo, "grandemente afligido; ¡Debía haber tomado mucho más cuidado de usted cuando tuve la ocasión! Usted es realmente la persona más importantes de mi vida pero nunca lo reconocí."
En verdad, todos tenemos las cuatro esposas en nuestras vidas:
Nuestra cuarta esposa es nuestro cuerpo. No importa cuantas horas y esfuerzos que le prodigemos, nos dejará cuando muramos.
Nuestra tercera esposa es nuestras posesiones, estado y abundancia. Cuando morimos, todo irá a otros.
Nuestra segunda esposa es nuestra familia y amigos. No importa cuanto tiempo estén con nosotros, ellos permanecerán junto a nosotros hasta nuestra muerte. Ellos no pueden salvarnos de la muerte.
Y nuestra primera esposa somos nosotros, el alma, descuidada a menudo por la búsqueda de la abundancia, de la energía y de los placeres del mundo. Sin embargo, el alma es la única cosa que nos sigue después de que todo en este mundo se haya ido.
Cultive su vida espiritual seriamente, ahora consolídela y acariciela. Así hasta el final.
Questions immediately change what we're focusing on and therefore how we feel.
Questions are the laser of human consciousness. They concentrate our focus and determine what we feel and do.
Questions have the power to affect our beliefs and thus what we consider possible or impossible.
Questions change the resources available to us.
Questions open up new worlds and give us access to resources we might not otherwise realize we have available.
What do you think? How can your job be improved?
At any moment, the questions that we ask ourselves can shape our perception of who we are, what we're capable of, and what we're willing to do to achieve our dreams.
Learning to consciously control the questions you ask will take you further to achieving your goals.
Often our resources are limited only by the questions we ask ourselves.
The only thing that limits your questions is your belief about what's possible.
Create a better question, and you'll get a better answer.
Our life experience is based on what we focus on, and questions change our focus.
Samples:
What's great about this problem?
What can I learn from this problem so that this never happens again?
To "be alive" is much more then "living". Living could mean simply not to be dead. In Germany there is a saying: "The epitaph of an average German may read: he died with 20 and was buried at 80".
This means he lived for 60 years but was not alive.
To best express, what I mean with "being alive" I would like to break down the word in its five letters and give an explanation for each one: A - L - I - V - E
A : to be alive is to be aware.
Aware of what? Aware of yourself as an eternal servant of Krishna and aware of Sri Krishna. There is an eternal relationship - which we can turn to any minute provided we become aware of it. Awarness has also something to do with giving attention. Let´s start with becoming aware of Krsna in our immediate environment. The Lord is surrounding us in His creation, and in His arrangements which are made by His loving hands. He carries everything we need for our development. And he is there in His holy name, within the Deities and within the heart of His devotees.
How wonderful, how merciful - an exercise in awareness always is an exercise in gratefulness.
L : To be alive is to be in love.
In love with what? With Krishna, His arrangements, His devotees and with all beings (appropriately). A word of caution: Real love is stopped by fear. The beautiful flower of love grows like a lotus flower in the pond of freedom. Let´s be aware and cautious about unnecessary fear in our life.
I : To be alive is to be intuitive.
Intuition is the voice of the Lord in the heart - Paramatma. To the devoted and receptive soul the indwelling Lord is constantly trying to give instructions, guidance and inspiration. Let's learn to ask and listen.
V : To be alive is to be victorious.
Victorious over what? Spiritual traditions teach us that there are two tendencies within us - the positive and the destructive. They fight like two dogs with each other. Ultimately that side will be victorious whom we give food. To be victorious is to resolve that inner conflict by inviting the Lord into all decisions.
E : To be alive is to be excited.
Excited by what? By recognizing Lord Krishna in everything. Learn to meet Him not only in the holy name and the sastras but in the exchanges, your life-situations and all and be excited about one word: SEVA or devotional service. It´s the key to the kingdom of God.
To be spiritually alive means to be aware, attentive, full of love, with an often used intuition. To be alive means to be victorious and excited. To be alive means to say yes to the spiritual adventure of growth in Krishna consciousness.
Love does not mean that you come once a week to my house. Love means you come to my house every day, give me some present, and take something from me. Srila Rupa Gosvami describes the symptoms of love in his Upadesamrta [4];
If you love somebody, you must give him something, and you must accept something from him. You must disclose your mind to him, and he should disclose his mind to you. And you should give him some eatable, and whatever eatable thing he offers, you accept. These six kinds of exchange develop love.
But if you do not even know the person, then where is the question of love? Suppose you love some boy or some girl, then you will give some present, and he or she gives you some present -- that develops love. You give something to eat, and whatever he or she gives you to eat, you eat. You disclose your mind: "My dear such-and-such, I love you. This is my ambition." And he or she makes some disclosure. These are the exchanges of love.
But if there is no person-to-person meeting, where is the question of love? If I claim to love somebody, but I visit his house only once a week and ask,"Please give me such-and-such," where is the exchange of love? Love means there is some exchange. If you love somebody but you have not given anything to that person or taken anything from him, where is the love?
The conclusion is, religion means to love God, and that means you must know who God is. There is no alternative. You must know the person who is God. Then you can have loving exchanges with Him. That we are teaching. We are asking our disciples to rise early in the morning and offer mangala arati, then bhoga arati, to the Lord in His form as the Deity in the temple. Are we such fools and rascals that we are wasting time worshiping a "doll"? Sometimes people think like that. But that is not a fact. When you enter the temple, you know definitely, "Here is Krsna. He is God, and we must love Him like this." That is the superexcellence of this Krsna consciousness movement. We do everything definitely, on the positive platform.
- Srila Prabhupada, Civilization And Transcendence
"Krishna and light, Maya and shadow. Light or shadow," Srila Prabhupada
says, "Krishna or Maya. It's your choice which side is up. It all depends on
your desire. So, let the may go."
"I've come to Vrindaban because I want Krishna," I say, "but I'm torn. It's
like two people sitting here: Hayagrivadas and Howard, Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde."
"So, let the maya go. Howard is born with this body and dies with this body.
Hayagrivadas is the eternal personality of the soul, the real you."
"I think at death he turns back into Dr. Jekyll," I say.
"That depends on your thoughts at death."
"Then I have to learn to think of Krishna."
"That's this bhakti-yoga process," says Prabhupada, "the science of the soul, the science of God. Now, in the mornings, I'm lecturing on this Nectarof Devotion. So you must come and listen and write down your realizations."
"My problem is the false ego won't stay dead," I say, "even though I want him to. Why?"
"That's also Arjuna's question," Prabhupada says. "He asks Krishna, 'Why does a man sin, as if forced to?' And what is Krihna's reply?"
"Kama," I say. "Lust"
"The eternal enemy of the world," Prabhupada says, "the enemy within. Conquer him, and you're in Vaikuntha, you're in light. Surrender to him, and you're in hell, in darkness. That means rebirth. This bhakti-yoga is practical, scientific, proven," says Prabhupada. "If it doesn't work, then you should examine yourself to see that you're following properly. Do you think that you can try to cheat Krishna without His knowledge? Krishna knows
your innermost thoughts... Nothing is secret to Him. ..Krishna knows you better than you know yourself. Krishna not only knows everything about this life; He knows all your previous lives as well...You Americans are spoiled children. Krishna consciousness is not an LSD pill you can purchase for five dollars. No. Great sages undergo penances for many lifetimes to attain Krishna. But now in Kali Yuga, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has given us the easiest method: chanting. It doesn't even matter what name of God you chant.
This is not a sectarian process. The Lord has millions of names, and His transcendental potencies are in all of them."
excerpt from Vrindaban Days by Howard Wheeler (Hayagriva Swami)
Regardless of whether you're the boss or not, you can influence your organisation to do better in the future. In practical terms, this requires that you take the initiative and act as a trim-tab for your organisation. A trim-tab is a very small rudder on a boat or plane that turns the bigger rudder, which then turns the entire ship. History is full of influential people who exerted loads of influence even though they had no formal authority. This is the spirit of what you need to do within your own organisation.
In practical terms, being a trim-tab means:
o You strive for personal excellence - and encourage all those within your circle of influence to do likewise.
o You always do what's right - rather than waiting for explicit permission to be given. Instead of being assigned, you take personal responsibility and use your initiative to solve any problems and move forward.
o You avoid complaining, criticising or being negative - and view these actions as shallow attempts to shift the blame from your shoulders to someone else.
o You empathise with your boss - and try to anticipate the pressures he or she is operating under. Whenever you're given an assignment, you pause and consider the "why" this matter is important. Then take the initiative and provide more than was asked of you. This will make a big impression.
o You have to be constant - and encourage your peers to stick to sound principles and good business practices rather than twisting and turning with every social wind that blows.
As you do these things consistently well, your boss and others in formal positions of power will have increasing trust in your ability to perform. That, in turn, will lead to more opportunities for you to take the initiative. Over time, you will be able to substantially build focus within your organisation by creatively trim-tabbing your way through.
"We must become the change we seek in the world."
- Gandhi
The Trim-Tab Factor
Buckminster Fuller used to talk about the "trim-tab" factor. On the rudder of a huge ship there is another minirudder called the trim-tab. By moving the trim-tab ever so slightly, the rudder is slowly moved, which eventually changes the whole direction of a huge ship.
In your own personal mission statement, see yourself as a trim-tab factor. See yourself as a change catalyst. By making some changes in your part of the ecosystem and believing that through a process of patience and diligence you begin to have reverberations on other parts of that ecosystem, you will become a person we call a "transition figure": one who stops the transmission of tendencies from one generation to another. For instance,
you may see some tendencies in your children that you do not like, but these tendencies are already in you. You may also see some of those same tendencies in your parents or their parents.
Transition figures, those who are trim-tab factors inside a family, can stop the transmission of undesirable tendencies if they will internally develop their proactive, empathic, synergistic, and self-renewal muscles. They can become an enormous source of influence in causing their small inner Circle of Influence to get larger and larger.
Some might say it will take forever; however, it is amazing how rapidly such transition figures, such change catalysts, such trim-tab factors, start to influence an entire culture. Sometimes change occurs in a matter of a few months, sometimes in a year or two, sometimes in just a few weeks. Try it in you're your environment for 30 days. You will start to see the whole ecosystem altering because of this positive energy source.
Male devotee: Srila Prabhupada, if someone takes prasadam even once, is it true that they're guaranteed at least a human body in their next life?
Prabhupada: Yes. You go on simply eating, that's all. (laughter) And all of my devotees, they have come to me simply by eating pras€da. You are also? (laughter) So we give all facilities. If you cannot do anything, please come and eat with us. All right, thank you very much. (end) Bhagavad-gita 13.4
Success is more likely if we work diligently on our goals every day.
1. Resolve today to pick up the pace in your life. Move faster from task to task. Walk quickly. Develop a higher tempo of activity.
2. Imagine you were going away tomorrow for a month and you had to get caught up on everything before you left. Work as hard and as fast as you do just before you leave for vacation.
3. Practice tight time planning. Imagine that you only had half the time available to get the job done and work with a sense of urgency all day long.
4. Continually ask for more responsibility, and when you get it, complete the task quickly and well. This one habit will continually open doors of opportunity for you.
Because if I can turn one soul to this Krsna consciousness, he'll do tremendous work, because he'll be fire. You see? He can do tremendous work. Ekas candras tamo hanti na ca tarah sahasrasah. One moon is complete to drive away the darkness of night, not millions of stars required. What these millions of stars can do? One moon is sufficient. So our propaganda is to create one moon. You see? But fortunately, by Krsna's grace, many moonlike boys and girls have come to me. You see? Many moons. (chuckles) I was thinking of having only one moon, but Krsna... I am hopeful that there are many moons, and in future they'll be doing very nice.
Prabhupada: Ninety-five percent may remain non-brahmana. But this 5 percent, if they are strongly brahminical, then others will follow. Ekas candras tamo hanti na ca tarah-sahasrasah. [Canakya Pandita: "If there is one moon, that is sufficient. What is the use of millions of stars?"] You have got millions of stars. Nobody cares for them. But people are looking after "When the moon will rise? When the moon will rise?" That one moon is sufficient than millions of stars. So this is the suggestion.
So try to preach this cult. But not that everyone will accept, but even a few percent, one percent of the whole population accept. Just like in the sky, there is one moon only and there are millions of stars. They're useless. What is the value of the millions of stars? But one moon, oh, dissipate the whole darkness of night. Similarly, at least those who have taken to Krsna consciousness, you become, each of you become a moon and enlighten the world. These so-called glow-worms, they'll not be able to do anything. That's a fact. Don't remain a glow-worm. Just become a sun and moon. Then you will..., people will be happy, you will be happy.
- Srila Prabhupada, Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.15.1 -- New York, November 29, 1973
To find our voice means to engage in service that genuinely taps our talents and fuels our enthusiasm. It means to do something significant with our life – to sense an unmet need among people and then to fully harness all our talents and enthusiasm to meet that need. To find our voice means to think big and shoot for the rhino rather than settling for false humility.
Once we've found our own voice, we can continue to increase our advancement by helping others to find their own unique voices as well.
To inspire others means to recognize, respect and create meaningful opportunities for others to express their voices. The word inspire is derived from the Latin inspirare which literally means to breath life into another. This is exactly what we do when we encourage and positively influence others to find their voices.
1. We are put to test and trial in this world. Only those who attend the kirtana of the devotees can succeed.
2. Every spot on earth where discourses on God are held is a place of pilgrimage.
3. Possession of objects not related to Krsna is our main malady.
4. Let me not desire anything but the highest good for my worst enemies.
5. As dalliance with the body in luxury increases, so wanes the spirit of service of the Lord.
6. Those favored by God find their paths set by thorns.
7. There is no peace or happiness in our worldly life. Circumstances create turmoil and annoyance.
8. Chant the maha mantra loudly and with attachment. This will drive away inertia, worldly evils and pests.
9. Be indifferent to bazaar gossips, stick firmly to your cherished goals, no lack or impediments of the world will ever stand in your way.
10. Pay due respects to the extroverts of the world, but do not be appreciative of their manners and conduct. They are to be shaken off from your mind.
11. A devotee feels the presence of God everywhere, but one averse to the Lord denies His existence anywhere.
12. You cannot appreciate transcendental matters with the reasoning of the world. It is sheer nonsense to decry them with the measuring stick of your intellect.
13. To recite the name of Sri Krsna is bhakti.
14. Life is for the glorification of topics on Hari. If that is stopped, then what need is there to carry on life.
15. Physical illness with Hari-bhajana is preferred to physical fitness without Hari-bhajana.
16. Our span of life on earth is short. Our life will be crowned with success if the body wears out with constant discourses on Hari.
17. We are here on earth not to work as artisans for making big buildings with wood and stone but to work only as messengers for the teachings of Sri Caitanya Deva.
18. A sycophant (a person who acts obsequiously toward someone in order to gain advantage; a servile flatterer) is neither a guru or a preacher.
19. To transform the adverse desires of the jivas is the supreme duty of the most merciful. To rescue one person from the stronghold of Mahamaya is an act of superb benevolence, far superior to opening innumerable hospitals.
20. Unless we are devoted to God, secularism shall not leave us.
21. Look within. Amend yourself, rather than pry into the frailties of others.
22. In this world of Maya, averse to the Lord, full of trials and tribulations, only patience, humility and respect for others are our friends for Hari-bhajana.
23. The Lord, Gaurasundara, puts His devotees in various difficulties and associations to test their patience and strength of mind. Success depends on their good fortune.
24. When faults in others misguide and delude you – have patience, introspect, find faults in yourself. Know that others cannot harm you unless you harm yourself.
25. I wish that every selfless, tender-hearted person of Gaudiya Math will be prepared to shed two hundred gallons of blood for the nourishment of the spiritual corpus of every individual of this world.
The successful execution of Krsna conscious activities requires both patience and confidence.
A newly married girl naturally expects offspring from her husband, but she cannot expect to have them immediately after marriage.
Of course, as soon as she is married she can attempt to get a child, but she must surrender to her husband, confident that her child will develop and be born in due time.
Similarly, in devotional service surrender means that one has to become confident.
The devotee thinks, avasya raksibe krsna: "Krsna will surely protect me and give me help for the successful execution of devotional service."
To achieve the ultimate goal of sreyas, or good fortune, one should engage everything, including his life, wealth and words, not only for himself but for others also. However, unless one is interested in sreyas in his own life, he cannot preach of sreyas for the benefit of others.
...
The Bhagavatam says that it is the duty of an advanced human being to act in such a way as to facilitate human society's attainment of the ultimate goal of life.
The Krsna consciousness movement introduced by Lord Caitanya is extremely important because one who takes to it becomes eternal, being freed from birth, death and old age.
People do not recognize that the real distresses in life are the four principles of birth, death, old age and disease.
They are so foolish that they resign themselves to these four miseries, not knowing the transcendental remedy of the Hare Krsna maha-mantra.
Simply by chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, one can become free from all misery, but because they are enchanted by the illusory energy, people do not take this movement seriously.
Therefore those who are actually servants of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu must seriously distribute this movement all over the world to render the greatest benefit to human society.
Of course, animals and other lower species are not capable of understanding this movement, but if even a small number of human beings take it seriously, then by their chanting loudly, all living entities, including even trees, animals and other lower species, will be benefited.
When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu inquired from Haridasa Thakura how he was to benefit living entities other than humans, Srila Haridasa Thakura replied that the Hare Krsna maha-mantra is so potent that if it is chanted loudly, everyone will benefit, including the lower species of life.
Why a few selected persons come here? Because it requires background of pious activities. Otherwise it is not possible. We do not expect that cent percent of people will become Krsna conscious. That is not possible. But if there is one ideal Krsna conscious person, he can do benefit to many thousands. Ekas candras tamo hanti na ca tarah sahasrasah. If there is one moon in the sky, he can illuminate the whole universe, na ca tarah sahasrasah, not these twinkling stars. It is not possible.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila 20.112 -- New York, July 20, 1976
The secondary rules are of three types: rules regarding self; rules regarding society; rules regarding the afterlife. Rules regarding the self are of two categories: those for the body and those for the mind. Those rules to keep a person's body properly nourished so that they can remain healthy are the bodily rules. Such things as regulated drinking, eating, sleeping, exercise, and for sickness, prescriptions for cure, are bodily rules.
If people do not follow these rules, they cannot pass through life smoothly. If they do not follow the mental rules, their power of realization, concentration, imagination, contemplation and judgment will be weak and will not properly function. There will be no advancement in arts and sciences, and moreover one will not be able to take the mind from material thoughts and direct it to thoughts of God. As a result, sinful thoughts and atheistic attitude will dominate the mind; finally a person will become no better than a beast. Therefore these bodily and mental rules are very necessary for success in human life.
I would like to share with you a couple of incidents in my initial days of Krishna consciousness. Krishna's holy names are not different from Krishna. It has great power in strength ... sweet in taste. Everybody enjoys it if they attentively chant. It even attracts little kids to become Krishna conscious without parents' intervention.
I started practicing Krishna consciousness three years back. By the mercy of Radha Mohan Prabhu who was my colleague in the office, I came to know about Hare Krishna movement and Krishna consciousness.
Radha Mohan Prabhu brought beads for me from Vrindavan and I started my chanting at home. My daughter Soumya who was five years old at that time used to observe me chanting daily. Once she asked me that she wants to chant on beads. I discouraged her and told her that she is too young and she can't hold the beads properly. Also I tried to convince her that once she grows up she can start chanting.
The next day I observed that Soumya drew 108 boxes on the white paper and marking each box while chanting Hare Krishna Maha Mantra. I was very surprised with her idea and strong desire to chant Maha Mantra. After completing her round of chanting I asked her how she got that idea. She replied, "Dad, you told me that since I am just five years old, I can't hold the beads properly. So I got this idea of drawing 108 boxes and marking each box while chanting. In this way I can count 108 times without holding beads. I think you have no objection now."
I then realized the power and taste of the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra.
I still remember, that day was Friday and we had a Bhagavad-gita class at Dinabandhu Prabhu's house. I told Dinabandhu Prabhu about Soumya's chanting and asked him whether it is ok to encourage kids to chant at this age. Dinabandhu Prabhu told me that we should encourage kids to chant if they have that desire and he gave beads with bead bag to Soumya. By the blessings of that great devotee, from that day my little daughter started chanting and practicing Krishna consciousness for the past three years.
This is really a wonderful experience in my life to realize that there is no age limit and everybody enjoys Hare Krishna Maha Mantra once they taste it.
Soumya's Preaching
Soumya used to prepare gift cards in MS Word or Paint Brush with Krishna's picture and the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra. When I made a printout of those cards at my office, she used give these cards as gifts to her friends. When I asked her why she is giving them, she said, "This is one way of preaching. My friends who are Muslims and Christians and don't know about Krishna will see Krishna's beautiful face and read the Maha Mantra written on the card at least once. It gives them some spiritual benefit."
I was quite surprised by her answer. We never taught her to do like that. I think that is because of the mercy of great devotees and the Supreme Lord.
(Written by Bhakta Radha Krishna Murthy, ISKCON Manchester, UK)
I want one student who follows my instruction. I don't want millions. Ekas candras tamo hanti na ca tara-sahasrasah. If there is one moon in the sky, that is sufficient for illumination. There is no need of millions of stars. So my position is that I want to see that at least one disciple has become pure devotee. Of course, I have got many sincere and pure devotees. That is my good luck. But I would have been satisfied if I could find out one only. There is no need of so-called millions of stars.
Srila Prabhupada, Arrival Lecture -- San Francisco, July 15, 1975
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.18.14 - Pay no attention to endless glitter of material energy. Continue your duties of devotional service and go back home, back to Godhead.
Our Gaura Purnima Festival in Brasilia was the first major festival we’ve held at our new Hare Krishna center. Though we only used word of mouth and our email list to invite members one week before the event, we had more people than we could fit!
We started six hours before the publicly announced time so as to do Brasilia’s first 6 hour kirtan.
After the kirtan I presented a slide show lecture on Mayapur, since my wife and I just came back from spending two weeks there (she took lots of nice pictures while I was in the GBC meetings!). It was a presentation with a few fun additions. I surprised them with a bottle of Ganges water when I showed them slides of the Ganges river. Everyone had the chance to sprinkle some drops on their head. I also passed around a small twig of the neem tree from the Yoga Pitha when showing that. They loved it.
After the presentation on the glories of Mayapur Dhama, we had more kirtan! This time an ecstatic, massively energetic kirtan led by Devananda Prabhu, a devotee from Trinidad and Tobago currently residing in Brasilia.
The crowd jumped and danced with such enthusiasm, I feared for the structural integrity of the 3 story building in which our Hare Krishna center is located!
After the kirtan we served prasadam, including Lord Chaitanya’s delicious birthday cake.
We’re so happy to have our own center now! But we still have lots of debts from the purchase and renovation of it. If you can help, please send us a donation through PayPal – gd@pandavas.org.br.
An old African farmer became very excited one day upon hearing from a traveling merchant of men who had gone off into Africa, discovered diamond mines and become fabulously wealthy. He decided to sell off his farm, organize a caravan, and read into the vast interior of Africa to find diamonds so he could crown his life with fabulous wealth.
For many years, he searched the vast African continent for diamonds. Eventually, he ran out of money and was abandoned by everyone. Finally, alone, in a fit of despair, he threw himself into the ocean and drowned.
Meanwhile, back on the farm that he had sold, the new farmer was out watering a donkey one day in a stream that cut across the farm. He found a strange stone that threw off light in a remarkable way. He took it into the house and thought no more of it. Some months later the same merchant, traveling on business, stopped for the night at the farm. When he saw the stone, he grew very excited and asked if the old farmer had finally returned. No, he was told, the old farmer had never been seen again, but why was he so excited?
The merchant picked up the stone and said, "This is a diamond of great price and value." The new farmer was skeptical, but the merchant insisted that he show him where he had found the dia mond. They went out on the farm to where the farmer had been watering the donkey, and as they looked around, they found an other diamond, and another, and another. It turned out that the whole farm was covered with acres of diamonds. The old farmer had gone off into Africa seeking for diamonds without ever looking under his own feet.
The moral to this story was that the old farmer did not realize that diamonds do not look like diamonds in their rough form. They simply look like rocks to the uneducated eye. A diamond must be cut, faceted, polished and set before it looks like the kind of dia mond that you see in the jewelry stores.
Likewise, your acres of diamonds probably lie right under your own feet. But they are usually disguised as hard work. "Opportuni ties come dressed in work clothes."
Your acres of diamonds probably lie in your own talents, your interests, your education, your background and experience, your industry, your city, your contacts. Your acres of diamonds probably lie right under your own feet if you will take the time to recognize them and then go to work on them.
Remember the words I quoted earlier from Theodore Roose velt who said, "Do what you can, with what you have, right where you are." You don't need to move across the country or to make a major upheaval in your life. In most cases, what you are looking for is right at your fingertips. But it doesn't look like an opportunity on the surface. In many cases, your great opportunity will simply look like hard, hard work.
Sukadeva Gosvami told Maharaja Pariksit that every living entity is actually most attached to his own self. Outward paraphernalia such as home, family, friends, country, society, wealth, opulence and reputation are all only secondary in pleasing the living entity. They please only because they bring pleasure to the self. For this reason, one is self-centered and is attached to his body and self more than he is to relatives like wife, children and friends. If there is some immediate danger to one's own person, he first of all takes care of himself, then others. That is natural. That means he loves his own self more than anything else.
The next important object of affection, after his own self, is his material body. A person who has no information of the spirit soul is very much attached to his material body, so much so that even in old age he wants to preserve the body in so many artificial ways, thinking that his old and broken body can be saved. Everyone is working hard day and night just to give pleasure to his own self, under either the bodily or spiritual concept of life. We are attached to material possessions because they give pleasure to the senses or to the body. The attachment to the body is there only because the "I," the spirit soul, is within the body.
Similarly, when one is further advanced, he knows that the spirit soul is pleasing because it is part and parcel of Krsna. Ultimately, it is Krsna who is pleasing and all-attractive. He is the Supersoul of everything. And in order to give us this information, Krsna descends and tells us that the all-attractive center is He Himself. Without being an expansion of Krsna, nothing can be attractive.
Krsna Book 14: Prayers Offered by Lord Brahma to Lord Krsna
If you accept bhagavad-bhakti-yoga, devotional service to the Lord, you shall be prasanna-manasa. You shall be always feeling jolly. If I am not jolly, if I am not prasanna-manasa, that means maya has attacked me. A bhagavad-bhakta shall never be aprasanna, not joyful. Always joyful. If he is actually in contact with Krsna, how he can become morose? No. If he is morose, if he is unhappy, that means maya has attacked him. This is the test. ...
Spiritual life means anandamaya. There is no displeasure. Always ananda. That is spiritual life. Spiritual life means ananda, and material life means anxiety. You can distinguish. If you are always put into anxiety, that is material life. And if you are always jolly, that is spiritual life. Anandamayo 'bhyasat.
Srila Prabhupada, Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.20 -- Vrndavana, October 31, 1972
We have to purify our existence, and get out of this repetition of birth and death. That is success of life.
We are all parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord. Therefore our business is to act in such a way that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is satisfied. That is success of life.
If you simply try to understand Krsna, the, His transcendental appearance, disappearance, activities, if you try to understand, then your life is success.
The highest perfection is that when you understand God and you are in love with God. That is success.
When there is pure chanting, that is success.
The successful life means to make our consciousness changed into Krsna consciousness.
If you somehow or other you can remember about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, about His activities, about His form, about His name, anything, form, name, quality, paraphernalia, anything, if you can remember, then that is success of your life.
The success is if we can remember Narayana at the end of life.
There are no coincidences. Because the universe is controlling higher agencies, each encounter has come to us for a particular reason. We are subject to a spiritual law similar to a law of physics: every action produces a corresponding reaction. Therefore, we can try to discover the lesson in every occurrence. The exercise is to turn negative events into positive ones and positive events into even better ones. If we learn from all events, then everything that happens can become a positive occurrence because we have become wiser.
Have you ever known anyone who thought that if they ignored it, it would go away? I call people like that the Queen or King of Denial. Denying that something doesn't exist doesn't make it go away. Usually, it only makes it worst. The first step in solving an issue is to acknowledge that it is there.
The longer we ignore a situation the longer it will persist. Usually, the longer we ignore it, the worse it gets, until what started out as a small problem escalates into a major problem. I certainly have played the role of Queen of Denial from time to time. I actually can be very good at it. Unfortunately, reality has a way of catching up with me and it is never pretty. My lesson from this is that denying a problem doesn't exist, doesn't make it go away. It simply allows it to get worse. If we handle situations when they come up, we can avoid the problem that ignoring them creates.
A dear friend ignored the pains in her stomach for years. When she finally could no longer make the pain go away by drinking bottles of that chalky stuff, she went to the doctor. She was diagnosed with
stomach cancer and died several months later. Ignoring the signs of a problem will not make the problem go away. If life is giving you warning signals, don't ignore them. Listen to what they have to tell you and handle whatever it is in the moment. It will save you in the end.
Coaching
Sometimes it may seem like it is easier to ignore a problem than to face it and take care of it, but it is always better to handle it than wait. Waiting only causes more fear and frustration to build up within us. Denying something doesn't make it go away. By ignoring the situation, we are allowing it to grow and get worse. Facing the problem head on and dealing with it is best. That way we do not let it become a crisis.
- Rachelle Disbennett Lee
http://365daysofcoaching.com
I slept peacefully and woke up at 2:30 A.M. I spoke with Narayana for awhile and then got down to my chanting. My head was clear, but my eyes were heavy. It was not my soul or my heart but just my eyelids. I don't know what the problem was. But I plodded on and made good time. I've now chanted twelve rounds. I chanted without distraction to other topics but not with deep diving into the glories of the holy names. I might have put on a little bit of music to wake me up, but I didn't think of it. I need a little jolt. I turn to my journal now, my japa poem and then back to the remaining quota. I hope my eyes will lift.
I feel like a football
player who has been knocked
around. I don't know
why. It just may be
the aging body, the fatigue.
It was hand to hand
combat for my first
twelve rounds as my
eyelids weighed heavy
on the eyeballs.
But I am not about
to concede defeat. We have
made a commitment too deep
for that. We fight back,
wash water on the face
and recommence the yajna with determined
grit.
Prabhupada Smaranam
This is a picture taken during Srila Prabhupada's July 1971 visit to the Boston temple. He made four visits to Boston and this was the last one. He came mainly to install Radha Krishna deities at my request. During his earlier visits the movement was still small, and he did not have many temples. He visited once for a month in 1968, once for two weeks in the summer of 1969, and once only for only a few days in the winter of 1969. By 1971 he had been traveling and preaching with a group of devotees holding pandals in India, and he had recently been to Moscow and Paris. It was his kindness to stop and visit Boston which was now a smaller temple with the exodus of the devotees of ISKCON Press. He went out of his way to come, and I have always felt it was a personal reciprocation just to do the favor of rewarding me for sticking it out in Boston and his rewarding the temple for persevering. Besides, we had about twenty devotees ready for him to initiate. And I had written him several times asking him to come to install the Deities. He had personally purchased them in India. They were identical to the Radha-Madhava brass deities he had installed in Mayapur.
We had two separate fire sacrifices, one for the initiations and one for installing the deities. Here I am functioning as the priest in my householder dress, and Prabhupada is looking on. He also read from the verses of Brahma Samhita. It was during this visit that I made the mistake of renting the VIP suite at the Boston Sheraton for Prabhupada to use as his rooms. We did not have first class facilities at the temple and didn't prepare a room for him. We also just had only one men's bathroom. That was used by all the men, and the women had their own. When Prabhupada first arrived he came to the temple and lectured and met with the devotees afterward. Then I informed him it was getting late and that he could go to the hotel we had carefully prepared for him. He flatly refused. "I will stay in the temple," he said. He quoted the saying that living in the forest was living in the mode of goodness, living in the city was living in the mode of passion and living in the brothel or liquor house was living in the mode of ignorance. When I had paid for the hotel the lady asked me why we were getting the VIP suite for a spiritual master if he was a renounced person.
She even supplied long stemmed roses, but there was no cooking allowed in the room. We planned to smuggle in an electric burner. (I told her that our spiritual master was the most important person to us and deserved the best treatment. But it turned out I had missed out the concept of yukta-vairagya in this case, and I was trying to put my spiritual master in what he considered a brothel.)
The room at the temple was very simple, and all we had for a chair was a rocking chair, and it was sometimes a little awkward with our making the men and women share the second bathroom in the house. But he seemed to accept it all without any disturbance and liked staying at the temple. When he left Boston and went to New York (where they had lavish quarters for him in the temple) I wrote him a letter of apology for giving such run-down quarters in Boston. He wrote back and said there was nothing to apologize for. He was a mendicant, he said, and accepted what ever his disciples could offer, but the principle should be to present the first class thing to the spiritual master. I was relieved he wasn't angry but aware we hadn't given him first class facilities.
Hearing Krishna's pastimes
1.
The gopis say that Krishna does
not deserve the name acyuta
or infallible one because He
has failed to show Himself
to them. And now again they say
"You are certainly infallible
in Your obstinacy." In so many words they talk
back and forth accusing
each other yet confessing their love.
I'm not qualified to
write of the intimate
dealings so it's better I
am quiet. But something should be said. In Caitanya
Caritamrita, Lord Caitanya says
the food offered to Krishna
becomes the nectar mixed with His mouth and to
taste it as prasada is
to taste His amrita. It's hard to avoid the
intimate nectar of His
pastimes.
But actually we have no realization of the
original adhara-amrtam
of Krishna's lips. We would be sahajiyas
if we claimed that.
Only the gopis know
that taste, and they
hanker for it more.
We should hear Krishna's pastimes and
taste the nectar in
that way. Hearing pacifies
the heart of lusty desires
and elevates the soul
to pure devotional service.
2.
Ah, but sometimes I
don't know what to
write. Too much about
the gopis isn't right.
I hear a blues tune
and try to take a Krishna
conscious lesson from its marrow.
Krishna's in the forest, there's no denying it
and I am drawn in that way.
He plays a flute and the cowherd maidens
stop what they're doing
and run out of the house past
their relatives. Some have less than perfect feelings,
and they can't get past their
husbands, brothers or fathers.
They leave their bodies in
the fire of separation.
But when the ones who reach
Him came upon Sri Krishna, He
treats them formally and
coldly tells them, "Why
have you come here in this
dangerous night? I'm glad to
welcome you, but you really
should go home as chaste
girls." Years later in a
letter He sent by Uddhava, He admitted
that night He meant just the opposite
of what He was saying.
But He eventually gave into
their tears and toe scratching and angry
words and gave
them the rasa dance.
I can't help but to speak
upon that subject. It's
like a magnet. It is
not wrong to sing. Just be
careful you don't treat
it profanely with
lust or triviality or with
symbolism or any indulgence.
You can say what happens
on the autumn night if
you say it nicely with
the parampara of Sukadeva
and Prabhupada's Krishna
book. It is not forbidden. Just be sure to give time
to all the other lilas
and avataras as they occur in
his books. Whatever Sukadeva told Pariksit
Maharaja is worth hearing, and I will tell it
to you in due
time.
Free write
This is not a humorous picture. The sheep appears doomed. He has somehow come down a right mountain peak and is standing on a rock wedged precariously between the two peaks. The peaks appear too steep for him to climb back up to their sheer faces, although mountain goats have been known to make miraculous climbs. He is stuck. The sheep most likely stood there for some time, then he tried to climb up the cliff and fell and was killed, plunging down the rocks, his body bouncing off them and finally landed in the water. What else could have happened? No one was going to rescue him with a helicopter. The photographer took the picture just as a oddity, a curiosity, a freak of nature but for the sheep it was his death of life.
We can be sympathetic but what can we do? Most living entities, including humans, are in a similar situation. There's a saying "I'm between a rock and a hard place" and there's the expression "you've got me between the devil and the deep blue sea." We come in to this world with karma, get ourselves further entangled with impious acts, and we face an inglorious death (with an inglorious next life). Of course we can reform if we meet a pure devotee and get out of the entanglement, but once you're in as bad as this sheep, it's very hard to get out. A mountain climber with ropes could try to pull the sheep up, but it's highly unlikely anyone would risk his life for this lowly animal.
Let us pray never to be so foolish as to wander around a mountain like this and step down unto a wedged rock. We do act as foolishly in our own ways.
Everyone has got some way he can contribute himself for serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead, everyone. Now conduct your preaching in such a way that when anyone becomes attracted to get something from us he may be induced or allured into serving Krishna in his own way as he likes to do it, not being forced to do something else he may not like to do, that will discourage him and no intelligent men will come.
- Srila Prabhupada, Letter to Bhagavan, Ahmedabad 13 December, 1972
The heart of one who is highly elevated and grave is compared to gold. If one's heart is very soft and gentle, his heart is compared to a cotton swab. When there is an ecstatic sensation within the mind, the golden heart or grave heart is not agitated, but the soft heart immediately becomes agitated.
To offer another example, a grave, magnanimous heart is compared to a great city, and a soft heart to an insignificant cottage. There may be many lights, or even great elephants in the big city, but no one will take particular notice of them. But when such lights or elephants are seen near a small cottage, everyone can distinctly point them out.
A hard heart is compared to a lightning bolt, to gold and to shellac. The lightning bolt is very strong and never becomes soft. Similarly, the hearts of those who are engaged in severe austerities and penances do not become very easily softened. The golden heart becomes melted at high temperature, as in ecstatic love. And the shellac heart is very easily melted in slight temperature.
A soft heart is compared to honey, to butter and to nectar. And the condition of the mind is compared to sunshine. As honey and butter become melted even in slight sunshine, softhearted persons become easily melted. Nectar, however, is by its nature always liquid. And the hearts of those who are in pure ecstatic love with Krsna are by nature always liquified, just like nectar.
A pure devotee of Krsna is always specifically qualified with nectarean qualifications and sometimes with the qualifications of butter and honey. On the whole, the heart in any of the different conditions mentioned above can be melted under certain circumstances, just as a hard diamond is sometimes melted by a combination of certain chemicals. In the Dana-keli-kaumudi it is stated, "When love develops in the heart of a devotee, he cannot check the transformation of his sentiments. His heart is just like the ocean at the rising of the moon, when the ebb tide cannot be checked: immediately there must be movement of high waves." Although in its natural state the ocean is always grave and unfathomable, when the moon rises, nothing can check the ocean's agitation. Similarly, those who are pure devotees cannot on any account check the movement of their feelings within.
Imagine if you would have the understanding that your situation today is exactly what you need at this moment for your own personal growth and development and your spiritual advancement.
Every part of your life is exactly as it should be.
Everything you are facing or you are dealing with contains within it possibilities that you can to turn to your own advantage to achieve the kind of life you want.
Whatever it may be, you can use your current experience as a springboard, rather than sitting there and whishing the things will improve.
How?
You need ideas.
Great ideas and their application are key to your bright future.
1. Organize and execute around your highest priorities
2. Ask yourself often during the day: What is the most valuable use of my time - right now.
3. Manage time based on relationships not tasks
1. Develop a deep, driving desire to master the principles given in the Bhagavad Gita.
2. Read each chapter twice before going to the next one.
3. As you read, stop frequently to ask yourself how you can apply each instruction.
4. Write down instructions most relevan to you in your journal and read them every day.
5. Review the Bhagavad Gita each month.
6. Apply the Bhagavad Gita's principles at every opportunity. Use it as a working handbook to help you solve your daily problems.
7. Make a lively game out of your learning by offering some friend a dollar every time he catches you violating one of Bhagavad Gita's principles.
8. Check up each week on the progress you are making. Ask yourself what mistakes you have made, what improvement, and what lessons you have learned for the future.
9. Keep a journal showing how and when you have applied Bhagavad Gita's principles.
10. Teach the Bhagavad Gita as much as possible.
And take Gita Coaching in order to apply the Gita effectively in all areas.
1- Listening to each other, it should be done in attentive way otherwise the other side will feel that you are just pretending for hearing but your mind is in somewhere else!!!!
2- Tolerating one's faults, limits, lacks, and sudden changes in one's mood. Tolerating comes from believe that everything will change and will be alright. Everything is temporary in this world.
3- Clarifying what is hard to be tolerated and if that happens then try to react in the sweetest way and try to manifest the best aspect of personality.
4- To have trips and vacation together.
5- Showing empathy and sympathy to each other at the time of need.
6- Cooking nice Prasadam together.
7- To have a loving exchange. (Sweat words, gifts and …)
8- Visiting families and friends some times.
9- Helping each other for progressing in spiritual life by encouraging and supporting each other to have qualitative Sadhana.
10- At the time of sickness, disturbances and so on, try to be with and take care.
11- Show love or at least respect to both sides family members.
12- Show respect to both sides friends.
13- Go biking, hiking, swimming and etc together.
14- Invite devotees, serve them, provide lovely environment for their pleasure.
15- Try to be strong in ups and downs.
16- Try to associate with Gurus, Sadhus and devotees as mush as possible.
17- Try to create an acceptable financial security that could cover the living's costs and trips.
18- To have a vision of doing especial service that will be extremely pleasing for spiritual master and Sirla Prabhupada.
19- To translate spiritual books, articles and so on that those are useful and important for everyone's progress.
20- To learn some musical instruments that can play together.
21- taking care of bodily health, appearance and cleanliness of each other.
22- When both sides are agreed, have a child!
23- Try to learn how to forgive each other and be merciful.
Srila Rupa Gosvami has given a definition of auspiciousness. He says that actual auspiciousness means welfare activities for all the people of the world. At the present moment groups of people are engaged in welfare activities in terms of society, community or nation. There is even an attempt in the form of the United Nations for world-help activity. But due to the shortcomings of limited national activities, such a general mass welfare program for the whole world is not practically possible. The Krishna consciousness movement, however, is so nice that it can render the highest benefit to the entire human race. Everyone can be attracted by this movement, and everyone can feel the result. Therefore, Rupa Gosvami and other learned scholars agree that a broad propaganda program for the Krishna consciousness movement of devotional service all over the world is the highest humanitarian welfare activity.
How the Krishna consciousness movement can attract the attention of the whole world and how each and every man can feel pleasure in this Krishna consciousness is stated in the Padma Purana as follows: "A person who is engaged in devotional service in full Krishna consciousness is to be understood to be doing the best service to the whole world and to be pleasing everyone in the world. In addition to human society, he is pleasing even the trees and animals, because they also become attracted by such a movement." A practical example of this was shown by Lord Caitanya when He was traveling through the forests of Jharikhanda in central India for spreading His sankirtana movement. The tigers, the elephants, the deer and all the other wild animals joined Him and were participating, in their own ways, by dancing and chanting Hare Krishna.
Furthermore, a person engaged in Krishna consciousness, acting in devotional service, can develop all the good qualities that are generally found in the demigods. It is said by Sukadeva Gosvami in the Fifth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Eighteenth Chapter, verse 12, "My dear King, persons who have unflinching faith in Krishna and are without any duplicity can develop all the good qualities of the demigods. On account of a devotee's high grade of Krishna consciousness, even the demigods like to live with him, and therefore it can be understood that the qualities of the demigods have developed within his body."
On the other hand, a person who is not in Krishna consciousness has no good qualities. He may be highly educated from the academic point of view, but in the actual field of his activities he can be seen to be baser than the animals. Even though a person is highly educated academically, if he cannot go beyond the sphere of mental activities then he is sure to perform only material activities and thus remain impure. There are so many persons in the modern world who have been highly educated in the materialistic universities, but it is seen that they cannot take up the movement of Krishna consciousness and develop the high qualities of the demigods.
For example, a Krishna conscious boy, even if he is not very well educated by the university standard, can immediately give up all illicit sex life, gambling, meat-eating and intoxication, whereas those who are not in Krishna consciousness, although very highly educated, are often drunkards, meat-eaters, sexmongers and gamblers. These are practical proofs of how a Krishna conscious person becomes highly developed in good qualities, whereas a person who is not in Krishna consciousness cannot do so. We experience that even a young boy in Krishna consciousness is unattached to cinemas, nightclubs, naked dance shows, restaurants, liquor shops, etc. He becomes completely freed. He saves his valuable time from being extravagantly spent in the way of smoking, drinking, attending the theater and dancing.
One who is not in Krishna consciousness usually cannot sit silently even for half an hour. The yoga system teaches that if you become silent you will realize that you are God. This system may be all right for materialistic persons, but how long will they be able to keep themselves silent? Artificially, they may sit down for so-called meditation, but immediately after their yogic performance they will engage themselves again in such activities as illicit sex life, gambling, meat-eating and many other nonsensical things. But a Krishna conscious person gradually elevates himself without endeavoring for this so-called silent meditation. Simply because he is engaged in Krishna consciousness he automatically gives up all this nonsense and develops a high character. One develops the highest character by becoming a pure devotee of Krishna. The conclusion is that no one can truly have any good qualities if he is lacking Krishna consciousness.
"Our chief want in life is somebody who will make us do what we can."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
* I am ready to create more balance in my life.
* I am ready to improve my personal or business relationships.
* I am ready to make real and positive changes in my life.
* I am ready to find and live my life's purpose.
* I am ready and willing to overcome self-limiting beliefs and behavior.
* I am ready to create plans and take action to achieve my goals.
* I am ready to achieve a sense of fulfillment at work and in my life.
* I am ready for more fun and contibution in my life.
* I can benefit from someone who will help me to stay on track.
In the modern setup of democratic states the citizens can have no cause for grievances, because the whole administration is conducted by the people themselves. If the people themselves are dishonest, the administrative machinery must be corrupt. Although a damned government of the people may be given a good or fancy name, if the people are not good they cannot have good government, regardless of which party governs the administration. Therefore good character in the consciousness of the mass of people is the first principle necessary for a good government and equal distribution of wealth.
Reminds me of a song (Tom Petty, Don't Do Me Like That,
Damn the Torpedoes
, 1979).
I was talking with a friend of mine the other day. Reminds me of a song (Tom Petty, Don't Do Me Like That, Damn the Torpedoes, 1979). Tom Petty has distinguished himself (among other accomplishments) as The Guy Who Made The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Crowd Chant Hare Krishna. God bless him for that.
You Don't Have To Live Like a Mleccha Karmi
To brahminical scholars, everything reminds them of verses from the Vedas. They can recite the sloka, the verse number, the speaker, the exact scripture. Everything reminds me of lines from old pop songs. I can take any phrase and show you where it appears in great works of modern literature, such as "You are a Magnet and I am Steel," or "Love is Like Oxygen." Such is my vast learning.
I almost began this whole thing with "Got a call from an old friend. . ." (Billy Joel, My Life, 52nd Street, 1978). I remember rooting for that song every Saturday morning, hoping it would stay at number one on American Top Forty. However, I'm not aware that Mr. Joel has ever said "Hare Krishna" on national television, or indeed anywhere. I highly recommend Mr. Joel start doing that. It could be a significant career booster.
Anyway, I really was talking with a friend of mine—one of the few people from my pre-Krishna past who keeps in touch. I was so happy to hear from him that I didn’t mind pacing the freezing backyard for half an hour to get decent cell phone reception. We talked about music—bands we like, songs we like, writers we admire—which we still agree on. Then he mentioned the Dalai Lama, someone he's become a fan of. "He doesn't believe in God," he said, "but of anyone from any religious tradition in the world, he most exemplifies to me the kind of selfless loving and giving spirit of Jesus Christ."
I'm glad he digs the Dalai Lama. I really am. We've come a long way from dancing around listening to "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue (The Ramones, The Ramones, 1975)." At least he's into some kind of philosophy these days. But the "not believing in God" thing stuck in my head, like finding a pebble in a mouthful of oatmeal.
Now I Wanna Learn Somethin' 'Bout God
I thought to write a smokingly incredulous blog post about "how can people think that God is some kind of metaphysical, theoretical being they can either believe in or not—as if anybody's belief has any effect whatsoever on any aspect of reality?" I prepared statements. I went on and on, making solid philosophical point after solid philosophical point. They were smoking. They were hot. The more I wrote, the less happy I got.
I realized I was arguing with no one. The phone call was over days ago. My friend hadn't asked me for my opinion. I was basically "air preaching," like some people play air guitar. In the mirror of my mind, I was absolutely unstoppable, convincing, compelling. In reality, I was wasting time, energy, and ink.
I sometimes have dreams where I'm about to fight someone. I'm in a total rage, winding up to deliver a knockout punch. When my fist makes contact with the face I'm hoping to smash, though, it does so with the force of a hankie, as if I was gently stroking the person's cheek with the backs of my fingers, my wrist limp as overcooked spaghetti. It's so frustrating.
My occasional philosophical rants have about the same effect on the world. I wish they could be more like the old "Srila Prabhupada Speaks Out" feature in Back to Godhead magazine, in which he expertly and totally dismantles the philosophical construct of any view opposing the conclusions of Krishna consciousness. I feel like a guy at a boxing match when I read those. "Yeah! Pow! Get him, Prabhupada!"
Tamal Krishna Goswami developed an effective strategy—for deciding whom to talk with about Krishna consciousness—on the Radha Damodar bus tour. Students would be eating their lunch of Krishna prasadam, listening to the Vishnujana Swami Kirtan band rocking away. TKG would go from person to person and ask, "How do you like the music? How do you like the food?" If they replied, "Oh it's great!" he would stay and talk with them a little. If they said, "Eh, okay," or shrugged their shoulders, he'd move on to the next person. Breath is precious. Why waste it?
Tamal Krishna Goswami
In one conversation with John and Yoko, Prabhupada warmly encouraged them to give Krishna consciousness a try. They said they were into "their own thing," but couldn't articulate what that thing was. Prabhupada made a few philosophical points. They missed them. I’ve heard the recording. It's painful to listen to—it always sounds to me like John and Yoko would rather have snipped off their toes with garden shears than accept anything Prabhupada was trying to give. Finally, after twenty or thirty minutes of dealing with Causeless Unwillingness to Surrender, Prabhupada asked someone to bring them lunch. I imagine the scene as a game show: "Sorry! you don't win the grand prize, today, John, but here are some lovely parting gifts!"
After all these years, my old friend still thinks Krishna is like Santa Claus or leprechauns. Fine. God bless him. I think I'll send him some granola.
One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us.
My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us.
My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly.
So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!'
This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'
He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment.
As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally.
Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.
The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day.
Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so ... Love the people who treat you right.
Pray for the ones who don't.
Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!
Begin this process of by reflecting on parts of your life—past, present and future.
As an exercise in awareness, start by imagining that, before you were born, somewhere on the other side of the cosmos, you had evolved over many lifetimes to become a particular type of person with a particular set of qualities, interests, talents and abilities. It doesn't matter what you think about the idea of reincarnation. This exercise is just that: an exercise with a point that will become clear.
Continuing this line of thought, imagine that you deliberately chose your parents, that you chose the situation you were born into and brought up in. You did this because, at your stage of personal growth and evolution, there were specific lessons about yourself, about life and about other people that you had to learn, and which .You could learn in no other way.
Imagine also that the person you are today, especially the good qualities you've developed, evolved largely or partially as the result of the difficult experiences you had growing up and especially as the result of the problems you had with one or both of your parents.
Here is an important question: If you learned that you had deliberately chosen your parents and that the person you are today has come about as a direct result of your choice, how would this discovery change your attitude toward your parents and the experiences of your childhood? Would you be more positive and accepting of them? Would you see yourself and your past experiences in a different light? Would you become more philosophical and objective toward what might have appeared, up to now, to have been a difficult time of your life?
As you begin to think about this idea, about having deliberately chosen your parents, you begin to see possibilities that you had totally ignored up to now. Instead of seeing yourself as a passive agent or victim caught up in circumstances beyond your control, you begin to see yourself as an active participant in your own evolution.
Let's take this exercise a little further. Imagine that you are here on this earth to do something wonderful with your life, to become an exceptional person and to make an important contribution to your world. Imagine that this is all part of a great master plan that has been carefully designed with your best interests in mind, and that every event and circumstance of your life is an indispensable part of a big jigsaw puzzle, the outline of which you can only begin to see when you stand back and start to look at your life from a higher plane.
Assume, as a general rule, that whatever your current situation or difficulty, it is exactly what you require, right now, to teach you something you need to know before you can continue on your upward journey. With this perspective, you can see that every expe¬rience is a positive experience if you view it as an opportunity for growth and self-mastery.
Now, project backward, and with calmness, clarity and a positive mental attitude, think about how every previous experience and situation of your life might have been sent to you, at exactly the right time for you, to teach you something you needed to learn so that you could continue moving toward the wonderful life that awaits you.
Imagine that the events of your life could not have been other¬wise than they were, especially if you were operating on autopilot most of the time. As you stand back and appreciate the incredibly complex, interconnected events that have brought you to where you are in life right now, you will begin to develop the perspective of the philosopher, of the superior intellect. You begin to superimpose on your experience what is called a "sense of coherence," an attitude and a feeling that your life is part of something greater than yourself and that everything fits together and happens for a reason.
As you think of your life as a series of events and experiences that are conspiring toward your achieving some great goal or making some great contribution to mankind, you begin to develop a "sense of destiny," the hallmark of potential greatness as a human being.
Srila Prabhupada said that failure is a pillar of success.
*
The fear of failure is the great obstacle to success in life. It is what keeps people in their comfort zones. It is what makes them keep their heads down and play it safe as the years pass by.
The fear of failure is expressed in the attitude of, "I can't, I can't, I can't." It is learned in early childhood as the result of destructive criticism and punishment for doing things your parents disapproved of. Once entrenched in the subconscious mind, this fear does more to paralyze hope and kill ambition than any other negative emotion in the human experience.
The major reason for the fear of failure is that most people don't understand the role of failure in achieving success. The rule is simply this:
It is impossible to succeed without failing.
Failure is a prerequisite for success. The greatest successes in human history have also been the greatest failures. In the same year that Babe Ruth became the home run king of baseball, he also struck out more than any other player.
Success is a numbers game. There is a direct relationship between the number of things you attempt and your probability of ultimately succeeding. Even if you were the worst player in baseball, if you swung with all your heart at every ball that came over the plate, you would eventually get a hit, and if you kept swinging, you would finally get a home run. The important thing is to swing with all your might and to keep swinging, and not worry about striking out occasionally.
Thomas Edison was the most successful inventor of the modern age. He received patents for 1,093 inventions, 1,052 of which were brought into commercial production during his lifetime. But as an inventor, he was also the greatest failure of his age. He failed more times, in more experiments, attempting to develop more products, than any other living scientist or businessman. It took him more than 11,000 experiments alone before he finally discovered the carbon-impregnated filament that led to the production of the first electric light bulb.
There is a story about Edison that, after he had conducted more than 5,000 experiments, a young journalist came to him and asked him why he persisted in these experiments after having failed more than 5,000 times. Edison is said to have replied, "Young man, you don't understand how the world works. I have not failed at all. I have successfully identified 5,000 ways that will not work. That just puts me 5,000 ways closer to the way that will."
Napoleon Hill said, "Within every adversity is the seed of an equal or greater opportunity or advantage." The way to deal with temporary failure is to seek within each setback for the valuable lesson that it contains. Approach every difficulty as if it were sent to you at that moment and in that way to teach you something you need to learn so you can continue moving forward.
Become an "inverse paranoid": Tell yourself that everything that is happening is moving you toward the achievement of your goals, even when temporary failures seem to be moving you away from them. Keep looking for the good. Great successes are almost always preceded by many failures. It's the lessons learned from the failures that make the ultimate successes possible.
Decide, in advance, to take every setback as a spur to greater effort, especially in business and sales, knowing that you are getting closer and closer to success with every experience.
Look upon temporary defeat as a signpost that says "STOP, go this way instead." One of the qualities of leaders is that they never use the words failure or defeat. Instead, they use words like "valuable learning experiences" or "temporary glitches."
The great football coach Vince Lombardi had the right spirit. After a game in which the Green Bay Packers were defeated, one of the reporters asked Lombardi how he felt about losing. Lombardi replied, "We didn't lose, we just ran out of time."
You can learn to overcome the fear of failure by being absolutely clear about your goals, and by accepting that temporary setbacks and obstacles are the inevitable price you pay to achieve any great success in life.
Make a list of all the things that you want to see in your life.
Write down everything that you can think of: great Krsna consciousness, happiness, health, good friends, travel, prosperity ... let your imagination run freely.
For the next twenty-four hours, think and talk only about the things on your list. See if you can get through one entire day without criticizing, condemning, complaining or getting angry, upset or worried about anything.
See if you have the willpower and strength of character to think about only what you want for one whole day.
This exercise will give you a real insight into where you are in your development, and it will also show you how far you have to go.
Co-opreration is not enough - Co-operation has 3 forms:
Compromise - 1+1=1/2
Co-operation - 1+1=2
Synergy - 1+1=11
Synergy is :
a. not tolerating differences, but celebrating differences
b. not working independently but team work
c. not thinking you're always right, but open-mindedness
d. not compromise, but finding newer and better ways
Devotee care program provides services by extending care to all areas of devotee community including temple devotees, congregational devotees, the elderly, families, women, children and guests. Thus the care reaches every devotee irrespective of his age, sex, social status or occupation.
Devotee Care Program applies the principle enunciated by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu: Service to the Vaishnavas is the highest religious principle. It solely aims at Vaishnava Seva. The prime focus is to instill and implement the idea that every devotee is cared for within the Vaishnava community.
Sometimes devotees are insensitive to other devotees, while in some cases devotees don't want to express their concerns, for whatever reasons. Either they think 'I don't want to complain to anyone' or they feel that 'nobody is interested in them', anyway. There are several examples where devotees don't feel cared for. For instance, devotees feel their authority doesn't care for them, spouses think that their partner doesn't care for them, some devotees feel insecure about the future and the practical aspects of dealing with hospitalization, old age etc. The Committee hopes to address these and many more concerns of the devotees.
Hare Krishna. Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Here in Macedonia we have enthusiastic devotees who very much want to advance in Krsna consciousness and spread the mission of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. We have great opportunities for preaching and we would like to invite devotees from all around the world to come and give the people of this country a chance to advance. We are a tiny yatra, but foreign devotees who have visited us had a first-hand opportunity to witness the potential in the people in general, for example, how they respond to an enthusiastic downtown harinama. We have able musicians, cooks, lecturers, and most importantly, we have recognized the need for improvement in the quality of our service. Most members are still young, although some of us have been around since the inception of the yatra, which was somewhere in 1987-88.
The yatra and the temple may be tiny, but the potential is enormous. Help us develop it. With a little help from fellow devotees who have the resources we don't , we can very soon achieve a great expansion in our harinam, prasadam, book distribution and preaching, and any other aspects and forms of devotional service. Due to various reasons, fully known only by the Lord, despite various efforts we haven't realized even a small part of the potential Macedonia has to offer as a preaching field.
We cordially invite all travelling preachers in ISKCON, as well as all other devotees, to visit Macedonia and have a first-hand experience.
Devotees are also welcome to visit the website www.karakamchev.com.mk for high quality dentistry services by a devotee professional, Vraja Kishor das (Vasko Karakamchev) and his team of dentists, who are all acquainted with his spiritual background. Several ISKCON gurus and other preachers can vouch for the quality and the prices are much lower than in the West. Just this is worth taking the trip. You won't regret it.
We have a website under construction. Stay tuned. For any details, you can write to:
Ishan Caitanya dasa ishko108@yahoo.com
I beg to always remain in the association of Krsna's devotees,
Your servant, Ishan Caitanya dasa
Be impeccable with your word - Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
Agreement 2
Don't take anything personally - Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you wonA ' t be the victim of needless suffering.
Agreement 3
Don't make assumptions - Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
Agreement 4
Always do your best - Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.
Adele Sheely, a career counselor I once had the pleasure of sharing a workshop with, said: "The number of 'yeah, buts' is in direct correlation to the depth of your fear".
Are you a 'yeah, but' person? Do you know any 'yeah, but' people? You might have thought they were argumentative and maybe really smart, but what if all they were was just really afraid? Afraid of change or afraid of entertaining anyone else's point of view. If we are indeed describing you, which one is it?
The process for finding your new direction has offered many, many opportunities for fear, your ego and/or your inner critic to pop up with perfectly logical reasons why considering any kind of change is just a ridiculous notion. Writing your fiction will be another ripe opportunity for doubt and fear to pop up. It's perfectly normal, so please don't judge it or yourself. If you are not experiencing any doubt, but are just excited about it all, hold on because we will be addressing that in a moment. If you are feeling somewhat resistant, just keep going, even if you think it's only to go through the paces. If you are not sure if you are being resistant, but just sure that your common sense is kicking in to save you from yourself, let me spell out some examples that might address your issues and calm your fears.
Austin had recently moved his entire family to Seattle from Kansas for a job opportunity. He had never left his hometown and had uprooted his family away from all their friends, cousins, grandparents and extended family. Barely two years after moving, another, even better, opportunity came up within the company, but it meant a move to Chicago. Austin really wanted the job, but his 'yeah, but' was the kids. "Yeah, but what about the kids? I can't uproot them again!".
Austin had written five fictitious scenarios that included among other things, commuting, moving everyone to much delight, staying and getting other opportunities. The one that kept resonating with him was everyone moving happily. Without even talking to his wife and kids, he was letting the 'yeah, but' be so definitive that he hadn't even thought of asking them what they thought. With a big nudge, he did so and after an initial shock, the family became excited about the possible move. The kids had always wanted to see a big city like Chicago. His wife was excited about the schools she had heard about for the kids. They even liked the idea of experiencing winters like they never had before.
Austin was shocked. It was not what he had expected. And to think he almost let the 'yeah, but' stop him. It was his fear, not his family's necessarily. That illustrates the sophistication of your fear. It knows how to spin things just right, so it sounds so logical and reasonable.
Another common 'yeah, but' and point of contention for people is the whole issue of not being 'ready'. "I'm not ready to date." "I'm not ready to make a change." "I'm not ready to go for the dream." Whichever version has crossed your lips or your ears as you listened to someone else, I have no doubt that you know what I mean.
Lydia had found her 'it' to be teaching. She already had her certificate after having completed the necessary course and requirements. Her fiction established her as a popular teacher through many different venues and scenarios. In reality, she found herself looking at the want-ads and applying for jobs outside of teaching. She was behaving as if she had not taken all the steps to enter her new chosen field. She still felt she needed to do other things first to prove she was ready. Her 'yeah but' was that no one would hire her because she hadn't gotten her bachelors degree in education or childhood development or something that proved her ability to work with children as a teacher. She didn't feel ready. She felt she needed to know more.
When she was made aware that the 'yeah but' was a reflection of being afraid, she agreed to slowly take the steps to secure her place in her new profession. After a couple of months, she did indeed get a teaching job and saw many of her fictitious scenarios as a popular teacher come to be.
One of my favorite lines from a very silly movie speaks to this topic very well. In Pee Wee Herman's Big Adventure, Pee Wee says to his new friend, the waitress, after she just finished describing her life's dream to him and then followed it with a huge sigh and a "But....": "Everyone I know has a big 'BUT'."
What's yours?
Exercise:
Take a moment to write down a 'yeah but' that may have recently cropped up for you. In writing, work your way through it by recognizing it as fear. Record what it is you are really afraid of and take action or have the discussions needed to help you get past it. Conquering this one, should help keeping future 'yeah but' attacks at bay.
A friend asked me today to write to him about my current experiences. I share it here with all my readers.
***
Wherever I go devotees treat me kindly (which I do not deserve).
Devotees need coaching everywhere but few are ready to take it up seriously.
Many want success. Not many are ready to pay the price.
After 26 years of chanting Hare Krsna I have developed a taste for - prasadam. :)
I am listening to an exciting coaching audio book that Mahatma Prabhu kindly purchased for me online and reading Maximum Achievement book, thus learning more ways how to Help Devotees Succeed.
I give classes and courses and sing Hare Krsna wherever I visit.
One kind devotee from Macedonia gave me an iPod Classic (120 GB) so now I have all Prabhupada's classes and music in one place to listen and learn how to work on myself and Help Devotees Succeed - directly from Srila Prabhupada.
And ... I am active on the Facebook as Akrura dasa, where you can get info where I go and what I do and get many free success tools for yourself (text, audio, video, etc.) and for your friends.
By Sraddhadevi dasi
"At first all the followers of Advaita Acarya shared a single opinion. But later they followed two different opinions, as ordained by providence."