Hare Krishna to all Prabhu ji and Mata ji
Since the day I joined ISKCON, I was told to control the senses. I have a work from home job, and stay alone in most part of the day. Controlling the senses when you are in constant association of devotees is easy. But what to do when its just you and your mind alone in the room, with no fellow devotee to guide you?
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hare krishna Maral Mataji,
very nicely said about controlling the senses.
And from your videos only I learnt to love and to pray for my envious persons also.
I have a doubt i.e if a person who is working how to adjust his/her timings in chanting and reading or listening Srimad Bhagavatam ,Bhagavad gita books?or is it possible to listen only one .
Thanks Haribol
Hare Krishna dear Mataji, please accept my humble obeisances! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
May we know what is Your profession? And how many minutes You have to travel to Your job place?
For example, when i used to do my first degree at the university i had to go to classes at 8 AM in the morning, at 1 PM till 2 PM lunch break and again till 5 PM there were classes. So it was must to attend all.
And plus i used to stay at the hostel with Muslim girls so i had to complete my rounds before they wake up. Usually they wake when Sun rises.
It is true for a working woman plus if she has kids it is very difficult what about cooking, washing...my cooking was not there at all, i used to eat uncooked food. So that saved my time. But it is not a solution.
I used to hear lectures in between classes and even read books in between classes. Also after doing my homeworks before going to bed i used to read Srimad Bhagavatam.
I am sure You are not working full whole day, there might be some minutes free time so for a time being You can use those minutes for reading and hearing. Later when Krishna sees Your desire to serve to Him He will arrange something better.
Usually when we travel we loose our time. So on the place of simple traveling we can read and hear.
If we do not have chance to read books then we can hear Devotees who read books.
So that is equal.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Your servant,
In my experience, it's also easy to control your senses when you are alone. It just takes a bit of getting used to and a lot of practice...
You can read about Krsna (so many books for Srila Prabhupada to choose from), you can do japa, you can maybe do some gardening to grow plants for Krsna (assuming you have a garden)... but above all my personal two favorites are writing poems for / about Krsna, and singing and learning instruments for Krsna.
You can sing the Mahamantra whenever, and I usually do this when I'm on the computer, doing homework, or just sitting doing nothing... It keeps your mind on Krsna, and it's something you enjoy. Since you're alone, it doesn't matter whether you have a professional voice or not. Pick a tune and sing your heart out! :)
And in additional to Maral Mataji's post: mayapur.tv is an excellent place to visit! You can visit Mayapur one moment, and the next travel all the way to Los Angeles, all within the confines of your house, and more specifically, your computer.
You can even visit IDT more. There are tons of resources and a wealth of knowledge on this site.
it is true because of that we have to do the next things understanding that Krishna puts us in those situations which are favorable for us.
He sees our qualities and knows how to remove our anarthas and make us stronger. At the last He wants us to surrender to Him.
So here we have to be cautious:
---to keep place where we live very clean. Washing floors with cow dung, even cloth, fresh air, sound of kirtan.
---to keep our body very clean. Morning bath, cloth are clean, day time we avoid touching bed where we slept at night. Do not sleep more than hour in day time if it is happened then again take bath change cloth...apply Tilak in 12 places of the body calling out Lord's Names.
---to cook pure food for the pleasure of Krishna and offer it to Him and eat only only Prasadam. On particular time, not late and not too much. Especially this food habits is very difficult to control. Because of that one should regulate eating. Which means always in one particular time and one particular amount of food. Maybe three times a day so that mind does not suffer from lack of food.
Also one should know what to eat in what time. No sweets for dinner, no oily food for dinner...etc.
---make a time table and to try to live according to that.
---practice yogic asanas if we are not in the association of Devotees then it is true it is difficult to be in the mode of goodness so we have to use alternative methods also as like yoga asanas. I prefer Surya Namaskar also Pranayama.
---Fasting on Ekadashi.
---Daily reading of Srila Prabhupada's books or hearing Srimad Bhagavatam lectures.
---at least keep in touch with Devotees through Internet like this web site.
---of course to wake in Brahma Muhurta and chant our rounds that time.
---to have a diary where we talk with God writing our prayers to Him. I practice it and that is very helpful for me. Lord Chaitanya is One to whom we can open our hearts and get His help. It is called Vandanam which is very important in our Sadhana. We are weak, cannot control our senses so we have to cry and beg for mercy.
---at least once in a week we have to go to Devotees and have their association.
---Also we can attend daily Mangala Aratis online. Why not? It is equal to the real Mangala arati.
...
Your servant,
BG 3.34: There are principles to regulate attachment and aversion pertaining to the senses and their objects. One should not come under the control of such attachment and aversion, because they are stumbling blocks on the path of self-realization....
BG 3.42: The working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he [the soul] is even higher than the intelligence.
BG 3.43: Thus knowing oneself to be transcendental to the material senses, mind and intelligence, O mighty-armed Arjuna, one should steady the mind by deliberate spiritual intelligence [Kṛṣṇa consciousness] and thus — by spiritual strength — conquer this insatiable enemy known as lust.
Well, it is very important to understand the meaning of above statements of Krishna.
Krishna here clearly says's that that by spiritual strength conquer the senses but how?
Knowing that you are not this body nor these senses but the soul, and by knowing this truth with intelligence control the mind...by default senses are attract toward objects but with intelligence control them.
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More easy method:
There are two methods for spiritual advancements
1) De-attachment from material activities
2) Attachment to Krishna
Well, attachment to Krishna is more sublime method then any other process, just always engage your mind, intelligence and senses in Krishna and senses are automatically controlled no need to put any extra efforts.