ashish kumar's Posts

Four Biscuits of Self Respect Some incidents of life teach us a sublime lessons and that’s up to us to take positive or negative out of it. But sometimes, we tend to take our own time, our own pace

Posted by ashish kumar on April 7, 2017 at 10:37pm

Four Biscuits of Self Respect

Some incidents of life teach us a sublime lessons and that’s up to us to take positive or negative out of it. But sometimes, we tend to take our own time, our own pace in taking the lessons in, that is conditioning.

We have one outsourced maid in our office, her job is to serve us with tea/coffee/biscuits. I don’t take tea / coffee but I often take biscuits. She used to serve me unwillingly and most of the time, she used to skip me as well. One particular week, I observed that she has not been serving me and willingly missing me very often. I too wanted her attention, I too wanted her service. My mind and intelligence started having inner fights.

Intelligence – ignore those four biscuits, anyway its of not very good quality.

Mind – why should I ignore, its free, everyone is enjoying, I should also get.

Intelligence – Krishna is making you get detached from unwanted things, He is showing you humility.

Mind – Humility in the office leads to exploitation, be practical.

Ultimately the Mind won the tussle and one day, I just blasted her for not serving me. From that day on wards, she serves me regularly.

My ego won the battle against her ego but at what cost? Now she might be serving me but not with Love but with the sense of duty.

This shows that one can be so attached to prestige, position and dignity and even to biscuits. The mind can really bring havoc in the daily life. Did my mind wanted those four biscuits, off course Not, it was looking for self-respect. Every situation is a learning, whether we fall down for some biscuits for self - respect or we fall down because of some unwanted situation in life. Till the time we are in the queue of Krishna Consciousness, purity is guaranteed, there is a hope, there is hope of getting rid of all these impurities in due course of time, the element that is wanted is patience.

By Ashish Kumar

ICC Bangalore

HE has to SANCTION......

Posted by ashish kumar on March 9, 2017 at 10:23am

HE has to SANCTIONWe may make plans, we may commit, we might put our whole hearted effort, we may try to implement our wills, we may try to execute our plans but ultimately is it in our hand?, NO. There is an ultimate controller who ultimately sanctions our will and our work.I was about to take a video interview of a devotee on certain topics of spirituality. The topics were handed over to her before a week itself. She had made notes and thoroughly prepared from her side. I charged the camera battery a previous day, formatted the 8 GB card to create space, prepared the tripod, mics etc for the next day morning assignment.Next day, we decided to take a shot on terrace at about 12 noon. Postponing our prasad we went for shooting, the proper place was selected for shooting, the tripod was set up, camera was set up, mics were fixed and video was shot quiet nicely, for the three different topics. I was quiet joyous that some service was rendered.When I came back home and uploaded the video for editing, I found that voice is extremely low, quiet inaudible, most probably the mic was not properly fit in the camera, the whole effort got wasted. The devotee was prepared, she spoke in the hot sun, I shot the video in hot sun, we even postponed our prasad but the result - a big ZERO. Now what was missing in the entire service?The preparation was proper, the intention was good, the perseverance was there, hard work was there, proper set up was there, BUT one most important thing that was missing was the SANCTION of the Lord. We might be very accurate in our commitments, in our service but ultimately it is the sanction of the Lord that makes the service beautiful, worth and commendable.By Ashish KumarICC Bangalore

Can we get a SECOND CHANCE

Posted by ashish kumar on March 6, 2017 at 12:02pm

Can we get a SECOND CHANCE ?

It takes time to know each other, it takes time to commit to each other. I know a couple, who got married because of some avoidable or unavoidable circumstances but the boy could not gel with the girl later on. The boy was bit hesitant in going for this particular marriage but he ended up marrying that girl. The initial days were tough for the girl as she was feeling spaced out. The girl had initial feelings for boy but boy didn't respect those feelings and thus girl decided to move apart.

After few weeks, boy realized that actually he has the feeling for his wife, but he was not expressive enough, he calls her, he tries to get her back but all in vain. He was begging for a SECOND CHANCE, but girl said NO and finally they broke. Many of marriages and relationships break like this

When it comes to giving chances, when it comes to forgiving someone, its a tough call. People don't mind breaking the relationships, breaking the marriage, breaking the feelings than to agree for giving a SECOND CHANCE. Krishna has been giving us chance, after chance, to lift up ourselves. Krishna does not stop giving us opportunities, giving us chances. In Mahabharata, Durvyodhan was given ample number of chances to rectify his mistakes. In Ramayana, Ravana was given every chance to succumb to the will of the Lord but they were stubborn.

While others are stingy in giving us even a SECOND CHANCE, Krishna is ready to give us unlimited chances, so that we can ultimately develop selfless love for Him. When we accept Krishna's invitations for devotional service and when we appreciate His love towards us through these chances, then we also become merciful, tolerant and loving to other living entities and thus we also become willing to give other jivas ample number of chances to come to the platform of a Devotee.

By Ashish Kumar

ICC Bangalore

ALL IS NOT WELL

Posted by ashish kumar on March 3, 2017 at 5:51pm

ALL IS NOT WELL

The other side of the fence always looks green, when we see our life, we might feel that only I am suffering in the world, only I have problems and these problems are endless.

But when you peep in others life, we realize that we are not the only one who are faced with issues, there are many more, almost all.

Few days back, I got a call from a girl, sounding very confident, very cheerful, she was speaking in such a positive way, the confidence from her mood flew in my mind and I really liked the talk with her. After couple of days, again we spoke and this time, she was not the same girl. She was a girl with moroseness, full of anxiety, trying to find positivity in life. When she made me peep in her life, I realized she is living such a trouble some life with no proper goal in life, with no proper guidance, no thought of which way to go, what to do and what not to do, leading a completely bewildered life. Her parents' relationships are hollow, the property which they possess are catching the wrong eyes of relatives, her sister's marital life is almost getting to end, she herself has gone through the phase of molestation by her own relatives, she has the habit of taking to drinking sometimes and she is still maritally undecided, going through a phase of horrible confusion.

When we talk with more and more people, we realize that problems are everywhere and the outside glowing face and smile, which they show is so fake and unrealistic. It is just to convince their inner-self that All IS WELL, it is just to mitigate the trouble that their heart is going through. The package of problems are different but the solution is same. The solution is to transcend the problems and know for sure – that no one is spared here, everyone is victimized by time, today or tomorrow. We are so lucky that we are connected to such a beautiful philosophy, beautiful teachings and wonderful devotees. The only thing that we have to do is to develop faith that - Yes we are in such a safe hands of ISKCON.

By Ashish Kumar

ICC Bangalore

Spiritual Strength Comes By Others' PRAYERS

Posted by ashish kumar on March 2, 2017 at 10:50am

Spiritual Strength Comes By Others' PRAYERS

It never came in my mind, I never gave an attempt, I never thought of it. Recently, i went for Tirupati Yatra with devotee friends. We stayed in Tirupati and we had to go to Tirumala to take Lord Balaji's darshan. Only one day was remaining to take a glance at the Lord. Some devotees planned that instead of going by bus to Tirumala, they would prefer to go by steps, which is a journey of about 9 km, 2500 steps. I never wanted to go by steps because of health issues and just a day before that, I was going through quiet painful backache and joints ache. But all of my friends had decided to go by steps and one of my close friend was constantly pushing me to come by steps. Seeing the enthusiasm of old aged devotees, I also wanted to climb the stairs but I was still doubtful. Then one incident happened that made me change my decision.

There were some buses which were meant to drop some 45 devotees to the foothills from where they would have started their journey to Tirumala by steps. Because of some mis–communication from my side, these buses instead of halting at foothills, directly proceeded towards Tirumala and by the time, devotees realized this, it was too late. Because its a one way route, so now these buses had to go to Tirumala and then come back from top carrying these devotees back again so that they can restart their journey from foothills. So the walking journey which they could have started at 6.30 am was delayed by about 2 hours because of extra travelling. I was repentant as it was because of me that they had to start the walk about 2-3 hours late and that too in hot sun. I decided to go by walk and started in the last batch with my friends with the bead beg in my hand. Constant whats-app messages from other devotees about their reaching at the top was filling me with enthusiasm. I raced ahead and crossed 500 steps and then 1000 steps and then 2000 steps and very soon I was on top, I begged forgiveness from some devotees but they were so joyous and forgiving that they didn't mind the extra travelling.

I had never imagined that I would reach to Lords' place by walk. I had thought that its not possible at least in this life time but if a devotee desires something positive for you then who can stop you. It was my friend desire that I should go on top by walk and ultimately that is what happened. Sometimes, things come to us in a very amazing and unwanted ways but still they are relishing and pleasing to the heart.

By Ashish Kumar

There is a MAGIC IN TRAGIC

Posted by ashish kumar on February 3, 2017 at 4:58pm

There is a Magic in Tragic

We run away from tragic. Tragedies are the last things we want in our life. We feel we are the worst hit people in the world, we curse God, we curse the situations but as we talk to people, as we get closer to them, as they open their heart to us, we get to know that life presents each of us with different degrees of tragedies and traumas, no one is spared.

Someone is going through relationship problems, someone is sweating for daily bread, someone is sweating for more money, someone is going through health issues. We might feel that our present tragic moments are more tougher to cross over than that of others but as we peep deeply in others life, we start feeling that we are in much better position than them. Hospitals and Crematorium grounds are the best examples to get to know ourselves properly. This world is a suffering place – this cant be realized at malls or theatres and even at home. When we see the patients in hospitals suffering, when we see the dead bodies being taken to the crematorium ground, that instantly takes us to the mood of self-realization – Who am I and what I am really doing, what's happening now and what will happen next.

The same realization is achieved when one deeply jumps into the scriptural injunctions presented by Bhagvad-Gita, Srimad Bhagvatam. Every word and sentence of scriptures like Bhagvad-Gita and Srimad Bhagvatam make us realize the futility of material world and prosperity of spiritual world. When we get to know how the great souls went through material sufferings and still remain attached to the devotional path, then that give us inspiration. Thus tragic moments in life work like magic for soul and it creates the ground for further interaction of soul with Supersoul through the life saving manuals like Bhagvad Gita and Srimad Bhagvatam.

By Ashish Kumar

ICC Bangalore

www.iccmitra.blogspot.in

YEH DIL MAANGE MORE.......

Posted by ashish kumar on January 30, 2017 at 2:03pm

Yeh Dil Maange More

Last week I happened to go for book distribution near a bus stand. It was not very crowded place. It was getting dark and thus fast food restaurants were getting filled with people. While I was holding books and roaming around, a middle aged, lean man, slightly drunkard approaches me and asks me in an impatient manner – where is the wine shop here? He was already too drunk to go to wine shop again but he was getting strength from his inner desire and that was fuelling him to have more of this nectarine toxic. This man has already had enough but still he is not satisfied, he wants to have more, he wants to taste more, he is so determined to have one more time that even his unbalanced condition could not stop his urge to have more.

Like a drunkard man, we all have opportunities to taste nectarine Holy name, but our laziness and no taste for holy name keeps us away from having any attachment with holy name. A drunkard is never satisfied, he wants to taste more, similarly we should not get satisfied by our sevas, not be complacent by our seva and this will improve the quality of our present seva and get us more sevas and that’s the ultimate aim of life – to get into the circle of devotional service of the Lord.

By Ashish Kumar

ISKCON Convention Centre

Bangalore

HEARING OTHERS - is not easy.

Posted by ashish kumar on January 30, 2017 at 2:01pm

Hearing others - is not easy

Speech is one of the most common method of communication. We like to talk, we like to put forward our thoughts, we like to share our internal dialogues. We like to be heard, we want people to pay attention to us. But when we are obsessed with the thought of being heard always then its very difficult for us to hear from others. Krishna Consciousness is more about hearing than speaking. Its about hearing Hari Kirtan, its about hearing Harikatha, Its about hearing others glories, its about hearing our own faults and acting upon them. We may relish hearing some instructions from senior devotees, we may even like hearing something from friends and fellow devotees but its too tough to make ourselves ready to hear from junior devotees. If we are ready to hear the acceptable facts of Krishna

Consciousness from all available sources, then that's the true sign of advancement on the path of devotional service. That's why, to have a taste for hearing is very good but if we have a real taste for hearing then we will not mind hearing krishna katha even from our juniors who are properly following in the foot steps of Guru Parampara.

By Ashish Kumar

ISKCON Convention Centre

Bangalore

FEAR OF LOSING

Posted by ashish kumar on January 30, 2017 at 1:58pm

FEAR OF LOSING

Have you ever noticed a bird eating the grains that are spread on street roads. Is it peacefully eating with its beaks ? No, it is in constant anxiety - anxiety of falling prey to someone, anxiety of losing its part of diet. It is continuously turning its head left and right, up and down to avoid the awful situation. Not only the bird and beasts, even we as human beings suffer from this ailment of being fearful.

We have the tendency to acquire something big and once we get that, we develop fear of losing the same. Getting the things in this world needs some effort, perseverance but the success of achieving comes along with the fear of losing. Bollywood stars have fear of losing their glamour, sport stars have fear of losing their hold on people's heart, business people have fear of losing their richness, young people have fear of getting wrinkles, old people have fear of losing everything which they have accumulated all through their life, small children have fear of losing their toys, boys have fear of losing their girl friends, girls have fear of losing their charms, whole world is living under the fear.

Why do we have fear - fear develops when we attach ourselves to what we possess. When we know that what we possess is actually not ours, then there is no fear of losing it. The process of Krishna Consciousness takes us away from these fears. Krishna Consciousness helps us to know our real position – that we are not the proprietor of anything that we possess but we are just a care taker. Krishna Consciousness is to give us the feeling of gratefulness for what we have achieved in life and to take us out of material hankerings and lamentations.

By Ashish kumar

ISKCON Convention Centre

Bangalore

Krishna's plans are ACCIDENTAL

Posted by ashish kumar on January 30, 2017 at 11:52am

Krishna's plans are ACCIDENTAL

Seemingly, same Saturday morning as usual but little different as he was going out with his family members to another devotee's house. That day on 05^th Nov 2016, Krishna had some different plans for him and his family. He left his house at about 11.00 am in the morning in recently bought Hyundai i20 car and started driving through the heavy traffic area of Bangalore. Within an hour he found himself in the mess of a situation where his car was totally toppled, and he and his family members were lying upside down in the toppled car.

Mr Prateek Sanwal ( Initiated name - HG Premadata Gaur Das ), his wife Mrs Deepti Sanwal and son Yash, experienced an almost fatal accidental shock when a truck directly hit his car at a signal and the accident involved the serial hitting of 6 more cars. The car toppled on the footpath breaking the railings of the footpath. The car suffered heavy losses and it was almost a total loss ( in insurance parlance ), it got all around scratches and dents. The car bore all the brunt leaving the entire family physically unharmed . They made their way through one of the door of toppled car. Seeing the condition of toppled car, even a policeman got surprised and said – “How did you all survive?”

When Krishna plans, he plans in an scrutinizingly appealing way, the accident was followed by some hectic schedules for him. He had to run to police stations, to insurance companies to get his claims but Krishna protected him by not disrupting his service. He continues to serve as the Sunday Feast Co-ordinator and as Head of IT department at ISKCON Convention Centre, Benguluru with the same enthusiasm. He recalls - “ Before accident, while driving car, I was thinking about my particular service. The accident could have been fatal but Krishna protected all of us because we are involved in his service. “

Krishna's promise to Arjuna that – “ My devotees never perish” has come true once again.

But this story is an eye-opener for us stressing the fact that Krishna's plans are accidental and we can be subjected to his plans at any time. So its better to keep our finger crossed and serve enthusiastically and keep faith that the reaction of our past karmas get drastically reduced when we are dealing directly with Krishna and his devotees in a positive manner.

By Ashish Kumar