Villa Vrindavan, in Italy, almost looks too old to have a future, but the humble devotees there are confident it will. ISKCON’s oldest building probably, the villa is four centuries old. Naturally, not everything works. A sunken semicircular fountain does not spout. The front roof nobly displays a stopped clock; the bell over it no longer chimes times. When devotees moved in with Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, putting their faith in the Lord’s names and graces they named the hundred-and-twenty-acre estate after India’s transcendent village where Krishna enacted a humanlike childhood. How and why is the project now moving ahead?
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Before I pick up my beads to do my chanting meditation, I have 3 points of focus – I’m not this body, God is a person, and I have a relationship with Him.
I’m not this body is one of my favorite meditations. I like to sit quietly and hold my body still. I am the observer. I am conscious of my hands, my breath, my thoughts. I remember – yesterday, years ago, minutes ago. I think ahead – tomorrow, old age, the next hour. When I remember I am not this body I feel relief, more complete, and a real sense of freedom.
My second meditation, another favorite, is that God is a person. Although I heard this from a very young age in Catholicism, it wasn’t until I studied the path of Bhakti yoga that it made more sense to me. Krishna, the Sanskrit name for God, makes the idea of a personal God very attractive. The source of all life has to be credibly incredible. When I meditate on the premise that God is a person, I sense His presence, I sense protection, grounding, connection and belonging.
My third meditation is another, another favorite. Here my meditation is that I have a relationship with Krishna. When I hold still, slow down, or rise early I reflect on this. What does this relationship look like? Is it one of fear or love or both? How do I present myself? What do I ask for, or not? What does Krishna ask of me? What does the best, most complete form of this relationship look like?
When I pick up my beads and begin to chant the mantra, I am facing into that relationship. My 3 meditations have brought me here. Now I connect. Throughout the chanting I find myself returning to them in different ways. I chant with a longing to return to the spiritual world, a desire to engage in service, and a wish to develop affection and love for Krishna.
I also ask not to blow it – that I don’t lean too much on spiritual rules that my emotions are tied, or fall too much on the human side that I don’t touch transcendence. I pray for balance – that my humanity can nurture my spirit and that my spirit reminds me to be a better person, and a better human.
Vaiyasaki das: On our way back driving through the Himalayas, we passed an apiary with beehives, and, knowing that Prabhupada was in Vrindavan, we thought, “Wow, wouldn’t that be great to get Prabhupada some real Himalayan honey?”
We got a big bottle. Jagadish was Prabhupada’s secretary at that time, and he knew Satyanarayan and me, so he arranged for Prabhupada to see us.
We went into Prabhupada’s room when Prabhupada was sitting with Gopal Krishna and speaking to an Indian gentleman. When we came in he turned around and said, “Here are two very nice boys.”
We sat down, and Jagadish introduced us. Satyanarayan explained that we were in the Library Party and had been preaching in Kashmir.
Prabhupada was very pleased that we were distributing his books. When he heard we were in Kashmir, he opened his eyes really wide and said,
“Ah, Kashmir. I went to Kashmir. Do you remember when you come over the crest of the hill and you see the Kashmir valley?” We said, “Yes, Prabhupada, we saw it.”
He said, “Yes, I distributed my books there.” Then I said,
“Srila Prabhupada, I met that gentleman. He bought your first three volumes from you, and now he has taken the whole set, a standing order.”
Srila Prabhupada was reminiscing about that and spoke about the importance of preaching.
After five or ten minutes, just before we left, he looked me right in the eye and said, “So, wherever you go and whoever you meet, just tell them about Krishna, and in that way, by Lord Chaitanya’s order, become a guru.”
That left a big impression on me, because he was looking right at me. When I left I thought, “Wow, if I don’t tell people about Krishna, I’m in total maya. This is my mission.”
We gave Prabhupada the bottle of honey, which he graciously accepted. Later Palika, who was Prabhupada’s cook, told us that every morning Prabhupada had a little bit of that honey with his breakfast.
It was wonderful to travel with Srila Prabhupada in an airplane. The first time Srila Prabhupada went to Australia to bring the Deities there, Vegavan prabhu was with him, carrying one of the Deities.
They brought their lunch with them, and after the plane took off they unpacked it, Srila Prabhupada served it, and everyone took prasadam.
When they had finished, Prabhupada rinsed his mouth and washed his hands. Then he started cleaning his front teeth with a toothpick.
Vegavan thought, “Oh, you have to clean your mouth after you eat,” and he pulled out a toothbrush and toothpaste from his bag.
Prabhupada said, “What you are doing?” Vegavan said, “I’m going to brush my teeth, Srila Prabhupada.”
Prabhupada said, “That you do before you take prasad. After prasad, you use a toothpick, because the little pieces in your mouth are also prasadam.”
Ever since then, I’ve always picked my teeth with a toothpick after prasadam.
Gargamuni told Srila Prabhupada that two men on the Library Party were distributing Prabhupada’s books to the universities in Indonesia, a Muslim country.
At that time, other devotees, like Padmapani and Tribhuvanath, were also in Muslim countries.
Prabhupada was pleased that devotees were going to preach in the Muslim countries, and he told Gargamuni, “I put on my head the dust from the feet of whoever preaches in the Muslim countries.”
When we heard that, we were in ecstasy. That was wonderful. After Indonesia, we went on to the libraries in Java and then Bali.
It was in Bali that I found out that Prabhupada had left the planet.
That morning I was ready to go to a college for distribution, when I thought I would call our secretary, Aravindaksi devi in Jakarta, to find out how things were going and if books were being sent out and so on.
She said, “Have you heard the news?” I said, “No, what?” She said, “You didn’t know?” I said, “I didn’t know.”
She said, “I just heard from the devotees in Singapore that Prabhupada left the planet.” I was shocked. I hung up the phone.
I didn’t know what to do, but I thought Prabhupada would want me to go and preach in this college, so I drove there. It was at the other end of Bali.
I arrived at the college, met the librarian, and got two standing orders. As I came out, I met the Minister of Culture in Jakarta, who we had met about a month earlier trying to distribute the books to the library in the Cultural Ministry.
He said to me, “Have you heard about your Guru Maharaj?” I said, “Yes, I did. Thank you.”
I was amazed that even in a little town in Bali, everybody knew that Prabhupada had left the planet.
After that I met Satyanarayan, who hadn’t heard. I had to break the news to him. Immediately he broke down and sobbed uncontrollably, crying and crying.
I realized that I was stonehearted. I hadn’t broken down and sobbed. I was sad, and tears came to my eyes, but I saw that Satyanarayan had so much love for Prabhupada, and I respected him for that.
I felt, “If only I could have such a relationship with Prabhupada; if only I could have felt that.”
—Vaiyasaki
Excerpt from “Memories-Anecdotes of a Modern-Day Saint”
by Siddhanta das
www.prabhupadamemories.com
Uddhava is very broadly described in our scriptures. Uddhava was a devotee of the Lord from his childhood. Advanced souls get the chance to take birth in a devotee family; the liberated soul never forgets Krsna. Vidura is actually Yamaraj who had been cursed to be born as a sudra. When Vidura met Uddhava and inquired about Krsna, Uddhava would get overwhelmed.
Uddhava mentioned that Krsna had just left Vrindavan recently and is in Mathura. He had already killed the elephant and popped-out Chanura’s eyes. Krsna had “accidentally” killed Kamsa too! He wanted to kick-off Kamsa’s crown but Kamsa died from falling. Then they forced Krsna to become the ruler of Mathura.
Nanda Maharaj asked Krsna to come home to Vrindavan. Krsna told him that the Yadus would insist that he stay and not leave again thus Krsna wanted to send a messenger to Vrindavan. Uddhava was the only suitable one to send as a messenger as they were best friends.
Uddhava and Krsna had a secret language because Uddhava spoke such a difficult language that only Krsna could understand. Uddhava spoke the Bhagavatam in 100 000 verses in the heavenly planets. In the heavenly planets, the level of Vedic knowledge exceeds ours. Bhaktivinoda Thakur explained that only 6% of Vedic culture was existing and many years have passed since he said that.
But ultimately, we don’t depend so much on all other scripture because we have the essence in the Srimad Bhagavatam therefore we are not missing out. Almost all that is inauspicious in the heart will be destroyed by reading the Bhagavatam. But why not ALL inauspiciousness? There is one complication which is that as one gets learned, one may get proud! Pride is the one thing that will not be removed by reading Bhagavatam BUT when we chant japa, pride is destroyed!
In kirtan one may still get really proud, “I’m feeling bhava or ruci!” but while chanting japa no one feelsbhava. (Laughter!) We realize that we do not have taste yet as we do not chant in ecstasy. Therefore, we need the mercy of vaisnavas!
So why was Uddhava chosen as the messenger? He was well learned because he was educated by Brihaspati and Uddhava looked almost the same as Krsna, especially from a distance. When Uddhava got to Vrindavan and said to the gopis, “Krsna is everywhere, why are you lamenting?” he was able to generate some faith in the gopis because Uddhava looked so much like Krsna, and because he knew Krsna’s heart.
Uddhava was the most intimate associate of Krsna outside of Vrindavan. Rohini is in the Vrindavan and Dvaraka pastimes, and so is Balarama, therefore Krsna got them to bless Uddhava because if one wants to go to Vraja one needs the blessings of one who has access. One cannot go to Vrindavan by mundane transport. Uddhava saw Krsna in every tree on the way to Vrindavan – uddipan, how things remind us of Krsna.
Krsna is all pervading but so what, the residents of Vrindavan still want personal exchange. They do not care about philosophy; only personal association matters to them. Uddhava could not understand the mood of the residents of Vrindavan.
Back to Vidura now. Vidura saw that Uddhava as an extraordinary devotee. Krsna was supposed to meet Duryodhan to discuss and try to avoid the war. He was invited to the big palace but he stayed at Vidura’s place because he could not stay at the place of one who was envious of the Pandava’s. How exalted Uddhava and Vidura are! And how far away we are… Uddhava was praying to be a blade of grass at Kusum Sarovar. We consider Uddhava as a prototype and we follow in his footsteps.
Throughout 2016, our international Hare Krishna movement has been celebrating our 50th anniversary. While the teachings of our Hare Krishna culture have existed for thousands of years, the modern "Hare Krishna movement" was incorporated in 1966. Grand celebrations have been taking place all around the world!
Wednesday, July 27, 2016 marks the 50th Anniversary of ISKCON's incorporation, as calculated by the lunar calendar model. We invite you to join us for small celebrations at our temple from 6:30pm onwards.
There will be readings, appreciations, sharing of realizations, prasadam, and hopefully more! Please also see what is going on in ISKCON around the world - to commemorate this 50 year anniversary by visiting http://iskcon50.org/
Source:http://iskcontoronto.blogspot.in/2016/07/small-iskcon50-celebrations-july-27-2016.html
As I write this it is snowing yet again. It’s early morning and along with the silence of the snow I can hear birds sing. It’s as if they are trying to bravely hold on, waiting for spring to fully arrive. Today they are my heroes.
There is an analogy that compares the soul to a bird in a cage, the body being the cage. If we just take care of the cage and neglect to feed the bird, then the bird will die. Similarly, our soul will “die” if we don’t nourish it. As the Bible says, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”
The early morning song birds also reminded me of the story of a sparrow and her determination. She laid her eggs on the beach, but the tide came in and took them away. She asked the ocean to return her eggs, but he laughed at her. “All right,” the small sparrow said as she stood at the edge of the vast ocean. “I will dry you up, drop by drop, until I find my eggs.”
And so she began, one drop at a time, to empty the ocean. She worked day after day and because of her determination she caught the attention of the great bird carrier of Vishnu, Garuda. He came to the side of the ocean and talked to the tiny sparrow. He then turned to the ocean and with a booming voice told the water to return the eggs at once lest he will take up the sparrow’s task. The ocean got the message and immediately returned the eggs.
The lesson here? Be determined to do the right thing, even if it seems impossible. By that endeavor alone help will come – often in the most unexpected ways.
As I watch the snow fall, and hear the birds sing, I see and feel the hand of Krishna. Life will be difficult and all we can do is respond as best we can. Keep singing and keep moving in the right direction. Help is always there and will come at the right time and in its own way. Just keep the doors of trust, faith, and love open.
In a humble attempt to glorify Srila Prabhupada and the ISKCON movement on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee, ISKCON, Navi Mumbai with the auspicious blessings of HH Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaja and encouraging direction of the temple President, HG Sura Das Prabhu celebrated a week long festival. The festival was graced by the keen presence of HH Amiya Vilas Swami Maharaja. Wholeheartedly detailing and serving under the guidance of the HG Vaishnavanghri Sevak Prabhu (the Director of Bhaktivedanta College of Vedic Education, Navi Mumbai), the devotees of Sri Sri Radha Madanmohanji celebrated a seven day long festival making the atmosphere spiritually surcharging.
Remembering the pre-eminent Acharya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who signed off his communications with “your ever well-wisher”, and the movement he started, which is working under the direct supervision of Srila Rupa Goswami, the weeklong festival started on the day when Srila Prabhupada signed the deed in New York, USA i.e. on Monday, July 11, 2016 and culminated on July 17, 2016. The festival actually took a voyage of the memoirs of the 50 glorious years of ISKCON’s journey making all feel the real pride in sharing the joy of devotion.
Programs during the ISKCON Incorporation week celebrations
The seven mornings were primarily filled with readings from the Jaladuta diary and Prabhupada Lilamrita. The festival commenced with the first morning discourse on “the voyage to the USA”. Subsequently each day reviewed the chronicles of Srila Prabhupada’s life and that of the movement. The second morning’s discourse glorified the importance of Srila Prabhupada’s commitment and endeavours to fulfill the two orders of his spiritual master, viz. preaching to the English speaking World and Printing books. The third morning’s discourse discussed the accounts of ISKCON’s incorporation. The fourth morning’s discourse elaborated about the memories of the starting of the Jagannath Ratha yatra. Glorifying the one of the munificent and widely reaching acts of Srila Prabhupada of touring the Globe 13 times, the fourth morning’s discourse actually helped to visualize the compassion of a pure devotee and hardships that he took for the benefit of the humanity. Srila Prabhupada’s vision to establish the World headquarters at Mayapur, a home for the whole world in Vrindavan and Mumbai as his office was visited on the fifth morning discourse. Additionally, laying the foundational principle, “books are the basis”, the establishment and services offered by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) were glorified. Standing on the foundation of “purity is the force” and having in the veins the principle that “preaching is the essence”, the seventh morning’s discourse talked about the recapitulated the life of Prabhupada from his childhood to delivering of innumerable souls in this material world.
Glimpse of the celebrations
The evenings were filled with bhajans, kirtans, dance performances, dramas on the life and teachings of Srila Prabhupada. Singing the heart-melting bhajans of Srila Prabhupada, wherein he cries out to the Lord to make him dance as He likes and when he acknowledges the mercy of Krishna, were the highlights of one of the evenings. Children from the Nimai’s Bhakti School took special encouragement and demonstrated an unparallel enthusiasm by presenting two dramas. One was on how Srila Prabhupada established ISKCON and second one on the seven purposes. It was so very invigorating to visit the seven purposes for which we are serving. Two special dance performances were offered to Srila Prabhupada. One was a classical dance performance, Bharatnatyam, on glorification of Srila Prabhupada and the other was a dance performance on “Yadi Prabhupada na hoito”, expressing the gratitude towards Prabhupada.
Expression of gratitude to Srila Prabhupada and to ISKCON was given the central attention in this festival. Each day, different devotees were offering their gratitude. This consisted of offerings by the resident devotees, senior devotees, Matajis, various congregations and especially by children. Special ghee lamps (deep dana) were offered to Srila Prabhupada on the concluding evening of the festival. A special japa card was also released on this day. Devotees offered flower bouquets to Srila Prabhupada on the incorporation day and the gratitude day.
Sri Krishna Prasadam distribution was profusely distributed everyday. Each evening, after the program and kirtan, specially made “Love cookies” and full prasadam were distributed to all. A special attraction of the festival was the offering of two special cakes, one on the incorporation day – Golden Jubilee Cake and two Gratitude Day Cakes on the gratitude day with engraving “To our dear Srila Prabhupada with gratitude”.
All these celebrations were performed under the most auspicious blessings of their Lordships, Sri Sri Radha Madanmohanji and Sri Sri Gaura Nitai. We request all Maharajas, Vaishnavas and Vaishnavis to share this joyful article with everyone. Hare Krihna!
Our beloved Pashupati Prabhvi (ACBSP), known for many years as an exemplar of care and compassion, has just been in a terrible car accident. She was not at fault and sustained injuries including 12 broken ribs; a fractured collar bone, hip and pelvis; and a collapsed lung.
Pashupati has thrived through painful physical challenges for many years and has demonstrated such care and compassion for many. In spite of her own health challenges, she was known for driving community members in need to doctors appointments, cooking for others, connecting people to support and caring for all those who know her.
Her husband, Chaturatma Prabhu (ACBSP), works full-time. In addition to adjustments that will have to be made to grant him time to care for Pashupati through this challenging stage, they will face steep medical fees to foster her complex recovery.
So many of us have expressed a desire to assist them at this challenging time. Here is a simple way. They will benefit greatly from our loving support. Please donate what you can *today* to help them through this initial stage. Every bit will help. Our goal is $10,000 by July 31, 2016. **All donations go directly to Chaturatma Prabhu (Charles Henderson).** Thank you!!!
The tussle between “freewill” and “destiny” has been primordial. There is one famous Greek play titled “Oedipus Rex” by Sophocles. The main character Oedipus has the tragic destiny of marrying his own mother revealed to him by the soothsayer. Shaken by the revelation, he decides to escape his fate by leaving his royal parents and his kingdom, but ironically the more he tries to give a slip, nearer he gets to the prediction. Finally the fate takes the better of him. He later learns of the commission of the most heinous sin – marrying his own mother and having even children from her. He relinquishes his kingship, blinds himself and moves from one place to another as he repents for the sin from which he had in fact tried to save himself. He is forsaken and alone but he makes himself adorable by the manner in which he reacts to his destiny. His desire to purge, do prayashchit for his inadvertently committed sin brings out the beauty in his character, he rises to such a height that from being one who is scoffed at by everybody, whose presence had once caused epidemics, death, draught in his country; later turns to a harbinger of good times, his death is said to bring good luck to the place where he would leave his body.
It beautifully brings forth the beauty and significant role of “freewill” in our lives. Bhagavad-gita explains the wonderful attributes of the soul besides the minuteness of soul. It is just one ten-thousandth part of the upper portion of the hair point in size.* The minute “freewill” of this super-micro soul has created so much of furore that there are 14 planetary systems and countless universes, and further sub- and sub to sub-systems to place everybody according to their “freewill”! So wonderful is freewill! This differentiating factor from non-living beings can make a heaven of hell or hell of heaven. It is therefore important that we learn to exercise it judiciously. It is because of this we are separated from the Lord. Though we are suffering because of misuse of freewill and are sentenced to serve our prison term in the bhuloka. At the same time bhuloka is also karmabhoomi, where we have the possibility of decision making (thus freewill) and accordingly designing the future body and destiny.
Freewill has been a subject which has attracted the attention of philosophers, spiritualists and scientists (especially neuroscientists, psychologists and physicists) alike. There are a few scientists (for instance Nobel Laureate Gerard who gave a theory suggesting predetermined status of behavior of particles and thus ourselves) who believe in non-existence of freewill and claim that they can predict each and every move of every studied individual with greatest accuracy*. Their perception reduces one to mere robots without any emotions and free will. A few non-atheists also find it confusing to see freewill in the face of the Lord being considered as “sarva karna karnam” (the cause of all causes – BS 5.1). Let us try to study it.
However before I try to do so, I consider it important to confess that I am neither a philosopher, nor a spiritualist nor even a scientist. I am a mere practicing devotee who had been struggling to understand it till some time ago. Freewill can be compared to free periods that we had in our student days. As a child in the school, every class was given one or two free periods besides other regular periods for teaching Maths, Science, English, Hindi or other such subjects. In the free periods the students were free to do anything, they could play, draw, study, sleep, read in the library or anything that they wanted to do. Though this was a free period and one was free to pursue their interests, yet at the same time it entailed a few implicit understandings:
– The duration of free period and its very presence is because the authorities have gracefully chosen to give us so
– It has to be exercised within the restrains of rules of the school and of general decorum
– Free period can be used according to one’s temperament, it can be used or even abused
Free will is no different. It does exist and comes in measures as given by the Lord. If He does not wish to give us free will and freedom to exercise it, there is no possibility of we having it.
Swedish man (3): Is there free will?
Prabhupada: Yes, yes. Just like you are sitting here. If you don’t like, you can go away. That’s your free will. There is free will.
Free will exists, but how much? -Only as much as the Lord wants us to have. The conversation between Srila Prabhupada and Syamasundara prabhu is worth reading:
Syamasundara: Does the hydrogen molecule have an independent desire?
Prabhupada: No, but within the hydrogen atom, there is Krishna; therefore it is combining. Not this hydrogen atom as matter is combining, but because Krishna is within that hydrogen atom existing. He knows that by combination this thing will come about, that will come out, that will come out…
Syamasundara: But the individual soul has a little independence to choose?
Prabhupada: No, no.
Syamasundara: Has no independence?
Prabhupada: No. The individual soul does not. In Bhagavad-gita it says that anumanta, individual soul, wants to do something and Krishna gives orders. Man proposes and God disposes.
Syamasundara: So we have no free will?
Prabhupada: No. Without sanction of Krishna we cannot do anything. Therefore He is the ultimate cause.
Syamasundara: But I thought you had been saying that we have a little independence.
Prabhupada: That independence that Krishna wants me to do something but I want to deny it. But unless Krishna sanctions, you cannot do that also.
… So far as we get information, our knowledge is from the Vedic information, andantara-stha paramanu: Krishna is within, the Paramatma. It does not say the soul is within, the Paramatma.
So, how much control do we have over our free will? — We have only as much free period (free will) as much as the school authorities (the Supreme Lord) will allow or sanction. Even within the allowable limits, when we exercise it, we need to follow the law of the school (nature). One cannot violate them. Misuse of free period or abuse of freewill is followed by misery of punishment by the respective executive and judiciary authorities.
Devotee (4): Prabhupada, we’re in this material world, in this human body, we’re having to work with this intelligence, with mind, material things. So there is a group of philosophers that say that actually because we’re a product, our mind, the way we’re thinking now is a product of our upbringing and our past, that actually we have no free will, but we’re forced to think and act in a certain way.
Prabhupada: Then that you have to admit that you are conditioned by some authority. When you are put into jail, you cannot act independently. You have to act according to the jail superintendent’s order.
… Devotee (4): So he admits he’s conditioned, but still, there’s no free will. He says, “Yeah, so I’m in the prison. I’m imprisoned. I’m conditioned.”
Prabhupada: No, no, no. Free will… Just like a man commits theft by his free will. But when he is put into jail, then no more free will. He has to act according to the jail superintendent. But his beginning of jail life is free will. Nobody asked him that “You go to jail.” But why he has come? He knows also that “When I am put into jail, I will lose all my freedom.” He knows that. Still, he comes. Why does he come? He knows that. That is called ajnana. Mudha. That is called mudha. He knows; still, he does. [Ref. VedaBase> Morning Walk – 14 July 14, 1975, Philadelphia]
There is another discussion reinforcing the same thought:
Prabhupada: Yes, freedom. Our present condition is not freedom. We are completely under the laws, te ‘pi svatantra rudhani vardhya (?). They are tied up by the ropes of material nature, hands and legs, and still they are thinking, “I am free.” That is illusion. Nobody is free. Daivi hy esha guna-mayi mama maya duratyaya [Bg. 7.14]. We are seeking freedom but nobody is free. Nobody is free. Prakriteh kriyamanani [Bg. 3.27], they are pulled by the ear, “Do this.” Prakriteh. You have to do this.
Syamasundara: He says that the free will, which creates itself or realizes itself is the truest of all realities.
Prabhupada: Yes. So if by free will if you choose to surrender to Krishna then you’ll get your real free will, freedom. Otherwise you are under the clutches of maya. Daivihy esha guna-mayi mama maya duratyaya [Bg. 7.14]. You cannot surpass the stringent laws of material nature, that is not…
So, working within the stringent laws of nature, one can misuse the gift of free will and bind himself in the vicious circle of death-birth-death. In the Bhagavad-gita (5.13) the Lord says that He is not the cause of anyone’s particular work, nor the authority, nor the result of such work–but that all these come out of the various modes of nature. Thus, all acts performed by the living entity-except those with transcendental results-are self-created engagements arising from an abuse of the freewill, and therefore such acts or engagements are never to be considered as if the works and the results were somehow ordained by the almighty Godhead. Such works are all material and are therefore conditioned and directed by the modes of nature. The Personality of Godhead dissociates Himself from such works.
One cannot be without work, how can we work without getting entangled in the karmic reaction of that work? If we surrender all our actions or work to Him, we can but how do we do it? Conditioned with the three modes of nature or gunas, how can one take the right decision? If the freewill is so dangerous, should we repress it altogether? How should the freewill be used that it does not prove self-injurious due to our ignorance?
Though we are suffering in this material body because of our earlier misuse of free will; yet it is His causeless mercy that the Lord has not abandoned us. Keen on bringing us back to Him, even in this situation He has given us the way out, an escape route from this prison house. He has given us free will, but He has also given the instructions to use it properly to return to Him. Prabhupada explained it beautifully:
“I am now talking to you the most confidential words.” (Sarva-guhyatamam) “You stop your so-called freewill. Just surrender to Me.” This is the most confidential. “If you surrender to Me, that is good for you. But if you go on keeping your free will you’ll not be happy.” There is also free will. When you come to the platform of Krishna consciousness you serve Krishna with freewill, not that you become a stone. There is freewill. Just like our devotees they are dressing Krishna nicely, is there no freewill? They are cooking for Krishna. Is there no freewill? The freewill is there. The Mayavadi philosopher says, the Buddha philosopher says, that “Stop this freewill, and then you become happy.” But our proposition is not to stop freewill but purify freewill. Purify. Not stop these eyes. Just if it is suffering from cataract, cure that cataract. Keep the eyes. And their proposition, “Get out these eyes and throw it. Then there will be no more seeing what is right and wrong.” That is their proposition. Nirvisesha-vadi. Nirvisesha means no specialty, no varieties. That is nirvisesha. And sunya, zero. When it is zero, then there is no question of right and wrong. So our philosophy is not that. There is no zero, and there is no variety. We don’t say. There is, but its purified varieties. Tat-paratvena nirmalam [Cc. Madhya 19.170]. Nirmalam means purified. So our process is to purify everything.”
Our job is therefore to purify our freewill and thus dovetail our freewill with His Supreme will – Easier said than done.
sadrisam ceshtate svasyah / prakriter jnanavan api
prakritim yanti bhutani / nigrahah kim karishyati [Bg 3.33] [Even a man of knowledge acts according to his own nature, for everyone follows the nature he has acquired from the three modes. What can repression accomplish?]
Repression fails and dovetailing is difficult, bordering on impossibility? How do we do that while being puppets in the deft hands of mayadevi and her tools of three gunas? She keeps us in the prison house using the trident of three gunas? It is very difficult to transcend the gunas. This concern was expressed by Arjuna himself to the Lord and He even agreed to it, but He gave a solution to that too. Even while working within gunas, using freewill according to one’s gunas, one has the option of coming out. One needs to be just what one is. Just perform one’s duty according to one’s nature or “svabhava” – according to one’s varna and guna – or simply following the principles of daiva varnasrama – “svabhava-niyatam karma / kurvan napnoti kilbi sham” [Bg. 18.47]. It is worth noting that the system of varnasrama, has been created by Him and is thus perfect. catur-varnyam maya shrishtam / guna-karma-vibhagasah [Bg. 4.13] Simply by performing one’s karma within the varnasrama set up ensures that our freewill is not abused.
The Lord is so merciful! He has created varnasrama for us. For the soul who has abused the freewill. For the soul which is just one-thousandth of the hair tip in size. Being His creation to protect the erring; varnasrama is in complete congruence with the Supreme will and is thus capable of giving one an opportunity to make the best of our human life within the limitation of svabhava and gunas. The set up varnasrama ensures that one is on the path of gradual spiritual evolution without resorting to “unnatural” methods of achieving transcendence. Hare Krishna!
It is not desirable to worship out of fear… out of fear of the Lord or out of fear of reactions that may come. To be God-fearing is not advertised as a great ideal in our Krsna consciousness movement. Rather our aim is to serve Krsna out of love – to appreciate how Krsna is kind, how Krsna is merciful and how Krsna cares about all living beings. Not only are we concerned with our own little lives but we are concerned with the welfare of the world as a whole so let us see if we can contribute something to that. We remain connected to the greater plan of the Supreme Lord – we live a life of devotion, and we also care for the welfare of all other living beings so that they may also come to devotional service.
Source:https://www.kksblog.com/2016/07/to-serve-krsna-out-of-love/ ;
Tonight Sydney’s streets resounded with the sound of the MAHAMANTRA
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna,
Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare,
Hare Rama, Hare Rama,
Rama Rama, Hare Hare!
Sixteen devotees joined us on the streets to participate in the dharma for this age. The bliss and energy from chanting the Holy Names was palpable. It is such a fun activity.
The city was crowded with people today and many of them felt compelled to sing and dance with us. The sound of Harinam Sankirtan is like nectar for the ears, it pours in and attracts the heart.
Bella, who came last week, for the dancing and chanting was back with us again. It is wonderful, and inspiring to see someone attracted like that.
Ranjan, Vraja and Nesh were on the front lines distributing books. They were able to find homes for 10 book this evening. They say books are like spiritual time bombs. People take then home, some read them and some put them aside then one day they pick them up and they say: “Why didn’t I read this earlier? I need to find out more about this. “
We are continuing our program every week so please accept our invitation and join us whenever you can. Every Thursday we are chanting in the streets of Sydney. Do everyone a favour, and do yourself a favour, please come along and see for yourself what happens. Make a plan now to come at least once. See you next Thursday.
Sri Harinam Sankirtan Ki Jaya.
Source:https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1209769265740066&id=684968818220116
We celebrate the passing of time
With a fearless ignorance
Like the beating of the heart
The seconds move forward in rhythm
and birth and death and birth
come and go around us
We are caged in time like a bird
We make our peace with it
Disguise it, hoping the sense of something
Beyond time will go away
So that we can enjoy
Hoping the gray hairs will look like silver
The sagging skin will be ignored
We are caught in time
Like a dog on a leash
Belonging to someone
Loyal and tail wagging
Waiting for a bone to enjoy
Time eats us all
Like a hungry giant
That none will escape
No matter what wealth
Or cleverness we have
Time is the dread of death
Time is the darkness at the end of the day
Time is the heart that beats no more
Our heart, at some point in time
The sages walked to the forest
To live outside time
To watch the soul watch time
Bound by a body and network of senses
It is caught in the story of its many lives
An insignificant one among millions
Krishna is the hand that pulls us
Out of this time and into another
One that does not have a start or finish
The time I feel when I close my eyes
Hear my breath, sense myself in
That big space of the present moment
When I hear the sound of His Name
That point of connection
To life outside the cage
That sense of time beyond time
That sense of connected self
Free, beautiful, and other worldly
A crayfish landed itself at the door of the temple last week. It caused a bit of alarm at first as some of us didn’t know what this strange looking, large creepy crawly was. A monster black scorpion? An alien, over-sized cockroach? It was 4am, half dark, and imaginations stirred by fear were running high!
Soon a devotee arrived who recognized it. “Ah, a crayfish,” he said with affection.
He got the snow shovel, gently invited the crayfish to get on board, and took him back to the creek.
There are three large steps to get down to the temple entrance so we wondered how the crayfish got here. But that became far less important to the crayfish than the problem of getting out. He would have never done that on his own. Until he received the extended hand of the devotee with a shovel, he was stuck. He simply didn’t have the ability to climb up the steps on his own.
It is said that the path of bhakti-yoga is the path of grace. We are stuck on the ferris wheel of life, of repeated birth and death, until the helping hand of divine grace extends into our life and we reach out and take hold of it. We can’t get out of this material mess on our own.
Grace never pushes itself upon us. It’s an invitation into a relationship. And from our side, it requires an acknowledgment that we need help. Nothing is a greater relief than entering into that relationship.
I also saw with the crayfish that fear is often based on lack of information. As soon as we knew that he was a harmless, common creature, our fear disappeared and we laughed at our own foolishness. Knowledge allowed us to feel compassionate and help a helpless creature. The biggest fear of all, the fear of death, becomes an insignificant event in the life of a person educated in spiritual perspectives. The body dies, but not us. Another great relief.
The great alien scorpion that turned out to be a crayfish brought much wisdom to our morning meditation. Gurus come in many shapes and sizes. Be ready to meet them and hear their stories. They always have something to give.
The rain whips against my window
and the newly blossomed trees
are fast loosing their pretty petals
to the ruthless cold and wind
I wish that my spiritual practice
could sometimes be like
that wild weather
and move me to the places
I know I want to be
Winds that could blow
my doubts out the window
rains that would wash
the material ego out the door
hot hot sun to dry
my petty hurts to nothingness
and cold air to shake the
bodily concept of life
out of my head
Oh wild weather friend
keep knocking on my door
and stretching me
For it is said
if we cover ourselves
with a blanket of material comfort
we will fall asleep spiritually
I want to be awake.
By: ISKCON-London Communications (With contributions from Bhaktivedanta Manor Communications)
It was on 13th July 1966 that ISKCON was incorporated. Exactly 50 years on, on Wednesday 13th July ISKCON-London celebrated this historic day in the most glorious way.
An all-day festival was held at the Temple. As the curtains opened for Deity Greetings, devotees witnessed Their Lordships adorned in illuminous new golden outfits offered to Them in honour of the occasion. The altar was decorated with white and gold flower garlands and decor. Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasasana was decorated with flower arrangements and artwork depicting the seven purposes of ISKCON. Guru Puja was followed by a class on ‘50 Years of ISKCON’ outlining ISKCON’s achievements to date.
As part of the morning celebrations, ISKCON-London and Bhaktivedanta Manor came together in a special outreach initiative. In an act of gratitude to the City of London, 5,000 cupcakes were distributed in key locations in central London during morning rush hour to say, “Thank You London!”.
Here is what some of the volunteers had to share about their experience:
“The distribution of cupcakes put so many smiles to the busy people of London. It was so nice to see how a simple act of kindness can do so much. I’m sure many who took a cupcake will have noticed that it was in celebration of such an historic date for ISKCON. It was a pleasure to be a small part of something big, on this memorable day, as an act of gratitude to Srila Prabhupada.” – Krishna Dattani
“Wonderful to see those commuters on a hectic schedule stop and smile at the sight of a free treat. Even better to witness them take some time to ask questions! I can only conclude it was all due to Prabhupada’s mercy!” – Meelan Panth
Temple President, Jai Nitai dasa and Temple Secretary Bhava Bhakti devi dasi also had an opportunity to present the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan with a box of cupcakes and copies of the 50th magazine. The Mayor congratulated ISKCON on turning 50 and also tweeted this kind gesture to followers.
Meanwhile the festivities continued at the Temple with an afternoon class based on the ‘Seven Purposes of ISKCON’. A sumptuous prasadam feast was served which included a special 50th birthday cake. Devotees then set out on London’s bustling Oxford Street for a maha harinam, chanting and dancing along the way distributing delicious mango burfis.
In the evening, the special themed classes continued with a class on ‘The Next 50 Years of ISKCON’. Gaura Arati was followed by bhajans including Markine Bhagavata-Dharma written by Srila Prabhupada while on board the Jaladuta and Yadi Prabhupada Na Hoite composed by HH Jayapataka Swami. The kirtan continued late into the night until the final Sayana arati.
The capital’s biggest news channel, BBC London also covered the day’s activities. The coverage was broadcasted to over a million people on air and millions more online, allowing them to take darshan of the arati ceremony too.
Watch the broadcast here: https://youtu.be/wgaM7_Vmbgw
In appreciation of the efforts for the festival and the media and outreach activities, ISKCON50 Coordinator for London, Devaki devi dasi, said:
“It was a truly glorious day. You could really see that Sri Sri Radha-Londonisvara – the Lords of London – and the first installed Deities in ISKCON, personally installed by Srila Prabhupada himself – wanted to spread the glories of Their dear devotee, Srila Prabhupada, to the wider London community.
Not only did we have excellent attendance from the community and a full day programme at the Temple to celebrate ISKCON’s 50th, but we had the BBC interviewing devotees and filming footage at various points throughout the day. We also worked with Bhaktivedanta Manor to hold a Gratitude Day where we distributed 5000 cupcakes to the public in key locations around London to raise awareness of the Hare Krishna movement and to thank Londoners for accepting us as part of the community.
At a personal level, it was definitely the most enlivening day of the year yet and shows what can be achieved when we serve together as a team to glorify and appreciate Srila Prabhupada for everything he has given us.”
Srila Prabhupada: If the surface of the globe is overflooded with the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra, the people of the world will be very, very happy. (Srimad Bhagavatam, 4.24.11 Purport)
For Photos click here: https://flic.kr/s/aHskAsYtdV
The International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) was founded in New York by A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada in 1966, and celebrates its 50th anniversary this year with 52 nationwide events in the UK. Last week in a gesture of appreciation to the City of London for making the Hare Krishna community feel so welcome, 5,000 anniversary cupcakes were handed out at London’s five major railway stations. The chocolate cupcakes made by Govinda were purely vegetarian, with no eggs and the milk of protected cows, in line with ISKCON’s commitment to Ahimsa.
London’s Rathayatra festival, “the festival of chariots” is one of the largest annual Hindu gatherings in Britain. From the ISKCON temple in Soho, true to historical texts the unfinished wooden carvings of the deities Lord Jagganath, Lady Subhadra and Lord Baladeva‘s chariots were pulled on ropes, by their devotees stopping the traffic in the busy streets of London, until they reached their position outside The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. It was a colourful and family occasion with tents offering everything from yoga, spiritual information, puppet shows and deity face painting, about 20,000 plates of prashadam were served made in the kitchens at Bhaktivedanta Manor, cooked by devotees led by Parasurama Das. On the centre stage Avatari Devi, the beautiful dancer with a beautiful soul, performed an Odissi dance and the Mantra Choir team were recording some contributions to their Jayadev mantra, which aims to combine 1008 singing choices (1008 symbolising the Dharmic and astrologically significant number) in hymnal reverence. Mantra Choir have a website where devotees can add their virtual voice from wherever they are.
It was a colourful and family occasion with tents offering everything from yoga, spiritual information, puppet shows and deity face painting.
The atmosphere is 100% festive and the dress code is…. Imaginative. It was a rare sunshine day and celebrants were not just in western shorts and T-shirts or saffron/white saris, dhotis and kurtas but also wearing elaborately decorated and accessorised fusions of Indian traditional clothing and British eccentricity worn by both men and women, the effect is fun and in the spirit of celebrating diversity and unity, love and peace.
There are about 100,000 Hare Krishna followers in UK, all faith and all creeds are accepted into the community, the idea is to be the best Catholic/ Protestant/ Muslim/ Jew/ Dharmic you can be, the ISKCON values are to live life to render service without taking or expecting anything in return and to have propriety.
Pragosh Dasa is the head of ISKCON UK and Chairman of ISKCON GBC (Governing Body Commission). The GBC was a committee established by Srila Prabhupada as the ultimate managing authority and to look after the different aspects of the society. Pragosh is from Dublin and like most Irish and many Indians he talks at 100mph, and is very good value informationally; before answering my perfunctory questions about the Hare Krishna movement he told an anecdote about how he was asked in Northern Ireland if he was Catholic or a Protestant disciple of Srila Prabhupada. He also mentioned that the Brexit decision might make it difficult and more expensive to distribute the 1 million books that Hare Krishna sell over a year, he was concerned about tariffs being imposed on spiritual literature. Pragosh also worries about the concept of a visa, he believes eternal spiritual being are not demarcated by geography “if you are a nationalist you are in effect claiming a land which to be yours; proprietorship is fundamental to division and conflict”.
Source:http://www.sundayguardianlive.com/opinion/5772-iskcon-celebrates-rathayatra-festival-london
A few years ago, while pursuing my postgraduate studies at USM in Penang, I happen to glance over the front page of the local newspaper to read the following headlines in large capital letters: WANTED: LEADERS. The statement was being made by the then Prime Ministry of Malaysia who was expressing his dismay at the lack of leadership within his country, especially in the context of educational institutions who seemingly were not able to produce highly qualified leaders. Not only was he pointing to a leadership crisis within his own county, but indeed, if we analyze most countries and most organizations around the world, the lack of such qualified leaders is rampant in present day society, the consequences of which can be witnessed by the ever increasing anomalies we find in all spheres and at all levels of modern day life. More recently, a similar concern was expressed by the Minister of Education in India when he officially stated that 75% of students graduating from universities were ill-prepared and ill-suited to take up their designated career. Where today can we thus find qualified leaders? And where today can we find the training and education to bring individuals to such proper standards of leadership?
Leadership and Dependence
Within the Vedic culture, anyone who had dependents was considered a leader. Therefore, not only the Kings or Heads of State (ksatriyas) were accepted as leaders, but those having dependents in the other varnas, such as the brahmanas and vaisyas, were also regarded as leaders. According to the Vedic social system of daiva-varnasrama, the majority of people (sudras) are meant, by nature and by disposition, to serve under the able guidance and care of either the brahmanas, ksatriyas or vaisyas.
Leadership and Governance
Within the context of setting up and coordinating communities in keeping with the principles of daiva-varnasrama, the main leadership falls upon the head of householder ksatriyas, either at the level of villages, states, countries (kingdoms) or the world. Governance is a vital principle within the Vedic society and is the specialized domain of the ksatriyas who are meant to rule their citizens as loving fathers. As we begin to consider implementing principles of daiva varnasrama, the themes of leadership and governance take on a more significant role.
Varnasrama Development and Governance
In analysing the four-fold vision given by Srila Prabhupada, as outlined in his essay Conceptions of Gita Nagari, to help transform our present misdirected society towards a global Krishna conscious nation, it is only when we begin to closely consider the fourth division of varnasrama do we begin to see the need of implementing a God conscious leadership within society at large. There are certainly leadership elements in the first three divisions identified by Srila Prabhupada namely, 1) the Sankirtan Movement based on the holy names and book distribution, 2) the Temple Worship Movement and 3) the Spiritual Initiation Movement. However, these first three divisions remain largely confined to those having brahminical duties. All these three divisions are meant to be headed by brahmanas for it is the primary duty of brahmanas to 1) study the Vedic literatures and spread their glories through both the chanting of the holy names and the distribution of transcendental literatures [brhhat mrdanga], 2) to perform yajnas by installing deities and worshiping the arca-vigraha form of the Lord in temples and in homes of householders and 3) to encourage the involvement of various congregational members preparing them to become connected in guru parampara through training and educational programs. At present, to a large extent, all of these are intimately connected with our city temple preaching activities. However, when we enter the larger realm of varnasrama development, not so much within our city temples but rather within the rural setting of village communities, we are confronted with concepts of leadership and governance at various levels and hence the need for effective training and education.
Standard Training and Education
Such type of leadership will only possible if we implement the standard Vedic training and education as recommended in our sastras from an early age. When the varnasrama system was in order, generally, young boys from both brahmana and ksatriya families would receive this specialized training in the educational system of gurukula. However, anyone who displayed the natural tendencies and qualities of a brahmana or ksatriya could also avail of this training and education. It is keeping this vision in mind that Srila Prabhupada wanted his disciples to implement the Vedic educational institutions of both Gurukula for the younger boys and of Varnasrama Colleges for the older ones.
Standard Qualities of Leaders
Our Vedic literatures give us clear and specific information about the qualities needed for a good leader. From the perennial teachings of the Bhagavad-gita we find the following seven qualities of an ideal leader outlined:
sauryam tejo dhrtir daksyam yuddhe capy apalayanam
danam isvara-bhavas ca ksatram karma svabhava-jam
“Heroism, power, determination, resourcefulness, courage in battle, generosity and leadership are the qualities of work for the ksatriyas.” (Bg. 18.43)
From the Srimad Bhagavatam, the following ten qualities are given:
sauryam viryam dhrtis tejas tyagas catmajayah ksama
brahmanyata prasadas ca satyam ca ksatra-laksanam
“To be influential in battle, unconquerable, patient, challenging and charitable, to control the bodily necessities, to be forgiving, to be attached to the brahminical nature and to be always jolly and truthful—these are the symptoms of the ksatriya.”
We find another important instruction given in the Srimad Bhagavatam by the great King Rshabadava to his 100 sons headed by Bharat Maharaja:
gurur na sa syat sva-jano na sa syat pita na sa syaj janani na sa syat
daivam na tat syan na patis ca sa syan na mocayed yah samupeta-mrtyum
“One who cannot deliver his dependents from the path of repeated birth and death should never become a spiritual master, a father, a husband, a mother or a worshipable demigod.” (SB 5.5.18)
In the purport to this verse, Srila Prabhupada explains:
“Ordinarily, the spiritual master, husband, father, mother or superior relative accepts worship from an inferior relative, but here Rshabhadeva forbids this. First the father, spiritual master or husband must be able to release the dependent from repeated birth and death. If he cannot do this, he plunges himself into the ocean of reproachment for his unlawful activities. Everyone should be very responsible and take charge of his dependents just as a spiritual master takes charge of his disciple or a father takes charge of his son. All these responsibilities cannot be discharged honestly unless one can save the dependent from repeated birth and death.”
CONCLUSION
Thus, leadership within the Vedic culture carries a heavy responsibility. We can therefore better understand why so much preparation would go into training both the young boys and the young girls before entering householder life. Similarly, anyone who would envision becoming either a brahmana or ksatriya would likewise have to undergo many years of training and education. To become a parent is a life-long responsibility, at least until the children are grown up and can start their own family life. Likewise, to become a leader for a much larger family, either a village, a state, a country or the world is even more demanding and requires the highest of qualifications. Until these instructions given by Srila Prabhupada to establish both standard Gurukulas and Varnasrama Colleges are taken up more seriously, we can expect to continue witnessing a leadership crisis around the world.
E-mail Id: bhakti.raghava.swami@pamho.net
I was checking for a document on my computer and came across a letter I wrote to a devotee who had recently come back to devotional service.
Over the years he had his ups and downs and wrote me out of concern that this pattern might continue. He feared that he might leave devotional service again.
You might say, “Well I haven’t fallen away from Krishna consciousness, so how does this letter relate to me?” I think we all constantly battle internally with falling away from Krishna consciousness. So I think this letter is relevant to everyone.
I have never chosen a personal letter for my newsletter, so I was a bit hesitant to do so. But when asking permission to use it, I received this reply, “It was one of the best preaching letters I ever received and I read it many times. It helped me to stay on course.” So my doubts were removed.
I trust you will find it useful, perhaps even extremely helpful – or maybe even a bit life-changing.
May you always think of Krishna,
Mahatma das
————————
Dear Prabhu,
You can become Krishna conscious despite what happened in the past or whatever obstacles you face at present. The key is your belief that this is possible, your intention to succeed, and your dependence on Krishna’s mercy. I see that you want this, but you are concerned, based on past history and your nature, that it might not be possible or that you may fall away from Krishna consciousness again. You can do it, but without that belief when you have difficulty, you could easily think, “See, I really do have insurmountable problems.” In this way you’ll be the one keeping yourself from achieving your goals. As it is said, “Those who think they will fail are always the ones who do.”
Embrace a negative thought right now. Really get into it. For example, think of someone who did something to hurt you or think of something else that really bothers you. How do you feel? Thoughts carry energy. Do you feel the weight of those negative thoughts? Climbing the stairway to Krishna consciousness is certainly difficult when carrying this extra weight. The truth is: climbing the stairway to anywhere carrying this weight is difficult.
Now think of something positive. You might think of something in Krishna consciousness that enlivens you – a service you love to do, a nectar verse, a sweet kirtan, a devotee you love. How do you feel now? Don’t you feel energized, enthused, and even lighter? Positive thoughts are like a turbo engine under your feet pushing you towards Krishna. This is the kind of support you need to complete your journey back to Godhead.
So you can either support yourself or make it difficult on yourself, but you must be conscious of your thoughts to do this. The problem is that there is a subtle aspect to the thought process that we are not always aware of. These are our beliefs, and like conscious thoughts, they also empower us or weigh us down.
We all have some beliefs we are not aware of. So how can you identify them? One way is to look at your activities and ask, “What would someone have to believe to act this way?” Since it’s difficult to be objective with ourselves, you might want to start by identifying beliefs of others by asking, “What would he or she have to believe to be doing this?” For example, what belief would cause a family man to be gone from home so much that he is no longer an integral part of his family? It could be the belief that his business is more important than his family, making money is more important than his family, or that you have to accomplish a lot to be fulfilled or to be successful. But if you talk to him he’ll likely say the reason he is working this hard is for his family.
If he just changed his belief to, “My family is more important than my work,” what would happen? He would do everything in his power to make sure he is home as much as possible. Maybe he’d take another job, or maybe he would take another position in the company. Whatever it might be, if his beliefs about the importance of spending time with his family change, he will be home more.
When something keeps repeating itself in your life, it’s usually because of a belief or internal problem you have either not acknowledged or have not dealt with. For example, if you continually see others’ faults, it’s usually not because of their faults but because of your need to find fault. If you fail, it could be because of a belief that you are not good enough or smart enough to succeed. It could even mean you are afraid of success. If you act and think as you always have, you’ll get the same results. So if you are aware of these habits, beliefs, anarthas, etc., you can work on them, change them, and replace them with empowering beliefs. Everything changes when you change yourself. Thus most of our external problems are not really where the problem lies; they are only symptoms (external manifestations) of internal problems.
So it’s important for you to identify any beliefs you have that might be undermining your very attempts to be Krishna conscious. Again, ask yourself, “What would someone have to believe to act as I am acting?”
Beliefs are like people telling you something. If devotees kept telling you that you really can’t be Krishna conscious because you are weak, highly conditioned, too attracted to maya, bound to fall again sooner or later, etc., you’d obviously have a difficult, if not impossible time, becoming a good devotee. This is exactly what beliefs do: they speak to us. (This is, of course, good news if the beliefs are positive and empowering.) So it’s easy to see how beliefs are self-fulfilling.
Past sins and material activities, although exerting an influence on you, are not the supreme indicators of how Krishna conscious you can be. It is ultimately your intention, eagerness, and hope, backed with an equal amount of devotional practices (and perhaps some other practical steps) that are pivotal. Of course, always be conscious that success is never attained by your efforts alone. Still, if you show Krishna you want Him above everything else, He’ll be there to help you. And if He helps you, success is guaranteed.
The belief that you can become Krishna conscious despite whatever has happened to you in the past is validated by our philosophy. However, unless you believe this, you won’t give 100% to your sadhana. It is said that if you think you’ll succeed, or if you think you’ll fail, you are probably right. Since you just won’t try that hard to be Krishna conscious if you have doubts you can achieve it, the answer to your dilemma lies in your faith that you can become Krishna conscious despite your faults, past conditioning and past mistakes. In other words, the process works if you work the process.
It is best to look at what you need to do to be Krishna conscious, not look at the reasons you think you can’t be Krishna conscious. It is better to look at where you want to go rather than the problems that are holding you back. Those problems become validated the more you focus on them. I don’t believe any of the reasons you expressed will prevent you from moving ahead and becoming steady if that is what you really want and you focus on and work to achieve this. Sincerely regret your mistakes, rectify yourself, and ask for mercy. The past doesn’t equal the future, but it can overpower you if you allow yourself to be controlled by it.
If you feel that you have obstacles that will prevent you from being Krishna conscious, it’s best not to look at them as obstacles, but see them as excuses. I am not saying you don’t have obstacles; I am saying you shouldn’t use them as excuses for not being Krishna conscious. Your nature might pose particular challenges, but it doesn’t mean that has to stop you. It only can stop you when you use it as an excuse. If some past anarthas assert especially negative influences on you, you just need to develop better strategies to deal with them. If you really want to be Krishna conscious, you will somehow find a way to get around, over, or under your obstacles. But you will never allow them to act as your excuses.
You want results, not excuses why you don’t get results.
I see that you are dealing with another potentially negative force: guilt. Too much guilt can be debilitating. When someone did something wrong, Srila Prabhupada didn’t only expect them to feel bad and apologize, he wanted them to take action to correct their mistake. There is a difference between guilt and regret. Regret leads to rectification whereas too much guilt normally causes a person to beat themselves up, which in turn just keeps them down.
What’s most important here is to acknowledge that you chose to fall down (no one makes that choice for you no matter who you want to blame), and you choose to stand up. And this choice is going on at every moment on the most subtle level.
Forgiving yourself is obviously an issue for you. Look at it this way: Krishna wants you to come back to Him, and if you don’t forgive yourself, you’re making that trip back to Him a more difficult – and thus slower – journey. Krishna is waiting for you to come back, so don’t make Him wait longer than necessary. Krishna forgives you, and if He forgives you, certainly you can forgive yourself. (If it’s good enough for Him, it’s good enough for you.) In addition, if you are thinking, “I am so low and so bad, I don’t deserve Krishna’s mercy,” when the mercy comes you won’t take it because, after all, you don’t deserve it. But mercy wouldn’t be mercy if you fully deserved it. You may not deserve it, but you need it. And Mahaprabhu shows His mercy to those who need it most. Let Him know how much you need it.
It’s also possible that a lack of self-forgiveness stems from a kind of self-sabotaging, a self-hatred mechanism within. To me this equates to the idea of being envious of one’s self as taught in the Bhagavad-gita and Isopansisad. Why would we do anything to hurt ourselves unless we lack self-respect and self-love? If you love yourself, forgive yourself. Prabhupada said the highest service is to save yourself, but why would you try for that if you have little respect or love for yourself?
We all want respect, but we often don’t even give it to ourselves. If you want respect, respect yourself. If you want love, love yourself. Don’t depend on others to give it to you. It’s the same with encouragement. If you want encouragement, encourage yourself. Otherwise you could become a respect and encouragement junkie, seeking this everywhere but from yourself. The problem this causes is obvious.
Also, celebrate your successes, both from the past and present. You became a devotee, you chanted Hare Krishna, you did service. That is a success. The fact that you came back to Krishna consciousness despite your fallen condition is a success. If you focus on your failures, you’ll feel like a failure. And if you feel like a failure, you’ll simply be expecting the day to come when you again fail in Krishna consciousness.
Focus on your goals. Focus on where you want to go, not on the places you fear you might go. Then make a plan to get there. And here’s a bit of advice that seems almost counterintuitive, but it can help you tremendously: shoot for goals you think are impossible to achieve. Don’t just shoot for chanting sixteen rounds: make an effort to chant better rounds than you could ever imagine. Don’t just do service: think of how to do it better than you ever thought possible. Then mercy will pour down on you, and you will experience the affection of guru and Krishna and the power of bhakti. And that will give you great hope that you are going to make it. Actually, it will show you that you are making it right now.
You mention you doubt your sincerity. When Prabhupada was asked how to be sincere, he simply said, “By being sincere.” Your current level of sincerity is dependent on only one thing: being sincere. And who’s in charge of the amount of sincerity you manifest? You are. So your concern should be to become sincere, not whether or not you are sincere. The latter concern is not productive.
You say sensuality can be problematic for you. What situations or environments do you put yourself in that make you more prone to fall into your particular mode of sense gratification? It’s best to arrange your life to avoid these situations as far as possible. Environment is often more powerful than willpower. Don’t make things difficult on yourself.
I have given you a lot of food for thought. As you apply these principles you will see positive changes. The bottom line is this: our minds are like a field, and whatever we plant in that field will grow. Plant negative discouraging thoughts, and you will most certainly be a negative and discouraged person; and that is a recipe for disaster. Perhaps you think the mind has a mind of its own, so to speak, and you can’t just plant the right thought seeds. But Srila Prabhupada teaches us that the central point of any yoga practice is to control the mind. So if you don’t plant positive thoughts, who will?
Your past can’t be changed. But you can change your thoughts right now, and that will change your future.
Your servant,
Mahatma das
Exercise
I would like you to create a new empowering habit. For thirty days only think positive thoughts. If, for example, you think, “Oh I can’t do that” or “That’s going to be horrible,” change your thoughts to something like, “I can do that by Krishna’s mercy” or “That’s going to be a wonderful challenge for me from which I will learn and grow.”
If you do this, you will have the force of the engine of positive thoughts under your feet instead of the burdensome (and sometimes overwhelming) weight of negative thoughts on your head.
If you do this for thirty days, you will become incredibly positive and will accomplish much more in Krishna consciousness. If you blow it, start over because you have to do it for thirty days in a row to develop the positive mindset, that will make positive thinking habitual.
In addition, isolate actions you would like to change and ask, “What belief causes me to act this way?” Once you isolate the belief, ask, “What would be a better, more empowering belief, a belief that would change this behavior?”
As mentioned in the letter, the mind is like a field. It will grow whatever seed you place in it. You can plant a fruit tree or a poisonous bush, and the earth will grow either of them. So you might as well plant the right thoughts in your mind and reap the positive results they produce.
Radhadyuti Devi Dasi: On the occasion of ISKCON 50th anniversary celebration, IDVM-India (ISKCON Daiva Varnasrama Ministry) launched Sri Govind Gau Gram Prachar Yatra to spread the Holy Name and glories of mother cow in the villages on the inspiration of H.H. RP Bhakti Raghava Swami Maharaj (IDVM-India minister). On the occasion the ministry plans to reach out atleast 108 villages and offer that endeavour at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada.
On 16thJuly, 2016, the Sri Govind Gau Gram Prachar Yatra devotees reached the small village of PuttamrajuKandrika (PR Kandrika), the 92nd village. It happens to be a sleepy village of about 110 houses, located almost 150 km north of Chennai. It has been lovingly adopted by the famous Indian Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. The main occupation of the villagers is based on growing red chillies, lemon and paddy.
Sri Sachin Tendulkar was inspired to adopt this village after a long conversation with the joint collector, Rekha Rani whom he had met on a flight. He has already spent almost 40 million rupees towards the village development with the government adding an equal amount.
On the day when the Yatra devotees reached the village, they were very happily received by the village panchayat head, who welcomed devotees with tea and coffee which was ungrudgingly replaced by warm milk and jaggery upon devotees’ request.
The devotees proceeded for Nagar Sankirtan after the village head’s permission. The Holy Name reached all the 110 houses. Enthusiasm filled the whole village, with the Holy Name enchanting children and adults equally.
