family life - Blog - ISKCON Desire Tree | IDT2024-03-28T09:30:07Zhttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/family+lifeThe 12 Principles and Values of Krishna Conscious Family Lifehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/the-12-principles-and-values-of-krishna-conscious-family-life2023-10-13T09:30:00.000Z2023-10-13T09:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7887296052,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="7887296052?profile=RESIZE_584x" width="500" /><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7887301662,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="7887301662?profile=RESIZE_584x" width="500" /><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7887319498,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="7887319498?profile=RESIZE_584x" width="500" /><strong>Source: </strong><a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=89190">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=89190</a></p></div>Overcoming the Stumbling Blocks in Family Life By Jivan Mukta Dasahttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/overcoming-the-stumbling-blocks-in-family-life-by-jivan-mukta-das2022-09-29T12:00:00.000Z2022-09-29T12:00:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}2515243099,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}2515243099,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="2515243099?profile=RESIZE_584x" width="450" /></a></p>
<p><strong>From Back to Godhead</strong></p>
<p>On the path back home, back to Godhead, householder life often seems like an obstacle course. Stumbling blocks dominate the landscape. Work, social obligations, and household matters such as rearing children and paying the bills can easily become impediments to our spiritual development. Devotees may find themselves pressed to compromise their ideals because of the often negative influence of these constraints.</p>
<p>So how can we successfully prevent the attrition of our Krsna consciousness and at the same time fulfill our householder duties? We can do this by carefully adhering to a regulated life of Krsna conscious practices.</p>
<p>Regulation means control of our time, our senses, our children. For devotees, that control is accomplished through Krsna conscious activities. Krsna tells us in Bhagavad-gita that by regulating our eating, sleeping, work, and recreation we can mitigate our material pains. The regulative practice of Krsna consciousness, known as sadhana-bhakti, goes one step further than ordinary regulation it also empowers us spiritually.</p>
<p>When a family adheres to a spiritual program and cooperates to manage the household, the burden of stress and frustration is lightened. A disciplined devotional routine creates a more gentle flow to family life and an atmosphere where Krsna consciousness can flourish. We should regulate our play, rest, exercise, and worship in a way that will help us develop our attitude of service toward guru and Krsna.</p>
<p>Although following a sadhana program as strictly at home as one would in a temple may be a challenge, we can stick to a modified program. Your schedule may prevent you from waking up at three or four in the morning, but your aim should be to get up before sunrise. The brahma-muhurta period, one and a half hours before sunrise, is most conducive to spiritual practices.</p>
<p>Though we may dress in conventional garb at our work places, we can still wear devotional clothing and tilaka during the morning program, while we sing the standard morning prayers in front of the family’s Deities or Deity pictures and chant our prescribed number of rounds on our beads. If your schedule prevents you from chanting and worshiping in the morning, an evening program is also very effective.</p>
<p>Encourage the entire family to take part in the spiritual program. Children need to hear and chant too. Otherwise their lack of Krsna consciousness will be a stumbling blocks in both their devotional life and our own. Children should take part according to their age. Young children will usually pick up the songs and verses by hearing them sung. Older children can follow in a book until they memorize the prayers. As the children become proficient, they can be encouraged to offer aratis, lead some of the prayers, or play the cymbals or drum.</p>
<p>Our own enthusiasm or lack of it will affect how well the children take part. We may need to offer incentives. In our home we draw a tulasi tree for each child. When the children sing nicely, chant japaattentively, and pay attention during Bhagavatamclass, they are allowed to color in three tulasi leaves. As they see tulasi growing, they become eager to earn more leaves.</p>
<p>Children are gifts from Krsna. Our responsibility is to see that we provide them the best opportunities to get free from the material world. Parents serve as role models. When children see us inviting devotees to our home for kirtana and prasadam, when they see us taking part in the local temple functions, when they hear us talking about Krsna and the material condition, or when they hear us glorifying the pure devotees of the Lord, their minds are influenced by standards that will mold their adult lives.</p>
<p>The priorities and goals we set nurture the ambitions of our children. Birth in a family of devotees is indeed fortunate, but it is not a guarantee of salvation. Krsna consciousness is a practical science attained by training and good association.</p>
<p>Inattention in performing our spiritual duties will create spiritual confusion. Maya, illusion, will get the chance to regain dominance over our family lives. Television, frivolity, mundane association, and general misuse of our time, if not checked, will stall our spiritual development. Our efforts, therefore, should be to increase our absorption in Krsna conscious activities. This will wash away bad habits and the subsequent excuses for not chanting, hearing, and reading, just as the continuous pouring of milk flushes out an ink-filled glass.</p>
<p>Prabhupada says that we should arrange our day so that we always think of Krsna. Rupa Gosvami confirms in The Nectar of Instruction that this is the essential instruction.</p>
<p>The rewards of a regulated life of devotional service are many. Peaceful, loving relationships between family members develop as we realize the transcendental meaning of our association. The pleasure we derive from seeing our children take part in Krsna consciousness inspires us and confirms the importance of our sadhana. Child-rearing, sometimes a seemingly thankless task, becomes a source of great inspiration. When our children spontaneously act out Krsna’s pastimes or pretend to give Bhagavatamclass, when they offer arati, ask philosophical questions, share their realizations, or pick flowers for the Deity, we parents feel great joy.</p>
<p>Attachment for the spiritual well-being of our family members leads to, and indicates, our attachment to the Supreme Lord. And attachment to Krsna’s lotus feet is the perfection of human life. When our regulated life centers on Krsna and service to our spiritual master, rather than seeing our duties as stumbling blocks and obstacles we see them as steppingstones opportunities to gain release from material confinement.</p>
<p><strong>Source: </strong><span style="color:#1155cc;"><u><a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=26146">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=26146</a></u></span></p></div>Retiring From Family Life by Devaki Devi Dasihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/retiring-from-family-life-by-devaki-devi-dasi2020-07-31T11:22:17.000Z2020-07-31T11:22:17.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7163652893,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="350" alt="7163652893?profile=RESIZE_400x" />Throughout the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Srila Prabhupada emphasizes again and again the importance of retiring from family life around the age of fifty. He clearly gives this deadline – again and again.</p>
<p>In the purport to SB. 3.30.14. Srila Prabhupada explains: “Family attraction is so strong that even if one is neglected by family members in his old age, he cannot give up family affection, and he remains at home just like a dog. In the Vedic way of life one has to give up family life when he is strong enough. It is advised that before getting too weak and being baffled in material activities, and before becoming diseased, one should give up family life and engage oneself completely in the service of the Lord for the remaining days of his life. It is enjoined, therefore, in the Vedic scriptures, that as soon as one passes fifty years of age, he must give up family life.”</p>
<p>The idea is to retire from family duties while we still have physical strength and good health to absorb ourselves in devotional service. However, taking to the Vanaprastha ashram does not mean that the husband puts on saffron and walks out. No, it is a team work between the husband and wife. They both support each other in retiring from family life which is only natural, since the children are grown up. Thus very naturally the worldly duties reduce and diminish. The body is getting older and becomes less suitable for running around and engaging in exhausting services and tasks. We are meant to switch to more internal activities, deepening our hearing and chanting. We may also preach or engage in studies and other services, with more time for contemplation and introspection. We pass down our life experience and wisdom by reaching out to the younger generation and giving guidance and advice. We may also spend more time in the holy dham. Husband and wife can either do these activities together, or separately. The Vanaprastha ashram has many forms and variations how it exactly manifests. There is not only one possible version. The underlying principle is to deepen our internal spiritual life, giving up the comforts of the cozy home and accept a more simple life with austerities. This will enhance our spiritual practice and deepen our hearing and chanting, and thus it will strengthen our loving relationship with Krishna, until we long to reach Him at the moment of death.</p>
<p>Interestingly, a devotee has a very different attitude to old age than a materialist. Srila Prabhupada explains this in the purport to SB. 4.27.24:</p>
<p>“Because a devotee rigidly follows the instructions of Narada Muni, he has no fear of old age, disease or death. Apparently a devotee may grow old, but he is not subjected to the symptoms of defeat experienced by a common man in old age. Consequently, old age does not make a devotee fearful of death, as a common man is fearful of death. A devotee knows that after death he is going back home, back to Godhead; therefore he has no fear of death. Thus instead of depressing a devotee, advanced age helps him become fearless and thus happy.”</p>
<p>For a materialist, old age and death are the most unwanted and fearsome aspects of life. And he tries to counteract them by all means: with plastic surgeries, various cosmetics promising to reverse the effects of old age, by dying the hair to hide the fact that we are greying, etc. In modern life centered around sense gratification, a person is willing to do anything in order to try and appear young and attractive forever.</p>
<p>In spiritual life we have a very different attitude to old age and death. We happily embrace it, knowing that the time will come closer where we can finally get out of the material world. Krishna has been waiting for us for so long! Why not join Him as soon as He indicates that our time here is up?!</p>
<p>In the Mukunda-mala-stotra, verse 37, we can find a wonderful and humorous purport:</p>
<p>“One can see enlightenment among the elderly at pilgrimage sites in India, especially in Vrndavana. There one sees many old people visiting temples with intense devotion early in the morning. Hundreds of old people walk the circumambulation (parikrama) paths despite physical debilities. Some are bent nearly double! Someone might criticize that these people are not being provided with the Western medical treatment that could add a few years to their lives or ease their pain. But the sincere babajis and widows of Vrndavana who somehow make their way every morning to see Krishna in the temples and who call out “Jaya Radhe!” are actually fortunate and most intelligent. They are taking the krsna-rasayana, the elixir that will grant them eternal life in Krishna’s spiritual abode. The Vedic shastras recommend that one drink this elixir from the beginning of life, but even if one neglects to do so earlier, one should by all means drink it during the waning days of life and thus cure the disease of repeated birth and death.<br /> <br /> <strong>Source: </strong><a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=87848">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=87848</a></p></div>Getting the Mercy: New (free) e-book about book distributionhttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/getting-the-mercy2019-09-20T07:10:27.000Z2019-09-20T07:10:27.000ZCaitanya Chandra dasahttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/CaitanyaChandraDasa<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3577316786?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=320"></div><div><p> </p><p>Hare Krsna! Please accept my humble obeisances, all glories to Srila Prabhupada!</p><p>My name is Caitanya Chandra dasa, disciple of HH Bhakti Dhira Damodhara Swami (BTS). I joined ISKCON in 1992 and my main service is book distribution. I travel in the south of Brazil during most of the year, doing book distribution and trying to spread Krsna Consciousness in small cities.</p><p>Few years ago, my Guru Maharaja gave me the mission of distributing books and teaching others about book distribution. This effort resulted in a book that is now available to all interested devotees.</p><p>This book took a long time to ripen. I started working on it in 2014, but it was finally completed only recently. This long period allowed me to relate in detail many realizations from book distribution while they were still fresh in the memory. Many passages were written directly on the frontline, in the van, or on park benches during breaks on book distribution.</p><p>Srila Prabhupada once said that history will mark how ISKCON saved the world in its darkest hour. As the world society becomes more and more degraded, our mission to step forward and bring some light in the form of spiritual books becomes more and more urgent and necessary.</p><p>Every book distributor has his sankirtana stories and his particular realizations and reasons why to start and continue book distribution despite all difficulties. One reason is that it helps others, but another is that we are actually the main beneficiaries. By assisting Srila Prabhupada in his lila of spreading Krsna consciousness, we get more mercy than we can realize. A first-class disciple is one who assists his spiritual master in his mission. All our spiritual masters are sacrificing their lives to spread Krsna consciousness, and if a sincere disciple takes up the mission of assisting them, they become most pleased. Actually, it’s impossible to repay the debt to the spiritual master: knowledge about Krsna and love for Him is such a great gift that it is impossible to repay the benefactor. Still, we can at least show some appreciation by trying to relay the message to others.</p><p>This book is my small attempt in this direction. The main factor in deciding about publishing this book as a free e-book instead of hard copy is to allow all interested devotees to have easy access to it and to share with their friends. There is no marketing department or advertising budget: this book is being propagated by word of mouth alone. If you get some inspiration, some valuable information, or some realization in this book, feel free to share it with others.</p><p>It can be download for free on: <strong><a href="http://www.gettingthemercy.com/" target="_blank">http://www.gettingthemercy.com/</a></strong></p><p>Facebook page: <a href="http://facebook.com/gettingthemercy" target="_blank">http://facebook.com/gettingthemercy</a></p><p><br /> <strong>- Foreword by Navina Nirada Prabhu:</strong></p><p>Dear reader,</p><p>In his book Getting the Mercy, Preaching, Book Distribution and the Ultimate Goal, Caitanya Chandra prabhu, shares his 25 years of experience on sankirtana. A dear friend, current number one in book distribution and role model for sankirtan devotees and preachers alike, he divulges secrets, realizations and his vision for personal, collective and global transformation.</p><p>As a free ebook he made it easily available. Read it, live it, share it!</p><p>In gratitude, your servant and friend,<br /> Navina Nirada dasa</p><p><br /> <strong>- Overview of the book:</strong></p><p>This book is divided into eight chapters, grouped into three parts. The four central chapters deal with topics directly connected with book distribution, while the first two and the last two are supportive chapters, that supplement them with other relevant topics for a book distributor.</p><p>The first chapter is an introduction. It examines the historical basis for book distribution, how it fits in the teachings of Lord Caitanya and of the previous acaryas, and how it is connected with the prediction that the holy names would be chanted in all towns and villages. It also examines how book distribution fits in the current modern environment (with e-books and other new mediums), and presents different ideas connected with the proper mood and mentality for one interested in serving as a book distributor. Pitfalls on the way are also examined.</p><p>The second chapter deals with a rather important topic: how to work together with other devotees to spread Krsna consciousness. As Srila Prabhupada explains, “the distribution of the Hare Krsna maha-mantra should be performed by combined forces”. This is a simple concept to understand in theory, after all, we all heard the expression “united we stand, divided we fall”. However, when it comes to practice, we can quickly realize that to work together with others is one of the most difficult things. Actually, to be able to work cooperatively with other devotees from different backgrounds and cultures, in a peaceful mood, is one of the ultimate tests of spiritual realization. Without being able to work with others, it’s impossible to maintain an organized preaching effort.</p><p>These first two chapters lay the foundation for the third chapter, that deals with the external aspects of book distribution: how to stop and talk with people, how to present the books in interesting ways, how to cultivate interested persons and so on. It also deals with the importance of maintaining a good sadhana and studying the philosophy, and how to deal with the mind. This is by far the largest chapter in the book.</p><p>While the third chapter focuses on the external aspects of book distribution, the fourth chapter goes deep in the internal aspects, examining the internal work that needs to be done in order for one to become stable in book distribution. In other words, the third chapter is about how to distribute books, and the fourth chapter is about how to continue distributing until the end of our lives.</p><p>The fifth chapter is about maturity in book distribution. It’s a philosophical chapter that examines sastric guidance for preachers. Frequently, we think that we should approach people unrestrictedly and insist until they take a book or become exasperated, but actually, the sastra gives guidance on different ways to deal with different classes of people. These recommendations can be used to improve our book distribution, and especially to make the distribution easier for the book distributor, avoiding the burn-out effect that makes so many devotees abandon book distribution after some months or years of struggle. This chapter also speaks about the training of new book distributors.</p><p>The sixth chapter closes the main body of the book, examining another important aspect of book distribution: traveling sankirtana. It’s very difficult for any book distributor to continue distributing day after day in the same city, speaking with the same persons. Sooner or later, almost all book distributors come to the point that they want to travel and reach different publics. Srila Prabhupada himself was emphasizing the importance of traveling sankirtana groups and giving special blessings to devotees dedicating themselves to this service. It’s not something easy to do, especially when one is traveling for long periods or living in a van, but we don’t need to make it more difficult than it needs to be. Many times, traveling preachers may develop an elitist mentality. This is balanced by discussing the importance of temples. This chapter also gives advice on how to maintain our health, discussing about exercise, eating habits and so on.</p><p>The final two chapters offer additional points. They are not directly about book distribution but offer foundational topics, that reinforce our bases, giving us a platform from which we can project our devotional efforts.</p><p>One serious problem that we currently face in our society is the dilution of our philosophical basis. More and more devotees are mixing their Krsna consciousness with different mundane ideas and concepts, distancing themselves from the teachings of our acaryas. Others go in the opposite direction, becoming fanatic and adopting limited and inflexible views, which are also detrimental.</p><p>The seventh chapter has the goal of offering a balanced view, examining different ways in which one can go off astray. The history of Vaishnavism is full of examples of different groups that deviated in different ways, and thus ended becoming separated from the tree of Mahaprabhu. By learning from their mistakes, we can avoid committing the same blunders.</p><p>Most of us are going to spend the majority of our lives living with a partner, in a (hopefully!) loving relationship. While many passages of our scriptures warn us about the dangers of grhamedhi life, others emphasize the advantages of a healthy and progressive family life. The eighth chapter offers guidance on how to avoid the traps of sensual indulgence, and how to build a safe environment for the development of our Krsna consciousness, molding our family life as an asrama, a platform from which we can advance to higher realms of devotional service. The primary goal is to offer advice to serious devotees that desire to build a family that can support their service, but this chapter can also be useful for brahmacharis since it emphasizes the duties and regulations of family life in Krsna consciousness (it’s not easy!). By understanding the duties and responsibilities, one can make a mature and conscious decision to avoid it, if that's the case.</p></div>