new year’s resolutions - Blog - ISKCON Desire Tree | IDT2024-03-28T11:14:42Zhttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/new+year%E2%80%99s+resolutionsNew Year’s Resolutions by Giriraj Swamihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/new-year-s-resolutions-by-giriraj-swami-12024-01-01T09:00:00.000Z2024-01-01T09:00:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8346694271,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8346694271?profile=RESIZE_584x" width="450" />Most resolutions take the form of “do’s”—things I resolve to do—and “don’ts”—things I resolve to not do. And Vedic wisdom tells us that all do’s and don’ts should support one main do—always remember Krishna (God)—and one main don’t—never forget Him.<br /> Now, practically, what can we do to always remember Krishna and never forget Him? The item most favorable for remembering Him is chanting and hearing: chanting and hearing His holy names—the Hare Krishna maha-mantra—and chanting and hearing His transcendental topics—krsna-katha such as the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. And in broad terms, the items most obstructive to remembering Him are mental speculation and sense gratification, especially vicious activities against Vedic principles, or God’s laws—activities that include eating meat, taking intoxicants, engaging in illicit sex, and gambling.<br /> So for our New Year’s resolutions, we can resolve to increase our chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra, especially on beads, and our reading of Srila Prabhupada’s books. And we can resolve to decrease, or stop, activities detrimental to Krishna consciousness. And in our efforts, the Lord will help us, for God helps those who help themselves.<br /> We wish you a happy New Year—in Krishna consciousness—by the grace of Sri Sri Guru and Gauranga.<br /> Hare Krishna.<br /> ——<br /> Thoughts for the New Year</p>
<p>We have gathered at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada in this wonderful temple of Sri Sri Radha-Gokulananda, Sri Sita-Rama-Laksmana-Hanuman, and Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, in the presence of His Holiness Radhanath Swami and so many exalted devotees. We are entering the new year, and on such occasions we take stock of what and how we did in the last year and what we want to do in the next. Studies have shown, and probably many of us have experienced, that most New Year’s resolutions are broken during the first week. Still more are broken in the first month, and almost all are broken within the first three months.</p>
<p>Why does this happen, and what can we do? Man is a creature of habit. We have developed certain habits over the last however many years—perhaps lifetimes—and to change our habits requires sincere desire and determined effort. Another study has shown that when one is trying to develop a new habit, he has to consistently, diligently strive to adhere to the new practice for at least thirty days. After thirty days, he is able to follow more easily but can be derailed by stress or changes in his life. After ninety days it becomes just as easy to follow the new habit as not, and after a year it is easier to follow the new habit than not.</p>
<p>Now, what new habits will we want to develop in the next year? That will depend on our goals. When I visited Pune some years ago, the Malhotra brothers arranged a program for me in the main hall, and at the end of the talk the general in charge of the Southern Command of the Indian Army asked an important question: “What is the aim for which we are born, what is the aim of our life? It certainly could not be to amass some wealth and ultimately die, or to make a building and then die, or to marry and procreate and then die. For our minor activities in life, we have the aims set first, before we get going to achieve them. When we train our people in the army, whatever they have to do we first tell them what the aim is. And once they are clear what the aim is, then we decide what means to adopt to achieve that. And invariably we don’t go wrong. Now here it is—my whole life is going to waste, to my mind; I am still not very clear what is the aim of my life. Would you kindly enlighten us about the aim of life so that thereafter we can be very, very clear as to what we have got to do to achieve that aim?”</p>
<p>Srila Sanatana Gosvami asked the same question of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu:</p>
<p>“‘ke ami’, ‘kene amaya jare tapa-traya’<br /> iha nahi jani—kemane hita haya</p>
<p>“‘sadhya’-‘sadhana’-tattva puchite na jani<br /> krpa kari’ saba tattva kaha ta’ apani”</p>
<p>“Who am I? Why do the threefold miseries always give me trouble? If I do not know this, how can I be benefited? Actually I do not know how to inquire about the goal of life and the process for obtaining it. Being merciful upon me, please explain all these truths.” (Cc Madhya 20.102–103) He said, “In ordinary dealings people consider me to be a learned scholar (pandita), but I am so learned I do not even know who I am. So please tell me who I am and what is the goal of life.” And Lord Chaitanya replied, “By constitution you are an eternal servant of Krishna—jivera ‘svarupa’ haya—krsnera ‘nitya-dasa’—and the goal of life is to be reinstated in your constitutional position as His loving servant.”</p>
<p>If someone understands that he is not the body, that he is the soul within the body, and that his real relationship is not with the body or things related to the body but with the Supreme Soul, then he can adopt the methods that are suitable for reviving his eternal relationship with the Supreme Soul, Krishna.</p>
<p>Srila Prabhupada formed the International Society for Krishna Consciousness to give people this knowledge: We are not the body but the soul, part and parcel of the Supreme Soul. Our real relationship is with Him, and our duty and goal in life is to revive our eternal loving relationship with Him, with God, Krishna. The whole process of sadhana-bhakti is to help us to awaken that eternal love for God.</p>
<p>nitya-siddha krsna-prema ‘sadhya’ kabhu naya<br /> sravanadi-suddha-citte karaye udaya</p>
<p>“Pure love for Krsna is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.” (Cc Madhya 22.107) That love is eternally there within the heart, just as fire is within a match. You just have to strike the match, and the fire will come out. Similarly, we just have to strike the heart by chanting and hearing about Krishna, and that love will come out.</p>
<p>The main process is the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. We are in the Hare Krishna temple. Somehow, we are part of the Hare Krishna movement, and we are known as Hare Krishna people. We are meant to chant Hare Krishna. And by our chanting Hare Krishna, the mirror of the mind can be cleansed (ceto-darpana-marjanam), the blazing fire of material existence extinguished (bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam), and ultimately our dormant love for Krishna awakened. Param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam.</p>
<p>But there is also the matter of quality to the chanting. Queen Kunti prays to Lord Krishna,</p>
<p>janmaisvarya-sruta-sribhir<br /> edhamana-madah puman<br /> naivarhaty abhidhatum vai<br /> tvam akincana-gocaram</p>
<p>“Your Lordship can easily be approached, but only by those who are materially exhausted. One who is on the path of [material] progress, trying to improve himself with respectable parentage, great opulence, high education, and bodily beauty, cannot approach You with sincere feeling.” People on the path of material advancement want good birth (janma), material opulence (aisvarya), material learning (sruta), and physical beauty (sribhih). They cannot feelingly approach the Lord. And when we chant the holy name, we are trying to approach the Lord. The holy name of Krishna and Krishna Himself are the same.</p>
<p>nama cintamanih krsnas<br /> caitanya-rasa-vigrahah<br /> purnah suddho nitya-mukto<br /> ’bhinnatvan nama-naminoh</p>
<p>“The holy name of Krsna is transcendentally blissful. It bestows all spiritual benedictions, for it is Krsna Himself, the reservoir of all pleasure. Krsna’s name is complete, and it is the form of all transcendental mellows. It is not a material name under any condition, and it is no less powerful than Krsna Himself. Since Krsna’s name is not contaminated by the material qualities, there is no question of its being involved with maya. Krsna’s name is always liberated and spiritual; it is never conditioned by the laws of material nature. This is because the name of Krsna and Krsna Himself are identical.” (Padma Purana, Cc Madhya 17.133)</p>
<p>Commenting on Queen Kunti’s prayer, Srila Prabhupada cites scripture, that by uttering the holy name of the Lord even once, one can destroy the reactions to more sins than one is able to commit. “Such is the power of uttering the holy name of the Lord. There is not the least exaggeration in this statement. Actually, the Lord’s holy name has such powerful potency.” We are all suffering because of sinful reactions. But if we were freed from sinful reactions, we would no longer have to suffer. As Prabhupada explains, however, “there is a quality to such utterances also. It depends on the quality of feeling. A helpless man can feelingly utter the holy name of the Lord, whereas a man who utters the same holy name in great material satisfaction cannot be so sincere.” Lord Krishna is akincana-gocaram, easily approached by those who are akincana, who have no material possessions.</p>
<p>Now, these statements may give rise to some questions. This word akincana means “without material possessions,” or “without a sense of false proprietorship.” Of course, there should be no duplicity in the matter, but this principle allows us, for example, to have an opulent temple here. We have a beautiful property, a large estate, but as long as we think, “This is Radha-Gokulananda’s property; this is Srila Prabhupada’s property—it is not my property—I am here only to serve them and use this property in their service,” we can be free from false proprietorship, false prestige, and false designations. And in that mood we can chant the holy name with feeling, approach Krishna with feeling. Otherwise there is a subtle rivalry going on between us and Krishna. We come into the material world out of envy of Krishna. In effect, we want to take His position. We want to be the proprietor and controller and enjoyer (isvaro ’ham aham bhogi), which is actually Krishna’s position. While chanting Krishna’s name, we may be thinking, “Why should I be chanting Krishna’s name? People should be chanting my name. Giriraj Maharaja ki jaya!” That is our sorry plight. We don’t want Krishna to be the center; we want to be the center. So we chant the holy name with ourselves in the foreground and the holy name in the background. That is our tendency as conditioned souls.</p>
<p>The proper process is to chant with attention. We let go of all those thoughts about ourselves—“I” and “me” and “mine”—and focus on the holy name, on Krishna. Those other thoughts are irrelevant. They may come up, but we don’t pay them heed. We just focus our attention on Krishna, on the sound of Krishna’s holy name. And when we do that, we can actually feel Krishna’s presence. We can appreciate that the holy name is Krishna Himself reciprocating with our sincere desires to serve Him.</p>
<p>This practice requires effort. We are habituated to think that we are the center of existence and that everything revolves around us. We see everything in terms of us, not in terms of Krishna. But our habit can change. There is a saying that up to the age of twenty, you think that people are looking at you and like you, from the age of twenty to forty that they are looking at you and don’t like you, and then, after the age of forty, that they aren’t even looking at you or thinking of you. So we have to reform this habit of thinking that we’re the center, always thinking about ourselves and thinking that everyone else is thinking about us too. We must know that Krishna is the center.</p>
<p>Once, when I was chanting my rounds at the beach in Carpinteria, I was sitting alone, chanting with attention—making a serious effort to be attentive—somehow thinking of different people who were close to me, and feeling how much they were suffering. I was actually feeling their pain. As I continued chanting, that sense of feeling for others expanded to people who weren’t so close to me and then to the people on the beach, whom I didn’t even know. There weren’t many, but there were a few people surfing. And I was really feeling their suffering. Srila Prabhupada had joked that the surfers were actually “sufferers,” but I was actually feeling their suffering.</p>
<p>Then the feeling went beyond the human beings. There were pelicans at the beach. They fly very high and then suddenly zoom down and crash into the water. I understood that they were hovering high in the sky looking for prey and that when they saw some potential food they came straight down and crashed into the water. Ordinarily I would think, “Oh, how picturesque—flying so high and then diving into the ocean.” But now I was feeling, “They are in anxiety. They are hungry. They need food and are searching, ‘Where is food? Where is food?’ And when they see something and dive straight down and crash into the water, although they are birds, still, coming from that height at that velocity and crashing into the water is bound to be a shock to their system. And they don’t know whether they will actually get that fish or not. And whatever happens, after they come down they go up and start the same process all over again. They are never satisfied, “Now we can just relax.” I was thinking, “What a life, full of anxiety, full of pain,” and feeling it.</p>
<p>And the dolphins and the sandpipers and the seagulls—the same thing. I was feeling so much suffering on all sides. It was as if the illusion of material happiness and charm had been lifted, and this whole beautiful panorama became a horrible scene of intense suffering, which I was feeling. And I was just chanting, chanting, chanting. Then a little ladybug landed on my hand. Growing up, I thought that ladybugs were auspicious and cute. But this time I looked at the ladybug and thought, “This ladybug is suffering,” and feeling it. Looking at the ladybug, I thought, “I don’t think I can take much more of this. I am going to have a breakdown. I am feeling too much suffering.” I wanted to help these creatures. I was feeling their suffering and desiring to help them, but it was getting to be too much.</p>
<p>Then I had the type of breakthrough that one gets when one chants with attention, with the effort to chant with attention. Suddenly I felt as if Krishna were speaking to me, revealing something to me. I got the intuition or inspiration in my heart that Krishna loved these creatures more than I did, more than I could even imagine. He loves them so much that He accompanies them as the Supersoul in whatever species of life they enter. And not only does He love them more than I can ever imagine, but He can actually do something to help them. I may feel for them and want to help them, but what is my capacity to help them? I may not even understand what’s troubling them. Parents experience that their baby is crying and they want to help but don’t know what the baby wants. They may think the baby is hungry, but the baby may be troubled by something completely different. Or even if they do understand what is causing the suffering, they may be unable to relieve it.</p>
<p>So, I was thinking, “Not only does Krishna love them, but He can actually do something to help them. What can I do?” And then I came to the bottom of it. The problem was that I was trying to take the position of Krishna. In the Bhagavad-gita (5.29) Lord Krishna says,</p>
<p>bhoktaram yajna-tapasam<br /> sarva-loka-mahesvaram<br /> suhrdam sarva-bhutanam<br /> jnatva mam santim rcchati</p>
<p> “A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.”</p>
<p>When one recognizes that Krishna is the enjoyer, Krishna is the proprietor, and Krishna is the best friend, he attains peace. I thought of what Srila Prabhupada often said, so simple yet profound, that your best friend is not the one who poses as your best friend but he who tells you that Krishna is your best friend. Suddenly this whole problem of how to help these suffering souls became very easy. I didn’t have to help them personally; I just had to direct them to Krishna, who could really help them. And it was such a relief.</p>
<p>So this is our mission, to serve Krishna. And serving Krishna means doing what Krishna wants, and Krishna wants that we should bring other souls to Him. As He says at the end of the Bhagavad-gita (18.69), His dearmost servant is he who preaches the message of the Gita. Na ca tasman manusyesu kascin me priya-krttamah/ bhavita na ca me tasmad anyah priyataro bhuvi: “There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.” Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also said, yare dekha, tare kaha ‘krsna’-upadesa: “Wherever you go, whomever you meet, just present the message of Krishna.” And that is something any of us can do. It is actually very easy. Any of us can do it.</p>
<p>When we first came to Bombay, two of Prabhupada’s early disciples, Syamasundara and Malati, had a small daughter, Sarasvati, who used to approach respectable gentlemen who visited our center, which was in a posh area. Although only three or four years old, she would approach them and say, “Do you know who is Krishna?” And then she would answer, “Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” And Srila Prabhupada commented, “That is preaching. She is repeating what she has heard from authorities, and even if she doesn’t have full realization, what she is saying is perfect, because she has heard it from authorities—Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” So, any of us can preach. We can simply repeat what we have heard from authorities—“Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” “Chant Hare Krishna and your life will be sublime.” “Come to the Hare Krishna temple.” And that will please Krishna.</p>
<p>I was very happy when I passed through England on my way to South Africa at the end of November and saw all the books around Srila Prabhupada’s vyasasana. I could feel the mood in the atmosphere to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books. I felt, “Srila Prabhupada is pleased. They have the spirit to distribute his books.” And the books are as potent and effective now as ever. So many of the people I meet—when I ask them how they came to Krishna consciousness, it goes back to a book. They got a book. The formula that Srila Prabhupada gave us forty years ago still works. By giving them Prabhupada’s books, we are giving them Krishna and Prabhupada, the message of Krishna through Prabhupada, and that is enough to awaken their sense of Krishna consciousness and begin them on the path. Many of us are here because of Srila Prabhupada’s books.</p>
<p>So, we should try to develop the habit of putting Krishna in the center, putting the holy name in the center, putting Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada and their mission in the center, and that will make all the difference. Our spouse can be there, our children can be there, our house can be there, our work can be there, everything can be there, but with Krishna in the center, everything will be beautiful and peaceful. And as long as we persist in that habit that’s probably been with us for many lifetimes—thinking that we are the center, we are the lords, we are the enjoyers, we are the proprietors—there will be so many problems, and in the end whatever we have will be taken away from us anyway.</p>
<p>So, it is most auspicious that we are beginning the New Year in the association of devotees. My request is that we use this year, this valuable human form of life in the coming year, for its proper purpose, in Krishna consciousness, and that in this endeavor we help and support each other. We can’t do it alone. And I pray that I can always remain in the association of such wonderful devotees, because I am sure in this association, hearing their instructions, I will be nudged along on the right path, back home, back to Godhead.</p>
<p>Hare Krishna.</p>
<p>[A talk by Giriraj Swami, January 2, 2010, Bhaktivedanta Manor, England]<br /> <br /> <strong>Source: </strong><a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=10178">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=10178</a></p></div>New Year’s Resolutions By Mahatma dashttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/new-year-s-resolutions-by-mahatma-das2024-01-01T08:30:00.000Z2024-01-01T08:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}2515273674,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="2515273674?profile=RESIZE_584x" width="500" /></p>
<p><strong>How to Change this Year? You Need to Freak Out!</strong></p>
<p>Our cultural conditioning tells us we should make resolutions for the new year. Of course, the perennial problem is that most of us haven’t followed through on our previous year’s resolutions. And it can even get depressing to think about how many times this has happened. So maybe it is better we don’t make any resolutions this year. This way we’ll have nothing to lament about in early February when we haven’t followed through.</p>
<p>Well, actually I think it’s a better idea to understand why we don’t follow through on our resolutions, since I doubt that we will ever lose the tendency to want to change things about ourselves and our lives that aren’t working well for us. So the important question is, “How do we permanently change our actions?”</p>
<p>It is said everyone wants to see change in others and the world; but nobody wants to change themselves. Why? Because it is difficult and uncomfortable. It seems easier to keep the status quo, even if the status quo is less than desirable.</p>
<p>The secret to change is to understand the process Krsna uses to change people and then willingly apply this process on ourselves. So how does He do it? Before I answer this question I would like to ask you to think about a time you changed something in your life. What caused you to change?</p>
<p>Next, think about something you told yourself you would change and never followed through on.</p>
<p>Herein lies the answer to change.</p>
<p>We change when we have to, either to survive, to prevent ourselves from extreme distress, or when we are really sick and tired of something in our life that we just can’t tolerate anymore. And we normally don’t change, even when we want to, when the above conditions are absent (unless, of course, someone is forcing us to change and making our lives miserable if we don’t, which is really a nuance of the same principle: we don’t change when we see the light, we change when we feel the heat).</p>
<p>Before I reveal the simple open secret Krsna uses and how we can personally apply it in our lives, we first must acknowledge that there are many things in our lives we have the power to change: our sadhana, relationships, health, abilities, or level of success, to name just a few.</p>
<p>But when does the change actually take place? We change when we make the decision that, “I have had enough, I must change.” If there is something we don’t change that we could change, then we need to acknowledge that we are deciding that changing is more painful than leaving things as is.</p>
<p>It is important to mention here that there are many more things we can change than we are willing to admit. Once we stop blaming others or situations for our shortcomings, it becomes clear that not changing is a choice to keep the status quo – which, of course, might be rooted in a belief that this is just the way I am. Anyway, no matter who you are, you can always be a better version of you.</p>
<p>In most cases, not changing is actually more painful than changing. But how do we realize this? Focus on results you are getting that you don’t want and the actions producing these. Then ask yourself this question: If I don’t change _____________ (fill in the blanks of a behavior or a result of a behavior you getting), then in ten years (when you are still reaping the negative results of not changing this behaviorv, belief, attitude, habit, etc.) how will you feel? Does thinking about living the rest of your life with the particular disability, belief system, fear, lack of self-confidence, inhibition, lack of relationship skills, level of health, finances, success, sadhana, service, etc. totally freak you out?</p>
<p>If not, keep meditating on it until it does! This is the key to change. Our present circumstances (which are caused by the behavior you need to change) have to become intolerable to us. If they are not, our efforts to change will fail. We will still be okay with how things are. <br /> “Okay” is really the enemy.</p>
<p>If you actually allow yourself to deeply meditate on this question, and allow yourself to feel the discomfort of answering the question, it can be powerful. Because until you say “I have had it” you probably will opt for the pain of continuing to not achieve the results and changes you need in exchange for experiencing the pain of not changing.</p>
<p>How can I says this? I have changed things in my life that were extremely difficult for me to change, some actions and thinking which I felt were wired to my nature. But living with the results year in and year out made life so unpleasant that one day I said, “That’s it!”</p>
<p>Sometimes it took me decades to come to this point.</p>
<p>I have seen people at japa retreats say “That’s it” about bad japa. In fact, if they don’t say this, they tend to eventually default to the bad habits they had before they came to the retreat. We can apply this principle to our service, marriage, finances, etc. As long as we are okay with okay we won’t change, because we won’t need to. When we are no longer okay with okay japa, an okay marriage, an okay sadhana, okay service, okay financial situation, etc. we will change.</p>
<p>The point is this: Resolutions must be goals connected with deep seeded needs to change. When the “I should” becomes “I must,” then we will change.</p>
<p>And this is exactly how Krsna helps us become Krsna conscious. When we hit dead ends in our lives and the walls close in on us, we have to act differently. It is discomfort which moves us into different ways of thinking, being and acting. And when we act differently, we get different results. We can’t change by knowing we need to change, we change by acting differently. As long as we continue to act the way we always have, no amount of knowledge not acted up will change anything in our lives (other than maybe we can give some good lectures on how to change!)</p>
<p>Patanjali writes in the Yoga Sutras that attachment arises from remembering past pleasant activities. As we remember the pleasure of these activities, we become attached to doing them again. Detachment works in a similar way: we remember the pain of past activities and we thus detach from them. If your brain links pain with activity in the past, as well as in the present and the future (if I do that I will suffer) , you will give it up. It then becomes a neural response because you feel the pain in your nervous system. It is no longer information; you simply can’t act that way again.</p>
<p>We have often heard it said that we don’t really believe that material life and the material world is that bad, for if we did we would be completely surrendered. But we know the material world cannot satisfy us. This is why we became devotees. So, why are we still attached? It is because the conviction is only in our minds, not in our nervous system, not on the gut level where we look at an activity and say, That would be so painful that I could never do that again.”</p>
<p>So if you want to make a resolution for this year, you will need to associate so much pain with not following through that there will be no other option than to do it. This is how Krsna brought us to Krsna consciousness, and this is how Arjuna became Krsna consciousness. Using this same process we can make resolutions we actually follow through on.<br /> <br /> <strong>Source: </strong><a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=23163">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=23163</a></p></div>What is the Difficulty? Some Help with Making New Year’s Resolutions By Mahatma dashttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/what-is-the-difficulty-some-help-with-making-new-year-s-resolutio2022-12-31T09:30:00.000Z2022-12-31T09:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}2515164611,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="2515164611?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="400" /></p>
<p>Since the new year is around the corner, it’s natural to talk about new year’s resolutions. You might be thinking about doing something you’ve put off or making some changes for the new year. You might even be making the same resolutions you made last year at this time. Or maybe you just don’t make them anymore because you never follow through on them anyway.</p>
<p>“There’s hope”</p>
<p>Do You Just Want It or Are You Committed to Get It?</p>
<p>Srila Prabhupada cites Dhruva Maharaja as a perfect example of determination. He says that we should be as determined to be Krsna conscious as Dhruva was to see Krsna. Dhurva was willing to undergo any austerity to see Krsna. We learn from this that there’s a big difference between wanting something and being committed to achieving it. This is the difference between determination in the mode of ignorance and determination in the mode of goodness. In the mode of ignorance determination doesn’t get past the dreaming stage. In the mode of goodness determination is unbreakable and sustained by constant self control.</p>
<p>Have you ever thought it would be nice to achieve something – but then not do much about it? If you have, you probably didn’t achieve it. However, have you ever committed yourself to achieving something no matter what the cost? If you have, it’s likely you succeeded. So if you make a new year’s resolution and are not committed to achieving it, there’s a really good chance you won’t follow though.</p>
<p>There can be many reasons why you wouldn’t commit, but one of the most common is to think you can’t do it. We often tend to minimize our own abilities and thus see many of our goals as difficult or impossible to achieve. Yet it’s more often the case that we are qualified to do it and either we haven’t tried hard enough or we simply haven’t learned how to do it (BTW, successful people as a class are not super talented and don’t have super high IQ’s).</p>
<p>“Determination”</p>
<p>Although there may be many obstacles on the path of the sincere devotee who is preaching the glories of the Lord, such obstacles increase the determination of the devotee. Therefore, according to Srila Jiva Goswami , the continuous obstacles presented by the demigods form a kind of ladder or stairway upon which the devotee steadily progresses back to the kingdom of God.</p>
<p>One of the common factors among very successful people is that they all had tremendous obstacles to overcome. It was the problems they had to overcome that drove them to greater and greater heights.</p>
<p>In 1982 I went to Johannesburg, South Africa to be the temple president. When I first arrived I quickly learned that things had not been going well. It was a constant uphill battle just to keep things from falling apart. After some time I was finding it difficult to maintain my enthusiasm. One devotee suggested that it would be beneficial for me to read the Prabhupada lilamrita. As I read about all the struggles that Prabhupada faced in establishing, maintaining and pushing on Iskcon, I understood that if I allowed myself to become deterred by obstacles I would never be able to achieve anything significant. I then felt strongly that Krsna had put Prabhupada through so many difficulties in order that we have his example before us. Prabhupada faced the greatest challenges. And these challenges simply made him more determined.</p>
<p>How do you react when you are faced with repetitive challenges?</p>
<p>“Walking on the Head of the Obstacle”</p>
<p>In the previous chapter it was explained that although the demigods place obstacles in the path of the Lord’s devotees, by the mercy of the Supreme Lord the devotees are able to place their feet on the head of such obstacles and thus pass beyond them to the supreme destination.</p>
<p>You can tell the caliber of people by the amount of opposition it takes to discourage them. Obstacles will look large or small to you according to whether you are large or small. Did you know that legal immigrants – most of whom have fewer advantages over native-born Americans – are four times more likely to become millionaires? Therefore, we shouldn’t pray that Krsna put smaller obstacles in our way, but we should pray that he give us the strength to overcome the obstacles.</p>
<p>When Prabhupada told devotees how to deal with their problems (which was always to be more Krsna conscious), he would often say, “What is the difficulty?” He meant Krsna consciousness is the easily available solution and the only difficulty is not taking this solution.</p>
<p>“Change Doesn’t Come Easy”</p>
<p>Following through on a resolution usually entails making a change – and change is not always easy. If we don’t like something, we want to change it. The problem is we desire change for everyone other than ourselves! Changing ourselves often entails changing long standing habits, and that can be difficult. Did you know that when Columbus set sail for new lands most people thought the world was flat and that he was going to fall off the end of the planet? Of course that didn’t happen, proving that the world wasn’t really flat. Yet people were so resistant to change that most everyone kept on believing the world was flat while the younger generation was being taught in school that the world is round.</p>
<p>“From the Inside Out”</p>
<p>Unless you make a change within it’s unlikely that you will make a change without. One of the difficulties we face in changing is that we cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are. When you want something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done.</p>
<p>“Act like the person you want to become. Before you can do something, you first must be something.” (Goethe)</p>
<p>That can be scary. We tend to cling to what we know, even if we are not satisfied with it. Fear holds us back. Yet the only way to overcome the fear is to go out and do the very thing we are afraid of doing.</p>
<p>If you make new year’s resolutions, realize that you probably desire improvement – yet at the same time resist change. The problem is you cannot get one without having the other. The reality is that change is possible only if you want it bad enough. You are the way you are because that’s the way you want to be. If you really wanted to be any different you would be in the process of changing right now.</p>
<p>“Continually Commit”</p>
<p>One of the most important things to understand is that committing to change is not a one time affair. You must commit continually. I think a lot of us make the mistake of thinking we have committed to something when what we did was make a decision to change or commit, but not a decision to commit daily.</p>
<p>“Focus on Solutions”</p>
<p>If you make a resolution and have trouble following through and then start to become discouraged, you can do one of two things – and the one you choose will color your perspective. You can look to place the blame or you can look at yourself to discover your opportunities. The choice is yours. Life is usually 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it. So think what you can do, not what you can’t do. The more you hit roadblocks, the more you need to devise ways to get around them. Keep trying if something doesn’t work.The more you think about solutions, the more solutions you’ll come up with (dadami buddhi yogam tam).</p>
<p>Success is really just the ability to solve problems. Overcoming an obstacle is simply solving a problem. Every person has to face obstacles, make changes, and deal with problems. Successful people are just better than the average person at dealing with the same kinds of problems you and I face everyday.</p>
<p>So if you are dealing with difficult problems, imagine yourself sitting in front of Srila Prabhupada as he instructs you to be more determined to follow Krsna consciousness and then asks you, “What is the difficulty?” That one question can make the biggest problems appear insignificant.</p>
<p>“Exercise”</p>
<p>Here are some questions to answer that will help you move forward.</p>
<p>1) What specifically is holding you back from making or following through on a resolution?</p>
<p>2) What must you do to overcome what’s holding you back?</p>
<p>3) Which of these will you pursue, what will you do, and when (write down on your a calendar or daytimer what you will do and when you will do it)?</p>
<p>4) If you don’t get anywhere, go back to question one.<br /> <br /> <img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8351620679,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8351620679?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="350" /><br /> <strong>Source: </strong><a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=5031">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=5031</a></p></div>New Year’s Resolutions, Samsara, and Srimad Bhagavatamhttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/new-year-s-resolutions-samsara-and-srimad-bhagavatam2022-12-30T07:30:00.000Z2022-12-30T07:30:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8388107897,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8388107897?profile=RESIZE_584x" width="450" /><strong>By Sesa Das</strong><br /> <br /> OK, I admit it. I’m a junkie, a New Year’s resolutions junkie. Every year I make so many resolutions, and every year I fail to keep them. I know I am not alone in this. Is there a support group out there?!</p>
<p>This pesky little urge to make a commitment to a project or to reforming a habit to mark the beginning of each New Year is not new and seems to be quite universal. Brooke Williams’ article, The History Behind New Year’s Resolutions, published in The Colonnade, The Official Student Newspaper of Georgia College and State University, gives this history, “…the tradition of the New Year’s resolution was created by the Babylonians 4,000 years ago. The first day of the year for this ancient civilization was March 23 and one of its popular resolutions was to return something borrowed from a friend during the previous year…The Romans celebrated the New Year on Jan. 1 and shared a similar tradition with the Babylonians. A common resolution in ancient Rome was to ask forgiveness from enemies of the past year. The Chinese New Year has been celebrated for thousands of years as well. Their New Year is somewhere between late January and early February, one of their resolution customs is housecleaning, which tops many modern-day New Year’s resolution lists. Whether or not these civilizations took their resolutions seriously and always achieved what they resolved to do is unknown. Today many resolutions are made with the best intentions, but the majority are not actually met.”</p>
<p>Yeah, I know all about the failures. According to a recent survey conducted by Quirkologist (one who studies the curious science of everyday lives) Richard Wiseman, as reported on <a href="http://www.quirkology.com/">www.quirkology.com</a>, which tracked over 3000 people attempting to achieve a range of resolutions, including losing weight, visiting the gym, quitting smoking, and drinking less, “At the start of the study, 52% of participants were confident of success. One year later, only 12% actually achieved their goal.”</p>
<p>These statistics tell only half the story. Please understand, its not that I am just looking for help in a support group, I have years of experience that may help others. Here are a couple of things I know.</p>
<p>First, the reason why most people even try making resolutions is a the cyclical chain of dissatisfaction followed by the consuming desire for a fresh start in some area of their lives, and The New Year provides a great opportunity to remake ourselves. The problem is that most, why most, all, people are concerned only with an external conception of themselves, and thus their resolutions focus of superficial changes. The US government’s Office of Citizen Services and Communications reports, “The most popular resolutions in the Western world include to quit tobacco smoking, stop excessive drinking of alcohol, lose weight, and get physically fit.” Such external changes will never satisfy the real you, and keeps you locked in this repeating cycle of making and breaking resolutions.</p>
<p>Second, following on the first point, is something I learned in the school of hard knocks. Success is about priorities. Success will only come when you have your priorities straight.</p>
<p>There is an interesting lesson about priorities in the Srimad Bhagavatam. As the story goes, Lord Vishnu in disguise as Vamanadeva, a dwarf brahmana, goes to beg charity from Bali, the conqueror of the entire universe. Coming fact to face with Bali, Vamanadeva makes a strange request. He asks for only three paces of land, and that according to His footprints. Bali scuffs at this puny request and tells Vamanadeva he can offer his planets or all the wealth in the universe. Bali chides Vamanadeva, saying He doesn’t know either his (Bali’s) power, or His (Vamanadeva’s) own best interest. In reply Vamanadeva gives the following instruction that is relevant to all those who make New Year’s resolutions.</p>
<p>“One should be satisfied with whatever he achieves by his previous destiny, for discontent can never bring happiness. A person who is not self-controlled will not be happy even with possessing the three worlds.</p>
<p>Material existence causes discontent in regard to fulfilling one’s lusty desires and achieving more and more money. This is the cause for the continuation of material life, which is full of repeated birth and death. But one who is satisfied by that which is obtained by destiny is fit for liberation from this material existence.”</p>
<p>Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 8, Chapter 19, Texts 24-25</p>
<p>The lesson: understanding the nature of this material world, the nature of the real self as being spirit soul naturally different from the dissatisfactory experiences of the material world, and striving by means of internal change for lasting spiritual satisfaction, are the real priorities for everyone. Everything else will follow.</p>
<p>Now, obviously this is easier said than done. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be looking for a support group. Fortunately, I do have an idea where to find my support group. They gather daily at the local Hare Krishna temple for classes on Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita. So this year my New Year’s resolution is going to be to attend Srimad Bhagavatam class every morning.<br /> <br /> <strong>Source: </strong><a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=92526">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=92526</a></p></div>Lousy New Year’s Resolutions No More!https://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/lousy-new-year-s-resolutions-no-more2020-12-27T13:50:01.000Z2020-12-27T13:50:01.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8346701697,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="500" alt="8346701697?profile=RESIZE_584x" />The New Year is traditionally the time for resolutions. The turn of the calendar brings both the opportunity to reflect on the last 12 months and the chance to begin planning for the next dozen. As you think about yours, GBC Strategic Planning Team (SPT) brings to you live interview with Sri Radha Govinda Dasi to help you keep up with the resolutions, better decision making, leading through crisis and grow tall in Krishna Consciousness.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5BNlRBC7ruc" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br /><br /></p>
<p>About Sri Radha Govinda Dasi</p>
<p>Sri Radha Govinda Dasi was born in a Madhva brahmana family in South India. She grew up listening and learning Vaisnava songs and Krishna’s pastimes from her grandfather, [Jayasimha]. She was initiated at 18 by HH Jayapataka Married. She has been married for 18 years and lives in the holy land of Sridham Mayapur, where she completed her Bhakti-sastri and Bhakti-vaibhava degrees. She trained in the traditional Sri Vaisnava system of Vedic Astrology under the guidance of Sri Koilnambi Sampath Kumar. She speaks 9 languages and has traveled to more than 25 countries on 5 continents, giving discourses and workshops on various topics such as self-help, Astrology, and Vaisnava Theology. She has authored several books, which you can download for free at astrogitamapss.worpress.com. She is also the director for Bhakti Marriage System (Premarital training program – ISKCON Congregational Ministry)<br /> <br /> <strong>Source: </strong><a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=92379">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=92379</a></p></div>Vaisesika Das Shares Tips on Making New Year’s Resolutionshttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/vaisesika-das-shares-tips-on-making-new-year-s-resolutions2020-01-01T11:00:00.000Z2020-01-01T11:00:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><div id="article_byline" style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://iskconnews.org/media/img_versions/2020/01-Jan/vaisesika_1_slideshow.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://iskconnews.org/media/img_versions/2020/01-Jan/vaisesika_1_slideshow.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="600" alt="vaisesika_1_slideshow.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong>By Madhava Smullen<br /><br /></strong></div>
<div id="article_body">
<p>Every year in January, thousands of people set New Year’s Resolutions – but few stick to them once the excitement has worn off.</p>
<p>Vaisesika Das, who is a BBT Director and temple president at ISKCON Silicon Valley in California, knows a lot about setting goals. After he guided all ISKCON North American leaders to set a collective goal, book distribution in the region soared from only $700,000 remitted to the BBT in 2011, to $2.1 million in 2016.</p>
<p>Meanwhile Vaisesika’s temple, ISKCON Silicon Valley (ISV), is one of the most dynamic in ISKCON. One of the reasons is that in early January every year, he holds a meeting with ISV devotees to take them through the process of sharing last year’s successes and challenges, and setting goals for the New Year.</p>
<p>Here, Vaisesika shares why goals are important in Krishna consciousness and in other aspects of life; and how to set your New Year’s Resolution goals effectively in a way that will lead to success.</p>
<p><strong>Why Set Goals?</strong></p>
<p>In his song “Any Road,” George Harrison sings, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” In other words, if you don’t set clear goals, it doesn’t matter what you do – you won’t get anywhere.</p>
<p>In his purport to Bhagavad-gita 2.66, Srila Prabhupada writes, “Disturbance is due to want of an ultimate goal.”</p>
<p>“So I impress upon devotees that it’s really important to have personal goals in various categories,” says Vaisesika. “For instance, if you don’t have a goal for improving your sadhana (personal spiritual practice), then you’ll stay on a plateau.”</p>
<p><strong>What Stops People From Setting Goals?</strong></p>
<p>According to Vaisesika, the five reasons why people don’t set goals are: 1) They haven’t thought clearly about what their life will be like if they actually attain certain goals. 2) They don’t know how effective goal setting is. 3) They don’t know how to set goals. 4) They fear they might fail. And 5) They feel overwhelmed, and think they’re too busy and disorganized to set goals.</p>
<p>However, setting goals can become easier with the following tips:</p>
<p><strong>Write Your Goals Down</strong></p>
<p>There’s a lot of power in just eight words from motivational speaker Jim Rohn: “Decide what you want, and write it down.”</p>
<p>“If you only have goals in your head, they haven’t manifested externally enough to inspire you,” Vaisesika explains. “As soon as you take the time to articulate what you want in writing and put it onto paper, it crosses from the thought world into reality.”</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><img class="align-center" src="https://iskconnews.org/media/images/2020/01-Jan/vaisesika_das_sets_goals_with_devotees_at_iskcon_silicon_valley.png?profile=RESIZE_710x" alt="vaisesika_das_sets_goals_with_devotees_at_iskcon_silicon_valley.png?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="600" /></p>
<p><strong>Keep Your Goals Where You Can See Them</strong></p>
<p>Once you’ve written your goals down, put them in a place where you can see them regularly, and review them often.</p>
<p>“Then your mind gets refocused,” Vaisesika says. “Otherwise, you lose focus and you forget about your goals until it’s too late. Remember – where attention goes, energy flows.”</p>
<p><strong>Break Large Goals Into Smaller Tasks</strong></p>
<p>After writing your goal, break it down into small, easily achievable tasks – and do something towards them on a regular basis, such as weekly or daily.</p>
<p>For example at ISKCON Silicon Valley, to facilitate devotees’ goals to read Srila Prabhupada’s books within a certain period of time, Vaisesika created the smartphone app “Be A Sage Page By Page.” Users can select a scripture from a picker wheel, and the app will show them how many pages to read a day in order to finish the book within a particular duration.</p>
<p>“Many devotees thought finishing the Chaitanya Charitamrita or Srimad-Bhagavatam was unattainable for them; but when they broke it down into small pieces like 5 or 10 pages a day, they became victorious,” Vaisesika says.</p>
<p><strong>Set a 30-Day Goal</strong></p>
<p>Vaisesika highly recommends setting a 30-day goal. “You can tolerate almost anything for thirty days,” he says. “But in that time you can build so much momentum and create transformation in your life. On the other hand, if you say ‘I want to attain this,’ but don’t have an end date, or the end date is too far away, you may become fatigued, get distracted, and give up.”</p>
<p>Smaller time frames also have their uses – you can set fifteen-day goals, one-day goals, or even five-minute goals. “This is very helpful when you’re trying to get out of the mode of ignorance,” Vaisesika grins. “Just say, ‘For the next five minutes, my goal is to –’ and fill in the blank.”</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><img class="align-center" src="https://iskconnews.org/media/images/2020/01-Jan/vaisesika_2.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x" alt="vaisesika_2.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="600" /></p>
<p><strong>Share Your Goals With People Close to You</strong></p>
<p>According to Vaisesika, another practice that breeds success is to create accountability by sharing your goals with people that you trust.</p>
<h4>Good Japa Is the Foundation For A Successful Life</h4>
<p>“At ISV we have what we call a ‘Sacred Japa Circle,’” says Vaisesika. “We emphasize how good japa (meditative chanting on beads) is the foundation for all the rest of our life. If we have good japa, then other things will tend to fall into place more naturally.”</p>
<p><strong>Go to Bed Early and Rise Early</strong></p>
<p>To improve their japa practice, ISV devotees set a goal to go to bed earlier and rise earlier.</p>
<p>“Often people don’t think about it, and just spend an extra half an hour messing around watching Youtube videos,” says Vaisesika. “Then they can’t get up, their japa suffers, and their spiritual life and everything else in their life becomes diminished.”</p>
<p>He adds: “Instead, take rest on time so you can get up and have the time you need in the morning to chant good japa.”</p>
<p>Although rising early is an essential part of spiritual life, it’s also recommended as a method to boost creativity by many personal development teachers. So whatever your goal, setting that alarm clock a bit earlier should be on your list.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><img class="align-center" src="https://iskconnews.org/media/images/2020/01-Jan/srila_prabhupada_talks_with_his_disciples.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x" alt="srila_prabhupada_talks_with_his_disciples.jpg?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="600" /></p>
<p><strong>A Healthy “Material” Life is a Support System for Krishna Consciousness</strong></p>
<p>“Our so-called material life is a support system for our Krishna consciousness, and vice versa,” says Vaisesika. “Unless we have two feet on the ground – we feel healthy, are financially sound, we have good relationships – it’s very difficult to have good sadhana. That’s largely what varnashrama is about – making material adjustments so that you can keep your mind concentrated on the ultimate goal of life, which is serving God.”</p>
<p>Thus Vaisesika advises devotees to not only set sadhana goals, but also goals in the categories of physical health, finances, personal improvement and family.</p>
<p>For instance, he recommends that married couples, fellow ashram devotees, or co-workers set specific time aside at least once a month to have a deliberate conversation. “Find out how your partner or colleagues are doing, and what their needs, interests and concerns are, rather than just going on with your daily work and forgetting it.”</p>
<p><strong>Having Goals Makes Life More Exciting</strong></p>
<p>In a December 1972 letter to Karandhara Das, while instructing him how to manage ISKCON, Srila Prabhupada wrote: “Our leaders…. should try always to generate some atmosphere of fresh challenge to the devotees, so that they will agree enthusiastically to rise and meet it.”</p>
<p>“That fresh challenge is what keeps life exciting,” Vaisesika says. “When you always have little challenges to reach, then you know you’re always improving.”</p>
<p><strong>Follow the Example Set By Srila Prabhupada</strong></p>
<p>“Prabhupada, remember, started by setting goals, even before he came to America,” Vaisesika points out. “He drew out elaborate plans. He wrote purposes for ISKCON when he incorporated the society. In the museum of his personal artifacts in Vrindavan, you can still see the little notebook that contains his list of goals for the next months and years, written in his own hand. So he was constantly setting goals, and that’s one of the reasons why he was able to achieve so much.”</p>
<p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://iskconnews.org/vaisesika-das-shares-tips-on-making-new-years-resolutions,7215/">https://iskconnews.org/vaisesika-das-shares-tips-on-making-new-years-resolutions,7215/</a></p>
</div></div>New Year’s Resolutions By Giriraj Swamihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/new-year-s-resolutions-by-giriraj-swami2020-01-01T07:40:00.000Z2020-01-01T07:40:00.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}2515273746,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}2515273746,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="2515273746?profile=original" width="500" /></a></p>
<p>Most resolutions take the form of “do’s”—things I resolve to do—and “don’ts”—things I resolve to not do. And Vedic wisdom tells us that all do’s and don’ts should support one main do—always remember Krishna (God)—and one main don’t—never forget Him.</p>
<p>Now, practically, what can we do to always remember Krishna and never forget Him? The item most favorable for remembering Him is chanting and hearing: chanting and hearing His holy names—the Hare Krishna maha-mantra—and chanting and hearing His transcendental topics—krsna-katha such as the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. And in broad terms, the items most obstructive to remembering Him are mental speculation and sense gratification, especially vicious activities against Vedic principles, or God’s laws—activities that include eating meat, taking intoxicants, engaging in illicit sex, and gambling.</p>
<p>So for our New Year’s resolutions, we can resolve to increase our chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra, especially on beads, and our reading of Srila Prabhupada’s books. And we can resolve to decrease, or stop, activities detrimental to Krishna consciousness. And in our efforts, the Lord will help us, for God helps those who help themselves.</p>
<p>We wish you a happy New Year—in Krishna consciousness—by the grace of Sri Sri Guru and Gauranga.</p>
<p>Hare Krishna.</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>Thoughts for the New Year<br /> A Talk by Giriraj Swami<br /> January 2, 2010<br /> Bhaktivedanta Manor<br /> England</p>
<p>We have gathered at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada in this wonderful temple of Sri Sri Radha-Gokulananda, Sri Sita-Rama-Laksmana-Hanuman, and Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, in the presence of His Holiness Radhanath Swami and so many exalted devotees. We are entering the New Year, 2010, and the next decade, and on such occasions we take stock of what and how we did in the last year and what we want to do in the next. Studies have shown, and probably many of us have experienced, that most New Year’s resolutions are broken during the first week [laughter]. Still more are broken in the first month, and almost all are broken within the first three months.</p>
<p>Why does this happen, and what can we do? Man is a creature of habit. We have developed certain habits over the last however many years—perhaps lifetimes—and to change our habits requires sincere desire and determined effort. Another study has shown that when one is trying to develop a new habit he has to consistently, diligently strive to adhere to the new practice for at least thirty days. After thirty days, he is able to follow more easily but can be derailed by stress or changes in his life. After ninety days it becomes just as easy to follow the new habit as not, and after a year it is easier to follow the new habit than not.</p>
<p>Now, what new habits will we want to develop in the next year? That will depend on our goals. When I visited Pune some years ago, the Malhotra brothers arranged a program for me in the main hall, and at the end of the talk the general in charge of the Southern Command of the Indian Army asked an important question: “What is the aim for which we are born, what is the aim of our life? It certainly could not be to amass some wealth and ultimately die, or to make a building and then die, or to marry and procreate and then die. For our minor activities in life we have the aims set first, before we get going to achieve them. When we train our people in the army, whatever they have to do we first tell them what the aim is. And once they are clear what the aim is, then we decide what means to adopt to achieve that. And invariably we don’t go wrong. Now here it is—my whole life is going to waste, to my mind; I am still not very clear what is the aim of my life. Would you kindly enlighten us about the aim of life so that thereafter we can be very, very clear as to what we have got to do to achieve that aim?”</p>
<p>Srila Sanatana Gosvami asked the same question of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu:</p>
<p>“‘ke ami’, ‘kene amaya jare tapa-traya’<br /> iha nahi jani—kemane hita haya</p>
<p>“‘sadhya’-‘sadhana’-tattva puchite na jani<br /> krpa kari’ saba tattva kaha ta’ apani”</p>
<p>“Who am I? Why do the threefold miseries always give me trouble? If I do not know this, how can I be benefited? Actually I do not know how to inquire about the goal of life and the process for obtaining it. Being merciful upon me, please explain all these truths.” (Cc Madhya 20.102–103) He said, “In ordinary dealings people consider me to be a learned scholar (pandita), but I am so learned I do not even know who I am. So please tell me who I am and what is the goal of life.” And Lord Caitanya replied, “By constitution you are an eternal servant of Krsna—jivera ‘svarupa’ haya—krsnera ‘nitya-dasa’—and the goal of life is to be reinstated in your constitutional position as His loving servant.”</p>
<p>Now, if someone understands that he is not the body, that he is the soul within the body, and that his real relationship is not with the body or things related to the body but that as a spiritual soul his real relationship is with the Supreme Soul, then he can adopt the methods that are suitable for reviving his eternal relationship with the Supreme Soul, Krsna.</p>
<p>Srila Prabhupada formed the International Society for Krishna Consciousness to give people this knowledge: We are not the body but the soul, part and parcel of the Supreme Soul. Our real relationship is with Him, and our duty and goal in life is to revive our eternal loving relationship with Him, with God, Krsna. The whole process of sadhana-bhakti is to help us to awaken that eternal love for God.</p>
<p>nitya-siddha krsna-prema ‘sadhya’ kabhu naya<br /> sravanadi-suddha-citte karaye udaya</p>
<p>“Pure love for Krsna is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.” (Cc Madhya 22.107) That love is eternally there within the heart, just as fire is within a match. You just have to strike the match and the fire will come out. Similarly, we just have to strike the heart by chanting and hearing about Krsna and that love will come out.</p>
<p>The main process is the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. We are in the Hare Krsna temple. (On the way we saw the sign, “Hare Krishna Temple,” with an arrow.) Somehow, we are part of the Hare Krsna movement, and we are known as Hare Krsna people. We are meant to chant Hare Krsna. And by our chanting Hare Krsna, the mirror of the mind can be cleansed (ceto-darpana-marjanam), the blazing fire of material existence extinguished (bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam), and ultimately our dormant love for Krsna awakened. Param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam.</p>
<p>But there is also the matter of quality to the chanting. Queen Kunti prays to Lord Krsna,</p>
<p>janmaisvarya-sruta-sribhir<br /> edhamana-madah puman<br /> naivarhaty abhidhatum vai<br /> tvam akincana-gocaram</p>
<p>“Your Lordship can easily be approached, but only by those who are materially exhausted. One who is on the path of [material] progress, trying to improve himself with respectable parentage, great opulence, high education, and bodily beauty, cannot approach You with sincere feeling.” People on the path of material advancement want good birth (janma), material opulence (aisvarya), material learning (sruta), and physical beauty (sribhih). They cannot feelingly approach the Lord. And when we chant the holy name, we are trying to approach the Lord. The holy name of Krsna and Krsna Himself are the same.</p>
<p>nama cintamanih krsnas<br /> caitanya-rasa-vigrahah<br /> purnah suddho nitya-mukto<br /> ’bhinnatvan nama-naminoh</p>
<p>“The holy name of Krsna is transcendentally blissful. It bestows all spiritual benedictions, for it is Krsna Himself, the reservoir of all pleasure. Krsna’s name is complete, and it is the form of all transcendental mellows. It is not a material name under any condition, and it is no less powerful than Krsna Himself. Since Krsna’s name is not contaminated by the material qualities, there is no question of its being involved with maya. Krsna’s name is always liberated and spiritual; it is never conditioned by the laws of material nature. This is because the name of Krsna and Krsna Himself are identical.” (Padma Purana, Cc Madhya 17.133)</p>
<p>Commenting on Kunti’s prayer, Srila Prabhupada cites scripture, that by uttering the holy name of the Lord even once, one can destroy the reactions to more sins than one is able to commit. “Such is the power of uttering the holy name of the Lord. There is not the least exaggeration in this statement. Actually, the Lord’s holy name has such powerful potency.” We are all suffering because of sinful reactions. But if we were freed from sinful reactions, we would no longer have to suffer. As Prabhupada explains, however, “there is a quality to such utterances also. It depends on the quality of feeling. A helpless man can feelingly utter the holy name of the Lord, whereas a man who utters the same holy name in great material satisfaction cannot be so sincere.” Lord Krsna is akincana-gocaram, easily approached by those who are akincana, who have no material possessions.</p>
<p>Now, these statements may give rise to some questions. This word akincana means “without material possessions,” or “without a sense of false proprietorship.” Of course, there should be no duplicity in the matter, but this principle allows us, for example, to have an opulent temple here. We have a beautiful property, a large estate, but as long as we think, “This is Radha-Gokulananda’s property. This is Srila Prabhupada’s property. It is not my property. I am here only to serve them and use this property in their service,” we can be free from false proprietorship, false prestige, and false designations. And in that mood we can chant the holy name with feeling, approach Krsna with feeling. Otherwise there is a subtle rivalry going on between us and Krsna. We come into the material world out of envy of Krsna. In effect we want to take His position. We want to be the proprietor and controller and enjoyer (isvaro ’ham aham bhogi), which is actually Krsna’s position. While chanting Krsna’s name, we may be thinking, “Why should I be chanting Krsna’s name? People should be chanting my name. Giriraj Maharaja ki jaya!” [laughter] That is our sorry plight. We don’t want Krsna to be the center; we want to be the center. So we chant the holy name with ourselves in the foreground and the holy name in the background. That is our tendency as conditioned souls.</p>
<p>The proper process is to chant with attention. We let go of all those thoughts about ourselves—“I” and “me” and “mine”—and focus on the holy name, on Krsna. Those other thoughts are irrelevant. They may come up, but we don’t pay them heed. We just focus our attention on Krsna, on the sound of Krsna’s holy name. And when we do that, we can actually feel Krsna’s presence. We can appreciate that the holy name is Krsna Himself reciprocating with our sincere desires to serve Him.</p>
<p>This practice requires effort. We are habituated to think that we are the center of existence and that everything revolves around us. We see everything in terms of us, not in terms of Krsna. But our habit can change. There is a saying that up to the age of twenty, you think that people are looking at you and like you, from the age of twenty to forty that they are looking at you and don’t like you, and then, after the age of forty, that they aren’t even looking at you or thinking of you. [laughter] So we have to reform this habit of thinking that we’re the center, always thinking about ourselves and thinking that everyone else is thinking about us too. We must know that Krsna is the center.</p>
<p>Once, when I was chanting my rounds at the beach in Carpinteria, I was sitting alone, chanting with attention—making a serious effort to be attentive—somehow thinking of different people who were close to me, and feeling how much they were suffering. I was actually feeling their pain. As I continued chanting, that sense of feeling for others expanded to people who weren’t so close to me and then to the people on the beach, whom I didn’t even know. There weren’t many, but there were a few people surfing. And I was really feeling their suffering. Srila Prabhupada had joked that the surfers were actually “sufferers” [laughter], but I was actually feeling their suffering.</p>
<p>Then the feeling went beyond the human beings. There were pelicans at the beach. They fly very high and then suddenly zoom down and crash into the water. I understood that they were hovering high in the sky looking for prey and that when they saw some potential food they came straight down and crashed into the water. Ordinarily I would think, “Oh, how picturesque—flying so high and then diving into the ocean.” But now I was feeling, “They are in anxiety. They are hungry. They need food and are searching, ‘Where is food? Where is food?’ And when they see something and dive straight down and crash into the water, although they are birds, still, coming from that height at that velocity and crashing into the water is bound to be a shock to their system. And they don’t know whether they will actually get that fish or not. And whatever happens, after they come down they go up and start the same process all over again. They are never satisfied, “Now we can just relax.” I was thinking, “What a life, full of anxiety, full of pain,” and feeling it.</p>
<p>And the dolphins and the sandpipers and the seagulls—the same thing. I was feeling so much suffering on all sides. It was as if the illusion of material happiness and charm had been lifted, and this whole beautiful panorama became a horrible scene of intense suffering, which I was feeling. And I was just chanting, chanting, chanting. Then a little lady bug landed on my hand. Growing up, I thought that lady bugs were auspicious and cute. But this time I looked at the lady bug and thought, “This lady bug is suffering,” and feeling it. Looking at the lady bug, I thought, “I don’t think I can take much more of this. I am going to have a breakdown. I am feeling too much suffering.” I wanted to help these creatures. I was feeling their suffering and desiring to help them, but it was getting to be too much.</p>
<p>Then I had the type of breakthrough that one gets when one chants with attention, with the effort to chant with attention. Suddenly I felt as if Krsna were speaking to me, revealing something to me. I got the intuition or inspiration in my heart that Krsna loved these creatures more than I did, more than I could even imagine. He loves them so much that He accompanies them as the Supersoul in whatever species of life they enter. And not only does He love them more than I can ever imagine, but He can actually do something to help them. I may feel for them and want to help them, but what is my capacity to help them? I may not even understand what’s troubling them. Parents experience that their baby is crying and they want to help but they don’t know what the baby wants. They may think the baby is hungry, but the baby may be troubled by something completely different. Or even if they do understand what is causing the suffering, they may be unable to relieve it.</p>
<p>So, I was thinking, “Not only does Krsna love them, but He can actually do something to help them. What can I do?” And then I came to the bottom of it. The problem was that I was trying to take the position of Krsna. In the Bhagavad-gita (5.29) Lord Krsna says,</p>
<p>bhoktaram yajna-tapasam<br /> sarva-loka-mahesvaram<br /> suhrdam sarva-bhutanam<br /> jnatva mam santim rcchati</p>
<p>“A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.”</p>
<p>When one recognizes that Krsna is the enjoyer, Krsna is the proprietor, and Krsna is the best friend, he attains peace. I thought of what Srila Prabhupada often said, so simple yet profound, that your best friend is not he one who poses as your best friend but he who tells you that Krsna is your best friend. Suddenly this whole problem of how to help these suffering souls became very easy. I didn’t have to help them personally; I just had to direct them to Krsna, who could really help them. And it was such a relief.</p>
<p>So this is our mission, to serve Krsna. And serving Krsna means doing what Krsna wants, and Krsna wants that we should bring other souls to Him. As He says at the end of the Bhagavad-gita (18.69), His dearmost servant is he who preaches the message of the Gita. Na ca tasman manusyesu kascin me priya-krttamah/ bhavita na ca me tasmad anyah priyataro bhuvi: “There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.” Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu also said, yare dekha, tare kaha ‘krsna’-upadesa: “Wherever you go, whomever you meet, just present the message of Krsna.” And that is something any of us can do. It is actually very easy. Any of us can do it.</p>
<p>When we first came to Bombay, two of Prabhupada’s early disciples, Syamasundara and Malati, had a small daughter, Sarasvati, who used to approach respectable gentlemen who visited our center, which was in a posh area. Although only three or four years old, she would approach them and say, “Do you know who is Krsna?” And then she would answer, “Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” And Srila Prabhupada commented, “That is preaching. She is repeating what she has heard from authorities, and even if she doesn’t have full realization, what she is saying is perfect, because she has heard it from authorities—Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” So any of us can preach. We can simply repeat what we have heard from authorities—“Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” “Chant Hare Krsna and your life will be sublime.” “Come to the Hare Krsna temple.” And that will please Krsna.</p>
<p>I was very happy when I passed through England on my way to South Africa at the end of November and saw all the books around Srila Prabhupada’s vyasasana. I could feel the mood in the atmosphere to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books. I felt, “Srila Prabhupada is pleased. They have the spirit to distribute his books.” And the books are as potent and effective now as ever. So many people I meet—when I ask them how they came to Krsna consciousness, it goes back to a book. They got a book. The formula that Srila Prabhupada gave us forty years ago still works. By giving them Prabhupada’s books, we are giving them Krsna and Prabhupada, the message of Krsna through Prabhupada, and that is enough to awaken their sense of Krsna consciousness and begin them on the path. Many of us are here because of Srila Prabhupada’s books.</p>
<p>So, we should try to develop the habit of putting Krsna in the center, putting the holy name in the center, putting Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada and their mission in the center, and that will make all the difference. Our spouse can be there, our children can be there, our house can be there, our work can be there, everything can be there, but with Krsna in the center, everything will be beautiful and peaceful. And as long as we persist in that habit that’s probably been with us for many lifetimes—thinking that we are the center, we are the lords, we are the enjoyers, we are the proprietors—there will be so many problems, and in the end whatever we have will be taken away from us anyway.</p>
<p>So it is most auspicious that we are beginning the New Year in the association of devotees here at Bhaktivedanta Manor. My request is that we use this year, this valuable human form of life in the coming year, for its proper purpose, in Krsna consciousness, and that in this endeavor we help and support each other. We can’t do it alone. And I pray that I can always remain in the association of such wonderful devotees, because I am sure in this association, hearing their instructions, I will be nudged along on the right path, back home, back to Godhead.</p>
<p>Hare Krsna.<br /><br /><strong>Source: </strong><a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=10178">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=10178</a></p></div>