5 Habits for a Celibate Monk (Vidyarthi Pancha Lakshana)
1) Kaaka Snaan (bath like a crow)
2) Baka Dhyaan ( Meditate like a Stork)
3) Alpa Bhojan ( Eat only little food)
4) Svaan Nidra ( Sleep like a Dog)
5) Videsh gaman ( always away from home)
Kaaka Snan: If you happen to see a crow taking bath, he is super quick. Similarly a celibate should take bath very quickly. Of course that doesn’t mean a celibate should remain unclean. What it means is we should take a good clean bath, but avoid spending a

Preaching to nondevotees should generally not be about celibacy, but about the need to become Krishna conscious. If they take up Krishna consciousness then everything else will follow. Newcomers to Krishna consciousness are sometimes discouraged by so many restrictions, especially those on sex. They should be encouraged to chant, take prasada, and associate with devotees. If they want sex life, that is not forbidden—in the grihastha-ashrama. On the other hand, if a young man is ready to be a bra

How many of us would not be tempted when someone offers us a Mercedes Benz car as a gift? We will be floored by the honour. However there is a small catch. The car contains a bomb which can explode any time. How many of us will be delighted to be the proud owner of such a car now? We would think that no sane men will ever think to own such a car. But is it so? We daily ride in a vehicle which has the same destination as that of the car with a bomb. And the vehicle is our ‘body’. Death can come a

As Garuda is the enemy of snakes, as impersonalism is the enemy of devotion, so lust is the enemy of the conditioned soul. It is the first of three gateways to hell. (Bg. 16.21)  Lust is so powerful that it may seem impossible to overcome. The brahmacari vows to fight sex desire, and may sometimes think he is winning the battle, only to find himself again plunged into the ocean of material desire.

This is due to previous samskaras (impressions in the citta, subconsciousness). Every activity, thou

Shréla Prabhupäda wanted gurukulas, to give children the opportunity to easily perfect their lives and go back home, back to Godhead. Shréla Prabhupäda: “If one practices devotional service from the beginning of his life, surely he will return home, back to Godhead, without a doubt.” (SB 9.9.42) Whatever deficiencies ISKCON gurukulas may have had, they are special because they are centered around Krishna. Because Shréla Prabhupäda saw the modern schools as indoctrinating the helpless children in

TOVP Asks One Square Foot

TOVP Asks Every ISKCON Devotee for One Square Foot

http://news.iskcon.com/node/4875#ixzz2JNnUW1jW

By Madhava Smullen for ISKCON News on 25 Jan 2013

“Nityananda Prabhu predicted that there will be an Adbhuta Mandir in Mayapur. Adbhuta means something very different."

At a meeting of the ISKCON Bureau of India on January 10th, Radha Jivan Das laid out his new plan for funding Srila Prabhupada’s passion project, the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium in Mayapur, West Bengal.

In his

Every being is an individual. All the rules and regulations in the world can’t snuff out a person’s individuality. So despite the brahmacäré’s adherence to a strict regime, there are all kinds of characters in the brahmacäré-äshrama. Eccentricity is not uncommon amongst those who strive for the extraordinary, and brahmacärés are no exception. Everyone has idiosyncrasies, and these become more apparent when we live lives of constant endeavor with little or no privacy—there are quite a few singula

“Carrying pure kusha grass in his hand, the brahmacäré should dress regularly with a belt of straw and with deerskin garments. He should wear matted hair, carry a rod and waterpot and be decorated with a sacred thread, as recommended in the shästras.” (SB 7.12.4)

This is Närada Muni’s description of a brahmacäré’s apparel. Shréla Prabhupäda, the äcärya for the modern age in the line of Närada Muni, dressed his brahmacärés in saffron and had them shave their heads.

ISKCON brahmacärés should have a

A pure devotee of Krishna is satisfied to do any service for Krishna, however menial it may appear to be. The brahmacari is trained like that—to do whatever is asked of him. Even if he is highly qualified, a brahmacari is always ready and willing to do the needful in Krishna’s service, including all kinds of humble services. The ideal brahmacari performs all kinds of services quickly, efficiently, and cheerfully.
In the traditional gurukula system, young children are strictly disciplined. As the

Good association is essential to help maintain the determination necessary for making strong progress in spiritual life. On the other hand, bad association can easily and quickly destroy whatever spiritual development we have made. Throughout his books Shrila Prabhupada again and again stresses the need for proper association. A few quotes:

“Without the association (of persons who are Krishna conscious and engaged in devotional service) one cannot make advancement. Simply by theoretical knowledge

“Of all the living entities who have accepted material bodies in this world, one who has been awarded this human form should not work hard day and night simply for sense gratification, which is available for the dogs and hogs that eat stool. One should engage in penance and austerity to attain the divine position of devotional service. By such activity, one’s heart is purified, and when one attains this position, he attains eternal, blissful life, which is transcendental to material happiness an

“My dear Arjuna, O winner of wealth, if you cannot fix your mind upon Me without deviation, then follow the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga. In this way develop a desire to attain Me.” (Bg. 12.9)

Good sadhana is the basis of steady advancement in Krishna consciousness. Brahmacari life is traditionally centered around sadhana: chanting mantras, studying the scriptures, and worship.

Shrila Prabhupada gave us a standard morning program of mangala-arati, tulasi-arati, Deity greeting, guru-puja, a

This material world in which we live is too strong to deal with. As a soul we have a unique ability to adapt ourselves to any situation, however unpleasant it might be. Once Indra, the king of heaven, committed some grievous mistake and as a result he was cursed by sage Narada to take birth on earthly planet as a hog. So, Indra became a hog and started living on earth. In due course of time he grew, got married and became the proud father of dozens of piglets. He even became the leader of the ho

Hare Krsna

Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada

Two Wolves Within Us

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all."

"One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego."

"The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolen

Hare Krsna

Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada

Criticism is something all of us must face

The truth is, critics are a fact of life, and criticism is something all of us must face. In fact, the only way to avoid criticism is to live an isolated life where people aren’t exposed to your work, personality, or behavior. Sometimes the criticism we receive is valuable, even helpful. 

If you think about it, a landslide political victory would be one where the winner received 6

One of the most important statements about Krishna consciousness is in Shrila Prabhupada’s Preface to the Nectar of Instruction: “Advancement in Krishna consciousness depends on the attitude of the follower.” Shrila Prabhupada has stated that anyone can become a pure devotee of Krishna immediately, if he simply desires to. Advancement in devotional service means to purify our desires, and pure devotional service means to be fully absorbed in serving Krishna without even the subtlest desire for a

“Of all kinds of suffering and bondage arising from various attachments, none is greater than the suffering and bondage arising from attachment to women and intimate contact with those attached to women.” (SB 11.14.30)

Because the experience and urges of sex are so intense, and the syndrome of man/woman relationships surrounding it is so complex, it diverts the conditioned soul’s attention away from Krishna and deludes him more than any other trick of maya. Sometimes the foolish conditioned soul

The conditioned soul in the material world is in a state of madness. Nunam pramattah kurute vikarma. (SB 5.5.4) Forgetting his eternal, blissful relationship with Krishna, he is suffering life after life, being kicked and spat upon by maya. But he is smiling, taking it as enjoyment. Why? Because he is charmed by the glitter of false happiness, beginning with sex pleasure. Sex desire is the main symptom of insanity exhibited by the conditioned soul.

Such foolish beings are always intrigued and cha

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu declared: “I am not a brahmana, a kshatriya, a vaishya, or a shudra. I am not a brahmacari, a grihastha, a vanaprastha, or a sannyasi. I identify myself only as the servant of the servant of Krishna, the maintainer of the gopis.”(Cc. Madhya 13.80) The goal of life is not to be a brahmacari, nor a grihastha, nor even a sannyasi. It is to be a pure devotee of Krishna. Shrila Prabhupada often quoted from the Narada-pancaratra:

sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam
tat-paratvena nirmalam
hri