FAITH-LIFT
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Hare KrishnaBy Chaitanya Charan Das

Once a person prayed to God, "Please give me a flower and a butterfly for my garden". When he opened his eyes, he found a cactus and a caterpillar instead. He was dismayed and wondered why God had misunderstood his request. "Maybe God has too many people to care for," he rationalized and decided not to complain. After some time, when he went back to the garden, he found, to his surprise, that the unsightly caterpillar had transformed into a charming butterfly and the thorny, ugly cactus had a beautiful, fragrant flower on it. Continue reading "FAITH-LIFT
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“Give More Than You Take”
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Hare KrishnaBy Indradyumna Swami

Samskaras are Vedic purificatory ceremonies for advancing in spiritual life. One of them is vivaha-samskara, the wedding rite. Our spiritual master said that in this material world a boy naturally desires a girl and a girl naturally desires a boy, and they come together in holy matrimony to make it sacred, and they advance in material prosperity and spiritual prosperity together. I think that is a nice definition of love: “to be concerned about the needs of your beloved.” Continue reading "“Give More Than You Take”
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ISKCON Sydney Temple – Thursday night Harinam (Album with…
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ISKCON Sydney Temple - Thursday night Harinam (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: As the gopis and Krsna danced together, a very blissful musical sound was produced from the tinkling of their bells, ornaments and bangles. It appeared that Krsna was a greenish sapphire locket in the midst of a golden necklace decorated with valuable stones. While Krsna and the gopis danced, they displayed extraordinary bodily features. The movements of their legs, their placing their hands on one another, the movements of their eyebrows, their smiling, the movements of the breasts of the gopis and their clothes, their earrings, their cheeks, their hair with flowers – as they sang and danced these combined to appear like clouds, thunder, snow and lightning. Krsna’s bodily features appeared just like a group of clouds, the gopis’ songs were like thunder, their beauty appeared to be just like lightning in the sky, and the drops of perspiration visible on their faces appeared like falling snow. In this way, the gopis and Krsna fully engaged in dancing. >>> Ref. VedaBase => KB 33: Description of the Rasa Dance
Find them here: https://goo.gl/h0zQbB

Bhaktivedanta Manor’s Community welcomes in the New Year with enthusiasm
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Hare KrishnaBy Radha Mohan Das

A hugely successful event was organised by the Bhaktivedanta Manor community members to welcome in the New Year in both a devotional and entertaining way. The evening, held at the Navnat Centre in West London, including engaging kirtans led by Abhiseka das and Manohar das. Later Kripa Moya das joyfully led the chanting up until midnight . Earlier there was also a hilarious pantomime "Bindurella" and a play about Srila Prabhupada by the Bhaktivedanta Players as well as a dance by Shyam Jatanni. The hugely successful event was organised by many devotees, including Alpesh Patel , Anita Patel, Jaya Krishna das, Manohar das, Bhagavati dasi and Jiten Majithia. Continue reading "Bhaktivedanta Manor’s Community welcomes in the New Year with enthusiasm
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Importance of worshiping the holy cow
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Krishna always taught about importance of cows through his actions. His love for cows is also seen from his pastimes he performed in Vrindavan. Krsna is also known as “Gopal”- “one who brings satisfaction to the cows”. When Krishna taught a lesson to the king of heaven Indra by lifting Govardhan, Embarrassed Indra asked for an apology and gifted a cow to please Krishna.

Iskcon of Houston – ISKCON 50 Gala Reception Highlights (5 min…
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Iskcon of Houston - ISKCON 50 Gala Reception Highlights (5 min video)
The night before the gala, the devotees encountered a good problem: they had 350 confirmed guests, with 10 guests paying online within an hour, but only 300 seats! After closing registration, staying up all night the day before the gala making last-minute preparations, by Srila Prabhupada’s mercy, on December 8 the event came together and attracted more than 340 guests from government, business, education, medicine, interfaith/religious organizations, media, and entertainment as well as visiting ISKCON leaders. Featured speakers included Radhika Raman das (Dr Ravi Gupta), Director of Religious Studies at Utah State University (after being home-schooled by Krishna conscious parents, he graduated from Boise State as a teenager and became one of the youngest students to ever receive a PhD from Oxford University). Dr. Helen Ebaugh—who has taught World Religions at the University of Houston for forty years and has recently offered favorable critiques of Jayadvaita Swami’s new book, Vanity Karma and Radhanath Swami’s Journey Home—praised ISKCON’s participation in local interfaith dialogue, and Judge R.K. Sandill of Harris County’s 127th District Court—the first district court judge in Texas of South Asian descent—commended ISKCON’s cultural and spiritual contributions in places he has lived, including Toronto and its wonderful Ratha-yatra, London and Houston.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/lczgqf

A disciple of Srila Prabhupada in severe health emergency
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A disciple of Srila Prabhupada from the UK, Bhajahari Prabhu, in the intensive care unit after suffering a severe cardiac arrest and an emergency operation. Currently in an induced coma with possible irreversible brain damage. Last signs of life “he has been squeezing his son and his wife’s hands when they talked to him.”
The doctor said that it’s unlikely he will recover and wake up.
Please pray for a miracle.

Transcendental snowman, somewhere in Russia. Srila Prabhupada:…
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Transcendental snowman, somewhere in Russia.
Srila Prabhupada: When there are miseries, a Krsna conscious person takes the responsibility himself, and when there is happiness, it is due to Krsna. But the materialistic person is just the opposite. When he is in miseries, he’ll say, “Oh, God has put me into such miseries.” And when he’s happiness, his friend says, “Oh, you are now well-to-do.” “Yes, you do not know how much I have worked hard.” When he’s happiness, he takes the credit for himself, and when he’s in distress, he gives the discredit to Krsna. “Oh, Krsna has put me into such miserable…” But a Krsna conscious person, when he’s in distress, he’ll say, “Yes, due to my misdeeds I should have suffered a hundred times more than this distress, but Krsna is so kind, He has given me little. That’s all.” And when he’s happiness, “Oh, it is all given by Krsna. Therefore all the opulence should be utilized for Krsna’s service.” This is the difference. >>> Ref. VedaBase => Bhagavad-gita 2.46-62 – Los Angeles, December 16, 1968

Devotees in Russia doing Harinama in a “cultural”…
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Devotees in Russia doing Harinama in a “cultural” way to avoid harassment by the authorities based on the new anti-missionary law. (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: One who is engaged in devotional service has not the least fear in material existence. This is because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Supersoul and friend of everyone. One who knows this secret is actually educated, and one thus educated can become the spiritual master of the world. One who is an actually bona fide spiritual master, representative of Krsna, is not different from Krsna. SB 4.29.51 text
Find them here: https://goo.gl/cQT2vX

Ghosts in Brahman
→ The Enquirer

QUESTION: Is the life post liberation as per the philosophy of Advaita-vada kind of Ghostly?

No.

Ghosts are entities who are blocked from taking their desired form. They are riddled with incessant unfulfillable desires. Existence in Brahman is nothing like this at all. It is nirvāna and śānta – without disturbance and perfectly peaceful. There are no desires whatsoever, and a resultant natural sense of happiness (realized as peaceful tranquility).

QUESTION: Could life in Brahaman be like being a contended, happy ghosts.

No.

Ghosts (even a content and happy hypothetical Casper) are discrete entities with a sense of identity and desire. There are no discrete entities in Brahman, no sense of individual identity, and certainly no desire. Existence in Brahman is incomprehensible and indescribable. It cannot be made analog to anything in our experience, certainly not to ghosts.

The best description I can imagine of existence in Brahman is absolute, unlimited peace. This comes at the cost of having absolutely no individuality and ambition or desire.

Prema is infinitely better than Brahman, but this doesn’t make Brahman equivalent to being a ghost. Sometimes a prema-bhakta may denigrate Brahman out of emotion and love for Bhagavān. but this is a bhāva-vicāra (a subjective angle), not a tattva-vicāra (objective angle). The objective angle is that Brahman is a partial comprehension of Bhagavān and therefore is glorious, though everything that Brahman offers is merely a subset of what Bhagavat-prema offers.

Vraja Kishor

www.vrajakishor.com


Tagged: Brahman, Enlightenment, ghosts, moksa, nirvana

Gita 11.36 What brings joy to the godly causes misery to the ungodly
→ The Spiritual Scientist

Gita verse-by-verse Podcast


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The post Gita 11.36 What brings joy to the godly causes misery to the ungodly appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

The disciple
→ KKSBlog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Untitled Lecture)

When I approached my spiritual master for initiation, he said, “Hmmm, as good as God, are you prepared to accept that?” And I thought, “Umm, well, I don’t know…” but I just said yes with a weak voice because it is not so simple to accept the spiritual master as good as God. But this is Krsna’s standard so what can we say. So somehow, gradually we must bring the guru-disciple relationship to that point. For me, it was not so easy because I had been initiated before and that relationship did not work – the spiritual master did not maintain spiritual standards and then to try to get into the mood of being a disciple again was a little difficult.

At that time, I was the temple president in Vrindavan, one of the big international headquarters of Iskcon. People would salute me as I would walk by and offer pranams (respectful hand gesture)! Half the town would come and offer respects, what to speak of devotees in the temple. And suddenly, I had to sit in a yajna again with the new bhaktas, remove my brahmin thread and sit down there and be initiated!

So I had a complete identity crisis to tell you the truth! At that time I felt somewhat awkward but my spiritual master understood and was kind and gave me some credit in the midst of that sacrifice. He said, “I want to give him two initiations at once.” Well, that was a relief because I wasn’t sure if he was going to do that so at least, I was going to get my brahmin thread back; that was something! And then he said, “In fact, I would like to give him three, I would like to give him sannyasa as well but we will have to postpone that due to the particular rules and regulations in that regard.” By then it got pretty nice but it was not easy to just sit down in the sacrifice!

But afterwards, there was the whole thing of bowing down! I had to get used to it, to bow down! The scriptures say to bow down many times whenever one sees the spiritual master. That was a bit of an adjustment. Like that, I had to practice and I still have to practice in this guru-disciple relationship – to not take it casually, to not take it cheaply but to get really serious about it as a disciple and try to really act in such a way as he likes, as he would like in all situations. By now, I have some idea of what he likes and what he does not like.

So the spiritual master is always present in his instructions and following instructions does not come automatically, it takes real endeavour, but when that endeavour is made then the relationship becomes really meaningful…

 

JOYFULLY BEING ALONE
→ Karnamrita's blog

Author: 
Karnamrita Das

Straight talk photo Who am I really_zps7n7gycsk.jpg
JOYFULLY BEING ALONE: This topic is an extension of a frequent topic of mine, dealing with it on a daily basis, where I extol the virtue of introspection and self-analysis as part of clearing out impediments to devotion in the stage of bhakti called anartha-nivritti (retiring unwanted habits of thought and action)--at least that is often the hint. We live in a time of busy-ness and addiction to innumerable distractions, where it isn't seen as cool to just be sitting down without a handheld device, something to do, or talkative friends.

I remember once on a busy street being taken by the beauty of a particular cloud, where the comments I heard from passersby were about my being on drugs or exhibiting unusual, curious behavior to be looking up at the sky, as if their personal business of walking somewhere, or hanging out with no real purpose, was the only important activity, and my looking at a cloud was deranged tomfoolery.

Though we are social creatures that need interaction with others, the importance of being alone with one's thoughts or taking the time to reflect on life is crucial. Some people aren't comfortable being alone or don't know what to do with themselves

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Из “Шри Харинама-чинтамани”
→ Traveling Monk

 

Дорогие ученики, каждое утро перед джапой я молюсь этими стихами Шрилы Бхактивиноды Тхакура из 8-й главы “Харинама-чинтамани”. Это помогает мне ценить удачу, благодаря которой я посвящен в воспевание святых имен Господа Кришны. Советую вам делать то же самое.

Святое имя – чистейшая форма знания; наилучшая из врат (обетов) и вершина медитации.

Оно дает самые благоприятные плоды; оно есть величайшее отречение и неоценимая духовная деятельность.

Оно – самое благое из всех святых занятий; оно – наивысший путь самоосознания.

Оно предлагает наивысшее освобождение и цель и есть наивысшее место назначения.

Оно – лучшее преданное служение и наилучшее средство очищения.

Оно дарует любовь к Богу и есть сама суть памятования о Нем.

Оно – причина всех причин, Высшая Абсолютная Истина, наивысший объект почитания, высший духовный учитель и гид”.

 
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10208082320638749&set=a.3707173840886.2134384.1321748113&type=3&theater

Departure of Bhakti Vrajendranandana Swami
→ ISKCON News

At 3.40 am on the 30th of January Bhakti Vrajendranandana Swami left his body and returned to the spiritual realm. Lying in his bed in the Kuala Lumpur temple surrounded by devotees chanting the holy names Maharaja breathed his last. Bhakti Wrajendranandana Swami was born in Malaysia. He went to the UK to study where he joined ISKCON in 1971 in Birmingham. He got initiated in July 1972 from Srila Prabhupada on Trafalgar Square, receiving the name Vrajendra Kumar.

Between Worlds – The Samadhi Dance Celebrates 10 Years
→ ISKCON News

Choreography & concept: Vraja Sundari Keilman in collaboration with the dancers. Dancers in order of appearance: Vraja Sundari Keilman, Ricardo Rus Da Silva, Sarada Sarita Keilman, Annlydie Groenen, Ilaria Angelicchio, Gaura Nataraj Das (Aleksey) Furdak, Eline Vroon, Jeffrey Stuut, Rasarani Keilman, Guillermo Blinker, Fredrik Quinones, Vinita Simonse, Kim Amankwaa, Carl Refos, Marnix Lenselink, Liam O'Callaghan, Sara Pennella, Flory Curescu, Ronja Cornelis, Delano Spenrath.

The Pandavas
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Aniruddha Sowale: Any person who wins a favor of Krsna has to be extremely humble, meek, reservoir of good qualities, controller of senses and totally detached from the material world. The pandvas had it all, in the 16th chapter of Bhagwat Geeta where krsna tells Arjun about the qualities of demi-gods and propensities of demons,

Harinam in Gaza? Not!
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Nrisimhananda Dasa: I'm born Jewish. Let's get that out of the way. I have identified as a Vaisnava three times longer than as a Jew in my life. I identify as a devotee of Krishna, not as a Jewish devotee. I've been to Israel three times; Gaza once (when it was open to everyone while being administrated by Israel in 1979).

The future is in the future, not the past – Wisdom on Wisdom 3
→ The Spiritual Scientist

Podcast


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The post The future is in the future, not the past – Wisdom on Wisdom 3 appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Watering the Tree of Love
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By Niscala Dasi

Loving Krishna means loving everyone because Krsna is in their heart. Conversely, applying that logic backwards, if you don't love everyone, it means that you are not loving Krsna. Using the root and leaves example, if the leaves are looking healthy, it is to be understood that the root is receiving nourishment. In SB, eleventh canto, it is explained that only the kanishta or neophyte sees Krsna in the temple, but not in the hearts of all, and fails to respect and develop loving relationships with them. In my experience, the leaves and root example has been used in our preaching to discourage against trying to develop loving relationships that are devoid of a sense of everyone's natural attachment to the tree of Krsna, who alone can fulfill of their insatiable need for happiness forever. But there is an important consideration which needs to be taken into account. While it is true that while ignoring the root, the leaves will suffer, one must keep in mind also the limitation of the tree example. Unlike a tree, the root is within the heart of the very leaf itself. It is not that by offering respect to Krsna in the temple, at the same time ignoring His presence in the hearts of all living entities, somehow all living entities will be satisfied. Why? Because that is not bhakti. Lord Kapiladeva in 3rd Canto SB says that such attempted worship is like pouring ghee into ashes- utterly ineffective. Continue reading "Watering the Tree of Love
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In Prabhupada We Trust
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Hare KrishnaBy Hari-sauri dasa

I HAVE ALWAYS done a bit of travelling, at least since 1975 when I was fortunate enough to join Srila Prabhupada’s personal entourage. I got to travel India and around the world with His Divine Grace, and it gave me my first look at worldwide ISKCON. I was impressed. Impressed with Srila Prabhupada and impressed with his disciples and the amazing scope of transcendental activity that was manifesting all over the globe. Unity was the key, and that was achieved through the presence and desire of Srila Prabhupada. Later, after His Divine Grace’s disappearance I served as a GBC for over seven years. It seemed like I was in the air or on the road more often than I wasn’t. Continue reading "In Prabhupada We Trust
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Devotee soldier gets 600 American soldiers to chant Hare…
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Devotee soldier gets 600 American soldiers to chant Hare Krsna.
“ I am a soldier in the US Army and thought you all might get a laugh at what happened the other day. We had to do a 6 mile run for fitness. It’s custom to sing during these runs to build soldier cohesion.”
“ So they asked me to sing. I agreed so we were running down the street when the idea popped in my head to get them to chant. Now this wasn’t 6 or 7 people, its was a total of 600 soldiers. And they were into it, for 3 miles they chanted the Maha Mantra as loud as they could and were really into it. Amazing what the power of the Holy Name can do! ”
Your servant,
Partha-sarathi dasa

Choosing To Forgive
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Hare KrishnaBy Mahatma Das

The sastras are full of stories of forgiveness: Ambarisa forgiving Durvasa, Parikshit forgiving Sringi, Narada Muni forgiving Daksa, Prahlada forgiving Hiranyakasipu, Haridas Thakura forgiving the guards who beat him, Nityananada forgiving Jagai and Madhai, Parasarama forgiving those who stole his family’s kamadhenu cow. Srila Prabhupada forgave anyone who came to him to serve Krsna. And of course Krsna forgives all of us no matter how sinful or blasphemous we were. Sastra implores us to forgive. The Srimad Bhagavatam lists forgiveness as one of the qualities of civilized human beings. And Srila Prabhupada asks us to be forgiving so we can cooperate to spread the movement. Yet despite the examples of devotees demonstrating incredible acts of forgiveness, despite the sastra telling us to accept suffering as a token reaction of our karma, despite Prabhupada’s plea for us to forgive, and despite the cleansing it can do to our hearts, forgiving is difficult for many of us. Devotees often say, “I was so deeply hurt that I just don’t know how I can forgive.” Continue reading "Choosing To Forgive
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New Years Eve 2017 – Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast (Album with…
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New Years Eve 2017 - Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast (Album with photos)
Dharmatma Das: Our nightly Harinams have been exceptional. So many people smiling, waving and chanting and dancing with us. We really were the best and most enlivening show in town. Yes, there were a few Buskers but no one can get the crowd excited like Lord Chaitanya’s Harinam Party. This New Years was no exception. Kadamba Kanana Maharaja led the charge, then Janananda Maharaja took it to an even higher level, then the “Mad Hatter”, Mahavishnu Swami turned it into complete transcendental madness. Muslims, Christians, Hindus, whites, blacks and every other nationality and color were somehow or other implicated in the glorious sound vibration of the Lord’s Holy Names. Thank you Srila Prabhupada for the wonderful mercy you have given the entire world.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Ga3KTU

Preaching in Mexico by the Bus tour devotees (Album with…
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Preaching in Mexico by the Bus tour devotees (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: When a disciple becomes perfect in spiritual advancement, the spiritual master feels very, very happy, that “I am a nonsense, but this boy, he has followed my instruction and he has achieved the success. That is my success.” This is the spiritual master’s ambition. Just like a father. This is the relationship. Just like… Nobody wants to see anybody more advanced than himself. That is the nature. Matsarata. If anybody becomes advanced in any subject matter, then I become envious upon him. But the spiritual master or the father, he does not become envious. He feels himself very, very happy, that “This boy has advanced more than me.” This is spiritual master’s position. (V�ndavana, March 13, 1974)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/uBsL6p

diplomacy
→ Servant of the Servant

I always wondered if by being diplomatic one borders duplicity. For some reason, right or wrong, I am not a big fan of diplomacy because of this reason of sounding or looking duplicitous. In America, political correctness is a prevalent idea. According to the dictionary, politically correct means to speak or act in such a way that no one (especially based on sex and/or race) be marginalized or offended. Diplomacy on the other hand, although overlapping in concept with political correctness deals with the art of interacting with people in a sensitive and effective way. To express an idea without so much offending the values of another. This certainly is an art and an art I am very much lacking. Anyways, this is not about me!

I always wondered how such a nuanced art of diplomacy or even political correctness relates to the art of devotional service especially when we outreach to other individuals. Sometimes, it is necessary to be blunt but certainly many times it is warranted to speak diplomatically without sounding disingenuous. For the untrained ear, this may seem as compromising of values because does it mean we are devaluing the position of bhakti in relation to social etiquette. Today as I was reading Chaitanya Charitamrta, I found this definitive statement in one of the purports.

"The conclusion is that diplomacy used for the service of the Lord is a form of devotional service" - SP purport to CC Madhya 12.44.

Srila Ramananda Raya was speaking diplomatically by praising King Prataparudra in order to soften the mind of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu being a sanyasi did not want to meet a pounds and shillings person in the form of the king. Yet, Ramananda Raya very astutely glorified the qualities of the king just so Mahaprabhu will one day meet the king. This diplomacy to help another soul approach God is a direct form of devotional service. Similarly, if we also speak, according to the culture we are in, in a way that softens the heart of the listener so they are inclined favorably about bhakti to Krishna, then from this verse, we can understand such diplomacy or political correctness is nothing but devotional service. Certainly, this requires training and practice, nevertheless it is heartening to know that any form of art be it fine-arts or the art of communication, if it can be somehow engaged to get closer to Krishna, is another form devotional service (and not necessarily duplicity as I used to once think).

Hare Krishna

New beginnings!
→ KKSBlog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, July 2007, Phoenix, South Africa, Ratha Yatra Lecture)

Sometimes we get so disturbed by the past that the clock stops, “On 12 December 1937, I …” and we still remember what happened! Forget what happened! Who cares about what happened! First of all, accept that whatever happened maybe due to our past karma, that it was due to us. Now we are finished and we start again, start fresh, start positive and build up something good. Then the future is bright, the future is what you make it to be. The past does not make the future; the past is gone, dead-and-gone! What are you planning for the future … You can make something of it. It is up to us!

Krsna consciousness takes more than just determination. Determination means, “Okay, I will do!” Okay, we will do it but it takes more than that; you also have to DO something. You have to spend time with devotees and you have to do things in devotional service! You have to make an endeavour – you have to chant sixteen rounds and sixteen good rounds! That is an endeavour. So like that, we make an endeavour in spiritual life then we can become very successful…

 

An Old Friend
→ Seed of Devotion

"The bus is only two stops away, honey," Ghanashyam said, glancing at his phone. "I've got to go."

"Yes, yes, coming!" I poured hot soup into my husband's thermos and twisted on a cap with shaking hands. I slid the thermos into his lunchbox and handed it over.

"Thank you!" he said, then dashed away out the door. I took a deep sigh and began to clean up the kitchen. I turned around to face another counter and my heart dropped. The inner cap of Ghanashyam's thermos. This would mean his lunch would be cold and worse, the soup would spill everywhere. I hadn't woken up at 5:45am to make fresh soup for this!

I grabbed the cap and raced to the door. "Ghanashyam!" I called out into the hallway. Silence. I prayed that he hadn't left on the elevator yet. Frantic, I took several steps into the hallway.

The door behind me closed with a thump that echoed off the walls.

I spun around. I stared at the closed door, frozen.

Oh no.

I was in my pajamas and a robe, barefoot, holding a thermos cap. It was 6 o'clock in the morning in winter, the world still dark and asleep.

If Ghanashyam hasn't caught his bus yet, he could give me his key! I thought. Without many other options, I raced down the hallway, the elevator, and through the cavernous front lobby, my robes flying about me.

I dashed right out into the streets.

Barefoot, in pajamas, in the cold, dark morning.

Man, I must've looked like a lunatic!

I sprinted to the end of the block and glanced at the bus stop across the street. No Ghanashyam. Oh dear. So I padded back to our building. I had closed the front apartment building door carefully so that I could still get back inside. Once inside though, I realized I had looked at the bus stop for buses going in the wrong direction! So I RAN BACK OUTSIDE - barefoot, in pajamas, to search the OTHER, correct bus stop.

No go.

This time, though, I hadn't shut the front apartment building door so carefully and it had shut (and locked) behind me.

Great.

Now I was locked OUTSIDE in the cold, dark morning, barefoot, in my pajamas and robe. With a thermos cap!

So I waited and waited, but it wasn't too long before a lady came out the door on her way to work and I got inside.

So what to do?

The building superintendent. Maybe he had a spare key to our apartment. But it was so early, surely he was sleeping. I had no phone to call him, I didn't know which apartment he lived in. Barely anyone was out and about at this hour, and I did not want to feel like a crazy woman, tapping on my neighbors' shoulders begging for our super's phone number.

So I went up to our hallway and thought, hm, I could ask Eddie for help, our friendly neighbor in the apartment directly above ours. But it was just too early for EVERYBODY.

So what to do??

Wait.

I slid to the floor outside my door, the tile cold against my seat and feet. I put the thermos cap up on the doorknob to keep it off the floor and out of my hands. I took a deep breath and, keeping count on my fingers, I began to chant, "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna..."

It was a strange feeling, to be stripped of absolutely everything except the clothes on my back (and a thermos cap). I had nothing and no one to turn to in the world, everyone was out of reach. And yet what could never be taken away from me was the holy name. The holy name was there for me to keep me company. The holy name didn't care whether I was a billionaire in a mansion or some young woman with only the clothes on her back.

The holy name was simply my friend, unconditionally.

In the dark and quiet morning in our hallway, I chanted for about an hour and a half. I would regularly check the sky to see if the sun had come up yet. At last, I figured it was early but not too extreme, so I walked upstairs and rang Eddie's doorbell. Sure enough it took two times, as he was scrambling to wake up and answer the door. He called and texted the super to no avail, then he suggested going through the fire escape as long as my window was open.

Eddie climbed down to my place, opened my window, climbed through and opened my front door. When he did so, the thermos cap came tumbling into the hallway from its perch on the doorknob.

So there you go.

That was my morning.

When I settled once again on the warm couch in my cozy apartment, I reflected how in the chaos of the morning, I had experienced a glimpse of magic. I had connected with an old and beautiful friend who was right there in my heart and would be there until the ultimate moment when all trappings of this material world would be stripped away - death. He would be there even if I couldn't physically bring His name to my lips.

My dear Krishna, O Holy Name, thank you for being there, thank you for being my friend. Unconditionally.   

Visit with Rajani-priya Dasi
Giriraj Swami

rajani-priya-holding-photo-of-lila-saktiLast night night Swarup Damodar, Sukumari, Nikunja Viharini, and I went to visit Rose Forkash (now Rajani-priya dasi) at her home in Carpinteria. For three hours, she enlivened and inspired us with stories of her and her family’s association with and service to Srila Prabhupada. And Swarup Damodar gave me a wonderful exchange with Srila Prabhupada about her and her daughter, to read out loud.

Ramesvara: We have one mother in Los Angeles of a girl named Lila-sakti. She’s a big book distributor. And her mother, she loves this movement so much that when the deprogrammers start debating us, she stands up and yells at them that “My daughter was on drugs, hippie, before she came to this movement. This movement has saved her. If I had known about this movement when I was a young girl, I would have joined this movement!” On television she’s speaking like that, very strongly: “You have no right to criticize! You don’t know anything about this movement.” . . . She says, “You just come over to my house for lunch and I’ll tell you all about this movement, how nice it is.” She started this club, Parents for Krishna.
Prabhupada: Oh, she is very sincere. And her daughter, this Lila . . .? What is?
Ramesvara: Lila-sakti.
Prabhupada: She’s wonderful girl. She’s expert in everything.
(Room Conversation, January 20, 1977, Bhubaneswar)

Rajani-priya is now ninety-six years of age, but she is full of life—Krishna consciousness.

—Giriraj Swami