Wake Up Little Jiva
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Thu, 2001/01/25 - 2:00amThe verse in Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya 22.107 reads, nitya-siddha krsna-prema 'sadhya' kabhu naya, sravanadi-suddha-citte karaye udaya. "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.
This is a wake up call to preaching Krishna consciousness. It is actually in everyone and merely has to be found, or brought out.
Education's Challenge
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Tue, 2001/01/23 - 2:00amEducation always involves some guesswork, because we rarely know the full propensities of any child in the early years, what to speak of the future and how to prepare for it. This is a challenge for all Krishna consciousness educators. The best scenario is to maintain traditions, yet ensure our systems are always sensitive to time, place, and circumstance, and prioritize preaching as frontline work, thus keeping compassion and our mission as the yardsticks.
Avoid intimate association with sense enjoyers
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Sun, 2001/01/21 - 2:00amIntimacy should be saved for devotees. One is not to be intimate with others. Reference: "Asat-sanga tyaga, - - ei vaisnava-acara, 'stri-sangi' - - eka asadhu, 'krsnabhakta' ara," or, a Vaisnava should always avoid the association of ordinary people. Common people are very much materially attached, especially to women. Vaisnavas should also avoid the company of those who are not devotees of Lord Krsna. (Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya 22.87).
Diplomacy
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Sat, 2001/01/20 - 2:00amDiplomacy CAN be used for Krishna, but don't try it unless you're expert and there's a good reason for it. "The conclusion is that diplomacy used for the service of the Lord is a form of devotional service." (Caitanya Caritamrta, Madhya-lila, Chapter twelve, verse 44, purport). Diplomacy or kutaniti, is sometimes translated as "duplicity." But both Raghunatha das and Sanatana were familiar with diplomacy and used it when necessary.
Know three things, know everything
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Thu, 2001/01/18 - 2:00amSrila Prabhupada: "Our only request is that every one of you, you try to understand God, love Him and be happy. The final conclusion in the Bhagavad-gita is that if you want to be peaceful, if you want the peace of your mind, you should understand three things. That three things are that to understand that God is the supreme enjoyer. This is one. He is the proprietor of everything, and He is friend of everyone.
Beauty is Only Skin Deep
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Sat, 2001/01/13 - 2:00amPlastic surgery and other attempts to arrest the aging process are popular, and on the rise. As Srila Prabhupada points out, a dead body is disgusting, regardless of how beautiful he or she may have been when alive. In fact a beautiful dead person is downright scary, especially if you think at first that they're alive, isn't it so?
Death Is At Your Door
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Thu, 2001/01/11 - 2:00amIt helps us remember the fragility of life when we realize that every time we drive a car we're wielding a lethal weapon. A ten-inch wide painted line is often all that separates us from oncoming cars. When we drive on these kinds of roads we are only a few feet away from death. Padam padam yat vipadam ne tesam.
You Are What You Eat
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Wed, 2001/01/10 - 2:00amAt least ten times, Srila Prabhupada said, "You Are What You Eat," attributing it to George Bernard Shaw.
Bhava Grahi Janardana
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Mon, 2001/01/08 - 2:00amIn a letter to Mandali Bhadra dated 25 May 1969, Srila Prabhupada wrote: "But in everything we do devotion and sincerity are the real things. There is a word in Sanskrit; bhava grahi Janardana: This means the Lord accepts service in devotional emotion. If we are sincere in offering something to the Lord in devotional love, He will accept it. The procedure may not be very right, but the desire being sincere, He accepts our offering.
Influence
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Sun, 2001/01/07 - 2:00amThe influence of the age is so pervasive that even Krsna's own peers suspected him 10. 57.41: "After the almighty Lord had shown the Syamantaka jewel to His relatives, thus dispelling the false accusations against Him, He returned it to Akrura."
PURPORT
For the second time, doubts about the Lord's reputation occasioned by the Syamantaka jewel are dispelled by the jewel itself. Indeed, for the second time the Lord brought the jewel to Dvaraka to establish His integrity there.