(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Melbourne, Australia, October 2011)

When we are marking the body with tilak in twelve different places, it is said that the meaning of the tilak is that the body is a temple. It is not only that the body is a temple – we are actually installing deities:

"Om Keśavāya namaḥ,"

And in twelve directions we are installing twelve deities of Visnu. So literally, the body is a temple, when we are wearing tilak.

So what auspiciousness is this movement offering to us?

Therefore, early in the morning when we rise we put tilak on. Even if we get up late, and we have five minutes only before we go to work, we can wear tilak for five minutes – that is auspicious. In other words we must try to fix ourselves in this new identity!

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Melbourne, Australia,October 2011)

Everything in this world belongs to Krishna, including our bodies, our children and all of our possessions. Therefore, everything is meant to be used for Krishna. Of course, we ourselves also need to live – we need a residence for shelter, we need to eat and so on, but we are doing that all on behalf of Krishna:

"yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo
mucyante sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ" (Bg3.13).

One should only eat 'yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ'- remnants that has been offered to the Lord! Only that which is left over from 'yajña', no other things a devotee will take! It is said that otherwise one will get involved in sinful reactions! Because whatever is the consciousness of the cook, will affect whatever he has eaten and subsequently it will affect our consciousness. Thus new material desires will be born! Therefore, we are careful in our eating, that in our house is Krishna's house! In that house we are only doing things that are favourable to Krishna!

…

It was the marathon and there was one devotee, whose name was Purusottama, he was so fired up that he would start sleep walking and in his sleep he started to distribute books! So he would shake you while you was sleeping and try to sell you a book! And the only way to go back to sleep right away was to buy it! You can understand…he won the marathon! There's no way to compete with somebody like that. But he got the mercy by being active. So devotional service is active, it's not passive. It's not just passively looking at how to receive the mercy. We become active and the more active one becomes the more mercy. And the more one becomes absorbed, then the smaller the material world becomes…

(Kadamba Kanana aharaja, October 2011, Melbourne, Australia)