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Bhakti Yoga-Devotional Service to the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna

Bhakti Yoga-Devotional Service to the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna
Gopis performing Devotional Service to the Lordships Sri Sri Radha Krishna

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Friends of enemies are also enemies




Anger pride envy madness greed lust are all friends with each other. So think well before allowing anyone of them into your system.  If you give place to one of them they will bring their friends also one by one.



Yours
Dinesh

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Baby steps and mercy


When the babies first learn to walk they slip and fall down quite a few times until their bodily limbs become strong enough to attain stability. 


Similarly with our weak faith in Krishna, we fall down many times becoming prey to the glamour of the material energy and get stuck. 


We can make progress with a little support from our spiritual master, the father, the baby learns to walk steadily despite the impediments on the way. 


Srila Prabhupada said he has given all his mercy to his disciples. If you voluntarily put knife on your neck nobody can help you. Similarly we voluntarily associate with the modes of material nature and get contaminated despite the mercy of Guru and Lord Caitanya that protects us from illusory energy.



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Taste for offensive attitude grows




We have taste for Krishna's names and His mercy in the form of Prasadam. And it grows as long as we  don't offend the Vaishnavas and The Lord. Similarly the taste for offensive attitude also grows with someone who already has begun offending. It needs correction before it grows bigger and bigger. We see from Caitanya Lila that there was one who went to extent of offending even Lord Caitanya for eating more as a sannyasi. 


In Krishna Lila, Rukmi, Jarasandha, Sisupala all of them offended Krishna and their offenses had to be stopped at some point otherwise it was not good for them. So The Lord punishes miscreants as a father for the benefit of the child.


A big ship is held at the port by a small iron part. Similarly our soul can be saved by simply controlling the small part in our big gross body - tongue in our speech and eating remnants of food offered to Krishna.




Yours
Dinesh

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Fight!


From: bhakti.vikasa.swami

Srila Prabhupada said:

So you have to fight. Krsna never said, 'Arjuna, oh, you are My devotee, you
sit down and sleep, I shall take care of . . . ' He never said that. So if
you take that position -- we are devotees, non violent, and let us sleep ..
. . Fight! With all the resources that we have got. That is wanted.

So prepare for fight. Don't be afraid. Arjuna, they were five brothers and
the other party, one hundred brothers. Therefore Dhrtarastra was confident
that 'What are these five brothers without any help? We have ruined them.
They were in the forest for thirteen years. Lost all connection, no kingdom.
I have got government in hand, and my hundred sons, and we are well
equipped.'

You must come forward to fight. If you simply sit down in Vrndavana, then
Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission is not being carried. He says, prthivite ache
yata nagaradi grama.  [CB Antya-khanda 4.126] That is His mission. I am a
teeny person; single handed we shall fight? Why you should see the fun and
do not fight? That I am asking you. I shall fight and you shall see the fun?
Come with me to fight, because there is a world fight now.

It is a serious situation; you should not see simply the fun and claim to
belong to Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Now you should come out to fight. Am I wrong
or right?

Now we should combine together and fight. As soon as you introduce something
strong, there will be fight. There will be fight. Even Krsna had to see the
fight, Kuruksetra. Dharmaksetre kuruksetre samaveta yuyutsavah [Bg. 1.1].
The fight must be there, yuyutsavah. So if you belong to Caitanya
Mahaprabhu's party, then you should come out to fight. Whatever's done is
done, and it is done single handed. Nobody has helped me. Even not my
Godbrothers. These American boys, they have helped me. They understood the
philosophy and they helped me.

Now you should come forward, all combine together. There is a great fight.
We are just planning how to fight. Now when there is fight, it requires real
strength. Now their fight is confronting us because they are feeling the
strength. Their whole civilization is threatened. We are recommending no
illicit sex, no intoxication, no gambling, and no meat eating. This is the
basic principle of modern civilization. So the foundation is threatened.
Theoretically they are taking that 'If these four things are stopped, then
where is our civilization?' The millions of liquor manufacturers, breweries,
millions of gambling houses, cigarette factories, so theoretically if this
movement is successful, then whole civilization is finished. Because these
young men have taken seriously, so they are threatened and they are making a
strong party to fight with us."

We should gather our strength. Fight. Krsna never said that 'Don't fight.'
Never said to Arjuna that 'You are My devotee; you don't fight. You are very
good gentleman, nonviolent, and I shall do everything for you.' Never said
that. He said, 'Now there is a great dangerous fight. Why you are saying
like a nonsense?' anarya justam, like non Aryan. This fight is another good
news that they are feeling the strength.

Fight! Without fight, where is life? If there is no fighting, then what is
that life? That is dead stone. Fight must be there. Krsna's whole life is
fighting from the very birth. His father carried Him to Gokula and He fell
down in the Yamuna and . . . Just born, the fighting began. Just born. And
at Yasodamayi's house, Nanda Maharaja's house, so many demons daily coming
-- Sakatasura, Aghasura, Bakasura, Putana, so on, so on, so on. Ultimately
Kamsa, when He was young boy. Vrndavana, so many asuras came. You have seen
the pictures? Krsna is fighting with the horse demon, with the bull,
fighting. If Krsna is fighting, why not Krsna consciousness the same thing?
You cannot expect peaceful life. No, there must be fighting; then think,
'That is Krsna's presence, His fight.' So this fighting means they're
feeling the presence of Krsna consciousness movement. Otherwise why they're
making fight? Had it been an insignificant thing, there was no question of
fighting."

(Excerpts from Transcendental Diary)
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--
Yours
Dinesh

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Everyone is Drowning and struggling to float in the ocean of material existence




Each one of us is alone in this World in reality therefore no one conditioned soul can give shelter to another conditioned soul. It's like each one of us trying to swim in the ocean and since everyone is drowning, no one can save anyone else.



Yours
Dinesh

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The "Fifty Percent" Puzzle

The “Fifty Percent” Puzzle

by Rohininandana Dasa

While reading Srila Prabhupada’s books, I’ve often puzzled over passages like this: “Charity is meant for the householders. The householders should earn a livelihood by an honorable means and spend fifty percent of their income to propagate Krishna consciousness all over the world” (Bhagavad-gita 16.3).

When I lived in the temple, I would repeat the phrase “fifty percent of your earnings” rather thoughtlessly. Now that I live outside and have in some ways come out of my ivory tower, I’m a bit more thoughful.

For most people giving fifty percent of their grossincome seems too difficult. So I’ve been trying to understand what “fifty percent of one’s income” actually means.

Let’s look at a modest British income of $20,000. After taxes you’re left with $16,200. Then comes the mortgage or rent, and you’re down to $9,000. Fifty percent is already gone. Chalk off another $700 for travel and $1200 for telephone, electricity, and other services. Then maybe $5,000 for food, clothes, repairs and renewals, family recreation, and other expenses. You’ve only got $2,100 left

In speaking about “fifty percent,” Srila Prabhupada cites the example set by Srila Rupa Gosvami when he retired from household life. Srila Rupa Gosvami allocated half of his accumulated funds for Lord Krishna’s direct service, a quarter for his family members, and the rest for personal expenses and emergencies. Note that these were accumulated funds

In commenting on the Gita (9.27),Srila Prabhupada mentions “surplus money accumulated.” And in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.17.42) he further explains, “One’s accumulated wealth may be divided into three parts for distribution, namely fifty percent for the service of the Lord, twenty-five percent for the family members, and twenty-five percent for personal necessities. Spending fifty percent for the service of the Lord or for propagation of spiritual knowledge in society by way of the sankirtana-yajna is the maximum display of human mercy. … When everyone is taught to sacrifice fifty percent of his accumulated gold for the Lord’s service, certainly austerity, cleanliness, and mercy automatically ensue.”

It’s pretty clear, then, that “fifty percent of one’s accumulated wealth” refers to one’s wealth after essentialexpenses. When Rupa Gosvami made his contributions, he didn’t include the expenses he had before he took sannyasa.

When a devotee I know heard this explanation, he suddenly felt that a cloud of confusion, guilt, and apprehension had been lifted. He now felt that it was possible to dedicate fifty percent of his income for Lord Krishna’s direct service. Instead of feeling bad about himself and struggling with thoughts like, “If I can’t possibly come up to the mark, why bother at all?” he felt encouraged. In fact, he began to look for ways to cut his expenses to have more for Krishna.

Srila Prabhupada didn’t pressure people into giving their hard-earned money. By his pure teaching, people understood what is what and naturally surrendered not only their money but their lives as well.

If anyone has further thoughts on this matter, I’d like to hear them. Please write to me c/o BTG in San Diego/



--
Yours
Dinesh

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Fwd: BG



Krishna : Those who have excessive attachment or aversion cannot become a devotee. 


Arjuna: How does anyone ever become a devotee. It seems to be impossible to become a devotee. 



Krishna: Those who are pious in the previous and in this life, by the mercy of pure devotees attain devotion to Me. The pure devotees wander all over the earth to give mercy to the fallen conditioned souls.


- HH.Purnachandra Goswami BG audio rendition chapter 7


--
Yours
Dinesh

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Krishna Prasadam

Yours
Dinesh
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Submission by the wife is a psychological tactic for a peaceful and strong marriage.

TEXAS FAITH 127: In faith and gender politics, what does submission mean - as in, submissive spouse? 
In order to have a stable culture stable family life is necessary. If there is irreligion in the form of divorce it breeds lack of faith and stability in the children along other degrading qualities. Submission by the wife is a psychological tactic for a peaceful and strong marriage. Men in general like to feel that they are in charge. If a woman can give him that illusion, that he is the leader, the relationship can be more strongly supported from the danger of break up. In a traditional Vedic marriage the wife is the queen at home and the husband in the king in public. Because of this ancient social science there is hardly any divorce in India and outside of the modernized urban areas it is practically non existent.
Ultimately one is to become submissive to God. The material world is a place where souls go who have ego problems. Those of us in the material world have a tendency to lord it over others. Because a good and peaceful family life is conducive towards dharma and spiritual life, a spiritual aspirant will try to cooperate with their spouse towards that goal. The idea is that pleasure and happiness comes by serving the whole just as watering the root of the tree supplies water to its leaves. Similarly a spiritual relationship is free from mentality of getting something out of another but rather to work together to serve the whole. When a couple truly serves the root with love, they, the leaves, become nourished and satisfied. -Nityananda Chandra Das

Yours
Dinesh

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