One day the King came to Puri along with his entourage. When he entered the temple through the Lion Gate, some pujaris ran to inform Talicha Mohapatra about the arrival of the King, who wanted to take darshan of the deities. Talicha Mahapatra rushed to the deity room to make sure the King received proper darshan, but he saw that the deities were not wearing flower gar¬lands. Usually when the King came to the temple he would ask for maha-prasada garlands of the deities. Mohapatra thought, "It is a great discredit for me that the King will not get Jagannathprasada." He was very worried. Finally he took a flower garland from his own neck and put it on Lord Jagannath.The King arrived at the altar and took darshan of the dei¬ties. As usual, after taking darshan, the King asked the pujari, "Can I please have some flower garland prasada?' The pujari washed his hands and took the flower prasada from the Lord, handing it to the King. The King received the prasada with humility and devotion, and then left for his palace.

 

The flower garland was very beautiful. It was prepared out of jui flower, a special flower that is pure white with a strong fra¬grance. The King, while sitting on his throne, gazed upon the flower garland, and suddenly found one long black hair. He thought, "This is very strange. How can this hair be in the garland? Jagannath has no hair on His head. This brahmana must have taken the flower garland from his own head and put it on Lord Jagan¬nath, and then gave it to me, telling me it was the prasada of the Lord." The King was very upset. He ordered the presence of Mo¬hapatra immediately. When Mohapatra was brought in front the King, he saw that the King was trembling in anger and hissing like a snake. The King said, "I found a hair in the garland of the Lord. Tell me, when did the Lord develop hair on His head? Tell me the truth, otherwise you will face death." Mohapatra became very scared and prayed, "Lord, please protect me. I know this King is very strict. Who knows what kind of punishment he will give me! Better I lie and save myself from his punishment." So he told the King, "Yes. It is true. For some time now the Lord has been grow¬ing hair."

 

Then King said, "Tomorrow morning I will go to temple and you can show me personally that the Lord has grown hair on His head. If it's true, then all auspiciousness to you. But if you cannot show me hair on the Lords head, then you will be thrown out of my country. You know very well how strict I am in punish¬ing someone."

Talicha Mohapatra went back to temple and engaged him¬self in the service of the Lord. After finishing his services he of¬fered his prostrated obeisances and prayed, "O great-armed Lord, what more can I say to You? You have given such a big position to an ordinary person like me. As a result, now Your greatness is in question. Even if one pacifies and kisses a dog, or feeds nectar to a snake, at some time they will definitely vomit poison. A sinful per¬son like me was never fit to serve the Lord. Those lotus feet where Brahma and Shiva place their heads; those lotus feet which are served by Laxmi Devi constantly; the water washing those lotus feet which is carried by Lord Shiva, which has purified three planetary systems; those lotus feet which are rarely obtained by Suka, Sanatana, and Sanaka; those lotus feet which are served by all the great demigods; those lotus feet which are meditated upon by all the great yogis—I have a chance to serve those lotus feet even though I have an ordinary human body. I am worse than an insect and not eligible for this great service.

 

"O my Lord, You are Bhavagrahi, and I am an ordinary proud man. I am too puffed up. I could not recognize the Lord and so I committed such sinful actions. I dared to put flowers from my head onto Your head. I am still here to say this. By now You should have chopped off my head with Your Sudarshan-cakra. You kill me; I have no objection. But I do not want to live and be pun¬ished by the King. What more should I tell you? You are always en¬gaged in the welfare of Your devotees. I have heard that for devo¬tees You accept so much trouble. To prove this You are holding the mark of Srivasta on Your chest. I have seen this by my own eyes. That is why I have no fear. You are very merciful." The pujari con¬tinued, "You know that by the end of the night the King will take me and give me heavy punishment. How can I tolerate that? Better to take poison and commit suicide before I get caught by the King." After saying this, Mohapatra closed the temple doors and went back to his residence. He kept one glass of poison next to his bed, with a plan to drink it by the end of the night if the Lord did not arrange to protect him. He went to sleep expecting some miracle.

 

Lord Jagannath understood the mind of His devotee. He came to the place where Talicha Mohapatra was sleeping. The Lord appeared to him in his dream, and said to him, "Why are you so scared? After serving Me you have nothing to fear. As long as I am here at Nila-chala, what can this King do to you? Even if ten mil¬lion kings come they cannot harm you. Why are you so afraid of this King? Why do you think that I have no hair? Am I bald-headed? Don't you see I have also hair on My head? Do not be fearful. Tomorrow you go to temple. You can see I have so much hair on My head, which you can show to your king."

 

Mohapatra woke up and saw there was no one next to him. He thought that the Lord must have given His mercy in the form of a dream. Long before the end of the night he took his bath and went to the temple. He opened the door and looked at the Lord. He was surprised to see the Lord had long, thick black hair on His head, decorated with so many nice flowers. The hair was very long, reaching His waist and touching the ratna-simhasan. After seeing this, Mohapatra was very happy. Then he engaged himself in the service of the Lord. Now he was free from the fear of the King and his punishment.

 

Early in the morning the King came to the temple and said to Mohapatra, "Show me the hair on the head of the Lord." Then Mohapatra replied without any fear, "What is there for me to show you? You just go near the Lord and see for yourself whether He has hair on His head or not." The King went behind the Lord and was surprised to see the long, curly black hair of the Lord reaching down to His waist. The King asked the pujari, "How did you fix this hair on the Lord's head? Did you fix some hair with the help of glue, or is this real hair that the Lord has grown?" Moha¬patra said, "You can check yourself whether it is false hair or real hair." The King pulled a few of the hairs from Jagannath's head. Immediately blood started to flow from the Lords scalp. When the King saw this he fainted, falling to the ground. When he awoke, he ran to the Mohapatra and caught hold of his feet, saying, "Please save me. I am such a fool. I have now become a great offender of the Lord. Now I am doomed. How could I have known that the Lord has so much mercy upon you? Now I understand that the Lord is non-different from His devotee. Any offense done to a devotee the Lord accepts as if it has been done to Him. I am the greatest fool to commit this offense. I have jumped into the fire and eaten poison by offending you." The King fell at the feet of Mohapatra. The pujari picked him up and said, "You have no fault. This is the greatness of the Lord. He has forgiven my offenses and has shown His mercy to me." While they were talking like this, they both went behind the Lord. But they saw there was no hair on his head. The King said, "O my Lord, You can do anything. Your glo¬ries are unknown even to the devas. How can I understand Your mood? Please excuse my offenses. You are equal to every one. You have no enemy and no friend."

 

Right is wrong and wrong is right - How is that?

Krishna Krishna... Oh Krishna...I am coming to catch You

The syllable 'Om'

Love has no reason. No one can force you to love someone but it has to be natural. In this world there is no love. Those who love God has nothing or no one to hate. But the genuine loving relationships among devotees with Krishna as the centre is everlasting and really beneficial for the soul. We learn proper behavior and etiquette in loving relationships with devotees which when matured will give us a chance to directly associate with The Lord in His abode.

Pure Love comes without reason

Once you break the heart, you cannot have the same charm you had earlier with that person.

A man shackled by iron chains have to carry those wherever he moves, similarly the conditioned souls have to move around in this material world with these shackles of mind wherever he goes. The conceptions of the mind gives rise to a material gross body one after another endlessly.

Wherever you go, you take them with you!

From: Divyangi lalita 
Subject: Message from Guru Maharaj

My dear initiated disciples, siksha disciples, sheltered and aspiring disciples and other well-wishers,

Please accept my best wishes and pranams.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

The Damodar month which recently went by was a great opportunity to offer lamps before the deities. I tried to do that every day this year and hope you did that too. Damodar month is also a great opportunity to engage others in this wonderful service. By simply offering a lamp to Lord Damodar, one can receive unimaginable blessings, so every year, up to the last day, please continue to try to engage as many people as possible in this auspicious sacrifice.

During my travel, I recently visited one bhakti-vriksha group in Gurgoan, Delhi. The wife had been very active and chanting but the husband had just started coming to the programs. I was introduced to the husband. He was a scientist. So, I asked him what was the subject of his research? "Pain and pain control" or "Pain management", he replied. It sounded like an interesting topic, so I asked him to explain a little more. He answered "There are various types of pain in this world. There is physical, emotional, psychological and social pain." While he was explaining, another man added," Financial pain!" Like this, he described various kinds of pain and said "After my research, where ever I look now, I simply see pain." He sees pain as all-pervasive. Nobody is free from all kinds of pain. There is always one pain or the other. Somebody may be rich and enjoy physically, but he may have marital problems or other problems that cause him anxiety or pain. Everybody has different kinds of anxiety and different kinds of pain. Krishna describes this material world as:

mām upetya punar janma
duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam
nāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥ
saṁsiddhiṁ paramāṁ gatāḥ

After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogīs in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.[BG.8.15]

I took this opportunity to discuss one of my own experiences with the scientist. Once I had high fever and at that time, I was listening to Srila Prabhupada's lectures in Vrindavan on Nectar of Devotion. I felt extremely blissful listening to these lectures and although physically I was in pain, I was feeling spiritual bliss. The scientist said that in their studies, they term this as distraction. One may have physical pain and when some distraction occurs, one does not feel the pain. I had a different opinion. I said, well, you may call it distraction, but we call it divya-ananda or parama-ananda, transcendental bliss or in some cases, ecstasy in devotional service. He laughed. So, the scientists have different ways of reducing everything to a mundane level.

I kept thinking about his research. Where ever I go, I see the devotees chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and dancing blissfully. I realised how Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda have given us such a blissful process. How they have given us a positive and spiritual experience. By chanting we are able to transcend the platform of mundane pain. Naturally, some start dancing while chanting. That is very natural. Then I began to think how some people take to some mundane alternatives to deal with pain. Some take to intoxication, or some absorb themselves in sense gratification. But, these may work for a while, but then intoxication becomes another pain. One gets a hangover or falls sick afterwards or becomes anxious when one does not get one's dose of intoxication. So, in this way this is added pain which is totally unnecessary. Absorbing oneself in sense gratification to feel distracted from pain, also has its subsequent pain. So everything in this material world that gets rid of pain, also gives you pain. By being regulated in sense gratification we can control pain. We need to absorb ourselves as much as we can in the transcendental service of Lord Krishna. Srila Prabhupada was so kind that he gave us this process. He brought this divine process of Krishna consciousness to the western world and India. 

In the west, Krishna Consciousness is completely new, and in India, although it is not new, many people do not know which path to follow. So Prabhupada spoke very clearly all over the world. It is a great opportunity for us to serve him. He wanted that we achieve the highest goal of life which is eternal service to Radha and Krishna. He wanted that we transfer ourselves to the spiritual world, and leave this world behind, which is simply full of pain. While we are here, he wanted that we should try to help people to get out of this painful situation, to chant Hare Krishna and be happy.

The coming Gaura Purnima festival 2014 in Sri Mayapur is expected to be very blissful and ecstatic. We have the ILS, or ISKCON Leadership Sanga, before the festival begins where one thousand ISKCON leaders from all over the world are expected to come and participate. They would meet with the GBCs and attend various seminars meant for their spiritual inspiration. After ILS is the kirtan-mela. This is the third year of kirtan-mela and kirtan leaders from all over the world would assemble to chant and lead kirtan for five days. The temple room is usually packed with devotees during kirtan-mela and they try to absorb themselves as much as possible in kirtan-rasa. This year is also the year of the Maha-abhiseka of Sri Sri Pancha-tattva, which falls once every five years. The life-size deities of Panchatattva will be bathed. To witness that bathing is a great transcendental joy. I am already thinking of how to engage many devotees in various services. This year is also the 25th anniversary of walking Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama. We went with Srila Prabhupada on parikrama in the early years and for many years we went by bus. So this is the 25th year of the walking parikrama. That also promises to be an ecstatic program. 

In this way, the Gaura Purnima Festival is filled with different festivities and all the devotees who participate usually become very blissful. So, I hope to see you then. I am informing you of all this in advance because I want to be sure you get some place to stay as early as possible. Maybe already most of the places are gone. We are planning to have a campsite area this year so that devotees who would like to bring their own tents can have facilities to camp out. We would have public toilets and bathing facilities for men and women separately. Somehow we are trying to facilitate as many devotees as possible.

Your well wisher always,
Jayapataka Swami

Source: JPS Live(Facebook)

Message from Guru Maharaj

Krishna Prasadam - vegetable Pulav and Panneer Sabji

Here is a list of 15 things which, if you give up on them, will make your life a lot easier and much, much happier. We hold on to so many things that cause us a great deal of pain, stress and suffering – and instead of letting them all go, instead of allowing ourselves to be stress free and happy – we cling on to them. Not anymore. Starting today we will give up on all those things that no longer serve us, and we will embrace change. Ready? Here we go:
1. GIVE UP YOUR NEED TO ALWAYS BE RIGHT
There are so many of us who can't stand the idea of being wrong – wanting to always be right – even at the risk of ending great relationships or causing a great deal of stress and pain, for us and for others. It's just not worth it. Whenever you feel the 'urgent' need to jump into a fight over who is right and who is wrong, ask yourself this question: "Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?" Wayne Dyer. What difference will that make? Is your ego really that big?
2. GIVE UP YOUR NEED FOR CONTROL
Be willing to give up your need to always control everything that happens to you and around you – situations, events, people, etc. Whether they are loved ones, coworkers, or just strangers you meet on the street – just allow them to be. Allow everything and everyone to be just as they are and you will see how much better will that make you feel.
"By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond winning." Lao Tzu
3. GIVE UP ON BLAME
Give up on your need to blame others for what you have or don't have, for what you feel or don't feel. Stop giving your powers away and start taking responsibility for your life.
4. GIVE UP YOUR SELF-DEFEATING SELF-TALK
Oh my. How many people are hurting themselves because of their negative, polluted and repetitive self-defeating mindset? Don't believe everything that your mind is telling you – especially if it's negative and self-defeating. You are better than that.
"The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive." Eckhart Tolle
5. GIVE UP YOUR LIMITING BELIEFS
about what you can or cannot do, about what is possible or impossible. From now on, you are no longer going to allow your limiting beliefs to keep you stuck in the wrong place. Spread your wings and fly!
"A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind" Elly Roselle
6. GIVE UP COMPLAINING
Give up your constant need to complain about those many, many, maaany things – people, situations, events that make you unhappy, sad and depressed. Nobody can make you unhappy, no situation can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it to. It's not the situation that triggers those feelings in you, but how you choose to look at it. Never underestimate the power of positive thinking.
7. GIVE UP THE LUXURY OF CRITICISM
Give up your need to criticize things, events or people that are different than you. We are all different, yet we are all the same. We all want to be happy, we all want to love and be loved and we all want to be understood. We all want something, and something is wished by us all.
8. GIVE UP YOUR NEED TO IMPRESS OTHERS
Stop trying so hard to be something that you're not just to make others like you. It doesn't work this way. The moment you stop trying so hard to be something that you're not, the moment you take off all your masks, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you will find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly.
9. GIVE UP YOUR RESISTANCE TO CHANGE
Change is good. Change will help you move from A to B. Change will help you make improvements in your life and also the lives of those around you. Follow your bliss, embrace change – don't resist it."Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls" Joseph Campbell
10. GIVE UP LABELS
Stop labeling those things, people or events that you don't understand as being weird or different and try opening your mind, little by little. Minds only work when open. "The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don't know anything about." Wayne Dyer
11. GIVE UP ON YOUR FEARS
Fear is just an illusion, it doesn't exist – you created it. It's all in your mind. Correct the inside and the outside will fall into place."The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself." Franklin D. Roosevelt
12. GIVE UP YOUR EXCUSES
Send them packing and tell them they're fired. You no longer need them. A lot of times we limit ourselves because of the many excuses we use. Instead of growing and working on improving ourselves and our lives, we get stuck, lying to ourselves, using all kind of excuses – excuses that 99.9% of the time are not even real.
13. GIVE UP THE PAST
I know, I know. It's hard. Especially when the past looks so much better than the present and the future looks so frightening, but you have to take into consideration the fact that the present moment is all you have and all you will ever have. The past you are now longing for – the past that you are now dreaming about – was ignored by you when it was present. Stop deluding yourself. Be present in everything you do and enjoy life. After all life is a journey not a destination. Have a clear vision for the future, prepare yourself, but always be present in the now.
14. GIVE UP ATTACHMENT
This is a concept that, for most of us is so hard to grasp and I have to tell you that it was for me too, (it still is) but it's not something impossible. You get better and better at with time and practice. The moment you detach yourself from all things, (and that doesn't mean you give up your love for them – because love and attachment have nothing to do with one another, attachment comes from a place of fear, while love… well, real love is pure, kind, and self less, where there is love there can't be fear, and because of that, attachment and love cannot coexist) you become so peaceful, so tolerant, so kind, and so serene. You will get to a place where you will be able to understand all things without even trying. A state beyond words.
15. GIVE UP LIVING YOUR LIFE TO OTHER PEOPLE'S EXPECTATIONS
Way too many people are living a life that is not theirs to live. They live their lives according to what others think is best for them, they live their lives according to what their parents think is best for them, to what their friends, their enemies and their teachers, their government and the media think is best for them. They ignore their inner voice, that inner calling. They are so busy with pleasing everybody, with living up to other people's expectations, that they lose control over their lives. They forget what makes them happy, what they want, what they need….and eventually they forget about themselves. You have one life – this one right now – you must live it, own it, and especially don't let other people's opinions distract you from your path.

Yours
Dinesh

Give up just these 15 things for a happy life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKgBIm3WxsE&sns=em


Yours
Dinesh

Radha Ramanji - 30 min film, must watch

Krishna Prasadam - Tomato Rice, Potato fry

When the Supreme Lord is pleased with His devotee, He protects the devotee by all means. So the devotee has to always remain faithful in his service to The Lord without personal sense gratification.

In the Govardhan Lila, the vrajavasis were thinking how Is that this small boy Krishna is lifting this big hill. So they thought they could also support with sticks. But those sticks support has really no value, which is like our personal endeavor. The Lord asked the people to go away when putting down the hill. But when they were reluctant, The Lord showed how the sticks broke into pieces when he slightly brought the hill down. Then everybody ran out of the scene.

Similarly The Lord has taken responsibility of us(when devoted to Him) until we get back to Him. By His protection even our worldly obstacles which are in the path of Bhakti are shattered into pieces. When we slightly get pride in our achievements and success in the material world, The Lord checks it by shaking us a little bit to put us in proper consciousness&attitude. If we don't learn lessons ourselves we will be forced to learn the lessons in a harder way by demanding situations . The son of Nanda is shrewd, so think well before you make a deal.

The powerful shield of protection from The Lord

3 types of friends

Sri Nrisimha Stuti

Krishna Prasadam- Rice, Black eyed peas gravy and Arbi fry

My Dear Lord,

You are the protector of the orphans. You never forsake those who take shelter of You. In actuality everyone in this world is feeling lonely having lost the real relationship which is an eternal connection with You. To forget this loneliness, they have created movies, malls, theme parks and hell a lot of unwanted things in this world. In personal life, one is trying to forget this loneliness by marriage - in the form of wife, children and relatives, friends.

There is nothing as worthy as connecting with You and Your pure devotees who are travelling around the world to spread Your glories. Once a living entity re-establishes the lost connection with You, one can never feel loneliness even in the wild forests and jungles in any corner of the Universe. And there is no need to go here and there, nowhere & everywhere.

Until then, one will never feel the completeness and satisfaction in anything in this world.

Anatha Rakshaka

 

Bhakti is for Krishna's pleasure

May 2, 1974

Bombay

I have been ill. Srila Prabhupada said bile. He recommended sugar cane juice and bitter sukta and said it was due to overwork.

Srila Prabhupada: They are keeping Balaji as a stone statue and collecting. I am the only single person preaching that Krsna is God. No one appreciates or understands, not even my own disciples. There had been some discussion.

Pancadravida Swami was in to see Srila Prabhupada before his breakfast. He told him that our mission is to make a certain section of the population ideal men. We cannot expect everyone. If by this way or that way you can bring one person to Krsna, He is very pleased to have one of His sons return. Hearing him giving his sannyasi disciple impetus like this to go and preach, I felt again the desire to leave my secretarial duties in direct service of Srila Prabhupada and go preaching in the U.S. colleges. I remember how I was doing that before and vowed that if given the chance, I would try harder this time. But I have already brought this up to Prabhupada and he dismissed it as whimsical. I have my present duties assigned to me. I am trying to chant Hare Krsna and pray to Krsna to treat me as He likes for my betterment, as only He knows. To ask for a certain situation in devotional service is my sense gratification that is not bhakti. The Lord knows my heart and knows all things considered, which I do not know what is best. Bhakti is not for my pleasure, but for Krsna's. I have to have more faith in Krsna that everything is all right.

Walking on Juhu Beach, reading from the Krsna Book about Krsna stealing the clothes of the unmarried gopi girls. Srila Prabhupada said they would do whatever Krsna asked. That is love. You can do whatever You want, still I love You, Lord Caitanya prayed. Otherwise it becomes a business exchange.

As in my miserable case, my spiritual master has clearly asked me to do one duty, but I am thinking of doing another and still pleasing him.

The best thing is even if one doesn't want to do something, if he is ordered by his spiritual master, he should do it. You cannot say that by following the direct order of the spiritual master it will hinder your spiritual progress. Yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado. By the mercy of the spiritual master, one gets the mercy of Krsna. Without the blessings of the spiritual master, no one can make any advancement. I may think it is very difficult to be asked to suspend traveling and preaching, but if my spiritual master has asked me to do so, then I must.



- From "ISKCON In The 1970s" by HH Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

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Please Chant: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare And Be Happy

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[srilaprabhupadanectar] Remembering Srila Prabhupada - Bhakti is for Krishna's pleasure

Krishna Prasadam - Peas Pulav, Egg plant Sabji

Krishna Prasadam - Rice, Rasam, Plantain-Okra Sabji, Papaya chunks

Due to anxiety about life in future we fail to live the life fully in the present. Present is the reality and future is with a lot of assumptions and so it's not wise to hoard everything for the future and make the present a miserable one.

Yours
Dinesh

Live life in the present

What a beauty, what a beauty???

The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment but ceasing such engagements and experiencing a higher taste, one is situated in consciousness. This is that higher taste that the lotus mouthed one talks about in Bhagavad Gita. Otherwise there is no other go than rotting with the matter, this lump of body forever in material contaminated consciousness. We are atleast a million years old today in this world and thanks for the birthday celebration parties for reminding the oldage.

Beauty personified - Sri Kishore Kishori - ISKCON Chicago

Sword of detachment

Krishna Prasadam - Rice and Panneer mutter

The Supreme Lord is not with a tinge of reproach for the sufferings and happiness that are experienced by the living entity. The living entity is the cause of various sufferings and enjoyment that is born of contact of senses with the sense objects. The Lord is giving chances to each one of us to come to Him in every way but due to our foolishness we don't turn to Him. My Lord, You have given me everything I needed but I didn't make the best of use of all that you provided. You are never at fault but me!!!

You have given me everything I needed but I didn't make the best of use of it

My dear servants, bring to me for punishment only personswho are attached to family life and worldly enjoyment, which form the path to hell.

Near Death Experience

Krishna Prasadam - Green Peas Pulav, Panneer Sabji

London
20 November, 1969
My Dear Gargamuni,
Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated November 17, 1969 with check for $63 and the bank receipt also. Tamala Krishna has gone now to Germany with the Sankirtana Party to install Radha-Krishna Deities there. I hope by this time you have received the shipping documents and invoice sent by the Bank of Baroda as well as by me. So after clearing the goods, please let me know how you have received them. Regarding your expenditures, we do not mind if there is no saving. Our policy should be to collect millions of dollars and spend also millions of dollars or sometimes more. But we should be very careful that we may not be extravagant. For necessary expenditures we have no grudge. I do not know what you are eating, but the eating program should be nutritious and simple, not luxurious. That means capatis, dahl, vegetables, some butter, some fruits and milk. This is necessary for keeping good health. But we should not indulge in sweetballs or halevah or like that daily. Too much first-class eating may stimulate our sex desires, especially sweet preparations. Anyway, eat Krishna Prasadam, but be careful that we may not indulge in luxury. For Krishna we can offer the most beautiful preparations, but for us Prasadam should be very simple. Regarding decoration of the Deities, that is very nice. They should always be very attractive so people who come will be attracted. So, as far as possible economize, and there is no need of savings. But because we are trying to purchase our own building we will have to save something because in the future we will have to pay large monthly installments. I have heard from Tamala that there is a nice church, and they are asking $100,000. Is that negotiation still going on? If so, you can let me know what is the position. Now I shall be very soon going to Boston, and then I shall go to Los Angeles. So what will be the arrangement for my stay there? I shall be glad to hear from you conveniently.
Please offer my blessings to the others. I hope this will meet you in good health.
Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Gargamuni -- London 20 November, 1969

Yours
Dinesh

Too much first-class eating may stimulate our sex desires, especially sweet preparations.

A house has vertical and cross sectional pillars to support the structure, a human body also has vertical and horizontal bones supporting the structure. This body which we are so much attached to is a bag of bones but takes lifetimes to really experience the soul and get freed from the bodily conception of life.

Even if a woman is ugly, she appears beautiful in the eyes of the husband, that's the power of illusory energy. Those that consider the self as the body which is made of pitta, kapha and vayu and also the byproducts as sons or daughters are no better than asses.

Human life means responsibility. As soon as we do something immediately the reaction is there. Therefore we must watch our way and take actions before we get totally lost.

What's our worth? Bag of bones ?

Krishna Prasadam - Rice, Kurma

Krishna Prasadam - Rice, Kichiri

> Krishna to Arjuna, "Don't think only your prescribed duty of fighting is defective. The work of a Brahmana also has defects. Even fire is covered by smoke. Even though superficially your prescribed duty may appear inferior to that of a brahmana's, you won't incur sin by doing your own prescribed duty. Therefore it is better to perform one's prescribed duty which is born of one's own nature. It is dangerous to perform another's prescribed duty even though if it's perfectly done. All activities are on the modes of nature, so there will always be some fault, one shouldn't worry about that"
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> Bhagavad Gita, Chapter#18
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Even fire is covered by smoke what to speak of activities done with other lower elements?