Marketing is, making you buy what you really dont want. Maya is also marketing with her illusory beauty of this body and all that is associated with the body. We really dont need this body to be happy. It's actually this body which is the cause of all suffering and if used properly the same body can help us get liberated.

There are two kinds of things..Needs and Wants

1.Needs are like basic things without which survival itself is not possible Eg: Eating, Sleeping, Mating, Defending
2.Wants are those that are really not necessary but may be used part of Luxury or comfort. Eg: Unwanted luxury which binds one further

Senses are pulled by the sense objects,therefore mind is pulled by the senses and then the intelligence and finally the soul himself is dragged down helplessly to experience the miserable existence of binding oneself further. 

Cannot even think properly without goodness, nothing works without passion and we cannot sleep without ignorance and all this is required in the material world when in material body.

When we start using the products that are marketed we will understand it's unworthiness. Without even using the product we would have been hassle free but it's too late by the time we have the product with us :) And it's the same case with our body and all that is associated with that. In the beginning it may appear there's some pleasure but that is the cause of the suffering ahead. It's all the passion that brings all the suffering. Honour, Prestige, Fame, House, Children, Wife, Cars are all products of passion. Goodness is better than passion and passion is better than Ignorance but Pure Goodness is above all these three. When one is situated in Devotional Service then one is said to be in pure goodness.


--
Yours
Dinesh
Blog:http://dinesh-krsna.blogspot.com

Maya is marketing herself in a vibrant way....and finally you are cheated!!!

Complete Purification by Devotional service

via GLORIOUS KRISHNA by Jyoti & Vidya on 8/26/11

Another example given in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam concerns the elephant who enters into a lake and takes a bath very seriously, cleansing his body thoroughly. Then as soon as he comes onto shore he again takes some dust from the earth and throws it over his body. Similarly, a person who is not trained in Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot become completely free from the desire for sinful activities. Neither the yoga process nor philosophical speculations nor fruitive activities can save one from the seeds of sinful desires.

 

Only by being engaged in devotional service to Krishna can this be done.

 

- Srila Prabhupada (Nectar of Devotion)

Complete Purification by Devotional service

Attainig Krishna Prema by Chanting Offenselessly

via GLORIOUS KRISHNA by Jyoti & Vidya on 8/26/11

"One should never lose hope in spite of being attacked by wicked thoughts while chanting the holy name. All these thoughts will gradually disappear as one becomes fixed in chanting. But if one does not chant with enthusiasm how will such materialistic thoughts disappear?"

The best way to overcome the material energy is to associate with pure devotees and to chant the holy name of Krsna. A devotee's advancement can be measured by how much he is attracted to chanting the holy name.

"The end of all study and knowledge is the chanting of Krsna's holy names. Devotion to the Lord means faithfully chanting the holy name of Krsna. One who chants the holy name without offenses will very quickly attain Krsna prema."

- HH Mahanidhi Swami

Art of Chanting Hare Krishna

Attainig Krishna Prema by Chanting Offenselessly

'Krishna will never forget His devotee'

via GLORIOUS KRISHNA by Jyoti & Vidya on 8/24/11

If a devotee takes to Krsna Consciousness very seriously and sincerely but if he falls down due to some reason, Krishna never forgets that sincere service rendered. If we have pleased Him or His devotee, Krishna will never forget that and He will intervene and give us the chance again and again may be in this birth or some future birth. It depends on us whether we use our free will to surrender to the Lord or to surrender to our material desires. But once we establish the relationship, He will never let us go for long.

There was once a devotee who left Krsna Consciousness and wanted to enjoy material life. He flew to another country and as soon as he came out of the airport, one devotee came and asked him to buy a book. He just ignored and thought to himself that why is Krishna doing this. When he entered His hotel room and switched on the television, on some news channel He saw devotees chanting the Lord's blissful names. Whatever He did, wherever he went somehow Krsna kept reminding Him of the transcendental life he had given up for the poisonous nectar of this world.

That's when He understood that Krishna is so merciful and kind that He is never going to let me go irrespective of my foolishness and disobedience. At that same point, that devotee returned back to the temple and dedicated himself whole-heartedly in the service of the Lord.

Hare Krishna.

(HH Radhanath Swami)

'Krishna will never forget His devotee'

Steadiness in Devotional Service

via GLORIOUS KRISHNA by Jyoti & Vidya on 8/24/11

By HH Sivarama Swami

Devotees often ask what the meaning of steadiness is: some consider that chanting sixteen rounds a day and following the four regulative principles means that one is steady, while others say it is steadiness in one's service; yet others give different variations of what they consider steadiness to mean. But these things mentioned—regularly chanting and regularity in serving—are physical symptoms that may or may not indicate real steadiness.

Suddha-bhakti-cintamani deals with the subject of steadiness from several different perspectives. What does real steadiness mean? nasta-prayesv abhadresu nityam bhagavata-sevaya: "nasta-prayesu," when almost all the inauspicious things in the heart, which are of so many variations, when they are more or less eradicated then there is steadiness. And this "more or less," Srila Prabhupada said "75%," so when 75% of impurities in the heart are eradicated, then the devotee achieves a certain level of spiritual steadiness that enables him to think about Krishna, to chant Krishna's names, because his mind and senses are no longer distracted from chanting, serving, and thinking of Krishna. Why? Because the effect of the anarthas still remaining in the heart is minimal when compared to the storehouse of devotional energy that the devotee has acquired.
So when we speak of steadiness we speak of a certain degree of purification of the heart which has its threefold symptoms, according to Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura: steadiness of mind, speech, and physical activities. These are listed in increasing order of grossness; the most subtle form of unsteadiness is in the mind. A devotee can determine how steady their mind is by how easy it is for them to think about Krishna, to chant Hare Krishna and not allow their mind to wander and be distracted. That may happen once in a while, but overall they are able to focus on the holy name. With steadiness of speech, one is able to avoid prajalpa, unnecessary and foolish talks. And steadiness in bodily activities, this means sensual steadiness.
So these are the symptoms of steadiness, but real steadiness is that 75% purification of the heart. It is technically called nisthita bhajana-kriya, when the kriya, the activities, of one's bhajana are unwavering, then that is steadiness, or, as Srila Prabhupada said, "fixed up" in devotional activities. And by definition of the word itself, bhajana kriya, the activities of bhajana will really indicate how steadily one is situated in Krishna consciousness. For instance, we will often see how someone is so fixed up in their service they don't even have time to chant sixteen rounds a day, and this is no good. When that devotee is asked to just sit and chant and make up their missing rounds, then we see that they cannot do so, their mind is distracted.

Therefore, even though someone may appear very steady in terms of their activities, it simply means they have some other qualification: it may be that by nature they're very dutiful persons. That someone is dutiful does not necessarily indicate that they are steady in devotional service. If someone is steady in devotional service, then they will be dutiful, but the converse does not automatically apply. As a good friend used to say, "I judge a man by his japa!"

So this is nistha bhajana kriya: chanting Hare Krishna, hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam associating with Vaisnavas, worshipping the deity. And when devotees have fixed attention to the performance of these activities, a natural, observable taste for these activities of pure devotion exists in the devotee. Even if it may appear that they are not so steady in their duties, still this kind of devotee is superior to those who may appear to be steady in their duties but who are not steady in devotion. Because ultimately, even if one can imitate the external activities, or if one has a particular karma or qualification and therefore has the external symptoms of nistha, still if the concomitant purification of the heart is not there, then one will not advance to the next stage of devotional service, which is rucih.

The spiritual benefit of being steady in devotional activities means that one actually focuses on the acts of sravanam kirtanam, when one is not distracted. Therefore by being offenseless in those activities, one achieves the full benefit. And that is rucih: param drstva nivartate, one attains a higher taste, and when that happens one becomes attached to Krishna Himself. This higher taste is attachment to the acts of devotion, and those acts mature into an attachment to Krishna, His form, His pastimes. That ultimately becomes the doorway to transcendence.

So Vaisnavas really strive to achieve this purity of heart called steadiness, because from that stage devotional service progresses rapidly. There are no significant obstructions to one's advancement in Krishna consciousness and the devotee can really shoot forward, back home, back to Godhead, without delay.

So let's be conscientious in our bhajana kriya, even if we are not nisthita, even if we are anisthita, unsteady, then by effort and good association with devotees who are fixed, by avoiding bad habits, by avoiding carelessness in devotional activities, by avoiding offenses, then very quickly the process of chanting and hearing fructifies, and one of the primary benefits of that maturing creeper of devotional service is that it becomes steady. Just like a tree at a certain point is no longer a sapling, it isn't green and tender, prone to being easily toppled, but it starts to develop a bark, it becomes brown and strong and can stand on its own without any kind of support, so it is with the creeper of devotional service when the stage of steadiness is achieved. And this is, as Srila Prabhupada says, the stage of 75% purification of the heart, purification from these unwanted habits.

Hare Krishna.

Steadiness in Devotional Service