A Regulated Life is Very Important
“There is no possibility of one’s becoming a yogi, O Arjuna, if one eats too much, or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough.” (Bhagavad-gita 6.16)
If we want to become Krishna conscious we have to live a regulated life. We can not eat too much or too little or sleep too much or too little. Too much eating means eating more than is required to keep the body and soul together.
There is no need for humans to eat animals because there is a good supply of grains, vegetables, fruits and milk available. Such simple foods are considered to be in the mode of goodness according to the Bhagavad-gita. Animal food is for those in the mode of ignorance therefore those who eat animal food and engage in other sinful activities like drinking alcohol and smoking will suffer sinful reactions because of eating only polluted things.
Anyone who eats for his own sense pleasure, or cooks for himself, not offering his food to Krishna, eats only sin. One who eats sin and eats more than is allotted to him can not practice perfect yoga. One should only eat the remnants of food offered to Krishna. A person in Krishna consciousness does not eat anything which is not first offered to Krishna.
Therefore only the Krishna conscious person can attain perfect yoga practice.
It is also impossible for a person who artificially abstains from eating, manufacturing his own personal practice of fasting, practice yoga.
The Krishna conscious person observes fasting as it is recommended in the scriptures. He does not fast more or eat more than is required and he is thus competent to perform yoga practice. One who eats more than required will dream very much while sleeping, and he must therefore sleep more than required.
One should not sleep more than six hours daily. One who sleeps more than six hours out of the twenty-four is certainly influenced by the mode of ignorance. A person in the mode of ignorance is lazy and prone to sleep a great deal. Such a person can not perform yoga.
“He who is temperate in his habits of eating, sleeping, working and recreation can eliminate all material pains by practicing the yoga system.” (Bhagavad-gita 6.17)
Extravagance in the matter of eating, sleeping, defending and mating–which are all demands of the body–can block advancement in the practice of yoga. As far as eating is concerned it can be regulated only when one is practiced to take and accept prasadam, sanctified food. Lord Krishna is offered, according to Bhagavad-gita (9.26), vegetables, flowers, fruits, grains, milk, etc. In this way a person in Krishna consciousness becomes automatically trained not to accept food which is not meant for human consumption, or which is not in the category of goodness.
As far as sleeping is concerned, a Krishna conscious person is always alert in his discharge of duties in Krishna consciousness, and therefore any unnecessary time spent sleeping is considered a great loss. A Krishna conscious person can not bear to pass a minute of his life without being engaged in the service of the Lord. Therefore his sleeping is kept to a minimum.
His ideal in this respect is Srila Rupa Gosvami, who was always engaged in the service of Krishna and who could not sleep more than two hours a day, and sometimes not even that. Haridas Thakur would not even accept prasadam nor even sleep for a moment without finishing his daily routine of chanting with his beads three hundred thousand names of Krishna.
As far as work is concerned, a Krishna conscious person does not do anything which is not connected with Krishna’s interest, and thus his work is always regulated and is untainted by sense gratification. Since there is no question of sense gratification there is no material leisure for a person in Krishna consciousness. And because he is regulated in all his work, speech, sleep, wakefulness and all other bodily activities, there is no material misery for him.
About the Author
Madhudvisa dasa My first contact with a Hare Krishna was a most merciful Mataji in Oxford Street, London who sold me a "Higher Taste" cook book in 1984 while I was on holidays there. I started seriously reading Srila Prabhupada's books in Australia 1985 and by 1986 Srila Prabhupada had convinced me "Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead" and "we should surrender to Krishna." I joined the Hare Krishnas in Perth, Western Australia in 1986. Since then I have been chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, reading and distributing Srila Prabhupada's books and preaching as much as I can. That's my life and full-time occupation now really. I like it more than anything I've ever experienced before. Srila Prabhupada's books are so amazing... Even after reading them all many times they're still fresh and new. They are truly transcendental! That's it really. Now I'm just hankering to once again see the world chant Hare Krishna, dance and feast and float away in the ecstasy of Lord Caitanya's Sankirtana movement as it did in Srila Prabhupada's physical presence. Let the whole world drown in the ecstatic flood of love of Krishna!
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I am a Christian who wants to know God fully even as I am fully known.
Hi. Yes. This idea that I am a Christian, I am a Hindu, I am a Muslim…, etc, it is all irrelevant. There is one God, and He is not a Hindu, a Muslim or a Christian.
So knowing God, the science of God, that is above these sectarian religious labels. In the history of this planet we have seen great saints, prophets and Lord Jesus Christ, the son of God, all describe the Heavenly Father and the Kingdom of God in a way in which the people they are speaking to can understand.
All these great empowered representatives of God are sent here by God to explain to us, the fallen conditioned souls, that this material world is a temporary place of misery and suffering and beyond this world there is the spiritual world, the Kingdom of God, and that it is our business, not to try and become happy here in the material world, but to use this human form of life to elevate our consciousness and at the end of this life go back home, back to the Kingdom of God.
So it is with this mood that real seekers of the truth about God have found the Vedas, the ancient spiritual texts from India, that describe very clearly the science of God.
So I humbly request that you study the books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada:
https://krishnastore.com/books-srila-prabhupada-om-21_38.html
These books present the timeless knowledge of God from India’s ancient Vedas in a language and style that is very easy for us to comprehend and to integrate into our modern lives.
So please get these books and read them. You will find all the answers to all the questions you have ever imagined and much more.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare krishna prabhu !! All glories to srila Prabhupada!!
Prabhu,
I have this question for a long time,
Which projects are currently to be undertaken or can be started
( I will personally distribute books but because I will be doing my business work side by side, I can hire expert technical persons for doing the projects)
So which ones can be started Prabhu .
Especially prabhu, is there a plan to do a project which contains Prabhupada audio( like KrishnaKirtan, which once existed with srila Prabhupada’s audio), there are few of them ,but they contain bogus and changed books alongside.
Please tell Prabhu.
And Prabhu , is there a problem with KrishnaConnect; I am unable to login
Hare Krishna Prabhu
You should be able to login to KrishnaConnect now. We have still got KrishnaKirtan.com but it is broken. There are so many projects but I have so little time and it is very hard to find anyone who is capable of helping with these technical things. Even if you pay them they usually do more harm than good…
It is not so easy to find technical persons who can actually do anything useful… Much more difficult than you might imagine.
We have got https://prabhupadabooks.com and I will be developing that more in the near future.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna !!
Pr I’m a 16 years old student and my target is to chant sixteen times but because of atmosphere I’m not able , can I chant without making sound and remembering him ?
Yes. You can chant Hare Krishna quietly so only you can hear it.
Sorry Prabhu but I will try to follow the principles as soon as possible
Prabhu, I am started following the regultive principles. I began to chant 16 rounds. It is a very good experience. I am surprised that I can even give up musturbation which I am addicted to, I again stop eating meat. But still I dont eat prasada, and don’t rise early or read any Prabhupada book. My mother who advised me to focus on education instead of talking about mythology or God who won’t save me from being unhealthy from eating only veg. or from low grades in school and college, but she is impressed by my chanting the 16 rounds which seems like an impossible task for them . I have so many bad habits including even bad names for lose sexual character during my teenage. People seems to forgive my bad deed only because I was underaged. So my mother is impressed when she see changes in my character. She began to atleast appreciate Krishna consciousness when she is reminded even drugusers give up drug when Prabhupada started Iskcon. She even chant 10 times(even though it’s little) when she is about to sleep. and I told her mantra meditation improve brain. Prabhu I was so depressed and had offensive behavior to Prabhupada. I am happy that at least now I am free from that mentality due to Your help from reading your comments. I will continue to chant but still not ready to follow all principles. Thanks
Hare Krishna Satyajit Prabhu
It is very good news Prabhu, keep on chanting Hare Krishna and reading Prabhupada’s books and your Krishna consciousness will advance more and more.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhuji. I am following the four principles but I am only doing 4-6 rounds of chanting. plus i live outside india and the only way i participate in sankirtan is internet videos. also i am doing some foreign language courses but i dont know how is that going to be of any service to krishna. i feel dejected at times that i am not doing everything that is expected but only what i am able to do.
So chant at least 16 rounds, that is one of the prerequisites, anyone can chant 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, it is not difficult. Obviously we will be in maya and dejected if we don’t even chant at least 16 rounds. Why are you surprised?
Prabhuji m so fallen i cant stick to regulative principles can i play Visnujana Svami kirtan in non devotee surrounding will my bad name polute Visnujana Svamis name
Just keep trying to follow the regulative principles sincerely, keep chanting Hare Krishna and keep on reading Prabhupada’s books and yes. Play Visnujana kirtan, but just forget the past mistakes and become very sincerely determined not to break the regulative principles again. We can not preach and break the regulative principles at the same time, it will not work. People will end up doing what we are doing not what we are saying. So the whole idea is first we have to become properly situated ourselves then we can help others become properly situated.
But the time is very difficult. It is very difficult to get the associate of good devotees. But in any case we have to persevere, and no matter how many times we have fallen down we have to put all that behind us and seriously resolve to never fall down again.
So it is not amazing that we might fall down, but we have to be determined to rectify ourselves and never fall down again. It gets a bit hopeless and tiresome I know but we have to keep on sincerely shunning all these sense gratification activities and rededicating ourselves to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and following the regulative principles. It is only maya’s illusory potency. Actually there is no pleasure at all in sense gratification. Only trouble and it causes so many problems for our bodies and creates such a huge disturbance in our devotional service. So we have to give up this sense gratification and take to Krishna consciousness seriously. That is the only way forward.
We have to try and not associate with people [in the dress of devotees or in the dress of non-devotees] who are not following the principles, because if we associate with people who are not following the principles then it will be very difficult for us to follow the principles…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna prabhu
Dandavat pranam
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Prabhu, I have made three promises to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna- first is not reading any other books than Srila Prabhupada’s, second is not getting married and third is not asking any questions to anyone except to Srila Prabhupada. But I’m now finding it very difficult to keep these promises, especially the first and third one as I like to read Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Thakura’s book as well and maybe some other books as well which help in Krishna Consciousness and also I like to ask questions to devotees especially you. So I want to know if I should not promise to Srila Prabhupada things which he has not asked? I will bow down before Srila Prabhupada and Lord Krishna and pray to forgive me but should I stop promising anymore and simply follow Srila Prabhupada’s instructions? Please help prabhu.
Yes. You should promise Srila Prabhupada the things he asks you to promise him, that is: chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, strictly follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication]. Concentrate on these promises. Other things, they have to be sometimes adjusted according to time and place. There are many other things also that Prabhupada asks us to do that you could prommise like for example only accepting prasadam, but of course there may be some exceptions when this is not possible, so the point is promise to read Prabhupada’s books, chant Hare Krishna at least 16 rounds daily and follow the four regulative principles… Seems easy, but actually to follow these things for a lifetime is quite a challenge.
Hare Krishna Prabhu
Dandavat Pranam
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Yesterday I promised to Srila Prabhupada that I will only eat food offered to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna but today I couldn’t keep the promise. All my efforts to cook for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna failed due to family members being against it. Now I’m thinking I will leave home soon and live in a different place or maybe not live in any place but simply distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books by traveling like you do. But the latter is very difficult for non-devotees of course.
Hare Krishna!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Hare Krishna Aman
Yes. Of course we need to eat something. So if it really is not possible to eat anything that is Krishna prasadam we still need to eat something to get some strength to preach. So all these promises of yours outside of the basic ones [strictly following the four regulative principles, chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day] are not so practical. There may be some circumstances when we will have to take some food that is not offered to Krishna. But we should not do it, and we should organized our lives in such a way that there is prasadam available so when we need to eat the prasadam is there.
Prasadam is an essential element for preaching. Srila Prabhupada says there is no preaching without prasadam distribution. So if we are to preach then we have to be able to prepare prasdam so we can distribute it to the people we are preaching to. So you have to learn how to prepare prasadam. Then you will have it for yourself and have it available for distribution also.
I am sure the family will allow you to do a little cooking on the side for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. Just do it quietly without making a big fuss and I am sure no one will complain.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu
Now I will learn cooking properly so I don’t need anyone’s help then quietly I will prepare bhoga for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. I should not make a big fuss about doing anything in Krishna Consciousness because that spoils everything.
Can you please suggest an action plan to come in mode of goodness at least as due to passion and Ignorance I am suffering. Thank u
Chanting Hare Krishna mantra is the only practical plan in Kali-yuga
Jai Shri Krishna
Sir,I m a student and preparing for my board exams I work hard and study for hours and hours but I do not get marks at all.l decided to wake up early every morning and do meditation by chanting Shri Krishna but still my concentrating power is not improving .please tell me what should I do??
Not everyone can get good marks at exams. The real exam is the time of death. If we remember Krishna at the time of death then our life has been successful. If we don’t remember Krishna at the time of death we have wasted our life. So chant Hare Krishna, read Prabhupada’s books and make sure you are always remembering Krishna. And you have to do something on the material side also of course, as you need to have some money for food, family maintenance, etc. So just do your best on the material side also. But main point is spiritual side, chanting Hare Krishna, reading Prabhupada’s books, always remember Krishna, never forget Krishna.
god has everything so why did he create us
God has everything so He must have servants also. We are eternally existing, so not that God created us. We are eternal like God. You can say we are expansions of God, parts and parcels of God. So if God is unlimited then He must have His parts and parcels, and that is us.
Hare krsna Madhudvisa dasa,How to deal with sex desire and masturbation,My friends are to much addicted to it,i told them to hear prabhupad lectures and read his books,but they said to me that even they cannot help it.Whats to be done with this sex desire,its a great problem? Even some times i get some lusty thoughts,i control them only after hearing prabhupads lectures for long time.Almost 90 percent of indian youth are to much addicted to sexual way of living.How to control this Demoniac deadly desires of sex.One saint in india told that
“poison may kill man for his birth,But the poison which is the body of Beautiful women burns the soul Birth after Birth.
Hare Krishna Surya
Sex life is a problem for everyone with a material body. The only solution is if we can come to the point of realizing that we are not the material body but we are the eternal spirit soul within the body and that we are actually eternal servants of Krishna. So if we actually become Krishna conscious and realize we are not the material bodies we will be experiencing a higher taste. Transcendental pleasure from the spiritual platform that is the result of engaging in pure devotional service.
If we are actually experiencing the bliss that is Krishna consciousness then we will not be interested in any mundane pleasure of the material world. So the point is we have to become Krishna conscious, unless we become Krishna conscious we will be victims of sex life certainly. And becoming Krishna consciousness is a serious thing. If we want to become Krishna conscious we have to actually surrender to Srila Prabhupada and follow his instructions strictly. It is a very basic thing, but people refuse to follow the basic instructions, and then write these emails, ‘how can I control my senses?’
So the only way to control our senses is to become Krishna conscious. And the beginning point of becoming Krishna conscious is to find a pure devotee spiritual master and surrender to him. So Srila Prabhupada is a pure devotee of Krishna and he can guide us how to become pure devotees of Krishna. So we learn from Srila Prabhupada the beginning is to vow to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day and strictly follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication].
And to control the senses we have to control the tongue. So the tongue has two actions, it vibrates and it tastes. So we have to control the tongue so it only vibrates Krishna katha, talks about Krishna, and we have to limit the tongue to only tasting Krishna prasadam, foodstuffs that have been prepared by devotees with love and offered to Krishna.
So all these things are in Prabhupada’s books and we have to actually follow all the instructions Prabhupada is giving us, then it will be possible for us to control our senses and follow the regulative principles, otherwise it is not possible.
So we have to worry about ourselves, we have to become pure devotees of Krishna ourselves. And if we become pure devotees of Krishna then by our association others will also become inspired to become pure devotees of Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Im student right now reading in class 12 i do everything to reach to krishna and my age is only 17 years only and i always love krishna only i dont see anyone but i have little quires that my family not so much devoteee to krishna in that cas eit difficult for me to make them understand what is krishna counciousness . They force me eat onion and garlic and gives me idiotic excuses but how could i do that im wearing tulasi mala i make them understand but they start to quarrel with me its like taughter to me . How i manage all this thing please help me . And another im not follower or nither i have taken dhiksa in iskcon can i apply gaudiya tilak on my forrhead . Or can i bring archa vigraha (radha krishna and ladoo gopal to serve and to provide service mentally and physically ) cause i got to heard from some people who have taken dihksa they can bring radha krishna at home is it true . And another thing it is very diificult to chant 16 round hare krishna cause therre were so many studies and home work i was left to do. In that case i have wake up early and just open the book do study thats all . And my family always a durga devotee and they always force me to worship durga maa but i always feel attracted to lord hari from my childhood in that case what should i do? Please help
Hare Krishna Akash
There are always many opposing elements for devotees who are trying to become Krishna conscious. Everyone will be against you when they see you are serious about making advancement in spiritual life. That is because we are living in the material world and in the material world almost everyone is a materialist. So they are in maya, accepting sense gratification as the purpose of life. So when someone like yourself realizes that there is no value in sense gratification because we are not the body and the senses are part of the body. So we are the spirit soul and the spirit soul can not be satisfied by gratifying the senses of the body…
So do not worry. It is normal that the family members will be opposed to a family member trying to become Krishna conscious. But become very determined that you will not deviate from the path of Krishna consciousness. And realize that the most important thing is Krishna consciousness. And to make any advancement in Krishna consciousness at all you need to chant Hare Krishna mantra at least 16 rounds a day, strictly follow the four regulative principles: no illict sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication, and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day.
So yes. Get up early in the morning. But in the morning chant Hare Krishna and read Srila Prabhupada’s books. Then go to school. And in the evening if you have to do some study you can do it. But reserve the morning for chanting Hare Krishna and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books. And get out of bed before 4:00 AM. That gives you 3-4 hours at least for chanting Hare Krishna and reading Prabhupada’s books. And the rest of the day also keep chanting Hare Krishna and be as Krishna conscious as possible.
So the point of your life is to become Krishna conscious. As we are in the material world also you need to get some education and have some way of making money to support your family, etc. So these things you have to take care of also. But your main business is to become Krishna conscious.
As far as the family members, try not to agitate them as far as possible. But do not submit to their demands. Do not let them hinder your advancement in Krishna consciousness.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare krsna Madhudvisa prabhu,All my humble obeisances un to u.Prabhu i am very much rapidly dismayed and unable to cope with krsna consciousness.I am chanting Hare krsna mantra,Reading SP books,Hearing SP lectures but one big problem is i dont like kitchen and cooking.
I dont like to cook,and for my being eating the food cooked by nondevotees its causing bad effect on my Mind. Lusty and undesirable thoughts breeds in my mind by eating food cooked by nondevotees.presently i am trying for job and also trying to avoid bad association.
This two things are dangerous obstacles to my progressive krsna conscious
1.Eating food not offered to lord krsna
2.Bad association
Lord Chaitanya mahaprabhu has said 2 important points regarding the execution of krsna consciousness
1.The first and foremost behaviour of Vaishnava is to give up Bad association.
2.By eating the food cooked by Worldy persons one’s mind becomes wicked.
Srila prabhupad has stated that krsna consciousness is possible only in the association of devotees.
I am trying very much to get job and completely lead krsna conscious life style,but I have many problems
1.No Job,Trying to get it but facing many issues,and always depending on others for money.
2.My health is very bad-Have many problems physically and mentally.
3.personal problems
4.Problems from relatives and family people-They are completely against krishna consciousness and humiliating me badly for leading spiritual life.
Considering all these i am unable to lead krsna conscious life style,its seems very difficult to me and i am facing many obastacles on spiritual life.I am becoming quite depressed
Madhudvisa prabhu,Can u kindly pray to Srila prabhupad and Nityananda prabhu, for my well being in spiritual life
Hare Krishna
Krishna consciousness will always be a challenge in the material world. We have to expect that. Do not become depressed or feel helpless.
We have to do what we have to do.
At the moment you have no job so there is no problem of bad association…
So take the great opportunity you have at the moment of having so much spare time and READ SRILA PRABHUPADA’s BOOKS. Chant Hare Krishna at least 16 rounds a day and follow the regulative principles.
You have correctly identified two very serious issues that are impacting your advancement in Krishna consciousness:
1: Only accepting Krishna Prasadam
2: Association with non-devotees
So just fight your mind and cook for Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. We have to come to the point of surrendering to Krishna and doing the things that Krishna wants us to do, and forget about what we like or don’t like doing. It does not matter if you like cooking or don’t like cooking. The situation is the only way you can get Krishna prasadam is if you cook for Krishna. So you have to cook for Krishna.
It is a great pleasure actually, cooking for Krishna. So just do it. Learn how to do it. Cook nice things and offer them to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. That will solve your first problem.
Second problem, association with non-devotees, is not a big problem at the moment because you don’t have a job anyhow.
And the point is, if you have a job, to minimize the association to just what is necessary for you to do your job.
So start with cooking for Krishna. There is no alternative. If you want to become firmly fixed in Krishna consciousness and happy then that is only possible if you only accept Krishna prasadam… So you have to cook and offer to Krishna. There is no other alternative.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu ji ,
Dandvat pranaam..??..
One of a brahmchari devotee from iskcon .told me that according to vedic scriptures English is a impure language of a impure malech people. .n by speaking English we become impure n but can use for Krishna consciousness ..is it true ,? N i wana know that how can we overcome the impuritiness in us by speaking English other than Krishna consciousness ?
Thanks.
Hare Krishna
Your ISKCON brahmacary is bogus, incorrect. It is not the language that is pure or impure. It is how you use the language. If you use a language for sense gratification, then it is impure, if you use a language for glorifying Krishna, serving Krishna, then it is pure.
Everything in the material world is like that, in it self it is not good or bad, pure or impure. Something can be purified by engaging it in the service of Krishna and something can be made impure by utilizing it for sense gratification.
English is the world language. So let us glorify Krishna in English and purify the world. Of course we will teach the English speaking people to chant the Sanskrit mantras like:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare…
Pranam Madhudvisa prabhu,i am trying to control all bad thoughts from my mind,but it is impossible for me to do it. Very dangerous and offensive thoughts breeds in my mind again and again, even though i dont desire them.I am quite depressed every day.My mind is always breeding bad thoughts i dont know how to stop them.My mind never produced any good thought in my whole life.I showed my horoscope to astrologer he said My ascendant lord Is Moon-So my personality and health is influenced by moon planet,but my moon is very weak and badly placed in 8th house -House of death, obstacles,Grief,pain and with malefic planets.He said overall my mind and Horoscope is very bad.
,I am struggling to chant even 4 rounds,I can hear srila prabhupad lectures and read them for many hours a day,but chanting 1 round seems very difficult.Before coming to krishna consciousness,i am very much addicted to meat eating,intoxication,illicit sex(masturbation).Now i strictly gave meat eating and intoxication,but illicit sex (masturbation) i am unable to give it up.I tried all my best to stop but it seems very difficult.And then Cooking prasad,it is very difficult because busy work schedule,and mostly ends with eating food cooked by Non devotees.
What i must do,not to become controlled by nonsense thoughts of mind,I like very much self realisation and spiritual life,but uncontrollable sex drive,and nonsense thoughts of my mind seems bad obstacles seems Oceanous obstacles to me.
Hare Krishna Mankush
Just keep on trying to become Krishna conscious as seriously and sincerely as you can. We have to see what is the goal and strive to reach that goal. It may seem impossible to chant 16 rounds, strictly follow the four regulative principles, and read Srila Prabhupada’s books every day 1-2 hours. But this is the starting point for Krishna consciousness. We have to get there. Of course anything you do in Krishna consciousness is to your eternal credit. So chanting 4 rounds a day is good. But you should not become satisfied with chanting 4 rounds. We have to know 16 rounds is the minimum and strive for that.
But do not become discouraged. Do as much as you possibly can in Krishna consciousness and try to always do more. But do not be discouraged if you fail. At the same time do not be thinking that success in Krishna consciousness is not possible. It is possible, you can do it, but you have to struggle for it and work towards it. Like succeeding at anything in this world you have to work for it. It is called tapasya, austerity. We have to undergo voluntary suffering to advance in Krishna consciousness. So in the beginning forcing ourselves to follow the regulative principles, chant at least 16 rounds every day, and read Srila Prabhupada’s books every day, may be a bit painful, it is ecstatic, but in the beginning we can not feel the ecstasy. That is because of our material disease. But this chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra is the cure for the material disease.
So don’t be discouraged, keep chanting Hare Krishna, and keep on trying to increase your Krishna consciousness and you will succeed in the end.
As far as cooking what I do is cook kitery and chapatis every day. It takes less than an hour. I cook in a preassure cooker so the kitery [rice, dhal and vegetables] cooks in 30 minutes and while it is cooking I make the chapatis. So if you make without the chapatis it takes almost no time. Just put the rice and dhal and vegetables in the preassure cooker, add tumeric, salt and coriander powder, cook for 30 minutes, open it and make a chaunce in ghee with cumin seeds, mustard seeds and chili, add that and stir and it is finished. Offer to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and respect Krishna Prasadam. It is very easy, and tastes so wonderful after Krishna has tasted it first…. So you just have to get into the habit of only accepting Krishna prasadam and for most of us the only way to do that is we have to cook it ourselves and offer it to Srila Prabhupada.
The thing is if we eat food cooked by the non-devotees it contains all their sinful activities and it will not be possible for us really to become properly Krishna conscious. So we have to make some program so we can get Krishna prasadam…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hi i read all the comments u guys informing chant this much time,be krishna concious ,sleep this much ,etc etc then.
Why not your teamworking on eradicating poverty in india,educating poor, making our country rich once again??????
Hare Krishna Raj
India has been destroyed because Indians, in general, have given up spiritual life. Nowadays Indians are generally interested in imitating the Americans. They want sense gratification, technology, material bodily comforts. But India is not meant for that. India is supposed to be Punya-bhumi, the land of pious activities. But now India has become papa-bhumi, the land of sinners. It is most regrettable.
So India will never be able to succeed in this materialistic way of life in the way the Western countries can. India is not meant for that. So the only way forward for India is for her to return to her original Vedic culture. The more India strives for economic development, technological advancement, etc, the more India will be plunged into intense poverty and suffering.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
pls guide me to become a devotee of hare Krishna thanks .
Please read Srila Prabhupada’s books….
Person sleep more than 6 hours considered to mode of ignorance.what could the person sleep in 6 hours in day time and do work in night time?
Yes. If you have to work at night then sleep less than 6 hours during the day. We have to adjust. This is not the ideal thing though. The best time for sleeping is the hours before midnight. Sleeping is really meant for night time. So this working at night is not a natural or healthy thing. But still if you have to do it then you just adjust and sleep not more than 6 hours during the day.
Prabhuji how can I connect my daily office work to Krishna.
Use the money you earn in the service of Krishna.
Question came in my mind after reading this post that if too much eating is sin then what can be said about Bheem, son of Kaunti?
Hare Krishna Amer
Bhima had extraordinary strength and could work in truly wonderful ways. It is not that Bhima was eating and getting fat and sleeping. No. He was eating because he had to perform extraordinary acts which required extraordinary strength.
So the point is one has to eat only what he needs to maintain his body, not more. So Bhima had an extraordinarily big and strong body and was performing extraordinary herculean tasks which required huge amounts of energy. So to do this service he needs to eat substantially.
It is like an elephant has to eat a large quantity of food because he has a large body to maintain and very heavy work to perform.
So we have to eat according to our body, to maintain the body and to give us strength to perform our service only. Not that we should eat for sense gratification.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna my question is if we don’t work how do we survive what do we do to pay rent of the house for food. Even I temple they give respect to the person who spend money. They always ask for money what do we do
Hare Krishna Shreeja
Everyone has to work. We can not survive in the material world without working. So there is never any recommendation by Krishna not to work. We have to do our duty. We have to work. The point in Krishna consciousness we transfer the purpose of our work, instead of working for maya [illusion] we work for Krishna.
So work does not stop. Only instead of using the results of our work for maya, we use them for Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna, Prabhu what is Bhakti, what are the different stages of Bhakti and how to attend the highest form of Krishna Bhakti..
Hare Krishna Sujoy
Your question is a very big one which can not be answered in a few paragraphs on a website comment form.
To answer this exact question Srila Prabhupada has written more than 80 books.
You can not expect to get the answer to this question without undergoing the study and practice of Bhakti-yoga. It is a science and there is a course of study and a practical system of action and way of living. So we have to study the books and follow the instructions we find Srila Prabhupada giving us as we read his books and then gradually the spiritual world will become manifest to us and we will experience what is Krishna consciousness, bhakti yoga for ourselves.
That is the only way. We have to experience Krishna consciousness by becoming Krishna consciousness. It can not be understood externally. The example is a man trying to taste honey by licking on the outside of the honey bottle. It is impossible to get the taste of honey in this way. If you want to taste the honey you have to open the bottle first. And in the case of Krishna consciousness the key to open the bottle is with the pure devotees of Krishna. Without getting the mercy of a pure devotee of Krishna we will never be able to understand what is Bhakti…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Guruji. I do agree i eat too much and do not sleep enough. Working for an American BPO i work during night and hybernate during day. It is never sound sleep. As a result I am fat and overweight.
I would like to know more about Krishna
Read Srila Prabhupada’s books….
Hare Krsna,
Should water also be offered to Krsna before drinking it?
Yes. Everything has to be offered to Krishna.
Some devotees offer water by chanting “Sri Visnu, Sri Visnu, Sri Visnu.” So if you do that with the consciousness that you are offering this water to Krishna that may be acceptable also. But if you can organize to offer water with Krishna’s normal offerings and keep that and drink it when you require it that is probably better.
But for a Vaisnava he will not eat or drink anything that is not first offered to Krishna.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare krishna
i am apoorva, 22 years of age, a krishna devotee and i follow the sattvik diet and chant the mahamantra daily..i also read the bhagvad geeta and srila pabhupada’s books..i have started this schedule from past 2 months and my life has complelety changed..i am a doctor by profession and trust me it’s not hard to take out time for krishna..u just need dedication..
i have a question regarding a dream i saw a few days back..i was crying and remembering krishna it was a dark night and it was raining heavily with thunder and lightning the sky was red i heard krishna’s flute and ran towards the sound it was melodious..when i reached the place where the sound was coming from i looked around there was complete darkness and water all around me..i got scared..then i saw some light and when i looked it was krishna coming towards me..he was wearing yellow clothes and had a morpankh mukut on his head and he was dark blue in color i started crying with joy and held his hand and said i was waiting for u govinda he smiled and said that is why i am here..i have something to tell u..i asked what..he said i want u to treat all the living entities the same..i also want u to do good to them..whenever u will look around u will find me in everyone and everything so u should treat them the same way u would treat me..spread my love everywhere and i promise to be with u forever u just need to do this small task for me i believe u will..i am giving u a new name VAISHNAVI people will know u by this name..i need to go now but i will come whenever u will call me with all ur heart..saying this he disappeared slowly in the sky..tears were running down my eyes and when i woke up i still had tears in my eyes..how should i interpret my dream?
i had a dream when i was only 6 years old and i still remember that..i saw krishna lying down in vishnu ji’s posture and i was stiing beside him holding his legs and he was smiling at me..it was the same face i saw that day..i am confused can u help me interpret the dream?
Hare Krishna Prabhu Ji,
I am living in a small town in India. Please tell me from where i can get original Srila Prabhupada’s books?
You can read them online at http://www.PrabhupadaBooks.com, purchase at http://www.KrishnaStore.com and in India you should be able to purchase Srila Prabhupada’s original Bhagavad-gita As It Is at any ISKCON temple and more original Prabhupada books at any ISKCON Bangalore temple.
Hare Krishna prabhu ji
all glories to srila prabhupad ji
all glories to lord Shri Krishna ji
very true and nice mail. Its true all written in this article that a person engaged in materalistic things always suffers in a lot of ways but a person engaged in the service of the supreme personality of godhead is happy in the happiness of his/her lord. Lord’s satisfaction is his satisfaction.
deep respect for you
thankyou
Hare Krishna prabhu ji
pranam guru ji and jay shree krishna.i want to know about how many times we hv to sleep,wht we shud eat?i eat onion and garlic in my cury every day except thursday and saturday.these 2 days is my fasting and i eat nonveg twice in a week.everyday i sleep at 2 o’ clock in the night and wake up at 9 o’ clock.and the whole days of mine going in frustration.everyday i cant able to sleep before 2 .and i heardly chant 10 mins in evening.how many times i hv to chant mahamantra in a day.please guide me guru ji.i want to go in right way so show me the path.
Hare Krishna Sandhya
It is simple. You have to follow the four regulative principles: No illicit sex, No meat eating, No gambling and No intoxication and you have to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day and you have to read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day.
As far as sleeping it is better to take rest early and get up early in the mornings. We need to be out of bed before the Brahma-muhurta which is the most auspicious time of the day and which is very good for chanting Hare Krishna. And that starts 1.5 hours before sunrise. So in ISKCON Srila Prabhupada standardized this and had Mangal-aroti at 4:30 AM. So it is good to get out of bed before 4:00 AM and have Mangal-aroti at 4:30 AM. Then you have all those morning hours for chanting Hare Krishna and reading Prabhupada’s books.
So we can not expect to make very significiant advancement in Krishna consciousness if we are still eating meat and still eating food with onion and garlic in it [that means it is not prasadam]. If we really want to advance we have to adjust things in our lives so we only accept Krishna prasadam, nothing else.
You know living a Krishna conscious life is practically opposite to living a materialistic life so if we are to actually make progress we have to make adjustments in our lives.
Of course it may not be possible to do everything all at once instantly, but you have to make a plan with the goal of being able to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily, strictly follow the four regulative principles, and read Srila Prabhupada’s books daily. These are the main thing, of course there are many other things that we have to do and many things that we can not do, but if you just concentrate on the four regulative principles, chanting Hare Krishna and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books then you will find that automatically all other things will come.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
srila prabhupada book i cant able to find pls send me the link bt it is free of cost or wht?yes 1 thing everyday i read bhagbat geeta 2 times a day from my childwood.i love to read geeta .
You can purchase Prabhupada’s original books at http://www.KrishnaStore.com and you can read them online for free at http://www.PrabhupadaBooks.com and you can download the PDF files to your computer for free at:
https://krishna.org/category/free-pdf-downloads/
Haribol, Prabhu!
Thank you so much for your service and patience. I have a question. Ever since I have taken up chanting, offering bhoga, and association with Devotees, I find that I am less interested in the topics my older friends like (i.e. Sex, gossip, etc.). I have so much history with these people, and they are dear to me. I am afraid to ask but I must; is it best to limit my association with them so that I may grow in Bhakti? Or should I try to tell them more about Krishna Consciousness (with Prabhupada’s books)?
I say that I am afraid to ask because I don’t feel like I am any better of a person than they are. Although my tastes have changed, I am still a know-nothing rascal. I feel that I am no Devotee, just a wannabe. I, however, do know that to move forward in Bhakti and to attain love for God I must have sadhu-sanga. I hope this makes sense to you and you understand what I am asking. I am really hoping you can give me a little clarity, Prabhu.
Hare Krishna Prabhu
Yes. We have to eliminate association with non-devotees from our lives if we want to become devotees. The association of non-devotees is a very contaminating thing. Of course we feel that we are non-devotees ourselves. So it makes it a bit difficult. But realistically if we want to advance in Krishna consciousness it will be a big problem for us if we are associating with people who want to talk to us about sex, etc. That will not work. We have to associate with those who are more advanced in Krishna consciousness than us and we can of course talk about Krishna to anyone who is prepared to hear about Krishna from us. But still we have to somehow give our association to the non-devotees in this preaching spirit but not take their association.
These days it is very difficult to find good devotee association so that is a stumbling block for us all on the path of Krishna consciousness because to advance in Krishna consciousness we need the association of good devotees, devotee engaged in pure devotional service. The best association of course is the association of a pure devotee of Krishna and we can associate with Srila Prabhupada by reading his books. So we need to spend more and more time associating with Srila Prabhupada by reading his books and associating with Krishna by chanting:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu
I have a query…….How one can satisfy Krishna by his job/occupation?
And one other query…
I distribute newspapers early in the morning. And for this I have to go to shop at 4:30 a.m. and become free at about 8:00 a.m. Then how can I be able to do japa at early morning and attend Mangala Arti at Temple.
Hare Krishna Himanshu
You can satisfy Krishna by your job/occupation if you spend the money you earn at the job for Krishna. You go to work to make money, so the money is the fruit of your work. So that belongs to Krishna, you should use it for Krishna. That is the way of spiritualizing work.
You have to organize to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily, strictly follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. So just concentrate on doing all these things. You can chant japa anytime. Early morning is very good of course for chanting Hare Krishna, but if you can not do it then you can do it at 8:00 when you finish your work. You can chant Hare Krishna at any time.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu…:)
We see many people wasting food unnecessarily…!! Instead if each individual think about the people who cant even afford for food not even once in a day.. then probably would reduce to a little extent.. In this case I do convey my heartly regards to ISKCON association which has been providing food to lakhs of poor and needy people in different names like AKSHAYA PATRA, ANNAMITRA.. etc:) We all wish for the grand success in the future too:)
Hare Krishna:)
Hare Krishna,
Kindly accept my humble obeisance Prabhu……
All Glories to Srila Prabhupad, Sree Guru and Gouranga.
By the Grace of Lord Sri Krishna Im ok now Prabhu….and thank you so much for your valuable & devotional guidence and advice. Yes I accept whatever I getting from Krishna….. Because everything should be planned by Krishna…I will increase my chanting and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books. I fully confident with Krishna, definitely He never loose me. I will follow the devotional procedures at my home which i got from you..That is Krishna’s voice. Thank you so Much…..
Hare Krishna.
Yours sincere Servant
Manimekalai.S
Hare Krishna Prabhu……..
Please accept mu humble obeisances….
All Glories to Srila Prabhupad Sri Guru and Gouranga………….
Iam confusing about my marriage. My family members arranging a non devotee for marrying me. But I wish to marry one Lord Krishna’s devotee. Regarding my marriage im confusing now and my thought is full of if sometime i will loose Kriahna Conscious…And I will not ready to lose K.Conscious Prabhu. Because I love Krishna too and I never ready to forget Him…I wish always remember Him. I searching a devotee partner since 3 years, But I couldn’t get yet now. I don’t know what i can do…… If you give your valuable guidence i think my mind will be clear….Expecting your valuable reply Prabhu.
Yours Sincere Servant
Manimekalai.S
Hare Krishna Manimelalal
You know may ‘devotees’ are really non-devotees. So even if you find a ‘devotee’ to marry you really do not know if he is really a devotee or not.
A devotee naturally wants to live in the association of devotees and does not want to associate with non-devotees. But we are in a very difficult time at the moment. And really we have to accept that we are not in control. There is an English saying: “Man proposes, God disposes,” and it is true. We can desire and we can work towards that to the best of our ability but ultimately we have to surrender to the way things unfold. And we have to “make the the best use of a bad bargain.”
The main thing always is we have to become pure devotees of Krishna ourselves. We have control over ourselves. There is no reason why we can not get out of bed before 4:00AM and chant Hare Krishna and offer aroti and read Srila Prabhupada’s books.
I can not give you particular advice for your situation because I have no idea what your situation is. But Krishna is in your heart and if you simply increase your chanting of Hare Krishna and devotional service and reading of Srila Prabhupada’s books then Krishna will make everything clear to us.
A devotee can never forget Krishna in any circumstances of life. And there may be some difficult times. That is the way it is. But you know Krishna will give you the intelligence to do what He wants you to do. The power of association is very strong and it works in both directions. Of course on one hand you do not want to associate with a materialist but if you become a pure devotee of Krishna yourself then your pure association will become very powerful also. So at least if you marry a man who is not against your Krishna consciousness, it doesn’t really matter if he is not 100% a devotee, because by your good association and by hearing you speak about Krishna and by eating the prasdam that you have cooked and offered to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and by hearing your aroti in the morning and by seeing the Deities in your house nicely decorated and by smelling the tulsi and incense you have offered to your deities then he is bound to become a devotee.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I continues my krishna conscious but after some days i fails again and again
Hare Krishna Aniket
That is OK. There is an English saying: “Failure is the pillar of success.” It means even if you fail if you do not give up, if you keep on trying, then in the end you will be successful. So if you do fail then do not give up. Keep chanting Hare Krishna, keep following the regulative principles, keep reading Prabhupada’s books, and in the end you will be successful.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu ji,
& Thanks from Heart
for sending the news letter…
Hari Bol
I am not getting your mails for the past few weeks. May i know the reason?
Natarajan G
Hare Krishna Prabhu
I am very busy with many projects including http://www.Back2Godhead.com and do not have time to write emails at the moment. Please go to http://www.Back2Godhead.com and read the articles there.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
hare krishna prabhu.
all glories to srila prabhupada.
im having a bit of trouble controlling sexual urges.
they arise out of mind even when absorbed in krishna.
I feel like thats the biggest sin of all because even when im chanting my mind drifts away and thinks about sex. I feel so degraded and embarrassed at myself from these thoughts that arise especially while im engaged in devotional service.
im tired of it and I want to control these urges. I want my mind to only think of krishna and nothing else. where I work females come in all the time with skimpy outfits so its hard to avoid females.
please swamiji, any advice?
your servant, marvin.
Hare Krishna Marvin
All the advice is in Prabhupada’s books. Please read them.
You can not expect it to happen instantly. It is a process, it takes some time, but you have to be following the process. And it is quite natural that your mind will be disturbed sometimes while chanting Hare Krishna, the point is to keep chanting Hare Krishna and concentrate on hearing the holy name and that will force your mind on Krishna and off sex life.
There are so many points including controlling the tongue by only vibrating the Hare Krishna mantra and talking about Krishna and only allowing the tongue to taste Krishna prasadam. We can only eat the food that has been cooked by devotees and offered to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna with love. If we eat anything else then we are eating sin and will not be able to control our minds and our sex desire.
It is about experiencing a higher taste. We have to have a real taste for chanting Hare Krishna, reading Srila Prabhupada’s books, and for engaging in devotional service to Krishna. If we can get this higher taste then the lower taste of sex life will no longer be interesting to us.
It can be of course very difficult to control the sex desire, association is very important. If we are associating with materialists who are very interested in sex then that will affect us also and we will not be able to control our desires. So it is important to only associate with devotees and only eat Krishna prasadam. Of course how to do that in these days when Prabhuapda’s International Soceity for Krishna Consciousness is broken can be somewhat challenging.
But anyhow, in spite of all difficulties, we have to do it, we have to control our sex desire, somehow or other. And the only real way is by achieving a higher taste in Krishna consciousness. Sometimes devotees repress their sex desire and by austerities are able to control it for some time, without really actually having any higher taste, but this is false and will not last. The only prominent way to control our sex desire is to be really enjoying transcendental pleasure from Krishna consciousness.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu ji,
All glories to Shri Srila prabhupada & Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Prabhuji,
i have read your valuable lecture about “A regulated life is very important”. i also want to follow a regulated life, But now i am not able to do my chanting & Krishna conscious duty daily due to family life. During my study at IIT, Kharagpur & after that also i was chanting regularly at least 2 rounds the HARE KRISHNA MAHAMATRA (HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE. HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE). But now due to family life & due to my laziness i am discontinued my chanting.
please give some advice so that i can chant daily without fail.
Hare Krishna
This is crazy. The minimum is 16 rounds a day. You were chanting 2 rounds now you are too lazy to even chant 2 rounds. So you are not going to become Krishna conscious. Lazy people can not become Krishna conscious. So you have to do the minimum things. That is chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily, strictly follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. If you are not prepared to surrender to these things then you can not become Krishna conscious. Of course in the beginning you may not immediately be able to do everything all at once. But you have to surrender to the idea and accept this goal and work towards it…
Hari bol!
Thank you for all of the news letters and replies.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Sincerely,
Radha
hare krishna prabhu.
all glories to srila prabhupada.
my question ro you is when can a devotee put tilak on?
Hare Krishna Marvin
Any devotee can put tilak on if he is actually a devotee.
So practically it means when you are fixed-up in chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and strictly following the four regulative principles (no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication) and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours. All these things are required to begin the process of Krishna consciousness.
If we are not at least doing the basic things it is a bit embarrassing to dress up as a devotee….
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
my respectful obiesances unto you madhudvisa dasa. your a really great person. you help everybody whos lost and fallen. I just wanted to acknowledge that. im really really lost right now.well I surrendered completely in september. since then ive purchased japa beads. and I chant everyday somedays 16 rounds some maybe 8 or more but I always try for 16. my parents or family do not understand this movement at all (im of hispanic descent) so its hard to explain to them. but they just dont get me they cal me crazy and tell me im to sunk into these books. and ive realized that working at McDonalds is not helping me at all as I sell meat products to people all day it just brings me down to even go to work. I want to quit but I know my parents dont want me to because they say money is very important. but they dont understand im following my spiritual life and working at such a place is degrading. all they see is the fruititve results of my work. but I just dont know what to do. should I quit my job and just ignore my parents? Im going to purchase the book distribution box and distribute people and as I know I must serve his divine grace and krishna. I also wanted to live In the iskcon temple in los angeles. but I see know that iskcon isnt truly following srila prabhupadas teachings. and if I quit my job my parents are going to think that I want them to maintain me. all I want in my life is to serve srila prabhupada and krishna nothing more. im only 19 and dont have many responsibilities I understand my constitutional position to serve both my spiritual master and krishna. I dont want to work at a job and earn money. I just want to serve. im wiling to give up everything in my life but I just dont know where to go. I accepted srila prabhupada as my spiritual master. ive renunciated all material objects all I do all day is read about krishna or listen to srila prabhpada lectures on youtube or read the bhagavad gita. when im not im, working at the wretched place called McDonalds. I just dont know what to do im so frustrated on where to turn. where to go im willing to leave my house. I want to live with devotees. where I live, in a city called santa clarita. in california its nothing but ignorance every where I turn im probably the only devotee in my city. ive been to the temple in los angeles once it was about 3 days ago and It felt great to be around other devotees. but im just so confused as of what to do. please help me. sorry for the long post.and repetativeness. im just frustrated.I appreciate your time and kind words.sincerely marvin.
Try:
http://www.krishna.tv
There is almost 1500 hours of Prabhupada audio there.
And you can find more than 50 hours of Prabhupada video at:
http://krishnatube.com/categories/1/Srila-Prabhupada
I read in today’s newspaper that a BBC Radio One breakfast DJ
who started getting up very early for his program wasn’t getting enough
sleep . First of all he was partying late at night and getting up very
early ( and struggling to) . Then he started to go to bed at 7pm at
night – and still he felt tired . He found the solution he only needs
six hours sleep ! – and he wakes up refreshed.
Krishna consciousness is right in saying you only need six hours sleep .
Hare Krishna Prabhu ji!
i have prabhupadji books i read it some what regularly but still iam not able to cross 3rd chapter of BG AS IT IS . i m listening to discourses too.
i chant 4 rounds a day which consumes 40 min a day with less concn. i listen to songs of krishna also.
but i lose the grip very often. my friend devotee told me it is bcoz u dont chant mahamantra. it is 100% true.
u hv only two path: krshna sampraday or maya sampradaya. who wins our heart? krishna or maya. and that is the game of perfection of life. There is always a race between the two and mostly maya wins if our heart is impure. and when the heart is pure and your mind is filled with thoughts of lord u produce tears from your eyes .
i hv joined very recently with you sir
thank you
hare krishna!
Hare Krishna Shivakumar
It is very good Prabhu that you are chanting the Hare Krishna mantra and reading Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is.
You just have to set your goal so you come up to at least the minimum platform that is chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily, strictly following the four regulative principles (no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication) and read Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. You need to find more than 40 minutes a day for this and of course you may not be able to do all these things immediately but you have to have this as your goal. And the more you chant Hare Krishna and read Prabhupada’s books the more you will be in Krishna conscious and your heart will be pure and there will be no room for maya. So it is nice that you are chanting 4 rounds but you have to know that the minimum is 16 rounds and need to increase the rounds until you get up to the 16 rounds.
The early morning time is a very good time for chanting Hare Krishna and spiritual activities. Of course we can chant Hare Krishna at any time, but there is a special potency in the brahma-muhurta which occurs 1.5 hours before sunrise. So it is nice for devotees to be out of bed 2 hours before sunrise so we can take full advantage of this special early morning time.
So you can set your alarm clock for 4:00 AM and get into the habit of getting up at this time and immediately you will find you have a lot more time for chanting Hare Krishna and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Swamyji
my humble obeisances to you. Thank you very much for your enlightenig reply to my question.Thank you once again.
All glories to Prabhupada.
ys
natarajan
Hare Krishna,
Prabu One simple Question ?
Have u ever felt the presence of GOD in your life? if so, How?
I feel it everyday because today what I have achieved in my material life, it is not at all by my capability, it is absolutely by the blessings of GOD. I achieved more than I am capable of – I know more than anyone.
I am a little curious about the vegetarian aspect of this preaching. Whilst not an avid meat eater and I do espouse the benefits of diet more in favor towards vegetarian, I believe as humans we are designed to be meat eaters. Taking into account our teeth design construction. Our incisors are obviously present to tear flesh.
There is also the aspect of food chains and inter-dependency of all living things which I attribute as Gods design. Food chain is just the scientific expression. Within these food chains, it is obvious the world couldn’t sustain itself on a vegetarian diet alone as such would create imbalance within other cycles, de-harmonizing life as we know it.
I can appreciate aspects of over indulging ie eating, mating, resting etc can adversely effect ones development of spirituality, but shouldn’t spirituality be a sense of oneness and detachment from materialistic dependency.
American Indians and certain tribes like the Kalahari bushmen killed other creatures for sustenance, but only did so out of necessity not taking more than their immediate need. They also offered prayer to the creature that provided sustenance and proffered it first to their revered spirits. Is this akin to the suggestion of offering food to Lord Krishna first for sanctification? Since these tribes were deeply spiritual in their own ways, would I be right in assuming it is not the content, but the act of proffering, reverence, appreciation and the acceptance of a greater entity, in whose shadow you mold your own being that should be the crux.
Wpuld I be wrong in deriving at these conclusions?
There is no vegetarianism in Krishna Consciousness.
We cook for the pleasure of Krishna, we make offerings of food to Krishna. And Krishna only accepts food that is in the mode of goodness, which is foods in the four groups of grains, vegetables, milk products and fruits. So devotees prepare offerings to Krishna from foods from these four groups and offer them to Krishna and accept the remnants of that offering themselves. They do not eat anything that is not offered to Krishna and Krishna only accepts offerings from these four food groups [grains, milk products, fruits and vegetables].
There is no much benefit in being just vegetarian. Even vegetables have life and it sinful also to eat vegetarian food that is not offered to Krishna.
So devotees only accept Krishna prasadam, it has nothing to do with vegetarianism.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare krsna.
How much tym does it normally take for one round of chanting ?..
For how much tym(minutes)we shld offer prasadam to god?.
Can we nt chant any other mantra like om namo bhagvate vasudevay.
Thanks for your mail:delighted.
Hare krsna
Hare Krishna Khusboo
One round of chanting Hare Krishna generally takes about 10 minutes. As you get more practiced it may take a little less. It is possible if you are concentrating and not distracted to chant 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra in about 2 hours when you are used to chanting regularly.
Prasada offering time, you should give Krishna some chance to accept it. There is no exact fixed-up time. But we chant the mantras each 3 times and you know the offering is really done as you are preparing the food and even purchasing the ingredients in the market. We have to be actually cooking for Krishna, shopping for Krishna, doing everything at every moment in our lives for Krishna.
Of course om namo bhagavate vasudevay we chant that before reading the Srimad-Bhagavatam. So we do chant many other mantras at different times but the main mantra we are always chanting is:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna,
Please accept my Pranams.Ihave a clarification and can you answer that through my mail.I am currently chanting and doing devotional service to lord.
After our death in case we go to Spiritual Kingdom Golaka Vrindavan, how will the body look like.As mentioned Soul is so tiny and what body it will accept.
I will be eager for the reply.
Haribol.
harish
Hare Krishna Harish
We are made in the image of God, as it says in the Christian Bible, and that is true. And we have seen the pictures and the murtis of Krishna and He has two hands and two legs, just like us. So in the spiritual world we will have the same form. Of course in the spiritual world there are living entities in all the different forms of life who are all engaged in serving Krishna. Even there the elements we consider as inanimate like the mountains and the water and the stones also have life. So all the forms we see in this world also exist in the spiritual world but there they are all sat-cit-ananda-vigraha, they have eternally youthful forms full of ever increasing transcendental bliss and knowledge.
So the living entities in the spiritual world have forms like Krishna in Goloka Vrindavan, and like Visnu [with four arms] in the Vaikunthalokas. The form is like Krishna’s but they are all individuals, all different, and they are not Krishna. Krishna is still great and we are still small. But their forms are “made in the image of God”.
So in the spiritual world this human form is also there, but there it is eternally youthful…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I want to ask a question.The question may seem harsh.If I am wrong please do correct me:”What is the mission of ISCKON,is it to increase the love for god in the people,or lead people of spiritual mindset to achieve enlightenement?..please clear my doubt..
Hare Krishna Harsh
To understand the mission of ISKCON you need to read Srila Prabhupada’s books. Krishna consciousness can not be understood by non-devotees. So to understand it you have to become a devotee. Otherwise so many philosophical things we can speak but you will not be able to grasp it.
The mission of Krishna consciousness is to awaken the dormant Krishna consciousness that is present within everyone’s hearts and the symptom of this is that a person who becomes Krishna conscious has no longer any personal interest. He does not want anything at all for himself. He has no personal desires to fulfill, his only desire is to serve Krishna, to please Krishna. That is Krishna consciousness. Krishna consciousness is not something that the general mass of people can understand or follow. If one is serious about spiritual life and is fortunate enough to come in contact with a bona fide pure devotee of Krishna, a bona fide guru and if he is so fortunate to be able to actually surrender to and serve such a bona fide pure devotee of Krishna then by the mercy of the pure devotee of Krishna he can have some understanding of what Krishna consciousness is.
Otherwise it is impossible to understand what Krishna consciousness is. Srila Prabhupada gives the example of a man trying to taste the honey in a bottle without opening the bottle. He can lick on the outside of the glass, he can see the honey in the glass, but without opening the bottle he can never taste the honey. So it is like that. To understand what Krishna consciousness is you have to become Krishna conscious.
So the mission of ISKCON you will find it described elaborately in more than 80 big books by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. You can get them at http://www.KrishnaStore.com and read them online at http://www.PrabhupadaBooks.com
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
tHare Krishna Swamyiji
My obesiences I submit at your lotus feet. Kindly accept. Regulated life is an exellent article which paves way not only to become one into Krishna consciosness but also one to lead a self disciplined life. Thank you. There is one concept of life. It is as follows: Does God exist or not, one should not worry but the man exists. So he should look after his welfare because he only can do it.
Please comment. Also if such a man leads this type of regulated life he van be on the path of liberation. Is it not?
Hari bhol.
Natarajan
Hare Krishna Natarajan
Living a regulated life is good for everyone in every situation. But actually your philosophy is very wrong. God does exist and it is only Him, Krishna, who is supplying all the necessities of man. We can not live without the light of the sun, without water, without food. All these things and many others are being supplied to us by Krishna. We can not take a single breath without Krishna supplying us with the air to breath, the lungs to absorb the oxygen, and the body to utilize it. So we are absolutely dependent on Krishna for everything. It is only maya, illusion, that bewilders us into thinking that we are independent from Krishna… We are not at all independent, we are dependent at every second. Krishna is great and we are small, our natural position is to surrender to Krishna and serve Him, but maya is telling us: “NO, there is no Krishna look after yourself…” This is maya, this is illusion. You can not look after yourself, you have to depend on Krishna for that.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
thank you for your articles…are you a monk?why do you preach?what do i do to taste what you preach? thank you
What a person should eat and howmuch?
How to offer and what to offer krishna.
Onion and garlic can be offered or not.
Thanks for the info
You know onion and garlic can not be offered to Krishna so why do you ask?
You should eat, as the article says, enough to keep the body and soul together.
Krishna accepts offerings from His devotees not directly but through His pure devotees. So we do not offer to Krishna directly. That is not the way. We offer to Srila Prabhupada and in this way the offering goes to Krishna through the disciplic succession.
Really you can only learn these things by becoming Krishna conscious and to do that you have to read Srila Prabhupada’s books and follow the instructions you will find him giving you as you read his books.
If a devotee outside from his/her home then how he/she give prasadam to Krishna
You can always find something to offer to Krishna. Patram pushplalam toyam, “You can offer Me with love a fruit, flower leaf or water.” So it is not difficult to find these things and offer to Krishna wherever you are.
even great guruus and great mothers are making to rape for revenges and dharma and karma
hara krishna prabu
is it ok to chant one round of hara krishna mantra as i am suffering from schizoprenia
regards
utsav
It won’t do much. Chanting only one round. That is not the process to become Krishna conscious. You have to surrender to the process which is reading Srila Prabhupada’s books, chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and following the four regulative principles. So if you want to be successful you have to follow the process, otherwise you will not be successful.
And this will cure your schizophrenia also… So just surrender and do it.
It a nice article to regulate life.
Regards
Ramesh Sharma
Is very difficult to me to sleep less than 8 hours. What I could do? Ayurveda talks about it? Hare Krishna!
You just have to read Prabhupada’s books and become Krishna conscious. Sleeping less is an automatic result of becoming Krishna conscious. Devotees naturally feel that the time they have is very limited and do not want to let even a second pass without utilizing the time in the service of Krishna.
So you just have to become more serious about becoming Krishna conscious by reading Srila Prabhupada’s books, chanting the Hare Krishna mantra at least 16 rounds a day and strictly following the four regulative principles (no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication) and gradually, as you make spiritual advancement, you will realize the value of this human form of life and not want to waste even a second of it by unnecessary sleeping.
Devotees consider sleep to be a waste of time. Of course they are also not fanatical and realize that sleep is required for the proper function of the body and the mind, so they do not sleep too much but also they do not sleep too little. They do not eat too much but the also do not unnecessary fast. Everything is balanced. But they do not like sleep because generally while you are sleeping there is no chance to serve Krishna. So they want to be always engaged in the service of Krishna 24 hours a day…
Thank you so much Prabhu, reading the newlsletter gives the knowledge of control food and sleeping, i had really happy to get the newsletter again. There is no difference between thinking & reading always KRSNA’a news and KRSNA. Your news letter gives the news of KRSNA, so we thinking more about KRSNA. All credits goes tto LORD SRI KRISHNA……………
Hare Krishna.
Hare Krsna – AGSP AND GAURANGA
Part of the comment made is that a person in krsna consciouness does not do any work not related to Krsna. In Gristha ashram it is easy to acheive this especially if one has deities – however how does one make a material job Krsna conscious?
Hare Krishna Suvilas
You go to work at your material job to make money. That is the only purpose of it. If they stop paying you money you will stop going to work. So if you can use that money in the service of Krishna then your job becomes spiritual. Because you are going to work to make money, not for yourself, but for Krishna.
So you have to find the way to spend the money you make at work for Krishna. And that does not mean you have to let your family starve and live on the street. No. If you change the way you look at your house. If you change your consciousness so you think of it not as your house but as Krishna’s house, and when you go to the market to purchase bhoga your consciousness should be that you are purchasing bhoga to make a nice offering to Krishna, not for eating yourself or feeding your family. Then you will spend the money you made at work not for yourself or your family, but for Krishna. Then when the cooking is done you can offer the bhoga to the Deity of Krishna in Krishna’s house and He will enjoy the meal and then you can distribute the Krishna prasadam to your family.
In this way everyone will benefit and you can transfer your work from material to spiritual without actually changing the way you work in any way, but just by changing the way you spend the money you earn from work. By spending for Krishna we can transform everything into Krishna consciousness…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Can you give some recipes of prasadams and daily food. I would like to prepare such food and offer them to the Lord.
Get The Hare Krishna Book of Vegetarian Cooking, that is how I learned to cook for Krishna:
http://krishnastore.com/the-hare-krishna-book-of-vegetarian-cooking-h-krishna-467.html
Hare krishna….
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa Prabhu,
Namaste, All glories to SrilaPrabhu Pada!!
I am eating some time numkins or sweets, which is not offered to Krishna?
But I do remember the taste is Krishna? How can I stop that?
One can have sex only begetting KC Child? How to overcome this?
You have enlighten my ignorance, but again I am like a mad elephant?
How can I get rid of This?
Your humble servant,
In the service of Srila Prabhupada.
You can offer the sweets to Krishna as long as they do not contain any forbidden things.
Better that you make the sweets yourself and offer to Krishna, but sometimes it is done even by big temples that they purchase the sweets and offer to Krishna. But far better if you cook the sweets yourself and offer to Krishna. We have a very nice book that describes how to make very delicious traditional Indian sweets and offer them to Krishna. You should get the book and cook your own sweets and offer them to Krishna and then you will be eating Krishna prasadam…
http://krishnastore.com/the-art-of-indian-sweets-h-krishna-2636.html
Thanyou ver much Madhudvisa Dasa, reading the newlsletter brights my day, i had really missed my beautiful emails of kknowledge. Hare Krishna <3
Hare Krishna Prabhu,
What is more important to do.. (1) Completing 16 rounds of chanting the Holy Name or (2) Deity worship in early morning (Mangala Aarthi). As I do morning aarthi but not able to complete 16 rounds daily.
Please guide me.
Jagatguru Srila Prabhupada Ki jai.
Your servent,
Sujoy Goswami
Hare Krishna
We make a vow to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and strictly follow the four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication. Following these principles and chanting at least 16 rounds a day is the beginning of Krishna consciousness and really you can not worship the deity unless you can at least come to level of following these basic minimum things.
It is not difficult to find the time to chant 16 rounds in the 24 hours of the day if you really want to do it.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu,
I want to take initiation what should I do and where and with whom should I get in touch with.
Kindly also advise how can I increase my love for the Supreme Godhead and how to purify this contaminated heart of mine.
Jai Jai Sree Sree Radha Krishnachandra bhagvan ki Jai.
Sujoy
You can not take initiation before you find a guru and surrender to him and serve him and pass his test. So you have got it all the wrong way around. First you have to find a pure devotee of Krishna and learn from him the process of Krishna consciousness and if you are so fortunate that you actually find a pure devotee of Krishna and if you are actually able to surrender and serve him and get his mercy then and only then would there be any question of initiation. It is not a very easy thing or a very common thing. A qualified guru is a very, very rare thing…
My father didn’t work for a living and therefore lived with his family (wife and 5 children)dependent on his relatives’ families. Thus we had to suffer the ignominy of being dependent. Later he fixed my marriage without my knowledge and consent which destroyed my life altogether because our ideas are poles apart. She wanted me to leave my parents who then had become dependent on me after I got a job to which I didn’t agree. Now I’m a retired man at 67 and my aged parents at 92 & 87 respectively are still with me. I’m well settled in life in financial terms but am UNHAPPY all the time in my heart with anger towards my father, and despite reading/consulting from books by the likes of Swami Vivekananda have been unable to rid myself of this negative emotion. I don’t know if it’s relevant but am telling you that I have been honest in my personal & professional life and have no vices (drinking, gambling, smoking,etc.) and have tried to do my best for my family.
Hare Krishna Hemant
Reading Swami Vivekananda’s books has not helped you as you have practically realized. You need to read Srila Prabhupada’s books. That will solve all your problems. You can get them from http://www.KrishnaStore.com and can read online at http://www.PrabhupadaBooks.com
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Although we all aspire to be a part of spiritual world and merge with effulgence of Brahmajyoti and reach the spiritual planet of Golak Vrindawan, It is not easy.
Especially when you are leading a life where you are thinking of earning a livelihood and keeping up the job and take care of the family. Although I am following the four regulative principles, sometimes chanting 16 rounds or read Prabhupada’s books becomes hard to keep up. But I keep on doing it no matter how many times I fail. The real thing as emphasized in the BG is that if the mind is not focused on supreme personality of the Godhead, a person gets distracted and fall in the trappings of the material world. In the mode of passion or in the mode of ignorance, there is always pain to be followed when we either indulge in sense gratification or lording over worldly resources.
Another thing to keep in mind which I do is to find pleasure in chanting.. This is a process of evolution for the new practitioner of Bhakti Yoga…It takes time to fall in love with Krishna…
I have been in and out going to the local Gita meetings. but I have tried to follow things at home….
I am not trying to change any rules or justify anything… but relating to my experience.
Haribol Madhudvisa, Nice to recieve some more articles after a long break from your part. I thought you had forgotton me. Still, regarding Offering to Krishna first and also Prassadam. I live with people oppossed to KC so I am handicapped regarding offering to Krishna but do go to the temple now once a week for Kirtan and prassadam. Will eating prassadm make any difference as oppossed to eating any food not offered to Krishna first. What are the benifits of Prassadam compared to no prassadam? Regards….Steve
Hare Krishna Steve
Krishna and Krishna prasadam are non-different. So eating Krishna prasadam is associating with Krishna in a very close and intimate way. But if you eat something that is not prasadam that is eating only sin and will have a very disastrous effect on your consciousness. So if we want to actually become devotees we have to adjust our lives somehow or other so we are only eating Krishna prasadam–food that is cooked by devotees for the purpose of pleasing the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna and his pure devotee Srila Prabhupada.
So we have to only eat Krishna prasadam and nothing else. There may be situations in our lives where we are forced to eat non-prasadam but do not think that we will not suffer for that. We will suffer. When we eat food cooked by non-devotees the non-devotional consciousness enters into the food and when we eat it the nondevotional consciousness enters into us… Which is not at all good…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasda
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa sasa,
I enjoyed the article about eating and sleeping practices to develop Krishna conciousness Offering food and fruits to Krishna first and then eating as Krishna prasadam.
Can you clarify one doubt. Normally children sleep for more than 18 hours a day and old people also sleep for long hours. Is this permitted?
After following your lectures and due comments I am chanting Hare Krishna Mantra daily and remembering Krishna always. I read regularly some chapters from Bhagavad Gita to have mental peace. I chant Vishnu Sahasranamam daily to remember Gods names. What other advise you give me apart from reading Prabhupada books .
Thank you very much.
Now a days I started to visit temples whenever I find time.Expecting your advise eagerly.
Regards
Hare Krishna K.V.RANGASWAMY.
Noone sleeps for 18 hours a day…
If you sleep for more than 6 hours a day you will be in the mode of ignorance and it will be very difficult for you to make any spiritual advancement. That is just the way it is. The whole world is in the mode of ignorance and they are all sleeping too much. Sleep is a waste of time and devotees do not waste time. They have so much work to do in the service of Krishna they do not have the time to sleep more than 6 hours and even sleeping 6 hours is not possible for an advanced devotee… They are too busy serving Krishna….
Very good to know that i can spend some extra hours for the better purpose. But prabhuji I always have to sleep 8 hours normally or at least 7 hours minimum in order to be productive during the day. Otherwise i feel bodily weakness during the day.
Also i dont eat much. I mean I eat as much as I feel I need. Not much, not less.
So kindly suggest me how can I change from 8 hour to 6 hour sleep-cycle.
Sleeping 7 hours is OK now, as you become more and more Krishna conscious then naturally you will feel that you do not need so much sleep and you will get a lot of energy and enthusiasm from serving Krishna. So if you say now sleep 7 hours then over a period of time if you are actually reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and chanting Hare Krishna that will naturally reduce to 6 hours or so..
Hari Hari Bol…
Pls advise – how do we know the job we are doing is helping us or not.
During work, we are not able to remember krishna.
Duty towards family can’t be avoided.
Hare Krishna Muthukumar
You just go to work to make money. So if you make money from going to work then it is helping you.
If you use that money for yourself and your family only that will only help you go to Hell. But if you use that money for the service of Krishna then that will help you and your family go back home, back to Godhead.
Not that you have to give your money to anyone else, all you have to do is change your consciousness and realize that it is not your house that you live in, it is Krishna’s house, and when you go shopping for bhoga don’t think that you are shopping to feed yourself and your family, change your consciousness so you think you are shopping to feed Krishna…
In this way you can transform it so you spend every cent of the money you earn at work for Krishna and at the same time you can feed your family Krishna pradsadam and house them in Krishna’s house….
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
I enjoyed reading your article. It is good reading which is always good to listen and read about Krishna .
fantastic
I am a 7th standard student. At home I am fine where I can read books of Krishna and chant. However in school all my friends are atheists. They try to convince me in each and every possible way that Krishna is fiction. Also they are very corrupted and talk very bad things in loud voices which distracts me. I can’t stop going to school,so what should I do?
Hare Krishna!
Hare Krishna Inventor
It is a very difficult problem. The whole world is becoming more and more atheistic day by day. But that is the way it is at the moment and you will find this same atheistic mood everywhere as you pass through the material world. You just have to become more Krishna conscious by chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and strictly following the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and very importantly reading Srila Prabhupada’s books every day for at least 1-2 hours.
Then, as you become more and more Krishna conscious, the way you see the world and the people around you will change. And you will get some potency to preach and also convince some of the people around you about Krishna consciousness and you will no longer be alone. So you simply have to become more determined and more sincere about following Srila Prabhupada and practicing Krishna consciousness and gradually everything will change… But in the meantime you have to just tolerate it… You can take Prabhupada’s books with you to school and read any time you get free and you can be chanting Hare Krishna whenever you can and there will be a few people who are interested in hearing from you about Krishna also and there will be more who want to hear from you also as you make more advancement in Krishna consciousness.
Always we will find most people are against Krishna consciousness because this is the material world and most of the people hear are materialists… And Krishna says: “Give up all these material attachements and surrender unto Me.” Most people don’t like it. But there are always some who do like it, and you have to find them and associate with them.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabu. How do we regulate and keep our mind under control when our house is burglared. Some jewelleries were taken away. My two year old son and two maids were not harmed and I’m thankful to the Lord to have shown mercy. My mind however is still in a disturbed state. Why this happened? What is the meaning when robbery happens even though all security measures have been taken? Is this some kind of pay back for my past or present karma? Who are the robbers? Why are the souls engaging in this kind of activities? I’m not concerned about the jewelleries, everything is temporary but it should be decided by us and not the burglars. Please accept my humble obeissances and enlighten me on this. Thank you.
Hare Krishna Shanthi
It is all karma, ours and the robbers. We just have to remain Krishna conscious and keep chanting Hare Krishna and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books during all the craziness of the material world. We should not take it so seriously. We don’t need any material facilities to serve Krishna. And we have to expect all sorts of craziness in the material world. Krishna consciousness means we transcend the activities of the material energy. So once we actually get to the platform of Krishna consciousness none of these things will disturb us. So we have to concentrate on becoming Krishna conscious by reading Srila Prabhupada’s books, chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and following the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication]. Don’t worry about anything else. Just worry about becoming Krishna conscious and in this way you will be able to do the best service to yourself and to your family and friends…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabhu,
Dandavat.
All Glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Recently i was reading SB Canto 2.10, Bhagvatam is the Answer to all the Questions.
There it was written that when lord desired to taste, tongue(adhibhuta) was generated along with it’s controller Varuna(adhideva).
Question: When we say we are servant of our senses, does it mean we are servant of these adhidevas? As senses are instrumental and have no conciousness(matter), how can they control us?
As we don’t have control over our senses and sometimes we desire to enjoy them and are we are driven by them, does that mean that we are surrendered to demigods and are worshiping them by satisfying them through the senses?
Prabhupada also writes in BG Introduction:
“Here it is plainly said that those who are directed by lust worship the demigods and not the Supreme Lord Krsna”
Please clarify the point in detail.
Your servant
N.k Dasa
Hare Krishna Nikhileswara Krishna
It is a very philosophical question Prabhu. But we do not need to make it so complex. There is a background arrangement as to how the senses work and ultimately we do nothing except desire and the actions are not taken by us. The actions of the material body are directed by the various demigods generally in accordance with our desires. But it may not happen. For example if our hand becomes paralyzed then we can desire to move it as much as we can but still it will not move.
So on one level you can consider the very intricate workings of the senses but for this question it is not really necessary. All we need to know is that each of our senses is attracted by the objects that gratify that particular sense. So the tongue is attracted by tasty things, the genitals are attracted by things that can satisfy them, the eyes want to see very beautiful things, the ears want to hear very nice sounds, etc.
So you just have to understand this point that generally speaking the senses are attracted by the objects that satisfy them and the senses are always driving us to get these objects. So in that sense a materialist is completely controlled by the senses. A devotee, on the other hand, uses his senses only in the service of Krishna. He uses his eyes to see the beautifully decorated form of Krishna in the temple, he uses his tongue to chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, he uses his ears to hear the Hare Krishna mantra he uses his hands to clean the temple of Krishna, etc. So in this way the devotee engages all of his senses in the service of Krishna. And if we can achieve this, constant engagement of the senses in the service of Krishna, then there will be no time left for the service of maya.
So we should be simply concerned how I can engage all of my senses in the service of Krishna…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna Prabu
How do we differentiate between working honestly and not..??most of the business practices are corrupt, according to the present materialistic approach.If we do business on simple terms which u feel should be the basics according to the scriptures than people cheat you..they can easily manipulate the situation using dishonest ways..please guide what should be our stand and are their any guidelines to the ways u can earn your livelihood..
Hare Krishna Praveen
There are imperfections in every work. So in every business there will be some imperfections. Arjuna complained to Krishna also that if they went ahead and fought the battle of Kuruksettra so many imperfections would be there. Arjuna would have to fight with his teachers and family members for example. But Krishna instructed Arjuna to do his duty and fight. So as a householder you have to support your family and the way the world is no business is really strictly speaking honest. So it may be that for business you have to make some compromise here or there. But you have to do it to make a living. Every occupation there are some faults. But that does not mean that we should give up our occupation. We have to work and there will be some imperfections in that work. The way to purify the reactions of work is to use the fruits of that work, the money we get paid for that work, in the service of Krishna.
It is best of course if devotees can have some simple occupation that does not involve any dishonest activities. But often this is not possible. Still Krishna is in your heart and as you make more and more advancement in Krishna consciousness He will also adjust things in your life so they become more conducive to your advancement in Krishna consciousness…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare krishna prabhu ji,
Please keep on posting regular updates, they are really encouraging.
Hare Krishna
SRIMATHA RAMANUJAYANAMAHA
JAI SRIMANNARAYANA
Hi i am a student in new jersey. I had a question, that the radha character is not mentioned in the authentic bagavatham which is writtend by the vyasha maha rushi. Is it true. please solve my dought.
Hi Revanth
Yes, you are correct. Radharani is not directly mentioned in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. The pastimes of Radha and Krishna are so very confidential that they are not meant for the general public. The affairs of Radha and Krishna can only be understood by the pure devotees of Krishna so they are only indirectly hinted at in the Srimad-Bhagavatam.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Do you mean SB is just a book for general public? Prabhupad said that Suka was the parrot of Srimati Radhika and so he could not chant Her name without falling in deep ecstasy and hence be unable to go on with his speech. Bhagavat is the brightest and more confidential of the puranas and it is understood only by pure devotees but not by poor devotees who thinks to find better ideas to prolong stay in this world of hallucinations. The affairs of Radha Krsna can be understood or at least not misunderstood if we follow always Prabhupada’s unalloyed teachings, then by Panca Tattva mercy everything is possible.The point we can now distribute Bhagavatm to general public because of panca tattva mercy do not mean it is for everybody to understand. Bhagavatam is not different from Radha Krsna, and Bhagavatam always expands unlimited in those with a simple and grateful heart. Hare Krsna
Hare Krishna Prabhu
Krishna consciousness can only be understood by devotees but devotees are everywhere, we have to find them. That is what book distribution is about.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Your servant
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna,
Prabhuji Dandvat Pranam , thank you so much for your wonderful teaching .
Hare Krishna
I have a general query.
Why are most of the people who indulge in bad things such as, having a sadist behaviour, blackmailing, cunning mindset have a very good family life, have lot of money and don’t see much of the suffering.
Whereas on the contrary most of the very good persons, god fearing persons and people who always think good about public don’t have very good family life, don’t have enough money and see much of the sufferings.
I know you would say it is the result of the past “karma”. If you are born with lot of sin , I would say accumulated sins or inherited sins then what ever good you do you will have to suffer till the sins are nullified.
I have a question,,, DO YOU have the choice of controlling the past or inherited sins. In this life I don’t even remember what and how I have committed the sins and how it is thrust on me at my birth.
So I f am made to suffer for the sins which I don’t have control, remember, why should I do good things ? Whether I am doing good or bad I am suffering , so let me do the bad things and at least get satisfaction that I am suffering because I doing some bad things.
Hare Krishna Vishnu
You have to understand that there are no good people here in the material world. We are all bad. Of course there are degrees of bad. Some are worse than others. But we all share the same desire to enjoy separately from Krishna and we all rejected Krishna and came to the material world to try and be happy separately from Krishna. That is our disease and that is the cause of suffering in the material world. The solution to the problem is to surrender to Krishna, to become Krishna conscious. Then there is no more suffering, only transcendental bliss. But we do not want to surrender to Krishna. We are very busy trying to be happy in the material world separately from Krishna. So until we give up this idea and surrender to Krishna we will all suffer in so many ways. And you are wrong, the ‘bad’ people suffer just as much as the ‘good’ people. Everyone is suffering in the material world. We see in the West so many big movie stars who are very famous and wealthy and have everything anyone could dream of become so frustrated an unhappy that they end up killing themselves. So even the richest, ‘most successful’ people are not happy.
This material world is not for happiness, it is for suffering only.
And as far as trying to nullify your past sinful activities by doing good that will not work either. Good karma is also bad. The whole wheel of samsara, birth and death, is bad and we have to escape from this. Doing good means you generate good karma and that forces you to take birth again in the material world and enjoy the results of this good karma. And that in part explains your question. What often happens is someone performs some very great pious activities and austerities in one life with the purpose of achieving material pleasure, happiness and opulence. So in one life they do all this ‘good work’ and as a result they take birth in a very wealthy family and have full facilities for material enjoyment, often they will also be very beautiful. And this opulence and wealth and beauty goes to their heads and they just use it to try and enjoy in the material world at the expense of anyone who might get in their way.
So the ‘successful’ people you see and think have a lot of money, a good family life, and don’t see much of the suffering, have got this position as a result of their pious activities in their previous lives but now they are using it to perform sinful activities so there next lives will be very bad.
So this trying to do good activities is no solution to the problem at all. Rather we have to stop performing good and bad activities and only perform activities in devotional service to Krishna. We have to adjust our lives so we can live in such a way that at every moment of our life we are engaged in serving Krishna.
Srila Prabhupada teaches this science in his books and it would be very good if you seriously study Srila Prabhupada’s books and learn how you can live in the material world and not perform any good or bad activities but only perform transcendental activities in service to Krishna. That will elevate your consciousness and you will transcend the material world completely and enter into the spiritual world even in your present body.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
For those like me having difficulty for a regulated life I advice with urgency that they should catch the lotus feet of Panca Tattva by chanting this mantra constantly. Panca Tattva, as Prabhupad often says in his lectures and books, They do not accept offences, therefore it is our good sense to chant Jay Sri Krsna Caitanya Prabhu Nityananda Sri Advaita Gadhadara Srivas adi Gaura bhakta vrinda if we want to reach Krsna very fast although our fallen conditions.For sure we cannot jump with our offensive mentality on Radha Krsna without first receive full Panca Tattva mercy. Panca Tattva appeared to just give,give give Krsna prema to everybody, but especially to the most fallen. NOW,if we have understood this point and we accept the fact we are fallen we will not be happy by chanting one or two times Panca Tattva before Hare Krsna, and forget it. Panca Tattva is the mantra we should always have around our necks to maintain humbleness and enthusiasm in Krsna consciousness, and it is therefore the most important mantra for us to take as a medicine to counteract kali yuga effects. The more you chant Panca Tattva mantra the more you chant Hare Krsna, therefore how can be neglected such a wonderful gift? Chant chant always this compassionate mantra and soon we will find out that spiritual life is something real and feel so much bliss, bliss. If somebody think I am deviated from Prabhupad I am ready to challenge him even if he is a guru, gbc sannyasi o whatever. Hare Krsna Arthada das
Hare Krishna Prabhuji,
All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Please accept my humble obeisance
We consider killing of plants sinful unless its for the pleasure of Krishna. However in our daily life we use so many products that are laced with animal products or fat or vegetable products or fat etc like shampoo, soaps, basic cosmetic, medicines, shoes, jacket etc only to name a few. Now in this contemporary age to live a life without these things in unimaginable and going for organic pure natural products is again expensive and not within the reach of common man. Again Krishna consciousness recommends frugal living and devote more time to spiritual than material well being which automatically stunts your material prosperity and growth. Then how to finance pure and natural products for e.g Organic vegetables in the mall are three times more costly than local produce. Karma free footwear is very expensive than normal footwear. Even many times they are not available everywhere easily. Even natural medicines does not provide instant relief in case of many ailments. If my child is running temperature I immediately give Allopathic medicines not caring what is it composed of or if I have a head ache I immediately pop a pill least caring what it holds. As natural Ayurveda methods are too time consuming and that branch is not yet fully developed to treat various diseases. Even shampoos and body lotion are laced with animal products. Can we do away with washing hair? I am apologizing if I am offending in any way but where to draw the line is always dicey and contradictory. I will be greatly obliged if you can throw some light on this matter. Hare Krishna With regards Mrs. Sudha Mehta
Hare Krishna Mataji
Yes, it is a very difficult situation. But if we live simple lives we can avoid most of these things. And if we can not then what can we do? Krishna understands our situation and He is looking to the feelings in our hearts and if we really love Him and all our activities are actually motivated by the true desire to serve Him and please Him then He will understand that. The most important thing is that we should always chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and strictly follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours daily. We can never slip on any of these points and if somehow we do slip we must immediately rectify it and get back to the proper position of chanting Hare Krishna and reading Prabhupada’s books and strictly following the regulative principles. As far as soap I have never had any problems finding soap which is made with palm oil not animal fats. I use the same soap for washing my hair which is perfectly OK. For ladies, as is the custom in India, they can put oil in their hair after washing. And that is of course vegetable oil. As far as ‘organic vegetables’ is a marketing gimmick more than anything else. I purchase the ordinary vegetables and offer them to Krishna. Of course some chemicals are there, but what can be done? We live in a world surrounded by all these poisonous chemicals that the agents of kali love spraying everywhere. We can not avoid them. We just have to ‘make the best use of a bad bargain…” and use this valuable human form of life for becoming Krishna conscious and going back home back to Godhead. As far as shoes and clothing I never have any problem finding shoes which are made from synthetic materials, in fact such shoes are more common now than shoes made with leather. As far as jackets are concerned there are so many synthetic and woolen jackets which will keep you perfectly warm. And since I have been in Krishna consciousness for the past 30 years almost I have not been sick, except for some very small things.
So many people get killed by prescription medicine and hospitals. It is probably better to avoid this as far as possible. If we actually live a regulated life in Krishna consciousness and only eat Krishna prasadam we will be as healthy as can be expected. But devotees bodies also get old, sick and die. We have to expect that…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare krsna,
Please accept my humble obeisance
Thank you Prabhuji for your kind reply. I will sincerely do my rounds and follow your recommendations. Please bless me so that I gain strength and intelligence to be focused in Krishna Consciousness
Sudha
Lord Shiv is said to have consumed alcohol. Is it true?
Maybe, but he also drank an ocean of poison and a single drop of that poison could kill so many men. So we are not supposed to imitate the great controllers, we are supposed to follow their instructions.
It is important to know how to use the body and the mind. Regulated life as Krsna says in Bhagavad Gita helps us to do our devotional service, specially chanting japa. If we don’t have the time or phisical energy to chant japa in the morning, so we must adjust or routine to have the needed time, energy and health. It is important not to loose this grat oportunity in life.
hi im new to krsna consciousness. im 18 years old and live with my parents I work at mcdonalds and am not going to college. I want to become krsna conscious but not sure what I have to do. or how to help my parents accept this way of life. my mom just calls me crazy. I need help. both my parents are stuck in the materialistic life so they dont understand. I do read srila prabhupada book: journey of self discovery but im just confused on what to do. and also is smoking marijuana for spirtual reasons forbidden by krsna?
Hare Krishna Marvin
Do not expect your parents to understand Krishna consciousness, at least not in the beginning. They may later on but older people become very fixed in their ways and it is very difficult for them to understand or accept anything new. So do not think badly of them, they just can not understand what you are doing and you can not blame them for that. But do not let them discourage you from practicing Krishna consciousness yourself, but do not try to force them to become Krishna conscious. If you become a nice devotee then gradually by your good association they will also become at least favorable to Krishna conscious and maybe even devotees themselves. But it takes time and don’t be impatient with them.
As far as smoking marijuana that will not help you at all in spiritual life. Any type of intoxication including smoking, drinking alcohol and even tea and coffee is very bad for spiritual life. Because we become dependent on that thing. It may not have happened to you yet but people get to the point they can not live without their smoking or drinking or whatever they are addicted to. So we don’t want to be addicted to anything except Krishna. Any other sort of addiction will drag us away from Krishna. Marijuana has a deadening effect on the consciousness. It is very much in the mode of ignorance and is absolutely not helpful in spiritual life. So if you want to make advancement in Krishna consciousness you have to give up these things.
You should not be confused what to do. It is very simple, by Srila Prabhupada’s mercy. You need to get more Prabhupada books and I would suggest you get the Prabhupada Library at:
http://krishnastore.com/prabhupada-library-h-krishna-1734.html
And read all those books. It is the knowledge in Srila Prabhupada’s books that will give you the power and strength to advance in Krishna consciousness. So you have to get them and read them. Then you have to commit yourself to chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and commit yourself to following the four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no intoxication, no gambling and no meat eating. And if you simply chant Hare Krishna, follow the regulative principles and read Srila Prabhupada’s books you will automatically become Krishna conscious gradually.
So just do it and I am sure you will be very happy with the results.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
pranam
When will one get the honour to c kalki avtar ?
Whn shall this world regain its peace like the one in satyug?
Even though v try to b peaceful within the outside pressure makes u dll n sucks the energy? How can one face this?
Hare Krishna Punita
We are not going to see Kalki Avatar in this life. He is not coming until the very end of the Kali-yuga which we are now in and have passed just over 5000 years. But the Kali-yuga runs for 432,000 years. So we still have 427,000 years to go until the Kalki avatar appears. Hopefully by then we will all be dancing with Krishna in Goloka Vrindavan by then…
As far as becoming peaceful it is very true that at the moment the energy in the world is very materialistic and very sinful and can be very heavy. Still there is nothing more powerful than the Hare Krishna mantra. Krishna is personally present with all of His opulence and power and glories in the form of the vibration of His holy names. So if we simply chant the Hare Krishna mantra sincerely we will become peaceful and completely transcendental to the disturbances of the material world around us. So this is the secret. I keep saying it but honestly so few people take it seriously but if we would simply surrender to Srila Prabhupada’s instructions and chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily, strictly follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours per day we will very easily and quickly become Krishna conscious and the material world will no longer be able to disturb us…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
HARE KRISHNA Madhudvia dasa prabhuji
The article provided by you is really nice and helpful for advancing in krishna consciousness for a fallen a soul like me…..
I’ll surely regulate my habits of eating and sleeping, and will utilize my time by chanting HARE KRISHNA maha mantra
JAI SRILA PRABHUPADA
HARI BOL
Wanted to ask you few Questions! and Chanting!
1. What is mean by DVIJA?
2. How a rigid person can come out of SINs(Having Meet Eating Exercise & Cutting the Meat )?
3. Is there any SIN Cutting meat (Our friends who works in Hotel – Who cut the meat everyday)
4. Why do people don’t have Love on god?
5. Can’t People Turn into normal (Spiritual)
6. If the People who does not have time to chant, Cant they reach Lord Krishna?
there are another 12 Questions which i have.
but me expecting your valuable reply for the same
– Please do not think its a unusefulness Questions.
I need answers for above mentioned details, without Joining Krishna’s Consciousnesses(Coz, in few villages does not find Krishna’s Consciousnesses)
and without Chanting Hare Krishna Mantra!
Thanks for viewing my question! it’s all common question which you can answer well but required me to take this for other people who is suffering from SINs.
With warm regards
a Broker of Radhe-Krishna
Hare Krishna
Thanks for your questions. Dvija means ‘twice-born’. It it used for example in connection with brahmanas who are first born from the womb of their mothers and are born a second time by initiation by the bona fide spiritual master. So as devotees we consider initiation to be another birth for us. Practically when we get initiated into Krishna consciousness we start a new life and leave our old life behind. And we have no more connection with the material things and relationships that were very important to us before initiation. Initiation means entering into Krishna’s family. So we leave our small material family behind and enter into Krishna’s great family…
You can stop sinning any time, that is in your control. You just decide not to eat any more meat, not to have any sex except if you are married and then only with your wife and then only for having children and you agree not to take any intoxicating things like alcohol, smoking, drugs, etc. and no gambling. Of course by itself you can not stop all these things because we are addicted to them. But if you read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours per day and chant the Hare Krishna mantra on your japa beads at least 16 rounds a day Srila Prabhupada and Krishna will give you strength and you will easily be able to give up all these sinful things and the chanting of Hare Krishna and reading of Srila Prabhupada’s books will also purify your heart of all the sins you have performed in the past in this life and even in previous lives. The Hare Krishna mantra and the association of Srila Prabhupada, a pure devotee of Krishna, is so powerful you will have no problems getting rid of your past sinful activities and making very fast advancement in Krishna consciousness. So just do it…
As far as cutting meat and serving it, yes that is sinful.
As far as why people don’t love God. Most people do love God, but the people who love God are not here in the material world, they are in the spiritual world with God… This material world is like a prison house. All the people who don’t love God get sent here. So that is why generally you find rather than loving God people here in the material world are trying to compete with God. Rather than surrendering to God and worshiping Him and serving Him they want to become God themselves and have people worship and serve them…. That is the nature of the material world. You have to expect that….
Yes, as you have hinted, spiritual life is normal and yes people can ‘turn spiritual’ by becoming Krishna conscious. The Hare Krishna matra has the potency to transform the whole world into an ocean of love of God and has the power to make everyone float in that ocean of love of God. We just have to become sincere servants of Srila Prabhupada and Krishna so they can use us as their instruments in spreading this flood of love of God all over the world. So yes, it is possible to flood the world with love of God and turn everyone normal (spiritual).
If someone is a devotee that means they want Krishna and they will always be chanting the name of Krishna 24 hours a day. If someone does not have time to chant Hare Krishna they do not care about Krishna, they do not want Krishna, so obviously they are not going to go to Krishna. Krishna does not force Himself on us. He has given us a little independence. So we can choose if we want to serve Krishna or if we want to serve maya. We have to serve, we are servants eternally. But we can choose if we want to serve maya [the illusion] or if we want to serve Krishna [the reality]. So if someone doesn’t have time to chant Hare Krishna he has chosen to serve maya and he will not be going to Krishna…
They are good questions, thank you very much.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Thanks for thoos words.Well regulated life is importan for any kind of living.A sports man who is unregulated will not last long either.Neither a teacher etc.
Yes its not easy to keep up the sadhana standard of the Tempel espeically when the bodie gets weaker and one cannot just push it to mave like when the bodie was young with so much extra energi to spend.
I try to seriosly keep focus on chanting hearing and reading and talking prasad and now and the do some kind of preaching on the street or on internet.
Most of all I focus on chanting since Srila Prabhupada Garantied one deciple in a personal letter that If he just chants his 16 rounds to the end of his life he will go back to GodHead.
So the Round are the basis and one should keep trying no matter how bad one self thinks the rounds are.After all practice makes expert and also the Great saint said to the IMPERONALIST :Even jus Nama Basa is enough for liberation!!??So then; what to speak of any tendencies to chant with a little personal taste??!!Guru and Krishna Kindly engage in some seva.Any seva will do because any seva is enogh powerfull to conquer mayas power and She is powerfull!!!So powerfull she can make enourmous amounts of Universes.
SO WHY IS THIS??
Well Maya is allound to ONLY put her spell upon thoose who doesnt want to be engage in seva!!!!So WE CAN NEVER OVER ESTIMATE THE POWER OF ANY SEVA
ALL GLORIES TO GURUPARAMPARA AND ESPECIALLY
HIS DIVINE GRACE OM
PRAMAHAMSA PARIVRAJAKACARYA ABHAY.CARAN DE BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI PRABHUPADA
ISKCON FOUNDER ACARYA
Thank you very much Prabhuju. Very inspiring words!!!
Hare KRISHNA!
some close friend of mine who was very dear to me has cheated me.i had never thought.survival has become tough.what to do.
Rupa
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Don’t be surprised about any crazy thins happening. This material world is a crazy place….
Swamiji,
I feel like new born baby. but suferring by body pain. I used to get early morning 4.00 am and go to sleep in night about 11:00 pm please guide me to surrender to complete whole Shri krishna. I also like to teach religeous regularities and rising up from worldy life and to relieve from lusts and desires.
I humbly request you to guide me how I can come from these difficulties.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krshna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama RAma Rama Hare Hare
yours obedient
devotee
There will always be some difficulties and problems presented to us by maya as obsticales in our path to making advancement in Krishna consciousness. We simply have to tollerate these difficulties and continue chanting Hare Krishna and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books. That is always the way in the material world, if we try to escape from the clutches of maya she will fight with us and try and get us back under her control. So becoming Krishna conscious is not always easy. But it is the only worthwhile thing we can use this human form of life for.
So keep chanting Hare Krishna. Never give up chanting…
Very nice article.I am very happy to receive more.Hare krishna.
I am a bit confused about how to seek assistance to make sure I am chanting correctly along with what seems like a million other things in my later life. I understand what you mean about all of the fallen gurus in America and I am not so much looking for a rivtik to initiate me and have His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Founder-Acharya as my master because I am still cleansing my self of maya.
I know you say read his books and I do that and I accept His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Founder-Acharya as the spiritual master. But is everyone fallen but you? I do not mean to offend you, I REALLY do not know where to get association from other devotees if they are all on the wrong track here in America.
Hare Krishna Steve
I am fallen too. This is the material world, generally speaking everyone is fallen. It is very rare that a pure devotee of Krishna comes to the material world and we are very fortunate that Srila Prabhupada has come here and given us his mercy. That is why I am recommending you read his books. As far as the situation in ISKCON, it is very dark at the moment. They are teaching so many things that are directly against what Prabhupada teaches so it will not be good for your spiritual life.
You can find the association of Srila Prabhupada in his books, and not only is Srila Prabhupada in his books Krishna is there as well and so many great souls are there in Prabhupada’s books. You just have to discover how to associate with them by reading Prabhupada’s books.
You can go to an ISKCON temple but you will not find Krishna consciousness there. If you want Krishna consciousness you will find it in Prabhupada’s books. It is not just in America that ISKCON is on the wrong track, it is a world-wide problem. I know it is very difficult but you will only be mislead by ISKCON. I am not saying I am anything special but I do follow Srila Prabhupada and I do only repeat what he says and what you read here are https://www.krishna.org is faithful to the teachings of Srila Prabhupada. ISKCON have changed so many things. When it became too obvious that their gurus were not pure devotees they conveniently changed the philosophy and in 1996 just stopped preaching the siddhanta that the spiritual master is a pure devotee of Krishna, a pure devotee, and that is why he has a direct connection with Krishna… And they started preaching that the spiritual master does not have to be a pure devotee and can be doing all sorts of sinful activities. It doesn’t matter, according to ISKCON, unless he gets caught. I don’t want to get into all this but you can know from me that in so many ways ISKCON has completely rejected the teachings of Srila Prabhupada and gone off in a different direction completely and they are not heading back home, back to Godhead, they are going to a different place which is not very nice and you do not want to go there with them…
Better to chant Hare Krishna by yourself and read Prabhupada’s books than to go where ISKCON is going…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
In busy schedule of the software world,how can one have proper regulated life with appropriate sleep? It is like sleeping less on some days and sleeping more on the other days. How can one be regulated being in job?My working shift is from 2pm to 10pm.What should be my routine?
Hare Krishna Akash
You have plenty of time. You are only working eight hours out of 24 and it is a regular time and you can get home and get into bed by 11 PM, so if you get up at 5:00 AM then you will have had six hours of sleep which is plenty and you will get used to after a week or two, and you can have mangal aroti at 5:00 AM and then chant 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra on your beads and then read from Srimad-Bhagavatam and Prabhupada’s other books and you can continue with so many other spiritual activities all the way up to the time you have to leave for work at 1:00 PM. Of course you will cook a nice lunch and offer it to Krishna and take Krishna prasadam yourself before going to work. So you just have to adjust and use every moment in the service of Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and you have plenty of time. Don’t waste time…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare Krishna!!
Thanks a lot for the article.
I would like to know at what time a Krishna conscious person must go to bed and wake up in the morning?
It depends on your situation but the English saying that Prabhupada sometimes quotes is very good ‘Early to bed, early to rise makes a man happy, healthy and wise.’.
So devotees go to bed early and get up early in the morning. We want to get up to take full advantage of the Brahma-muhurta which is the most auspicious time in the day for performing spiritual activities. And that starts about 1.5 hours before the sunrise. So devotees want to be up and out of bed and chanting Hare Krishna 1.5 hours before sunrise. So Srila Prabhupada fixed up the time for Mangal-Aroti in the temples for 4:30 AM. So the latest you should be getting out of bed is 4:00 AM and if you want to sleep 6 hours then you can go to bed at 10:00, if you go to bed an 9:00 PM and get up at 4:00 AM that is seven hours of sleep which is more than enough for anyone.
Of course if you are not used to this schedule it takes a little time to get used to but it is just a matter of practice. You are still getting plenty of sleep. You just go to bed a bit earlier and get up a bit earlier…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Hare krishna.
Before my baby was born,though I was working but I coulld gv quality time for my krishna but nw I m t home takin care of my child,it has become difficult for me to gv such tym to lord.help me to attain that spiritual tym again
I feel guiltu for same
Thanks
Hare krishna
Hare Krishna Khushboo
It is natural that a mother will be busy looking after her child. But you can add Krishna consciousness. While you are caring for your child you can be chanting / singing the Hare Krishna mantra and the many nice songs in the Vaisnava song book. That will be very good for you and also your child who will hear you. Instead of reading your child silly stories you can read from Srila Prabhupada’s Krsna Book and your child will happily hear. Even though he/she may not understand it is spiritual and that spiritual vibration will enter within his heart and he will benefit greatly by hearing the pastimes of Krishna as you read them from Prabhupada’s Krsna Book. Krishna consciousness can not be checked by anything. So you can be Krishna conscious and care for your child at the same time. You just have to think of how to care for your child and be Krishna conscious at the same time.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Lord Krishna says…………….eeswara sarva bhutanaam hrudese arjuna tishtati…………….
doings of everyman is according to lord’s wishes only
how we can overcome all these bad things……..over eating of food, over sleep, bad companion………without Krishna’s blessings.
We can not overcome these things without Krishna’s blessings and we can not get Krishna’s blessings without getting the blessings of Krishna’s pure devotees. So we have to get Srila Prabhupada’s blessings by pleasing him and then we will be able to get Krishna’s blessings and then we will be able to overcome all these bad things…
And how to get Srila Prabhupada’s blessings? Read his books and find out what he wants us to do and do that…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Thanks for a mind blowing article regards eat/food.
One of my question..it has proven that trees has also life.subsequently if we take vegetables isn’t we kill something.
Pardon me if i do any mistake.
Hare Krishna!
Hare Krishna Nitai
Yes. Vegetables also have life. There are some vegetables / fruits that you can take without killing the plant like apples, etc. But sometimes the vegetable is killed like cabbage, etc. And yes there is life in the vegetables also. It is not a question of being vegetarian or non-vegetarian, it is not a question of killing or not killing. Devotees cook for the pleasure of Krishna and Krishna tells us what He likes to eat, foods in the mode of goodness from the groups of grains, vegetables, fruits and milk products. So the idea is to make something nice and offer it to Krishna and after Krishna has enjoyed the meal the devotee accepts the remnants of Krishna’s meal, that is Krishna prasadam.
So it does not matter if the vegetables are killed to prepare a nice meal to offer to Krishna. That is for Krishna and everything is meant for the pleasure of Krishna. But if you were to take a vegetable and cook it for yourself then you would be responsible for the sin of killing that vegetable and you would have to suffer for that.
So it is not a very good qualification to be vegetarian. That is not the point. Devotees only accept the remnants of the food that has been offered to Krishna, Krishna prasadam.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Madhudvisa dasa
Thank you for taking the time to write such a wonderful article imparting spiritual knowledge.
Steve Harvell 🙂
I know that I am living in darkness but still cant help myself.
I can see the effect of materialistic things on me but still cant get over it.
You have to become Krishna conscious and you will transcend this. But to become Krishna conscious you have to surrender to the process. So please read Srila Prabhupada’s books and get some faith in Krishna and seriously take to Krishna consciousness and then by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada your eyes will be opened and you will be able to see the spiritual world and all your material so-called problems will vanish.
It is a little bit difficult in the beginning to get out of bed early in the morning, to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily, to only accept Krishna prasadam, to force yourself to read Srila Prabhupada’s books even though the seem completely uninteresting and boring in the beginning… But the only way to solve your problems is to become Krishna conscious and the only way to become Krishna conscious is to surrender to these simple things…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy.
Madhudvisa dasa
Who has time to chant for 12 rounds a day!!! Wake up do some exercise go to office and come back around 8 …. So rather then sticking to a jap mala isn’t it far better to sing songs in praise of Krsna while driving , visualize Krsna while you doing exercise….. Why there are so many barriers between me and Krishna …
Hare Krishna Abhishek
If you can not find the time to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily on your beads then you can not become Krishna conscious. Sure it is nice to sing songs about Krishna when you are driving but that does not replace chanting Hare Krishna on your beads at least 16 rounds a day.
You have built the barriers between yourself and Krishna because you do not want to surrender to Krishna. So without that surrender there is no possiblity of Krishna consciousness. And the beginning of that surrender is to accept the process of saddhana-bhakti which means you agree to strictly follow the four regulative principles: no illicit sex life, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication and chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and read Srila Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. If you want to be Krishna conscious you have to adjust your life and make time for these things, if you are not prepared to surrender to this then you are not going to become Krishna conscious.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa