There are 4 kinds of people who set an alarm clock

The first kind are those who set an alarm but the never wake up. they are so deep into sleep that they just don't hear the alarm ringing. The whole world wakes up but they keep sleeping.

The second are those who hear the alarm clock and keep snoozing, they postpone their wake up time.

The third ones are those people who hear the alarm clock wake up and think for sometime and again go back to sleep switching off the alarm clock.

The Fourth Kind are those people who hear the alarm clock and wake up and engage themselves in productive activities , in the purpose of their life.

This message of Srimad Bhagavatam and Srimad Bhagwat Gita, the words of Srila Prabhupada are like an alarm clock .

The first person keeps hearing about Krishna consciousness and and he still keeps sleeping i.e., he is still engaged into material sinful activities

The second person keeps postponing ,he keeps saying " from tomorrow I will be Krishna conscious, from tomorrow I will chant my rounds, from tomorrow I will reduce Vaishnav aparadh, from tomorrow I will become serious, from tomorrow I will offer prasadam." He keeps snoozing .

The third person is the one who follows Krishna consciousness very nicely and conveniently gives it up after sometime and gets back to his material sinful life .

The fourth person is the one who wakes up to these messages and engages himself in Krishna consciousness .

Hare Krishna

Special reasoning power of the human being

The Bhagavad-gita says that out of many thousands of human beings, one may try to make perfection of his life. Man is an animal, but he has one special prerogative, rational thought. What is that rational thought? Reasoning power, argument. Now, reasoning power is there in dogs and cats as well. Suppose a dog comes up to you; if you say, "Hut!" he'll understand. The dog will understand that you don't want him. So, he has some reasoning power. But what is the special reasoning power of the human being?

As far as the bodily necessities are concerned, the reasoning power is there even in the animal. If a cat wants to steal some milk from your kitchen, she has very nice reasoning power: she is always looking to see when the master is out and she can take. So, for the four propensities of animal life -- eating, sleeping, mating and defending -- there is reasoning power even in beasts. Then, what is the special reasoning power of the human being, by which he is called the rational animal?

The special reasoning power is to inquire, "Why am I suffering?" This is special reasoning. The animals are suffering, but they do not know how to remedy the suffering. But human beings are making scientific advancement and philosophical advancement, cultural advancement, religious advancement -- progress in so many lines -- because they want to be happy. "Where is the point of happiness?" This reasoning power is especially given to the human being. Therefore, in the Gita, Krishna says, "Out of so many men, one may know Me."

Generally, the people are just like animals. They simply do not know anything beyond the necessities of the body: how to eat, how to sleep, how to mate and how to defend. And the Bhagavad-gita says, out of many thousands, someone may develop this reasoning power: "Why am I suffering?" He asks this question: "Why am I suffering?" We do not want to suffer, but suffering is forced upon us. We do not want too much cold, but too much cold and too much heat are forced upon us.

When there is some impetus to awaken this reasoning power, it is called brahma jijnasa. This is found in the Vedanta-sutra. The first verse says that now, this human form of life is meant for asking the question of how to solve the problem of suffering.

So Krishna says that this special prerogative of the human being is not awakened very easily, except by some good association. Just as we have this Krishna conscious association. If we attain such association, where nice things are discussed, then that awakening of reason, that special prerogative of the human being, will come. As long as this question does not arise in one's mind, he should understand that whatever activities he is doing will lead to his defeat. He is simply leading an animal life. But, not when these questions arise: Why am I suffering? What am I? Am I meant for suffering? Am I meant for troubles?

I am undergoing troubles by nature's laws, and by the state's laws. So the question of freedom is how to become free from all these troubles. The Vedanta-sutra also says that the soul, my actual self, is by nature joyful. Yet, I am suffering. Lord Krishna further says that when these questions arise, gradually one comes to God. Those who have awakened to these questions are said to lie on the path of perfection. And, when the question of God and our relationship with God comes, that is our final perfection of life.

Ref. Krishna Consciousness - The Topmost Yoga System authored by Srila Prabhupada (Founder - Acharya, ISKCON)

KARMA -Ever wondered why bad things happen to good people?

KARMA

Ever wondered why bad things happen to good people? Why we suffer? Why some days are awesome and others morose? If God exists, why does He keep quiet about it? The answer to all the above questions is karma.

Karma is one of those topics that many people know about, but few understand the intricacies of it. In literal terms, “karma” means “activity” and the law of karma regulates the reactions to our activities. If we act in good, or pious ways, we reap good reactions. If we act in impious, sinful, or destructive ways, we reap bad reactions in the future. Christian theology explains, “As ye sow so ye shall ye reap” while in physics karma is expressed by Newton’s Law, “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

Karmic reactions include not only things that happen to us, but determine our health, wealth, intelligence, physical appearance, and social status, as well as our personalities and inclinations. While we have some degree of freedom to choose our current actions, our choices are influenced by our natures, or personalities, which have developed from our previous actions.

Karma thus locks us up in a cycle of action and subsequent reaction. As long as we are in this cycle, we will experience both happiness and distress. Even if we act in a pious way, we destine ourselves to accept another material body at death to enjoy the reactions to our materially good actions. As long as we accept a material body we can not avoid the miseries of disease, old age, and death.

Fortunately karma is temporary. We can break free from its bonds by performing spiritual acts in service to Krishna. Such acts of devotion, or bhakti-yoga, purify the soul and gradually awaken our spiritual knowledge and innate love for Krishna. Thus, both our karma and our long-standing desire to enjoy life within the illusory material world—the root cause of our bondage—are destroyed.

NAIVEDYAM: WILL GOD EAT OUR OFFERINGS?

Here is a very good explanation about Neivedyam to God. Will God come and eat our offerings?Many of us could not get proper explanation from our elders.An attempt is made here.

A Guru-Shishya conversation:

The sishya who doesn't believe in God, asked his Guru thus:
"Does God accept our 'neivedhyam'(offerings)? If God eats away the 'prasadham' then from where can we distribute it to others? Does God really consume the 'prasadham', Guruji?"

The Guru did not say anything. Instead, asked the student to prepare for classes.

That day, the Guru was teaching his class about the 'upanishads'. He taught them the 'mantra': "poornamadham, poornamidham, ......poornasya poornaadaaya...." and explained that: 'every thing came out from "Poorna or Totality." (of ishavasya upanishad).

Later, everyone was instructed to practice the mantra by-heart. So all the boys started praciting. After a while, the Guru came back and asked that very student who had raised his doubt about Neivedyam to recite the mantra without seeing the book,  which he did.

Now the Guru gave a smile and asked this particular shishya who didn't believe in God: 'Did you really memorize everything as it is in the book? The shishya said: "yes Guruji, I've recited whatever is written as in the book.

The Guru asked: "If you have taken every word into your mind then how come the words are still there in the book? He then explained:

"The words in your mind are in the SOOKSHMA STHITI (unseen form). The words in the book are there in the STOOLASTHITI (seen).

God too is in the 'sooksma sthiti'. The offering made to Him is done in 'stoola sthiti'. Thus, God takes the food in 'sookshmam', in sookshma stithi. Hence the food doesn't become any less in quantity.

While GOD takes it in the "sookshma sthiti",  we take it as 'prasadam' in 'sthoola sthiti'.

Hearing this the sishya felt guilty for his disbelief in God and surrendered himself to his GURU.

Srimad Bhagavatam: The spotless Purana

Once there lived an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna by name Poonthaanam. He worshipped Guruvayoorappan (Lord Krishna) with all his heart and soul. People loved him for his beautiful Bhagavatam discourses.

There is a temple in North Kerala called Kottiyoor. The significant deity in the temple is Lord Siva. The temple was kept open only for a few days during a year. There were no human activities in that place for the rest of the year.

Once Poonthaanam reached the Kottiyoor temple and had a bath in the holy river. He worshiped the compassionate Lord Siva, felt happy, and stayed there for a few days.

He recited Bhagavatam everyday in front of the deity and several hundreds of people listened to his sweet discourse on the wonderful pastime in the 10th Canto 60th of Srimad Bhagavatam named “Lord Krishna Teases Queen Rukmini.”

The Lord decides to play with His beloved wife Queen Rukmini and wanted to listen to Her. He playfully asks Her why She wanted to marry the Lord when She had better choices like King Sisupala, Salva, Jarasandha, etc. Hearing this Queen Rukmini faints and Lord consoles Her. This is the gist of the chapter.

Poonthaanam finished reading this part of the chapter and kept the bookmark at the end of the chapter so that he can continue reciting from the next chapter.

Next day, to his surprise, he found the bookmark at beginning of the same chapter. So Poonthaanam read the same part for the second time. This was repeated for the rest of the days.

It was the last day to close the temple for the year. Poonthanam finished the discourse and was returning from the temple with the other devotees, but somehow left the Bhagavatam in the temple itself.

Having walked some distance suddenly he remembered that he forgot to bring the Bhagavatam with him. He hurried back; crossed the river and reached the entrance to the temple, which was closed. He was all alone.

He could hear somebody reciting the same part of the chapter from Bhagavatam inside the temple. As he looked through the keyhole he saw Lord Siva himself reading from Poonthanam’s Bhagavatam. Mother Parvati and his other Bhoothaganas were listening. Their eyes were filled with tears out of devotion.

Poonthaanam stood there motionless and heard the whole recitation. At the end Lord Siva asked Parvati devi, “Did you like the Bhagavatam recitation”? Parvathi replied, ”Yes, it was nice, but was not as good as Poonthaanam’s"!

Lord Siva replied, “Yes. That is true. I also like to hear Bhagavatam from Poonthaanam. That is why I placed the bookmark again and again at the beginning of the same topic every day!!”

Hearing this Poonthaanam who stood outside was shaken up and uttered the holy name of Krishna loudly. When he watched again, Lord Siva and Mother Parvati had disappeared from his sight.

This pastime clearly explains how all the living entities including the demigods love this great literature. Srimad Bhagavatam (verse 12.13.18) says:

_srimad bhagavatam puranam amalam yad vaishnavaanaam priyam_
_yasmin paaramahamsyam ekam amalam jnaanam param geeyate_

_tatra jnaana viraaga bhakti sahitam naishkarmyam aavishkrtam_
_tac chrnvan supathan vicaarana paro bhaktyaa vimucyen narah_

“Srimad Bhagavatam is the spotless purana. It is most dear to the Vaishnavas because it describes the pure and supreme knowledge of the paramahamsas. This Bhagavatam reveals the means for becoming free from all material work, together with the processes of transcendental knowledge, renunciation and devotion. Anyone who seriously tries to understand Srimad Bhagavatam, who properly hears and chants it with devotion, becomes completely liberated.”

The word paaramahamsyam indicates that even completely liberated souls are eager to hear and narrate Srimad Bhagavatam.

Srimad-Bhagavatam – The Transcendental literature

Religion includes four primary subjects, namely pious activities, economic development, satisfaction of the senses, and finally liberation from material bondage. Irreligious life is a barbarous condition. Indeed, human life begins when religion begins. Eating, sleeping, fearing, and mating are the four principles of animal life. These are common both to animals and to human beings. But religion is the extra function of the human being. Without religion, human life is no better than animal life. Therefore, in human societies there is some form of religion which aims at self-realization and which makes reference to man's eternal relationship with God.

In the lower stages of human civilization, there is always competition to lord it over the material nature or, in other words, there is a continuous rivalry to satisfy the senses. Driven by such consciousness, man turns to religion. He thus performs pious activities or religious functions in order to gain something material. But if such material gains are obtainable in other ways, then so-called religion is neglected. This is the situation in modern civilization. Man is thriving economically, so at present he is not very interested in religion. Churches, mosques or temples are now practically vacant. Men are more interested in factories, shops, and cinemas than in religious places which were erected by their forefathers. This practically proves that religion is performed for some economic gains. Economic gains are needed for sense gratification. Often when one is baffled in the pursuit of sense gratification, he takes to salvation and tries to become one with the Supreme Lord. Consequently, all these states are simply different types of sense gratification.

In the Vedas, the above-mentioned four activities are prescribed in the regulative way so that there will not be any undue competition for sense gratification. But Srimad-Bhagavatam is transcendental to all these sense gratificatory activities. It is purely transcendental literature which can be understood only by the pure devotees of the Lord who are transcendental to competitive sense gratification. In the material world there is keen competition between animal and animal, man and man, community and community, nation and nation. But the devotees of the Lord rise above such competitions. They do not compete with the materialist because they are on the path back to Godhead where life is eternal and blissful. Such transcendentalists are nonenvious and pure in heart. In the material world, everyone is envious of everyone else, and therefore there is competition. But the transcendental devotees of the Lord are not only free from material envy, but are well-wishers to everyone, and they strive to establish a competitionless society with God in the center.

Ref : Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.2 authored by Srila Prabhupada (Founder - Acharya, ISKCON)

Does This Vedic Verse Predicts Creation of Pakistan?

SB 12.1.37

sindhos taṭaṁ candrabhāgāṁ
 kauntīṁ kāśmīra-maṇḍalam
bhokṣyanti śūdrā vrātyādyā
 mlecchāś cābrahma-varcasaḥ

Word for word: 

sindhoḥ — of the river Sindhu; taṭam — the land on the shore; candrabhāgām — Candrabhāgā; kauntīm — Kauntī; kāśmīra-maṇḍalam — the region of Kāśmīra; bhokṣyanti — will rule; śūdrāḥ — śūdras; vrātya-ādyāḥ — brāhmaṇas who have fallen from the brahminical standard, and other disqualified men; mlecchāḥ — meat-eaters; ca — and; abrahma-varcasaḥ — lacking spiritual potency.

Translation: 

The land along the Sindhu River, as well as the districts of Candrabhāgā, Kauntī and Kāśmīra, will be ruled by śūdras, fallen brāhmaṇas and meat-eaters. Having given up the path of Vedic civilization, they will have lost all spiritual strength.

The areas mentioned in the above verse are all in Pakistan
 Sindhu River - Indus
Candrabhāgā - Chenab river
Kashmir- Known as it is

 ref: Srimad Bhagavatam 12.1.37

No need of any magic!

People do not know that they can become immortal. Immortal we are, but we have been embodied in this material body. Therefore we have to accept mortality, birth and death. This is the beginning of spiritual life. Spiritual life means how to become immortal. They come to ask me, "Sir, do you know some spiritual magic?" All for material benefit. For them spiritualist means something magic so that you can get some material benefit. If by stretching your hand you can get some little quantity of gold, then you are spiritualist: "Oh, here is a man, wonderful spiritualist. He can create gold. He can cure disease by simply Fooing (blowing air).” They want to see magic only for material benefit. 

Spiritual life means how to become immortal. So the yoga-siddhi is that magic. Devotee can show better magic, but they do not bother their time for yoga practice. Because he's under the care of the supreme magician, Krishna. So if there is need of magic, Krishna will show. Why he should bother? Just like a small child is dependent on his father. Father is rich man. So he says to his father, "Father, I want this." That is very costly. So he doesn't require to get the money. The father is there. He'll get the money. "All right, take it." So that is the facility for the devotees. 

If you can hold the hand of Hari, then you can show wonderful magic, which no magician, no yogis can display. That is the position of devotee. They do not care for practicing yoga to show some magical feats. Neither do they require it. Neither do they want it. Because devotee's position is, "Krishna, whatever You like, You can do." That's all. He has no desire.

Ref – Compilation from Srila Prabhupada’s Lectures, (Bhagavad-gita 2.15-London, August 21, 1973 & Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.6-Vrindavana, October 17, 1972)

Live for Contribution

We are all innately pleasure-seeking whatever we do, we do it for gaining pleasure.But pleasure has a peculiar nature it eludes those who pursue it as their exclusive purpose, whereas it follows those who focus on contributing to a purpose greater than their own immediate gratification.

When we do things solely for the gratification they provide, our vision becomes narrow: “What am I getting out of this?” This narrowed vision breeds dissatisfaction because we soon find that we don’t get much out of whatever we are doing. Why? Because all material things are temporary, and their capacity to provide pleasure is finite and short-lived. Hoping to gain pleasure elsewhere, we do something new, but all gratification-driven activities end in dissatisfaction, again and again ad infinitum.

The Bhagavad-gita discourages a gratification-centered lifestyle by stating (15.07) that those who live to gratify their own mind and senses end up with struggle and suffering. The same verse encourages a contribution-centered ethos by informing us that we are constitutionally parts of Krishna, implying thereby that we are not meant to be independent, isolated centers of enjoyment.

When we do activities with a contribution-centered ethos, our purpose broadens: “How can I best serve?” Such broadening of focus happens best when we seek to serve Krishna because that devotional service attitude enables us to make the best contribution, thereby granting us access to the topmost happiness.

Thus, the contribution-centered ethos eventually provides the best gratification too.

The Supreme Controller

It is natural that a philosophical mind wants to know about the origin of the creation. At night he sees the stars in the sky, and he naturally speculates about their inhabitants. Such inquiries are natural for man because man has a developed consciousness which is higher than that of the animals. The author of Srimad-Bhagavatam (Vyasadeva) gives a direct answer to such inquiries. He says that the Lord Sri Krishna is the origin of all creations. He is not only the creator of the universe, but the destroyer as well. 

The manifested cosmic nature is created at a certain period by the will of the Lord. It is maintained for some time, and then it is annihilated by His will. Therefore, the supreme will is behind all cosmic activities. Of course, there are atheists of various categories who do not believe in a creator, but that is due to a poor fund of knowledge. The modern scientist, for example, has created space satellites, and by some arrangement or other, these satellites are thrown into outer space to fly for some time at the control of the scientist who is far away. Similarly, all the universes with innumerable stars and planets are controlled by the intelligence of the Personality of Godhead. 

In Vedic literatures, it is said that the Absolute Truth, Personality of Godhead, is the chief amongst all living personalities. All living beings, beginning from the first created being, Brahma, down to the smallest ant, are individual living beings. And above Brahma, there are even other living beings with individual capacities, and the Personality of Godhead is also a similar living being. And He is an individual as are the other living beings. But the Supreme Lord, or the supreme living being, has the greatest intelligence, and He possesses supermost inconceivable energies of all different varieties. If a man's brain can produce a space satellite, one can very easily imagine how brains higher than man can produce similarly wonderful things which are far superior. The reasonable person will easily accept this argument, but there are stubborn atheists who would never agree. 

Ref : Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.1

Let others have the glory

There is something magical that happens to the human spirit, a sense of calm that comes over you, when you cease needing all the attention directed toward yourself and instead allow others to have the glory.

Our need for excessive attention is that ego-centered part of us that says, “Look at me. I’m special. My story is more interesting than yours.” It’s that voice inside of us that may not come right out and say it, but that wants to believe that “my accomplishments are slightly more important than yours.” 

The ego is that part of us that wants to be seen, heard, respected and considered special, often at the expense of someone else. It’s the part of us that interrupts someone else’s story, or impatiently waits his turn to speak so that he can bring the conversation and attention back to himself. To varying degrees, most of us engage in this habit, much to our own detriment.  

When you surrender your need to hog the glory, the attention you used to need from other people is replaced by a quiet inner confidence that is derived from letting other have it.

Sufferings In the Name of Happiness…

So according to the mischievous activities, there are different kinds of suffering and there are different kinds of species of life. But the spell of maya is so strong that one cannot understand that he is suffering. We understand that we are trying to be happy. 

Actually, this material world, there is no happiness, but to counteract the agency of distress, we accept, "That is happiness." Just like I have no apartment, but to counteract this inconvenience, if I try my utmost to get a good apartment I feel, "Oh, now I am happy. I am happy." What is this happiness? How long you shall remain in this apartment? So here happiness means to counteract the force of distress. Actually there is no happiness. 

Just like I am in distressed condition, puzzled, I take some intoxication. This is called happiness. I remain in the same condition. After my intoxication is over, I come back again into the same condition, but I am thinking I am happy. Here, pleasure means a little absence of pain. Just like you have got a boil here. So it is always painful. And by some medical application, when the pain is little relieved, you think that "Now it is happiness." But the boil is there. How you can be happy? 

So here, actually there is no happiness, but we think we have discovered so many counteraction. Just like there is disease. We have discovered medicine. But that does not mean you'll live. No, you'll have to die, sir. So the boil is there. This is your real problem. Therefore there is no happiness at all in this material world. But actually, real life, real pleasure, eternal pleasure is there in the spiritual world, not in this material world.

Ref: Bhagavad-gita 2.25 authored by Srila Prabhupada (Founder - Acharya, ISKCON)

Manage Your Anger

As the carpenter went home after shutting down his workshop, a black poisonous cobra entered his workshop.The cobra was hungry & hoped to find its supper lurking somewhere within. It slithered from one end to another & finally bumped into an axe & got very slightly injured. 

In anger & revenge, the snake bit the axe with full force. What could a bite do to a metallic axe?

Instead the cobra's mouth started bleeding. Out of fury & arrogance, the cobra tried it's best to strangle & kill the object that was causing it pain by wrapping itself around the axe. 

The next day when the carpenter opened the workshop, he found a dead cobra wrapped around the axe blades. The cobra didn't die because of someone else's fault but faced these consequences merely because of it's own anger & wrath.

Lesson to learn !! 

Sometimes when angry, we try to cause harm to others but as the time passes by, we realize that we have caused more harm to ourselves.

My Father is Taking Me Home

A business man was late for his flight. He reached the boarding gate just before it closed. Sweating and out of breath, he scanned his boarding pass at the counter and quickly made his way to the plane.

Arriving at his seat, he greeted his companions for the next few hours: a middle-aged woman sitting at the window, and a little girl sitting on the aisle seat. After stowing his bag above, he took his place between them.

After the flight took off, he began a conversation with the little girl. She appeared to be about the same age as his daughter and was busy with her colouring book. He asked her a few usual questions, such as her age, her hobbies etc.

He found it strange that such a young girl would be traveling alone, but he kept his thoughts to himself and decided to keep an eye on her to make sure she was okay.

About an hour into the flight, the plane suddenly began experiencing extreme turbulence. The pilot came over the PA system and told everyone to fasten their seat belts and remain calm, as they had encountered rough weather.

Several times over the next half hour the plane made drastic dips and turns, shaking all the while. Some people began crying, and many―like the woman in the window seat―were praying intently.

The man was sweating and clenching his seat as tightly as he could, and exclaimed, “Oh my God!” with each increasingly violent shake of the plane.

Meanwhile, the little girl was sitting quietly beside him in her seat. Her colouring book and crayons were put away neatly in the seat pocket in front of her, and her hands were calmly resting on her legs. Incredibly, she didn't seem worried all.

Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the turbulence ended. The pilot came on a few minutes later to apologize for the bumpy ride and to announce that they would be landing soon.

As the plane began its descent, the man said to the little girl, “You are just a little girl, but I have never met a braver person in all my life! Tell me, dear, how is it that you remained so calm while all of us adults were so afraid?”

Looking him in the eyes, she said, “My father is the pilot of this plane, and he's taking me home."

There are deep lessons in this story and each will find their own. This is the way I understand it!

The little girl represents our personality.
The journey, our life.
The man, the inner commentator.
The pilot, the girl's father is the Supreme Lord Krishna, guiding us back home.

The Man Who Tried to cheat Yamaraja

There is a popular story from India of one man who tried to cheat Yamaraja.  He consulted one astrologer, and he found out the exact day that he was going to die.  So he was a sculptor, and he knew how to work with clay very nicely.  He made nine clay images of himself.  He painted them and dressed them expertly.  If eyou weren't an artist you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. 

They all looked exactly like him.  The moment came when he was supposed to die, so he lined them up and stood very still amongst them.  Yamaraja came, and he was very confused.  "Hey, wait a minute.  This person is supposed to be leaving now, but which one is he?"  He was puzzled, and for a long time he was thinking, "This man is going to be the first person to cheat death."  

But Yamaraja is one of the twelve mahajanas, so he's very intelligent.  So he said, "Actually, whoever has done this has made a really lousy job.  It's bad work.  I've seen much better sculptures than this.  It doesn't look like the original artist at all."  Suddenly the sculptor became very upset, and he came out of the row of images, saying, "What do you mean?  It looks just like me!"  "All right," Yamaraja said, "Come with me."

MORAL: You cannot cheat death.

Everybody follows somebody

Everywhere there must be, one chief man. Either you are a political party or social party or religious party or Communist party... Just like Communist party, they have got their chief men. Lenin, Stalin. I asked this question from Professor Kotovsky, "Where is the difference of philosophy between your Communist philosophy and our Krishna consciousness philosophy? You have to accept one chief man, that Lenin or Stalin, and we have also selected one chief man, or God, Krishna. So you are following the dictates of Lenin or Stalin or Molotov or this or that. We are following the philosophy or the instruction of Krishna. So on principle, where is the difference? There is no difference." You cannot conduct your daily affairs without being dictated by somebody else. So that is the law of nature. Then why don't you accept the supreme authority? It is not possible that we can live without leadership

.

Is there any party, is there any school, or is there any institution that they're conducting without any chief leader or director? No. The principle is there, that you have to accept one chief. We have to accept the servitor-ship or to become underhand of some person. So the intelligence is that "Whom we have to accept?"

There lies intelligence: "What kind of leader we shall accept?" So our principle is that Krishna should be accepted as the leader because Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita, "There is no more superior person or superior position than Me."; and "God" means that. In the dictionary "God" means the Supreme Being. Supreme Being means nobody is greater than Him; nobody is equal to Him. 

Ref: Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.16.21- Hawaii, January 17, 1974

Is there a Soul in Our Body,?

A disciple asked his Guru- "Is there a 'Soul' in our body,? Will it not 'perish' like the body.?"

The Guru explained..

"Milk" is useful but if left as it is.. it gets spoiled..

In case u add a drop a "Buttermilk".. it becomes "Curd".. and the Milk that turns to Curd, remains for one more day without getting spoiled..

If left as it is.. the Curd gets spoiled..

Yet, if u churn the "Curd" it becomes "Butter" which doesn't get spoiled..

But, even Butter also does not remain fresh for many days.. It becomes rancid or spoiled after a few days..

But if u melt Butter in a proper manner.. It becomes pure "Ghee", which never gets spoiled..

Now, do u see that the "Milk" which gets spoiled contains "Ghee" that never gets spoiled.?

Likewise, inside the "perishable" Body, there is an "imperishable" Soul..

The Habit Trap

A village was once attacked by wild boars.Every day the wild boars would enter to rampage the food supplies of the village. The villagers tried various means to fight and chase away the wild boars, but without much success.

One day a wise man approached the village headman to offer his advice. He told the villagers that they would need to follow all his advice and directions. Out of desperation, the villagers agreed. The wise man told the villagers to gather all the food from every household and put it in the middle of a big empty field.

They followed his advice and immediately saw hundreds of wild boars approaching the vicinity where the food was placed. The wild boars were apprehensive initially, but after a while they went for the food. Once the wild boars had a taste of the food, they came back for their free meal every day. And every day the villagers would put more food in the field and the wild boars would come to have their free meals. 

After a while, the wise man asked the villagers to erect four poles at the four corners of the field.The wild boars were too busy having their food that they did not take notice of what was happening. After a few weeks, the wild boars developed a habit of eating free food. The wise man then asked the villagers to put fencing around the field, with a large gate through which the wild boars could enter to have their food.

Finally, once the fencing and the gate were completed the villagers closed the gate and all the wild boars were trapped inside the field. The wild boars were finally defeated!

Habits are easily developed but difficult to get rid of. The wild boars were trapped because out of their greed, they developed a habit of eating free food, without having to work for it. They became so comfortable that they did not realize that they were being trapped.

Most of us are like the wild boars because we become so comfortable with our materialistic activities that we do not realize we are in one way or another being "trapped". We seek security rather than freedom!

A Man and His Deaf Wife

A man feared his wife wasn’t hearing as well as she used to and he thought she might need a hearing aid. Not quite sure how to approach her, he called the family Doctor to discuss the problem. The Doctor told him there is a simple informal test the husband could perform to give the Doctor a better idea about her hearing loss.

Here’s what you do,” said the Doctor, “stand about 40 feet away from her, and in a normal conversational speaking tone see if she hears you. If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and so on until you get a response.”

That evening, the wife is in the kitchen cooking dinner, and he was in the bedroom. He says to himself, “I’m about 40 feet away, let’s see what happens.” Then in a normal tone he asks, ‘Honey, what’s for dinner?” No response.

So the husband moves to closer to the kitchen, about 30 feet from his wife and repeats, “Honey, what’s for dinner?” Still no response.

Next he moves into the dining room where he is about 20 feet from his wife and asks, Honey, what’s for dinner?”

Again he gets no response so, He walks up to the kitchen door, about 10 feet away. “Honey, what’s for dinner?” Again there is no response.

So he walks right up behind her. “Honey, what’s for dinner?”

“James, for the FIFTH time I’ve said, Pizzas!”

Moral: The problem may not be with the other one as we always think, could be very much within us!

Become a Better Listener

Effective listening is more than simply avoiding the bad habit of interrupting others while they are speaking or finishing their sentences. It’s being content to listen to the entire thought of someone rather than waiting impatiently for your chance to respond.

In some ways, the way we fail to listen is symbolic of the way we live. We often treat communication as if it were a race. It’s almost like our goal is to have no time gaps between the conclusion of the sentences of the person we are speaking with and the beginning of our own.

Slowing down your responses and becoming a better listener aids you in becoming a more peaceful person. It takes pressure from you. If you think about it, you’ll notice that it takes an enormous amount of energy and is very stressful to be sitting at the edge of your seat trying to guess what the person in front of you (or on the telephone) is going to say so that you can fire back your response. 

But as you wait for the people you are communicating with to finish, as you simply listen more intently to what is being said, you’ll feel more relaxed, and so will the people you are talking to. They will feel safe in slowing down their own responses because they won’t feel in competition with you for “airtime”! 

Not only will becoming a better listener make you a more patient person, it will also enhance the quality of your relationships. Everyone loves to talk to someone who truly listens to what they are saying.