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.