Recently I began reading the Srimad Bhagavatam again from the very beginning. Last year I started reading the Bhagavad Gita again from the beginning. Reading scripture is very different for me than ever before. Instead of just reading and studying, I am thinking. I stop to think about the concepts and teachings so much, as I read, that I can sometimes stay on the same page, or few pages for days at a time. So, right now, with the Srimad Bhagavatam, I'm thinking about the introduction.
In the...
The life of a dedicated monk engaged in outreach may seem very austere to people or even devotees when it is understood that there is often no “personal time” or little opportunity to savior the beauty of Krishna’s creation, or even take proper rest. In the very first issue of Indradyumna Maharaja’s “The Diary of a Traveling Preacher” he relates one a particular occasion when he was staying at a Temple between engagements. He went in the backyard to behold a beautiful Temple garden with lovely...
Everybody wants a solution to some problem they have. We are all looking for solutions to this difficulty or that difficulty.
Since the material world is full of all kinds of difficulties, there is no end to this search for solutions.
It's fine to want to find solutions to problems that make it hard for us to advance in spiritual life, but sometimes we can get so caught up in the various possible "solutions" that we lose track of the real purpose, namely making spiritual advancement.
We try to...
Recently one of the talks I gave in The Japa Room was about the purification process of chanting the Maha Mantra.
I am sharing one of the quotes I used here for anyone who is not able to come to The Japa Room.
"It is said that the execution of devotional service is so perfect that one can perceive the results directly. This direct result is actually perceived, and we have practical experience that any person who is chanting the holy names of Kṛṣṇa (Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa...
Recently, I have been teaching myself to do needlepoint tapestries. My goal is to one day make these as pictures of Krishna and His various pastimes. In the meantime, however, because I am teaching myself, I have to do whatever projects I can manage.
Anyone who knows needlework, knows that any type takes a lot of patience.
Well, on this particular project... I have been very challenged. There is a huge canvas, and it must be stretched across a large wooden frame. Then, there are all these...
It takes a lot of determination for devotees to chant daily rounds of japa on their beads.
Some of us are just at the point where we are beginning to think about getting some japa beads, and starting to see about chanting rounds.
Some of us have beads, and we are maybe chanting a round or two.
Some devotees are committed to chanting a certain amount of rounds every day.
Others are chanting 16 rounds every day, and still others are working on improving those 16 rounds so they are the very best...
While going through my email this morning I found the most beautiful letter from someone and it reminded me of this simple basic fact:
You meet the nicest people around Krishna.
This gentleman was someone that my husband and I became acquainted with during a devotional service project we were engaged in. I didn't really know him all that well, but he seemed like a nice person.
Well, we exchanged a few letters, and this one was just wonderful. He's very serious about Krishna consciousness, and...
Because we are in a conditioned state of existence we have no real desire to surrender to Krishna. In the same way, we have no real desire to surrender to the Holy Name while we are chanting Japa.
We fight and struggle with chanting in our efforts to surrender to Krishna, to surrender to His Holy Name.
We fight with our mind, trying to control it. This can often lead to a dialog with the mind, rather than absorption in the sound vibration of the mantra. We notice our thoughts wandering, so we...
The only thing that ever actually belongs to any of us is our free will.
Free will means making choices. We always have choices about everything.
We chose what we do, what we think, how we spend out time, who we spend our time with. We chose what things to put our energy into, and what things are a waste of our time.
All of our lives are these constant choices.
Sometimes people get into a state of mind where they forget that they are constantly making choices. They say "well, I had no choice...
I saw a movie one time that was the life story of the great American singer, Johnny Cash. Almost everyone knows who Johnny Cash is because he is so famous. Johnny Cash (1932-2003) is considered to be one of the most influential American musicians of the 20th century.
This movie about his life told the story of the event that occurred that changed him from being just another mediocre gospel singer, one of thousands, into the legend that he became.
He was a musician, he had talent. He was...
2 years 44 weeks agoRecently I began reading the Srimad Bhagavatam again from the very beginning. Last year I started reading the Bhagavad Gita again from the beginning. Reading scripture is very different for me than ever before. Instead of just reading and studying, I am thinking. I stop to think about the concepts and teachings so much, as I read, that I can sometimes stay on the same page, or few pages for days at a time. So, right now, with the Srimad Bhagavatam, I'm thinking about the introduction. In the...0 Comment(s)334 Reads
2 years 44 weeks agoThe life of a dedicated monk engaged in outreach may seem very austere to people or even devotees when it is understood that there is often no “personal time” or little opportunity to savior the beauty of Krishna’s creation, or even take proper rest. In the very first issue of Indradyumna Maharaja’s “The Diary of a Traveling Preacher” he relates one a particular occasion when he was staying at a Temple between engagements. He went in the backyard to behold a beautiful Temple garden with lovely...0 Comment(s)325 Reads