Friday 31 August 2012

From Happy - Less To Happiness


People want to conquer. They want to rule. They want to prove things to the world. They conquer lands, companies; try to conquer space, people and their hearts and so on. The present age mantras are,” Rise to the challenge! Prove to the world that you are a man of mettle! Go kiss the world! Conquer the whole world. It’s waiting for you. Life is about how much you can take and still carry on.” and so forth. So, basically in this world people are in frenzy. Competition is at its peak. People are fixed on being successful in life. ‘Success’ is the present age holy-grail.

Everyone is dragged into this rat race, so much so that even children are inextricably a part of this from very tender ages. People are pushing very hard. There seems to be nothing called limit these days.Children are trained, at school to prepare hard for the competitive exams. After that, in colleges or universities they are trained to become ‘professionals’. The first 20 years of a child’s life is spent in preparation for the next 20. Ironically, the next 20, after so much hard work, is not a phase of relaxation and enjoying the fruits of hard earned labor. On the contrary, it’s a phase of struggle. One has to tolerate cutting-edge competition and all that goes with it, and rise to the top of the hierarchy which takes another 20 years.
So 40 years of life are spent in preparation for the next phase. After so much of hard work, is there finally a reward for the hard work? Again, it’s a big no. People have to work hard to maintain the reputation and stature that they have pain-stakingly made for themselves. Of course, this example is more inclined in the corporate world. But even in the small scale empires, the example holds good. The point is, the whole life is spent for achieving success. Name, fame, wealth, glory, status, education in a reputed place etc are all considered to be the definitions of success and happiness.So in pursuit of happiness is the whole world moving. In this cutting edge competition, no one pauses to think for a second,” Hey! I am doing all this for happiness, but am I happy?”Ironically, people who are in the top-of-the-world in the success chart are the most unhappy. This can be justified by the following evidences. America, as the world knows in the heartthrob, the crux of the modern civilization. It is America that the world is looking at, for directions to move towards. Why? It is because they are supposedly very passionate and successful people. Following them will make every country healthy, wealthy and wise. But an astonishing 70-80% of the Americans seek psychiatric help! In a survey conducted by the London times, Bangladesh was found to be the happiest nation in the world! And they are one of the poorest.But people who seek happiness are as far away from it as they can ever be. They hardly get to spend time at home, children are left by themselves as both parents go for work, meeting round-the-clock, lots of work even during weekends and so on. In a man’s quest for happiness, most of his time is spent for acquiring wealth. This takes his most of his productive life. Which he sadly can’t even enjoy in his dying days. His children take over and cast him aside.

A Simple Prayer

MY DEAR BUTTER THIEF





Oh butter thief, most beautiful, these eyes are not able to see you, of what use are they?

Oh butter thief, most merciful, these hands are not able to serve you, of what use are they?

Oh butter thief, most nectarian, this tongue is unable to glorify you, of what use is it?

Oh butter thief, most munificent, this body is not able to jump with love, of what use is it?

Oh butter thief, most loving, this soul is not able cling to you, of what use is it?

Oh butter thief, of what use is anything without you?

Oh, butter thief, when will the time come when this fool is helpless against thy beautiful glance?

Oh, butter thief, when will the time come when this fool dances to your tunes? 


Oh, butter thief, when will the time come when this fool is intoxicated with love for you?

Oh, butter thief, when will the time come when this fool glorifies you like uncontrollable wind?

Oh, butter thief, when will the time come when this fool remembers you constantly?

Oh, butter thief, when will the time come when tears flow like rivers from the eyes when he remembers you?

Oh, butter thief, when will the time come when there is no time for eating, sleeping but time only for you?

Oh, butter thief, when will the time come when the unlimited nectar in thy holy name unleashed in my heart, and roll in the ground maddened with ecstasy?

Oh, butter thief, when will the time come when you steal this heart and all my desires other than you and leave me hungry for your sight?

Oh, butter thief, when will the time come when my hunger is satisfied by hearing about you, m tiredness is palliated by speaking about you, my blindness is removed by seeing you, my deafness by hearing you, my muteness by glorifying you, my lameness by jumping for you, my forgetfulness by remembering you, and my fear by holding on to you?

Oh, butter thief, when will the time come when I finally remember that I belong to you, only to you, and only to you..........????

By Siddharth Chivukula

Krishna- The Supreme Lord


Krishna is the one with whom we can form a close connection. He can be a guide, an understanding friend, a loving parent, a pampering sibling and a fantastic lover. One can form any kind of a relationship with Him. Once you form a relation, that’s it. Your job is done. Now Krishna will take care of you. He’ll make sure that you never get disappointed. Forming a relationship with Him is important. Its important because then only will you be able to open up to Him. Be it a friend, a guide, a parent, a lover, a sibling, anything. Krishna is ready to become anything for His devotees. He is always forward in helping His devotees. Once you should experience this.
Just imagine a time when you are deeply upset over something and there’s no one who can understand you properly. You don’t know who you should talk to. Come to Krishna. Pour your heart out in front of Him. You’ll feel amazingly calm. You will feel as if someone has lifted a heavy burden off your weak shoulders. You will feel happy and relieved. Suddenly the problem that you were worrying about will become tiny. Its only because of Krishna. He gave you the motivation, support and the spirit.
Always remember, Krishna loves you immensely. He’s always there for you no matter what. All you have to do is to form a relationship with Him, a good and a pure relationship, a relationship of love. That’s it.  The job is done.

By Swati Pandey

A Gorgeous Temple In Chennai ,BTG July 2012 Edition


Monday 11 June 2012

Struggle is the name of the game as long as we are in this material world


"Struggle is the name of the game as long as we are in this material world."

- H.H. Radhanath Swami Maharaj.

         One may be wonder stuck to hear struggle as a game. We have heard of many games - Cricket, football, tennis, kabbadi, chess and so ... on. But till today, we have never heard struggle as game. Sorry to say, but true, every step taken in life is a struggle. Not only human being, in fact every living entity in this world have to suffer. Let that be animals, Plants, birds, Humans every one struggles for their existence.

          When a child is in the womb of mother, it has to suffer a lot, as soon as a child is born all the real problem starts - BIRTH, OLD AGE, DISEASE and DEATH. Unfortunately, these are not the only problem, along with the real problem we get other problems free such as stress, depression, dualities, in life - failures and victory, joy and sorrow, relationship problem, misunderstanding, clashes etc. Everything becomes too much then a person starts thinking - "I should have been the victim in a bomb blast or whatever"they start thinking negative and waste their human life. These are common problem which everyone - whether a devotee or a non devotee faces in day to day life.

I will show you Krishna face to face...

 I will show you Krishna face to face...

  
On 14th may 2012, an air crash in Nepal claimelife of 8 devotees.
This tragic incident challenged the faith of many.

Lord Krishna protects his devotees. So how did he allow this to happen? 
What is the fate of their souls? 
Many mature devotees from all over the world wrote nice consoling letters. These letters not only consoled the devotees but also gave them a spiritual vision to look at these tragic events. Auspicious or inauspicious
Offerings to departed devotees at ISKCON JuhuAfter such event there is always a debate – whether such a death is auspicious or inauspicious? We have to consider following points in this regard.

1.These devotees left there bodies in Muktinath,
the holy abode of the Lord. Is such a death in Lords Holy Abode auspicious or inauspicious?

2.These devotees were on a pilgrimage. They were away from the day to day interactions in the material world. So they were in the best of their consciousness as they were approaching Muktinath who is the giver of liberation. Is such a consciousness at the time of death auspicious or inauspicious?

~ Back To Godhead Magazine ~
~ June 2012  Edition ~



                    

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