ENROUTE TO THE SPIRITUAL WORLD

It is explained in the scriptures that on the route to the spiritual world, one will have to pass through the irresistibly attractive heavenly planets. Only very rare and fixed up souls are able to get ahead of these tests and boldly march ahead to the spiritual world. Most decide to take a break and engage in their rendezvous at the highly-eulogized heavenly pleasure gardens. Thinking about making my journey through these heavenly realms without getting stranded in these heavenly realms is a scary thought. My only hope is, if I meet some devotee in those realms who helps me stay inspired and focused on the path to the spiritual world with an unwavering mind by reminding me as to how close I am to see the Supreme Lord face to face.

At every step in our journey to the spiritual world, we are fully dependent on the association of the devotees of the Lord. Without their mercy and grace, we will be helplessly lost, being mesmerized and captivated by the attractive creations of the Lord that we will miss our golden chance to meet the All-attractive Supreme Creator of all creations.

- Achyut Gopal Das

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MAKE IT A POINT TO MAKE THE POINT

A few days ago, as I was traveling on the ferry that takes us to our ISKCON Center at Chodan island, a relatively young man approached me and started to talk to me. My Vaishnava (devotee) attire probably attracted him to me. He was asking me if I was a preist in a temple. To which I said "Yes". I asked him where he stays and what he does. He told me that he stays in Panjim and runs a chicken shop in Porvorim. I asked him his name and as I guessed, he happened to be a Muslim. I could see marks of dried up blood stains in different places in his shirt. I at once told him to try to switch his profession to one which involves less violence. I suggested to him to start a vegetable or a grocery shop. He seemed to be taken a little aback by what might have appeared to him to be a stange suggestion by a stranger. I told him that killing innocent animals is not right. They too have life and feelings like us. He was hearing me out. He then asked me, if one can eat chicken ...

CHANGE OF HEART

In today's world, we are blessed to be surrounded by so much knowledge. In fact we are almost swimming in an ocean of knowledge. We have the best of spiritual books, best of the speakers who share deep wisdom still we feel there has been 'no' or 'very minimal' tangible transformation in our lives. Why? This could be one reason...We somehow inadvertently believe that just having access to knowledge will guarantee us success in spiritual life. But one may argue, Is knowledge not sufficient! True, knowledge is the first step to success. But it's not the only step. People say knowledge is power, but it is only potential power, latent power. Applied knowledge is power. Only when knowledge is applied in our lives can true transformation begin. That means we need to put some internal effort to realise the knowledge. It's not an automatic process. There's a difference between theoretical realisation and actual, true realisation. Theoretical ...

WHEN MASTER BECOMES A SERVANT..

" If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go for a picnic. If you want happiness for a month, get married. If you want happiness for a lifetime, serve others. " - Chinese Proverb When and where have we seen a master take the role of a servant? Probably never or if at all, very rarely. Here, I would like to briefly touch upon a few touching stories from the life of Lord Krishna, who even though is The Supreme Master of everything and everyone, still happily chooses to play the role of a servant to His devotees. THE RECEPTIONIST Much, much before the Mahabharata war, when Yudhishthira was performing the Rajasuya sacrifice to be crowned as the undisputed emperor of the world, all his friends and relatives were assigned different departments to take care of, depending on thier tastes and inclinations. Bhima was in-charge of the kitchen, Sanjaya was in-charge of the protocol and of taking care of Kings from various lands, Duryodhan was in...

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