Love!

So-called love here means that "you gratify my senses, I'll gratify your senses," and as soon as that gratification stops, immediately there is divorce, separation, quarrel, and hatred. So many things are going on under this false conception of love. Actual love means love of God, Kṛṣṇa.

SSR Ch7

Genuine Guru

The genuine guru is God's representative, and he speaks about God and nothing else. The genuine guru is he who has no interest in materialistic life. He is after God, and God only. That is one of the tests of a genuine guru: brahma-niṣtham. He is absorbed in the Absolute Truth. SSR Ch2

In the beginning...

In the beginning of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one may not fully discharge the injunctions of the Lord, but because one is not resentful of this principle and works sincerely without consideration of defeat and hopelessness, he will surely be promoted to the stage of pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Bg 3.31

Since we must serve...

Since we must serve, why not serve Kṛṣṇa? Why should we serve our senses, which are never satisfied anyway? Second Chance Ch13

Food Van Donation

Bhakta has been working with Bhakta Jason to design a food van for Hare Krishna Food for Life prasādam distribution. Here's an idea of the kind of machine he is looking at.

COMPLETE FOOD VANS from Focus Film Wedding Videography on Vimeo.

Proud of your birth!

As soon as one becomes proud of his birth as the son of a brahmana and neglects to acquire the qualifications of a real brahmana, he at once becomes degraded and falls from the path of self-realization. Thus his life's mission as a human being is defeated. Śrī Īśopaniṣad 18

Surrender's benefits.

By surrendering to the Lord and praying for His causeless mercy, the devotee can progress on the path of complete self-realization. The Lord is addressed as fire because He can burn anything into ashes, including the sins of the surrendered soul. Śrī Īśopaniṣad 18

Can burn up the reactions of all past karma.

agne naya supathā rāye asmān
viśvāni deva vayunāni vidvān
yuyodhy asmaj juhurāṇam eno
bhūyiṣṭhāṁ te nama-uktiṁ vidhema

O my Lord, as powerful as fire, O omnipotent one, now I offer You all obeisances, falling on the ground at Your feet. O my Lord, please lead me on the right path to reach You, and since You know all that I have done in the past, please free me from the reactions to my past sins so that there will be no hindrance to my progress. Śrī Īśopaniṣad 18

Days of cooking like this are numbered

This old style of cooking is on its way out. With the new kitchen we'll be saying goodbye to these old pots. The new Bratt Pans provide an energy efficient, quick cooking method. The pan is shallow so the heat is closer to the grains toasting them in less time. The shallow pan enables the cook to stir the ingredients with less effort. They have a tilting mechanism so cooks don't have to lift heavy pots. Time saving, labour saving, energy efficient.

The magic photo size.

570 pixels wide is the magic size for posting to all my blogs, twitter etc. without having to go back and fiddle with every page to make sure they look ok. One size fits all. Set and forget.

Posing for a different camera!

I'm testing the optimum size for auto uploading pictures to multiple sites.

Food for Life Kitchen Fund Raising Dinner

We had an entertaining evening at the Food for Life Kitchen Fund Raising Dinner last night. The St Kilda Town Hall is a great location to hold these events. We sat in the hall facing North which is how it was designed. It was a much better ambience than in previous events. We far exceeded our target thanks to the enthusiasm and dedication of our wonderful team of devotees.

Why am I attracted by Rādhārāṇī?

It seems strange that Kṛṣṇa, as the Supreme, should be attracted by anyone's love. We search after the love of a woman or a man because we are imperfect and lack something. The love of a woman, that potency and pleasure, is absent in man, and therefore a man wants a woman, but this is not the case with Kṛṣṇa, who is full in Himself. Thus Kṛṣṇa expressed surprise: "Why am I attracted by Rādhārāṇī? And when Rādhārāṇī feels My love, what is She actually feeling?" TLC Intro

The desire for spiritual life.

The desire for spiritual life is an absolutely natural hankering. Because we are spirit souls, we cannot be happy in the material atmosphere. If you take a fish out of the water, it cannot be happy on land. Similarly, if we are without spiritual consciousness, we can never be happy. SSR 20

Kṛṣṇa's garlands.

Yesterday morning I pondered a picture of Prabhupāda I have above my bedstead. He wears a long garland. It made me think of how long were Kṛṣṇa's garlands. A garland that long seems to me to be something that would get in your way especially considering the many demons to kill. You wouldn't want in impediment like that getting in your way. It looks like this is not a problem for Kṛṣṇa.  Later in my daily reading I came across this quote from the Nectar of Devotion.

Kṛṣṇa used to put a vaijayantī garland around His neck. This vaijayantī garland is made of flowers of at least five different colors. Such a garland was always long enough to touch Kṛṣṇa's knees or feet. Besides this garland of flowers, there were other kinds of flower garlands too – sometimes decorating His head, sometimes hanging around His neck and chest. NoD Ch 26

Kṛṣṇa's kaiśora age

At this kaiśora age, Kṛṣṇa's endeavors were always bent toward arranging the rāsa dance, as well as toward killing the demons in the forest of Vṛndāvana. While Kṛṣṇa was engaged in enjoyment with the boys and girls within the forest of Vṛndāvana, Kaṁsa used to send his associates to kill Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa would show His prowess by killing them. NoD Ch 26

Food for Life Kitchen gets a boost!

Here's an article featured in the latest edition of the online Indian Link newspaper. It describes the ground breaking ceremony celebrated at the temple on Nṛsiṁha Caturdasi. The new kitchen, its benefits and how it will increase prasādam distribution are highlighted. Prasādam distribution is a key element to successful community cultivation and development. Thanks to Gaurav Masand for such a comprehensive and detailed explanation of our project.

I also heard from Śukadeva that there are over 500 attendees for the Saturday fund raising dinner. There are more enquiries but we will have to limit the number of places. If you miss out this time, don't worry. We'll be holding another in due course.

The point is...

The point is that to make advancement in spiritual life, one must view everything material with a pessimistic eye unless it is utilized to serve and please Krishna. We are not very much hopeful for any lasting pleasure or satisfaction for our deepest cravings within this realm of gross matter. SSR 7

Apology from Prabhupāda

Your complaint is that you have met two of my young disciples in California and they appeared to you to have "a very negative outlook toward the people they meet." Of course, I do not know the case and what the circumstances are, but kindly forgive my beloved disciples for any unkindness or indiscretion on their part. SSR 7

Early to rise.

I got up earlier than usual this morning. I aim to get up earlier tomorrow. My favourite time of day is the morning when I can chant rounds with the devotees at the temple. There is no better feeling in the world. It is the proper use of time which is usually wasted sleeping. It is hard to drop work and avoid distractions in the evening and at night. Staying up late at night is the biggest killer of a strong and nourishing morning program. Avoiding dropping work, at the right time, is another time and energy sapper. It boosts the late night time wasting.

Mathurā Manohara Prabhu gave a nice class this morning. He mentioned the influence of evening and night.

As early morning is the period for spiritual cultivation, the beginning of evening is the period for passion. Demoniac men are generally very fond of sex enjoyment; therefore they very much appreciate the approach of evening. SB 3.20.29

Wasted time at night sabotages a strong, early morning program. The best use of early night is to chant, read and rest so one can rise early for spiritual cultivation.