Guest guest Posted October 5, 2004 Report Share Posted October 5, 2004 Hare Krishna! Could you tell me how one should offer the results of ones work to Lord Krishna please ? Can you renounce the fruits of your activities by spending some of your salary on Krishna in some way, ie making a donation to help devotee organisations or buying Krishna related things to sanctify the money one earns? I guess this would be similar to sanctifying ones food by making an offering of a portion of it to Krishna ? Please excuse my ignorance. Haribol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvere Posted October 6, 2004 Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 yes you can do that. but the main thing is acting in a detached way. you can use your money to maintain your life, family but alwasy remember everything belongs to God and that you're not the enjoyer. you keep your love for God secretely growing in your heart and act externally as a normal person... like the gopis. There's a beautilful book talking about it, maybe you should have a look... it's downloadable it's called Venu-gita By BV Narayana Maharaja : http://www.purebhakti.com/library/index.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 6, 2004 Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 Hare Krishna! Thank you for your response and thank you for the link - it looks a very interesting site. My humble obeisances, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumedh Posted October 6, 2004 Report Share Posted October 6, 2004 Hare Krishna Please read the conversation between Srila Prabhupada and Bernard O 'Grady: http://www.angelfire.com/ego2/prabhupada/what_kc/best.htm Here Srila Prabhupada says that whatever you do, do for Krishna. ------ Srila Prabhupada: So when you compose music, compose music about God. That is your perfection. ------ If this is currently not possible at present then the following example has been provided in bhakti. Consider a married woman who has a lover (other than the husband, of course) whom she dearly loves. So she will do all her duties and behave with husband absolutely normally but as soon as she gets a chance she will be thinking of the lover and trying to meet him. So in the heart her only interest is the lover. Similiarly we have to cultivate this attitude of having only Krishna as our objective by chanting, assosiating with devotees, reading etc. as much as possible. Even though we may have no real love for God, for that truly comes later, the desire to have it should be strong, for how can something be obtained without desire. My suggestion would be to also read Updeshamtra (The Nectar of Instruction) by Srila Rupa Gosvami which is available in the books section of this site. Note that in the above example the relationship of lovers outside marraige is considered, which in its perverted form in the material world is actually only lust and in material world is considered to be most degraded; but in its original spiritual form has been considered the highest, with Krishna as the only Purusha (male) and all His energies as female. So our material conceptions cannot be applied at all in spiritual realm and devotees should not even attempt to. Another example of an expert dancer is given. When an expert dancer with pots on her head is dancing, she makes all kinds dancing poses but all her attention (implicitly) is on the pots on the head so that they do not fall. ---- So although Krishna clearly tells Arjuna about renouncing fruits of one's action, in the end He just tells Arjuna to surrender to Him completely -- which is offering everything to Krishna. This is only in my limited understanding and knowledge which is very meagre, so other devotees can share more with us all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 7, 2004 Report Share Posted October 7, 2004 Hare Krishna! Thank you for your help Sumedh. A silly question perhaps, but how should one surrender to Krishna ? If I was a soldier who wished to surrender to overwhemling forces I would wave a white flag, as this is the accepted way for a soldier to surrender. At the moment when I pray each day, I say 'Lord Krishna please accept my humble surrender for you are the supreme personality of Godhead, the absolute truth and cause of all causes' Is this enough to acknowledge ones surrender to Krishna? In my ignorance I do not know what proper prayers to say at the moment. I will try and study the Nectar of Devotion, which I have downloaded, but I am still reading Bhagavad Gita at the moment. So much Nectar and so little time to drink it ! My humble thanks and obeisances. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 7, 2004 Report Share Posted October 7, 2004 Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna! If Lord Krishna is seated in our hearts as the para-atma , supersoul, can he hear what we 'say' in our minds, feel our feelings, and see through our eyes ? In the distant past this sort of thought rather scared me (probably cos I was very impure then and up to no good all too often), but now I have become interested in trying to develop K.C, I feel that Krishna is there in our hearts as our best friend ad well wisher, and not 'spying' on us. My sincere thanks to all answering devotees for their patience with my endless stream of questions! Haribol! Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 7, 2004 Report Share Posted October 7, 2004 At the moment when I pray each day, I say 'Lord Krishna please accept my humble surrender for you are the supreme personality of Godhead, the absolute truth and cause of all causes' ––it is a very nice prayer... if you want to do more please chant also the mahamantra hare krishna on regular basis. You can start with one "round" a day.. a round is 108 hare krsna mahamantras If Lord Krishna is seated in our hearts as the para-atma , supersoul, can he hear what we 'say' in our minds, feel our feelings, and see through our eyes ? ––of course... he sees and feels us much better than how we feel personally I feel that Krishna is there in our hearts as our best friend ad well wisher, and not 'spying' on us. ––he's our best friend because he knows everything and he has the right solutions. If he did'nt know us what would be the use of calling for his help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumedh Posted October 8, 2004 Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 Hare Krishna please accept my humble obeisances "A silly question perhaps, but how should one surrender to Krishna ?" Not at all silly because this is the whole deal!! A fully surrendered soul is a perfect devotee -- uttam adhikaari. As Srila Prabhupada says in "Teachings of Lord Chaitanya", the teachings of Lord Krishna and Lord Chaitanya are same -- those of Lord Chaitanya are practical demonstrations of Lord Krishna's teachings. So all the teachings of Lord Krishna and Lord Chaitanya which are coming to us through Srila Rupa Goswami and others to Srila Prabhupada are for this -- how to surrender to Krishna. Since we have been subject to material conditioning from time immemorial for billions of billions of lives, it is not easy. The regulative principles, chanting 16 rounds, associating with devotees, offering tulasi, worshipping, avoiding nama-aparaadha etc. are all for this. The nine processes of devotional service are applied in this manner to revive our original Krishna Consciousness. Full surrender means to forgo of everything that we (implicitly of explicitly) lay claim on including body, mind, intellect, ego which is possible by dovetailing all our activities with Krishna. "In my ignorance I do not know what proper prayers to say at the moment. I will try and study the Nectar of Devotion" The maha-mantra is the proper prayer, it is fully "self contained" so to speak and is the most glorious benediction. Actually i was speaking of "Nectar of Instruction" which contains the priciples of devotion in a nutshell (Nectar of Devotion is also an excellent read). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 8, 2004 Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 Hare Krishna! My humble thanks for your responses. Could you tell me what nama-aparaadha is please ? Haribol ! Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 8, 2004 Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 Hare Krishna! Yet more questions I'm afraid.. If I were ever to become a real, initiated devotee, could anyone please tell me who my spiritual master would be ? (I live in the UK, and my nearest ISKCON temple would be Coventry in Warwickshire). Does each temple have its own Spiritual Master? Or is there a Guru for different areas of a country who travels around several different temples ? I guess a Spiritual Master would want to get to know a neophyte before deciding whether to accept them or not ? Also how does a neophyte become eligible to be initiated ? I have started trying to chant 16 rounds on beads a day over the last two weeks, but I am still finding it difficult, and have failed a couple of times. Also, despite my best efforts my mind still wanders at times and I have to keep refocusing on hearing the chant.. Perhaps I should chant less rounds, more attentively, but I don't think I could bear going back to doing less rounds now though. Please excuse my ignorance once more and thank you again. My humble obeisances, Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumedh Posted October 8, 2004 Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 Hare Krishna and dandavats Nama -- the Holy Name aparadha -- offense There are ten offenses which can be found here: http://www.iskcon.com/basics/tenoffences.html and some advise on chanting -- http://www.iskcon.com/basics/japa.html Initially we are on the first stage (i.e. chanting with offenses), then move on to second (i.e. chanting without offences) and finally on the third (i.e. chanting in love of God). The most dangerous impediment to spiritual progress is the first offense vaishnava aparadha, has been called the "mad elephant" offense which can destroy our devotion like a mad elephant would destroy a garden. Lord Chaitanya says that a vaishnava is anyone who chants the Holy Name of God, and so we must not criticize other devotees or make judgements on them -- only a pure devotee can know the stage of another devotee so better to remain neutral. I found the following nice article on this: http://www.bvml.org/SBBTM/vatghodp.html A vaishnava calendar which gives the ekadashi days and other major days is here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumedh Posted October 10, 2004 Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 Hare Krishna please accept my humble obeisances i wont be able to answer those questions, other devotees may help out here. Regarding Spiritual Master i do have a personal opinion, email sumwale@fastmail.fm "Also, despite my best efforts my mind still wanders at times and I have to keep refocusing on hearing the chant.." This happens with almost all devotees for quite sometime, so nothing to worry. "Perhaps I should chant less rounds, more attentively, but I don't think I could bear going back to doing less rounds now though." There will be some problems in chanting for sometime which will gradually smoothen out, so better not to reduce the rounds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 11, 2004 Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 If I were ever to become a real, initiated devotee, could anyone please tell me who my spiritual master would be ? --- a REAl initeated devotee is one who chants the holy names. Srila Prabhupada said that chanting IS the initiation - anything else is just a ceremony. This is also reinforced by Rupa Gwosami who said that even if a person chants the name of the Lord just once he is a devotee. Don't worry about initiation etc - just focus your attention on chanting and evertything else will come from there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 Hare Krishna! Dear Devotees, my humble obeisances. Is it ok to keep a pet cat ? The cat is our family pet and the rest of my family is not into KC. I have wondered if keeping a cat is a problem, as one has to buy meat to feed it. I have read that devotees consider dogs to be unclean.. what about cats (who spend a great dealof their waking time washing). A minor point perhaps , but I would be interested to know the vedic view point on cats! My humble thanks, Mark Haribol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhaktaneal Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 I have a cat. In my opinion he is very auspicious and lucky to have Krishna Conscious parents...He will make advancement from this...by constantly hearing the Holy Names when I chant or do bhajan... He will take birth in His next life as a human being with more facility to perform devotional service. He was born on Easter Sunday. We named him Benny~Krishna. We NEVER feed him cow, but only cat food with poultry or fish. The level of practice that my wife and I are at is fine with us, and we sorta know what the next level would be in many areas. We do what we can and don't trip about our not being perfect devotees. Cats, despite all their cleaning, shed and also spread dander (dead skin)... also they can ruin a food offering if they should look apon it before offered. My cat seems to show great interest when I play my harmonium. he alsways lays around, looking medatative. He also enjoys prasadam... though sorta selective in what he'll eat. The way I see it is this... He was born with a perfect body for eating meat. I wasn't and have no plans on eating his food.... someday he will leave his body. My wife and I got him very early on in our sadhana, after he leaves us, we probably won't get another cat... I may be mistaken, but I think Lord Krishna and Balarama had many pets? I know it may not be the standard... but like I said, I am not there yet, though I strive to always make some advancement when and where I can. I had alot of interesting exchanges with devotees on forums a few years ago regarding cats and pets and KC. I never did get a solid answer on anything and decided not to go mental over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 22, 2004 Report Share Posted November 22, 2004 "everyone is elligible to receive Krsna's mercy including Vyasadeva,the four Kumeras,Sukadeva Goswami, LOWBORN creatures,trees, plants,and BEASTS.By Krsna's mercy they are elevated and engaged in His service."---CC Madhya-lila 24.205-- --etavan avyayo dharmah--Sb.6.10.9 purport: "verse clearly says to be commpassionate to all living entities, regardless whether human,ANIMAL,tree,or plant all living entities are sons of Supreme Personality of Godhead." Upadesamrta--text 4 pg.42-- "even the souls embodied in lower ANIMALS,INSECTS, TREES, and other species of life also become purified and prepare to become FULLY KRSNA conscious, simply by hearing the transcendental vibration."---this was explained by Thakura Haridas, when Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu enquired from him how living entities lower than human beings can be delivered from material bondage. There are many incidents of animals receiving the mercy of the Lord.... It is the duty of genuine Vaisnavas to show this same mercy to all living entities regardless of bodies..... So kitty cats and dogs, horses, parrots (Srimati Radhika has a parrot on Her finger) the Lord Caitanya, and the Lord Krsna also had animal friends...this is bona fide... we are all Krsna's children...... ever felicitate in the dust of the feet of genuine Vaisnava's....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumedh Posted November 24, 2004 Report Share Posted November 24, 2004 Hare Krishna please accept my dandavat pranam I may be mistaken, but I think Lord Krishna and Balarama had many pets? But we cannot compare -- their pets would be great God-realized souls.The important thing is our devotion to Krishna. See story 17 here http://www.iskcon.net/govinda/page8.html for when Srila Prabhupada disapproved of a cat as a pet and story 18 here http://www.iskcon.net/govinda/page9.html for when he didn't mind (actually all of the stories by Mother Govinda dasi are really good and i couldn't stop reading them once started) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumedh Posted November 24, 2004 Report Share Posted November 24, 2004 Hare Krishna Actually, the basic thing is that if one brings up any pets (or children for that matter) in Krishna Consciousness by feeding Krishna prasadam etc. then it is perfect (we also take a resposibility in such cases and cannot abandon them) but when it is for other purposes then it only binds them and us further into material realm and in Srila BhaktiSiddhanta's words is like "feeding milk to a serpant". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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