Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Thakura used to pace back and forth on his balcony and pose questions to himself, and then answer them. I do the same in this newsletter. I ask the questions to myself and then answer them. I ask subtle questions that I believe are important for our progress in Krishna consciousness. I ask about the nature of pure prayer: Is it wrong to pray to Krishna to protect us materially? Is […]
Шрила Бхактисиддханта Сарасвати Тхакур мерил шагами балкон и задавал вопросы самому себе, а затем отвечал на них. В этом вестнике я делаю то же самое. Я задаю себе вопросы, а затем отвечаю на них. Я задаю тонкие вопросы, которые, на мой взгляд, важны для нашего продвижения в сознании Кришны. Я задаю вопрос о природе чистой […]
Below is an article by His Holiness Varsana Swami. I liked this article so much that I wanted to share it with everyone, so I decided to send it as this month’s newsletter. I trust you will find it insightful. May you always remember Krishna, Mahatma Das By Varsana Swami The efforts, austerities, and practices involved […]
I apologize in advance for the length of this newsletter. I couldn’t do the topic justice without making it longer than my typical newsletter. The information I offer goes very deep into a part of our psychology that is not easily understood (or not easily accepted). Thus, I needed more space to insure that the […]
Is it wrong to want to taste Krsna? Wouldn’t that desire be sense gratification? Shouldn’t we just serve without any personal desire? These are important questions to address. There is a difference between taste in Krsna consciousness and sense gratification, although they can seem similar, and thus difficult to distinguish. We discuss this difference, as […]
Surrender The word itself doesn’t bode well with many of us. The word surrender evokes fears of losing freedom, of losing control, even of losing individual identity. Surrender can bring up connotations of ‘forced acceptance’. For many of us, the first image that comes to mind when we hear ‘surrender’ is that of the battle […]
Is Forgiveness Possible Before We are Pure? The Golden Avatara in this age of Kali, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, asks us to do kirtana in a humble state of mind with the tolerance and forgiveness of a tree. This instruction is not meant for the realized souls for they are already humble, tolerant, and forgiving. This […]
Japa Mini-Course Installments 10 – Bringing It Home What can you do to insure that you take advantage of these lessons as well as continue to improve your japa? Improving japa is an ongoing process. Utilizing the tools in this course (and the many other tools offered in The Japa Workshop) is meant to continue […]
In this newsletter I share with you a powerful process for dealing with material desires and attachments. The presence of unwanted desires is disturbing because they deviate our mind from Krishna. Sometimes we can even be tormented by these desires. But there is a way to counteract their influence: we can use such attachments as […]
In a past issue we spoke about obstacles to bhakti. One obstacle we didn’t mention was the path of bhakti itself. Yes, the very practice of sadhana can become an obstacle to spiritual advancement. As I explained in the newsletter entitled Putting An End to Courtesy Japa, japa done without attraction, taste or feeling often […]
Whenever we try to achieve something great, there will be obstacles and tests on our path. Devotional service is no exception. We all get tested, and as we all know, maya hits us where we are the weakest. So what do we do, lay down and roll over? You might feel like it sometimes. In […]
In this issue we discuss one of the offences to the holy name: to maintain material attachments. Detachment follows bhakti. To maintain an attachment is to hold onto it while it is naturally being pulled away from us by the process of bhakti. We’ll look at why and how this happens. May you always think […]
Obstacles In the last issue we talked about how change is your choice; it is within your power to change. In this issue we discuss how associating pain to your obstacles to bhakti (anarthas) makes it easier and more natural to overcome them. May you always think of Krsna, Mahatma Das ________________________________________________________________________________ Pain is a […]
Obstacles to Bhakti When devotees look at their obstacles to advancement in Krsna consciousness, they sometimes doubt whether they will ever be able to overcome all of them (for those of you haven’t taken my seminar on prayer, we ask participants to make a list of obstacles they face in devotional service and formulate prayers […]