Letters From Prison Inmates About Bhagavad Gita As It Is

Two months prior to 2006 Gita Jayanti festival, I requested inmates, who regularly write to me, to write down a few lines about how they received the 1st copy of Bhagavad Gita As It Is and what they learned from the Gita and what are their favorite verses. I have tried to keep the inmates responses as it is in order to keep the originality of the text. The following is a compilation of inmate’s quotes: Supreme Knowledge: I got Bhagavad Gita As It is from the Vedic resources. I learned it is... Read more »

Psychology of Hiranyaksa

Hiranyaksa means one who has his eyes always on gold! What a name. Many years ago when I first joined the movement I would feel a definite antipathy towards persons like Hiranyaksa. Now I feel quite different (hopefully I have not become a demon!). When I read about Hiranyaksa and his ilk I feel sorry for how they are suffering due to their great desires/needs. So what we did today in class is to analyze the needs that Hiranyaksa had that caused him to have such emotional outbursts against God. These... Read more »

Material Love and The Modes of Nature

What do we call material love in our world? What we call “love” in this world is simply the self-centered desire to enjoy the “beloved” object. So our love for something or someone is dependent upon whether or not our senses are being pleased. For example, people generally love animals such as cats because of the sensual attraction to soft fur, or dogs because of the dog’s desire to please the master. But, very few people are interested in embracing a cockroach, because... Read more »

The Secret Is No Secret

By now you’ve probably seen or heard of a movie called The Secret. It has been prominently featured on the Oprah TV show and has been aggressively marketed online. The Secret is described as a self-help film and uses a documentary format to present “The Law of Attraction”. The movie has been reported as a “self-help phenomenon”, a “publishing phenomenon” and a “cultural phenomenon”. The Secret contains wisdom from modern-day teachers - men and... Read more »

Externally And Internally In My Heart And Mind

I have decided to start a blog, not as an attempt to document what is going on externally in my life and travels but rather as to reveal what is happening internally in my heart and mind as I perform my devotional service to Srila Prabhupada. Sometimes I will refer to external events as a means to reveal my mind and heart to the devotees who wish to follow this blog. The writing may be a little rough at times as I will attempting to write “stream of consciousness” more than in a documentary... Read more »

Frustration, Material Pleasure and Three Gates Leading to Hell

Our nature is spiritual–different from the material body that we are inhabiting. We can never become happy by attempting to satisfy the body. The soul must be satisfied. Srila Prabhupada gave an example of the “Bird in the Cage” to illustrate this point. If the owner of the bird only pays attention to the cage, polishing it carefully, and neglects the inhabitant of the cage (the bird), the bird will die. In the same way, if we simply pay attention to the body, neglecting its inhabitant... Read more »

Better Ways Of Eating For Krishna And Prabhupada

Now comes the controversial part where I attempt to explain how many of our habits (that we confuse with Kcon) or activities may be harming us or at least not contributing to our health. Lets take eating for example. Most of us were brought up in Kcon eating tons of Halvah, Sweet Rice, fried foods, etc. We thought: Its prasadam, so how can it be bad for our bodies?” Well I got news for you. A saturated fat or sugar even if it offered to Krishna has the same affect on our arteries, kidneys,... Read more »

The Regulative Principles of Freedom, Service to God and The Six Senses

There are positive and negative injunctions for those wishing to be successfull in spiritual life. For example, if one wishes to start a fire he must apply heat(positive injunction) as well as avoid pouring water(negative in junction) which would hurt his recovery. There are four pillars of sinful life: the eating of meat, fish and eggs; the taking of intoxication;the attempt to enjoy illicit sex(sex outside marriage); and gambling. These activities pollute the consiousness, where as devotional service... Read more »

More On Chanting Properly To Krishna

It is also hard for me to relate when someone says something like: “That was an ecstatic kirtan,” which indicates some other kirtan wasn’t ecstatic or that someone thinks they have to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to experience an “Ecstatic Kirtan.” Ecstatic Kirtans are there for everyone all the time. Of course when we are presenting Krishna consciousness to the public it is important that the music accompaniment be really first class. Also, we should not force... Read more »

Understanding Material Nature And How To Live In The Real World

But since we don’t have these siddhis it behooves us to be aware of how the material nature affects our bodies. It is amazing to me how devotees are oftentimes in denial of this: in our diet, sleeping habits, use of spiritual paraphernalia, eating habits, safety procedures, etc. There are certain laws of Nature (of course Krishna is the Supreme Law Giver who has made these laws). There is the law of gravity for example. Whether you are a devotee or non-devotee if you jump from a 20 story building... Read more »