How to deal with pain in life?

1. Take responsibility for the pain that has come to your life. It is due to some karma. You can't judge the world.

2. Connect your consciusness with Krishna and His mercy, so that the pain becomes tolerable.

3. Offer with your body, mind and words full obeisance to Krishna, connect to Him.

Krishna said when one does these steps, he or she will become the heir of His mercy!

- HH Sacinandana Swami

Avoid the Stumbling Blocks in Spiritual Progress

Progress in chanting can be compared to a journey that can come to an abrupt halt if serious obstacles present themselves - landslides or mad elephants of the road, for example. The main obstacles that stop our spiritual progress are the three A's
1. Avidya (Ignorance)
2. Anarthas (Unwanted Habits)
3. Aparadhas (Offenses)

It is absolutely necessary that devotees avoid offenses to the Holy Name. If they focus the mind on the task of not offending the Holy Name, the remaining two A's are likely to disappear automatically. In Bhagavata-arka-marici-mala (thirteenth ray, text 51), Bhaktivinoda Thakura translates Srimad Bhagavatam 6.1.12 as follows:

"Just as a disease is activated if proper food and medicine are not administered in a disciplined manner, so one will never obtain the result of chanting if one does not chant the holy names under the peoper riles and regulations, such as chanting a prescribed daily number of rounds. The process of chnating os that one should always chnat the Holy Name without any offenses or duplicity while trying to progressively increase the number of rounds. Following the prescribed method for chanting, hearing, and remembering the Lord's names, forms, qualities and pastimes yields the most auspicious results."

The Holy Name is certainly the most merciful forms of all forms of the Lord Krsna, but just as a master may withhold his mercy from an offensive servant, so the Holy Name may choose to withold His mercy from an offensive chanter.

Scripture tells us that there are ten offenses to be avoided while chanting Hare Krsna. Each of these offesnes is stated as "do nots." But each therefore indirectly points to a positive injunction. The prohibitions presented as the ten aparadhas can thus be seen as instructions for us to develop specific saintly qualities and to do certain things. Expertise in one's practice, or bhajan, is defined as the ability to avoid these stumbling blocks. What follows is a list of the positive injunctions related to the ten offenses as they are presented in Harinama Cintamani (Ch 13, texts 38-41):

1. Diligently give up all blasphemy of Vaisnava sadhus by praising them. (Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu aslo advises that the same mouth that has blasphemed devotees should be used to praise them. When someone drinks poision, he can be cured by drinking with the same mouth life giving nectar).
2. Adopt the pure understanding that Visnu is the only truth.
3. Accept the Guru who promotes the Holy Name with utmost sincerity.
4. Accept the scriptures that golorify the Holy Name as supreme.
5. Believe in your heart that the Holy Name is completely pure and spiritual.
6. Have faith that the Holy Name is identical with the Lord.
7. Attentively discard all the motivations that lead to sins, because it is motivation, not action, that is the seed of sin.
8. Preach the glories of the pure Holy Names to those who possess faith in the names
9. Entirely give up all impious and self serving ritualistic activities.
10. Meditate on the Holy Name without distraction.

Let me add one helpful personal perspective to help us avoid offenses: Always consider yourself a humble servant of Sri Krsna, of the Vaisnavas and of all living entities by giving up the erroneous conception of I and Mine. These ideas are based on the false understanding of ourselves as enjoyers and controllers.

By adopting these postitive mental attitudes, we can successfully avoid all ten offenses and soon awaken the kinds of feelings for Krsna that lead to pure love.

- HH Sacinandana Swami (Nama Rahasya)

Krishna waits for our Sincere Desire!

We are all under the modes of material nature. We are born, we get our education and get successfully brainwashed. We are forced to grow and forced to die. If we want to return to our original enlightened stage, we must be very very determined. We must pray to Krsna, please help me. I am fully under the laws of nature.

When Krsna sees our sincere desire, he makes a wonderful arrangement. From within our heart he hears. He cannot be cheated. He waits for our sincere desire to awaken and then He will guide us. He will arrange our life in such a way that we don’t entangle ourselves. He comes like a thief in the night. We don’t see him but all of a sudden our life goes in a certain direction.

Whenever we try to be very successful in illusion, then everything goes wrong but Whenever we go towards Krsna then everything goes right. So Krsna arranges many things because He loves us. When He sees a little sincerity, He intervenes and makes us meet the devotees or attracts us to read books about Him. We then get free from bad habits and become steady. No matter what happens, the devotee then will be very steady and will feel some higher taste.

Even if the devotee is offered a million dollars to leave Krsna, He will never give up. Then he will develop the genuine love. This happens with a sincere desire.

How to develop this desire?

In two ways.

1. Either maya kicks us and finally we say, I can’t stand this anymore, please take me Krsna. That may take many lifetimes. But if we want to become Krsna Conscious, why not do it in this life?
2. Oe if we hear about Krsna, we become attracted to his divine qualities. Krsna invites us, just hear about me and become attracted to me. Nice Prasadam, good association, wonderful knowledge and successful life. Please don’t fool around for too long.

Although he intervenes, ultimately he waits for our desire. Krsna does not force anyone.

- HH Sacinandana Swami