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Let go of fearful thoughts

If you gathered up all the fearful thoughts that exist in the mind of the average person, looked at them objectively, and tried to decide just how much good they provided that person, you would see that not some but all fearful thoughts are useless. They do no good. Zero. They interfere with dreams, hopes, desires, and progress. Fearful thoughts take many different forms. Sometimes they sound reasonable: “I’m just being careful, so I’m taking my time.” Other times they are tied to your past: “I’ve tried that before and it didn’t work.” Occasionally, fears are cleverly disguised as being realistic: “Most people fail, so I want to be absolutely sure before I get started.” I could fill page after page with other examples. Yet when you take a close, honest look at every fearful thought, there are threads of similarity. All of them are explanations or rationalizations for why something shouldn’t or can’t work. They are usually justifications for quitting, or for not getting started. Fea
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Father Sense

We know that there is something which distinguishes a dead body from a living body. That we can understand. Suppose your father dies. You will lament, "Oh, my father is no more! He has gone away." But where has he gone? Your father is lying on the bed. Why do you say that your father has gone away? "No, he is dead and gone." This shows you understand that the body lying on the bed is not your real father. So, actually, you have no eyes to see your real father. During the lifetime of your father you did not know who he was. Therefore, when the actual father goes away, you cry, "My father is gone!" The actual father is the spiritual soul within the body. And when the soul goes away from the body, that is known as death. At the present moment everyone is acting according to the bodily conception of life. But we are not the body. So we are acting for something that we are not. Therefore, we are in maya, or illusion. Our whole existence is a phantasma

Today before you complain about…

Today before you think of saying an unkind word - Think of someone who can't speak. Today before you complain about the taste of your food - Think of someone who has nothing to eat. Today before you complain about life - Think of someone who went too early to heaven. Today before you argue about your dirty house, someone didn't clean or sweep - Think of the people who are living in the streets. Today before whining about the distance you drive - Think of someone who walks the same distance with their feet. Today before you are tired and complain about your job - Think of the unemployed, the disabled and those who wished they had your job. Today before you think of pointing the finger or condemning another - Remember that not one of us are without sin.

Yoga for modern age

The breathing exercise of the yoga system that is generally practiced is just the beginning of the system. Meditation on the Supersoul is just a step forward. Achievement of wonderful material success is also only a step forward. But to attain direct contact with the Supersoul and to take dictation from Him is the highest perfectional stage. The breathing exercises and meditational practices of yoga are very difficult in this age. They were difficult even five thousand years ago, or else Arjuna would not have rejected the proposal of Krishna. This age of Kali is called a fallen age. At the present moment, people in general are short-living and very slow in understanding self-realization, or spiritual life. They are mostly unfortunate, and as such, if someone is a little bit interested in self-realization, he is misguided by so many frauds. In the present age, however, if you want success in practical yoga, take to the chanting of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna  Krishna, Hare

Learning from our glorious past

We are all more or less proud of our past Indian civilization, but we actually do not know the real nature of that civilization. We cannot be proud of our past material civilization, which is now a thousand times greater than in days gone by. It is said that we are passing through the age of darkness, the Kali-yuga. What is this darkness? The darkness cannot be due to backwardness in material knowledge, because we now have more of it than formerly. If not we ourselves, our neighbors, at any rate, have plenty of it. Therefore, we must conclude that the darkness of the present age is not due to a lack of material advancement, but that we have lost the clue to our spiritual advancement, which is the prime necessity of human life and the criterion of the highest type of human civilization. Throwing of bombs from airplanes is no advancement of civilization from the primitive, uncivilized practice of dropping big stones on the heads of enemies from the tops of hills. Improvement of the ar

Cure for modern jaundice

If a man is suffering from jaundice and you give him a piece of sugar candy, he will say that it is very bitter. But is sugar candy bitter? No, it is very sweet. And the medicine for jaundice is that sugar. Modern science prescribes this, and it is prescribed in the Vedic literature also. So if we take a great quantity of this sugar candy, then we will be relieved from jaundice. And when there is relief, then one says, "Oh, this is very sweet." So the modern jaundice of a godless civilization can be cured by this chanting of Hare Krishna. In the beginning it may appear bitter, but when one advances, then he will see how pleasing it is. We are so full of miseries because we have identified ourselves with the material world. Therefore we are unhappy. Anxieties and fearfulness are due to our misidentifying with the material world. As soon as one understands his identity, his relationship with God, then immediately he becomes happy. Ref: Chapter 8a, Science of Self Realization a

If you want to stop crime...

The difference between a pious man and a criminal is that one is pure in heart and the other is dirty. This dirt is like a disease in the form of uncontrollable lust and greed in the heart of the criminal. Today people in general are in this diseased condition, and thus crime is very widespread. When the people become purified of these dirty things, crime will disappear. The simplest process of purification is to assemble in congregation and chant the holy names of God. This is called sankirtana and is the basis of our Krishna consciousness movement. So, if you want to stop crime, then you must gather as many people as possible for mass sankirtana. This congregational chanting of the holy name of God will dissipate all the dirty things in everyone's heart. Then there will be no more crime. Ref: Chapter 6a, Science of Self Realization authored by Srila Prabhupada (Founder - Acharya, ISKCON)