When you’re willing to ask for what you want but don’t insist on getting it, there are some potential hidden benefits as well. For example, you sometimes bring out the compassion and generosity in others. Several years ago I arrived in Mumbai very late one evening. Despite having a confirmed reservation, the hotel was overbooked […]
Folknet Quotes
Superintendence of the Lord
We should always know that God is ever kind to us. Despite our gross disobedience to the laws of God’s nature, the Lord is kind enough to look after our maintenance. Water is one of the most important items for our maintenance, because without water we can neither produce food grains nor quench our thirst. […]
Do not get caught up in the imagined horrors of the future
Some planning, anticipating, and looking forward to future events and accomplishments are an important and necessary part of success. You need to know where you’d like to go in order to get there. However, most of us take this planning far too seriously and engage in futuristic thinking far too often. We sacrifice the actual […]
The 99 Club, a Moral Story from ISKCON Bangalore Newsletter
Once upon a time, there lived a King who, despite his luxurious lifestyle, was neither happy nor content. One day, the King came upon a servant who was singing happily while he worked. This fascinated the King; why was he, the Supreme Ruler of the Land, unhappy and gloomy, while a lowly servant had so […]
Relief from misery
In this material world, everyone is trying to search out happiness and get relief from misery. There are three kinds of miseries caused by our material condition: adhyatmika, adhibhautika, and adhidaivika. Adhyatmika miseries are those caused by the body and mind themselves. For example, when there is some dis-arrangement of the different functions of metabolism […]
Make an ongoing effort to stop your mind from wandering
Many times we are doing one thing, yet preoccupied with a dozen others. We’re distracted by our own thoughts, concerns, and worries. When you have a strong presence you are completely absorbed in the moment and the people you are with sense that you are truly “right there” with them, fully present. Your mind isn’t […]
Pause To Thank
There was a king who was deeply chagrined by the behavior of his ministers and courtiers. Whenever there was a banquet at the palace, he noticed that none of the nobles and aristocrats gathered together on the occasion, ever paused to offer a prayer to the Lord before eating their meals. Laughing and chatting, they […]
Our Real Life, Quotes on Self Realization
The Bhagavad-gita says that out of many thousands of human beings, one may try to make perfection of his life. Man is an animal, but he has one special prerogative, rational thought. What is that rational thought? Reasoning power, argument. Now, reasoning power is there in dogs and cats as well. Suppose a dog comes […]
Mistakes are unavoidable part of life, Learn not to repeat them
Some mistakes are big. An air-traffic controller’s mistake or one wrong move by a surgeon can be deadly. A vast majority of the mistakes we make, however, are not life or death. It’s true that even small mistakes can cause inconvenience, conflict, or extra work – and, can be expensive. While no one enjoys making […]
Clear the dust of your Mind
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. This transcendental sound vibration will help us to cleanse the dust from the mirror of the mind. At the present moment we have accumulated so much material dust on the mirror of the mind, just as on the road […]
Dare to be exceptional
There are two kinds of people on the surface of the earth today. Average people and Exceptional people. Average people merely exist Exceptional people actually live Average people are products of their environment Exceptional people are products of their choices Average people are drowned by adversity Exceptional people are elevated by difficulties Average people give […]
Confronting the realities
Since time immemorial, living entities have been going through many lower species of life, gradually rising through the evolutionary process and, due to some good fortune, receiving a human birth. In the lower species of life the spirit souls are densely covered by the material modes, and thus carnal appetites dominate their lives. Among the […]